Recovery, Planning and More Recovery!

I haven't been able to do much for the past 6 weeks and I am looking forward to being able to stand normally. It is tough going from riding and exercising every day to close to nothing. During the operation they found several fragments of bone throughout the ankle joints and another shard had snapped off. I have two screws holding the bone back in place and all the fragments have been removed. It shouldn't cause any future problems going forward. Its feeling much better this far down the track and I only hope for further improvements.

Being off the bike has given me plenty of time to focus on my studies. I have also had more than enough time to find things to improve on in this coming season. Looking ahead, I know it is going to be a hard road but I just cant wait to get outside on some solid training.

I managed to bling up my bike a bit thanks to iRide Wellington. I am now running 1x10 and a few other goodies have been put on. Even while injured, I have had so much support from iRide with everything I do and I look forward to the 2014 season.

Cheers Kirk at iRide! Looking and feeling awesome!

Broken !

During a training ride last Sunday (11th of August) I managed to break my ankle. I don't have a cool story behind it. Just put my foot down on a root (not even a crash) and it rolled inward and up. I felt a pop and snap. Then as I tried to move, the bones in my foot felt as if they were crunching together.

This was then followed by a struggle out of the bush alone. I had to hop on my good leg, down to the four wheel drive track with my bike. Then I rode for about 1km out to the van. A short drive home with my left leg followed which was interesting!

Here is my week full of hospital visits and increasingly bad news.

Hospital Visit #1: I didn't think it was broken and the X-rays showed it not broken too. I was told that my ankle had some torn soft tissue and that I should wear a moon boot for at least a week then I should be able to do some light training or get on the wind trainer the following week. I was alright with that as one week off isn't too much in the long run.
Healing Time: 1 week.


Hospital Visit #2: This visit was with a sports doctor who had seen a lot of ankle problems before. She told me she wasn't happy with the original X-rays as there could be something else wrong. I got X-rays that day and was waiting for the call with the results. She also told me I have a grade 2 sprain of the deltoid ligament.
Healing Time: 2 weeks.


Hospital Visit #3: We got the call that I had fractured my talus (weight bearing ankle bone). I had a cast put on and was told 4 weeks minimum until its off.
Healing Time: 4 weeks.


Hospital Visit #4/5: I had a CT scan on Monday then had the results explained to me on Tuesday. I have now been told I need an operation. They will screw the bone fragment back on to my talus and I will need 6 weeks in a cast + 6 weeks recovery time.
Healing Time: 6-12 weeks.


Here I am, just over a week after the injury and it has changed from being 1 week to 6 weeks healing time. I am disappointed with all the different stories I have heard about it. Hopefully this is the final mark and I can get fixed and onto recovery before the upcoming national series.

I can't wait to get back out smashing it on both the road and mountain bike. Lets hope I have a better year leading into the 2015 season. I cant thank everyone enough for the support and concern. iRide Wellington has been great and super supportive too!

Lets hope it only gets better from here on!

Road Racing and Trail Building

The weather hasn't been great lately but I've still been out racing, training and digging.

I managed to do some road racing last weekend in Te Horo as a part of B-grade. A 60km flat race doesn't suit me that much but I put in the effort and most of all, had fun! I managed to make a break with two others in the last 15 minutes. We quickly dropped one of the riders in the break which made it tougher but we stuck it out to the end. After gapping the main group even more towards the finish I had a solid 2nd place.

The Pines is still having the most made of it before getting logged. Eden and I recently made a new cross country descent. Several drops, rocks and berms all make the track technical and fun. Remember to get up to the pines soon if you're local as it's getting logged in about 2 months!

Small sections of new XC descent.

Small sections of new XC descent.

Cheers all for the continuous support!

Just a Little Update...

Hey!

I hope everyone is alright after the earthquakes here in mid New Zealand. Turns out I was actually riding when a big one on Sunday morning hit and I didn't feel a thing! Lets hope this is the end of the earthquakes in NZ for a while.

I'm looking forward to the PNP series coming up in September and maybe some road racing. I've put in some training to further develop my fitness after worlds and I'm feeling pretty good.

Lastly, I hope all the guys from iRide Store Wellington had fun overseas at the Specialized Conference. From what I've heard, it sounded pretty cool.

Ill try to keep you updated more often and I hope to see you all around!

Wellington Storm Damage

Recently, the storm that hit New Zealand was pretty brutal. Here in Wellington I was expecting a few small trees to have fallen down but it was a lot worse.

Volunteers from all over Wellington have put in so much effort to get the tracks and walkways back into usable condition.  Our local tracks built by several people including Ben Brough, Eden Cruise, Nick Roose and myself have been damaged too.

Before and after at pines.     Rider: Ben Brough

Over 100 trees have fallen down over our tracks but luckily we still have about 50 seconds of the main track used in the PNP Belmont race. We lost all of the cross country track and some of the jumps line. More photos to come.

However, instead of thinking negatively about this, we've decided to use it to our advantage and improve the tracks with all the wood and rock. More technical climbs and descents are to come! We've already started digging and making the most of The Pines before it gets milled/logged in 2 months.

Good luck to all those out there clearing the debris and trees around Wellington and everywhere else. Makara Bike Park is clear and "Looking all spanky" - Ricky Pincott. Cheers Ricky and crew! The support from so many people to get everything back to normal is amazing, Well Done!

One Year and Ten Months Racing

It has been one year and 10 months since my first XCO race. This seems so overwhelming seeing as I have raced all over New Zealand AND overseas. I have raced 10 PNP rounds, 9 National rounds, 2 National Championships, 5 Road races, 2 PNP Club Championships, 2 Karapoti 50kms, 1 Huka Challenge and 2 World Cup rounds all in the previous year and ten months.

Not to mention I have only been training for the past 9 months. I feel that with how much I have improved in the short amount of time I've been training, I still have a lot more to offer.
Not every race I have done has been perfect. I've had a lot of issues, mechanicals and nutritional problems but I aim to fix them and improve on the last race over and over again.

Ive updated the blog and some of my info a bit so check it all out!

Nové Město, Czech Republic - Race Report

This race has proven to be more enjoyable than last week and I found it easier to get on the bike and race. This is due to better nutrition, sleep and attitude. After watching the U23 Women and Junior Women I knew this race was going to be tough and if I wanted to improve on last week, there is going to be very little recovery time on the downhills. It all payed off and I got a much more desirable result than last week.

I started in around the sixth row, meaning I was going to have to be super aggressive but patient at the same time. I had mentally prepared and had run through what I want the start to look like.

My start was solid and I was sticking two thirds of the way back in the pack. As we rushed off into the start loop, being mainly 4WD track, I managed to pass a few more riders.

We reached the top of the climb, heading into the single track and I was sitting comfortably in about 80th position. Throughout the downhill back down to the event center, I passed a few riders and came over the line in 76th. The downhills were super fast and I had to be completely focused as so much could go wrong.

Now that the field had split up I was prepared to give it my all to hold my position, if not gain a few more places. Throughout that lap I managed to gain 13 places. I was enjoying the ride and high pace.

At the end of the 3rd and 4th laps I came through in 64th place. The pace raised and we started throwing sprints on the last lap. I sprinted too early on the 4wd while in a group of about 6 riders and a couple managed to pass me on the last climb. A few riders crashed on the final descent as the pace so raised so high.

I improved on last weeks result by over thirty positions gaining a solid 69th place.

Saw this just after my race finishing in 69th position

I'm pleased with my result as my second ever World Cup Race and I cant wait to do another one. I'm so stoked that I was able to come over and compete as this was a great experience. Super stoked with the other Kiwi riders results - Well done Dirk Peters with a solid 13th in U23 men.

Off home to New Zealand on Monday with two days in Paris. Looking forward to getting stuck into my training for the upcoming NZ season.

Watching Junior and U23 Women while chilling with this guy

Nové Město, Czech Republic - XCO Photos

We arrived here in Czech Republic on Monday afternoon. After a long 7 hour drive, we decided to get out for a walk and see the track. Looking fast and technical in places, with some decent climbs, I was excited about riding it.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, I got back out and did some more riding in the iRide Skin-suit. It's good to see some Kiwis out there shredding the track too. Samara Sheppard - Thanks for showing me the start lap !

Don't tell Ricoh the mechanic but I overshot some jumps (by about 6 feet) on the XC bike

"Vertical Drop" Feature

Expert Climb 2 - Technical rooty and rocky climb

Rock n' Roll - Awkward but fun to ride

End of Rock n' Roll

Rubena Choice - Toughest, rockiest downhill

End of Rubena Choice

Chup

Albstadt Round 1 World Cup

The first thing I can say about this race is it was possibly the most fun I have had racing ever! Not only the atmosphere but the support, track and competitors all made it great fun.

Unfortunately, with only just over 5 hours sleep last night I was sure the result would be less than desirable. I came to terms with this, still went through with the race and was just stoked to be there. With some in-race issues, I still enjoyed every second of it!

Well done to the NZXC Racing Team and the Oliver brothers this weekend. It was awesome to see fellow Kiwis ripping it up and having fun out there! 

Race Report:
The start was definitely a lot different than I expected. I have been told the starts are very fast but it was slower than anticipated. Off the start line we reached 40km/h within 10 seconds. Within that 10 seconds, a crash involving 4 riders happened right in front of me. Luckily I got over the bike and didn't go down with them!

The first grass section spread the 130 riders out, giving people the chance to throw in sprints. Holding my ground, I kept the pace up until we hit the single track where about 70 riders were slowly riding or walking.

As we got on to the first decent climb, I could already see the leaders minutes ahead of us on the downhill. I tried to get through the stream of riders but it seemed never ending. The downhill following that had even more carnage from falls and rider contact so we had to walk even more.

I worked my way through the group, passing where possible. On landing of the 'Albstadt Drop' I felt my front rim hit the ground. I felt it again on the following downhill on each corner. Somewhere within the first 10 minutes I had punctured my front tyre but luckily it sealed up with the tubeless sealant. Having lost most of the air in my front tyre I kept up the race and continued to have fun.

Tyre after the race.

Throughout the race I started to feel more drained than usual probably due to the lack of sleep.
I made the most of each lap but still left enough in the tank for a quicker last lap. I had nearly caught the rider in front of me when we were told we had been 80% out by the leader. I was gutted about that finish but so happy I'd finished my first World Cup without a crash or any major mechanicals considering the situation.

All in all, I had so much fun and I'll never forget the race I've done today. Thanks to NZXC, Dad, BikeNZ, iRide Wellington and everyone else who has supported me!

This truly was a unique experience and it'll always be an important part of me.

Nove Mesto, Czech Republic next week - Lets hope for a better race!

Cheers

Albstadt Training

Today was the official training day for all riders. Time to represent New Zealand in my new kit! Was great to ride with so many people of so many different levels. There were a lot of fast riders which have stepped up the all round level of riding here in Albstadt.

Key thing for me to remember is to make the most of being here, go hard and have fun!

Uphill Rock-Garden

Following some Norwegian riders down the first downhill

Albstadt, Germany - XCO Track Description + Gallery

I arrived in Germany at 9am today. My EVOC bike bag was great and made transport so much easier!

Stuttgart, Germany Airport

After a forty minute drive to Nehren, we decided to go check out the track in Albstadt. I haven't put the bike together yet and I'm pretty shattered from the 36 hours of travel so decided to walk the track. Cant wait to get out tomorrow to ride it!

The first thing I saw was a large wooden bridge. Looks like great fun but unfortunately it's closed until training.

At first I was surprised at how chilled the track was looking until I looked at it from this angle. What goes up must come down!

While walking the track we got some pretty good photos showing the rocky, slippery and rooty terrain we'll be racing in.

Small Quick Rock Garden

Slippery Downhill Section

 I watched as a couple of riders dropped into the downhills. The track started to look really fun after that!

A section that really appealed to me was a straight, but rough rock garden section with a few small drops:

Photo from the top

Looking back up at the drops/rocks

Another interesting section was a drop into a steep slippery chute. This looks pretty chilled but the bottom section is slippery sludge and mud:

Looking up at the drop from mid-chute

Full drop, chute and corner at bottom

For a better view of the images, click them and they'll enlarge.

Now that I'm in Europe, I'll be posting regularly with updates and photos of what we're up to.

Cheers

Four Days Till Europe

In four days time, I will be heading away for my overseas trip. I've been training and working toward this trip being the best first cycling adventure it can be. I have had so much support from everyone for this trip and I'm so grateful for it all, so thank you!

My bike was fully serviced today by Ricoh in iRide Wellington and I couldn't be happier with it!

I'm happy the trip is just starting as the weather here in Wellington has just turned cold. On the last good day that I was up Mount Victoria I got a few photos of the city:

Feel free to comment or ask me anything!
Cheers

Recent Trail Building

Along with my training, I have been trying to get in some trail building whenever I can. A couple of mates and I head up into the local bush (known as The Pines) and build anything and everything we can think of. This has greatly increase my technical and downhill skill/flow + its so much fun!

Our latest trail drops out of the pines into some dense bush. After much clearing and digging we have finally got a decent start into the trail so I thought I'd put up some photos of our progress as we go:

Bottom of chute into flowing singletrack

Small chute into the track

Ducking into trees

Quick smooth section

Introduction and Welcome

Hey Everyone,
First of all, welcome to my blog! I've had several people recommend it so I thought I'd give it a try. Have a look around and I hope you all enjoy the frequent posts. I look forward to keeping everyone updated on everything I'm getting up to, both with training and racing. 

I head overseas on May 10th (two weeks today) to race in Albstadt, Germany and Nove Mesto, Czech Republic. Can't wait to finally get some international racing under my belt.

Thanks to everyone who has made this possible for me. A special thanks goes out to my parents, iRide Store and PNP Cycling Club!