New Zealand National Championships (Rotorua)

2:00am Saturday morning 8 and1/2 hours before race start and all I could think about was how full-on the Hunua's race had been the previous week, and how intense this race would be.

By 7am I'd actually managed to get some sleep, consumed more than 1and half liters of water and got my bike ready for racing.  I was wired!

The waiting was too much for me - by 7.30am I just had to get out in the forest and get in a couple of laps just to get the feeling of the track before the race at 10am.

Before I knew it, it's race briefing. As the under 17s were called up yet again they left me out! I ran over to a race organiser (who luckily ended up being the one that was meant to change me during registration at the Event Centre the night before - phew!! and  he told me to quickly jump in with the rest of the under 17s and he'd sort out the details.  Unfortunately this meant at the back of the bunch - no one was going to give me a prime spot near the front.

At the 2 minute countdown everyone you could feel the tension in the bunch. At 1minute everyone was right edge. All of a sudden "the race will start in the next 15 seconds"... then the horn! all so quick!

From the back I had a really slow take off from the start line which forced me to ease back from my normal starting style.  I sat on a guys wheel that was going at the same speed as me and after the long painful climb up the entry road it was clear that one of the front-runners had fallen in front of other riders on the short but very steep climb into Genesis. In the carnage that followed I quickly unclipped and ran for it, managing to leap-frog into the top 15.  Boy! you've got to be ready for those chances.

The rest of the 1st lap was the same - I would pass someone then I in turn would be passed - constant leapfrog of positions. By sitting right on the rider in front of me and gassing it at every opportunity I managed to climb up to 8th position. The nervous energy I had before the start disappeared. 

Beginning the second lap my cornering started to feel a bit out of shape but I tried to ignore it and kept pushing hard it. Halfway through the 3rd lap going into the start of Pig Trail as I was chasing fellow JAFAKID Alex Beaven my front tyre lost all pressure. NOOO!!!!!  My race strategy to take no equipment (to save weight) was a silly and costly mistake.  I was too far from the feed zone for help - my race was over!

All I could do now was watch the rest of the fields go past and accept that DNF was my mark this year. Bummer.  That's Mountain biking for you - expect the unexpected, hope for the best!

While I was a little annoyed that I couldn't finish the race I'd been up against the best and had held my own. 






                                                                            

After the prize giving for the Juniors and Masters it was time to watch the Elite and older riders.

As the various groups started to line up, you could see all the media starting to turn up just to get footage of the Anton Cooper and Dirk Peters race the promised to be epic.

I reminded one of my coaches and ex-jafa, Sasha Smith (Piki) that "no pressure" she had to win it and she just laughed at me. She ended up winning the under-23s and got the NZ title - which I knew she could get. So awesome!

The Dirk Peters or Anton Cooper race didn't disappoint either.  After nearly 40km at a blistering pace it all came down to the last corner. The media and spectators were treated to an see incredible sprint finish with only a second separating them. While Dirk didn't beat Anton, both of them were stars - and such gracious and humble racers.  Huge "clicks" to Anton for donating prize money to the juniors - an amazingly generous thing.

Brilliant work by everyone that raced in the national cup serious and championships.  Great day, great people, great event.

 
Anton and Dirk sprinting around the corner.

Anton taking it out.

New Zealand National cup (Hunua)

I have been training for months for one of the biggest races in my career to date, the NZ National Cup Series.

While I had missed the first 2 races out of three (not including the championships) because they were to far away and we couldn't afford them - I was still very excited mostly because it would be my first year in under 17 category.  It was going to be a whole lot harder than last year that was for sure, but I felt ready.

As we arrived at the Hunua event area, the whole atmosphere was amazing - a gorgeous day and really decent crowd (well done Auckland MTB Club!).  I have to admit my heart was pounding! the combination of fear and excitement was offset by the knowledge that there was little expectation for me to win.  I was still really keen to test myself against the older boys who show such amazing speed and skill.

As we all got ready for briefing, the fear and determination was obvious in everyone (making me feel better know that others were feeling the same). All the under 17s names were called up except for mine - odd!!!   I asked a BikeNZ official what was happening and they had told me that I was marked in the under 15s but I didn't question them further and so I went to the back where all the under 15s where waiting.

Once the under 17s and Masters had gone it was the under 15s turn and I already knew who I needed to keep up with - Eden Cruise.   He's very fast for a 13/14 year old and an amazing competitor (and a nice guy to boot) and can hold his own against the under 17's as well, so I knew it was going to be a tough race.

The standard count-down, "the race will start in the next 15 seconds"... these were the worst 15 seconds of my life, then suddenly GOOO!!!!!!  We were off!

Eden and I were neck and neck up to the first corner where Eden managed to nose in front, but I was determined not to let him go. We battled hard for the first 3km until we came to a huge grassy hill where Eden just burst away and was never to be see again until the finish.  Boy was he on fire.

The course was awesome - mostly very tight single track that broke out occassionally into big mown paddocks.  Very hot, very fast and the gravel base on the tracks was unforgiving for any mistakes.

I did the 3 laps that the under 15s had to do, gaining a good lead over the next racer but as I came the finish line (knowing that I got 2nd in the under 15s) the BikeNZ offcial came over and told me that I was meant to be in the under 17s after all.  He said that my registration must have been messed up so at the end of the day they had to DNF me in the under 17s (which sucked). 

Still, I had the great feeling of achieving a second (just not in the right category) plus pushing hard against Eden- great preparation towards the final National Race the following weekend.


    

After the Juniors and Masters prize giving the under 23s would be competing, where I was going to  see Anton Cooper (under 19 world champ) race against Dirk Peters for the first time plus Karen Hanlan and Kate Fluker in the women's.  Everyone knew they were going to be great races, and they did not disappoint.  Most importantly, watching them gave me an idea of how much further I have to go to get up to that level in MTB racing.

It had been a long, tiring and confusing day but hopefully a good build up to the championships in Rotorua - ROTORUA HERE I COME :)

ps. My fellow Jafakids did awesome with some top results and podiums.
Fellow R&R Rider and Jafakid, Robin Page got 5th in the under 17's which was one brutal race - well done!