2008 cycling video

I came across this old video of me cycling in the lead up to the 2008 Coast to Coast Longest day. This was coming to the end of a 2hour tempo ride home following the 33km Crouses Crossing mnt run on the West Coast. My old aero bars and Giant OCR3 road bike bring back some great memories.

Kaitangata MTB race

Last weekend I headed down to Kaitangata for a 45km MTB race. I had heard that this was a great race and was keen to check it out. So I loaded my bike on our new car and headed south. The new Nissan Pulsar load up ready to go

There was a very strong field for such a small local event so I was keen to see how I would stack up against everyone. After a fast start I settled into a good pace. Through out the 45km there was a great mix of purpose built single track, gravel roads, up hills and down hills. It was one of the most enjoyable course I have ever done.

Working hard on one of the climbs

I was sitting around 4-5th place most of the race and feeling good. I tended to lose time on the technical sections and then make it back up on the gravel climbs. I finished the 45km in 2hour15min34sec in 4th place only a minute off 3rd, which I was stoked about.

All in all a great race and a must do for next year. Next race on the cards is the Bannockburn gutbuster, 80km through the Nevis Valley which I am really looking forward to. Ill keep you posted.

Timaru 12hour MTB race

Looking for a new challenge I headed up to Timaru on the 31st of October for the ALPINE ENERGY 12 Hour Day/Night Mountain Bike Race (http://www.timaru12hourmtb.co.nz/).

Heading off from Dunedin at 6.30am I was already tried which wasn’t a good sign. Lily and I arrived at the race HQ at Centennial Park and set up camp with next to the Dunedin R&R Sport crew. Having never done a 12 hour race before I fluffed around getting my gear sorted so that I could have easy pit stops to refuel etc throughout the race.
An hour before the start we were allowed to ride the course to get a feel for it. So I set off to find out what I was in for.

All set to go

The course started with some fast walking tracks around the edge of a lake before gradually climbing. Part way up the first climb there were two tight little rock sections were you had to have a bit of momentum and hit the right line, they weren't to hard but they kept you on your toes. A final steep pinch followed before a straight line grassy descent on to an old rail trail. A straight run up the rail trail then it was across a small creek and on to some very nice flowing single track. Another steep climb took us up to another section of single track that was a bit rougher than the previous section but a lot of fun. Following this the course went through a rough bumpy paddock that shock me to pieces by the end of the race. Luckily it was not much longer than 500m as it was very taxing on the body. The final section of the course included a final steep climb then in to a rooty descent through some pine trees to the finish. All in all 8.8km per lap, how hard can it be...........
When the hooter went at mid day everyone raced off at a great rate of knots. I found myself riding with Milan Brodina who is an athlete that I coach and was also doing the 12 hour solo. For the first 5hours or so we rode together changing the lead back and forth. Around the 5 hour mark Milan was riding very strongly and started to pull away from me. I set to work keeping my pace steady as I felt myself slowly starting to go into a low spot. With a quick stop in the pits to clean my chain and stretch my lower back that was getting quite sore I came out of my low spot and my lap time started to pick up. I focused on riding smoothly, keeping the fuel going in. I started to make up time on Milan who had put a bit of a gap on me and was ahead in second place.

Coming through the pits early on in the day

Riding hard out on one of the single track sections

Out in the darkness

At 8.30pm I had a quick stop to put my lights on. Needless to say I was feeling a bit weary after 8 ½ hours or riding under the belt. Heading off into the darkness the laps ticked by a I could feel myself getting slower and slower. My body was pretty hammered by this stage, especially my hands, wrists, arms and shoulders from the rough rocky sections. I would have done anything to transition in the kayak or head out for a run, just something that wasn't biking. At the ten hour mark I was forced to take a prolonged pit stop at a port-a-loo suffering from server stomach pains which was the lowest part of my race. After hanging out in the port-a-loo for 15min I felt great and headed off of the remainder of the race to ride some of my best laps and feel great all the way to the finish.

Coming into the finish
I reached the end of my 25th lap at 11.48pm in 3rd place and that was the end of that. 220km on the bike, 10 Leppin Squeezes, 6 bottles of Leppin Enduro Booster, 6 bottles of water, 3 bananas, 2 croissants, 2 ham and avocado buns, 6 mini rice balls, 4 mince savories, a couple of handfuls of lollies and some chips. I had unbelievably sore hands, wrists, shoulders, back, feet and not to mention my legs were a little tired. I slowly hobbled off my trusty steed, crawled into my sleeping bag and pasted out.
I had come to Timaru looking for a challenge and that is exactly what I got. Over the past 12hours I had been mentally and physically pushed and I loved every minute of it. So much so I am going to focus on getting to Rotarua at the beginning of 2010 for the 24hour N-Duro and/or the 24hour Moonride.

A few more M2M photos

Here are a few more photos of the M2M taken by my good mate and support crew Becks.

Battle away on the run. Not feeling good at all here.

Slick transition on to the road bike

Pushing hard early on in the final climb

In a world of pain getting towards the end of the Snowpark climb

Good to be done (my wife Lily and I at the finish)

The A team. (Aves, Ross, myself, Lily and Becks)

M2M

After a hard day at the P2P I had put in a solid winter of training in-between studying which included a training camp in Wanaka with 8 of my Exponential Performance athletes. I was feeling better than ever a few weeks out from the race as was really looking forward to sinking my teeth into the race and improving on last year’s 3rd place. A week and a half out from race day I was hit hard with the flu which saw unable to function for a few days. I got over the worst of it by race day but still had a really chesty cough that I just could not shake.

Lining up on the start line I was still coughing up my lungs but when the hooter went that all went off the window. I had the ski of my life and handled the white out conditions halfway through with minimal time lost to the front runners which I was stoked about.

Arriving at the kayak I was feeling pretty good and hopped into my Evo Edge and got it wound up. The river flow was high compared to other years which took out all the route choice options and made for a fast paddle. A smooth transition thanks to a great crew saw me into my Salomon Speed-crosses and out onto the run in no time.

Out on the run I was battling to stick with people I would usually leave of dust. On the first few steep climbs I was coughing uncontrollably and just could not breathe. I finally reached the road bike transition and have never been so glade to stop running and start biking. On to the road bike I dialled in a solid cursing speed and set to work by myself up the Cardrona valley. Starting to get back in the groove of things I reeled in a few individuals and moved into 5th place.
Off the road bike and on to the MTB I worked as hard as I could and was closing in on 4th place. At the half way mark I was on track for a PB hill climb. However from this point I started to fall to pieces. I hit a big wall and just did not have the legs to push any harder.
I reached the finish 2minutes faster than last year in 5th place, 1minute 30seconds behind 4th and 14 minutes behind 2nd. Absolutely shattered I was pleased with my effort given the situation and but gutted I did not get to put my fitness to the test with good health.

Thanks to studio 5 for the awesome on course photos

Brass Monkey Triathlon

When the opportunity came up to share a ride back to the West Coast to compete in the Brass Monkey Triathlon I could not say no. A chance to race on home soil and catch up with my dad, things don’t get much better.
This is my favourite race in the world. I first competed in the race 8 years ago and this was my first every multisport race. The course consists of a 6km run, 5km kayak and 16km road bike. It is a community run event and always has a good turnout.
With some of the locals keen to push the pace the run was hard and fast. I found myself out the front and just before the finish 2 other of the top individuals joined me at the front.
A fast transition into the kayak saw an instant 30sec gap open up between myself and the chasers. Paddling a borrowed Evo edge I set to work on the paddle. I had to slow down a few times to make sure I looked around as the views on the mirror lake were stunning to say the least. Out of the boat and I had managed to paddle the fastest kayak stage out of the whole race (teams included).

Final few strokes of the paddle stage

The eternal struggle out of the kayak

On to the bike and it was off on the final stage. I set to work riding but my legs were feeling a little heavy with the cold. I set a good time on the bike considering I was by myself the whole time (4th fastest overall) and ran down the chute to finish 1st.

On the road to the finish

Good to be done