Nelson TOP GUN MTB Event

The Top Gun XC MTB event was another fantastic event put on by the Nelson MTB club.  The course was superb and started off with the usually drag race up the gravel road and down Gully, a fast following and tight but super fun single track!  Another short sharp climb made for good passing opportunity and with the rest of the course mostly single track it was great fun - infact the most fun I've had racing for a while!  A couple of fly over jumps, pump track and neat flowing corners all on a nice day I couldn't have asked for much more!

The race started off a bit edgy for me,  I competed down in Bluff a couple of weekends ago with a DNF so one thing I wanted to make sure I did was finish the race and finish strong.  

The race started off as per expected nice and fast but at about half way up the climb I slipped near the back and let the front guys pull away a bit and do the usual thing and hit the decent hard.  I came down behind a couple of slower riders (mass start) but hit the Nitrous on the next climb to start catching back up to the next rider.  The next lap I was feeling good and really started to find some rhythm and I caught Ethan Glover and past him and really pressed on.  Lap 3 I could see Ben Oliver and Carl Jones ahead and I knew I was taking time out of them.  Lap 4 I caught and past both of them and opened up a gap and while Dirk Peters already had fantastic lead I kept driving the pins on and finished in 2nd place in the Elite Field and Overall.  I was super happy with my result and things are looking good now as im in the 2013 Summer season!

Thanks to the Millers for the accommodation and a great weekend! 

Tineli Road Race

The Tineli Road Race is fantastic road event that follows the same course as what the Elite Women and Men compete on during the same weekend.  However the event is much shorter with two laps around the course without the climb and then the following two completing the full circuit (up Dyres, down Hackthorne) to finish the race.
Last year was my first year competing  in this event and I rode a strong race to finish in the number 1 spot with a very nice lead.  So once again being a local event (which goes past my house!) I was looking forward to having a good hit out and getting stuck into the two climbing laps and really get things going.

The race started off certainly a bit faster than last years but I kept within the bunch and made sure no real break aways were made.  Finally it was the moment of truth after the first two flat laps and as I turned up onto the Dyres Pass Road hill I gave it beans!  I knew the field was tougher than the previous year so I decided I really wanted to heat things up.  I quickly found myself in the lead however there was another tough young rider named Keegan right on my wheel - game on!
Once off the hill we worked together for a good fast lap then the final climb saw me pulling away slowly up the steeper sections of Dyres Pass.  I knew that we would still be best to work together on the flat (incase of the risk of being caught by the pelloton) so I got a bit of a breather at the top and as Keegan caught back up we were into another flying decent - glad I had a few sharp skills from the mountain bike!
On the final corner I heard a hissing sound, thought it was me but as I kept moving on I looked back and Keegan had stopped with a dreaded puncture.  Rather unfortunate for him as it would have made for a great sprint finish but in the end thats racing and I came over the line with the win very happy with myself!
Thanks to Brad at Halswell Butchery for the support and entry!

Hanmer Hammerhead

The Hanmer Hammerhead has always been a bit of a favorite for me as it was a race where I got my first real result when I started to compete on the mountain bike.
After a bit of a looksy around the start of the course before the race it was the typical fast flowing singletrack that Hanmer has on offer so I was looking forward to the race start to see what the rest of the course was like.

I started off hard and lead the first half of the lap before Craig snuck in front of me and whizzed down the next bit of track.  I raced on and came through onto my second lap of three about 20seconds behind Craig with Ben right on my tail and then continued on for the next big lap.  I kept riding on but the legs weren't going to be pushing much harder today and the young buck from Timaru David Coventry, came up behind me ready to slip past at the opportunity.  I rode on for my final lap holding my position finishing 4th Overall (1st Open Mens).

Long Beach Coastal Challenge

Long Beach Coastal Challenge has been a good solid race that keeps on grinding away through farm paddocks for around 35km.  While there is no single track on offer it was a good event to keep the heart rate high and battle away and see how the legs would cope!

I started well and it quickly became a front bunch of Anton, Craig, Ben, Logan and myself taking a few turns to tow the train around the twisty course.

About a third of the way into the course we crossed a river and saw the first attack from Anton and Logan followed suit.  The rest of us chased on and we got back onto Logan and started to work as a group to pull back the whippet leading the way.  Not too long after Logan was riding strong and slipped away through a tightly gnarly piece of terrain and I was left with the Oliver brothers to ride against.  We came toward the beach front and I knew I might be in for a bit of trouble as  I tend to sink in the deeper stuff when the lighter boys skate across!  Nevertheless I pulled myself back onto them near the end after biting the stem down a long gravel road.

The final river crossing came up and the brothers rode over a small walking bridge and while I saw them slow down I thought I could be a bit smart and smash through the river.... Well unfortunately this was not the case and I sunk downwards again!

Anyway it was a few hundred meters to the finish line and I came over the line in 5th place,a nice day out down South.

Spring Crusher - Hanmer

I raced the Spring Crusher last year and with the challenge of over 1000m of verticle gain throughout 36km it was high on the list of build up races to compete in.

While the body was still battling illness I was keen to see what the course had to offer as it was slightly different to last years and the start sure showed what aggression we would be thrown at.  Straight up into the forest from the road we were in our lowest gears and the old body temperature sure rose to the occasion!

I was riding alright, trailing behind the front boys which stayed like this for up to the 20km mark where I managed to start heading back up a main climb in the course when I was meant to just simply cross straightover (don't know how I managed to stuff that one up!)  Sure enough after a good minute or so lost I realized I had made a slight detour!  Once back on track the course was mostly quick fast pedaling alongside the bottom of the hillside with only a couple small climbs to go I was glad to see the finish and rest up the legs.  I ended up coming over the line in 6th and 3rd in open mens.

Clarence Spectacular MTB Race

This event was a new one on the calender and being in Hanmer it is always worth driving the distance to ride outside of the usual training ground back home.  The event was supposed to be held on the Saturday but shortly after we had arrived at the venue in torrential rain we were told that the race was postponed until the next day - great another trip to Hanmer!!!  Apart from the travel time and fuel we arrived on Sunday to a fresh start but with the sun out it made for a nice day.

The race went really well, not as many competitors were racing which was a bit of a disappointment but I suppose several people weren't too keen to come back up again unlike myself!  Great to see a few fit and fast local riders from back home battling it out behind me!
The race started down Pawson's Road and then hooked left climbing up onto Jacks Pass Road.  This followed up the rest of the climb to the saddle there at the 7km mark after 5km of climbing gaining 400m vertical height.  Riding onwards I was glad to enjoy a short break and blast down a 3km downhill back onto flat ground.   The course next took a left hand turn and followed up alongside the river for a good 10km.  This then turned onto a four wheel drive track that climbed onwards steadily and onto the beginning of the St James track (which is in the process of being smoothed out) that was rather rough to start with after coming off the gravel roads but all good mountain biking!
Following on it was back the way I came alongside the river for several clicks before hitting the 38km mark and beginning the last steady 4km climb to the top of Jollies Pass.  From here I could smell the finish and what a neat final blat down 4km of fast steep four wheel drive track where my big wheels set up with a set of Maxxis Aspens could hold on to keep up some serious momentum!
Once back on the tarmac is was all Time Trial mode back to the finish for 2km, head down to complete the 50km course in 1 hour 52 minutes!
I was pretty pleased with my ride, a good solid work out and as a new event on the calender I would recommend this one to those who enjoy a good bit of scenery and want a bit of fun at the end!
Thanks!

Mclean's Island 6 Hour Solo

It's been a while since my last post having come back from racing in Canada and enjoying a nice break that was certainly required to get my focus back in the right place.
With new motivation and a few changes to my training the last few months have seen me clocking up a few K's mostly on the road bike.  I have competed in a couple races lately and even won the 2012 Sefton Classic Road Race (80km category) so things have been looking like they are heading in the right direction for the 2013 season just around the bend kicking off in January!
Now starting to feel much like roadie I looked at the calender and what better way to get back into the mountain bike swing of things with a 6 hour solo race out at Mcleans Island!  It would be my first proper endurance event and with learning alot recently the hard way about nutrition on the go I was sure going to be tested both physically and mentally but I was keen as a bean to see how it would unfold on the day!

The race started off with a Le Mon's start - a 300m running dash to the fence to find and aboard the race machine, get out of the chaos and into the track.  I started off pretty casually not wanting to even bring a sweat to my forehead until I was at least on my Trek Superfly ready to get the big wheels ticking some K's over.  Perhaps I went out a little too easy in the run as when I finally got out of the line up of bikes the front riders were already out along the stopbank which was a good 400m plus way and a whole string of riders inbetween.
Nevertheless I had a game plan in my head and I stuck to it superbly throughout the whole race.  However being 8 1/2 - 9 minutes down at the half way mark did make me a touch nervous but I knew if the front of my race had gone out that hard then they would start to blow and then I would be able to open up the taps later on and start the chase!
All day I had eaten well and gone through a low patch around the middle of my race but then the final couple of hours saw my laps becoming stronger than the others and the final hour was all go!   I was taking off several minutes off the others and while I couldn't quite reach the front by the end I had pulled the gap to second to around 1 minute and to first 2 minutes finishing 3rd in the Open Mens devision.
So in the end for my first endurance race I am pretty stoked to have finished how I did, maybe next time I'll try and get out off the traffic from the start but thats all part of watching a good race unfold!
November will see a few mountain bike races on the calender so i'll be updating my blog most weeks to keep everyone posted!  Cheers!