December 10, 2012

Hanmer Hammerhead

This one didn't go to plan. I ended work the day before with a slight niggle in my throat and woke up the morning of the race and it was pretty sore. I still decided I would still race because I really enjoy the course and we had already planned to stay over night in Hanmer. I knew I wouldn't be at my best but I was just going to see how I could cope. I started okay and was up with the front group. My legs didn't feel great (probably struggling from a poor nights sleep), but I was hoping they would come right by the second lap. I didn't get a chance to find out unfortunately. 3/4 of the way through the first lap a rider fell off in front of me which in turn made me come off. As I got riding again my chain kept jamming. I stopped and went to fix it. I got it untangled but the links had bent and it was unrideable. Not a great way to start my Giant xtc advanced sl's race season. But considering how I was feeling I was happy to be with the front guys on that first lap. And in the short time I rode it the bike was awesome! Very stiff, and fast.
Now the sore throat is a bad cold. I am on the better side of it but have lost my voice. Luckily there isn't anymore racing for a while so I can just recover to full health and get back into the training.

November 28, 2012

Ok, so I now have my computer back after leaving it behind when I was on holiday, haha. Time to update the race report bank. I have been racing every weekend for the last few weeks so I will try to keep them brief.

Timaru 6hr solo...
Super fun race. Never got board of the track. Kept dialing it in all race. I felt really strong in this one. It was myself and Phill Patterson setting the pace at the front for the first third of the race with Craig Tolson following close behind. I just kept the pace fast and consistent throughout the race. I was riding on my own for the second half and extended my lead right till the finish. I came in with 5mins to spare, completing 15 laps. 1 lap ahead of second. I also had the fastest average speed of the whole event including all the teams.

Hanmer Springs, Spring Crusher...
This was a brutal climbing course. I was really looking forward to this one because I had never done it before and I wanted to compare myself to the best riders in Canterbury over a hilly course. The race went straight into a tough climb and by the top a small group of myself, Anton, Kyle Wood, and the Oliver brothers had formed. We stayed together for a while. Kyle went back after getting held up on a technical section and I think his chain dropped off? So the four of us were left. I got dropped slightly on one of the longest climbs but pulled myself back just before the top. The Olivers were just too good and knew the tracks too well to keep up with on the descents. Before the flatter section they opened a 30sec gap on myself and Anton. Anton had trouble with his seat post and had to stop a couple of times. I pushed hard on the flat and got back on the Olivers wheel. Only to be dropped again on the next climb. But again I caught them back up just before the last climb. By this stage I was stuffed so I had nothing to give when we started to attack up the climb. I finished 20sec of the Olivers and won open men. I am happy with that ride and my form.

LongBeach Coastal Classic...
Had a good race at this one, finishing 2nd behind Anton. About a minute back. There was a decent group of us for the first part of the race until the first major river crossing. I pulled a good turn on the front before hitting the river crossing then rode through it (I was the only one who did) so I was puffing pretty hard after it. But just at that point Anton attacked. I tried to stay with him. But I was maxed out. Craig Oliver was there too but we couldn't hold his wheel. Things may have been different if I hadn't gone hard up to and through the river but I will never know. Brad and Ben caught up to Craig and I so we started to work together. I lead into the next technical beach section and after it I looked back and had a good 200m lead. I thought about sitting up and waiting but figured I would take the risk. I pushed on alone. I never closed the cap to Anton but it didn't open either which I am pleased with. I did open the cap back to 3rd so I finished comfortably in 2nd. 

Things are looking good for me this season. I'm feeling stronger than I ever have and training is going well. My new race bike has just arrived today so that will give me an advantage, plus a hole in my wallet! Next up is the Festival of cycling Crit. Riding the road scene for a day should be fun. Then It's the Hanmer Hammer Head.

October 6, 2012

Update

So I have had a few things going on lately. I recently went up to Auckland and passed the Shimano mechanics course so I am now qualified to work on bikes which is pretty cool. Also I have just moved into central Chch with my lovely partner, Shannon. For those of you who don't know her yet I'm sure you will meet her at some of the races this season.

Just over a week ago I was hit by a car while riding to work. I got hit on my left going through a roundabout. Luckily I came out with no major damage but my bike was destroyed. Snapped through the frame in 4 places! The driver's insurance is covering it so should be all good and I will have a new bike soon. I obviously had some time off the bike to recover and let the bruising go down. But today I went out to the short track racing. It was only my second time on the bike since the accident so I planned just to see how my injuries held up first, then decide to ride or watch. I felt good and had no pain so I started the race. The first few laps went well and I was up in the front group and finding the pace fast but comfortable. Until Phil made an attack. I stayed with the others up the hill on that lap but the lungs couldn't keep up with the legs. So I settled into my own pace and rode home in forth. I felt like my legs were strong but it was just the fact that I pretty much hadn't riden for over a week so the tank was empty. Also eating donuts and sticky steamed buns at the Riccarton markets that morning wouldn't have helped either.

I'm looking forward to getting back into the training mode and after a week of solid riding I should be up the front at next weeks short track.

August 18, 2012

CHCH CX round 5 Steam Scene

We had a last minute change of venue for our final round. Living Springs, our planed course destination was flooded from the recent rain. So it was a fast and flat course out at steam scene. The ground drained a little too well but there was one section of mud which proved quite tricky in the latter laps. I had a good hard first lap and increased my lead from there. Until I pinch flated riding over some railway lines. Getting a little too cocky and riding them too fast. I tried my puncture repair gas foam thingy but that didn't work. Luckily (If you can say that after getting a puncture) my dad was right there and he was looking after my keys. So I grabbed them off him, run to my car and put a new tube in. By this time my race was over but I wasn't too worried because I already had the series won overall. I got another couple of laps in but not sure where I finished up in the end. It was a great series and I won an awesome trophy, a medal and a pair of TRP brakes! Can't think of a better way to spend the winter. Thanks to all the guys behind the scenes. Great effort. Hopefully next year I can find some time to give your guys a hand.

CX national series round 5 Christchurch

For this round we were racing in Hagley park in the centre of my home city. We had a bit of rain over the week so the ground was very soggy and the course went through some nice wet bogs. Also had some stream crossing so it turned into a very nice muddy feast, which was welcomed seeing we hadn't experienced the true elements of cross racing. Our newly crowned national champs, Gary Hall and Kim Hammer-Hurst made the trip down. I was hoping to hang onto Gary for at least a few laps but he just had too much gas for me and I lost his wheel before the end of the first lap. So I stayed in 2nd for the rest of the race just pushing myself as hard a I could. That's where I finished up. Conceding just over 2 minutes. I am pretty pleased with that but would have liked that time cap to be a little smaller. Looking to close that cap at the final round in Blenheim.

July 28, 2012

CHCH CX round 4 Halswell Quarry

I'm going to make this short because I'm so tired after the race today. Dayle made a burtily fun course. I was on the limit form the gun. I rode well and felt strong but never managed to run the whole hill. My legs were screaming at the top begging me to stop but all they were getting was walking pace. I lead from start to finish and held a good cap the whole race. Looking forward to next weekend for the Christchurch round of the national series. Hope I can continue with my form and get some good points towards the series lead so I can finish on the podium after the final race in Blenheim.

                                                         Suffering at the top of the climb

July 10, 2012

Cyclocross National Champs - Napier

I made the trip up to Napier for the main event of the CX season. It was well worth it. I finished first U23 and 3rd in the elites. Feels awesome to say I have a national tittle. Technically I crossed the line in 4th but the 3rd placed rider was an Australian so I could still clam 3rd place in NZ. I had to battle so hard for that 3rd place. I pushed myself further than I ever have before. Which is another good point to take out of the race. I was riding with Dan Warren for most of the race. Only edging him out for the 3rd spot on the last lap up a quad burning step section. I was on my limit the whole race. I don't know where the energy came from that pushed me through that last lap but I'm glad it was there. The course was super hard and had a bit of everything. A perfect course for a national event. The event was also run great. It was better and more official than our mtb nationals and this is only the first time cyclocross nationals have been held. I'd like to give Andrew and Gaby Barlow a big thanks for organising transport for me while I was up there. And also to Dave Molloy for lending me his carbon wheels and tyres. I definitely need them!

July 4, 2012

Round 2 CX national series Queenstown

This was the first race of the national series for me. I was really looking forward to it and hoping for a good result after a 1st and 2nd place in our CHCH CX series. I couldn't get the day off work on Saturday so I had to fly down on Sunday morning before the race. It worked out well because Dave Molloy was able to take my bike and gear down then pick me up from the airport. Thanks Dave! The race was run well and it was a fun, windy and technical course. It was very cold and frosty. So to start off with the ground was rock hard and slippy. And with the sun coming out and riders out on the course it was giving us even less traction. Also there were two icy stream crossings which created some good mud bogs. We all did a timed hot lap to get a seeding for the start of the actual race. My plan was too go hard but save energy. All I wanted was to get a front row start. I got the 3rd fastest time which I was happy with. Especially seeing I lost the front wheel once and slipped on some ice which rolled my ankle abit. The race came up fairly quickly after that. I had an ok start, holding my seeded third position for the hole shot. From here I found myself switching places with 4th while only being a couple of wheel lengths off 1st and 2nd place. Pro rider and husband of Katie Compton, Mark Leg Compton had set the pace and pulled off the front on his own. Soon he was hunted down by Wellington rider, Alex Reval. Who caught and past Mark then stayed there to finish first. At about the halfway point I was riding with our national champ, Dan Warren. We weren't too far of Mark who was currently in 2nd place. Through one of the more technical parts of the course, the "Specialised spiral" I managed to get a cap on Dan. In this section there were two boards. I was hopping these while the others I was riding with were running them so I could carry a lot more speed through the section. This helped me throughout the race. After getting past Dan I kept the power on and bridged the cap to Mark. I stayed with him for a half a lap. Then knowing I only had one more lap to go I pushed past Mark and again opened a cap through the " Specialised spiral". So now I was 2nd and I held it to the finish. I am very happy with that result and it gives me confidence going into National Championships this weekend in Napier. So far this week the pre and training was gone well. Really looking forward to racing my first cyclocross national champs!

June 24, 2012

Christchurch CX round 2

Great race out there today. Course was soo much fun. Best CX course I've ridden. Although I haven't ridden many. Quite different but in a good way. Rode well and felt pretty good. I feel like I have improved from the first round but still plenty more to do. I finished 2nd today behind a fresh new Christchurch resident, Andrew Barlow. He has come down here from Napier where CX is much bigger. So I was pleased to be with him for the first few laps. I had a bit of trouble being held up with lapped riders and Andrew got a small gap on me. After already pushing hard just to stay with him I didn't have the energy to bridge the gap. He got maybe 30sec on me by the half way point but I started to feel a bit better and kept that gap from getting any bigger for the remainder of the race. Nearing the end I was able to dig it in a bit more and finish strong. Looking ahead I have the Queenstown national round next weekend followed the national champs in Napier then the 3rd round of our Southerncross series in CHCH. So I have plenty on.




One of the different sections of the course. Running through a hay stack???



June 10, 2012

Christchurch CX round 1

Had a good race today at the opening round of the Christchurch Cyclocross series today at living springs. Managed to get the win. Total full body workout! Had cramp in my arms and hands to the point where I had to get my dad to open my hand for me at the finish. Definitely something to work on before the next race. But still great fun. My Focus Mares bike was awesome! Didn't hold me back what so ever. Can't wait for the next race and to build my form. I'll be making some uci legal hops so I can get my rabbit style dialed

May 26, 2012

No such thing as an off season

So, seeing I'm back into a training routine and coming into some form I thought I'd get back into the blogging scene. Now some may think 'Coming into form now? It's the off season.' Well,  I have a theory which I'm bringing into play this winter. That theory being, carrying form and fitness out of winter and into summer is extremely beneficial. The last two winters I've sat on my arse and gotten fat and slow. Then when summer comes around I have a huge amount of training to do if I want to be fast. So if I'm fit in winter I'll be faster in summer. If I look back to the last season I had which was actually good it would be the 2010 season. In the winter of 2009 I went to the world champs, so I was training all winter. Unfortunately that training didn't show at worlds and I felt slow and had a shocker of a race. But all that effort I put in in the winter really showed in 2010. We see the same thing happening with all our international athletes. They train and race hard here in summer then go overseas and train and race hard while we are in winter. These are the guys and girls who are always winning. So I'm going back to putting a good effort into my training in winter so I'll be a force to be reckoned with in summer.

I am training this winter for the next mtb season in summer but also training for something that is just as fun, cyclocross. I'll be getting round Canterbury and NZ as much as I can trying to get some great results in the new Canterbury and NZ CX series and hopefully the national champs. Also doing some duathlons which I use to do a lot of back when I was a junior.

I have been up to a few things lately, the classic winter workout "Bluedog night racing world champs". Where each one I have raced so far I have won open men. So pretty happy with that. And just today I have completed the MT Isobell challenge for the first time which is an off road duathlon. It has an insane hill run to begin with then a mtb to finish off. I have wanted to do it for the last couple of years so getting out there this year was great. I finished 4th open men and 9th overall. But the thing I'm most happy with is getting the 3rd fastest bike time. Only being beaten by Anton and Brad who were both in teams. So I had the fastest ride time of all the individuals. The only thing that really let me down was the decent on the run. I don't have the technical skill or commitment to run like the others that I was with. I lost a number of places and minutes coming down off the top of Mt Isobell. Oh well next year with more practice I'll be up there on the podium!

Basically the jist of this is, I'm back and enjoying training more than ever and finally getting my head around training while working full time.