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.

Last race of my European season

Yo

So we rolled into town on Monday earlier this week,  after a long trip from Czech that we split into two days.  The weather was good and I went for a ride. The weather was horrible for the rest of the week, even snowing at one point and rain was forecast for race day.

The view for our hotel window

Come race day the weather was mint and the hottest day we had had in weeks (six days actually). I was looking forward to a mud battle on the big climb and downhill but the track was practically dry, and race time came around fast.

Last race La Bresse world cup:
The start was good for me this time, I kept my eyes up and avoided the main crash just, after that it was a clean run back to the start/finish and onto the real track. As soon as we hit the first climb, the climb hit my legs, I was a bit more tired than I thought but luckily there wasn't any passing so I kept my spot in the top 60 and stayed around there for most of the race. Then like usual I started getting faster on the last laps. But punctured on the 5th lap, luckily the Stanz kicked in and I had a Co2 handy so pumped it up quickly and was off again but had still lost a lot of time and places. In the last lap I managed to get back to where I had been in the 5th lap and even passed one more rider to produce my fastest lap of the race and finish in 48th, my best result so far. Am going into Holiday mode now for a couple of weeks and then will start training again and will come back next time around a lot stronger and faster!

crazy hard rock garden

Cheers

Sam

Czech World Cup

The week leading into the 3rd XC mtb world cup in Czech Republic was a good one with lots of sun and warm weather, getting as hot as 25 degrees (really hot after living in the snow). The track was awesome with a bit of everything, root, rocks, and the dirt was just like back home as well.
Unfortunately it was forecast to rain on the Saturday, race day, and be the coldest day as well which so far had been the same for all the races I have done in Europe this year..
Race day came and it was cold.. and raining, lucky for us though the rain stopped and the dirt on the course had soaked it all in nicely not leaving much mud behind. Warming up took a while and I stayed out of the seeding boxes as long as possible to keep warm.
When we all got called up to the start line everybody took there jerseys off and all the goose bumps came out, it was freezing.
Race start wasn't too fast and I could handle the pace but 200m in the World Cup leader got chain suck and came back through the field, the guy in front of me tried pushing him and slowed me down as well, but I was still in an alright place in the pack. But when we got to the first climb another rider in front of me had a problem with their chain and started turning to the side, I tried to pass but he led me into the side barrier and I came to a dead stop, the field had pretty much gone past when I started up again. Luckily the start loop wasn't short and I could get back into 80th by the end, but this had ruined any chance of a top 20 for selection into world champs. I spent the next two laps struggling and feeling a bit gutted, but then in the 3rd lap I got some sense back and started going back up the field, the downhills on this track were heaps of fun and they were wide enough to sneak past riders as well, I managed to finish in 54th by the end which is my best result so far but I know I can do so much better.
Which will hopefully be proven this weekend in the 4th World Cup in La Bresse, France.

Cheers

Sam