N-Duro Higlander

Friday night after dinner, with nothing planned for the weekend, I got a call from my friend Kim who  asked if I felt like doing the 40km mountain bike as a fun race in Rotorua the next day with him. Duhh!! in Milli-seconds I replied "yes"!!!

Early morning wake up to get my gear ready for the 6am pickup from Kim and his dad.
After a fun drive down together we arrived at Rotorua at 9:30. Quick reregistration then we met fellow R&R rider Robin Page who was getting ready for the 80km national title race.

After a quick warm up Kim and I couldn't wait to get on to the trails. At 10am we watched Robin sprint off with the sight of glory in his eyes on his 80km epic. By 10:30am  Kim and I were at the start/Finish ready to go.  We had decided to make this a fun ride and have a good time, particularly because the promised rain hadn't turned up.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1 GO!!! Kim and I set off with the bunch. We felt great, nice and relaxed. 10km into the race we had managed to catch up to a guy who seemed to be serious about the race but wasn't very quick on the uphill so Kim suggested that we stick with him up the hill.


                                                             


After 20km we reached the highest point in the race and were ready for the time of our life, going down the Billy T track (If you ever go riding in Rotorua, I definitely recommend it). The guy that we had been sticking with finally earn't our respect with whipping down the hill super fast. Kim and I managed to real him in again a few km later.

Approaching the 30km mark Kim and I didn't feel to tired.  Kim suggested that for the last 5km we should sprint, to not only look professional but also to see who was quicker out of each other.
A couple of minutes later as we're on the gravel road, as I reached down to grab a drink, Kim who was at that time a little further up ahead, started to scream at me and suddenly burst off.  I couldn't understand what he was saying - I thought he said look behind so I take a look behind me, nothing? Then suddenly I figured out that we must be at the 5km mark already!
















I started to sprint off after him. About 200m up the road was the entry to the next trail, but I entered it I had too much speed into the corner and just went over the handlebars. As I picked myself up off the ground, the guy that Kim and I had passed earlier wizzed past. I did not want to lose to him so I got back on my bike quickly and gave it some gas.

2km left and the poor man had stopped on the side of the track because of his seat - bummer, that's mountain bike racing for you.

As I entered the 2nd to last trail I could see Kim in the distance. I thought that I could catch him, only problem was that there were a lot of technical corners to get through to. As I reach the open grass area the rain had finally started and I could see Kim crossing the finish line, BUGGER.

Once I finished, Kim and I started to tell our story to each other about our exciting last 5km. Awesome riding.

Only 1 hour later Robin comes through, having just finished double the distance we had ridden, earning a national gold medal - Congrats Robin.
                                                                    
   

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!

Auckland Endura Series - Slater Road (race 3 out of 3)

Christmas came early! mum and dad decided to pay half for a new Giant XTC 29'er.

I has been riding a Scott Scale 50 (2011) but like all teens we rapidly seem to out-grow our bikes and I have to say, the Scott was definitely getting too small for me. But when we had to go into R&R to get a spare chain, there was no way I thought I'd be coming out with a whole new bike. The gods were smiling.

For months I had been waiting to see what the new Giant XTC 29er composite for 2013 would be like.  When Doug Wester ran through the improvements with Mum and Dad over previous years it, combined with R&R's sponsorship support (plus trading and selling everything I owned) - I struck a deal with Mum and Dad.  Its not the most highly spec'd machine, but the overall package was great.

But... my size wasn't in store.  Want to know the definition of pain for a mountain biker?  waiting a week for your new bike to arrive and be assembled.

However 1 week before Slater Road, and with Gunnar building it with me in the shop on his day off. I had my babyand life was looking good.

With only 1 week until Slater Road I knew there wasn't much time to get used to it. With a decent Wednesday night ride with Jafakids plus my own training in the local reserves every other night, I started to feel more relaxed about the race.

But one thing didn't cross my mind - even though I had a new bike and had worked out its strengths and weaknesses, I still had to plan out my race. In my enthusiasm, all I had planned was kill it for the whole race, not for a moment acknowledging that Slater Road was all about hills - and lots of them. I was unprepared.

As the family and I get out of the car to unpack the JAFAKIDs BBQ gear all I could think about was what the race was going to be like on a brand new bike. After about and hour of warming up it was time to get to race briefing then slowly everyone started to make there way off to the start line. A short 1 minute call then suddenly it was GO!!!!!

I had a great start and was able to sprint away from the bunch. After seconds we entered the forest and all I could tell was that I was in the top bunch.  My plan was to "stick with Robin (fellow sponsored rider for R&R)" but not even half way through the first lap I could feel myself starting to push way past my limit,  which can be good until you burn out, which sadly happened to me.

Whats even more painful is watching riders race you - one by one, slowly. Aaaagh!!!!

 

 

 

Into the last lap and I had recovered some of my energy and had picked up the pace again.  Even though there was no chance of me catching the top guys up,  I still knew that every placing I regained, counted.  So setting my own race pace I started to embrace the numerous many gnarly hills and slowly I started to pass burnt-out people who now started to litter the track.

When I had reached the finish I discovered I'd made about 4 placings in my category, with placed me into 6th - and I was pleased with this, especially with having just moving up a group, from being in under 14's to under 17.

At prize giving 3 jafakids had claimed top 3 for under 17 overall which had fellow R&R rider Robin page claiming 2nd overall.

   

So bike 10/10 - rider 7/10.

Lessons for next time?  Set my own race pace (like I did with my old bike) and let others take the early knocks.  I'll still go hard and you never know, even in this group, with my new bike, I could soon win. 

Auckland Endura MTB series race 2 (Hunua)

For weeks I have been thinking over and over about my last race start at Woodhill where I had decided to take off and after 100 meters later, had burnt out.  This had made me realise what I should be doing with my starts, aiming for a high steady pace, rather than trying to be 1st the whole way.

It had been a beautiful week until the day before the race when it had hosed down. I could just imagine how muddy and slippery the Hunua's would be. As my family and I packed the car with all the JAFAKIDs BBQ gear all I could think of was "stick on someones tail that is quick" and "please god, no gear failure today".

When we arrived at the Hunuas after 9 o'clock, it was clear the tracks would be in reasonably good condition, with not a lot of surface water. In fact, it was looking like a half decent day.

For me, warming up before a race is crucial.   While I did this I checked out who looked like they were on form to be my chase partner - bad news, all my fellow racers were looking fit and sharp. A few minutes later as everyone were lining up at the start line I found my man - fellow Jafa Kim Wright.  Now Kim is always super fast even when he is having a bad day, plus he pushes hard at the starts every time, so sticking behind him was going to be a real challenge - but hey, you only live once right!

At the 2 minute call from the race organisers, the excitement amongst racers was obvious. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, GO....! In the big mass start everyone just jumped off the start line with real pace. And sadly my plan started to go wrong. With a heap of riders all aiming for the same narrow turn point, at pace, it was almost impossible to even see Kim, let alone stay on his tail.  As we came back out on to the gravel road after the first section of single track, Kim was out of my view and my race plan was in tatters.  Now it was all up to me pacing myself for the rest of the race.

As I reached half way through the 1st lap, I was being chased by fellow JAFAs Charlotte Rayner and Aaron Carr, both real rockets and tough competitors. Aaron and I managed pull away from Charlotte on another long section of gravel road, but the pace with Aaron up a small hill section was intense, and I managed to get a small gain on him just before we got into the next single trail. After about 5 minutes I knew that I had got well ahead of Aaron. Suddenly a person was on the side of the track that had caught my attention - it was Kim who had blown his rear tyre and foolishly hadn't brought a spear tube - ah, the lessons learned.

The rest of the race was fast but quiet, with me virtually on my own the whole time. I was doing ok but wasn't in the top bunch - I'd lost that opportunity with the start. As the end approached, I saw my dad on the side of the track, who informed me that Jake (a fellow Jafa and tough competitor) was only a short way ahead.  I tried desperately to pick it up a notch but truthfully, I had nothing left in the tank. I knew I'd have to settle for following Jake in.

At the finish line, all of my friends from Jafas look muddy, wet and tired  - but all happy - and having enjoyed the various battles that had occurred.  In fact, it was a really neat feeling at the race camp all round.  the best feeling after a race. Everyone cheered the last competitors as they came into the finish.

In short, for me personally, it wasn't a great placing (9th) but I wasn't unhappy. Completing the race at the pace set was reward enough. Great placings for all JAFAs and fellow R&R rider Robin Page, good job guys.





      

   

Endura auckland series race 1 (woodhill)

Sunday morning dawned bright and clear. A refreshing change after a week of rain and miserable weather. A good omen.

After a long rugby season this felt like my first proper race in quite a while. Not strictly true because I had done the Jamis Day-Night Thriller the weekend before, but I wanted to make an impact and do well.

Arriving at Woodhill's old car park with the trailer laden down with Jafakids BBQ gear and the whole families bikes, conditions couldn't have been better - overcast but warm, tracks firm packed and in nice condition.After helping set up the Jafakids camp I had a chance to warm up with the rest of the Jafa crew including fellow R&R sponsered rider, Robin Page.

Race briefing saw a much larger crowd than I had been expecting, and a really nice positive atmosphere. The Auckland MTB Club crew had set the race around tracks I knew well, but quite a number of them would be ridden backwards.

Putting some serious effort into a sprint from the mass start up the forestry road saw me with a good lead into the first corner, but even at full pace some of the elite racers managed to slip past me before we hit the first single track. My ego-driven novice sprint start was giving me a good lesson in race prep and training - boy was I hurting!

The 12km lap, which I thought was going to be easy, turned out to be a real challenge. Corners I thought I knew well felt completely different at the pace we were all going, the hills felt longer and steeper, and the competition was intense.

By the end of the first lap I had dropped to ninth place in my category (under 17) and both my reputation and pride were on the line. Memo to self: training does matter.

The second 12km was just mind over matter - legs screaming, lungs burning and watery eyes. Boy, was I glad to cross the line! I had managed to hold ninth place and was really happy with that. Robin had done brilliantly well to secure 3rd place. The best thing was every single under 17 racer, male and female, was a Jafakid - well done crew.

All in all an awesome day and heaps of fun. Just need to do some serious training. Next stop Hunua.

     


  




  


 Thanks Barry Page and Jemma Manchester for the photos.

Taupo Jamis Day-Night Thriller 12 Hour

I always knew that this race was going to be a challenge. Taupo, September, end of winter - always knew it was going to be tough weather wise, and i wasn't disappointed.

This was a last minute opportunity for me. Another sporting commitment had meant that I hadn't been able to register with a team, in fact i hadn't been to any Jafakids trainings for a month. So when i turned up on Wednesday night for training, and my mates ( Alex, Liam, Finn and Peter) were down a rider for their team, I knew the stars were aligning.

But... Two days to go, my family couldn't go down so, no transport, no accommodation - a bit of stress! Yet again the awesome Jafakids families came to the rescue. The Beaven family would get me down there and house me the first night, then back with The Page family (thanks heaps Tony Beaven, Meg and Barry Page).

After 'military-style' coordination and an eventful journey down (great driving Harriet) involving lost wallets, we arrived at Taupo Friday evening, and the weather was nowhere as cold or wet as i was expecting. We all chilled out in front of TV at the motel and psyched ourselves for the day ahead.

Arriving at the event grounds an hour before the race start we found a really impressive set up by the Jafakids and DoC crew. Jeff Webb and the Avanti Waitakere team had set up their mobile workshop, which made me feel relaxed about coping with any mechanicals. Now it was just down to my latent fitness and team work.

Numbers were obviously well down on previous years which is real shame. The track was a lot shorter and less challenging than previously, mostly due to the fact that the area had been heavily forested. This would make for fast lap times and short breaks between riders.

The 10am mass start in warm, clear conditions saw Liam charge off in the leading bunch. Unfortunately in the 'pressure cooker' of the first lap he had a wipe out and limped into our first transistion down in the field, and a little bit sore. Such is mountain bike racing.

 
 Liam off to do his first lap.


 The mass start.

After 3 hours of intense racing from the boys, we were confident that we were once again doing well. When we went to check our results we found our times hadn't been recorded. In fact, we were sharing our times with the NZ Army boys (so much for our earlier  'military-style' organisation). This was quickly sorted by Murry and the Event Promotions crew.


Liam preparing for a lap

As the weather deteriorated, and the temperature plummeted, my team got faster and faster. After 6 hours of racing we were clearly in 3rd and hunting down the second place team. Our fellow Jafa riders, the Jafakids Gangnam Style crew (led by fellow R&R rider Robin Page), were well in the lead for our division.

By the end of the race it was hammering down and freezing cold, with the track basicly being a bog. we had managed to secure 3rd place, which we were all happy with. Back at the Pages motel and having thawed out in a hot shower, I was more then ready for  a good sleep.
 
My team up on podium with fellow R&R rider Robin Page dancing.

All in all a fantastic event. A huge thank you to my team, Tony Beaven, Meg and Barry Page for making this happen for me, and to the Jafakids DoC crew for making a great environment.