UCI Oceania XC Championships

Making the trip down to Dunedin for my last domestic race for the season was a good trip the racing was hard, the accommodation was great and I was with great people. I made the trip down with Carl and Katie (some friends) to help keep the expenses down.

The 2010 Mountain bike Oceania Championships were held in Forster Park, Dunedin. The XC track in Dunedin is my favourite track in the Country, made up of burms, technical descents, hard climbs and short fast laps.

We arrived in Dunedin on the Wednesday making riding the track our priority. We were all dressed up in our winter woollies for the only time while we were in Dunedin. The first lap was amazing and just confirmed how mean the track really is. I sorted some lines and started to feel comfortable on the track. I was confident for a good race.

This year the U23’s raced with the Pro’s and for one podium. We then were awarded with Pro UCI points which were a lot more than what we would have got in U23.

I was ranked in the top 16 in the second row of the start line, I had a alright start even though my legs felt like bricks and was sitting in about 12^th going up the first gravel road climb about 2km into the race. I had been passed by a few riders on the second lap and struggled to hold their wheels.

As the laps went on started feeling better and better until the fifth lap (of six) where I started to fade. I had forgotten to have my carbo shot on the third that I normally do and it affected me big time, I started to lose focus and had a small crash. I got back up and pulled myself together.

After having my carbo shot I started feeling better however the crap had already set in and it was a strive for the finish line.

I finished 14^th place with about three other riders closing in on me near the end.

On the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday after Oceania’s MTBNZ held a performance camp for anyone interested, we attended all of Monday and Tuesday morning before heading back to Christchurch to catch a flight. It was worthwhile and I took a few valuable things away from it. It also included a skills clinic which was beneficial to me.

Thanks to Joe (Lockland’s mother) for all the cooking and shopping she did for us while we were staying with her! It made it so much easier. I will do a season wrap up that will include the NZ team long list in the near future.

National Champs Wellington

7th Pro Men/ 3rd U23

The biggest race of the year, the one with all the meaning for selection and the one everyone wants to perform well at. This race is my most important race for the NZ season. For me to do my best and finish absolutely smashed.

This year they started everyone (U19, U23 and pro men) together to make a bigger and even race but there was two podiums, U19 and U23/pro except they started U23 5 meters back from pro… not too sure why being in the same race and racing for the same podium. Anyway nothing we could do to change it now.

This year our start was very similar to a Rotorua start with a tarmac climb up to the first bit of single track. By the first three Hundred meters I was in the top three out of everyone, basically my best start for a Nationals as of yet.

I lost a few places but that was alright I didn’t want to go nuts to keep up, the track was the kind you had to be smart about and not hurt yourself to much in the first few laps.

My fourth lap was far my hardest of five laps, I was starting to feel the hurt and knew I still had one full lap to go after finishing this one. This would have been the hardest mentally moment of the race. Once I started my fifth lap I got my coke and skulled some back, within moments I got the stitch and didn’t touch the coke anymore. I knew I needed something more to get me through this one death lap. Craig Corbett was feeding me half way through the track at the second feed zone, he gave me water and it went down without any force. I was starting to struggle and cramp had shown me that it was there ready to make the day more difficult. All this meant to me was no standing up and to get home.

Another National Championships done and dusted. Thanks to Geax for some mean tyres, Raiseys for the Hydration fluids and Waiariki!!!

North Island Cup Round three Rotorua

6th Pro men

The first priority one race of my season and I was fizzing for a good race. I was happy with the track, it had good length steep climbs that suits my style. Being a home track really boosted my confidence to try and get onto the podium.

Everyone was at this race and I wanted a good result with the likes of Stu Holtham, Mikey Northcott, Carl Jones, Dirk Peters and Brendon Sharret all going good for nationals next weekend.

The Rotorua starts are always hard because it is a drag race up the tarmac Nursery rd into the first bit of single track. Once you in the single track there is limited passing until about half way around the track. I had a good start mixing it up with the big boys and getting into the single track about top five.

As I counted down each lap I felt stronger and stronger, I knew how hard each climb was and I knew just what intensity I could hold to last the whole race. Being my home track, I was out there doing my interval training on the course to achieve this.

Overall I had a great race, nothing went wrong and I was well hydrated from Raiseys HYRD8.

A big thanks to Mati for organising the race and the Rotorua Mountain Bike Club.

North Island Cup Round two Hamilton

5th pro men

After making an important decision whether to race this round of the North Island Cup or race the third race in the N-Duro summer series here in Rotorua, I did make the choice to race Hamilton because it had more weighting towards the NZ team selection to race the World Championships in Canada later this year.

This was a different type of race being a very flat, windy and full on track. With about 80 meters of climbing per lap (normally around 200-300 for this type of race) it made a very fast race with no time to recover at all. Hamilton mountain bike climb had done a great job in making an 8km track with the area they had. This resulted in having thousands of corners and zig zags up small hills that slowly wore me out after each lap.

I had a good start and the first lap was very fast, I was only just holding on and coming close to a bike pile up after one of the front riders went down. This was a race where I really looked forward to having my coke going into the last lap because I was stuffed!

I was worried about this race but had a good day in the saddle and went home happy with my result.

North Island Cup Round one Tokoroa

6th Pro men

So there I was at the start of my first major race for the NZ season. I was feeling pretty dam nervous, being the first race of the season it always gets me nervous because I had no idea of anyone’s race form or fitness.

The track was a goodie, it was fast and tight, being made by small fulla Mikey Northcott. There was a short step climb and a gravel road climb with some wicked descents. As part of the Waiariki squad we made a trip over to Tokoroa a few days before to prep the track, which was worth my while and I was feeling confident.

The race started in a big soccer field with two laps of that, then into the single track, I had a good start from the front line and got into the track in a great spot about third wheel. As the laps went on I lost a few places but was still feeling good and I was using HYRD8 from Raiseys to keep me hydrated in the warm Tokoroa sun. A good start to the season and I have plenty to improve on.