Hanmer Hammerhead

We decided to make this event a day trip, so the alarm went off at 6am and we were up, showered and feed before hitting the road around 7.30am to head north to Hanmer.

The weather wasn't to bad really, overcast and a little wet under the rubber in places, but not to bad...

The Hammerhead is always a tough event, it wasn't going to be any easier this year, 3 laps and about the length of a cup/national round.... it was the last event on most peoples calender before the 1st cup round in Dunedin early Jan, so we all wanted to perform to see how the training has been coming along.

The gravel road start is always fast and aggressive to be the 1st into the single track climb... Anton and Brad went in first and after putting a squirt in up the road I went in around 4th. I was feeling okay and the pace was sustainable right through to a steep gravel road climb, half a dozen of us pedalled at a good tempo and I dropped into the single track decent at the back of that bunch (9th), the track went downhill and so did I!

Rule number one: Never change fork pressure the night before a race!

This was my 1st real event on my Scale Pro 29er, I have been making changes to get it dialled in just how I like it.... I know, you know, EVERYONE knows rule number 1!

The forks were hard and bouncing of every little bump, and the guys just shredded away from me...

The next climb up timberland's the 2nd rule was clear

Rule number 2: If the body is tired, DON'T PUSH IT

I had a physical week at work, a rat shit week worth of sleep and hay fever which a lot of you know completely knocks me over...

With struggling to breath and the heart rate going through the roof, the legs lost power, and the mind went...
I backed off and rode to finish in 9th over the line. (Ive never not finished a race and I wasn't going to start now) As I crossed the line there is a photo of me..... I'm not a happy boy.


I learnt a lot form this event, the importance of listening to your body and how sleep and recovery is so important to racing at a high level. I have always taking my easy days on the bike easy and get the benefits from it, I should have listened to my body and not raced, I have only just recovered from this event, and lost some valuable training days leading into the national rounds.

There were some solid rides from the lads, it great to see some finally getting the results to reflect what the have been putting in.... It will be a tough season ahead, Canterbury has some great riders.

Time to regroup, Get back into some solid training, and finish of some final tweaks on the Scott before Dunedin.

Cya!

Timaru 6hour

I finally got the result I have been looking for in a 6hour Solo race,  It couldn't have come at a better time leading into my 1st season as an Elite MTBer.

Friday was a mixed day for me, I was excited about the race on Saturday and about my bike turning up, trouble was, the bike didn’t turn up in time for me to get my hot little hands on it, which then made my mind go mental about 6hours on another loaner bike! (Not the Surly….anything but the Surly PLEASE!)

Kristie and I headed down to Timaru Friday night to stay with some mates… That night I set up the bike I was going to race the next day… I used to race a Giant XTC in a Large, so we whipped a 120mm stem on the Medium and went upstairs and had a couple of cold ones…

I headed down to the scenic and set up the pop ups that the Christchurch Singletrack Club would operate out of, chucked on my shoes and lid and pedaled the course….. 1^st time on wee wheels in about a year and this was a comical we ride…  Lucky no one was there to see the mishaps! I liked the track and thought it suited me well…. Some awesome singletrack trails, rock gardens, roots, long 4wd tracks and some good pinch climbs in there to keep you honest!

After briefing we line up on the start line and set off to start the event.  Brad and Anton take the lead for their teams and Tayler and I settle into a rhythm… After a few wrong turns on the grip shift and some interesting moments, I found myself with a gap on Tayler, I pushed the pedals hard for the first couple of hours then found a rhythm for the remainder of the race…

The legs felt awesome, so I kept smashing the climbs and spinning the flat sections.

Cramp did come, but I stayed in the big gears as I knew if I started spinning smaller gears I wouldn’t  push the big gears again… this proved to be how my legs liked it, the cramp passed and it was game on again….

As usual I didn’t eat enough and had 2 laps that went out to 27mins, but otherwise I was happy with my lap times, 14laps down in 5hours 45mins… I managed to ride through the field to be 2mins behind 2^nd place  Taylor Reed, I was 4^th overall (TBC) on the track including the 12hour teams when I finished.

As always the Cycleways vs. North Canterbury team had a good battle… with the Juniors of the North Canterbury Club taking the overall win for the day.

Also a mention of a stella ride by Mr Craig Tregurtha winning the 12hour Solo and Kristie Fogarty taking out the women’s 6hour Solo… seems all the Christchurch Singletrack Solos won!

A couple of weekends off racing now, looking forward to finally getting some saddle time on the Scott!

See you on the trails….

Spring Crusher

Hanmer Springs.... the alpine village has some awesome trails to shread and what better way to show it off with the Spring Crusher MTB race utilising almost all the single track available!

We arrived on Friday to a nice day, a few mates had texted and said the trails were wet and slippery. After an awesome meal we drift into our rooms to get a good nights sleep...zzzzzzzzzzz

The forecast was right! We woke to rain and a lot of water on the ground.
Only the dedicated turn up to the startline...

Off we went across the river to start this awesome event... after some conversation on the flat gravel road we headed up the 1st climb, by the top there where 9 of us, we drop down and cross the river to complete the start loop... the next climb had a sharp pinch at the end and it sorted out the men from the boys, or in this case the boys from the men! Anton, Craig, Ben and Brad (aka the whippets) pedaled away, Tom and Nick were just in front at the top, I managed to pop past Tom before the yankee decent and set my sights on Nick... too much time on the roadie! I slipped and slid the whole way down, I didnt feel comfortable for a lot of the ride, I found my groove and kept pushing.

The tracks were wet, the mud was slippery, I was surprised how well the trails held up to the beating we gave them.

After chasing Nick for just over half the race I managed to get on his wheel... this was short lived as we got into the lower dog stream single track and Mr Roadie came back...

The gap didnt seem to grow or shrink much between us, it was a good honest race and no doubt will be the 1st of many this season.

After some final attacking to try and close the gap on the last climb, I started the last and what I deamed as the worst decent in the race. A clay based puddle infested slip n slide, with this done a short squirt to the finish....

5th overall and 2nd to Nick in the Open Men (couldn't get the pinner) Great result for me and highlights how far I have come (beating last years dry time by almost 5mins) and what I need to work on.

I was riding a Medium Scott Scale Expert 29er that I had leant to me and found it an awesome machine to ride, light, stiff and fast! The slightly slacker head angle makes for a very stable decending bike, with a longer top tube and shorter stem, the steering is still positive and maneuverable in the tight techy stuff... Not long now until I will be on board my Large Scott Scale Pro for some much needed trail time to get the skills up.

Well done to all the competiters who toughed it out in the wet and cold conditions, I'm sure your mechanics will love to service your bike after that mud fest.... Give the guys at John Bull a call to get your ride ready for the up and coming summer season!

Till Next Time....

Rattled at McLeans 6hour

I always look forward to the Blue Dog Events 6 & 12hr at McLean's Island, its a flat track and you need to be pedaling the whole time which makes it a long day in the saddle.

With over 1200 competitors (about 360 on the track at once) this was going to be a fantastic day on the bike... I had spent Thursday and Friday setting up the ramp and dressing it with some Blox Fencewrap, the ramp is a big part of the day and Blox was more than happy to sponsor this part of the the event, we also had some flags down the finishing straight that added to the atmosphere.

Saturday brought an awesome day weather wise, rocking up to our tent site and seeing everyone buzzing setting up there tents, signing on got me exited about riding.

As I am waiting for my Scott Scale to arrive I borrowed a rigid surly 1x9 for the day...this wasn't the brightest idea on the planet....

After briefing the bikes went one way and the riders the other.... after some false starts, we started the 300m le Mons run to our bikes.... I had a good start and pushed hard to the 1st piece of single track, hit the 4wd and boom..the teams riders went flying by. Coming over the line around 10th after lap 1 knowing 1 solo rider was in front of me the next few laps I kept pushing....this is where I realised it was going to turn survival for me.

Pushing the Surly was harder than I thought, add a rough walking track and some runs down what felt like a river bed and the arms were gone! Cramping to the point I was missing corners. I kept the fluids up and backed off to try and sort myself out. The 4 hour mark came and I was still missing corners and having trouble... the legs wanted to go but if you can't hang on to the bars its hard to push...

As my lap time dropped I knew I was gone.... lap 7 I was in 2nd still and by lap 12 I was down to 3rd.... my longest lap was 30mins which is slow, 1 min of that was putting chain lube on, about 3 mins was lying on the side of the track trying to get feeling in my arms after almost making love to a tree!

Was a good day on the bike, but broke me. I haven't been that sore and tired after a race.

A lap down on what I did last year and 4th place in the open men solo category, I can't complain. Well done to Tay on the win, he rode strong all day and deserved it.



My thoughts go out to the family who lost there loved one at this event.
I also want to wish Nick all the best who is in intensive care... stay strong mate, keep attacking!




Till next time.....Stay Safe

THE SEASON AHEAD

Well, this is where I will be posting reports on the up and coming MTB season.

Last year I competed in the Nelson and Christchurch MTBNZ Cup rounds and also the NZ MTB Nationals in Dunedin, I placed 3rd, 2nd and 3rd at the nationals (Same week as the February earthquake in Christchurch)

This year i have rounded up a coach, gained some continued support from Blox Apparel and am happy to be riding a Scott this year through my new sponsor John Bull cycles.

I will be looking at testing myself this year against the best we have in NZ, taking to the start line in the elite field. This will be a strong field as always but am looking forward to testing myself and pushing as hard as I can to see what my body and legs can handle....

The winter has been good with some long miles, and some good training rides, so am looking forward to the season and the warmth!!!

See you on the start line soon......