Auckland MTB Series #2 Hunua

It was a good race this weekend out at Hunua, the course was the reverse of what they ran at the national round in Feb so a bit of a change to the usual, also this time it was a lot wetter which made for a good challenge. The parts that weren't gravel, were nice and muddy (my favourite!) and there was a couple of pretty gnarly root sections which I really loved the challenge of trying to ride! The race start was pretty intense with everyone battling to get into the single track first becuase there wasn't much passing after that. The 11km loop consisted of a lot of tight single track, a couple of gavel roads to link it up and with a grassy field to finish. (with a mean headwind!!) Thanks to the Auckland MTB Club for such a great race. Looking forward to the final round at Slater Road! :) Next up is the Whaka 100, it's gonna be one EPIC ride, can't wait! 100kms of Rotorua will be AWESOME!!

2W Gravity Enduro

"The most fun you'll ever have MTB-ing" that's the moto for the 2W Gravity Enduro held down at Rotorua's renowned MTB park at Whakarewarewa forest. The event certainly lived up to it's moto, I had so much fun! It was such a good weekend of racing and riding, we were lucky to have amazing weather and the trails were in tip top condition! :)

2W Gravity Enduro

The format of the 2W (2 Wheels) enduro was quite different to most other events I've done before, basically how it worked was there were five 'stages' that were made up of a combination of trails. Each stage was about 5-20 minutes of flowy downhill with the occasional climb, some sick table top jumps, steep and tight technical sections and lots of smooth as berms! So when we registered we were given a map of the stages and told we had five hours to complete all stages, you could do each stage as many times as you liked as long as you were back at the finish within five hours otherwise there was a time penalty of 6 seconds per minute you were back late. The stages were located throughout the forest and it was up to us riders to decide which order we did the stages in and how we got to the start of them, there were several shuttles running so strategy played a big part of the event. Placing's were then determined at the end by the total combined time taken to do the five race stages.  

My brothers and I decided this was an event we did not want to miss after seeing how much fun was had at the first one held earlier this year so we were up bright and early Saturday morning for the drive to Rotovegas.

The weather wasn't looking so promising...

...and then the sun came out! :)

A cool thing about this event was that as well as racing individually, you could also enter as a team of five. Everyone's times were then combined to give a total time and the lowest teams time won. Then you could all cruise round between stages together and race each other down. Since there were already three of us doing it (Peter, Liam and myself) we decided we might as well put a team together, Charlotte Rayner and Kim Wright from Jafakids joined us to make a mixed team.

Talking race strategies...           

We arrived to beautiful sunny weather on Saturday morning, with over 300 people entered it was pretty busy at the race start. Our team got together to work out our strategy for the day, with some inside information from Charlotte we decided to complete the stages on the open side of the forest first. (The wind was forecast to pick up later in the afternoon).

Queuing to get to the start line

The race started at 10am but with over 300 riders it took a while to get to the start where we clocked in and the time started ticking. There was a pretty big queue at the first shuttle point so we opted to ride up the hill to the first stage we planned to do. Not only did we just beat the shuttle up, it was a good way to get warmed up for our first run of the day too!

The next stage we did was on the same hillside and we opted to catch the shuttle this time to save energy. As I came racing down the final section of the course I found my youngest brother Liam on the side of the track and his bike in the bushes! Unfortunately he had quite a big off (luckily nothing major) but he wasn't up to riding the rest of the stages, much to his and our disappointment. :( We were a team mate down! Peter, Kim, Charlotte and I carried on with Harriet and Alex Beaven (from Jafakids) who also joined us.

The trails were in such good condition and everyone was loving them as there were smiles all round. Once we'd completed the three stages on the open side we headed over to Billy T and Little Red Riding Huck, the final two we needed to complete before we could head back. These trails were my favourite, they were pretty much all fast and flowy downhill, Little Red Riding Huck was so awesome, had some sick as berms and a lot of fun tabletops. After we'd completed all the stages we still had about an hour to spare so we decided on the way to the finish line to do one last run on one of stages on the open side and see if we could better our times.
                                         

I was stoked to win the under 23 women's category (and come 6th women overall) with Charlotte in 2nd and Harriet in 3rd! :) Stoked for Peter too who came 3rd in under 23 boys, because we were a team member down we were no longer eligible to place as a team, but all good it was still an awesome day on some of NZ's best MTB trails.

The trails were running so mint and the weather was amazing so we decided it would be rude not to do go for a ride before heading home the next day...

Thanks to my bro Liam for the sick shots! :) and Peter for putting together the video.

    

Thriller and Auckland XC Champs

After a wee bit of a break from events and racing I'm back into again :) I've got a number of events coming up over the next couple of months so stay tuned.

To start it off I travelled to Taupo to race the Day Night Thriller, this event is run in the same format as the Moonride. It's a 12 hour relay race, which you can do in a team or you can go solo if you're real hardcore like Duane and Megan!! Avanti Plus Waitakere put together two mean as teams 'A+ Waitakere Still Classy' and 'A+ Waitakere Old School Classy', I was part of the still classy team along with Piki, Elliot, JT and my brother Peter.

The start of Thriller

The course this year was very different to what I remember from two years ago, for starters it was quite a lot shorter and it was real fast with the fastest laps recorded just under 10 minutes! Due to it being such a short lap, double laps were the way to go, this gave each of us more time to recover so we could go out hard again. The track was pretty straightforward, reasonably flat with a couple of pinch climbs, tight corners and a fun, fast grassy downhill near the start of the lap.

 I enjoyed the course even though it was a lot shorter, this added an extra challenge, because there were so many people out on the course it could get quite congested so you had to be on constantly on the lookout for hotlines. It was was cool being in the same team as my bro, because we're both real competitive so each lap I pushed it harder, I was on a mission to beat his best lap time!

Thanks to Peter for the photo!

Team A+ Waitakere Still Classy

Overall we managed to complete 64 laps, which put us in 3rd place in the open category. Big thanks once again to Catherine for organising us and being the best camp mum! Dylan for doing a awesome job looking after our bikes and my team mates for another wicked 12 hour relay effort!

On Sunday morning we decided to go via Craters of the Moon and hit up the trails for a couple of hours before heading home, it was so worthwhile as the tracks there were so much fun. Check out this video my brother put together one of the awesome trails we rode...Craters of the Moon - Coasters

The following weekend was the first round of the Auckland XC Champs series. The first race of the series was out at Woodhill, nice and close to home. Luckily we had a heavy dousing of rain during the week which meant the trails were in prime condition! :) Unfortunately I didn't get to ride much of the trails, on my first lap I got a mechanical :( much to my disappointment! So I headed back to the race village to cheer on the JAFAKIDS. There were a lot of blue shirts out there racing! It was so good to see so many Jafa riders out there racing and dominating, as well as the younger ones giving it a go. Especially the girls congrats to Jess, Gemma, Isobel and Paige for taking out the u17 girls, and Harriet and Brittany 1st and 2nd in the u19 girls. So good to see you girls doing so well! Was stoked for my bro Peter who came 2nd in the u19 boys. It's awesome to see such good results coming from the JAFAKIDS!

Next event is the Giant 2W Gravity Enduro which I am soooo excited about!!!!      

Dawn 2 Dusk

Two weekends in a row I've been riding at Rotorua, am I lucky or what?! Last weekend I was down for the first round of the N-Duro and this weekend just been it was the Dawn 2 Dusk.

For those of you who don't know the Dawn 2 Dusk is an event that Descend Rotorua has held for several years. In recent years it has been as a fundraiser to help get some of the Rotorua's downhillers overseas to race at the World Champs. This year all proceeds were going to Louis Hamilton and Lawrence Cawte to help support them in their campaign to get to World Champs in South Africa in August. The event is run in a similar format to the Moonride in that it's a team relay (or you can go solo) held over eleven hours from dawn to dusk. The difference is that it's held predominantly on downhill tracks! There are several different tracks which you can choose from, with the exception of a couple that you must do before the eleven hours are up. My and I brothers were keen to do this event, so we decided to make a team of three, me, Peter and Liam. 

6am: The event village

With the race start at 7am, we were up well before the crack of dawn. Peter did the first two runs with a light mounted to his helmet, it was still quite dark in the forest. Meanwhile as the weather wasn't looking so promising for the day, Mum and I set up some shelter and lucky we did because the moment it was up, down came the rain!

Who needs an ezi up?!

To be in to win the event there were a several tracks that were compulsory to do; 3 runs of corners, 3 of National Downhill, 3 of Jump track, 1 of Billy T and 1 of Hot X Bun. It was up to us to choose what tracks we did and in what order, however there was a bit of a twist, the Hot X bun run had to be completed between 7 and 9 & the Billy T run between 9.30 and 11.30.

Throughout the day we alternated between Peter, myself then Liam. A few hours in we decided to do two or three runs each in a row because it was pretty chilly and we'd only just get back, get warm and then be having to get ready to go again. The tracks were running soo good, I did a run of jump track first and was surprised to see despite the rain the trail was in mint condition. Jump track is one of the coolest tracks in Rotovegas, it's smooth, fast and flowy with some sick berms and tabletops. SO much FUN!!

Thanks to Liam for being chief photographer!

I took my xc bike as well as my dh rig because I thought Billy T and Hot X Bun would be a lot faster on a hardtail. Peter ended up doing the  Hot X bun run and I got to do Billy T. I was so glad I did take my xc bike for this run because there was a bit of a steep climb to get to the start of the track, would have been a killer on my dh bike! 

I switched back to my dh bike for the next couple of runs, I did a run down the National Downhill, which had gotten pretty slippery and tacky because a lot of people were riding it. This track was the most technical of the five, with some slippery roots, tight corners, jumps, rough sections and jumps, it required quite a lot of concentration and skill to get down without sliding out in the mud. I made it down all good with a smile on my face, love riding that track even when it's extra slippery!

Time flies when you're having fun! All up we'd done several runs each, and as 6pm drew near Peter donned a light and headed out to get one last run in for our team. All up we completed 20 runs in the eleven hours, which was good enough to place us 1st in the 3 person team category. :) Overall it was an awesome event, we got shuttled to the top of some of Rotorua's best downhill trails which we then got to race down! What more could I ask for?! Looking forward to next year, maybe I'll take on the challenge of riding solo...     

Thanks to Descend Rotorua for putting on such a great event and good luck to Louis and Lawrence for the World Champs!  

N-Duro Winter Series Round 1

Awesome day at Rotorua for the first of the N-Duro Winter Series, it was a lovely sunny day and the trails were running so nice! :) The best way to spend a Sunday! Riding hard for 30km's round some of Rotorua's coolest trails.

http://www.n-duro.co.nz/winter/index.php

 When we arrived in Rotovegas, there was a definite chill in the air and it took a wee while to get warmed up for the race start. There were three different event options to choose from a 15km, 30km or 45km, I opted to do the 30km course, you can see the tracks here.

The race start for the 30km was pretty hard and fast along a gravel road, that seemed to go on and on. I had a good start and after several km's of gravel forestry roads I was so glad to see some single tracks at last! I have to say the ride around the Green lake was very beautiful, which I was briefly able to appreciate whilst maintaining a steady pace. I feel so lucky to live in NZ, we have such a beautiful country with some seriously stunning scenery.

The trails were AWESOME!! (especially after the gravel road climb to get there)There was a mix of fast as downhill, tight corners, rooty sections and some sweeet berms all linked together to make a fun as race course! The km's flew by and once I reached the 25km mark I dug it in, with not far to go I pushed my legs even harder. One of the final climb's felt like it went on and on but eventually I got to the top, the track down called "No Brains" was pretty tight and technical and so much fun!!

I have to say I was pretty glad to see that finish line, 1 hour 43 later I was the first female to cross the line in the 30km race. :) Stoked. Looking forward to the next race in four weeks!

Night riding!

With the shortest day approaching, winter is well and truly here which means night riding!! and there's always fun to be had out riding in the dark! :) Especially at the forest, (occasionally you might get to see a deer leap in front of you!) Woodhill's the best night riding destination over winter because thankfully it doesn't get all that muddy so that's where I'm headed most Wednesday's either to coach Jafakids or lead a DoC ride.

Ready to roll with ET?! 

With the sun going down earlier, and the days getting shorter it's hard to get a decent ride in before it gets dark. The spin trainer is an option but it's not nearly as appealing as getting outside on my mountain bike. Tonight I got my light and hit the roads around Waimauku for an hour with my bro. Way more fun than sitting on a spin trainer for an hour! Let's just hope the bad weather that's expected to hit misses us...

Looking down on Waimauku  

Ghost-rider

AKDH Woodhill Downhill

This weekend just been was the annual AKDH Woodhill Downhill, a race which has been hosted by the Auckland Downhill club and Woodhill for three years now. It's held on Woodhill's famous "SPCA" trail, a flowly, downhill track with some nice berms, a few decent sized jumps and a sandpit at the bottom if it hasn't rained for a while! It's a great event, which brings together not just downhill riders but cross country racers, bmx racers and those racing for a laugh at the "16 inch National Champs!"

The basic format is you get in as many practice runs as you can in the morning, (with a shuttle running you to the top each time) then you get two timed race runs, and if you're game to ride a 16 inch bike down the trail you can enter both your age group category and the 16 inch National Champs. Which I decided to do! For a bit of a laugh I thought I might as well see if I could get my hands on a 16 inch bike and give it a go. Thanks to trade me I got myself this mean machine!

Unfortunately I did not end up getting to race it on Sunday, I had some real good runs in the morning and had the track sussed, on my last practice run down I was chasing my youngest brother, got a little too close and stump jumped out at me! I went flying over my bike and saw stars! Lucky for me my bike was all good, and my body only a little battered with my head taking the biggest hit. I ended up sitting the race out (much to my disappointment :( ) but the medic didn't think riding again that day was very good idea. I'll make sure I'm in front of my brother next time!! :) Lucky for Peter, he got to ride my mean black and green machine (which he had been eyeing up...).

Stoked to see Peter take 2nd in U19 and my youngest bro Liam take the win in U15. Great to see such a good turn out on what threatened to be a pretty wet, cold day, awesome to see some Jafakids's out there getting great results; shot Josh in 2nd and Issac 4th (both in U17), Jake 5th (U15) and Hayden close behind in 6th. Well done guys! Hopefully next year we see some more of you Jafa's out there!

Thanks AKDH for putting on another successful Woodhill DH race, and everyone who volunteered their time to help out and make the event happen!      

Morgan Blue

Check it out....

GO get amongst that mud this winter!! and while you're at it get a photo of you and your bike dirty as. Then enter this comp to win some wicked Morgan Blue cleaning products!

Woodhill 360

This weekend just been Tim Farmer (an endurance mountain biker) held an event at Woodhill forest as a fundraiser for his campaign to get to the 24 hour MTB Solo World Championships. This new event was a team or solo 6 or 3 hour event named the Woodhill 360, there was an awesome turn out with a number of teams and heaps of solo riders.  

Several weeks ago I was looking at the different categories 6 hour solo, 3 hour solo or 6 hour team relay?? So many choices. Me and my brothers were thinking of making a mixed team together but when I saw Sarah was the only female entered for the 6 hour solo I thought I'd better enter to give her some competition! Also as I've never competed in an endurance event like this before I figured it was time I give one a go to see what they are all about. I didn't quite realise what I was getting myself into at the time I entered....

Saturday morning of the Woodhill 360 dawned cloudy but free of rain thankfully, after the mud at Moonride the weekend before I was hopeful that it would be sunny. There was no sign of sun but at least it wasn't raining! My prep for this event was a little behind as I had a busy week at work and hadn't had much of a chance to get it sorted. I arrived at the event village just in time to set up and get a in short warm up before the race start. We had a good turn out of Department of Cycling members, there were both teams and a couple of solo riders. The set up was awesome we all got to be in the same area so we could give each other support.

The event village was very well set up with a great atmosphere. The start was a le mans start, and as running is not my biggest strength I put my bike further back from the start line than most, so I could jump on it and ride off straight away. The horn went and everyone sprinted for their bikes, it was a battle to get to the single track first with riders surrounding me on all sides. Megan Dimozantos (pro mtb endurance rider) turned up to race the 6 hour solo, my goal was to stay on her tail for as long as I could. I knew I had to not go out too hard at the start because I had 6

Le mans race start

Thanks to ScottieT  for the photo!

hours of riding ahead of me, I needed to be able to maintain a good steady pace for the duration of the race. This in mind I started out strong at a pace which I thought I would be able to keep up. I jumped on Megan's tail as soon as I could and managed to keep up with her for a while even got past her down a hill. Downhill sections are a strength of mine so I pinned it down them as fast as I could. I gained a bit of distance between myself and Megan on the downhill sections. One and a half hours into the race I was feeling pretty good, had set a good pace and it felt like the time was flying by. In my mind I was mentally counting down the time, 2 hours down, 4 to go. No problem I was thinking, almost halfway! Fueling and hydrating is so important in an event of this length so I was prepared with lots of water and food to keep me going. It's actually a lot harder than you think to keep hydrating and refueling when your focusing on riding round a course as fast as you can. I knew I had to keep my liquid and fuel intake up though if I wanted to finish strong so I drank water at every point I could and ate something every hour. Thanks Mum for coming along as my support person to keep me well fed and remind me to keep drinking my water! :)

About three hours in exhaustion hit, my body screamed at me to stop and rest up but there was no way, I was in front of Megan and I was determined to stay out front for as long as I could. So grateful for my new Fizik seat which made six hours in the saddle oh so comfortable, at least I only had to worry about the burning in my legs! About three and a half hours in Megan came flying past me, I dug in with a spurt of energy and jumped on her tail, I kept up down the hill but she dropped me at the next uphill. At the halfway mark time slowed right down, every minute felt like an hour. I kept going willing my legs to keep spinning, counting down the hours to go and calculating how many more laps I could get in. Once I worked that out I focused on those final two laps I could get in before the cut off time. I couldn't have been more happy to see the finish line come into sight, those last few laps were very challenging! I crossed the line in 2nd place, one lap behind Megan, with Sarah coming in 3rd. 8 laps completed, a total of 90kms within 6 hours, my first 6 hour solo event was completed! Stoked. Massive thanks to the DoC crew, Cycle West crew and Avanti Plus Waitakere crew for all the cheering and support, much appreciated! Kept me going when the going got tough especially near the end!

Thanks to photographer Mike Breen for these two awesome photos!

At the end of the 6 hour race a short downhill race (very short 30-40 seconds long) was held from the top of uplands to the bottom, five bucks to enter all funds going towards Trail Fund NZ. The competition was labelled "Pin it to win it" with a prize from Magellan up for grabs. Of course despite being totally knackered out with sore, tired legs I had to give this a go, it was downhill after all! It got cold pretty quickly as it had started to rain so I was glad to be the first one to pin it down the hill after Tim Farmer. For the 34 seconds I pinned it down the hill everything was blur, stoked to see my brother Peter do the fastest time.

Big thanks to Tim and all the volunteers for putting on an awesome event. Best of luck Tim for the World Champs in October!

Moodride 2013

It is that time of the year again, Moonride!! The best MTB team relay event in NZ! (in my opinion anyway) For those of you who don’t know the Moonride is an annual 6/12/24 hour event held in Rotorua. It always draws a large crowd no matter what kind of weather is in store! There are a number of categories to choose from 6, 12 or 24 hour team relay and there are even solo categories for the 6, 12 or 24 hours if you want an insane challenge! The course they run is predominantly an 8km loop around some of Rotorua’s awesome single track. It’s a great event to do if you’re new to Mountain Biking because it caters for all levels, is heaps of fun and the atmosphere is always awesome.

I’ve been doing the 12 hour team relay at the Moonride for a number of years now. This year I had the opportunity to be part of the Avanti Plus Waitakere team, which I was super excited about (also quite nervous I have to admit… these guys and Sasha aka Piki are fast as!) Avanti Plus Waitakere put together a team that consisted of Duane, Callum, Elliot, Piki and myself and entered us for the 24 hour relay. I haven’t done a 24 hour relay before so I was looking forward to giving it a go.

The 24 hour event was due to start at 9pm Friday night and run through till 9pm Saturday night. Friday evening we arrived in Rotorua to constant rain that didn’t look like it was going to give anytime soon. I’d had my eye on the weather forecast all week and it wasn't looking so great… I had hoped that maybe they would be wrong this time but no looked like I had 24 hours of fun in the mud and rain ahead of me! Catherine (our team manager) Sue, Inver, Duane, Callum and Dylan (our mechanic) had already set up camp by the time I arrived. I couldn't believe it when they told me the 24 hour had been cancelled; us MTBers are tough we ride through rain and mud no worries! But sure enough they weren't kidding, we would be starting at 9am the next day with all the 12 hour teams. They were expecting constant rain for most of the night so it was a good thing they moved it forward. I was slightly disappointed as I was looking forward to the 24 hour race but there’s always next year and at least I didn't have to put up my tent in the rain!

So after a good night’s sleep out of the rain J I was ready to rock and roll the next morning. Elliot started for our team, he was super fast off the line and did wicked fast laps. We decided to do double laps each because the track ended up being shortened to about a 5km loop (due to the muddy conditions), this gave us more time to recover between. I was up third after Duane, and then Callum and Piki came after me. I came back in after my first two laps puffing hard, with a huge smile on my face, and covered in a lot of mud!! It was awesome! I do love riding in mud, you can have so much fun drifting, sliding and doing fat skids all over the place. I went as hard as I could pining it each time I went out, I was real stoked when I managed to do a 15.30 on my first lap, must have been coz I loved the mud so much! J It was pretty full on right from the start, once I got back from my first two laps I just had enough time to wash my bike, get dry and warm, eat some food then it was about time to get warmed up again and head out for another two laps. It rained off and on throughout the day, for one of my laps it absolutely poured down there was practically a river down the track! It was pretty fun, although I did spend most of that lap riding with my eyes half closed trying to avoid mud!

Mud galore!!

Once the rain stopped later in the afternoon the track got pretty boggy, and it was hard work riding through the big clumps of mud, it was like riding through a swamp. They cut out a few different lines to avoid the worst bits but you had to power pretty hard to get through most of it. Our team held a real good pace for the whole 11 hours and Elliot did the final lap with just few minutes to spare!! (they finished it an hour early, for safety reasons), we did so well we came first in our category (12 hour mixed teams) and 3^rd overall!! So AWESOME!

Despite the wet, cold and muddy conditions I had so much fun, it was real cool to be part of such an awesome team and have such amazing support crew. I want to say a massive thanks to Dylan for looking after our bikes, Cat for being such an awesome manager, Sue and Inver for the mean set up with the caravan and of course my team mates!! Was one of the best Moonride’s ever. (Despite all the mud!) Looking forward to Day Night Thriller!! J

Team Still Classy AvantiPlus Waitakere

T42

This weekend just been was the annual Totalsport T42 event down at National Park. This event has been going for a few years now and has got to be my favourite event that Totalsport puts on. The T42 attracts a large number of people as there is also the option of an offroad marathon, a 24km, 11km or 6.5km trail run/walk. The last time I did this event was two years ago with my younger brother Peter, we both had so

much fun. I really enjoyed the track, the majority of it being downhill made it very appealing to me, I was keen to give it a go again this year! So there I was again in the shadow of Mt Ruapehu and Tongariro, on Saturday morning ready to take on the 48km Mountain bike known as the 42nd Traverse.

A bit of insight into what the trail is like... It's predominately downhill (really fast downhill!), with a couple of decent climbs (that feel like they go on and on forever), half a dozen river crossings (which are freezing cold!), a couple of steep rocky chutes and a few steep pinch climbs. Overall it's a pretty wicked track, not very technical just very fast and so much fun!!

On Saturday morning I woke up to a lovely clear morning, the view of Mt Ruapehu and Tongariro was stunning, I love the central plateau area it's so beautiful and the crisp mountain air is so good, such a nice change from the humidity of Auckland. We were up early for the race, the horn went off just after 9am to signal the beginning of the T42 MTB event. Over 300 riders raced off down the tar seal road, that led to the 42nd Traverse trail. The start was pretty fast with riders carrying an average speed of about 60kms, it was pretty dodgy because I had riders surrounding me on all sides, I had to stay really focused and hold my line till we reached the farmland where gaps between the riders increased. My plan for the race was to keep a consistent pace for the 48km, I didn't want to push it too hard at the start then burn out on the uphills at the end, I made that mistake the last time I raced the T42 so I knew this time I needed to conserve my energy so I could stay strong throughout the entire race. I had a great start and felt good with the speed I was going. I was determined to beat my younger brother this time having been beaten by him twice before on this track I wasn't going to let this happen again! (especially when I had a bit of an advantage over him on a 26er, me being on a 29er I could get up hills faster and roll faster downhill too)

We battled it out for a while, chasing each other till we reached the downhill, I also chased Piki (Sasha Smith, U23 National cross country champ) for a while I tried really hard to keep on her tail. It was so mint me, Piki and Peter formed a train down one of the longest descents letting out whoops of delight as we pinned it down my favourite part of the track! At the bottom I reached the first river crossing, then it was up a short steep climb. I was still hot on Piki's tail with Peter following me. However as I got through the second river crossing, in my haste to catch Peter who had managed to overtake me, I jammed my chain on a steep pinch climb!! I sprinted with my bike to the top of the hill, unfortunately it took a bit longer than I would have liked to fix. Peter and Piki were well out of my sight by the time I was back on my bike.

On the bright side I got to have a breather and I managed to gulp some food down to keep me going. I put in a good solid effort after that going hard up the hills despite the burn in my legs and lungs. The first climb felt like it would never end, but I kept focused on what was to come, what goes up must go down! Finally I reached a marker that stated there were only 20kms to go. Woohoo! and then I was at the 15km mark... then 10km and then there was an epic downhill down a gravel road. I chased Jenna Makgill (pro downhiller back from when I first got into Downhill) all the way down the gravel road. Lastly came a killer of an up hill right before the finish, downing some lollies to get me through the final climb I pushed my legs hard knowing soon the finish line would be in sight. It was such a welcome sight to come out of the tree's into Owhango domain and see that finish, it was a pretty tough race, and I certainly gave it my all. Despite a mechanical in the middle I managed to get 6th place, although I didn't beat my brother, oh well bring on next year!! Congrats to Piki for taking 2nd! Megan 4th and Sarah 8th, top 10 for all us girls! :) Well done to Jafakid Kim for taking out the Juniors with Robin in 2nd, Tom in 3rd and Peter in 4th. The Jafakids dominated! As did the DoC crew with roadie Brendan McGrath taking 5th overall! Very impressive. Thanks to the DoC crew for the awesome weekend away, thanks Greg for the lift down and back! Looking forward to next year's T42!

The Half Nugget

This weekend I competed in my first ever off-road duathlon, in fact it was the first time I ran competitively since the Weetbix triathlon! I have to say I had an absolute blast, it was a very cool trail run along the coast of Waihi and an awesome mountain bike once you got through the farmland to the trails. Despite constant rain on the drive down, I woke early on Saturday to silence, a break in the rain came at the perfect time!

I was up at the crack of dawn rearing to go, I was feeling pretty good, although quite nervous this being my first duathlon! Dad came along as support crew to help me with my transitions by driving around to the various transition points to drop my gear off. First thing in the morning we headed out to Waihi township to register, then to drop my bike off at the first transition point, then down to Waihi beach for the race start at 8.30. Just as we were pulling up at Waihi beach it started pouring with rain, by pouring I mean bucketing down! It was crazy and there was only an hour till the start, luckily it cleared up in time for the start and I got to do a warm up without getting soaked. :)

And we're off! Into the 10km coastal Run

Everyone gathered for the start of the Half
Nugget (10km trail run, 22km MTB, 2.5km run)

8.30 came round pretty quickly, I'd given Dad strict instructions on what to drop at the transition points, had enough water and fuel in my drink pack and back pockets to get me through the running and biking and was warmed up and ready to go. All and all I felt I was well prepared and ready to give the half nugget a solid effort. The horn went and we were off, I set off at a steady pace that I would be able to maintain for the 10km's. The scenery along the coastline of Waihi was beautiful, the sea was so rugged and wild. For brief moments I enjoyed the beauty of the rough sea crashing on the rocks below the steep cliff top I was running along and then it was back to focusing on running the trail as fast as I could. I have to say it was rather odd to be running rather than biking, I'm just so used to being on a bike when it comes to race situations! It was a lot of fun though navigating the technical coastal trail by foot rather than wheel. There were roots galore, steep downhill shutes and pinch climbs, rocks, ruts and rivers to cross, much like a good mountain bike trail really! I found myself racing down the hills to see how fast I dared go without slipping (because of the rain the track was quite slick in some places and then had small currents of water flowing down in others) and then pushing myself up the hills that was the tricky part! But I got there and after the fun adventure round the coastline, the trail headed uphill for 2-3 km's, now that was a killer. I was determined to run the entire 10km's, without walking (only over technical sections if I really had to) so I pushed on up the hill round each corner till eventually I go to the top to transition point one.

Big smile on my face coz now I
get to ride my bike!!

Transition 1

Wooh hoo! I made it through the 10km run, the hardest part was over!! :) Made a quick transition onto my bike, thanks to Dad for having everything ready for me so I could do a nice, fast smooth transition! As soon as I was on my bike it was a steep gravel road, then into farm land through paddocks and farm tracks.

There was a mean as downhill through some paddocks which I pinned it down it was so mint. I can't believe how amazing my 29'er bike is, I can go so much faster down hills! It's so smooth! After that I found myself riding along a farm track for a while, started to wonder where the single track was at and that's when I reached it. It was a pretty cool section of single track I thought, there was a lot of winding uphill to get to it but what goes up must come down! And it sure did, there were a lot of nice berms pretty tight but so much fun!! and even a couple of small jumps :) The track builders did a good job on the trails, they were heaps of fun! I went as hard as I could on the MTB section because I knew this was where I could make up some time. It was hard going in some places there were a couple of good climbs that seemed to go on for ever and ever, but I hung in there knowing a downhill would be coming soon enough.

Finally I made it to the 2nd transition point where I switched my bike for my running shoes. I was told I was coming in 2nd place out of the females!!! I was so surprised, and stoked. With that in mind I took of for the final stretch of the race, a 2.5 km run. I was quite excited and in my haste I forgot to take my helmet off! Whoops, lucky I didn't get far before I realised! I was so stoked to cross the finish line in 2nd place out of the females and in a time of 2 hours 42.

Massive thanks to Ben Chidgey for the help with the training, tips for race day and knowledge about multi sport events. I wouldn't have done as well as I did without your advice. Thanks a lot.

It was such a cool event to be a part of, with a great atmosphere, over 700 people competed that's HUGE!! Anyway the next event for me will be the T42 in two weeks. Can't wait! (This one has a lot of fun downhill sections :) looking forward to it!)

Sprinting for the finish! 

 

And I'm done! :)

The Nugget Multisport Festival - Waihi

This coming weekend I'm off to Waihi to do an off-road duathlon, the Nugget Multisport Festival is on down at Waihi Beach. Looks like it's going to be a big event, like the Dual there's a heap of different events to choose from. The full nugget includes kayaking, trail running, mountain biking and road biking, I was pretty keen on the idea of the full nugget but since I don't have a kayak I've decided to do the Half Nugget which has a 10km trail run, 22km MTB bike and 2.5km run to finish, will be fun as! I haven't done much in the way of running so it's been fun to give some running a go (although I definitely prefer being on two wheels, coz you can go way faster!) I've been training for the Nugget for a few weeks now, so far so good, I'm enjoying the running and am feeling pretty good for this coming weekend. I've been running off road as much as possible to prepare myself for the epic 10km trail run (well epic for me anyway!) I hear it's quite technical with a 2km uphill at the end. What have I got myself into!?  

Above: What goes up must eventually come down!!!
Below: Trail running at Riverhead
(Thanks Peter for coming to with me and taking the photos!)

I've been out training at Riverhead, Muriwai and anywhere I can find decent technical off road tracks. Went out to Riverhead on the weekend to do a run, bike, run session. Riverhead was running so mint after the little bit of rain we had, just enough to settle the dust, there were a few puddles but with a bit of skill they were avoidable. Mint conditions for training! 

Orokawa Bay, one of the Bays I'll run through

Here's a brief on the half nugget event and what I'm going to face this Saturday. The half nugget starts at the northern end of Waihi beach with a 10km run through scenic single track along the coast side.  Apparently there's a lot of technical sections, steep pinch climbs and technical drops. Mean!! It follows the coast along till Homunga Bay and then heads upwards to the MTB transition area. The 22km Mountain Bike goes onto some farm tracks then straight into single track. Yayer this is gonna be the best part! :) The thought of the single track ahead is what's gonna get me through the 10km run! Last of all there's a lap round the Pit Rim walkway then it's into the final 2.5km run around the Martha Mine. Looking forward to it!

Waihi Beach , where the event will start

      

Stoked

SO STOKED. I got a new bike!!! :) A Scott Scale 29er, it's so mint! Thank you so much Avanti Plus Waitakere for setting me up with another cool as bike! Been riding and training on it for a week now and I'm loving it! :) I can't believe how much difference it makes riding with 29 inch wheels instead of 26, makes riding downhill so fast and over roots so smooth, it's amazing and it climbs hills so fast too! :)   

Not so shiny after a ride at Riverhead! Lucky 

I've got Morgan Blue's awesome Mud Off 

cleaner to make it nice and shiny again!

                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Check it out! My nice new bike. :)

The Dual

Well that certainly was a different kind of challenge to what I had anticipated despite all my preparation and training for the 50km MTB at the dual, it didn't go quite as I had planned... Thursday afternoon I dropped my bike down at rego, there were soo many bikes lined up, it was going to be a big event. I was really excited seeing all these bikes waiting to go over on the ferry to Motutapu! My borrowed Scott Scale bike, thanks to Avanti Plus Waitakere, was cleaned, chain was oiled, thanks to Morgan Blue for the wicked lube! It was in tip top condition soon to be transported over to Motutapu Island. I had everything planned out, I always like to be well organised before races so I had my pack sorted with spare tub, chain links etc, had my nutrition sorted knew exactly what I was going to eat and when, had been drinking heaps of water so I was well hydrated and overall I was feeling well prepared to give the 50km race a good solid effort.

Saturday morning I was up at the break of dawn ready to race, after a good nights sleep I was really excited but also nervous about the race ahead. We had a smooth ferry ride over but arrived a bit later than I expected so I wanted to find my bike straight away and start warming up. I picked my bike up, only to find the derailleur hanger had broken!! The bike had left Auckland in mint condition, as I had given it a good clean and checked it over, I can only assume it took quite a knock on the trip over to Motutapu. Lucky for me there was a bike mechanic on hand at the event, so he did what he could, he didn't have any spare derailleur hangers, but he could single speed it for me. I was grateful to the speedy mechanic for getting it up and running so fast so I could race.

Home Bay, Motutapu where all the race's began...

I made it to the start line just before the horn went! I was off, my legs spinning around frantically trying to match the pace of the other riders and I managed quite well up the first hill because I had the perfect gear for the uphills. I pushed my legs hard all the way to the top knowing once I got the flat sections it would be hard to keep up a good pace with the single speed. To my amazement I actually found myself looking forward to the uphills!! Once I got to the climb that led to the top of Rangitoto, I pushed my legs hard to get up the hill as fast as I could. I had to go really fast up the hills to make up for being slower on the flat areas. The decent from Rangitoto was by far the best bit of the track, it was super fast downhill with loose rocks and gravel. It was pretty sketchy but so fun! The 29er loved it! It handles so nicely over rough bumpy sections, way better than my 26er. I pinned it down round all the gravelly corners, my trusty Rocket Rons hooking all the corners. Once I got to the bottom I had a long windy flat stretch ahead of me. I started to figure out a strategy so I could keep my speed up, it was impossible to keep my legs continuously spinning at such a high cadence so I decided I to do intervals. Before I even got to start with this, I heard an ominous sound from my chain, it slipped up the cassette and the tension was too much for it so it snapped!! I used my chain link in an attempt to fix it, but I’m no mechanic, I managed to get it working again but the tension just wasn't right so it kept trying to jump rings and threaten to snap again. I really didn't want to give up but it wasn't looking so great, I pushed on anyway and ran/walked my bike to all the downhills, the Rocket Rons proved they certainly are fast rolling, when I had to pump down the hills! I didn't get to finish the race which I was pretty gutted about but these things happen and at least I got to do the best part, the decent from Rangitoto!

Despite not being able to complete the 50km, it was a cool event to be a part of, there was a huge crowd with a great atmosphere. It was cool to see some Jafakid riders out there competing also and doing so well! It was also cool to support an event which brings in money to plant native trees on the Island and keep it a pest free sanctuary for New Zealand’s native animals, predominantly the Takahe which is one of NZ's most endangered species. I'm defiantly going to have to give it a go again next year!

The Dual Motutapu - Rangitoto Traverse

As I said in my previous post I have decided to give some different MTB events a go this year. First up for me is the Dual, since it's so close to home and I've never been to Motutapu or Rangitoto Island I thought I might as well give it a go! I had the option of a 30km or 50km MTB, since I'm always up for a good challenge I decided I had to do the 50km. So a bit of a background on this event, it's been running for a couple of years now and there are a number of different event options to choose from. There's a marathon, half marathon, off road triathlon, 10km or 6km run/walk and the 30km or 50km MTB, so it's quite a big event!

The 50km MTB starts on Motutapu Island and  then winds it's way over to Rangitoto, up to the very top then back down, around Rangitoto and back to Motutapu island to the finish. Here's the link to a map of the circuit I'll be racing: Map of 50km MTB. The track is a mix of gravel roads, grassy trails and single track through forest and over volcanic terrain. Sound like it's going to be quite a scenic ride! At this point I'm feeling quite good for the race this Saturday, have been training hard, hydrating and eating the right foods, I'm feeling well prepared. I'm really excited and looking forward to the challenge of 50kms, it's quite a change from the Downhill!

Another thing I am super, super excited about is the bike I'll be riding! A Scott Scale 29er!! Which Avanti Plus Waitakere have kindly lent me while my new bike is being built up, so excited it's going to be the coolest bike out there!! (besides my Scott Gambler downhill bike that is!). Have taken the Scale out for a couple of rides already and it is AMAZING! So fast I can actually beat my brothers on it for once! :) Looking forward to racing it this weekend, especially coz my bike's got Schwalbe's Rocket Ron tires on it! My fave tires to run on my xc bike, fast rolling and lightweight the best tire's to run for speed and efficiency, which is exactly what I'll be needing this weekend.

Better get my beauty sleep, I'm going to need all the energy I can get come Saturday, watch out out for an update from me soon on how Saturday went.