Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Long Beach MTB race


The Long Beach Mtb Race was another new event to me this year and with some good prize money up for grabs it was looking like a good event to have a crack at! The course involved a lot of undulating farm tracks through fields and along beach fronts that sunk in most riders wheels proving to be a tricky few sections of the course.
The weather was rather windy but after a good warm up and race start I was sitting comfortably in third position in behind Phil Patterson (leading out) and Kyle Wood with Logan Horn and Anton Cooper tucked in behind. Once onto the paddocks it was the 5 of us who were going to be the competition for the day. After the first part of the course grinding away into a head wind on the undulating and rather annoying terrain, myself, Kyle and Logan gapped the other two riders about a quarter of the way through the race. Not too far from this part Kyle who was on excellent form again, kept slipping away from us and the middle part of the race was firstly me and then Logan tossing and turning until he proved to be the stonger rider on the day slowly getting away.
The next section of the race saw me nailing it down the gravel road with Anton tucked in behind trying to catch Logan back up but he had by this stage already increased his gap. After the final river crossing I came in fourth postion not happy with how I went but knowing what areas I need to improve on in preparation for the big events coming up in about a months time - fingers crossed I will get on form!

Hanmer Spring Crusher MTB Race


The Hanmer Spring Crusher MTB race was a brand new event on the calender this year and also the first event to kick of the new season all in good preparing for the National rounds and Champs starting in January. The event involved alot of steep climbing covering just under 40km of every single track in Hanmer linked up as well as a good serving of 4wd joining these tracks and with the sun shining it was going to be a good day for racing!
The pace was fast at the start and Kyle Wood (Timaru) lead the charge up the first hill and next steep climb. After sitting near the back of the first bunch it was time to move up and on a steep narly climb I grinded up the hill slipping myself into second position. This conintued through the rest of the race as the gap between first, second and third kept opening up between us and while my climbing felt like a struggle to get any real power out I finished comfortably in second place.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Timaru 12 Hour Team Mountain Bike Race

The Timaru 12 Hour Mountain Bike Race was another exciting event held in Centennial Park amoung the fast flowing tracks that demanded speed and power to complete quick laps throughout the time frame of the race.
Our Cycleways team line up consisted of yet another solid group of riders and with Nick Clark, Phil Patterson, Dave Ives, Mark Richards and myself we knew we had another chance to perform!
As per the previous race I got the ball rolling for our team and looking at entries prior to the race we considered two potential threats in the race-Team Cyclery and Team Grumpy Old Men. Throughout the race we had no problems unlike last years event that consisted of a broken leg, double puncture, broken frame and other injuries! This year we were a well oiled machine and lead from start to finish increasing the time gap managing to lap the other teams in the 12 hour catagories. I put in the fastest lap time of the day out of all the competitors and yet again Team Cycleways came out on top for this awesome event!
Thanks to the Richards for the stay and to our team lads for knocking out a solid performace yet again. Also to my sponsor and the teams Cycleways in particular Matt Bailey and to my parents and others for their support in looking after us!