- NZ XC MTB Champs tomorrow here in Nelson. Going to be a nice day so come watch! #
- Classic… http://t.co/lRnPRmDs #
- Golfers, cyclists excel at academy | Rotorua Sport | http://t.co/rXOgF9Cd via @AddThis #
Round 1 of NZ Mountain Bike XC Cup kicked off on Signal Hill, Dunedin yesterday. This was a Cat 1 UCI round which is pretty unheard of for NZ, all the points on offer ensured strong fields in both the Men’s and Woman’s races, even a few Auzies thought they would ditch hop for it. Continue reading ‘NZ Cup Round 1: Dunedin’
It’s recommended that you don’t try new things out on race day, but it’s better to try something new out then never at all right?
Des and I headed to Tauranga so I could test myself in the Tinman’s duathlon. I was keen to put my running and biking together and see how it went. At rego when I was told only four people had entered in the duathlon option I had a re-think. There was a free spot in the Elite Woman’s triathlon field guaranteeing prize money if I could finish before the cut off. I was encouraged to enter to find out what I could do out there and to have some fun. That was the goal for the weekend anyway so why not throw in a new discipline?
I was a little nervous, I’ve always wanted to do a tri before, just never got round to cutting laps in the pool. The last time I did any swimming training was when I was 12, I’ve never done a sea swim or even done a triathlon before so this was an opportunity to find out fast what it is all about. Fortunately I was staying with a friend in Tauranga – Lydia Hale who also came my saving with a flash wetsuit, goggles and hot tips on how to go about it. Continue reading ‘Tauranga’s Tinman Triathalon’
Last week Waiariki’s Academy of Sport held a boot camp over in Ohope. Tier 4 athletes from the Mountain Bike, Kayak, Golf and Other sports squads camped out under the stars, taking part in three full on event filled days. If we weren’t being educated about the media, recovery or the goodness of cherries (Google them!) we were out running on the beach, training our specialised sports or challenging ourselves in completely different activities.
The camp was a great way to finish off the year together as an academy. We cemented the academy’s strong culture, recapped on what we have achieved in 2011 and also aspired ahead towards 2012.
After the camp it was mission on down to Taupo for the Huka XL mountain bike race. There was a good turnout for this event (as always) but unfortunately it got the chop about 30km into the 80km event. The organisers made the call that it was too dangerous for us to be riding in the forest – the wind was epic, trees were blowing over left, right and across the track! For everyone’s safety the organisers made the right decision but it is unfortunate. What will they do with all the prize money? Not sure yet but Annika had a good idea… they should put it all in for next year, double the cash up for grabs in 2012 Huka XL – brilliant!
After the race I drove to sunny Hawke’s Bay to catch up with some family for the rest of the weekend. Nice. Now back in Rotorua I’m looking forward to staying put for a few days, or at least until the Tinman duathlon in Tauranga this Sunday. I think it will be my first duathlon ever so a bit of a hoot. See how the legs go in that!
More picks from the camp… Continue reading ‘Still rolling…’
After Wide Open built me up this sweet new race bike, complete with flash FSA,Marzocchi, ODI and SDG parts, it was time for some more racing. The next day I flew to my home town Wellington for the final round of the PNP series.
The loop course was a good change from short circuit style races. From Makara we rode out to Tip Track and came back via a new trail – Barking Emu. I had never ridden the final connecting trail between Tip Track and Car Parts so it was cool to finally check it out. What an awesome massive decent it is now!
That was a nice weekend at home catching up with friends and family but Monday morning came too quickly and I was back in Rotorua. Five days here then the weekend rolled around again and it was time to check out the running scene in the Coromandel. Continue reading ‘Off season racing’
Ok so what’s been happening? I’ll get you up to scratch…
I’m back in NZ now and have finished my Diploma of Communications at Waiariki Institute of Technology. I’m still deciding what course to study next year with a few options in the air but in the mean time I’m keeping my brain occupied with attempting to learn the German language. Maths is definitely easier than German but with calculators these days this seems more relevant.
All of Waiariki’s Academy of Sport athletes and I have been coming to grips with our amazing Academy Manager Jane Borren relocating across the ditch. Jane has done a hell of a good job with the Academy growing it strong and is a key personnel to us athletes, keeping us on the rails and helping to shape our direction. We will all miss Jane but will stay on her tabs with email and skype – phew!
As for training, I have started getting my mission back on. Nothing like exploring nice places in your own country! This weekend Des and I went for a good run up Mt Tarawera to see the craters which couldn’t really be seen…
This year’s world Champs in Champery turned out to be my most disappointing race in my career. Having never DNF before this was first and hopefully last time. In my build up to this race things seemed to be fairly on track. I had the course dialled in and wanted so much to finish the season off on a high note. Unfortunately off the gun this hope slipped away. I had a slow start and just lacked energy which meant I could not recover. I fought for a while but my technique had also crumbled and I was crashing out on sections I had ridden so perfectly the days before. With no go I shortly retired from the race. Continue reading ’2011 World Mountain Bike Champs – Champery, Switzerland’
I always look forward to racing at Val di Sole – this is the place where summer has been hiding. Last year I had a great race on the climbing course and this year only minor changes had been made to the track, maintaining its tough steep nature. The DH and XC World Cup final combined here meaning heaps of Kiwis were in town which was fun. ‘Camp Kiwi’ had been arranged for us at the top of the mountain so we scored a bonus week of altitude training too…
In 33-35deg heat all week I had practiced the course and dialled it in. For this round we were given a separate U23 race at 4:30pm to have a clean track and simulate the format for the World Championship in 10days time. It was different waiting till the end of the day for our race to start but Katie and I managed to fill in the day; brekkie, morning spin to internet, t.v, paint nails, lunch, book, t.v…. we were tapped out. Continue reading ‘Val di Sole World Cup’
It was an up and down weekend at the World Cup in Czech Republic. On Saturday a big mob of Kiwis cheered on Anton Cooper as he flew around the course, taking home 1st place in the junior men’s race! For Anton’s 1st ever World Cup this was really outstanding! … At the same time the junior girls raced and team mate Jolanda again cleaned up her field finishing 1stjunior woman! Congrats 
The course was great, super full on with tricky slick roots, rock formations demanding full concentration throughout the entire lap. I was hoping for a good result here but it turned out to not be my day. I fought as hard as I could the whole race but had no energy – finishing in 10th in the Under 23 grade. Disappointed yes but now I will put this race behind me and focus all my energy on nailing the next world cup in Italy (this Saturday). Continue reading ‘Nove Mesto World Cup’
