Porirua Grand Traverse 2014

Awesome race! I did the Duathlon with Ricoh from iRide. I had a good start getting straight out front with Brendon Sharratt just behind. I knew Brendon was fast and it didn't help that he was riding this fast course on a cross bike. Thanks Ricoh for an awesome run and Brendon for keeping me on my toes!

Straight into the first climb and I had opened a small gap between me and the main group. I managed to lead the first loop and get straight out into Belmont for the suburban loop. On the next decent climb I had a 15 second lead over Brendon. I managed to extend that gap throughout the race, catching all but one of the triathlon riders. It was awesome to come away with the fastest MTB time of the day and even after several timing and marshal issues with the run, our team still got first place. Had a finishing time of 1:07.24

Woohooo!!

Karapoti 2014 Race Report

This year, Karapoti was a lot different for me. I was unable to do the 50km Classic due to the risk of injuring my ankle again so I did the 20km Challenge.

Started with the classic river crossing where I managed to get through with the first few competitors. After I mounted I was away. I attacked from the start expecting someone to join but after a quick glimpse at the field behind me I had already gained a massive gap.

Solid start in the river!

I held the pace high as I entered the rocky gorge section and it wasn't until 4km in that I started catching the end of the 50km riders. Weaving my way through the riders I finally got to the section where the 50km riders and 20km riders split. The first decent climb was solid but passed by much quicker than expected.

I continued on alone on the loop until I got back to where there is two way traffic. Got a bit gnarly from here on. I had to keep the pace high in order to beat the 20km record but make my way through the oncoming riders headed up for their loop. I was relieved to know the last 6km should be rider-free and all downhill.

I was feeling strong as I came out of the gorge and back on to the road toward the main river and finish. Some of the marshals seemed surprised to see me out of the bush so early though! I had a good river crossing with no falls (luckily).

It was crazy to find out I had beat the record by 1:20 over the 20km. I had also placed first by 12 minutes which was just as crazy!

I had so much fun in this race and made the most of not being able to do the 50km. I can only do what my ankle is allowing me to do so this race was a good little test. Feeling good and happy to be slowly coming back!

Cross Country National Championships - Rotorua

First proper race back since breaking myself! I had so much fun and it was awesome to catch up with everyone again.

Pain face on after first lap!

I knew I didn't have too much in the legs for this race so I decided to smash it from the start, have fun and see how long I can hold on to the pace. I had an awesome dusty and drifty first lap with lots of attacks as the group spread out along the technical track. My second and third laps felt good but then I started to lose the pace. Lost two places and lots of time as legs just couldn't hold up. I still managed to finished though!

Thanks Phillippa Skeet for this photo!

Pre-race mini photoshoot with Wayne Jones-Nevrilk. More photos from race day at www.nevrilk.com

Of course Sam Gaze and Anton Cooper were up the front battling it out making the spectating even more amazing. Those two have worked so hard and continue to out-do the expectations of everyone. It was good to be back racing, especially with some of the top guys in the world. Well done to Sam for the days win!

Cooper and Gaze testing each other up the front

This race was a great opportunity to identify my weaknesses both up and downhill after breaking my ankle. 15th place in Elite Men isn't perfect but I am happy with that result after a 5 month block of nothing. 

The new bike was awesome! My new kit thanks to Specialized New Zealand and iRide went well with the bike and felt great.

So keen to catch up with all the guys again and thanks to everyone who turned up to the race (despite the hike up to the start). You made the day even better!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We are now in 2014! What a year! Ive had some awesome times and some horrible times but it has all helped me to learn and improve. 2013 started well with a relatively good handful of nationals results which allowed me to race overseas. World Cup racing is definitely the coolest, most enjoyable experience available to a rider.

While the year may have started well, I managed to finish it not so well. An operation on my broken ankle and 8 weeks entirely off the bike surely wasn't what I had in mind but I am rebuilding and improving myself from this experience. After a lot of physio and strength exercises I am nearly ready to get back into full training again. I still have a bit of pain in the lower leg and ankle but every day it's feeling better. I'm looking forward to the coming season and enjoying being on the bike again.

On the 29th of December 2012 I had a bad road crash in the wet. This year I hoped to set things right and  get back out there. However, I came down with food poisoning which has stopped me from riding (and everything else!) as it has been so violent. I managed to lose 5kg in 15 hours! I still find that impressive but it sure did hurt!

I have been to all the PNP Wellington MTB series races and it has been a great turn out. Its so cool to see the sport developing in Wellington and seeing more people out there giving it their all. I got  few good yarns in, met new people and most of all, had fun!

I am also super stoked to have this awesome Christmas present to complete the year! Thanks mum and dad!

 

Ive taken it out a handful of times on some of the most demanding (XC and all mountain) tracks in Wellington and it rides like a dream. With slight changes to the setup, this fits me and my riding style perfectly. I cant wait to be able to race on this bike! 

Thank you Ricoh for putting this together for me, Luke for setting everything up, Andrew Young from iRide!! Also thanks to the rest of the iRide family, Specialized New Zealand and my family/friends for all the support and encouragement.

Cheers to everyone else for the continuous support! 

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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!