SouthIsland trip recap

I flew south on march 22nd and had lunch with Mops before dropping her back at the airport so she could fly north, this worked out well as we swapped car keys and both had transport for the weekend. Next stop was the Gondolas and to meet up with Craig Pattle to do a few runs and see what I was in for... I was in Queenstown to do a couple races during the bike fest week, the first was the 6hr super-d (I was in a two person team) and the other race I was doing was a gravtiy enduro on Corronet Peak.
My team mate for the 6hr was Ed Crossling ( Ed also raced in elite xc at Nationals this year), I was on my amazing ROCKY MOUNTAIN ALTITUDE and Ed was rocking his 100mm travel xc full sus with seat slightly dropped. Each lap we caught the Gondi to the top and raced down (with a few small climbs to mix  things up). I went to have a look at the lap times to see where we were sitting with about 1.5hrs to go, turned out we were a few seconds off the lead! with this came the game face and it went from "do the race to see what its all about and have a fun day out" too "we are in with a chance of the win!!! time for the race face to come out of the bag" I started pushing hard and making silly mistakes, then decided screw it Im here to have fun! "still push hard but have fun doing it" this new frame of mind worked much better and I started riding properly again. We managed to get one more lap in than all the other teams before the cut off time giving us the win both in our class and over all. This was one awesome event to be a part of with some of the top dh (and gravity enduro)  racers in the world taking part.

I spent the next few days hanging out in and around Wanaka, Helped out crewing on the final day of a multi day multi sport race for a couple friends, taught a couple of the girls to hit a few of the gap jumps in sticky forest and did a small photo shoot on the edge of the lake with Mops.

 All this before heading back over the hill to get ready for the gravity enduro on the 29th. We headed over the day before the race and rolled a couple runs of some of the tracks we would be using in the race,  a couple of us took turns driving shuttles while the rest rode

We had four stages on the one dayfor the G.E. (gravity enduro), we had sign on at the car park at the top of the road (bottom of the ski runs) then had to make our way to the top of the mountain for the start of the race, most of us rode up the track we were going to race down so to get a look at it. I missed the top section of the track and regretted it as soon as I saw it from the top as it was the most challenging part of the run (the start of the national down hill track)                             I watched a few guys go down then thought Id have a go myself. I made it down fine but lost a bunch of time at the top trying to find my way through the big gap jumps and drop offs. The next stage was a track called "cock rock" (or now its known world wide "rude rock") It was an ok run for me but I need to work on my corner speed. Third was Skippers, yup we raced down into Skippers canyon (not all the way) this is the track I feel I lost the most time on, Im not sure why but I just didnt gel with it at all. One thing with G.E. racing is you have to be self supported and ride between stages, this meant riding about 40min back up Skippers road. Most of the way up I could feel a clicking and hear a funny noise as I was pedaling, I stopped a couple times before noticing one of the links on my chain had come apart and the chain was only just holding together.... About 5minutes a chain braker and a speed link and I was up and running again. The final stage was ZOOT, shorter than the others but still a cool track with some cool jumps and a "split" section towards the end with two options to take before rejoining just before the finish line. 

I felt "ok" all day but didnt feel like I rode as well as I could have... It was once again a stacked field with most of the guys racing that were at the 6hr race, I was about 2min down on the winner after about 26min of racing over about 4/5hrs and four stages. 

I have to keep reminding myself that Im coming from a 16+year xc back ground and Ive never really done this sort of racing until this year so it will take me a bit of time to get used to "racing the clock" and be closer to the front guys and I also have to remind myself that they are some of the top pros in the world. I know I have a bunch of things to work on and Im  finding that it has me excited to be riding again! 

    

Whats next people ask me??????

Keep riding (Im the first to admit I will never stop riding on the dirt) I may/will turn up to the odd cross country race but I just dont have the time, desire, motivation and drive I once  had to put the time into preparing my body to be turned inside out every time the start gun goes off. I feel its time to start trying to focus a bit more on work and wheres the next step with that. I am also planning to do a few Moto trail ride enduro race events during the year so will need to stay fit for that!

One of my new focuses is going to be the new and exciting formate of GRAVITY ENDURO racing, as Im starting with a fresh new style of racing Im also starting it on a new sled! YEP thats right Im now a  ROCKY MOUNTAIN rider! Im now rolling around in baggies and on a ROCKY MOUNTAIN ALTITUDE 770MSL. This is one sick bike! 650B (27.5") wheel size, 150mm of FOX shocks, reverb dropper seat post, RIDE9 ect ect. 

Growing up ROCKY MOUNTAIN was always one of those few brands I looked at and could only dream of having, NOW I get to ride and race one (dreams do come true!!!) 

I have already raced my first gravity enduro, the day after National champs XCO and had an awesome time although it was my first ever ride on the new rig and I was feeling rather smashed from the day before (and the night before....) I am off down to Queenstown on the 22nd of March for a couple superD/gravity enduro races that week.

Stay tuned as I have a few other things to reveal in the coming weeks......

10 national seasons on JAMIS

So this years national season rounded out 10 seasons on JAMIS BIKES and 17 years racing at racing national rounds!

The national champs race was also to be my last "ELITE XCO" (cross country olympic distance) race.

The day was another warm one and I was keen for it to warm up some more if I had it my way (I love racing in the heat!) I had an ok start and with the track going straight up nursery road I knew I had to keep my eyes and options open as we hit the dirt into the steep narrow pinch, I was in the top 5 as we went over the top of the pinch but one of the riders in front of me started to let the gap open to Anton, Dirk and Carl. I started barking orders to keep on them or move over but it was all too late, the pace those guys were riding meant one small gap and they were gone! I settled into a good pace and knew that I was going to have to ride at that pace all day as if I went much deeper I would pay for it later.After a couple of small duals in the first couple laps I found myself brake clear of the guys around me and started to open the gap on them, the guys in front of me were well clear by this stage and having some fun smashing it trying to brake each other for the win. I ended up finishing the race 5th across the line and 2nd senior (Anton 1st, Dirk 2nd and Sam 4th are still under 23 riders) I am happy with my result and feel like it is the right time for me to step down from ELITE XCO. The future of the sport in NZ is in good hands with the riders and up coming talent that is on offer, I just hope they all remember why they started to ride (and race) MTB in the first place and keep pushing each other to go faster and get better while supporting each other at the same time. The NZ MTB scene is like a big family and I hope it stays that way!

Whats next people ask me??????

What a weekend......

It was a full on weekend to say the least, and Im am off out of town for a few days with next to no internet so my weekend wrap up wont get posted for a few days yet, but will try have it all done and ready to go as soon as I can.

a quick recap though,

My new bike arrived at the country at the start of last week so I picked it up on Thursday evening, Built it on Friday morning ready to race on Sunday.

National champs went well for me and Im happy to finish up racing ELITE with a 5th placing across the line and 2nd in the senior class of the elite grade (under 23 and senior raced together).

I will quickly make it clearer that, YES I have decided to stop racing ELITE XCO but will still turn up to the odd xc race so Im not going to drop off the face of the earth! Also I am starting to race gravity enduro/ Super D type races as a Rocky Mountain rider! as well as a few enduro moto events.

I also raced the 2W gravity enduro on Sunday as a bit of a fun way to finish the weekend off and as an intro into the new format of racing, as I knew I would be a bit smashed after the xc the day before. I enjoyed it and without seeing the results yet I think I was top 10-15.

Like I said the full story about the weekend and beyond will be up soon so watch this space!

Two races in two weeks....

This weekend was the Final round of the National series (only three rounds this year). The race was held in the Hunua ranges, south east of Auckland city. Another hot day and this time a rather flat track, although narrow tight and twisting through Manuka trees we had a few grass fields and gravel roads to slog along as well. I have raced in Hunua a number of times over the years, although the last time was in 2005 I still new what to expect (and most of the track) before I even rolled out for a practice lap.
I had one of my worst starts in years and got tangled up in a pileup in the first corner, by the time I got going again I was pretty much last and with no real snap in the legs I had to limit the losses going into the first single track, I spent the whole first lap picking my way through the field until I was once again in about 6th place and on the wheel of Tom B. As we hit on of the gravel roads I rolled up beside Tom and said we needed to work together to close the gap as we could see three riders up ahead, Tom agreed and we kept the pace high but steady for the next few laps slowly closing the gap down. Sam Shaw and Logan Horn both crashed and Carl attacked, we kept on trucking along taking turns to lead and closed the gap to Carl again. As we caught Carl things started to click for me and the turbo kicked in, I slipped past Carl and started to put the hammer down although this only lasted a couple hundred meters as I pedaled into a stump and through myself on the ground knocking the wind right out of me. I got up and back on the bike as quick as I could as I knew Tom was just behind us and Sam was closing in on us again. We started the last last in a group of four and Sam was on the front and trying to get away, I was able to stay close to him and close the gap each time one opened. I rolled into the front on the second to last gravel road and lifted the pace through the last bit of single track to see if I could get a gap, with a few meters onto the last gravel road I knew I had to keep the pace high so he had to work to get back to me and wouldnt attack me on the last pinch climb into the event village, It came down to a sprint finish and I was able to get him by a couple cm. We had both put it all on the line in the sprint and had to have a bit of a lay down once we crossed the line.

I was awarded the third place behind Anton Cooper and Dirk Peters so I am rather happy with how I rode and the result.  The body still has a few tender spots after that crash so Im icing and antiflaming as often as I can to get rid of the tender spots as its a short turn around this week with the National Champs being held on Saturday so only five days to recover and get the body back in order before we all meet in Rotorua to do battle all over again!
A big thanks to Coach Bobby Tuxford and family for putting me up for the weekend, always awesome to stay with you, and also thanks to Ricky (last week) and Lisa (this week) for being awesome bottle  feeders!

2013 has started!

Shit its been a while since I updated this thing....

                                               Cheers to Adrian Rumney for this mint pic

Well after all the time I had off from training last year, yes it was most of the year! (although I was still riding bikes of some sort, just not "training"). I had found myself totally burnt out and with other things needing to be sorted out in my personal life, I simply wasn't enjoying riding and found I couldn't push on when the hurting started. I have worked through most of that stuff now and the riding (and hurting) is fun again!
After returning from a couple weeks hanging out in Wanaka with some cool people over new years, I returned home and had a couple big long chats with my coach (BOBBY TUXFORD) and my first official day of training was on the 8th of Jan. Yes this only gave me about three weeks of hard training to get ready for my first race "Round two of the National series in Wellington", but with the head in the right place and using what fitness I had held onto I was excited to see where I could get myself to in the short time I had.

I arrived in Wellington on the Friday and Rolled a couple laps of the track, Being held on Mt Vic it is a bit of an old favorite of mine as we have been racing on this hill since the mid 90s. The track was similar to the one used last year with a couple slight changes, I already had the perfect tires fitted (GEAX MEZCAL 2.1 TNT) on my bike and felt at home on the down hills straight away.
Race day was a hot one and starting at 2pm meant a few people were going to cook them selves! I didn't have much of a kick off the line and with a few guys in front of me stuffing up on the loose gravel I struggled to hold the front guys up the first climbs, I knew I just had to ride my own race and not worry about who was around me or what they were doing. Slowly but surly I started to catch a few riders, this said on lap three I was with young Tom B (who grew up in Wellington and knows the tracks on Mt Vic rather well) he attacked me into a short down hill section and then cut over to block me at the top of the next little pinch, then moved across to shut the door on me going around the outside of him into the hairpin. I swapped sides and came up the inside rather fast as he swung out to set up for the corner (29er vrs 26), as he turned in I was already there and with a slight pause mid corner before a sprint out of the corner and into the next down hill section I had the spot and put more time into him on the down hill, It was good to see him racing like this (as this is how I like to race) but as he learned I have many, many years of tricks to pull out of the bag when I need too. I worked my way into 6th place by the finish, I am happy with my result all things considering, I felt strong all race and my recovery after the race was good as I was still able to get out and do all my sprints on Tuesday after work. I have taken a lot of positives from the race and am already looking forward to this coming weekend in Hinua, Auckland and then National Champs in Rotorua on the 16th with a bit more top end speed Im sure!
Finally Id just like to thank my awesome friends in Wellington (and Roadie/Dave) for a mint weekend!

Mid winter update

Well its been some time since I last posted an update, So here goes...
I have decided this year to take some time to do a few other things other than the usual training and racing that I have every other year. I am trying a few different things to get that spark back on the MTB and racing, After 16 years of racing the National MTB series and growing up riding motor bikes it was  easy to decide to get ahold of a moto. I am still riding most days on the road to keep the fitness in order but I am now playing around on a motox bike as I see it as a great way to sharpen up my skills and do some thing that takes full concentration while challenging me physically.
I am also focussing on my studies as I am in the last few months now and it will be nice to have it out of the way before the summer kicks in. With this in mind it dose not mean I have stopped racing, No not at all, it is just a good time for me to play and have fun doing a few other things before the summer racing months kick in again.