It has been an epic couple of days with the Cross Country National Champs on Saturday followed by the 2W gravity enduro on Sunday, all held in Rotorua as part of the first Rotorua bike festival, so cheers to the Rotorua MTB club/Cycling club and all the people who put in the hard work to make all the events happen.
Starting with the Lycra on Saturday at the Cross cCountry National Championships
I was seeded on the last row for the start of the race and used the first climb to work my way through the pack into about 6th place by the end of the 1st climb which was bad as I lost time on Dirk and Anton who quickly made a gap, coming out back onto a road section I put in an effort and caught up to Carl who was in 3rd and sat with him until the next road section, then I put another effort in and by then was getting closer to Dirk and Anton. Unfortunately I lost focus coming out of some single track onto gravel road and skidded out. From there I sat in 3rd or fourth place with Carl Jones until the 4th lap when he put in some power and boosted. For the last 3 laps I was doing my best to keep 4th and succeeded finishing up in 4th overall and 3rd in U23. I am really happy to finish a national champs without any mechanicals and to come home with a medal. Things will only get better from now on so will start preparing for the Oceania MTB champs coming up
in 7 weeks.
Cheers to all the supporters out there, it was awesome having such big crowds, Aroha and Dad for feeding me and Mum for cheering so loud.
Baggies on Sunday in the 2W gravity Enduro
Enduro racing is starting to take off in New Zealand and has already interested a lot of people because the events always attract a good bunch of people and its nearly impossible to have a bad day (even if you don't stay on your bike), the 2W was no exception. Fortunately I knew all the tracks pretty well in this event so I had just been focusing on my cross country stuff leading up to this event. Also we could retry or redo a run if we were not satisfied with the first run which I took advantage of on Hotcross Buns as I caught up to another rider quickly, jammed on the brakes and was rolling around in the dust before you could say banana thick shake It was a great way to spend my Sunday and will definitely be back again next year if I can help it. Finishing up with the overall win and winning each stage was a bonus.
Starting with the Lycra on Saturday at the Cross cCountry National Championships
I was seeded on the last row for the start of the race and used the first climb to work my way through the pack into about 6th place by the end of the 1st climb which was bad as I lost time on Dirk and Anton who quickly made a gap, coming out back onto a road section I put in an effort and caught up to Carl who was in 3rd and sat with him until the next road section, then I put another effort in and by then was getting closer to Dirk and Anton. Unfortunately I lost focus coming out of some single track onto gravel road and skidded out. From there I sat in 3rd or fourth place with Carl Jones until the 4th lap when he put in some power and boosted. For the last 3 laps I was doing my best to keep 4th and succeeded finishing up in 4th overall and 3rd in U23. I am really happy to finish a national champs without any mechanicals and to come home with a medal. Things will only get better from now on so will start preparing for the Oceania MTB champs coming upin 7 weeks.
Baggies on Sunday in the 2W gravity Enduro
And the giant pay check woohoo. Couldn't have finished this weekend in style without my sponsors support so big thanks to Southstar Shuttles Rotorua, Yeti NZ, Blackseal Imports, Roam Industries, Mulebar, Adidas Eyewear, Endura, Outdoorsman Rotorua, and Wildland Consultants
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