ATS Longbeach Coastal Classic - 2nd for the 3rd time

Longbeach rolled on around again for another year. Even though it is pretty much a flat race, I still quite enjoy it and I have done It every year it has been held. About a week before this race I was feeling really good on the bike and I could feel a big improvement in my fitness. But then a tough week at work with massive sleep loss put me on the back foot. I was struggling to get my training for the day done and I had to revise the week in preparation for Longbeach. Seeing I was feeling very tired I thought a result was unlikely in this race. And to make matters worse I only got 6hrs sleep the night before!
I got to the event venue with good time on race day. After I had registered I went straight to the main river crossing to check out lines. I thought, "I will ride it like a would race it." and burst in at speed. Before I could even get into the water I found myself up on the front wheel after it sunk into the soft gravel. So the decision was made to run it. Race start came along quite fast. So not a lot of waiting around which was great! I didn't want to have a fast start so I could save my energy and I could be a dirty roadie and sit on for a bit. This worked out well, I was on the back of a 5 man group (same top 5 at finish). It was Phill, Kyle, Brad, Anton then me. It all split up pretty soon at the first stream crossing. No one got away from anyone too quickly. It all slowly pulled apart throughout the race. I moved into second early on and held it from there. Kyle had gone off the front and was moving out of sight. Brad was close behind me but slowly dropping. Then Anton caught up to Brad and they started to pull me back in the last few kms. But I held them off to take 2nd overall and first junior. Anton came in 3rd, Brad 4th and Phill 5th. I was very happy and surprised with my result. 2nd seems to be common but unlucky for me. Although there is nothing wrong with coming 2nd. Hopefully I will get a win there one day. My training is working well and the future season is looking bright. We will see how I go on the hills this Saturday at the festival of cycling. Could be a different story.

Timaru 12hr - rinding for the Cyclery

I got invited to ride for the Cyclery team (Timaru bike shop) at the Timaru 12hr this year. I was very happy to do this because otherwise I would have been doing the 6hr solo and I would be in so much pain right now. I still had stitches in my hand so my control wasn't great but the course wasn't too technical so I coped all right. I started for the cyclery and my plan was to try and lead into all the single track because I knew that's where I would lose the most time because of my hand. So, I had great start leading all the way to the single track and up the first climb. But seeing I haven't done a lot of intensity training by this stage I was pretty much gone. Anton attacked at the top of the climb and I surprised myself as I stayed on the wheel. But as we slowed up Brad did another sneaky attack and that was the end of me. I lost the wheel so I couldn't draft on the flat section. I got slower and slower throughout the lap but did hold my 4th position. It wasn't the greatest of starts for the team but it put us in 2nd place 12hr team which we held for the rest of the race. The rest of my laps were quite good. Pretty consistent and I started to feel better after the 6hr mark. The first 6hrs took forever and the last went too quick. And at about the 6hr mark one of our riders, Tom, had to stop because of his continuing knee problems. It was a good fun race and we did very well considering the problems we had. Oh,  forgot to mention that Simon got a puncture on our last lap and had to run to the finish, and Cameron burped his tyre on his first lap and had to stop and fill it up. I can now take a lot out of this race and apply it to my training. Thanks to the guys from Timaru and the Cyclery for the great race/weekend!

Dusky Trail - First race on the Bergamont

Going into this race I wasn't sure on how I would go because on Saturday I managed to slice my hand open and I now have 3 stitches right where I hold onto my gripshift. I managed ok with my hand, only holding on with 3 fingers (no thumb or index finger). This meant control on the downhills and many river crossings was a bit sketchy but the rest wasn't too bad. So I can't really use it as an excuse for only coming 3rd. 3mins behind the winner. If I had a fully functional hand I may have been able to contest for 2nd as I lost this placing on the final river crossings because I couldn't ride them with my hand the way it was. I'm not too bummed about getting 3rd. It is only the second race of the season. And the winner had been training all through winter while I hadn't been doing much at all. What is really frustrating about my race is the way I felt. My legs just felt asleep the whole race. I wasn't felling tired or getting cramp like usual. My heartrate was down and I wasn't puffing. But I couldn't seem to put any power through my legs. It felt like I was going nowhere. And when I finished I wasn't tired at all. I could have done it twice. I guess that shows that I have good endurance at the moment, which is a bit surprising. And another positive is I was a lot better on the climbs than I was on the flat. The no power in the legs thing can always be fixed with more intense training. YAY! lots of pain to enjoy! So all in all it was a good race. I really enjoy this race and I got to race it on my new Platoon Team! It saved me a couple of times with it's awesome Magura brakes as I practically only had a rear brake because of my stitches. Can't wait for the next race on it and any general trainning I have planned.

Mcleans Island 6hr solo-saddle sores galore!

Yesterday I raced my first ever 6hr solo. It was awesome! I am stoked as with getting 3rd and it was a pushbikes podium domination. Brent Miller smashing the course to take 1st and Jingles taking second after a crazily fast start. But what's even better is we all beat the 6hr teams with a total of 16 laps each. Well done guys!

More on my race. I had a faster start than I thought I should. I guess I'm just use to it. But Jingles and Brent were right up there with me so I knew I had to keep going. Jingles took off with the fast 12hr team guys and Brent and I got into a good rhythm that I thought I could hold for the 6hrs. But on about the 3rd lap Brent picked up the pace, I held it with him for a couple more laps but soon realised I wasn't doing myself any favors. I settled into my own pace and got my heartrate down but then the cramp came on. I started to take in the Cramp Stop and it was keeping it from getting any worse but I soon ran out. This was at the 3hr mark so I was in trouble. Luckily Dad found me some more and I was back on track. For the next hour or so I felt quite bad and thought I wouldn't be able to hold my 3rd place. But in the last hour and a half I started to feel really good and got some solid lap times. At the briefing they said they were going to close the course for the 6hr riders at 5 1/2 hours. I came in at 5 hrs and 34mins so I thought I had finished. I was cruising through the tent site and over the loud speaker the organizer said there was 4mins until they closed the course. I was shocked but knew I had to go for another. I pushed really hard on this lap and and finished with 3mins to spare. That lap turned out to be my fastest lap in the last half of the race.

Now I am very very sore. The worse I have felt after a mtb race. My gooch is so bad. It is going to be hard to get out on a recovery ride today. Might have to do it standing the whole way! My body was just wrecked last night. Shows that mtbing is a full body work out. I was soo tired that I could sleep. I didn't get to sleep until about 3am! Even though I went to bed at 9pm. Too much pain, It kept me awake.

Also, This was my last day and race as a Pushbikes rider as now I am moving onto a Bergamont. It was good to leave Pushbikes with a great result and a real confidence boaster for me.

New Sponsor!

For the up and coming 2011 season I have got a great new sponsor. I am going to be the new member of the Bergamont NZ team. I am really looking forward to riding for Bergamont and their bikes look sicko! I will be on the Platoon Team hardtail. They are new to NZ, only came in about this time last year. I hope I came build up their reputaiton in the South Island as I am their sol XC rider from down south. I will officially be with Bergamont on the 17th of October. Until then will be a sad time as I have my last few days with my long time sponsor, Pushbikes. It will be emotional, but a necessary grieving process. My last day with pushbikes will also be my last race with them. I will be attempting to podium at the Mcleans Island 6hr solo race. Being my first 6hr solo race and there being good competition there it will be a tough task. I just have to shake off this annoying little cold that won't go away and I should be set for domination. And by domination I mean I will be dominated after I finish!