Festival of Cycling MTB

After not being able to compete in this event last year due to injury I was very keen and excited about letting loose on my home turf this year with some hot competition and prize money at stake! After a nice cruisy road ride to the venue I had prepared myself for a good pre-race warm up and was ready to jump on the mountain bike for a bit of a spin before heading to the start line.
At the beginning of the race it was clear who the competition would be-we had Brendon Sharatt, Richard Anderson, Mark (Cabin) Leishman, Logan Horn, Anton Cooper and Kyle Wood.
As soon as we hit the Bridle path and onto the farm track I went to take my first drink out of my bottle but to my horror the bottle wasn't there! This meant I was relying on drink stations and I knew there was one of the top of the climb and one at the top of Castle Hill. This brought back a memory of the 2009 Yahoo Challenge where my bottle had slipped out down the first hill and I had to go through the first large lap with no drink but with this in mind I knew I could get through it as I was well hydrated prior the event.
It was this bunch who gapped the others including myself and while I was sitting at the back we stayed together for the majority of the climb however toward the end of the hill it all started to split up with gaps in between each of the top riders. After not feeling so good on the steep farm track once onto Rapaki and along the tops it was another story-time to get my A into G!!!!
I arrived at the top of the hill in 5th position and after a mouthful of water I was onto the first single track - Witch Hill. Once off this it was time to get my head down and start hammering up the road section to the top of Castle Hill. This was a good point in the race for me as at the bottom of this I saw the other riders climbing up the road too so I hadn't lost too much time up the farm track. With the competition in sight and a seriously quick run up to the start of the track I caught and past Kyle on Castle Hill where once off this we both jumped onto Cabin. This lead us past the next roadie and linking single track section and onto Green Woods. Here we gapped Kyle and caught up to Richard. Cabin got a lucky pass on Richard and I had to settle in behind on a track that I knew I could ride some good pace down however while Cabin was getting away once over the gate and onto Captain Thomas (final downhill) I got the pass on Richard on a split line-Richard went down and I went up! This was exactly what I needed and it gave me the space to catch Cabin back up. Once down the steps and onto the road to my amazement Brendon was only 100 metres up the road and so after we jumped onto him it was clear it was going to be a typical roadie sprint finish after the road ride around to McCormick's Bay. Once off the Cause Way and with about 1km to go I was out in front. In this position I knew I was in control of the situation and at the 200m mark I flicked it up a gear it went crazy to the finish line with the big $500 in sight!!! However just before the line Brendon came along by the outside and just managed to sneak past my wheel to claim the victory with Cabin in third and myself in second! I was extremely pleased with how I rode as the past two events I have done have been frustrating with my performance and while I would have liked to have climbed better in this race I was happy with how I got moving and focused to get the job done-looks like it's going to be a good up and coming season!
A huge thanks to my Sponsor Cycleways in particular Matt Bailey for having my bike in tip top shape for each and every race and to Andrea Murray from Huxster and all members who organised a fantastic event, one that I recommend to anyone and to my parents for being another high class sponsor!!!

Long Beach MTB race

The Long Beach Mtb Race was another new event to me this year and with some good prize money up for grabs it was looking like a good event to have a crack at! The course involved a lot of undulating farm tracks through fields and along beach fronts that sunk in most riders wheels proving to be a tricky few sections of the course.
The weather was rather windy but after a good warm up and race start I was sitting comfortably in third position in behind Phil Patterson (leading out) and Kyle Wood with Logan Horn and Anton Cooper tucked in behind. Once onto the paddocks it was the 5 of us who were going to be the competition for the day. After the first part of the course grinding away into a head wind on the undulating and rather annoying terrain, myself, Kyle and Logan gapped the other two riders about a quarter of the way through the race. Not too far from this part Kyle who was on excellent form again, kept slipping away from us and the middle part of the race was firstly me and then Logan tossing and turning until he proved to be the stonger rider on the day slowly getting away.
The next section of the race saw me nailing it down the gravel road with Anton tucked in behind trying to catch Logan back up but he had by this stage already increased his gap. After the final river crossing I came in fourth postion not happy with how I went but knowing what areas I need to improve on in preparation for the big events coming up in about a months time - fingers crossed I will get on form!

Hanmer Spring Crusher MTB Race

The Hanmer Spring Crusher MTB race was a brand new event on the calender this year and also the first event to kick of the new season all in good preparing for the National rounds and Champs starting in January. The event involved alot of steep climbing covering just under 40km of every single track in Hanmer linked up as well as a good serving of 4wd joining these tracks and with the sun shining it was going to be a good day for racing!
The pace was fast at the start and Kyle Wood (Timaru) lead the charge up the first hill and next steep climb. After sitting near the back of the first bunch it was time to move up and on a steep narly climb I grinded up the hill slipping myself into second position. This conintued through the rest of the race as the gap between first, second and third kept opening up between us and while my climbing felt like a struggle to get any real power out I finished comfortably in second place.

Timaru 12 Hour Team Mountain Bike Race

The Timaru 12 Hour Mountain Bike Race was another exciting event held in Centennial Park amoung the fast flowing tracks that demanded speed and power to complete quick laps throughout the time frame of the race.
Our Cycleways team line up consisted of yet another solid group of riders and with Nick Clark, Phil Patterson, Dave Ives, Mark Richards and myself we knew we had another chance to perform!
As per the previous race I got the ball rolling for our team and looking at entries prior to the race we considered two potential threats in the race-Team Cyclery and Team Grumpy Old Men. Throughout the race we had no problems unlike last years event that consisted of a broken leg, double puncture, broken frame and other injuries! This year we were a well oiled machine and lead from start to finish increasing the time gap managing to lap the other teams in the 12 hour catagories. I put in the fastest lap time of the day out of all the competitors and yet again Team Cycleways came out on top for this awesome event!
Thanks to the Richards for the stay and to our team lads for knocking out a solid performace yet again. Also to my sponsor and the teams Cycleways in particular Matt Bailey and to my parents and others for their support in looking after us!

Mcleans Island 12 hour

The 2010 Mcleans Island Mountain Bike 12 hr race was another exciting event due to the team aspect where racing around a 10km loop at race pace each lap makes for quite a full on run!
I got the ball rolling for Team Cycleways and after the first lap I managed to gain a gap of almost 30 seconds which was an awesome start into a long distance race being out in front. The team consisted of a solid line up of riders where we had Phil Patterson, Nick Clark, Tim Hoban and Dave Ives and myself. After the first rotation I was keen to do a double lap to make up for my departure later on due to the school formal being on the same night. After two solid laps it was back to the single laps in order to get some hot lap times on the board for the team. Up until my fifth lap my legs had been feeling really average all day and finally after lap 4 my legs were back into racing action where the next few and final laps I felt better and improved my lap times. This was a good sign for me and with over 1300 competitors I managed to put in the fastest lap time of the day!
Before I left we had a very solid lead on second place and after communicating with my Team mates we had come out on top winning the 12 hour race and being the overall champions!
A huge thanks to all the parents for supporting us fighting lads giving it all out there and lasting the distance and also to Matt Bailey from Cycleways who had the best team out there on the day!
Looking forward to the Timaru 12 hour race next weekend for another excellent venue for a great event that involves a solid dose of night racing with the midday to midnight time frame!

South Island Secondary School Mountain Bike Champs

After having my break from my Worlds trip the South Island Secondary School Mountain Bike Champs was going to be my first race back on the bike since this time. A couple of casual rides were done before hand but I was unable to get out the week leading into the race due to a nasty cold which I am now at the tail end of! So Friday morning my sister and I got up and headed down to Timaru to compete in the Hill climb event that morning followed by Down Hill practice. While the Hill Climb was fairly short it was a good climb as it went up the forest through the single track then out in the open to finish the race. My climb did not feel good at all due to my cold and once I stopped at the top my chest was all iced up. However I came in first place and was keen to get out on the Down Hill on dad's full suspension bike in the afternoon in practice for the race the next day.
The Down hill race was an excellent day full of adrenillin junkies and lots of edge of your seat action! My race run for a Down Hill event was a bit of shocker miss clipping twice at the start and almost stopping the bike on one loose corner as the tyre hooked in. However I still ended up finishing with a respectable time but knew I could have been much faster if I hadn't had those troubles!
The Cross Country was the main event for myself to be down for and another excellent day was put out to us in Timaru! My race was going pretty good until near the end of lap 2 of 3 where I came across a bridge and caught the tyre in the wrong spot crashing. I lost quite a bit of time but had a soilid lead holding this out through the final lap to finish first and also take the overall Champion Title for South Island Secondary School Mountain Bike Champs!
Thanks to the Prestidges and Austins for accommodating us over the weekend!

2010 World Mountain Bike Champs-Mont Sainte Anne

After a long drive though the border into Canada it was an exciting time as I was to prepare for the biggest race of year - The World Mountain Bike Champs!!!
Like last year where I got to race in the World Champs Team Relay I got this opportunity again and thought it was a good time to see the track at full on race pace. After pre riding the course it had quite a good feeling about it and with a range of technical sections, short power climbs and tricky rooty forest sections it provided an ultimate XCO race track! The first race was Wednesday competing in the Teams Relay - it was a very hot day! After training through the Winter here in New Zealand it was certainly a shock to the system and the heat got to me on the steep power climbs. I felt like I could have definitely gone faster if I was more used to the hot weather but this was all good preparation for Friday!
After a couple of easy laps Thursday I was ready Friday morning to set off to the venue and warm up for my big race. I started a few rows back from the front in 34th(?) position and had a pretty good start entering the single track not wasting myself too much up the first climb however it was still mayhem pulling apart bikes from bikes to run along the track through the bottle neck of riders. Throughout the race I picked riders off and on the last lap was chasing down a group of about 4 riders. I managed to stuff up a couple of lines in the forest and chased hard to end finishing in 32nd place not far behind the group of riders in front of me. I rode a very consistent race and was pretty happy with my race but as always I would have liked to have done a bit better!
Overall it was a well worth experience and I am happy with how I raced - looking forward to the next season after a break!
I would like to say a special thanks to my sponsor Cycleways, my family, friends and parents and to all my support out there helping me out!