UCI MTB WORLD CHAMPS 2013 SOUTH AFRICA

About two weeks ago I left a chilly New Zealand and took the long haul flight over to a warm/maybe to hot South Africa to compete in the world champs U23 men XCO, and eliminator XCE racing. After catching up with Dirk at the airport we picked up a teeny rental car and headed to the Jays B and B where we stayed for a week before catching up with the rest of the New Zealand team at the Regal inn express(frogs).
I had still been carrying a lingering chest infection which did not go well with the change of time zones antibiotics couldn't be avoided as things started to get worse. Luckily I had arrived 11 days before my first race and although I didn't come right completely I could still race reasonably well.

The course was perfect with 2 big climbs and one shorter climb, all followed by tricky technical descents with more than one good line in each to keep both spectators and riders entertained. But still hard enough to make a couple of people in my race take the B line.
Race day came quickly and I felt the best I had since arriving in South Africa, we had a starting time of 3.15 which was when the clouds had started rolling in for a dark afternoon but perfect temperatures. I started well and made it into a good position quickly but at the crucial first climb I lost a lot of places and at the first rock garden section a hasty German fellow took a different line to mine and came across in front of me forcing my line to change, I rode over a rock slightly too big scraping my big ring, stalling out and going over the bars, luckily not much damage had been done with a slightly bent hanger I raced on. Riders were still coming past on the second climb and I was losing a lot of places, then coming round into the 2nd lap it had started spitting ans I got into a good rhythm  latching on to a good Belgium rider who would gap me on each climb but I would catch up again on the downhills and sit in on the flat sections, we spent the rest of the race playing cat and mouse passing a couple of riders each lap. It had started to rain heavier on the second to last lap and riders were starting to pull out from crashes on the rock garden sections. I didn't have the legs in the last lap and the Belgium finally got away but a couple of people were still fading and I pushed on, moving up 5 places in the last lap to finish in 38th place.

It was honestly pretty cool being able to finish the race let alone crack the top 40 after not quite recovering from a virus I picked up after the World cup in Val Di Sole earlier this year. and is a boost to see what I can do next year when fit and healthy!
The Eliminator was hard and I finished 49th.. woo.
It was a great trip and went really well! a big thanks to my parents who made it possible to get there/feed me/loudest supporters and all my sponsors. Also to Jeremy Christmas for managing the NZ team and all the NZ parents who helped out, definitely cant forgot to thank Conrad and Ein who did an awesome job as our team mechanics from South Africa and all the volunteers and commissars who put a lot of time into organizing a great event.

For now I am heading home for 10 days before flying out to China on an all expenses paid trip to race a category one cross country race on the 21/22nd of September which sounds to good to be true! Cant wait!
And then back home to celebrate my 21st, mean.


Thanks for reading.

Cheers

Sam

Enduro World Series Round 3/Mega Avalanche

After packing up camp in Val di allos we mouzzeyed on over to Les du Alpes where we settled in for the week to prepare for the 3rd round of the enduro world series. The course was unrideable up until the day before the race mainly due to the fact that most of it had just been taped through random parts on the hill side  the day before practice which made for a very varied terrain from bumpy grassy off camber lines to techy rock sections. The race format this time consisted of 4 timed runs with practice on the Saturday from 9.30 to 5 and race day on Sunday and with very little climbing throughout the four stages it suited the more skilled riders and the times were a lot closer together than last week.

I was still sick from last week and was feeling a bit drained leading into the race, but still wanting to have a good race I was resting as much as possible to up the anti.

Stage 1 was the most physical with a lot of grassy down hill sections up the top and one steep climb in the middle followed by a false flat climb and a tight and fast section through the trees to the bottom, I struggled in this stage and had one crash on the last corner of the stage due to a moment of lost concentration.

Stage 2 was all downhill with one tight tricky rock section up the top which is my favorite type of riding, I did well through this section getting through clean. The rest of this stage was mainly dusty corners to the bottom of the hill, I wasn't able to keep a good flow around most of these corners which is now part of the list of bike skills I need to work on a lot

Stage 3, another downhill stage with more dusty corners and a rocky section at the bottom which could be mostly ridden in a straight line after cutting all the corners. I struggled on this stage and started to realize I needed to step up my game a lot on downhill skills for sure.

Stage 4, the most downhill of all the stage with some really fast bumpy grassy sections which I was holding on and hoping for some luck, fortunately for me I got away with a lot of mistakes on this stage and really enjoyed it. I ended up cutting some lines that had not been ridden but also riding through bushed to do so hah.
Finishing the day in 37th in the open men was a good surprise as well!


Mega Avalanche.

I did not have very good luck at this race which was a bummer a s I had been looking forward to it for a long time, but still enjoyed the experience and really want to race it again.
The day before our qualifying runs I had a bit of a crash on the rocks and may have broken my finger but hopefully just sprained it (will find out over the next week or so haha), then at the very start of my qualifying run I snapped one of the pivot bolts on my bike. I still rode it out to 5th which was pretty cool, unfortunately the Mega is a lot easier if you are on the front row at the start and 5th in the qualifier only gets you 3rd row.
Starting out on the Mega I wiped out in the first 20secs and spent a lot of the snow section off the bike and came onto the single track really far back with way too many riders in front. Once I got there I just enjoyed the ride down and did some good dodgy overtaking on the single track to finish in 72nd. Pretty gutted with this result but am happy to not be too beaten up!

Am heading home now to New Zealand where I will prepare for the XC World champs in South Africa.. Cant wait!

no photos again.. can not find the good internet

Thanks for reading

Cheers

Enduro World Series Round 2, Val di Allos

Last week I was dropped at Geneva airport and picked up by Jamie Nicoll. We wasted no time and headed straight into the French Alpes for my first night camping in a while. Good times.

We took the scenic route on the way to our destination in Val di Allos, touring along some classic Le Tour de France stages and getting in some good quality big mountain rides along the way, and camping as high as 2200m brr.. There seems to be a marmot outburst this year and I have seen well over 100 in the past week.

After arriving in Val di Allos on the Monday before the race we realised it was a bit too early to get here as course riding was forbidden until race day and walking was only permitted on Friday. To our good luck though there are some awesome tracks hidden around the valley and I managed to ride most of them before the weekend rolled around.

Race day came quickly, we were allowed one practice run before our race run on each stage and on a 10min+ stage I was just trying to remember  blind corners that had rocky treats hidden around them (there were a lot of these) I was seeded in 204^th but luckily there were only 3 male riders in front of me with a 5min gap between us and the end of the woman's field. I was pretty nervous and didn’t know what to expect for my first run. As soon as I started off down the hill I lost focus completely and tried going too fast catching the rider in front quickly and then the next but as I caught up I couldn’t see the ground in front of me due to all the dust and washed out awkwardly, I lost a lot of time and was passed by the rider behind, I rode with him to the end and had another small crash just before the end of the stage finishing in 76^th, after this I changed my frame of mind completely and realised the only way I could race well was to chill out and have more fun during the runs, unfortunately I did still crash on the next stage but coming in 63^rd this time it was good to see there was improvements to be made. On the last stage for the day I was completely relaxed and was feeling a lot better than the other stages, I caught up to all the riders that were in front of me and some woman riders and finally I got the result I was looking for coming through in 28^th, putting me into 49^th on the overall standings, luckily for me we were seeded for the next day from our overall position.

I had an  awesome sleep on Saturday night waking up fresh for an early Sunday start, getting on the lifts at 7.30 was a bit chilly but a lot more relaxed with less crowds and waiting around. I aimed to stay on the bike today but still go as fast as possible, I now had a 20sec gap between me and the next rider which made things a lot nicer. Stage 4 and 5 were on the same course and were by far the hardest to race well on with short techy climbs and a long forestry road section to really get the lungs and legs burning before heading back into single track to the bottom, I had a tough time on this stage having picked up a throat infection on Friday and spent a lot of time weezing away on these “physical stages”,  I still managed to catch up to two riders in front on these stages but was a bit held up on the single track with the level being a bit more competitive and they did not want to pull over to let me through. By the final stage I was in 31^st overall with a 20sec gap back to 32^nd, the last stage was really short so I played it safe just trying not to crash in this one. It all went to plan in the end and I finished 31^st overall and 30^th in the open men’s category, pretty happy with that! Am hoping next week will see me seeded a lot higher up in the field and am getting amped already!

The overall event was really awesome and a lot of fun, I met a whole lot of people and am making some good friends on this trip which is making it all worth while for sure! They even supply all day lunch and dinner and for only a 50euro entry fee this is well worth the money!

Big thanks to a lot of people this time haha. The Urge Yeti team who supplied me with bigger brake authority rotors and letting me use their workshop to get the bike running smooth was awesome. Shaun from the Yeti team for fixing up my snapped derailier. Mateal from the GT team for changing my cables. And all my sponsors Yeti NZ, Black Seal Imports, Wildland Consultants, Adidas eyewear, Roam Industries, Southstar Shuttles, Bike Culture, and Outdoorsman Headquarters.

Thanks for reading

Cheers

ps, internet wont let me upload photos sorry.. will put some up next week

World Cup #3, Val Di Sole

The world cup series returned to Val Di Sole after a one year break, not much had changed here since my last visit, the sun was still shining as bright as ever and the temperature still set on high. It was good to finally arrive in summer over here in Europe.
The race course had definitely made a change though and for the better. The course now started off with a few short steep climbs and downhills with tight tricky sections through trees and rocks followed by two bigger climbs(steep again) on 4wd tracks and downhills before coming along the base of the hill on a flat grassy section, lots of passing was offered throughout the course which rounded off to make a really nice World Cup course.

Race day came along quickly and with the 4.30pm start time I was easily the most nervous I have ever been for a race the sun had also come out again in full colour for our hottest temperatures so far soaring into the 30s... apparently. I had a longer warm up than usual so I could avoid the burn out zone that I usually go into after the first lap sprint.
I had an awesome start going up 30 places in the first two minutes! but due to only thinking about putting power down I didn't focus enough on what I was doing and made too many mistakes on the first lap to remember, undoing all the hard work and coming around the to start the second lap in the top 60, this did not make me happy (started going green). Fortunately I was determined to make it into the top 35 and started settling into the task at hand. I started passing and dropping a lot of riders as they cracked from a mixture of heat and overdosing in steep climbing.

By the 3rd lap top 35 was within my sights. From this point I was well over excited for the remanding 3 laps, I had never been this high up in a world cup (not even close) and the legs were really burning. The only thing that helped me get through was that I knew every other rider out there was hurting and the red hot chillies songs that were running on repeat in my head.

I pulled in a couple of riders each lap and was so happy to come through in the top 30, 29th in the end. Really eager now to keep the progress going and keep lowering my finish number in each race.

For the next 4 week I will be in France racing the 2nd and 3rd round of the Enduro world series followed by the Mega Avalanche which I have been looking forward to the most this whole trip, will keep you all updated on how they go for sure.

Big thank you to the Yeti Downhill mechanics Nate and Shaun for making sure my Yeti ARC C was practically like new for the race, Adidas Eyewear for the new sunnies and lenses, and to Shimano for their awesome tech support! Rean Bowie and Sam Thompson did an awesome job feeding me. Also to my sponsors Yeit NZ, Black Seal Imports, Wildland Consultants, Adidas Eyewear, Roam Industries, Southstar Shuttles, Bike Culture, and Outdoorsman Headquarters.

Am off to Morzine in France now to start getting used to the fully again.. although did get to ride it down the World Cup downhill course here in Val Di sole.. after the racing was over.

Getting out for some backyard cricket

good times at the XCE

:D

Thanks for reading

Cheers

Italia National Series round, Vermiglio 2013

The Yellow house, our home for 3 weeks

After the world cup race in Czech I knew the legs were getting used to racing finally and was getting pretty excited for this knowing that I just had to stay up right and get a good rhythm going in the race.
It had been sunny for nearly two weeks straight here in Val Di Sole and the glove tan lines are starting to come out from hiding, unfortunately come race day the clouds rolled down the valley and settled in for a lazy Sunday drizzle. The course was pretty basic starting off with a paved road section followed by a really short but steep climb then a really short steep down hill section, followed by two more small climbs and downhills and grassy paddocks, we had 7 laps of this awesomeness.
The rain was a bit on/off leading up to the start and we were able to start dry and warm fortunately. I was seeded in 40th not far from the front row this time and had a really good start, I moved up the pack on the road sections, still having to run when the course closed in I passed more riders and got up pretty easily.

 Not even feeling puffed at this point(I did get to stand around a little bit). But I think the excitement of being up closer to the front of the race than usual was bit too much and the legs felt a bit heavy for a a little while even though I felt I had not pushed very hard yet. So I sat in a bunch for the remainder of the first lap, it then started to rain and continued to for about ten minutes(luckily).

I couldn't ride any of the grass climbs on the course and was dropped by my bunch easily passed by about 3 riders and left to ride by myself for the next 4 laps. I kept a good pace and had the top 20 in my sights but could not quite close the gap. Heading into the last lap I was caught by a group of 3 riders and sat on them.

Planning to attack on the one steep climb in the course. I cracked under pressure a bit and slipped around on the climb losing sight of the riders but fortunately there were no other pursuers close by and I held on to come around in 25th, I am really happy with that I got in a solid race over here and got a result out of it.
Am amped for the world cup next week and am looking forward to see what I can do.

Have not written much about my 29er experience yet, I think Yeti have made a great bike out of their ARC C as I am still really enjoying the ride both up and down still after spending two years on a full sus. Each day It is getting smoother,safer and faster through single track and it keeps getting better!
Big thanks to my sponsors Yeti NZ, Black Seal Imports, Southstar Shuttles, Wildlands Consultants, Adidas Eyewear, Roam Industries, Bike Culture, and Outdoorsman Headquarters.

Apart from racing I have been checking out the sights and filling my belly.. view away

Thanks for reading

Cheers

Czech XC World Cup Round 2

After staying in Albstadt for two weeks and racing the first World Cup it was time to leave and make our way over to Nove Mesto Na Morave in the Czech Republic. I travelled with Adrian Retief this time making for a quick trip, my bikes however travelled with the NZXC team in their big van, thanks guys!

                                                               The Relaxation Penzion

                                                        Everybody outside the Penzion

Our massive room

It was pretty warm when we arrived, and I was finally able to ride in just a shirt again. It was cool staying at the Relaxation Penzion again with the coolest guy I know in Czech, Milky. He was friendly as usual and egging us on to race well, even giving us wine after the race, was pretty cool!

                                                        Really intense on the start line

From then on the weather got pretty cold and there were small showers each day but not really enough to change the course, race day came along pretty quick and I was feeling pretty good and was ready to race hard. I had a good start loop coming through in the top 60 and after the 1^st lap had worked up into 52^nd,

 usually I am completely stuffed at this point in the race but was feeling good and felt like I could go faster but this is where it started turning a bit sour.. On one of the road sections a rider came across me swiping my front wheel and taking me down on the tarmac, luckily it didn’t do too much damage and I was back onto a bunch’s tail in no time,  but on the first major rock garden I had a bit of a bumpy ride down and my front tyre burped losing all the air, I went down on the rocks pretty hard but got back up quickly a bit dazed and tried running to the tech zone, after about 4mins of running

 I realized I had a CO2 (crap) and pumped up the tire like new. I was able to get in two more laps after this going from about 105^th to 76^th before I was lapped out. I was gutted after feeling so good and not being able to get a result out of it but that is racing as they say.

Big thanks to Sam Thompson for feeding me again and to Adidas for some more lenses for my Half rim pros.

It is also pretty motivating to know I can get up in the field a bit easier now so am amped for Val Di Sole, Italy (the third world cup) in 3 weeks.

                                                             Walt Disney Castle

                                              One of the best pizzas I have had, holy cow

The King's holiday home castle

Thanks for reading.

Cheers

Albstadt, Germany World Cup Round 1

I arrived in Munich, Germany two weeks ago and was picked up by the NZXC team which made for a relaxed trip to our accommodation in Sigmaringen, a big little town about 20km from the World cup course in Albstadt. NZXC, Adrian Retief and I were all staying in the same spot, a triathlete hangout of a Tri Club called ALZ that already had some New Zealanders and Australians staying which made it nearly feel like we weren't in a different country.

Sigmaringen Castle

Slide Time

After settling in we headed over to check out the course, my first impression was that it was a really fun course and I didn't notice the steep climbs that much, later on in the week though I did an effort on the course and realized how hard it was going to be to push in this race.

Race day came along quickly and I felt as ready as I could be, the sun was shinning and the birds were chirping. I was seeded back in 85th which on this track was a big disadvantage as there was no start loop and not enough passing for the 1st two laps.

The gun went off and I started my desperate charge to try and make up as many spots before the single track.

But after about a minute we were off our bikes and lining up to ride up the first climb and it was like this for most of the 1st lap, after that there was still a bit of congestion until half way through the 2nd lap, and I started to make up some places. Every climb was a sprint for the single track I was pushing my limit to make up spots hoping that it would help next weekend in the 2nd World Cup. By the last lap I was spacing out a bit, not being used to pushing the body so hard and had managed to move into 65th position sitting with a Swiss BMC rider, we could see a bunch of riders just ahead and it would be an easy 5 places, I messed this up though, crashing on a slippery downhill and snapping my seat clean off. I lost sight of the riders and was passed by six more as I did half a lap standing, trying to hold off cramp until finishing in 71st in the end.

(Where I Crashed)

I was pretty happy with how things were going until
the crash as the Swiss guy I was riding with finished up in 59th.

Next weekend I race the 2nd round of the World Cup series in Nove Mesto Na Morave, Czech republic. From memory this course has a much longer start loop and a bit more opportunity to pass.

Big thanks to Sam Thompson for feeding me and all the people out there cheering the Kiwis on! Also to Merida for giving me a new seat for free to replace the old one.

Cheers

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