NZ XC MTB Cup Round 2 and National Championships

It's been non stop for the past few months training, racing and travelling with just enough time between to eat, sleep and work. Just the way I like it, I love to always be busy doing something! Although my body seems to have decided it needs a rest despite what I may think. After an awesome race at Nelson, (my best performance of the season) I had one weekend before National Champs in Rotorua. This was an opportunity for me to suss out the Nationals course and practice it.

Before I get to Nationals, here's a quick recap on Nelson's Top Gun event (which included the second and final round of the NZ XC MTB Cup). Sunny Nelson certainly lived up to it's name and we were lucky to have beautiful weather the whole weekend. After some practice laps on Friday and Saturday I was feeling pretty good for the race on Sunday. It was an awesome track, and suited me well with several shortish climbs, some really good downhill sections with tight corners and a couple of rocks thrown in here and there.


My brother Peter was competing in the Downhill on Saturday so after some practice laps in the morning I went out to watch him race, unfortunately he got a flat tyre in his race, much to his disappointment. It was a very rocky course and there were a lot of flat tyres over the weekend, it was so unlucky, but like he said it's all part of racing! And since he had come all the way to Nelson he decided he might as well give the XC a go the next day!

On the morning of the race I was feeling pretty relaxed, I was really looking forward to racing on this track as I felt pretty confident on most of the sections. Although once it came closer to the start the nerves crept up on me and I ended up not doing such a great start, which put me quite far back at the single track. Despite this I got a good tempo going and managed to pass several of my competitors, even managed to pass and beat my brother!! Yeeya technically he is a downhiller but still... I was stoked to cross the finish line in 6th place (Elite woman) and was the 1st U23 woman. I was pretty happy with that!

Thanks to Corey Russ for the photo from the Super D

To conclude the Top Gun there was a Super D race held on Monday. Super D is a combination of cross country and downhill, it's predominately downhill (6-12 minutes long) but it usually has some uphill and flat sections. We had a couple of hours in the morning to practice on the track, during which I was able to suss out some hotlines and get a bit of flow going on the many tight corners. I had a pretty good race run and came in 4th place. It was a great way to finish an awesome weekend in sunny Nelson!

Next up was the National Champs in Rotorua. This was the big one, the one I'd been working up to all season. I knew the course pretty well having ridden it the previous weekend, so I was feeling good in the week leading up to the race. Unfortunately my race didn't go quite to plan, I started off strong, having learnt from Nelson how important it was to get a good start, I was determined to get into the singletrack in a good position. On my second lap I had a spectacular fall, I went flying over my bars and face-planted into the ground. Thankfully my bike was fine and I was also ok just quite shaken, I got straight back on my bike and continued to finish my last three laps. Although mentally I was fine, my body got quite a shock from the impact of the crash and all my energy dissipated. I tried really hard to push on and catch my competition but my body did not want to cooperate, I was in the box till I got pulled out because of the 80% rule. I was pretty disappointed with my result as I was aiming to do well at National Champs, but that's part of racing and it's all good learning experience.

Photo credit: Alan Ofsoski

After Nationals I flew down South for a week of tramping it was a amazing experience during which I hiked up a mountain, crossed several rivers and saw some beautiful scenery round the area of lake Wanaka. So that brings me to last week when I arrived home. I had a couple of days off the bike due to a sore and swollen knee, with this putting me behind on training and just starting uni I have decided to not go to Christchurch for Oceanias in mid March, as much as I would like to I have decided this is the best thing for me. This week I started my first year of University at AUT doing a bachelor of Sport and Recreation, which is very exciting!

For the rest of this year my main focus will be study but I will still be out mountain biking and racing, just doing events closer to home. Keeper of the Cog is this week/weekend which I hope my knee is better for so I can compete!

NZ XC MTB Cup Round 1 - Wellington

Last weekend I was down in Wellington to compete in the first round of the NZ MTB Cross Country Cup. It was my first time racing elite cross country and what an experience it was! Thanks to PNP Mountain Bike Club for holding such a great event.

Firstly I have to say racing Cross Country is quite a big change from the downhill, the technical mtb skills are still the same but the start and duration is very different. In a DH race you are on your own for the race run which lasts between two-five minutes during which you have no idea how your other competitors will do, whereas in the XC you start with your competition and it's a battle to get to the finish first with the race lasting about one and a half hours. Not to mention the training! XC requires endurance which means a lot more hours on the bike and not just the mountain bike, getting out on my road bike also to improve my aerobic system. I'm really enjoying riding my cross country bike and am loving the challenge of pushing my body to the limit to see what I can achieve.  

The first XC course of the season was up Mt Victoria situated near the center of Wellington. You can view it here, it was about a 4km lap with some seriously steep uphills as well as some equally steep, technical downhills, rooty sections and a drop in the middle. Overall it was  pretty cool course, very challenging but fun! Lining up at the start with all the elite woman I felt pretty nervous, the moment the horn went the race was on and my all my nerves left. I had a good start and once I got past the first killer of a climb I got a steady pace going. It was a very physically demanding course with very little rest which meant it required a lot of concentration. Some of the downhill's were pretty gnarly and if you didn't stay focused, it would have been easy to go off course. Five laps later, I crossed the finish line in 8th place (2nd U23), I was pretty happy knowing I had given it my all and pushed my harder than ever before! I loved every moment of it. Check out more photo's here. Cheers to Cycl1n for the photos above!

Can't wait to race again this weekend! I'm off to Nelson for the Top Gun, number two of the NZ MTB Cup and I'm also doing the Super D. Real excited for it!! :)