Like a Bat out of Hell I’ll be gone…

Haha, you have that classic Meatloaf song in your head now! But I’ll spare you, that’s where the singing stops and the racing begins; Vegas was host to another awesome race on Sunday, the Whaka 100. 100km’s, 5 hours and a whole heap of sweet Vegas single-track.

The forecast during the week was pointing to a foul Sunday, but alas the weather played ball and just held up (providing you finished by 1pm). With a decent amount of sunshine in the lead up, as well as some resealing on most of the 4wd’s in the forest, a fast race was on the cards. A few of NZ’s Pro Elite sifters lined up for the 8am start, with a decent contingent of single speeders from around the globe gearing up for this weekends World’s (100km’s on one gear isn’t my cup of tea)! With my big bro having the honour of leading us out around the field on a CX bike, it was down to business as we hit the single track.

The first 15km was literally all single-track in the core network part of the forest, allowing Cabin and myself to pull a gap on the rest (always handy sitting behind locals). All the tracks were flowing sweet, bike was riding smooth, legs were pumping; everything was looking good as we headed out for the large out back loop.
After about 20km I felt really strong, setting a rhythm I thought would last me the following 80km; this rhythm was a bit faster then what Cabin had in mind so he happily sent me on my way. Around the lakes, over three big hills (including descents of No Brains and Split Endz), through Old Chevy, everything was still feeling comfortable. Through the feed-zone for a quick refuel, a time check (4mins back to Cabin) and, onwards to the more challenging second sector.

On the way up to Billy T things began to fall apart very quickly. I could feel fatigue starting to set in fast prompting me to slow things down (hard ask when you have a 400m climb ahead). After a brief breather at the top it was time for one of the coolest descents in Vegas, except this time it was a struggle with a body that was refusing to cooperate. Into G-Rock then Rollercoaster, the race caught up quite literally; what was a 4 min lead on Cabin was wiped out in 10km, Cabin was right back on me!

After a quick jaunt across the flat towards Hot X Buns, the penultimate ascent began which would confirm my world of pain. Cabin simply rode away and all I could do was conserve my placing. Down Hot X Buns cleanly and onwards to the final hill of the day (with out dribbling on, managed to get over in one piece and press onto the finish).

At just under 5 hours I crossed the line in 2nd place, some 9mins after Cabin (that sandbagger pulled 14mins on me in 35km)! While I was disappointed to not win I was relieved to finish and improve on last year by a full half hour.

Lessons to be learnt…? Riding like a Bat out of Hell won’t always work. A 5 hour marathon race such as Whaka is a complete different story to the 2 hour XC events I’ve been racing for the past few months, but how can you hold me down when I’m thrown into a race, of course I’ll ride at 110%.
Bit of rest for now, but I’ll be back in a couple of weeks to hopefully defend my PNP series title and win the Huka race at the Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge; if I’m right, on Sunday I blew at about the same point as the Huka race finishes, 80km, here’s hoping….

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Short and Sweet

Just like the course used for Sundays third round of the PNP MTB series, I’m going to keep this quick.
Mt Victoria in central Wellington was the setting for the latest PNP race, held on a 6-7km course with heaps of roots, clay and pine needles; when it rains like it did for the 12 hours before the race, Mt Vic can turn into lethal sliding feast even for the Steve Peat’s out there. Us Pro-Elite punters were thrown 4 laps of fun, sending us on our way for 2hrs of pain.
The turn out for PE was fairly down, but I still had Alex Revell keeping me honest through out. For the whole of the first lap Alex was right on my tail, pressuring me to ride full tilt (couple hairy moments but nothing too scary). Come second lap I really put the hammer down, trying to distance Alex as soon as I could; it took over half the lap but I finally pulled a gap.
Even with a fair amount of traffic, my legs happily settled into a steady rhythm, attacking every up-hill and descent. Only one small slip up to mention, landing on my knees which left me with a few cuts, but other then that my SantaCruz was railing everything.
After 1:55 of racing I rolled into the Mt Vic velodrome for my second win of the series; a nice step towards defending my title and a good sign ahead of the Whaka 100 this weekend.

So this weekend it’s the Whaka 100, 100km of sweet Rotovegas trails sandwiched between 5hrs of pain. Forecast is looking sweet so should be a great day!
In the mean time off to Metallica on Wednesday, hopefully the adrenalin will still be pumping come Sunday (and my hearing returned).

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Ben Nevis Dh race

Finally I have a vid of this race up.

I won, not usual for me, but I'll take it, even if the main competition of Derek Winwood was hungover.
I did crash on my 1st race run and sprained my wrist, tho I didn't know or even feel this until later that afternoon. However the 3 weeks since I haven't ridden my bike at all, until today. I got 3rd today at the fringed classic. Once more running the bushlove colours, with matching pink strapping on my wrist.

But alas, for I can give you no more wordy prose this fine night, as one has consumed too much bourbon and tis late.

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Canadian research - "learning experiences"

Well my trip was not just about riding and stocking up on cheap souvenirs, it was experiencing different things. Some things were a bit more "different" to what my Lonely Planet told me to expect. So here are some of the highlights...

Begging in Seattle
Unfortunately Seattle has been hit hard by the recession, so there were a lot of people begging on the streets. However some of those out begging don't seem to have a credible story:
Begging Woman: "Hey man, spare a veteran a dollar?"
AL: "Sorry" (NZ accent of course)
Begging Woman: "Well excuse me, you're not from round here. We liberated your country and you can't give me a dollar?"
AL: "Ummm I don't think NZ was liberated recently" reaching in my pocket to give her the change I had just so she would get lost. "Here" giving her a handful of quarters and pennies
Begging Woman: "What, you waste my time and that is all you give me?"
AL: "ah....."
Drunk man who just appeared on the scene: "Hey man, ignore that stupid b____! I won't lie to you sir, I'm no veteran but if you give me a dollar I will be go get drunk!"
AL - I fish out my wallet and give this man $5!
Drunk man: "Hey man, America needs more people like you! I'll go raise a toast to you right now!"
It was only 9am in the morning...

Sh!t coffee in Seattle

The original Pike Place Market Starbucks "Coffee"

Ah yes, the original Starbucks in Seattle's Pike Place Market, where sh!t coffee was born! There must have been a Starbucks every 50 metres in Seattle with a queue in every one. They sure do like their coffee flavoured sugar water over there. But to add insult to injury, they love to top it all with whipped cream.
So as a fan of real coffee and an even bigger fan of tea you can imagine my delight in find an independent cafe that specialised in "real espresso coffee and good old fashioned tea"
So I went in and order a tea. All was going well till I was asked if I wanted cream. "Sorry, did you say cream with my tea?" A surprised look from behind the counter... then she pulled out a can of aerosol cream! "Yes sir, whipped cream for your cup of tea"
I admitted defeat and just had a crappy coffee and donut instead

Yummy!
Not all the food was complete rubbish, there were some interesting and yummy things out there
...like waffles for breakfast!

Fresh Sockeye Salmon for dinner...

I had to bring back a bit of food as well, like Marshmallow Fluff for the hyperactive food colouring fan club at work

1.6kg on Pancake mix for my father (it's nice, but c'mon! It's just pancake mix!)

Hello Yogi!
Yes, as you probably already know, Canada has bears. Now given I was travelling alone, I quite often would you out riding alone... in back country Canadian trails...

But not all bears hangout in the woods, they quite often come into town looking for food.

So there I am riding along the main highway going through Whistler. I pull up to the main set of lights outside Whistler village and there is a queue of cars (or to be more precise North American Suburban Assault Vehicles). People are hanging out of these cars taking photos. But there is only a ditch on the side of the road, so I look at the them all a bit puzzled till I hear a noise from the pavement. A black bear is standing right beside me on the pavement as if he was waiting to cross the road at the lights. Given this bear was less than a couple metres from me and I have never seen a bear (but heard lots of stories about them), I decided that I could justify the traffic ticket for running that red light and getting the hell out of there!

REDNECKS!
Now Nanaimo was my favourite place my trip, but I did fear for my life during my ride there. When I visited the bike shop to get directions of where to go the shop owner gave me a few landmarks to get my bearings from. One of those landmarks was a clearing with quote "what looks like the remains of a redneck party, shoot up cars and lots of beer cans." I keep an eye out for this area as it was where the good trails started from. It was easily to find then I thought it would be...

Moments after this photo was taken... a redneck scared the sh!t out of me!

As I came out to a clearing with what I thought might have been the area the guy in the shop was talking about a guy in a pickup truck pulls up.
Guy in pickup truck: "Morning"
AL: "Morning"
Guy in pickup truck now parking the truck and getting out: "Are you alone?"
AL: ".......yes?"
Guy who has just pulled out a rifle from his pickup truck: "Oh yup"
BANG BANG BANG (three cans on a log at the end of the clearing are shot at)
That guy again: "Oh sorry man, that question was a bit odd. I just didn't want to shoot any other riders"
AL: "....ah cool... I'll just head off now...."

I have no photos of the clearing or the redneck, funnily enough I wasn't in a photo taking mood and felt the need to move on!

Farewell oh British Columbia!

So there you have it, I still have a few tall tales to tell. For a donation to the Send-Al-back-to-Canada fund...

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NEWSFLASH - Al cheated in showdown with Tigs

Al of Bushlove Racing has just announced that in his crucial showdown with Tigs at the final round of the 2009 PNP Series at Makara he used performance enhancing drugs.

Al has released the following statement:
"When the pressure of my impending showdown with elite rider Tigs at last year's PNP series final was starting to make me doubt my ability, I did what any ex good roadie would do and looked for ways to improve my performance. I had to take a HTFU pill to beat Tigs.
I haven't taken a HTFU pill for a while and I think my test results from recent races will clearly show that. I think I have to be honest with everyone and tell people what I know.
Other riders in Bushlove are not innocent either: Davo has used pies and lager to good effect, Angry owns a powertap that he secretly uses.
My only excuse for this is I use to be a good roadie, so assumed that was what you did."

In reply to this statement, Tigs made the following comment:
"Look everyone knows I am an elite rider, so when someone like the ginge Al beats me something must be going on."

WADA has also made the following comment about the matter:
"We will be investigating this matter, but early indications are that Al was not 'just sifting for the win' as it defined in the Bushlove code of conduct. This behaviour cannot go unpunished."

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Canadian research - the racing

Well it has been a while in the making, but here is my "race report" from my Canadian trip

So while sifting in Canada, I thought I'd do a bit of racing. I heard that at the time some thing called Crankworx was on, so I tagged along to see what all the fuss was about...

Waiting for the lift for another rampage run...

Looking down the dual slalom course

Brendan Fairclough's bike collection...

Gee Atherton takes the slalom win

You will be surprised to know there is a XC event at Crankworx in Whistler. I lined up for a laugh at the back of the grid, forgot that I was back on my XC bike after a week of riding DH bikes and got up to second!

Rocky XC Rampage!

 Just to increase the lulz, I decided it would be a good idea to ride "Comfortably Numb", "River runs through it" and "Kill me thrill me" a day out from the race. For those who have been to Whistler you will realise that as far as rides go that is stupidly hard! Probably explains why I destroyed an upsized-super-large-you-fat-bastard combo at Maccas and before you can say "BMI RAMPAGE!" Yeah, I was rather hungry after that ride!

Yes that is my medal and some guy called Nico Vouilloz signed my cap

The hat is the photo was done for me by this guy:
http://www.myspace.com/1976ItsJustArt
If you are ever in Seattle, make sure you visit him in the Pike Place Market - highly recommend! Even Nico Vouilloz thought that cap was cool, and if Nico says it's cool - it's cool!

Right, that's enough of that race carry on!

One final Canadian post, the stories post... it has rednecks with guns, hungry bears, crappy coffee - something for the whole family!

Don't touch that dial!

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Wainui...Layback time

Sooo layed back I was nearly horizontal...

After a wet and windy Makara Peak race I was looking forward to some faaaast skids on the trails of the WTP of glory. Having been about a year since riding on these trails I was looking forward to a few surprises and I was not to be disappointed.

I started the day off by picking up a mate of mine Simon who was not only game enough to brave my bad driving style, but was silly enough to trust me in suggesting he raced the gentile rolling hills of Wainuiomata. Some people never learn, Sorry Si :D
Race start was here and I had my tractor tyres on ready for the "Storm the size of Australia..." where was it I ask you? maybe the Ozzies had turned tail after the Tri-Nations Cup walloping we game them. Either way I was stuck with the tractor tread on a day that could only be best described as picture perfect.

Elite pain fest called my name once again and regrettably I inched my way to the start, thinking it can't be as hard as I think... WRONG! we took off up the Crazyman climb and I thought I would try and hang with the cool kids Gav & Mono. At the top of the Crazyman climb my lungs were feeling the burn but I knew if I made it to Labyrinth before them I would have a smokin down hill, Mono entered before me and Gav just behind. we stayed like this until the "fantastic short cut" which Gav and I took and popped out just ahead of Mono. Woop!!! go the shortcut. Opened up the taps of gnar on my tractors and pulled at bit of time out of Gav and Mono only to have them tear me a new one on Jungle Scout climb, this went tit for tat as I romped over them down Beeline only to have them gingerly (similar to Slackie's goatie) cruise past me again on Jungle Scout, this time chatting about what moisturizer they both use and how it makes their skin glow (They were so relaxed when they past me I was surprised they were not comparing softness of skin). Lucky for me Spoon Hill & 419 were in my favour as I returned to my glory down hills chase, picking them both up gain. Not to bore you all the rest is easy... Crazyman Climb and they dropped me like Davo's backside after super special at Tulsi Indian Curry House. Did a bit of suffering by myself watching the odd Elite rider smoke me on the up hills Thomas Linup and a brief encounter from Lynsky who threatened to pass me going up the last pasts of the Crazyman climb, thanks for the pep talk sheep shaggger.

The rest of my ride was much the same riding by myself with brief visits from the likes of T-Rex who went the wrong way and then once back on track smoked me, Ed (Fastest Man) who thought it be funny to pass me like I was an old man with arthritis and a Zimmer frame.

Trucked on home loving the down hills and finished with a MASSIF smile from ear to ear. Wainui has once again stolen my heart and not my wallet with some of the best trails in Wellies.

Till Mt Vic when I look forward to another smashing but happy to just be out riding.

Tigs

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Wainui..payback time.

After riding extra sections at Makara and coming 2nd, which is actually usual for me, Wainui was about getting back on track.
The predictions by the bearded ones of a Weather Bomb never eventuated and we woke up to a bright and sunny day, so loaded up the kids and headed over to Wainui for round 2 of the PNP mountain bike series.
Course was going to involve quite a bit of climbing and some reasonably techy descents, starting out with a climb to the water tower along the recently renamed from the crazyman climb to Konini. My usual adversaries Jonny Bushlove and Rob Kilvington would be hot on my tail so a fast start was required.
1 fast start later I hit the top of the climb with about a 50m lead, so headed along the various pinches and 4wd track and into Labryinth when I promptly got a bit excited and stuck a wheel over the side DAMM.. I got back on and did exactly the same thing again, its a funny thing race pressure turns an easy track into a hard track, so yelled out to myself to calm down (literally) and continued to the bottom via Snail Trail.



(photo kindly stolen from Hickie. thanks!..)

Back up Jungles I kept on checking back and Jonny and Rob where wearing their cloaks of invisibility so I thought I was in the clear, (Ed steamed passed at about here!) back up the 4wd track I picked up Liam from M1 and passed him before hitting spoonhill which like everyone else said was great fun, slipppy muddy with lots of places to axe yourself, I wasn't carrying a huge amount of speed down spoonhill and Liam just smoked past me and by the time we hit the bottom pulled out about a 200m gap!, not bad considering it wasn't even over a huge distance. (note to self to be more brave)

The new link track was interesting in its slimyness not well suited to my crossmark tyres but I survived that and hit the road to put my "good roadie" skills to the test, I wound up the big ring and hit 50kph and re-passed Liam again just before the school. Then up Konini to do it all over again , at the top by the water tower I again checked back and Jonny and Robs cloaks where still fully functioning which lulled me into a false sense of security and foolishly I didn't feel I pushed as hard on the 2nd lap, into Labryinth and Snails I caught up with Wifey who was riding with Alex in the Bushlove under 8 classification, Alex was nowhere to be seen and was way ahead and Trudi was playing catchup down snails, (that's my boy :-) ) , I caught Alex at the bottom of snails and he looked happy as larry.

On and up Jungles again when mid way up Alex Revell caught me from Pro Elite I let him pass and then the batteries in Jonnys cloak went flat and he suddenly appeared about 20m behind me!.. Damm that wasn't in the plan, so hit the gas pedal and caught up with Alex Revell just before the exit and gassed it up the 4wd climb to put in a better gap between myself and Waggers. I had a little more urgency down Spoonhill this time as I know Waggers eats this stuff for breakfast, I knew if I could hold him off here there was no way he would catch me on the road.
Down link track I calculated Jonnys trajectory, speed and gnar using this formula.



And used this formular and my rear wheel to place a rock on the side of the track as a backup plan, I exitted at Waiu street and headed for the finish in 1st place so very happy, Jonny (un)fortunately found my strategically placed rock which sent his rear der through the back wheel for an expensive running finish to his race for 2nd.

Next is Mt Vic in 3 weeks time..Charge your invisibility cloak batteries Waggers..

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Back to my roots

Sunday saw the second round of the popular PNP MTB series, with another awesome turn out of riders. If you’re wondering where my spiel from round 1 is, well to cut a long story short, don’t turn up to a race with well worn drive-train (or you’ll get chain suck all day long).

After the so called ‘largest storm on Earth’ skipped the Mountain Bikers in Wellington and rather dumped itself on the Trackies in Invercargill, we were treated to a stellar day in the capital; nothing but the best for MTB’s of course! With the awesome crew from the WTP (Wainui Trail Project) grooming the tracks for some serious traffic, all was set for another fun day of skids (only on the firebreaks of course WTP ;-)).



After a quick spin down the road, dodging a randomly parked local’s car as you do, it was straight up the 4wd past the water tower; nothing like starting a race with 15mins of climbing. Right from the start I knew I had good legs so felt intent on testing them and the other guys; not long in I pulled a small gap but could still feel them breathing down my neck. Down Labyrinth then Snails, it looked liked I had pulled a decent gap, so I settled into a nicer rhythm that I could sustain for the whole 2hrs. Near the top of Jungles on the way back up I could see Alex Revell chasing hard, obviously Alex was going to be a challenge to dislodge as always. Into Beeline for a quick descent, pulling a few risks was in order to open a gap on Alex, so down I slide (on my wheels of course). On the way up to Spoonhill I managed to find a nice rhythm helping me to pull out a decent gap, but I still had the infamous descent of Spoonhill to go. In its usual sloppy style, Spoon was slippery, entertaining (still no crashes, wow) and bumpy, but that’s half the fun of riding in Wainui. Through Spoon Link, Wetlands, then onto the road, lap 1 was done and dusted.

Even with daylight behind me I didn’t let up one bit, always another carrot to chase after; the next time up the 4wd I could see Hiskey off in the distance, a perfect target. It did take me all the way to the top of Labyrinth to catch him, but the thrill of descending behind him is always worth it. Apart from the near head on with a rider lost on Snail’s, everything went smoothly. Other highlights from the final lap is passing Tiger on Jungles letting him know he still has 2 more climbs to go, and getting stuck in traffic down Spoon which by now was truly thrashed! Back on the road, into the college grounds and across the line for my first win of the series.



Another well run and enjoyable PNP race, all in my hometown Wainui (that’s right, I grew up in Wainui, but escaped before I become a prisoner ;-)). Huge cheers as always for the race organizers (Marco, Ash and big bro Al), the WTP for providing some amazing tracks (Spoon is my favorite in Wgtn) and, Mariska for dragging me out and dealing with my general shenanigans! Look forward to seeing everyone at Mt Vic in three weeks.

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A brief commuter's trail tale

I am house sitting in Seatoun and have the pleasure of taking in some trails on the way to the office. I headed up to the Miramar prison to take a run down the excellent Jail Brake. I had to stop to put my ear phones in at the prison. It must have been morning shower time and the sounds coming from the ablutions block sounded like an Il Treno Dolore house party.

Jail Brake was running really well. It was hard to get the right speed and flow through all the bermed corners on the rigid, but I did get both wheels off the ground a few times, some even on purpose. My Camelbak schlong was dangling too deeply though and on one jump into a lh corner, I somehow ripped the nozzle off so got my leg drenched.

Sifted along to Mt Vic, regretting not having a buff for my ears, as I am trying to get over a cold. Had a look at the extension to the Hataitai Zig Zag which Simon Kennett et al are putting together. Good trail. I went over the bars on it, as I usually do on any family friendly, gradual uphill climb. It did give me a chance to take in the view though. I see they have work parties on it for an hour on Tuesday lunchtimes. As tradition demands I will publicly state how I will join said work party, and then live through my shame as I fail to show up.

I continued along to the Rihanna and Eminem song that embarrassingly I quite like, before dipping into the singletrack and dropping into one of my favourite descents. NO, NO, NO!!! That frustrating Polly lady on ZM’s morning show started doing one of those tragic self-voiced adverts for the Village Goldsmith! This immediately harshed my mellow, and I was lucky to pilot the bike successfully round the early tight left hander. In the car ZM is immediately switched off whenever they mark their card by wittering on about Optizorb painkillers or the Village Goldsmith. But with both mitts gripping the reins I had no choice but to endure.

The XC Campers and DH God had good weekends. They will be along shortly with their tales. Don’t touch that dial…. unless self-voiced adverts come on.

D-Banger : The All Mountain Athlete.

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For DayDreamers .... "bank"

So it appears as if I was teasing Bushlove's biggest fan by NOT posting any pics of myself in the Broken Axe post.
Thanks to Damon (Mundi) Mead, who's birthday was just the other day, who took some top pics of me at the Broken Axe race, we can replenish some visual aids for DD's .... "bank"

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Broken Axe Downhill

So most people view Bushlove as an XC, seat up, lycra wearing jeiboi club. Whilst this is true, some of us are super hardcore, Gnarcore even.

Thats not me, tho I am an old skool DH'er from way back. And seeing as I'm currently residing in Nelson for some time, I broke out the Sunday for some fun and hit up one of the Nelson club DH races.

A day of runs for $30 odd bucks and 2 timed runs at the end of it.........bargain. The track was rocky and with a few roots to slip you up when you least expect it. The speed was quite high as well, and something that took me quite some time to get used to, in fact I never really got full handle on it. But I'm still fresh back onto the DH bike, so I'm willing to be slower than I should be for the moment.

In the end I got 3rd in the semi old bastards category, half a second off second, but 11 seconds back on super local Derek Winwood.

I managed to get a helmet cam run of my 2nd race run. Apologies for the slowness and shit riding.

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PNP Round 1 - Rider Reports

A feast of lulz and skidz

- Waggers' report

The first round of the PNP spring series came with the usual menu of unpredictable weather. The day prior a huge but brief serving of rain was just an entree to the main course of fat juicy rain drops, low cloud and plummeting temperatures drizzled with a thin gritty mud-vinaigrette. However, unusually for Wellington there was no side-serving of wind.

Al the up and coming Bushlove maitre-d' gave the race briefing explaining that all tracks were as per the menu with one exception, they were unable to get a fresh supply of T3 so it was unavailable. However there's always one Angry customer who doesn't listen and demands to speak to the chef afterwards...

The long road section to start spread the M2 field out. At about the top of Swigg we encountered the slower riders from the previous start and they were difficult to pass on the narrow tracks which was a little frustrating. I was about 7th place in our start group and the stretched out field continually bunched up behind the other class riders. Frustrations aside I was only feeling average and it wasn't until the first time up Aratihi that I started to fire. I dropped Rob and a senior men rider going down into Nikau. At about this point my rear brakes were gone which made me a little nervous for the remaining long decent of North Face, Smokin, and Swigg.

On the final 4wd section to the summit from Aratihi Rob jumped past me in the mist and disappeared. I didn't realize at the time but he had mistakenly charged for home via Ridgeline. With freezing cold hands and no rear brake I still managed to pass several riders on the final descent. Most pulled aside when I yelled (politely) that I couldn't stop but others were mysteriously already lying upside down beside the track, what's that all about?

On the final road to home that pesky senior men rider went by but he did apologise for leaving me behind on my single speed. The flat road is about the only place the SS has a real disadvantage vs a gear-befangled bike.

As I fumbled with numb hands to get my number off, er race numberplate off, I was surprised to see fellow Bushie Angry arrive after me. He had been busy stuffing his face with extra helpings of T3 and some Varley's so I got the win, lucky me!

A fun day - now that I'm warm, clean and dry - and with the

entertaining Al and Ash show on mic the prize giving was succinct and fun. Cheers guys, three stars.

ps: continuing the "do these pads make my brakes look fat" theme, here's one of my sad little numbers. I was well into the pistons this time :-(

Kah's participation report

What I did on Sunday could not be categorised as racing, so we'll use its proper name here. I got kicked out of the house as I ran around trying to decide if I wanted to head out and race participate in the rainy festivities. Rolled in to the school just in time to get my ass grabbed and sign up for the events.

Turns out Senior Men had a pretty poor showing compared to the M1/M2 guys. I blame everyone else for wussing into the Enduro Men category (Tryfan, I'm pointing at you!). I tried to save my legs early by not rushing into the road climb start- turned out to be a bad idea as I negotiated traffic from the start of Koru until Missing Link. No dramas until I caught a few other riders on Aratihi.

Rode like I've never seen a mountainbike before down to Nikau - I was hopeless in that mud. Blew up going up Zac's for the final climb before letting rip (I had no rear pads left, I had no choice) coming down the final descent.

Al helpfully pointed out that I made the podium if you're counting backwards. At least I made my target of finishing with no mechanicals excuses.

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Canadian research - the riding

As many people will know (I kind of had been driving people nuts going on and on about it a bit!) I've been in Canada for the last month. Why? Well just for the hell of it! Obviously my luggage included a bike. So instead of giving you all the blow by blow account, here are some of the highlights...

Warning: I have a sh!t camera and couldn't be bothered using it much, so most of the photos are stolen

Urban Rampage
Before anyone starts pointing out that Seattle is not in Canada, you have to admit it is kind of close. So I thought an American detour was worth a try. I didn't do much in the way of "normal mountain biking," but I did go and check this place out:


I stole these photos from this site: http://evergreenmtb.org/wiki/index.php?title=Trail:I-5_Colonnade

Built under an expressway, this is a really cool park. Should we build one in a NZ city? Of course!

Squamish
Despite having to climb a lot of mind numbing fire road, the downs were worth it!
Favourite Squamish trail? Half Nelson - basically a downhill pump track!

That might not be me...

Whistler
Well what can be said about Whistler that hasn't been said already?
My favourite? This run: Ninja Cougar - Karate Monkey - Samurai Pizza Cat - Ho Chi Min - Heart of Darkness
Rocks, roots, berms and a few surprises to make sure that you are on your game and not just letting your bike get you out of trouble!

My favourite section of the track, the bridge is A-Trail

Nanaimo - Vancouver Island
I have saved the best till last...








These trails were not super groomed roller-coaster rides, just good old fashioned rough trails that made you appreciate suspension. There were steep switchback corners that reminded me of Choppers in Belmont. But here there was more of them and they were rather hard. This was the most enjoyable ride I went on in the entire trip. While it's hard to navigate here and there are rednecks about (story to follow...), you won't leave Nanaimo dissappointed.
I recommend you go see the folks at Arrowsmith Bikes, they were really friendly and suggested a loop that left me wishing I had spent more time in Nanaimo!

So if you are heading to British Columbia, get in touch. There were so many places I wished I spent more time (in particular Vancouver Island) that are not the most well known places for riding in an area spoilt for mountain biking.

Right time for a banana split...


More stories from Canada to follow... stay tuned!

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Long time coming

Better late then never, but here’s my take on the last of the winter N Duro races in Rotovegas.

Cutting straight to race day (because I was too lazy to go for a ride on the Saturday):
The rain didn’t really let up come Sunday, so as I sprinted up the hill at the start and into the first track Genesis, I knew it wouldn’t be long until my brakes were gone.

The early part of the race involved much of the lower tracks in the Whaka forest, which made it relatively easy for the legs but not my head with the constant changing direction. After sitting behind Garth and Mike (both from Vegas) through the early tracks, it was very inviting to finally see some open 4wd road. Knowing this is the only spot for me to open up a gap on the locals, I had to push all the way to the highest point of the day, Billy-T.
With a lack of riders in the park it was nice to scoot down Billy T with no traffic. After a descent that involved some loose moments it was off to Hot X Buns for some really dodgy descending. I would blame my average at best descending skills but, HXB was a real challenge; every steep chute seemed intent on throwing me off the track!
After cleaning HXB it was off to the Chinese menu which was the same as always, apart from a few fresh river crossings to contend with. It was after this in Be Rude Not To that the real fun happened. For some reason whenever I’m caught in traffic I feel an urge to push harder on the descents, probably just from trying to pass the short course riders; with the surface a bit more muddy hanging it out in corners was in order, trying (but failing) to ride motocross styles.
Up Lion Trail, then to the top of Gunna Gotta, all of the climbing (which was a fair bit this race) was taken care of, leaving a fun cruise back to the finish. Apart from a bit of traffic and a tree across the track 1km from the finish, every thing went smoothly. Through the finish for the win and that was it.

Even I’m thinking as I write this that was pretty uneventful, but it sort of was. No crashing, no sudden explosions in my legs, everything went according to plan; strange, I’m not used to talking about a race in that sense?!

With my win in the final race I managed to take the series, YAY!!
It has been a while since I won the PNP series last year (which I will be defending over the next few months), so it’s pretty awesome to get the ball rolling with a win.

Big ups to Cabin for his hospitality again, no wonder he has so much respect in NZ MTB circles. Most of all my amazing smokescreen for taking me to all the races, putting up with my ‘racing moods’ and, still looking forward to when I get back covered in mud.

See you at the first PNP race next weekend.

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