Hub tour

Lately there has not been any mountain bike racing lately up here in the North Island so I turned to the road for a good warm up as I get closer to starting out on the NZ national season in February. The Hub Tour in Hawkes Bay just so happened to be on at the right time and have a good set of stages with a 6km time trial on Friday (prologue), 95km road race on Saturday morning, 50min crit on Saturday afternoon, and 95km road race on Sunday making for a good burn out.

The time trial went pretty well for my first solo effort finnishing in 26th, there wasnt anything too interesting about this stage, it was a straight flat road with two corners and was over for me in 7min 21 secs (apparently.. I think it was actually 8min 21 secs).

The next day we raced the first stage which was a good course with rolling hills and no flat spots apart from the finish straight and three laps to complete, for the first lap I was just trying to hold on and was struggling a bit with the temperature (it was hot),  and pace, then found my legs in the second lap, then at the start of the 3rd lap I took a Mule Bar Cafe Cortado caffeine shot and notied it starting to kick in really well about 5min later. Unfortunately I had taken it a bit late and missed out on the break away earlier. Towards the end of the race I tried to assist in breakaways but we never got very far so had wait until the finish straight and came 3rd in the bunch sprint but 7th overall.

In the afternoon we had the 50min crit which was tough in the legs, I nearly got dropped a couple of times but managed to hold on and miss a pretty big crash, finishing in the bunch sprint 5secs down.
We had the last stage on Sunday morning which was another lap race, mostly flat but finished with a good climb and about 10km of undulating hills. for the first two laps there were a couple of attempts for a breakaway but the wind picked up and was coming straight at us on the main straight so all breakaways came back eventually. I tried a small attack on the last climb and was a bit bummed out to see the whole bunch stayed with me haha, then the top riders attacked and I just held on. The pack split and there were about 15 of us sprinting and attacking the last 10kms of the race which shattered me and I fiinshed in 11th and 2secs back. With that I finished in 17th over all the stages and am pretty happy, given my initial goal of a top 20.

The Hub Tour was an awesome introduction for me into road tours and was pretty fun as well. Big thanks to Ben and Steph Mchale for giving me a ride over, letting me stay with them, cooking me dinner, feeding me (Steph), and all the rest haha.

And to my sponsors Yeti, Adidas, Mule Bar, Endura, Outdoorsman, Wildlands, Roam industries.
Cheers

Urge 3 Peaks Enduro/ New Sponsorships

Paddy on the top step showing us how its done

Have not updated the blog for a bit due to sad circumstances with the passing of a good mate/man Paddy Avery, he was an awesome guy and lived life to the fullest. You will never be forgotten and my thoughts are with the Avery family for this unbelievable loss. Rest in peace bro.

Here is a quick catch up before we get into the good stuff, since the last blog I won the lat round of the Mid North Island mtb series and took out the overall win with 3 wins during the series bam!

I have just gotten back from Dunedin where the Urge 3 Peaks Enduro was held over the weekend. This was my first real taste of Enduro racing, and it was good good introduction to it aswell taking 2nd in the open men and 2nd overall to local pinner Tom Lamb, kudos to you. So we set out on race morning and biked 1hr to the race start at the Bull pen from there the race started and we climb up to the first downhill run. This run was alot different than Rotorua (all of them were) with no burms at the top and a couple of small rock sections the headed into trees in the bottom with alot of burm/homey sections, had a good time on the gravel corners trying to drift around each corner as fast as possible and stuffed it up on one leading me off the track and straight on.

The next part of the race started at the top of Cargil hill, this was the best course of the race as it had most objects in the starting with a tricky rock section with a sharp left hand turn then further down the course about 200m of steps which got bigger and more out of control the further you got then further down a muddy rocky section with some slippery plastic drain pipes added in for fun then the rest was fast gravel path mostly.

We had a good group ride to the next stage at the top of Signal hill for the last round of the day, This was the  fastest steepest and rockiest course hands down and had a couple of jumps to spruce it up, I was pretty happy to get second on this one as im sure the locals would ride this a bit (but none of the other course haha).
Thanks to Roam industries I got my mits on a KS Lev dropper post for the race and it worked great with the ability for the post to stop at any height makes it the perfect weapon for this type of racing, and there's no cable movement when the post drops, Also thanks to Mule bar I could keep my hunger at bay with some tastey healthy Apple strudel musli bars and Chocolate date recovery bars bars, Yum!

Had a great time down in Duna's meeting a whole bunch of couple people, big thanks to Tom Bradshaw for letting me crash at his whare and my sponsors Yeti NZ, Mule Bar, Roam Industries NZ, Blackseal, Southstar Shuttles Rotorua, Outdoorsman headquarters Rotorua, and Wildlands consultants

New sponsors coming on board

-Roam industries nz (who import/sell Roam bike racks and KS seat posts) have helped me out big time, if your keen on checking out what they have to offer you will find them here  http://roamindustries.co.nz/page/home

-Also Mule bar have come on board big time as well and are also supplying me with Endura kit. So far I have tried their Apple Strudel muesli bars and Chocolate date recovery bars which are both filled with goodness and no artificial preservatives, even the packets decompose's quickly. Their products are definitely worth trying out here is their website http://www.mulebar.com/ and I'm sure they will be coming to a cycle store near you.

-Southstar Shuttles in Rotorua are also helping me out which is so awesome, its always good times hitting up the shuttle and catching up with people for group rides down some of the worlds best single track, cant get enough of it, http://www.southstaradventures.com/

Im pretty stoked having all this support at the moment, thank you for all the help

Peace out.

Contact Huka XL

The Contact Huka Xl is quite a big event held each year usually on the ast weekend of November and because of its prize money attracts a good strong field each time, my best results previously in this race have been 10th and 10th and I was determined to race a good race.

Race start was 7am, too early I managed to get to the start line 4min before race start and kind of push in front of a bunch of people who got there a lot earlier sorry about that. We had a Cruisey start along the Waikato river down towards the river dam,  then we started coming back and I think the race speed started to pick up and things became a lot more interesting. By the time we reached Crater of the moon there were about 8 of us until we got to the first major climb which split the pack in half leaving me, Dirk, Carl and Sam the top 4. we stuck together for about 30km with the odd attack every now and then but mostly a constant pace. I was feeling really good and attacked at what I thought was the 10km to go mark (turned out to be 15km) and managed to leave the bunch, luckily after I had left the rest of the race was tight single track which I used to as much of my advantage as possible and build a safe 2min gap in between me and second, Finishing 1st in the open men! This has been one of my best results so far and I'm so stoked.. Pay day woohoo.

Recovery meal

The day after the race I took the SB66 Carbon to Christchurch for a blat and had heaps of fun riding in Victoria park getting used to fast burms and big jumps was awesome, have to get some serious speed so I can comp out Cam Cole at the 3 peaks haha.

Mid north island title/Yeti SB66C

The past two weeks I have been racing at the 2nd and 3rd rounds of the Mid north island cup in Napier and Tokoroa and have also been sorted out a new bike for another type of racing.

Napier round two

super fast

It was pretty hot for this race and the track was dry and had some awesome techy single track with tight corners and steep climbs, the tracks we were riding on were similar to previous years racing except this time we were riding most of the backwards to mix things up.. Anyway race start, the pace was a bit quick and I didnt mind not being with the leader from the start so eased up a little to stay with the main bunch but on the first decent I tried taking a hot line and flicked up a log hiding under some pine needles which ended up flicking me off the bike I had to stop for a little bit to take all the leaves and other bits that had caught in the wheel, by this time the leader (Mathew) had about a min gap on me so I got straight into it and started reeling him back in during the first 3 laps. By the last lap I was in the lead and was feeling good so just kept a strong pace and got a little gap on 2nd at the top of the last major climb to take the win by about 20sec woohoo.

race face.. i wish

Tokoroa round 3

Completely different conditions for this race with cold winds and small showers every 30min or so, Mikey Northcott had made the course so it was going to be a goodie. The start was pretty quick again and on the first climb there was 6 of us and I manged to get into the single track in 3rd but wasn't quick enough on the single track so got dropped, the rest of the race I was playing catch up but that wasn't really working and I think the gap stayed constantly about 30secs between me and the leader (Carlos) by the 3rd lap the course had started getting a bit more slippery and I had to run a couple of sections each lap, keeping things a bit interesting, I finished up in 2nd in open men so am pretty happy with that! And I think with that I just need to enter the Rotorua round and the mid north island cup title is mine, yuss.

New bike

Have only been out for one ride so cant go into much detail yet, but I can say it climb's super well without much, if any bobbing in the rear suspension and goes downhill a lot faster than I'm used to, so if you don't see me in hospital soon there should be a good write up/video about this bike in the next month or so.. Here's some pics for now

Even girls think Yetis are awesome

Spring catch up

I havnt updated this for a while have been a bit lazy over the past two months being taken down with an annoying cold and being drowsy/lazy with most things apart from training but have come right now and am able to write blogs for you again woohoo.

lately I have competed in the Motu 160. Whaka 100, and round 1 of the Mid north island mtb series.

Motu 160

It was a cool and breezy start for this race and was scheduled to rain so started the race with a rain coat on and sure enough it started spitting as we headed up the valley, up the first climb Carl, Brad, and Cabin broke away and I stayed back with Sam Clark(solo motu competitor) who is a tank on the fire roads and I struggled big time just to keep on his wheel. By the end of the mtb we caught up to Cabin and then I hit the wall and they both boasted off 8km from transition, I rolled in to change bikes and had a smooth change then onto the road, the weather was nut by now and the wind had picked up alot/the legs had already puttered out. I was passed nearly straight away losing any chance of 2nd, 3rd, or 4th. later on going up the main climb the head wind was so trong I had to walk up a part of the course.. After that my mind wasnt worried about the race but I still wanted to get home as quick as possible for a nap. Adrain, Karen, and Lee caught up and we boosted to the end getting soaked and blw dried the whole way back.. good training ride.

Whaka 100

We had awesome conditions on the day and a nice crisp morning start, we got into the single track quickly and I started coughing up big globs of mucus, yummy. Sam Clark set a quick pace at the front until a mechanical I think. By the time we were out on the back roads there was a group of 5 of us 2 Auzzies and Me Carl and Brad, I tried to keep things as easy as possible for myself sitting in as bits of mucus were still coming up. up the first main hill to No Brains Carl put in an attack and Brad and I responded dropping the Auzzies off.we stayed together until the 65km mark then I started getting some intense cramp and was dropped, from then on I was relying on single track to keep my position and it worked pretty well yo yo'ing with Brad for a bit then on the last main climb Brad sped off and my pain face was coming out as the cramp started becoming very visible. I tanked on till the end and was really happy to get 3rd in the end and only 5mins down on the leader.

Mid North island cup round 1

Another good day for racing with primo conditions, race start was a good fast pace with Sam Gaze setting the pace I sat in 3rd going into the single track and was just trying not to go the wrong way for the first lap since the directors had made a huge deal about it, was good entertainment. I moved into 2nd and then into 1st after Sam had a mechanical. so I settled in with a good pace and rode the rest of the race at a good constant pace until the finish to take the win.

The Yeti ASR C has been an awesome bike for the mtb races and iv really been able to push it quickly through single track getting faster each ride plus it is super tough and can handle a bit of abuse, cant wait to try out another Yeti sometime soon.


Thats all for now folks

Tauop Day Night Thriller 2012

The Taupo Day nighter is a big well respected event that is fun for everyone offering 12hr 6hr and 3hr race options and it was pretty cool to see kids out there who didn't even look 10 yet, I have been coming to these events for years but usually to laugh at my parents for riding through the day and play in the mud or on the mint skate park there haha.

This year the event was run at the perfect time for me and I thought doing the 12hr solo would be a good idea as I would not get a another chance like this for a while being over seas and stuff. The course was good for a solo rider being mostly flat with a lot of easy passing and nothing too demanding on the body I didn't have to change out of the big ring the entire race, its a shame that all of the trees are gone at the moment though.
I had been quite sick leading into the race with a bad lung infection and still wasn't over it by race day so I had to keep the pace as relaxed as possible to make sure things didn't turn to custard again

It was a relaxing start just chilling out and setting a good pace that I would be able to keep for the whole race, I moved into the lead by the 3rd lap and stayed about 5min in front for the first 5hrs then by the 7 or 8hr mark I lapped 2nd and knew it was time to lower the pace, It had started raining a bit by this stage which sucked!.. But the night was young and the race went on when it got dark the riding got a bit more interesting without a bit of heat to dry the tracks most of the corners started to get a bit slippery which made things funner.. At the 10hr mark the rain had gotten pretty bad and there were no trees for shelter and all I could think about was how  much wear the bike was getting from all this mud but the Yeti is tough and all the running gear on the bike ran smoothly throughout the race which could be a first for me haha, the night went fast and I came around to lap 2nd place again so I slowed right down and just chilled out until the end of the race to finnish in 1st place riding 37laps and 242km, it felt amazing to sit down and not move for a while after that. I achieved my main goal of not getting any chaffing which would have been a nightmare haha.

Big thanks to my girlfriend Aroha for doing a really good job at feeding me and making sure everything was alright. Couldn't have done it without your help.

Aroha is just as lost as i am haha

If your interested in doing a solo 12hr race make sure to get a good feeder and have lots of pineapple lumps.. yum

Spring update

Have not updated the blog since my trip over in Europe, a lot has been happening since returning to NZ but will make it short (mostly work..). I have been getting in some hours on the bike to build up for the summer season in New Zealand and have been at a couple of the Winter Nduro series and RATS winter Du's both the events have been really fun and keeping the winter entertaining for sure.
Just recently I have teamed up with Yeti NZ/Black Seal Importers and they have helped me out big time to get me on a Yeti ASR C (rides like a billy goat) which is perfect for my riding style, as you will see below this is an amazing machine.

Outdoorsman Headquarters have also offered there support which is awesome to have a good team of mechanics to help out with race prep etc,
Will be out for 12hrs at the Taupo Day Night Thriller (Sept 15th) for this bikes debut race.. Am definitely looking forward to 12hrs of play time on this bike!
Will be sure to update the blog again after the race.