Monthly Archive for February, 2009

SI XC Cup Round 3 – Coronet Peak

Published on February 16, 2009 in race report. 1 Comment

This race as frog would say was “O for Orresome”!!! It was so much fun, I went out hard leading after the first lap and enjoyed the view from the front so much that I just decided to keep battling to hold that position…and I did! It certainly didn’t come easy though, Jeannette Gerrie who is an incredibly strong rider up the hills kept the pressure on fortunately, I managed to pull away on the wicked decent to give myself a head start up the hill each time. In the end I won by only 48seconds, with Katie O’Neill not far behind us in third. For the Elite Men Mikey Northcott (also on a real steal Jamis hardtail) had a great race finishing first with Marcus Roy closely behind in second and Brendon Sharratt third. Continue reading ‘SI XC Cup Round 3 – Coronet Peak’

SI XC Cup Round 2 – Timaru

Published on February 9, 2009 in race report. 0 Comments

Timaru was stinking hot!!!! The Sunday afternoon high of 35 degrease and a humidity exceeding 75% it was intense. I only managed to complete one lap before the heat became too much and started vomiting, so that was my day done. It was a shame I didn’t get to finish this round because the organisers had designed a really good course that was way different to any previous round. Everyone seemed to rate Centennial park, it was a pretty fun place to ride. The course there was 3 laps of a 13.5km loop, this consisted of several tight twisty single track sections, they were quite technical in the fact that it was hard find a rhythm on. There was no major climbs rather a more flat and rolling gradient. The course was very dry and dusty with the odd rock and gum tree thrown in… much like Canberra from what I hear. Continue reading ‘SI XC Cup Round 2 – Timaru’

SI XC Cup Round 1 – Dunedin

Published on February 3, 2009 in race report. 0 Comments
On Sunday the first round of the south Island series was held in conjunction with an existing race along the Otago Peninsula. This scenic course had impressive views from Dunedin’s coast all the way out into the deep blue, it sidelined estuaries and homes of scarce wildlife. If you can take a moment to appreciate these stunning sights it would be really quite nice, but when your racing do you notice any of this? Nope. In a race where you’re suffering you only notice the four wheel drive farm tracks, paddocks, and tar sealed roads that are within your forward facing 10ft blurry vision… other than that I only noticed the intense southerly gale as it repeatedly sent me into the gutter. With the wind and series of HUGE hills it made for a tough, strength course, perfect for a strong ox or a rider that knows how to cling onto a strong ox. For a national series course though I think it kind of sucked. National series races need to stick to lap style setup, like the UCI format and with more technical tracks, a bit of bang for your buck wouldn’t hurt – where a bit of excitement can be gained on the decents from your hard efforts put into climbing. Also to have the course available for pre riding would be good, I should have known when I saw a few locals gathered in one spot though… they know where to go to see a good crash. Continue reading ‘SI XC Cup Round 1 – Dunedin’