New Training Ground - Fanas, Switzerland

We arrived in Zurich Airport in Switzerland after 30 hours of travel time to be greeted by one of our newly adopted parents, Erik with a very nice New Zealand flag welcoming our arrival!

After a nights sleep after very little shut eye on the planes we headed off to our new training location up in the hills of Fanas (Eggli). To reach our accommodation hut required a ride up the Funicular (Gondula) to where we would reach 1700 metres above sea-level!

As we took the birds eye view up the hill with all our gear we got a fair idea of how steep this road was leading up to the hut but until we actually got onto our bikes and road it first hand, man did we get a bit of a shock! It is very steep!

Our training requires us to head down the hill to where it is accessible to trails and tarmac roads. From the bottom and flat it is a 1100metre climb to the top! All that means is that we have a good solid climb to finish our ride - good preparation for Champery where the World Champs will be held.

Today Mat and I rode a loop that I had negotiated my way around yesterday which included a nice tarseal ride amongst the forest that leads into a town called Shuders. From here we enjoyed a solid 20minutes of downhill alongside an impressive river and the most spectacular scenery!

Our location is quite remote but the views are stunning and so it is the perfect place to unwind and relax after a good training session!

I look forward to heading off to our first World Cup Round in Czech once our 2 weeks of training are complete and will be updating my blog again after the race!

Hope that all back in our Homeland are keeping safe and warm with all that snow!

Photos to come!

Brad

European Campaign

The excitment is building!!!
After months of planning a European Campaign it has come together and this Saturday I will set off on the big bird to begin my trip!
Earlier in the year after racing the New Zealand National Series and Oceania Champs I had gained selection into the 2011 New Zealand Mountain Bike Team to compete in the World Championships in Champery, Switzerland. Being an first year Under 23 rider I decided it was time to step up my game so a Campaign for roughly a month and a half was put into place.

The races I will be competing in are;

1) World Cup Round 6 Czech Republic
2) World Cup Round 7 Italy
3) Swiss Bike Trophy, Bern - Switzerland
4) World Championships, Champery - Switzerland.

So far my build up has gone pretty well - the routine of getting up first thing and training is certainly a lot different and harder than when I was a school boy but with realityof work now, I have had to become even more disciplined to chase my dream. The last couple of weeks have been getting harder (as I get more and more keen to get overseas!) but I am looking forward to living the pro-cyclist life and being able to get in a couple of solid weeks of training in before I hit the UCI World Cup round in Czech Republic.

I will be travelling with Mat Waghorn from Palmerston North (Oceania Champ U19 2010 and Oceanias U19 runner up 2011) and we will be working together throughout our campaign.

There are a few people I would like to make special mention to before I head off on my journey.
Firstly - my sponsor Cycleways and the boys there (who have just done a fantastic job of brushing my bike up to pristine condition) and in particular Matt Bailey - the sponsorship has been great!
My boss from Halswell Butchery Brad Williams - you have been a fantastic influence and I appreciate all the help and guidance you have given me.
Single Track Club and Huxster- Craig and Rebekah Tregurtha and Andrea Murray - It has been great to have been part of both of the clubs and the drive the and work you guys put it along with the member is awesome!!!
My Coach Dave Plew - for being just a brilliant coach and always taking in what I have to say.
Andrew Abakhan - for the help you have put in with my build up to get me into shape.
Erik Herlyn - he has been a huge help with putting my campaign together, my trip wouldn't be happening without the help from him and his family!
And of course to my parents - my number 1 sponsor, without their help this trip would be a right struggle. I really do appreciate all the help you have given me to chase my goals and aspirations!

I'll be keeping my facebook and blog updated throughout the trip so keep an eye out to see whats happening with my progress!

Time to go put my mark on the World!!!

Blue Dog Night Racing Winter Series

The 2011 Night Racing series consisted of 8 races in total with the first race a practise night. Out of the first 6 races (after the practise night) the best 3 placings were taken including the final round.
Over the series I had some good races and some not so good races. I rode in the junior category but still looked at the overall picture and had a couple of outright wins. One night I fronted to race with a cold but still had enough juice in the tank to take the win but other nights saw various woes from mechanical breakdowns to just not feeling quite right and falling back a bit not to mention a crash tucked in there also!
Out of the series my placings were:
4th May (Practice) 1st Overall
11 May-2nd Overall, 2nd Junior
18 May-5th Overall, 1st Junior
25th May-1st Overall
1st June-2nd Overall, 1st Junior
8th June-DNF
15th June-3rd Overall, 1st Junior
22nd June (Final) 1st Overall
With these results I took out the Junior Category and become the 2011 Junior World Night Racing Champion!
These events made up for a fantastic bit of Winter training and Blue Dog Events saw numbers around the 200 mark! Not bad for a hardy bunch of Canterbury riders!
Big Thanks must go to Rod and Jane from Blue Dog Events for putting on the series and to my sponsor Matt Bailey and the boys from Cycleways for sorting out my racing machine so it was running in top form. Congratulations must go to Mark Dunlop for taking out the overall win as well as Phil Patterson for cleaning up the Vet category!

Waipara Classic 90km Road Race 21st May

The 2011 Waipara 90km Classic Handi-cap Road Race was my first race on my Brand New 2011 Trek Madone 5.2 Road Bike from Cycleways. The bike set up with an super slick Ultegra groupset and a very sleek and kiwi Black and White paint job! With a set of Dura-ace Wheels borrowed courtesy of Brad Williams I was very keen to get out and see how the new machine went!
The course went up toward Greta Valley and after a bit of a loop came back along the Weka Pass. With mint conditions for racing with the sun out and little wind the mind and body was in good form!
As it was a handi-cap event and was only my second road event this season (my first event this season on my old 2003 Giant TCR Road Bike) I chose to ride in the Break group. The course suited me well as it undulated in several sections and I did a lot of work up the front of the bunch. One thing I found was that the harder I rode the Trek the better it felt!
Towards the end of the race we had the last couple of short hills up the Weka Pass which was a very quick pace as a couple of riders tried to break away-the legs were starting to feel a bit on the tired side but I managed to hold on and keep the pressure on over the last 10km.
The course then turned left and it started to get a bit congested as we had caught up the next couple of Bunches (due to the handi-capping) and before I knew it we had crossed the finish line but no real chance of a sprint!
This didn't matter however as the handi-capping was not right but it was an excellent day for racing and I was very pleased with my new machine and how I rode!
Big thanks to Brad for lending me his wheels and to My Sponsor Matt Bailey (Cycleways) for sorting me out a fantastic new Machine!

Mt Isobel Challenge 26th May

The Mt Isobel Challenge is a Duathlon event in Hanmer Springs that consists of an 8km hill run up the Mt Isobel track to the summit with a 1000 metre ascent. This then gets followed up with a 22km undulating mountain bike back to the finish line at the domain.
This was an event I did last year during the winter season where I finished second in the Junior category and as it was a great event and I had good fun I was keen to have another crack at it. So with a bit more of a running base compared to last year and almost the identical conditions (icy cold wind early morning at the transition up Jacks Pass Road but sunny once we got going) it was going to be a good hit out!
The pace at the start was hot and I was sitting somewhere in the front half of the pack. We followed up the gravel road for a kilometre or so till we came onto the single track. A gnarly run/grunt eventually made its way to the top and along the ridgeline to reach the peak. From there it was a sign of relief as I knew it was all downhill until I got onto the bike. The downhill was fast and furious. I had my mate Sam Bell and Boss Brad Williams (a bit of humble competition) to try and keep up with which turned into quite a mission with a lack of downhill adventure running and road running shoes on sketchy and steep terrain. Nevertheless I got down in one piece and after a slow transition I was off - time to wind up the big wheels!
This bike section I was looking forward to as I knew I could make up some good placings with this and prior to the race the idea was to save the legs for a good smack fest once on two wheels. However after the intensity in the run the legs felt dead and so after grinding up every hill and still managing to pull in quite a few riders (including Sam and Brad!) I eventually made it back to the finish 2nd in my class and 6th overall. Well done to young Craig Oliver who smashed the course and took out first overall in the event!
A great day out and an awesome event during the Winter time, highly recommended!

2011 Oceania Champs

The 2011 Oceania Champs were held over in Shepparton, Australia. I arrived in Melbourne airport on the Wednesday and set off for the extra 2 hour stretch to get to the track and have a look. My first impressions were that it was rather tame as it was a steady but not that steep climb which would mean for a fast hard race to come. The further around the track the more interesting it became. Toward the top it started to get very similar in rock positioning as the Port Hills in Christchurch. Once right along the top it got exciting. The course sidled along angled rock cliffs then came up to the 'Waterfall' section. This had a steep 1-2 metre near rideable drop which in practice was the part to go over. I looked at it once and straight down I went! With a bit more fast flowing downhill and a grassy paddock to push up and around and the lap was complete.
After another practice Thursday and feeling I had the course sussed I was ready for battle come Friday. Race day had good conditions hot but not over the top. After a good warm up it was time to head to the start box. Elite men started 3 minutes ahead of my Category Under23. I had a good start and was sitting in about 5th on the single track climb however was stuck in this position the whole first lap and the leader started to slip away. Second lap came around and both Dirk Peters and I started to gain some positions getting passed the slower riders. This was all good and I was going great. I faded a little on the fourth lap but was in the mind set to smash out the final lap. At this stage I was in a solid 3rd place with a good couple of minutes gap between me and the 4th rider.
After I got a fresh bottle I came up behind an elite rider and was waiting to pass. We went up a zigzag and he took a gel. I was ready to pounce but the track was too tight to nip through. With a 10 metre gap between the last zig zag and an tree/rocky obstacle to ride over I made my move so that I could knock out a fast hard lap to fully secure my bronze placing. Once beside this Elite Aussie rider who started 3 minutes ahead of me he simply decided he wasn't going to let me though and as we came side by side up to the obstacle I had turned in to get over and he was still there. He toppled onto my bike and munted my front wheel leaving me to walk back and DNF!
After all my hard work put into this race and my first season as an under23 trying to consolidate good race results, I was absolutely gutted not being able to get on the podium for New Zealand, my sponsor Cycleways, Trek and my parents and friends/supporters.
Besides the disappointment I was proud of the way I raced knowing for next season that while this one had its ups and downs I am where I need to be for the build up for Worlds and next season!
Big thanks to Mildy for taking the time and care to collect and arrange transport for our group from the Airport and to Dookie etc.
Huge thanks to Debbie and Cyndi Hills for organising some fantastic accommodation, it surely brought a very positive atmosphere around for all!

Motatapu 2011

New event for me this year was the 2011 Motatapu! After hearing some good things about this race I was keen to try my luck on a course that was well suited to my Trek 29'er machine. It was all fairly rushed on race day as I had to bring through the race all the compulsory gear which required me last minute to tape on my seat tube my jacket and thermal so the bike was looking right ready for a nights camping!
However business was needed to be done and the race started off hot both in conditions and pace. After some several kilometres of flat, we started to hit the undulations and Anton started to put on the pressure. Unfortunately with the after affects of my cold, I was feeling pretty flat throughout the race, not being able to smack it up the pinch climbs - with an on-form Anton Cooper who rode off the front. This then meant it was a fight for second. Brent Miller, myself and an unknown rider battled it out for a while before I had a good few minutes of feeling better and got ahead up to just before the highest point where Brent Miller caught and slipped in front of me.
With no fire in the belly he slowly got away and out of sight once we hit the final 10km among the hillside and down to the rivers. This section was excellent fun! With a bike perfect for the condition I was able to ride just about all of the rivers making up good time and having a blast putting on a big splash effort on the final crossing for the crowd - hopefully there's a good photo!
I ended up finishing third overall and second in my class a bit frustated but had a great weekend. Big thanks to my neighbours John and Susan for taking me down and arranging accommodation for me.
With Oceania Champs this weekend on Friday 18th March I should be on good form after getting my health back up to scratch and refocus on a solid result!