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

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.

Just casually

Ok. So I haven't blogged much. But that's cause I haven't really been doing anything. And for those of you that don't already know, I am back riding for Pushbikes. Seeing I'm working there it makes it easier to be riding the bikes we stock. So I will be out on giants and focus bikes from now on.

I did the short track series which was really cool. I didn't have a lot of form for it but I noticed a difference in my form at the last race so I am improving. I just need to get into the mindset of training again. Although, I'm just taking this season casually and I'm not worried about results etc. I'm just going to have fun and do my best to train while working full time.

Winter up date...

Long time no blogging. Haven't blogged since nats and I raced the second round of the cyclocross series today so I thought it was about time for an up date.

I took a big break after nationals. Pretty much going straight into nothing. Which was always the plan. The plan being to have a good rest, then do some running for training for the MT Isobell challenge, the night racing world champs, the cyclocross series and any thing else that popped up. I followed this laid back plan well to begin with as I got out on a few good hill runs. Then the night racing started and that caused some problems. The first race I crashed resulting in a DNF and a battered body. I recovered for the next week where I had built up a SS to race the rest of the series on. I never test rode it before the race which was a bad mistake, seeing it was slapped together which oldish parts. As I was warming up for the race I put the gas on to test out there gear ratio I was running. The chain slipped massively sending my quad flying into the handle bars and knocking me off the bike. This hurt a lot. But I got up and prepared to do the race. But, I got caught up in another crash at the start of the race landing on the same quad and dropping my chain. Once I got the chain back on I was in last and very sore. Again resulting in a DNF. My injured quad turned out to be a hematoma. And having one of these before in my other quad I knew I was going to be out for a few weeks at least. Also with the hematoma being so close to the knee I didn't want to damage my knee by riding on it too early like I was warned about last time. So, I went back to doing nothing again and losing even more fitness. I was hoping my leg would come right for the MT Isobell challenge but I still couldn't ride on it let alone run so I flagged that away. The the next event on me plan was the first round of the cyclocross series. Again I wasn't able to do this so I had to settle for a spectator/marshal which was extremely hard. Watching everyone having fun in the mud was demoralizing! A couple of weeks after the first round I got back out on the bike for the first time. Just an easy spin on the road. My leg held up ok but I knew if I raced on it how it was I would fell the pain after. So I put off the next few night races in hope that I could race at round 2 of the cyclocorss series. This worked out to plan (finally). Today was the day of that race and right now I am felling pretty good. My leg is a little sore, but I think that is just because I have lost a lot of muscle in it and so it is taking longer to recover that my other quad.

More on the actual race ae, instead of my boring health issues. I raced my roadie at this one. Being a fast and dry course I could get away with it, and it would feel wrong riding my mtb. I started ok, keeping up with a few of the guys on mtbs for the first lap. But the stream crossings and ruff ground lost me time, places and energy. After the first lap I was pretty tired. My laps were getting slower as the race went on. The road bike was a slight disadvantage. The slicks cause me to crash and lose a few places, but he main issue was my lack of speed. seeing I had been off the bike for while I was quite slow. But I wasn't too tired at the end which proves I still have some general fitness.

Hopefully now seeing I can ride I will get some more fitness back so it isn't going to take as much to get race fit next summer. The next report won't be so far way so it wont end up as long as this one, I promise. I do want to keep who ever reads these things riveted.

2011 National Champs

Ok, so the big one. It was on like donkey kong, in the mud. I was fairly relaxed for this race considering it was nationals. I wasn't expecting much from myself as this season has been quite unsuccessful, mainly due to myself and starting to work full time. Also with it being a mud feast there is always going to be some sort mechanical issue. I had an ok start. Bettering my seeded position. As we hit the first hill the pace was pretty hot, not too hot to touch but I decided it was better to pace myself. This worked well and heading into the second lap I was gaining on other riders. This carried through to the third lap but on the muddy decent I crashed twice in the space of a few meters (much to the enjoyment of friends watching, so I was told after). I didn't lose any places here but I lost a fair bit of time. Then once I hit the next hill I realized that the inevitable had happened. A mechanical stopped me from using my bottom gears. So I was pushing some big gears from here and being held up slightly because I had no choice but to go fast. Heading out onto the 4 lap I dropped my bottle in the feed zone which I was desperate for so I could attempt to clean my bike a bit with it. As I got onto the main hill I thought I would try changing down a few gears but noooo. So I ended up running it. After this, I was toast! When I got to the tech zone I took the opportunity to fix my bike as best I could. I used Paul's air compressor (thanks Paul) to blow as much of the dirt and mud out of my gears as I could. Here is where I found out my hanger was bent. I bent it back with my hand till it seemed to work. Then I was off again. Now a fair way back through the pack compared to where I was before. I wasn't riding for long until I got bad cramp. I collapsed on the track and massaged it out but as I went to stand up again...

But the cramp came back,
I thought it was a goner,
but the cramp came back.
It just wouldn't stay away.

This repeated a couple of times before I managed to ride again. Once I got back to the start finish after that shocker of a lap I called it quits. My legs were routed, my bike wasn't in great condition and I was so far back through the field I just didn't see the point.

It was a bit disappointing really as I was feeling the best I had all season and I was in a good position. 4th u23 and closing down on 3rd. But seeing my mind was in a relaxed, no worries state I was accepting of my unfortunate race.

Congrats to Carl! He had a mean race. Wish I could have watched the race.

Also thanks to Bergamont bikes and Endura clothing. You guys were great support throughout the season. And my parents for helping out where ever they can.

Christchurch nats round 4 (final)

This race went pretty good. I had a pretty good start. A little faster than I wanted. But I wasn't feeling too bad. Well until I started the climb on the second lap. I went backwards fast! I couldn't keep my bike going in a straight line. I was about to pull out but I said to myself " you haven't even done 2 laps you pussy!" So I carried on and forced myself to recover on the next half of the climb. After the long DH where I was catching/making up time the most I recovered well and was feeling a lot better on the 3rd. I was riding quite consistent. But again, the same as last week,  I started to fade in the last to laps. My last lap got worse with cramp setting into my legs. But I managed to finish strongly. And Brent had some gear problems on the last lap which pushed my into 6th place. A good result to end the national series.

Nelson nats round 3

I was loving the course for this race. Much better in the dry than in the wet like the last 2 years. And they shortened it with less climbing which suited me. I knew I wasn't going to have a great one because I don't have anywhere near the form I want/could have. I had a pretty good fast start but that soon kicked me in the arse! I faded pretty quickly but managed to hold some alright pace through the middle of the race. But then on the last 2 laps the cramp hit and I had nothing left. The last lap was horrible. I was finding it hard to get out of the seat. Quite a few riders past me on this lap. Ash got onto my wheel on the last DH and we went into the finish straight together. I was very keen not to sprint but when Ash came round me I thought I should give it ago. But nothing happened so ash beat me. At least I didn't get lapped. Looking forward to racing at home next week!