World Cup Round 3 Offenburg

Hi all

This race was for a bit of fun and getting to know what racing is like over here.. I arrived in Zurich, Switzerland on Thursday afternoon and did a bit of sightseeing whilst waiting for Carl and Katie to fly in at 8.30 that night. Managed to learn how to buy train tickets from the machines and managed to catch the wrong train towards Geneva haha. Anyway when they arrived we put the bike rack on the rental car, packed the car, and headed to Schaffhausen where we spent the night in a Castle Youth Hostel.

 The next day (Friday) we headed into Offenburg, Germany and I registered for my race and found out I was racing the next day. It had rained that day and there was still the odd shower when we got to the course, riding the course was really fun! It was a good course with a good variety of technical areas and no rocks. There were a bit of roots that made it a bit slippery in the wet. That night I raced the Terminator short track race and finnished in the 50s and was definitely feeling the jet lag, when I finished I couldn't even think straight! After that we went back to Karl and Annemarie's.

 A very nice German couple who are feeding me too much and letting me stay with them, so awesome!

 Saturday was a good hot day and the day of the race. I didn't have any nerves and was quite relaxed but knew this would not be the best of races as I had just gotten off a 30hr flight.. The start of the race was soo much faster than i thought it would be it was intense and the course had completely dried out and was dusty now, I managed to stay mid field for the start loop and a bit of the first lap but faded fast as I could not handle the quick pace. The first three laps I was going backwards in the race, until a couple of leppin squeezies later I began to pass people again and pulled back to 82nd, 10min 34secs behind the leader. It was a very good experience for me and will help a lot in my race next weekend I hope to be at least 4 mins quicker in the next race but we will see how things go. Thanks Carl Jones for feeding me!

Playing around after the race.

Watched Karen race today she had a good race! except for a few crashes but she still finished 36th which was really impressive. Watching the pro men was ridiculous they are so quick and would have lapped me easy if I was in their race haha.

Thats all for now
Will post another blog next week

Laters

Nduro/Napier Cup/McDonald's

Hi all

Have been busy over the past 3 weeks with the 2nd round of the national series, new sponsors, and the 2nd Nduro summer series race.
Napier did not go too well for me finishing in 10th in a UCI race. The course was hard on the body with a lot of dust and the sun was pelting down sapping energy. But there was a bit of prize money which was pretty sweet! and I had a fun time racing on the fast Napier track as well.
Just last week McDonald's decided to help me out in getting over to Europe which is awesome of them and I am very thankful to Rob and Linley who own the Rotorua McDonalds. Cheers! I also have started working for McDonald's as well and they are being very supportive in making work flexible around training.
Last but not least the second round of the Nduro Summer Cup was yesterday and HOT. I didn't take much fluid which probably wasn't a smart idea. But apart from that the race was really fun It was a good hard course which put my legs to the test and made for some good racing.
I started in the middle of the bunch and worked my way up the field as the race went on, towards the end I was battling it out for second and third but my legs could not handle the last burst and I settled for third.

The Nduros are always a good fun race with a sweet course so cheers to the organisers for making it an awesome day.

3D OFF-ROAD WINTER MULTISPORT FESTIVAL ROTORUA

I'd just like to give Neil Gellatly a big thanks for lending me his Giant TCR 0 for 3 months after I wrote my road bike off in  race. Neil also happens to be the Director and Event organiser of a new multisport festival coming to Rotorua on the 5th of June (Queens Birthday long weekend). There are six different events to choose from, 69 categories, and $10,000 of prize money for the top competitors. This is going to be one of Rotorua's biggest multisport festivals, find out more at http://www.3drotorua.co.nz/ .  Neil is also a multisport coach and has twelve years multisport experience under his belt. He does:
-Multisport Consultancy
-Training Programmes
-Technique Coaching
-Race Nutrition Plans
-Event Organisation
-and Skills Training

So if any of these are interesting to you contact Neil  via email neil@multisportcoach.co.nz
                                                                                     Tel 0064 7 349 6554
                                                                                 0r Mob 0064 27 648 7546

National Series Round One Win and general update

OK, I have not updated my blog for a while but first of all, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

So here is what I have been doing since the Huka Challenge.

The  week following the Challenge was the Rotorua round of the Mid-North Island Cup. It was a good hard course and there was strong competition. I went fast up the first steep climb and was sitting in a good position but my chain kept on popping off so I just had fun sitting in fourth until the end of the race.

Three days after the Rotorua race I went to Brisbane with my girlfriend to stay with her father (he's the man, paid for my tickets). Most of my training there was on the road, and through way too many traffic lights.

When I got back to NZ I picked up a cold straight away which then developed into a chest infection over Christmas which sucked but didn't stop me having an awsome time with the cousins making bike tracks.

After Christmas it was straight back into training coming up to the first round of the national series, but the chest infection was hanging on. I was not expecting a good result..

National Series Round One Tauranga 9/1/11

For this race I wanted to maintain a solid pace throughout and not wither away towards the end. From the gun the pace was hot, everybody wanted a good posistion before the first single track, which was a steep climb to the top. I entered the single track in 7th or 8th and worked my way into the top four by the end of the first lap. From there I took over second posistion and held it to the last lap. I passed the Leader on the final lap and took out first place in my first ever Elite Mens race, which was very sweet.

I really enjoyed the course and want to give a big thanks to Ash and Chris for making such an awsome course; also big thanks to anybody that helped them. My Scott Scale 10 felt amazing on this course, making the uphills and the downhills feel like a breeze (unill the last lap .. cramp ahh). Couldn't have askd for anything better than Leppin for a tough race like that, and it kept me going hard and fast

80km Huka Challenge, Taupo 27th Nov 2010

I awoke at 3am (probably wasn't the best idea) to start packing the car, eat breakfast, and finish the final preparations for the big day ahead. Mum, Aroha and I were out the door by five and making our way to Taupo for the Huka's 7am early start. The horn blew and the pace was hot from the gun. I managed to keep up with the front bunch for about 20 min, from there on I rode mostly by myself keeping a strong pace in the single track but losing a lot of time on the roads.
Eventually a group of four including Carl Jones caught up to me in the last 15km. Carl decided to make an attack and I just held dropping the other guys. Towards the end my legs gave up and Carl dropped me and I  finished in 8th overall. This is the first race I have competed in on my new Scott Scale 10 and so far I'm loving it, it is light and stiff making easy work of the hills and is really comfortable allowing me to focus more on the race and less on a sore back. I was also racing on Leppins Enduro Booster mix which was great for this race giving me a big energy boost towards the end and holding off cramp the entire race.

Overall the Huka Challenge has great single track and is an awesome race that you would not want to miss!

Finish of the Huka Challenge