NZ National series champion 2011

Well the race didnt go so well but all I had to do was start the final to win the series (oh and show the officals how to add but I will get to that soon).

Yep it had been a busy week and a half for me. Fly to Nelson, Race and fly up to Hamilton 2hrs after the race, Spend the week at block corse (for my plumbing apprentiship) with three exams on Friday, drive to Auckland Sat morning and fly down to Christchurch landing at 10am and racing at that arvo at 2pm. I had a good start and knew I had to be at the front at the top of the hill to set the pace on the down hill (as the first time I had seen the track was during my warm up when I rode a lap) So with this in mind I decided the best way to learn the track was at the front. This worked for the first couple laps sitting 1st or 2nd and not panicking if others/locals caught up again. After a few laps I felt my legs just go flat and I knew I was going to have to call on some old school bluffing to get me through to the end. Soon after my legs went flat the young 16year old " pocket rocket" (Anton Copper) attacked and I couldnt call on any bluffing to help with that, I started to drop backwards quickly on that lap and decided to pull the pin at the end of the lap and try to save my legs for next weekends National Champs.

Although I didnt finish the race I had enough points to win the series, although the officals miss counted the points giving it to Carl Jones at first. As we steeped down off the podium I talked it over with them and we had it sorted, although by the time we had most of the people had left prize giving. Oh well at least it was sorted

Nelson NZ round #3

Raced today and finished 3rd, Full report after sleep

old meets new

They say "what goes around comes around" and that is exactly what has happened!. In 2000 I signed my first proper sponsorship deal to ride marzocchi shocks, now in 2011 I am testing a new set for the guys at YD-open. they are similar weight to the sids I have been riding and have that feeling you would expect from marzocchi. I had my first ride on them today and I have to say, they feel as smooth as my old set I have been using on my single speed only lighter, stiffer and with a lock out! I will be riding them for the rest NZ season so Im sure I will be putting more updates up about how they ride, but so far so good.

I have built the forks up on Michelles carbon JAMIS frame to race for the rest of the season, After todays ride Im sure it will turn heads and get a fair bit of attention!

Round 2 NZ national series, Napier

Yep another second this week. This week we raced in Napier, It was even hotter this week as was the field. With UCI points up for grabs I knew it was going to be a tough day out, During my warm up I was zipping along a bit of single track and as I came round a corner I hit another rider head on! Yep she was riding the track backwards!!! I wont name names though (Katie O'neil) as she felt so bad about what had happened and neither of us or our bikes were damaged in the impact. Off the line I decided to light it up to be first into the single track, this worked out and I was able to sit up a bit and control the race till the first climb. I held the lead up the climb and then slipped into second just before the first big decent, I made a few mistakes on the way down letting Dirk get a gap that he kept extending all day. My race started to suffer from that point as I started to get slower and feel like I was going to black out, I dropped back to 4th for a lap or so before starting to settle in and find my legs again. I passed Stu for third on the steep climb and made my way up to Carl as it flattened off across the top, We spent the rest of the lap swapping spots and trying to brake each other with my lift of pace (on the same place as I had caught him) proving to be the deciding move. From there on it was just keep it upright and make sure he wasnt coming back at me, So another 2nd I had to settle for. I now have enough UCI points to put me back inside the top 100 (I should be 96th when the points are credited), so not a bad way to start the year off.

This week I was wearing my flash new ADIDAS evil eye half frames during training and in the race, These are an awesome new glass and I have already had a lot of comments on them

Cycle Obsession national round

Merry Christmas.....Happy New Year.....Round 1 NZ National series, Yep thats how it is in NZ.

Had a good start, leading the race from the gun. Big crash half way through lap 3 (of 6) and destroyed my front brake! So three times down part of last years National down hill series track was kid of scary. With close to a two minute lead (so Im told) when I crashed and most of that lead going in the tec zone, I was caught with just over a lap to go. I still tried a couple times to get a gap but couldnt make enough time before the dh to the finish, I had to settle for second place.

The track was awesome and the weather was hot making for lots of dust and my tyre choice of GEAX AKA the perfect tyre for the day. Other than my brake lever the loverly JAMIS bike didnt miss a beat and the PEAK FEUL helped me fly up the hills!!

Bikes For Sale

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=342395836

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=342404460

27/11/10 My last race of the year.

The Grate lake cycle challenge is New Zealands biggest cycling event by far, with around 10 thousand riders and events ranging from 40km rely to 1000km enduro, with the main event being the 160km road ride around lake Taupo.

This year was the third year of the MTB event, getting longer each year its now 82km mostly single track and on some of NZs best (under rated) single track. The day was hot with no clouds to block the sun and next to no wind, just a perfect day really. We started the race at 7:00am and the pace was like the day, HOT! From the gun it was hammer down, I hit the single track in 1^st and tried to open the gap/force a small group at the front and keep the pace hot. Tim (t-rex) Wilding and Dirk Peters both came with me and we opened up a gap early on, t-rex had the same idea as I did so we kept swapping the lead and pushing the pace. I got a small gap on one of the steeper climbs about 1hr10 into the race and then t-rex had a small crash on the decent letting the gap open some more, Dirk was the first to catch back up to me then t-rex awhile after. So it was back to the three of us and the way the other two are riding I’m thinking I cant waste energy and I’m better to sit in second and follow the pace in the single track. Not far before we hit some gravel road Dirk had a problem with his gears leaving t-rex and me to it, we started lapping on the gravel and at one point could see Dirk trying to get back to us, but that was the last time we saw him as he started to blow soon after. T-rex and I kept the pace on, swapping the lead and both doing work to keep the lead. We had to jump off and run for a short part while we shared the walking track from Spa park to Huka falls, Once that was over I could feel a twinge of cramp in my legs, so a quick swig of coke and that helped until the next climb. I sat behind t-rex for a while taking a swig of coke at the bottom and top of all the climbs on the way back to spa park, taking the lead just before spa park and setting the pace up the last couple climbs to make sure no attacks would happen. As we rode past the boat harbour we were side by side and gave each other a pat on the back, deciding the only thing to do at the finish was, DRAG RACE! We both rode down the finish straight watching each other and as t-rex jumped to open the sprint I reacted jumping to sprint as well. T-rex managed two pedal strokes and I got four out before our legs locked with cramp, the four I was able to get out gave me the momentum and the win. 82km of mostly single track in 3hr 43min 45sec.