2012 National Championships

The 2012 New Zealand National Championships were held in Nelson this year and another fast and exciting course was put on for all riders young and old.

After my performance last weekend only 7 seconds behind the winner I was very keen to see what I could lay down on the table and get a result of which I knew I was capable of.

During the practise laps the course was rather skittery which made for one or two loose exits out of some tight corners. I opted to run my Geax Barro Race tyres which turned out to hold on nicely in those sketchy corners and were super fast up the climbs.

Race day came around and I felt a bit funny before the start of the race (must have been the nerves!). The first part of the race wasn't the best for me as during the start climb up to the single track I was feeling a bit flat until the steep top section of gravel road. From here I managed to overcome that feeling and smacked it to get back onto the back of the front riders. After the first downhill I then pulled myself back behind Carl with Dirk and Mikey leading the charge. Unfortunately after the rest of the lap Dirk and Mike had pulled away as Carl had slipped behind and I was stuck behind him.

Finally when I got into clear terrain I got into a rhythm and started my hunt to catch Mikey up. Dirk had managed to create a gap and while I got close to Mikey I just couldn't quite get right back onto him and finished the race in 3rd position in the Elite category (2nd Under 23).

Overall certainly not the best race for a couple of reasons but still fairly happy to be 3rd in the Elite field as a second year Under 23 rider, plenty of room to improve!

Bring on Oceanias come March!

New Zealand Mountain Bike Cup Round 2

Round 2 of the New Zealand Cup was held over the hill at Living Springs – home course!!!
The week leading up to this event my training had gone very well and with some good weather the course was looking good for the race on Sunday...
Race day came around and the rain decided it might spill a drop or two but this didn’t really affect the course as I did a pre-race lap. I still chose to run a slightly more conservative set with my tyres just in case!
The race started very well and I managed to lead after the main climb into the pines and even held a gap for the first few laps. Lap 4 came around and I had a flat spot during my race and Carl attacked and I didn’t really respond, however on the last couple of laps Dirk and I had a good battle to get through to the finish. What we didn’t know was while we were racing hard we were closing the gap on Carl.
I played my cards well on the final lap and jumped into the pines ahead of Dirk and managed to push hard and have the edge as we headed toward the finish. It sure was full on but I managed to hold it together and finish second about 50metres behind Carl with Dirk a few seconds behind me.
A good result after last weekend and I would like to thank all my supporters out there – it was great to have heaps of people cheering me on!
Nationals next weekend – time to see what I can really do now with my form coming on!

New Zealand Mountain Bike Cup Round 1

Last weekend was the first round of the New Zealand Cup so it was a good test to see what form the legs and body had.
On the trip down it was raining and the course was very wet. Each lap demanded a very steep climb up the hill (that proved quite a struggle to maintain traction in practice even with mud tyres on!) and a neat downhill through the trees to complete a lap – simple, well that’s what I thought…
Race day came around and the climb had dried up as the sun managed to come out. I still opted to leave my muds on as the downhill was still very wet. I was actually looking forward to the downhill each lap as I was having a ball during my practice but after the morning race the track had cut up big time. Even with muds on it was still full on!
The race went well for the first couple of laps, I felt comfortable on the first lap not smashing myself and even put a gap on the Top Australian riders that came down by the top of the hill. On the first downhill I came up behind Dirk and noticed he had a wee miss-shape on the track. I got a bit off the ball here and had a crash and had to dive at a tree to save my fall! Somehow each lap I crashed at exactly the same spot! So after the first few laps I lost a bit of time due to my crashes and unfortunately my bike setup was not appropriate with the demanding climb and I destroyed my legs. It became quite a grind in a 34tooth front ring when the other riders were in there 26tooth small rings!
I still managed to come in 5th Elite (3rd Nzer) which looking back isn’t too bad when I know I had the measure off the Top Australians if I had held it together. Roll on Round 2 Living Springs!!!