Scott Green XC Mountain Biker

Update and Galaxy Travel N-Duro one

2011-06-12T01:11:00.000-07:00

Well over the last six months I have been trying to work out and problem with my left leg. My problem is: I have been experiencing a sore left leg under high intensity so in a race situation. I have had no trouble just out riding it was only when I hit the top 15% of my max.

After seeing many doctors and scans, ultra sounds and discussion with the Waiariki Academy of sport staff. I decided to try a muscle relaxant pill, (a drug) after a session with Chris Milne in Hamilton, its called amitriptyline in conjunction with deep tissue massage from Ant at the Physiotherapy Clinic here in Rotorua. Huge thanks for the support over the last 6 months!

I have been doing a lot of running to keep fit instead as I have been getting frustrated with the riding.

So after being on Amitriptyline for two weeks I raced the N-duro as a test to find out if it was working. I was stoked to find out that both my legs felt the same, lack of training on the mountain bike was defiantly visible as I lasted about 40 mins until the body said, thats enough and shut down, making it a very long ride from there on in and sucking every little last bit from my Peak Fuel tube.

So thats the short version of what has been happening, I am planning on doing some kayaking and will enter Montys Multisport event over in Whakatane as my next event in two weeks.

Time to hit the bike again this week to kick start training in the NZ winter again.

Will let you know how Montys goes.

Moonride

2011-05-15T20:50:00.000-07:00

The Moonride is done and dusted once again. This year I rode for Team AvantiPlus MTB. We finished second in Open.

This year was most likely the wettest 12 hour event I have ever done. It was mud galore but fun.

Hiskey done the first few laps setting us up for a nice 12 hours of racing in 3rd place but as the event went on and at times the rain came down we caught and passed a Palmerston North team and stayed there for the rest of the race. I went out and done my fastest lap soon after I finished a tube of peak fuel soon after half way.

I was riding my Scott Spark 20 which was great for the flat track we were on and I had a Kenda Slant Six up front which did prove interesting at times but cleared without any trouble and I had a Kenda Karma on the rear for great traction in the mud.

Heres the link for full results http://res.timingsports.com/List.asp?id=1613&race=12HR

Colville Connection

2011-03-12T18:39:00.001-08:00

On Friday night I was picked up by to nice young men from Napier as we were heading to the top of Coromandel for a 72 km mountain bike race starting and finishing in Colville. We stayed in Coromandel with the rest of Team Avanti (Hiskey and JT) in a very nice bungalow.

The race started at 9am and I finished at 12:30, not my ideal race time... but a great race over all and I managed to sneak into the top 40 finishing 39th. I was riding my Spark 20 and loved it on the farm decent's and some of the corrugated roads. I had two peak full gels berry flavor that helped me big time, out near the end.

At the moment I am dealing with a bung leg and have seen a specialist but we are yet to confirm what it is. I am getting an ultra scan done on a main artery to my legs as well as other testing at the start of April.

I will keep you all updated in how that goes but for now I am going to take a small step down from racing and just enjoy riding and get stuck into my studies for semester one.

Karapoti Classic

2011-03-05T20:03:00.000-08:00

Yeap another Karapoti Classic done for the year, I don't ways look forward to this event as it is a bike wrecker, however my Scott Spark 20 held up fine and the extra travel was excellent for this marathon type event.

I still will not forget how step and long some of those climbs are, even using my small chain ring on them with the lack of force my legs can put out at the top end it defiantly made my life more pleasant.

How ever I am going to see a specialist to find out what is wrong with my leg and hopefully come home with an explanation that I will let you know about.

I finished the Poti Classic in three hours and 8 minutes, a bit different to what I normal would expect but did enjoy finishing with a dip in the river with cramp on the side.

Kenda Karma's were my choice of tyre and I was using them tubeless, although I had a slow leak which I kept feeding C02 near the end I had no trouble and they held on to the gravel roads perfect as well as giving me ampule traction on the climbs.

Thanks to the team members that roll up and a good weekend away.

Bung leg

2011-02-21T16:55:00.001-08:00

I have had to pull the pin for natinal champs due to an unconfirmed condtion with one of my legs.

More detail to follow after I have seen a specialist.

NZ Cup Round Three Nelson

2011-02-13T22:48:00.000-08:00

Nelson always puts up a great race track and a great race atmosphere for us.

The track was hard, fast and challenging for me I did enjoy riding around getting lines and doing efforts etc on the track.

The race was fast and I didn't have a chance, not too sure what was happening but everyone went around me and from here I started to make my way back up the field picking riders off each lap. We done 6 laps and I finished 17th.

So not the race of my life, I am now focusing on the fourth round of the NZ cup here in Christchurch and then National Champs in Dunedin next saturday.

Huge thanks to Bruce and Sarah in Nelson for the wonderful accommodation.

This weekend I was racing my Scott Spark 20 rolling nicely on my Kenda Small Block eights and I was fueled by Peak Fuel.

N-Duro Summer Series Race Two

2011-02-05T19:35:00.000-08:00

Todays race was great, I really enjoyed the whole race from the start to the end. Marcus plus team had planned a killer course that featured all aspects of a good mountain bike course with sufficient climbing and majority single track, this was my kinda race track.

There was a bit of congestion at the start that I managed to keep clear of and found myself in a good position to start with and had the form to keep up in the top five most of the race.

I was being kept very honest by John Grey and Des Curry that were just behind me when I was sitting in fifth place going up a main climb, I managed to shake these guys off as soon as I hit the flatter single tracks, where I was leaving nothing out on the track and keep the pace on hoping to catch a few others in front.

Over all another great event ran buy the N-Duro crew. I finished 4th place behind, Dirk Peters, Carl Jones and Sam Shaw.

Training is starting to pay off and things are settling in just nicely with 20 days until Nationals.

Today I was out riding my Scott Spark 20 loving the down and flatter tracks, keeping things rolling very smooth. These dry conditions were perfect for my Kenda small block eights that I was running tubeless. Peak fuel Gels kept me alert and on the rivet nearing the end of the race.

NZ Cup Round two Napier

2011-01-16T16:27:00.000-08:00

Round to of the NZ Cup in hot hot Napier was a good weekend away with a few mates. I liked the track and it was bone dry and bound to be a fast race.

I felt good riding around on practice day and was feeling confident, However as soon as the race started this went very bad I seem to have no go and really suffered. Making it not such a good day in the saddle for me finishing 11th. This was a UCI round so it had some meaning to me if I decide to go overseas.

Working a few things out in the next few weeks and will be expecting a good result down in Nelson (another UCI round) and Dunedin (nats)

Thanks to Peak fuel and Avanti Plus.

N-duro Summer Series Race One

2011-01-08T22:57:00.000-08:00

The first mountain bike race for the season and it felt great to finish this race in one piece.

Todays race was a 45km one loop course spreading over some of the best trails that Rotorua has to offer, the pace was hot from the gun with Dirk Peters leading the field, I was sitting in 3rd right behind Carl Jones and 10m off Dirk. We caught Dirk at the base of the first hill and the KOM (King of the Mountain) of the race, I was third over the hill slightly behind Carl and Dirk took it out.

(KOM is a new thing to hit the N-duro series and mountain biking on a whole it mixes the event up and gives some people that can't race for as long but still have a chance up a short hill to get some sort of result)

Shortly after the KOM I took a slight detour losing 10 or so places that I was trying to make back up over the rest of the course only making it to 8th. I do have to admit I wasn't feeling the best at all today and put it down to my first mountain bike race since the Huka in November, lets hope next weekends NZ cup in Napier is a different story.

Today I was using Berry Blast Peak Fuel gel and hydration mix thanks to AvantiPlus.

Nice work to Marcus and the N-Duro team another great event.

Tour de Vineyards, Nelson

2011-01-05T14:05:00.001-08:00

Happy new year to all, It was a hard start to my new year with Tour De Vineyards. Overall I had a tough tour finding it harder than last year. I did enjoy it though, I love hanging up the mountain bike and dusting off the road bike for some hard racing now and then and Tour de Vineyards is an outstanding event to kick off our summer Mountain bike season.

Our mission started on boxing day, Thanks to Waiariki for the van and ferry. We also had the helping hand from Sam as our manager/masseuses. The girls tour started on the 28th December and we started on the 1st January.

This is how my tour unfolded.

Stage one- 60km circuit race around "Hope circuit", I held in the bunch working on the front near the end, After this stage I was still feeling good and ready for the next day.

Stage two- 130km with Hill top finish on Takaka, by the time we got to the base of Takaka (16km climb) I was already pretty blown, the effects from yesterday where showing presences and I fell far back in the field by the finish. Ending up 64th ish.

Stage three- 120km stage race. feeling pretty gadded by now I held in there for 90km before a big group of us getting dropped on the 2nd King of the mountain seeing us to the finish.

Stage four- 50km "Hill street" circuit. The pace was on from the word go and I was hanging in there until around 5 laps to go. From here I started swinging off the back being dropped several times and getting back on only to get dropped again but on 3 laps to go I just couldn't get back on and the bunch drifted away from me and that was my Tour over.

Good tour once again and though out the tour I was using Peak fuel gels, bars and hydration drink mix, thanks to AvantiPlus.

This time already

2010-12-14T19:27:00.001-08:00

To start with I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy and success full New Year.

I am currently working and training hard, I have managed to find the right balance between work and training and also having some chilling out time for recovery. I had some testing a few weeks back now and the results were good, I am lighter, more powerful and skin folders have decreased 37%.

On Boxing Day I am planning on travelling with some of the Waiariki crew to Nelson for Tour De Vineyards, a four stage road race over the first for days of the New Year. I’m looking forward to it, the four days hard racing really kicks off my season of racing on the mountain bike.

I am looking forward to this summers racing with plenty of summer N-Duros that I will be racing and the NZ Cup, I am also making plans to travel back down to the south Island for the NZ Cup rounds and National Championships in Dunedin, where I hope to have my best result ever.

I will be keeping you posted as my season goes on. Have a Great Christmas with your families and a nice New Years.

CheersScott

Huka XL

2010-11-28T18:39:00.001-08:00

Friday night I drove down to Taupo for the Huka XL MTB race which is part of the famous Lake Taupo Cycle challenge. We started at 7am which is rather early and something that none of us are use to. However there we all are lined up at 7am on a Crisp Saturday morning on Taupo's main road.

The pace was hot from the gun and I was sitting in top 10 for the first ten kilometers until boom I broke my chain heading up a steep hill. I managed to borrow a chain breaker off someone but still had a bit of trouble fixing it. I got it sorted after a while and jumped back on my bike, I made it around a few corners and then it broke again. This time my good friends Wilson Jones and Locky Mcarthur helped me, by then my chain was rather short so I was restricted with what gear combinations I could use.

From here on in I was well down from the top 10 and just enjoyed the rest of the ride with the help of some Peak fuel Gels nearing the end. I was using Kenda Karma's which help heaps with the Taupo conditions, it was a great combination with my Scott Spark 20.

Thanks to Team AvantiPlus, and Sheppard's Industries Ltd.

Unison and Cycling Rotorua bring us the Rotorua Ohope

2010-11-13T19:58:00.000-08:00

Rotorua to Ohope funride is over for another year, Cycling Rotorua do a great job at running this event every year. Even though its a funride theres always the pressure to get to Ohope the fastest in the sense of a race.

It was a hot pace from the word go, with hot shots, Clinton Avery and Sam Bewley playing at the front. I used this time to warm up and spin the legs a bit after a pretty intense training camp as part of the Waiariki Academy of sport including boot camp style training.

The famous Hells gate hill spilt the bunch like normal and I did miss the initial attack but managed to bridge across over the top really putting the hurt on my legs. Form there I was swinging on the nine strong break away and pulling some weak laps all the way around to the Rotoma hill where I got slightly droped and lost about 15 seconds. This was nothing I couldn't bring back on the two minute long down hill where I took a few major risks to do so. Clinton Avery had already gone off the front and by the time I caught back up he was out of sight.

When we hit the Whakatane flats I started feeling rather strong again and pushed the pace. Some riders dropped off in because of this. We approached the Ohope hill where Dirk Peters put in a very solid attack followed closely by Josh Page (fellow Team AvantiPlus rider from Napier), I could not match the pace and just rode up the climb with two others that did drop me over the top, Again nothing I could catch back up on the downhill. These are the two guys that I caught at the bottom behind me in the sprint for 4th place.

A great hit out and I do enjoy the change from mountain biking now and then, bring on Vineyards!!!

Top Five: Clinton Avery, Dirk Peters, Josh Page, Scott Green and Nelson Shaw.

Team Avanti Plus

2010-11-05T14:03:00.000-07:00

Here is the start of another season, with only 4 national series races, National champs and Oceanias (AUS) it seems to me its going to be a short intense season which is good for those of us that want to be able to have a outstanding international season as well.

The 2010/2011 season for me has had a turn for the best, I have signned with Team AvantiPlus for the year. Our aim is to promote AvantiPlus stores and products. We are on a mix of Avanti and Scott bikes.

The time has really come, Scott Green is riding Scott bikes, I am currently riding a very smooth Scott Spark 20. Its a great bike, it has an effective lock out system so that it's just as stiff as a hard tail when climbing and when unlocked it rides just like a trail bike. I have had several rides so far and its rips through the Redwoods with ease.

This Spark 20 is my first full suspension bike that I've had for more than a few days, the ride it provides is out standing. When I was told that I was going to be riding a full suspension I thought ahh, heavy bike for climbing but I guess heaps of fun on the downhills and single track. I was wrong...... this bike has the ability to be just as fast on the climbs and even faster on the downhills than a hardtail. One feature it has is a two stage lock out system which allows me to lock out both front and rear suspension completely or just stiffen them up. So far I have loved riding it and have been impressed each ride.

(Picture)Lock out system on spark 20 >>

With Team AvantiPlus comes with the support from Kenda

(tyres), Peak fuel (nutrition), Zero (accessories) and Scott and Avanti bikes.

Look out for the new AvantiPlus Team at the Huka Challenge in Taupo where we are having our first race as a team. If you see me around come over and have a chat.

Please check out my calendar to see where I am heading in the next 6 months.

Single Speed Worlds Rotorua

2010-10-24T22:49:00.000-07:00

Single Speed Worlds will be an event to remember with many twists making things a lot different to our normal cross country race. Most definitely a good thing, mixing things up like the single speed society keeps all of us on our toes.

Like the start for instance, we had a mass of riders trying to ride around in a massive circle until the time was up and we were all aloud to migrate into the forest around 1000 other riders trying to do the same thing.

I had a pretty good start, I would have been in the top 200 going up the first climb and felt good. unfortunately a lack of preparation on my behalf I had a loose chain and it kept on jumping off on every downhill. So that was my serious part oft he race over and I started to just enjoy the atmosphere that the Single Speeders create.

This was my first race on a 29er thanks to Oliver Whalley and Ventana, it was amazing I now know what everyone is talking about when they say 29ers are something different, although I am not sure how they would go in a short circuit race. I highly recommend trying Ventana, It is only a small brand in NZ with massive potential. Check out the international website. http://www.ventanausa.com/ and Ollies blog mountainpedalernz.blogspot.com for some good reading!

One more thing, a nice effort by Marcus, Dean and their crew another event ran smoothly.

Gearing up for Single Speed Worlds

2010-10-14T23:02:00.000-07:00

Well I’m back in the country and have had a good month off the bike. I am now ready to get back into it, starting with Single Speed Worlds on the 23rd October where ill be riding a Ventana 29er bike! Its going to be an epic weekend and everyone is looking forward to it.

I had planned to race the 50km N-Duro this weekend in conjunction with the Whaka 100 but I have hurt my ankle running so am going to give it a miss and make sure I get this sorted at this early part of the season.

Making sure I’m in prime condition for the SSW.

I may have some exciting news to share with you all soon, this could really help me this season providing me with all I need to succeed. More info to come...

Just a short update but will update as news comes in.

Thanks to Ollie Whalley for the support with Single Speed Worlds.

Windham World Cup

2010-09-01T05:56:00.000-07:00

For the last week I have been down in Windham, New York for the Windham World Cup. This was my last race for my North American season and I wanted to make the final race a good one.

The race track was on a ski feild like every other track I have on over here. The track climbed up for about 12 minutes then decended for 6 mintues. It had some short down hills on the way up and a few short climbs on the way down to break it up. The course was like a high way compered to some of the other tracks I have been racing on in canada.

I was plate number ninety two out of over one hundred riders and I was ranked eighty seventh so I was pretty much at the back. The start was just as fast as I imagined and I was fighting for positions and dodging a crash. The first lap was hectic and bottle necked a few times so that meant off the bike running and being agressive is the key to passing people in these situations. I made a few spots but lots then soon after, I didnt have the strength to hold on I was really suffering. I suffered like this for most the race, Well for three laps then I got pulled because of the eighty percent rule.

I'm dissapointed in that results because I was feeling good and was hoping to be able to get a good result. I am now heading back up to Mont Sainte Anne to watch the World champs and support the kiwis and spend some time with my parents which have been having their own Canadian experience.

We also had a break down on the side of the highway which sucked but all adds to the experience. We had 7 bikes and 7 people on this trip so we were full as. We even got to ride in the van while on the tow truck. The problem was a blown alternator and was fixed on a Sunday afternoon in 3 hours or so.

Quebec championships

2010-08-23T14:20:00.000-07:00

This weekend I raced at Mont Sainte Anne which is 3 hours north of Bromont. We drove up on thursday and rode a few laps of the track that evening.

This race was the Quebec Championships (regionals) and includes the majority of the world champs track, there were a few differances like the worlds track climbs a bit longer half way through the lap and there are extra technical sections of single track that will in the worlds track. The track is super fun, with technical sections to keep us on our toes and some nice step climbs along with a few rolling bridges to keep the crowd interested.

My race was just like the rest of my races in Canada, we started at the back and had to make our wy through the feild which is good pratice for the world cup this coming weekend. I am also laking race form, I just kept picking off riders until about the 4 lap and then the riders started being a bit more competitive with me like racing for the single track and battling it out on the climbs. I felt strong in my last lap. I finished 13th and about 9 minutes down.

2010-08-16T06:49:00.000-07:00

Bromont Open

This weekends race was slightly depressing with finishing nineteen minutes down and in 27^th place in elite. I have been feeling really weird on the bike, kind of sluggish and dead legs even in training.

The race track for this weekends race was a good one, it was based on a ski field it had about a four minute climb to the top and then traversed back down with plenty of technical obstacles including rocks and roots. Riding these technical sections were fine in training but when at race pace, if I wasn’t concentrating 100% I would get a bit rowdy and end up losing time. I was happy with the track it was a great race track, had good climbing some fast single track and a lot of technical features.

So there I was, on the start line in the beaming sun and glanced over to a temperature display screen at the base of a chair lift and it was reading 29 degrees. With a Midday start it was only going to get hotter and hotter. I was called up 11^th because of my UCI points from the NZ season so I was all ready for a good start.

The gun goes off and I clipped straight into my pedal and got on with the race. I was right up there mixing it with the big boys, but slowly everyone started coming around me and I just felt average, really gutting! I was trying to hold the wheels but I was just not strong enough.

Lap one I lost a lot of places and I was racing with a few other guys so we were all still pushinghard to get to the single track first. This went on for awhile and I slowly got in front of them and caught a few other guys. We ended up doing short 6 laps.

All and all I’m not racing as well as I would of liked to here in Canada and have missed out on the chance to make the worlds team and will now be concentrating on the world cup in Windham as my main event to finish off my Canadian season of racing.

The time I have been in Bromont I have been staying with Mike, Michelle, Adrian, Locky, Andrew a Canadian guy that we have meet and Sebastian, Sebastian has let us take over his house for the week which has been so nice of him thanks heaps man.

Ontario Cup/Selection

2010-08-09T19:00:00.000-07:00

This last weeks of training went well, I was feeling good and ready to race. After many laps on the track to get to know all the hotlines etc. the track was starting to feel natural to me. On tuesday night we done a club race which was three laps and gave me a good chance to get the feel of the track at race pace.

The race track was interesting, it started with a climb for about 3 minutes and then into flat single track with a few short decents and flat roads which made it a track with very little recovery time.There were some nice technical sections that took a bit of time to work out the fastest way through them, which was fun to do with a few mates just to get other opinons.

The race morning was full of nerves and we had a 1:30pm start so all morning we were just sitting around the campsite killing time and thinking about the race. By the time came around to go up to the track I was ready and amping for a good race. I had a alright warm up but didnt feel the best, i felt a bit slugish and I done some sprints to try and fire myself up and then went into the starting gates.

The start was pretty fast thanks to another kiwi Mikey Northcott who ripped off the front up the main climb, I got caught in a bit of a tangle up about 100 meters from the start but it didnt seem to effect me that much as I just passed alot of people on the climb before hitting the single track.

The first half of the race my legs were feeling slugish but I just kept on pushing and hoped to push through, sure enough in the fourth lap out of five I started feeling better and took my carbo shot and for my last lap i felt great which was anoying cuz I wish I felt like that for my whole race but that was just how it was.

Over all I wasnt that happy with my result which was 10th in elite and I was 6 minutes down on the winner Adam Morka.

The New Zeland team has been named as you all maybe aware I havnt made the team but have been giving the chance to prove that I can get a top thirty at the world Champs at my next race which is a UCI event and there should be some fast guys to compare myself against. Either way if I get a good enough result at Bromont this weekend and make the worlds team well in good, how ever if I am not fast enough I will still keep training just as hard and make my peak for the world cup in Windham near New york.

I am now in Bromont staying with Mikey, Locky, Michelle and Adrian and Sebastien (its his house).

Regina and the Wascana Challenge

2010-07-28T11:13:00.000-07:00

For the last week I have been in Regina, Saskatchewan which is slightly west from central Canada. It can get pretty hot here (as well as very cold around -30 degrees in winter!!!), not as hot as Vegas but still uncomfortably hot. We end up sitting around doing nothing because of the heat most of the time.

While wewere in Canmore we were camping next to this young family that are from Regina, they opened up there house to us with a camper on their front lawn for all four of us to sleep in for the time that we were going to be in Regina.

So far we have found that Canadians are very kind and helpful, but this family are over and above everyone else, it’s not every day you come across people as helpful as Kim and Jeremy, I mean Kim cooked us wonderful meals and Jeremy helped us with our bikes the day before the race and got a hold of a bike from Western Cycles for Adrian to use before he flew to Vancouver to get his. The kids also provided some good times. Thank you guys so much, greatly appreciated.

The river valley the track was, with the feed zone tents in center

Not only they done all that for us, we also were given a free entry for the race that Jeremy sorted out and even still got prize money and lunch at the track!

The race itself was a tough one, with 30 degreesand being humid it wasn’t quite what we were used to. The track was based in a big river valley because there are no hills around Regina it is all dead flat. Being flat we thought maybe not much climbing? We thought wrong; the track was up hill then down dale for most of the lap. Lots of 30 second climbs that soon wore us down; there was also some nice tight single track for us to negotiate around. Over all a great race track for our 2^nd race in Canada.

The low key podium. From left Jeremy Erdmann, Carl Jones and Scott Green.

I placed 2^nd a few minutes down on the winner Carl Jones (NZ), we were together for the first few laps and the pace he set was digging a hole in me in particularly on the hills. He rode strong.

New Helmet

2010-07-23T17:00:00.001-07:00

Today I spoilt myself with a new helmet. After having my one in Chile it got a bit thrashed and I had tape holding the back support together. I did how ever go for one of the flashest ones in the shop and spending a lot more than I should of, but the saying goes, "safety first" doesn't it?

The red will match my Waiariki kit and my new stem on my bike to contrast the black and green of the frame.

I have a race this sunday, which has a lot of step short climbs so its going to be a intense race. Im not sure what other competition there is going to be, besides us kiwi's. Looking forward to it, this will be my second race in Canada.

A week in Canmore

2010-07-19T13:40:00.000-07:00

For the last week we have been in a small ski town called Canmore, there is some great riding here on the mountains slopes around us. We have been here for a week and have had time to settle down in a RV park and find the best riding around the area.

There is a lot of climbing around which has made a great training ground for us and its all at altitude so makes it great for hard training

me and the nice view on a sunday ride

The main reason we came here was to watch the Canadian National Champs, we weren't aloud to race because were not Canadian residents which is fair enough. So we just watched and cheered the very few people we know on. Normally watching races is pretty hard because we all ways want to be in them and get all excited just watching.

The elite mens race was pretty cool to watch they are just the next level from what we have in NZ and to see Jeff Kabush smash it out in the last lap to loose two other riders that were on his tail and take the National title. Making the small journey to Canmore has been worth while and is another place we can tick off on our Canadian experience.

On Tuesday we are moving on to a bigger town Regina, just north-east of here where our next race is this coming weekend.

Race one in Edmonton

2010-07-12T16:52:00.001-07:00

My first race in Canada was in a city called Edmonton. Edmonton is the Capital of Alberta a state

in Canada. It is a pretty cool city, I’m guessing around a million people living here. It has one of the biggest malls in the world; I am going to check out today.

Pro men started at 2pm just like in NZ and there were 45 starters. We raced 6 laps of a 7.3 km track with a few short climbs, over the whole lap there was only 116 Vertical meters of climbing which is pretty low for a XC race. The hills that were around were definitely ones to hurt on and still make up time on. The dirt was well packed and made a fast highway when there weren’t bundles of roots which did happen to be an often occurrence. This race track reminded me of the track that Timaru used in last year’s south island cup, in the middle of town with bits of track going all over the park.

The race itself was defiantly an eye-opener; there is plenty of training to be done in the next few weeks no doubt about that. I was ranked 10^th from the UCI points that I won in NZ so was in the second row on the start line. The start was straight into a short step hill that hurt more and more every lap. The first four laps were good I was feeling strong but not strong enough to race up front with the big boys yet. The second and third laps I rode mostly by myself, after that everyone was starting to feel it and I started to catch a few, things were good. After the fourth lap I then started to feel it but just kept on digging in, knowing it was only going to be beneficial to be in the next few races.

It was a pretty warm day, reaching about thirty degrees, so keeping the body hydrated was the key to finishing the race. Every lap I was drinking a full Raiseys drink bottle (750ml) of HYDR8 to keep me hydrated.

This is the event village, a lot bigger than we get in NZ.

I finished 24^th in pro. Overall for my first internal race this year I am happy knowing that I still have some much better results to come. I am now moving on to a place called Canmore where the Canadian national champs are, we aren't aloud to race in them but we heard there is heaps of great riding there so will go and spend a week there then moving on to a town just outside of Regina, Saskatchewan (the next state east of Alberta). My next race is in two weeks, so I am going to get some good training in before the next race on the 25^th July.

My Ride for Single Speed Worlds

2010-07-11T19:24:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, I can confirm that I will be riding a Ventana El Padrino at Single Speed World champs in Rotorua in October. It is a 29er, which has 29 inch wheels as opposed to 26 inch wheels. It is a Aluminum frame with Rock Shox forks. Here are some pictures of the bike. Its not going to be exactly like the photos like the bag carrier on the back will be gone. These are the only photos I could get ahold of. At least you get the general idea. when you have some spare time you should check out the Ventana webpage website http://www.ventanausa.com/, you might see something you like and in that case get ahold of me and well get you sorted.

This was all made possible by a real cool guy named Oliver Whalley. He imports these bikes from the US and sells them in NZ. He is lending me this bike for SSW. If you feel like some good reading check out his blog http://www.mountainpedalerNZ.blogspot.com/.

Thanks heaps Ollie, its going to be a great ride.

Touch down in LA

2010-07-05T14:52:00.001-07:00

Well I am now in LA after two days of living in airports, which has been an experience.

My first race is on the 11^th July so I have got one week to make my way up to Edmonton Canada. Adrian and I have decided that we are going to drive up through Las Vegas and Salt-lake city. Driving this way to Edmonton is about one and a half day’s non-stop. We are going to stretch it over four days and try get some small rides in.

Our van for the epic road trip

We have bought a van and everything that we need like pots, pans, gas cookeretc. All that kind of stuff was so cheap at Wall mart all up cost us about $300 USD. As we are going to be living out of it for the next two and a half months, it’s going to be tight but can’t I complain when on a budget.

I have still not got confirmation whether I am in the NZ team to race at worlds or not, which is a pain but it’s just how MTBNZ are running their selection this year. I start my training this weekend, combined with the race at Edmonton to kick things off, I am looking forward to it, it has been a long time coming.

Ill post another update about the drive through America and my first race after this weekend.

Just a huge thanks to Carl and Debbie Retief (Adrians parents) for helping us sort a van and everything in LA.

Update from Lake Paloma, Chile

2010-06-24T16:39:00.001-07:00

I have updated my blog and hope it is much easier to use, I have my up and coming races on the right with links to the websites that provide more information about them and my main sponsor logos with links to their websites as well. Down the left hand side you can find my older posts easier.

It has been awhile since I have updated this but here is a bit of a run down of what I have been doing. For the last 3 months I have been and still am in Chile making mountain bike tracks until the 30^th June, working full 9 hour days. Each day we ride up to where we are working which is about an hour (paid ride). We start digging around nine each day and work until about four then the ride home, ripping down all the previously built trails is amazing for a ride home at the end of the day.

I have been working in a crew of eight and have learnt a lot from different people, listening to every ones experiences and views on all different topics. Most of the guys have done a lot of travelling and it has been very beneficial to me as I am moving onto America and Canada after this contract.

This has been my view from the lounge for the last 3 months.

We have been working in all weather conditions from the beaming ten degree sunny days to negative five degrees with rain. There have been days where we have been working in snow and ice. All this just adds to the experience and I’ve tried to enjoy every part of it.

From now on I will be travelling north from Los Angeles up to Edmonton- Canada for my first race, with Adrian Retief. We plan to build our travelling around our training to make sure that we are getting the hours in.

So keep your eye on this space I’ll be posting weekly updates from now on in until after my main event, World Championships. Feel free to forward my blog address on to anyone who may be interested in reading it.

That’s all for now

UCI Oceania XC Championships

2010-03-24T15:56:00.000-07:00

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

2010-03-08T22:12:00.000-08:00

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

2010-03-08T22:10:00.000-08:00

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

2010-03-08T22:09:00.000-08:00

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

2010-03-08T22:08:00.000-08:00

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.