The pre-season adventures of Nic and Cabin

Can you say bling?

2012-01-27T16:34:00.002+13:00

Lots to report and catch up on, but in the meantime I had to get this up. The arm is rehabing nicely and progress steady; but after this care package turned up from the boys at Wide Open the desire to get back on the MTB just got a whole lot more intense. This will test my patience!

Completely unrelated to cycling

2011-12-22T16:38:00.002+13:00

I love youtube. Apologies if you have already seen this elsewhere, but I just had to share. Shouldn't laugh at others misfortune, but sometimes.... Funniest thing I've seen in ages. Enjoy.

World famous (well aussie at least)

2011-12-18T08:51:00.002+13:00

In our own humble opinion; heres a hopefully entertaining read on the last page of the Decemeber edition of Australian Mountainbike Magazine. Some random NZ MTB'ers...

A nice bit of video for a rainy day

2011-12-17T15:10:00.002+13:00

Nice feature from SBS in Australia on this years Cape to Cape. Hopefully it see's some airtime in NZ. Also keep your eyes peeled for a featue in the next edition of NZ Mountainbiker mag. Great reminder of what was a very cool week. Starting to think I should organise a tour group for the 2012 event. Any takers?!

http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/video/2175696303/cape-to-cape

Sneak peak

2011-11-28T21:11:00.003+13:00

Exciting courier delivery today. More details to follow, but a sneak preview for our blog readers.....

Cape to Cape - Video Highlights

2011-11-22T22:07:00.002+13:00

A wee taste of the spectacular race that the Cape to Cape was. Joining us next year then?!

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

2011-11-20T11:02:00.003+13:00

Ok, so this update is a week later than it should have been, but perhaps unsurprisingly typing it out one-handed hasn't been that appealing (so excuse the typos!). More on that later.

What was on our racing menu was race 2 of the incredibly popular GNCC series of XC moto racing. We'd missed round one due to other commitments but weren't about to let this opportunity slip by. Nic was chomping at the bit to get more ride time on her new KTM, and I was just keen for racing. My bike speed was good and I was looking forward to testing it in a race environment.

First up was Nic, taking her place rather nervously in the rookie womens field. The GNCC organisers have done an amazing job of encouraging women into what is an intimidating domain of men who think they know everything. 25 women on bikes of all sizes fronted the starter. More than many MTB events.

One of the harder obstacles seemed to be the tyre chute that was perhaps a tad challenging. The 1st lap saw many caught out and toppling over struggling with the slow speed balance required. Motorcycles are not that close to the ground. Thankfully, the chute was modified on the fly by proactuve organisers.

After a tentative start, Nic started to really get to grips with the 2-stroke and started carving up. Lap times got quicker, and the powerslides got bigger. Eventually working her way throught the field to a final place of 10th after 1hr30 or racing. Solid, and very encouraging.

My turn, and I was quietly focussed and confident of a good result as I faced 2hrs on a demanding loop featuring a mix of tight singletrack, and wide open farmland. I fluffed the star and bogged the bike down, entering the first corner last of my start wave, which got me angry. I buckled down and focussed on riding smooth, fast, and patiently. All was going well, and 2/3 of the way through the lap I had already passed 15+ riders from earlier star waves, but things were about to go pear shaped very quickly....

On an open (fast) and rough section I pulled out to pass a guy, but thought better of it as our bikes danced sideways. I tucked in about 10m back and looked for an opportunity. Passing through an open gate we both overshot a turn marker, and glanced left up the hill we were suppossed to climb. At that split second, rather than slowingthe leading rider jammed his brakes on, as I glanced back it took another split second to process the scenario in front of me. I hit the brakes, but at 50km/hr+ it doesn't long to traverse 10m. we collided with a rather sickening impact.

Initial thoughts were of the damage to him as he lay in a ball. I got him up, he was ok, but understandably shaken. We untangled bikes and got him on his way. It was then I looked at my left arm which felt kinda strange. With good reason, my hand wasn't pointing where it should be and there was a big bend in it. Many thoughts went through my head, most of them unprintable.

The response of race organisers was fairly swift, and with the help of some laughing gas I was soon back in an ambulance. Soon after than I was on a rescue chopper for a very scenic to Tauranga ( the chopper was for a girl with a suspected spinal injury... she was ok in the end). A snapped radius, and dislocated ulnar were diagnosed. 48hrs later (and lots of starving too) I had surgery in Rotorua to plate it together.

So my arm will be heavier from now on... I am hoping it will benefit my swimming. Perhaps give the left arm a bit more momentum and correct the directional challenged technique I exhibit in the open water?! Either way I am facing a long break from the bikes (pedal or engine powered) so plenty of time to think about it. I am gutted. But at the same time thankful it wasn't worse. These are the risks we take and sometimes things will happen and we have to except that. Such is life.

In a random addition to this update, I had to post the picks below. Whilst I was laid up in a hospital bed an insane hailstorm hit our suburb. Absolutely nuts. It shreded leaves of trees and bushes so on the bright side much of our hedge trimming has been done for us

Redbull Sundown Shootout

2011-11-05T16:08:00.002+13:00

Just had a few images sent through to us that we thought were worth sharing. As a part of the Cape to Cape event, Friday night saw the innagural "Redbull Sundown Shootout" for the top 30 men, and Top 10 Women.

Format was an individual TT on a short section of some of the sweetest, bermiest (?), jump littered singletrack in the region. Typical redbull... sweet sounds, good action, and good crowd. Nic and I were both loving the course and jammed in multiple practice runs into the 30min on offer. Fast times were in the low 3min20 bracket. The race...?

Nic railed the singletrack, and had the crowd pretty excited at her speed. Hands down smashed the other women racing. Sadly it was fastest time of the day takes all... so up against the guys didn't get to stand on the podium. Maybe next year?

I was pretty confident I had the course dialled and seems I looked pretty quick. Commentator and crowd were pretty sure I'd be in the hotseat. However what they didn't see was the first 1min of the track was a climb + false flat. Wasn't too flash up there and lost it before we'd really begun. Solid run, but Chris Jongaward smoked it for the win.

Looked somewhat stylish(?) so theres some consolation I suppose.

New team bike

2011-10-31T16:59:00.003+13:00

Feeling pretty pro here in Rotorua. Not only do our MTB's and Roadies finally match, but the KTM seems to be breading. Just have to get the BMX's matching now.

Bit of an upgrade for Nic. Mint condition SX85. The thing is a wee rocketship. Beautiful afternoon in Rotorua yesterday so what better way to help speed the recovery from Cape to Cape.

Cape to Cape MTB Stage Race

2011-10-28T12:27:00.003+13:00

Geez... been a bit busy since touching down back on Rotorua soil so still haven't managed to type up a story here on our adventures from our awesome week in Western Australia for the Cape to Cape MTB stage race.

So in order to get something out asap, here's the link to the report on Sportzhub

Blowing up @ the Motu 160

2011-10-10T13:58:00.004+13:00

I would rather have titled that "blowing up the Motu160".... except it was me that did the blowing up. One bloody tough day at the office; that’s what the Motu160 is. And we are paying for it today.

The concept sounds simple enough. Do the MTB leg of the Motu Challenge, then hop onto the road bikes and blast back to Opotiki. Easy enough, except the MTB is 65km of gravel, long climbs, and often nastily wet/cold conditions. The road bike undulates, slaps you in the face with a stiff headwind, and depending on your race smarts and/or luck my leave you solo TT’ing for 90km+. Not easy.
Certainly so early in our season we thought we would get a good hard workout. We were confident we were fit. Speed and speed endurance had a question mark hanging over it.

Nic’s race was a bit of a character builder. Motu’s first 20-25km is generally a bunch ride till it hits the first real climb... so when she punctured just 10km in and watched the free ride disappear into the gloom she was in for a long day. Without the group to work with, and motivate it’s not so much fun. Isolated, she gritted her teeth and made the best of a bad day, holding 3rd overall till late in the road section when a recurrence of some vision issues forced her to cruise to the finish a disappointing 4th. Frustrated, gutted, but with a solid 160km in the training bank to be withdrawn later, hopefully with interest.

I on the other hand blew spectacularly with a bit of a death or glory approach. It was a pretty slow trip for the first 40min while all the hitters watched each other, or more likely watched Richard Ussher. Carl Jones made the first attempt to split it up as we hit the first real climb, and feeling surprisingly strong early on I followed Carls example and kept the pressure on. We soon went clear and set about extending the lead. We worked really well and I was happy to match his pace. The danger was Carl was a team rider, I was on my own. I was committed so we pressed on.

Carl distanced me on the final climb, but still I started the Road ride with almost 3min on the chasers (teams and solo’s), and set about my best impression of a Time Triallist with “only” 90km to go. It was tough knowing that some would be working together as team and individual riders shared the load in the chase. It worked for 70km till a strong Scott Thorne (also on his own working solo) caught me.

We tried to work together and he was very patient, but with about 12-13km to go my lights went out. I lost 5min in that last period, and even got caught for 2nd with about 800m left. Ah well. 3rd it was. It was a bold strategy, and I was off the front for ¾ of the race. Didn’t work, but I won’t die wondering. The positive is that I was good for 4hrs... much longer than any race I have coming up in the immediate future. Silver linings....?!

Pukeora Adventure Races

2011-10-05T11:27:00.004+13:00

A fun few days down in Hawkes Bay over the weekend, as we lined up for the Pukeora MTB "Adventure Races". A pretty cool concept that saw both XC and DH events, along with a unique Sprint/Jumps Time trial event. Something for everyone, a low pressure environment, and lots of mixing between the disciplines came together for a really enjoyable concept.

The event was put on by the Senior PE class from Central Hawkes Bay College as part of their NCEA course work. Led by their enthusiatic teacher Jamie Welch it really mad ethe vent attractive to us as something we wanted to support. Fantastic initiative and exciting for the future. Last time I was invovled with CHB College in a sporting sense was about 15yrs ago in a 1st XV Rugby Match. I came away with a gashed knee and a broken nose so was hoping for better this time.

The DH was first on the Menu for us, and it had some really fun stuff. Nice jumps, some sweet berm sections, roots, and a random rock garden. Thankfully for us plenty of pedalling meant it was quite Super D like, which was good as we were on our XC hardtails. Nic had one practice before posting a race run time. Not too shabby she was only 3-4 sec off Madeline Taylor. I had the benefit of two looks at the course before deciding to lay down one solid run before the XC. It wasn't too bad, and I even made a last sec decision to hit the stepdown. I took the chicken line at the last drop/huck thinking I'd preserve my bike. Time was good enough for 2nd just 1sec behind the winner. Solid.

Sprint/Jump course was mean. Just over a minute of full noise TT with a Moto start gate, step up and down gap jump options, Dh, bridges, and uphill. I went safety and missed the gaps, thinking I'd come back later for a 2nd crack (I didn't), but was still 5th overall and 3rd senior. Mean. Nic cracked out the best ladies time, and and so nearly beat Gav as well.

The XC? Hard. We'd never rideen Pukeora before but what we were met with were awesomely flowing trails, and zero flat. 5 x 7.5km laps was gonna hurt, and it did. Matt Waghorn, and Fiona McDermid laid the smackdown on us during the first lap of our respective races as we struggled to get out of 3rd gear. I slowly started to pressure Matt mid race before he gapped it late. Still some encouraging signs for both of us early in our build up. 2nds for both of us, but enough points for the overall King/Queen of the Mtn titles for the day. Mean.

If you haven't ridden there, Pukeora showcases some fantastic trail construction. Really fun and flowing... but there are a few steep pinches!

Nic's first XC MTB race in over 10mths. Bit of a shock to the system, but nice to be back amongst it and see how the body responded. Tough to back up just 6 days after the 11hrs of Spring Challenge Adventure race, but a good platform to build from for the season.

The finish, and not sure what this face says...? Either happy to be done, or "geez, I have a bit to work on". Probably both.

Next up, the Motu 160 this weekend. Consequently lots of resting and very little training this week. Thanks CHB College for an awesome day. See you next year.

Game on

2011-09-27T17:45:00.005+13:00

Daylight saving + spring time.... it's all on again. The only drawback is that it also signal's lawn-mowing/gardening season. But I think we can live with that. Now that Nic's just swapped the wee honda 150 for an SX85 (to complement my 125) we'll just have to be extra vigilant not to put mix the 2-stroke and the mower fuel.

On the racing front, it's all on again. We have a pretty busy few months ahead, and the weekend just been saw the first steps toward our later goals

Nic's weekend was a little more arduous than most. Together with Eloise Fry and Susie Wood, they decided to take on the gruelling Spring Challenge 12hr adventure race in Marlborough. As you can see, they scored some pretty stunning views for their efforts.

They raced a strong and measured event, and were able to give some very experienced multisport stars a real scare Still full of running at the finish... 10hr45 later...

Second place, just 10min behind the headline R&R Sport team of Coast to Coast Champion Sophie Hart, they were left ruing a couple of small errors. They were deservadly pretty happy with their efforts and am sure are now plotting their elevation to the top spot next year.

Feeling a little guilty at the day long efforts of the girls I managed to throw together a 4hr road ride + 3hr on the MTB. Not as impressive as it sounds as the MTB ride involved that much gas-bagging with PAttle & co we'd be lucky if I did more than 2hr riding time. Anyway, great (?) prep for the following days Spring Fling Super D

Two timed runs down Jumps/Corners would decide the winner. As the rain pelted down and the track turned to a slick muddy bobsleigh course, perhaps not the best place for a 29er hardtail in full XC set-up? Unfortunately it was my only choice, and a last minute one at that after I damaged my other ride in practice and had to make a rushed trip home to grab the trusty Team Competitor.

Thankfully Avanti has the geometry pretty well dialled and while its an XC bike, can certainly find its way down a hill ok. As you can see by the legs after run 1, it was a bit damp...

Rode pretty average on the first run, while Pattle blitzed everyone. 5th or 6th and I was clinging to the "first hardtail" token claim of success. Got it together a bit better on the 2nd run while everyone else crashed their brains out on death or glory Danny Hart style runs. Unfortunately none of us were Danny Hart.... Moved up to 3rd overall so pretty happy with that. 2 x 12min runs certainly got the lungs working.

Next up? We are off to Waipukurau this Saturday for the Pukeora Challenge. A cool event being put on bythe students of Central Hawkes Bay Challenge. Not sure how the bodies are going to like their first XC race hit out in about 5 months? But only one way to find out.

Back on the start line

2011-08-15T15:44:00.002+12:00

So Nic is back racing again.... maybe not what everyone would expect?! Was happily hitting up one of the doubles even though Mikey P thought it'd be easier without suspension rather than what is on the trusty 150....Think trade me surfing might be on the agenda again while she looks for something with better ability to hit up the big tabletops?

Welcome to Rotorua...

2011-08-08T22:01:00.004+12:00

So while I was having a ball trashing round the forest testing out the all new Avanti Vapour 29er, I thought I should maybe strap a helmet cam to my head.

Mainly for the benefit of our international friends here is exhibit (a) in the case for visiting Rotorua. About 1km of the 100km or so of trails we have to play on on our doorstep.

And for you XTERRA athletes..... this is 2min of the XTERRA NZ course. If you get down here for April 2012 you'll get about 20mins+ more of this style of downhill singletrack.... Along with the rest of the stunning 30km bike.

Where did July go?

2011-08-08T15:07:00.006+12:00

It's a bit of an odd feeling when despite no real racing the year seems to be flying by even faster than normal. Leaving us chasing our tail's and trying to catch up. July and through the start of August have proved to be pretty hectic for us so time for a bit of a catch up.

First up, and most important has been the launch of Nic's new business.....

Handily located instore at the brand new Avanti Plus Rotorua is Nic Leary Physical Therapy Ltd... Steep learning curve for Nic as she sorts out the business aspects of the venture, but she is loving the ability to build her own client base through her specialist physiotherapy skills and knowledge (She's also operating the Bike Fit studio). With her experience and knowledge not just as a physio but also as an athlete she offers a unique understanding and premium service (if I do say so myself!)

So when in Rotorua be sure to book yourself for visit. nicleary@orcon.net.nz or else 027 244 6997

Meanwhile my job has changed too, and I now find myself working for Sport BOP rather than BikeNZ as previous. As program advisor for the Rotorua in Gear project it actually gives me even more leeway to try out a few other ideas locally for cycling development and community skills training so it all works out well.

I've also just come back from a full on week in Auckland at the Avanti/Scott 2011 dealer conference (and 2012 product release). Found it kind of odd looking at bling new bikes presented with that funny looking dude in the background pictures I must say.

Was able to assist with the Avanti MTB 2012 presentations and hopefully add some value. Was great to meet dealers from all over NZ and Australia (especially the ones who wanted to talk Moto!), and I was stoked to be invited and involved. It might sound strange but this is perhaps the first time I have felt of real value to a bike sponsor. Believe it or not this is the first time I've ever even been invited to a product release, let alone being part of it. Better late than never.

Of course I was especially excited about this piece of hardware. The all new Vapour 29er platform. My somewhat cryptic twitter references were indeed directly related to this feet of engineering; and whilst rumours abounded amongst dealers I was busy putting in about 15hrs of trail time on the prototype during the week I had the privilage of "hising"it in the garage. Super fun to just go ride with no purpose other than to play, and test the limits of the bike. Was great fun... now the show is over can't wait for the bike to make its way back to our garage. Huggie...?

And racing? Well we now have a few exciting developments and events locked into our schedule giving us plenty of training motivation. More on that later....

Cyclocross Nationals 2011

2011-07-04T08:10:00.003+12:00

Another nationalchampionship on the list for 2011, so to keep consistent, it was another 3rd place for me. Happy with that and considering the "preparation" that went into my debut in "cross" I'd be pushing it to expect more.

Huge credit to the team down in Queenstown that made it happen. While cross has a rich heritage in europe it is essentially a newborn here in NZ so its a learning process for everyone. But QTMBC put together a great track, spectacular location, great crowd = the start of something big.

Perhaps my legacy on CX 2011 might be the Downhill bog.... A quick pre-event discussion with T-Man concluded a slippery slope was required. T-Man promptly grabbed a hose and began creating the soon to be centrepiece of the course.

Pretty spectacular location for a big race eh? Might look sunny, but the temp was struggling to crack zero. The lungs didn't lke it, but perfet for cross.

My race started well enough, then got a little over excited chasing Dan Warren and crashed rather spectacularly on an off camber rise early on losing contact. Whilst Dan heading off on a solo mission to dominate the day, I soon latched onto Alex Revell and proceeded to figure out strategy to get the better of him. Turns out the best strategy would have been to forget the strategy and just pedal. I had good legs for 50mins but unfortunately the race went 70. So despite feeling pretty confident all race, when it came down to it there wasn't anything left.

So congrats to Dan Warren and Alex Revell. I certainly learned plenty and think I may have developed a new addicition. There's an international CX scheduled for downtown Queenstown for Aug 20th. Airfares anyone...?

So that was June

2011-06-27T21:02:00.007+12:00

Hmm. So June is at an end and no update on here since the Moonride. Well, I guess life got in the way and we've been, well, living! Nic has been really busy setting up her own business. Nic Leary Physical Therapy.... with a great wee physio clinic conveniantly located instore at Avanti Plus Rotorua. Now open so check it out.

Had good intentions of resuming training after the Moonride but after a couple of false starts decided the body just wasn't ready. I really did need that extended break I talked about way back after Karapoti. It really was a few years acumulated fatigue.

We've hardly been inactive. But any activity has been sporadic, unplanned, and certainly not structured. I would say there was no intervals, but I did volunteer to film the 3D multisport race with a helmet cam, and chasing Rich Ussher and Dougal Allen wasn't exactly easy. So I took the following week off after that too!

Looking to snap my mid-winter hibernation I did partake in a couple of events over the past weekend.

After a disaster at its last outing (when clutch basket disintegrated and jammed up the gearbox), $800 later the 125 was back in functioning trim and despite its rider having had only 30min ride time in the last month we were raring to go.

After a couple of hours and 80km odd of tight technical and muddy trails we were both still in one piece. I tried hard to break my leg on stumps and branches a couple of times (and maybe cartwheeled myself down a slippery clay descent, but no one saw it, so it didn't happen ok?!) but the protective gear did its job.

We even picked up this wee beauty of a trophy. It might only be intermediate grade, and I might only be finishing in the 40's (of approx 70) overall. But this ones goin straight to the pool room...

Sunday morning I was a bit stiff and sore. Figured I should try some intervals with the NZ CX champs looming and next to no quality training having been completed. Lacking the motivation for intervals, I instead cracked out the race shoes for the first time since XTERRA and towed the line at the RATS Winter Duathlon.

Of course I had to use the CX bike and it proved a good choice. Had a reasonable run, then soon took lead on bike leg despite a very average transition. Pro? yeah right. With Garth chasing in 2nd I figured with the luxury of gears I should be able to hold him off, and at worst I'd just have to out run him. Hung tough and grabbed a win. Good training session for sure and hopefully I'll last next week without blowing too spectacularly. We'll see.

Mudride 2011

2011-05-15T18:31:00.002+12:00

Over the years, I reckon I must of spent well over a week camped out in a tent in the paddock at Waipa while my various teams took on the Moonride. Having done more than my fair share of time it shouldn't be a suprise it wasn't exactly high on the priority list... but its hard to avoid!

And after an approach from our good friends at Avanti Plus Rotorua, and a promise it was a casual team with no expectations we again found ourselves on the startline of the 12hr version.

Being a casual team I thought it'd be a good chance to give my brand new Avanti Circa CX bike a whirl. Fresh out of the box, the race start was literally the first time its wheels had rolled off road. Combined with legs/lungs that had done very little in 5 weeks, a track severely cut up from torrential overnight rain, and it was an interesting first lap

"casual?". Connor looking awfully focussed here. I think its more likely a pissed off look as he was hurried into action unexpectadly and had to put his food down when I lost my seat and had to send him out early.

Post riding and look at the state of that. Hard work for everyone pushing through the mud. Made a usually fast flowing track seriously hard work. A tough way for Nic to put herself back into competitive action. The CX bike was actually pretty quick, but after 3 or 4 laps I did woose out and "resort" to the 29er. Not a bad change.

Mid afternoon and the casual plan suddenly got a bit serious when we realised we were leading the bike shop category.... and it was Specialized NZ in 2nd. Suffice to say we made sure a few solid laps were then thrown down. Comfy win in the end and we picked up this nice decoration for display at the new Avanti Plus Rotorua store( Interestingly while we recieved a trophy to display for 12mths, no prize for winning, yet 2nd and 3rd did. Whats up with that event promotions?).

Thanks to team mates Nic, Saul "the Roadie" Webb, Connor "Osama" Corbett, and Patrick "bike destroyer" Corbett.

Mud, Shuttles, Hot Chips, and Crowns: Sunday in Vegas

2011-05-09T14:40:00.007+12:00

It's officially. XC is clearly the best discipline of MTB sport, as proved yesterday as Nic and Dirk Peters were crowned King and Queen of the rapidly becoming iconic Triple Crown event in sunny Rotovegas yesterday.

Pitting riders of all disciplines against each other over 3 Super D runs the event really is an allround test. Too much pedalling to favour a DH rider, too intense to favour as XC rider, and varied enough to make bike choice confusing. If in doubt, don't change anything. Just ask Carl Jones with full XC hardtail set up in 5th.

Nic hasn't raced her MTB since December but showed her skills certainly haven't diminished. It was a successful comeback on all accounts. Rode some mean trails, did a few drifts and jumps, and talked smack with many equally stoked riders. Threw a trusty Nevagal on the front of the XC race hardtail to give some extra grip, and bombed away on the trails. Won the womens comfortably and scared more than a few of the men with a midfield finish overall. Was gutted defending champ Alice was out with a broken ankle. Showed some pretty sharp skill and hopes to see more top Women take her on next time. The challenge has been laid down.

I was, well, average. I got better as the day wore on. On the first run (that should have favoured me) I was smoked from pedalling so hard after weeks of complete laziness. Nearing the end I must have been sub conciously looking for short cuts and took an unplanned diversion off the side of roller coaster. Wouldn't reccommend the route as was someway down a bank and had trees in the way (Apparently a few others tried the same line with similar lack of success).

Lost way too much time on that run and put muself well out of top 5 contention as Dirk, Des, Pattle, Byron, and Carlos all put way too much time into me. I got better the less pedalling was required. Here I am pretty excited and maintaing good focus and speed as the finish line, and the mean feed awaits.

Quintessentially Kiwi. Not only was I handed a steinlager by fellow riders at the finish, but the organisers had thought ahead and ordered $100 worth of hot chips, pre-buttered bread, and loads of tomato sauce. Mean.

Johnny Click wasn't shy to get amongst the chips. A wee bit of consellation for him after I pipped him for 6th place by 0.3 secs (over 24min)! Big thanks to Stefan Bennett and his team of volunteers for making the day happen. Really look forward to the next one

And a huge thanks to Gavin and Brent at Avanti for the loan of the sweet Avanti Torrent for the week. One very capable bike, and a bucket load of fun to ride. It certainly wan't the bikes fault I missed the top 5. That was simply being outclassed by an awesome bunch of allround skilled MTBers

Stepping out of the comfort zone

2011-05-02T20:16:00.004+12:00

So it didn't take long. Competitive people, you can only "participate" for so long. In Nic's case, it seems one week is plenty long enough. Even when it is a brand new activity/sport. I was keen to give the first race of the Dirt Guide XC Moto series a nudge to see how bad I was doing... While Nic thought no point waiting to actually do a trail ride. Why not check it out in a race?

Thankfully I am a scrawny bugger so my Old Moto pant from age 15 not only fit me still, but with a belt did the job for Nic too. Nice. After the realisation of what she'd commited to kicked in at briefing, she coped remarkebly well. Decided during the event she needed to do some strength work so took the chance to lay the bike down frequently so she could practice lifting it. Beat a few people. Now keen as for more.

I lined up in the 2hr senior race in the afternoon. Fired the bike up first kick on the shotgun start and was ready to fly... except for the wall of people in front of me. Must stop being polite when lining up. Frustrated for 10min before making some passes and getting clear space. Until one dude crashed on top of me and did this to my brake lever. Made the next 70km interesting.

Got going again then messed up a corner and almost hit a tree all of 2min later. Glanced it with a shoulder, but twisted so violently away from the possible impact did some solid damage to bicep tendon and muscle belly. Check out this bruising from the strain....

Next 2hr went well. Pretty sore shoulders from trying hang on with bung arm and dodgy brakes. Started to ride pretty decent, but then got plenty tired so took the chance to lay down for a rest on the nice cooling forest floor and also a few bogs during the last lap. Made it to the end though. Maybe just sneaking into the top 60-65% of the Intermediate field. Kinda satisfying to be so well and truely rooted post event and only be able to declare myself as decidedly average. Keen to try and crack the top 3rd of the field by series end. Should be fun.

"Getting on with it"

2011-04-25T18:36:00.003+12:00

What a difference a year makes. Easter was a pretty cool weekend for us, and far removed from the last 3 or 4 years when major MTB events were on the agenda. Last year Nic was in Dalby, England for her first World Cup, while I sat up late nervously waiting for results. Fast forward one year and we were both having a great old time blasting round the farm on dirt bikes.

We figure now would be a good time to officially announce what has been going on with Nic, as her absence from the entire domestic MTB season has left many questions. So here it is.

In late February Nic was diagnosed with Bilateral Illiac Endofibrosis. What? In laymens terms there is a narrowing and hardening of the major arteries feeding her legs. At high intensity effort(about 80% intensity and above), the plumbing is just too narrow to supply any blood to her legs and the muscles literally shut down. The problem becomes exponentially worse as intensity increases. As you can imagine this makes high level training and racing near impossible.

The positive is that she is otherwise perfectly healthy. AND, it ended a few months of extreme frustration and confusion as we struggled to discover why she was so fatigued, and couldn't train as she desired.

Can it be fixed? Yes. Via rather invasive and expensive surgery. Will it be fixed? We intend so, and May 2nd is D day when she visits the guru in this field down in Christchurch to assess the extent of the damage and discuss the path forward.

However we are not rushing things. If anything the whole ordeal has understandably led Nic to some soul searching. If anything it has led her realise how lucky she has been to be able to pursue her sport to such high levels. But it has also helped her realise there is more to Nic Leary than Mountainbiking. Don't get us wrong, she unfinished business and goals to achieve there. She will be back. Fitter, faster, and stronger than ever.

We are very grateful for the best wishes and support expressed by friends, family, and our loyal sponsors.

But life is a journey, not a destination. There is no point being railroaded down one track (MTB) that in reality is a hobby. It is not a job for us, nor some noble quest for the good of the country as some tend to paint the picture of young athletes on the world stage. It is a hobby (albeit one we are passionate about). There are many more roads to explore on that journey, and for Nic these include opportunites in business, farming, hunting, chances to give a bit back to the MTB community, and many other as yet undiscovered adventures. So any decision on the timing of surgery will consider the "whole life" balance. We are pretty determined to ensure that these decisions do not limit future opportunities in all aspects of life.

Just one week ago we heard that a fellow "Elite" MTB'er was expressing the opnio that Nic should "stop being miserable and get on with it (the surgery)"... At first we were pretty pissed off at such uniformed and misplaced comments. But on further reflection I just feel sorry for that person who has developed that tunnel vision.

This (below) is Nic, getting on with it. Look's like the polar opposite of miserable if you ask me!

XTERRA Preparation unmasked....

2011-04-13T16:17:00.003+12:00

I spent Sunday morning after XTERRA playing in the forest with Richard Ussher. He was keen to upskill himself on the MTB and learn a few of the finer points. I suggested he might want to try some of my preparation which even XTERRA's greatest/winningest athlete dabbles in regularly.

Here is me "training" one week out from XTERRA NZ. Not looking too bad I reckon?

The beauty of a photo shoot means you get lots of attempts at making things look good. The flipside is that it'll also catch some less composed moments. Maybe I'm not that good on a Moto afterall....

Big thanks to Fraser at DRD for the images.

Season done.... Moto time

2011-04-11T12:25:00.005+12:00

An exhausted, and relived wave and acknowledgement to the crowd as I round out my season with my 5th straight podium at XTERRA NZ

It is a very broken, but very satisified me that can now officially sign off my season on a positive note, after a hard fought 3rd place at XTERRA NZ on Saturday. I was out classed by Richard Ussher and Scott Thorne, but I gave everything I had on the day, and am more than happy with that.

In reality I bluffed my way through. I was way underdone in training, and was forcing myself through it. 5 weeks ago I'd had enough, and it was only the enjoyment I get from the XTERRA concept that got me back training hard for one last season goal. It was really quite fitting as things kicked off way back in October... when in a similar scenario I bluffed my way to a win in the Whaka 100. If anything this last 6 months has taught me the importance of

a) base training. Without it quality training and recovery becomes near impossible.
b) This is a hobby... its not job and no one pays me to do it... so I had best make sure I pick fun events and targets and don't "force" it

On Saturday it my mental game I was most proud of. My swim was average, and while well down on the leader it was the 1min30 I gave up to Rich and Scott that was most damaging. Anything more than 30sec and you just don't see someone on this course. Without that visual target the chase becomes very hard. The two of them were battling each other while I was battling myself. I held them at a couple of mins by 2/3 of the bike before they edged out late in the ride.

Onto the run I was over 3min down. They were visably flying and I knew the catch was impossible. That is a tough thing to deal with as I focussed on holding 3rd. That is a difficult mindset, and I bumbled through the first 3-4km I felt awful and was running heavy. Aussie Ben Allen wiped out 1min30 of my near 2min gap in the first lap and it seemed all over. But somehow I dug deep enough to pick up the pace, run a 22min lap (maybe quicker... the first was 23 something) and hold him off.

Somewhere in the last week I found my Mojo again. Somewhere between ice-cream, a few beers, the moto, or just talking crap with mates. Maui's World Champs in October now seems exciting and top 10 result a real possibility on a proper committed buildup (Just need to find a few thousand dollars from somewhere first).

But for the next few weeks its couch time, and Moto time. Looking forward to it

Relative calm, before the Chaos of the swim

Halfway through the run, and trying hard to maintain my gap over Aussie Ben Allen

Of all the places, this is where I found my Mojo... lunchtime Friday, and a net session withe the kids at Broadlands School.

LAst week and the Meridian Kids Jam. Cool to see such entusiasm. Also stoked to see a big group of the Rotorua Junior Development group riders (12/13/14yr olds) turn up and volunteer. How come the rest of our Elite athletes aren't that professional?

Finding my Moj....

2011-03-30T19:49:00.003+13:00

.... No, thats not a typo in the title. I'd say "finding my mojo", but I haven't quite got it all back. So Moj it is for now. The good news is I'm sure I left it in the Forest, and I've been spending plenty of time in there playing Hot/Cold searching for it. Warmer, warmer.... couple more rides and I should have it back. Just in time for XTERRA.

I've been having fun substituting Moto riding for proper training at least once a week. Great for the mind, and actually quite taxing in itself. The only concern is the increasing expenditure on moto magazines and accesories. Biggest excitement over the weekend was the arrival of my new Alpinestar Tech 7's. Beautiful.

Also have got a few runs, swims, and rides in. Decided I would commit to a few weeks training for XTERRA... followed by an extended break afterward. So after a bit of arm twisting from T-Rex and Nic, the chance to test things out on Saturday at the innaugural Tri-Offroad event couldn't be passed up.

It was a very cool concept, and great location. 1500m downriver swim, fun 33km of MTB, and a very twisty and undulating 10.5km trail run. Tough, demanding, yet spectacular and fun at the same time. Sadly the performance of my legs didn't quite do justice to the location, and I put in a solid if un-spectacular performance. Bringing it home in 2nd, a tad under 2min behind a dominant Scott Thorne.

Unfortunately terrible weather literally put a bit of a dampner on things. But a small, yet high quality field still fronted the starter. The swim was awesome though. I managed to fluke my way into some good lines around the islands, rocks, and currents of the Waikato. I could claim I did a good job of spotting lines... except my fogged up goggles saw me bumble my way down the river. Well under 15min for 1500m was a great feeling. If only XTERRA was downriver too...

The Bike and Run were both tough, demanding, and somewhat of an odd feeling for me. My legs felt tired and heavy. I felt I was dawdling at base speed. Yet apparently I was moving pretty well. Matching Scott on the MTB, and only losing 40 sec on the run. If it hadn't been for my terrible transitions it could have been a lot closer. So good signs for XTERRA in 10 days time. I'm sure I'll find that Mojo this weekend. Then I'll let it rest up on the couch all week.

Of course it could always be hiding at the MotoX track. Better put that on the agenda for tommorrow.

The end?

2011-03-07T16:31:00.003+13:00

I was hoping to bring you all a bubbly and enthusiastic monday report on what a great race I had at Karapoti. Instead, Saturday was a real grovel for me.... and I am sitting here contemplating if the days signalled the end of my season (not career. So don't be too alarmed!)

They say a picture paints 1000 words, and to me this shot captured by the guys from Wheelworks does exactly that (and probably more). Not just as it shows me stumbling through the final river crossing, which in itself would be a great summary of my whole race. Rather, have a look at my eyes. They are the eyes of someone very tired, and very drained. Eyes that are focussed on the finish, just 100m ahead. Not because of the result it would bring. But as it signified that I could stop.

In what were atrocious conditions, I guess I rode ok. 7th place, and a low 2hr30 something. I am happy to acknowledge that that is a decent performance. But for the first time I can remember, halfway round, any fight had drained from my body/mind, and I just wanted to go home. In fact on Friday at registration, two great friends asked me how I was. And I was suprised to find myself blurt out "I'm tired. Really really tired." It wasn't sand bagging. In reflection it was probably the most heart felt thing I've said aloud in a long time.

That is no reflection on Karapoti. In fact it is probably only because it was Karapoti that I fronted and put in the best effort I could. The race is that special and means that much. With Nic's struggles in recent months, much of the fun had dissapeared from my recent competition. Doing it just for myself is not so motivating, or exciting. Ever since Tauranga Half Ironman I have been battling, and I think this weekend, at Karapoti, the gas tank ran dry. Not from the race itself. But from the months prior. In fact I think the warning light was already on as we hit the first climb, and I'd already switched to reserve well before I hit the staircase.

I don't know if its just 12mths, or whether its 10yrs of accumulated fatigue. All I know is that right this moment, I need a break. Ride my MX bike, play some golf, fall out of a kayak. Whatever. Just not training. As such I am non-commital about XTERRA NZ. I'd love to be there, but only if I am in the right shape to race to my potential. My wee break might only need to be 3 days. Or it may be 3 weeks, or 3 months. I don't know.

Huge congrats to all the boys in front of me at Karapoti. Anton for a magnificent win at just 16 years old! And of course Dirk, Stu, T-Rex, and Rich for great rides. And especially to Dave for a great 6th. Having previously coached Dave as a "keen as" average level "expert".... to see him at the level he has now reached, there was an odd satisfaction in watching him ride away from me up Dopers.

For now... enjoy whatever you are doing. I will, it'll just be a tad different to my normal routine.

Cheers
Cabin

Nationals done. Whats next?

2011-02-28T20:32:00.002+13:00

Am home from Dunedin after what can only be described as a successful mission to the 2011 NZ MTB Championships. After a 4 year absence from the Elite startline, I returned with a strong 4th across the line behind Carl Jones, Dirk Peters (U23), and constant constant nemisis... Mike Northcott.

In reflection its an odd feeling. I'm neither really excited, nor dissapointed. Just content. Sure I had a disrupted build up, sure I messed up the start and had to come from a long way back, sure a slightly higher result might have been possible. But I'm not dissapointed.

Someone asked soon after the finish if it had re-ignited the fire to compete in Elite XCO. I just smiled, and said no. I was satisfied. I looked at the elation clear in Carl, and the dissapoinment in Dirk. It had been a changing of the guard, and the up and comers had dominated. They had been willing to put everything on the line. I realised that that absolute burning desire was missing. Unlike Carl, I was more than happy to eat ice cream in my build up.

Don't get me wrong. This is not a retirement notice. I am proud of my race. There are more goals and events to conquer. And I love proving to myself what I am capable of. It's just that there are now many other things I find equally motivating and exciting. The fact that on the way to the airport I purchased a KTM SX 125 should probably have hinted at that!

The race itself was awesome. Over the years Dunedin has always been a favourite track. I actually first raced here for the first time in a National way back in 1999.Pretty sure Anton Cooper (16yr old freak and NZ's fastest rider right now) had't started school then. Man I've been around a while. It's steadily improved over the years and even the wet/mud that greated us just adds to the challenges and technical aspects.

After a poor start I hit the first climb in about 15th and 20 sec down. By the top I was 6th, and by the end of the lap 5th, that would soon become 4th. With Mikey in my sights we commenced a tense "stand off" with him just 20sec or so out in front dangling there all race. It made for an intriging battle as our differing strengths saw the gap see-saw constantly throughout the lap, but hardly change at the end of each lap all race long. Unfortunately for us whilst we pushed each other; Carl and Dirk were long gone.

One lap to call and Hisky's vocal support urged me to lock myself in the pain cave. Funnily enough it didn't seem that exciting. At my age I've got a decent income finally, and to be honest I'd rather stay at the Comfort Inn. Famed Kiwi commentator Mark Watson would suggest this is a time one should visit a "very dark place". Again, that matured voice in my head suggests I can afford electricity, so stay in the light....

I did manage another 20min visit to the Pain Cave throughout that last lap. However I found Carl, Dirk, and Mikey were all checked in also, so positions remained the same. Carl a dominant 2min win. The other 3 of us crossed within 40 odd seconds of one another. That'll do, I'm happy. 4th on a training diet averaging 9hrs a week for last 3 months (split between swim, bike , run), and a build up of triathlons, road, and even BMX... and it seems I'm as fast as ever. That'll do me fine. Bring on Karapoti.

Weekend highlights...

* Witnessing the young riders "take over" from the old guard, and still be fast enough to be on track and close enough to watch it happen
* My traditional Dunedin Pre-Race Chocolate Crossiant & Coffee (from Crusty Corner)
* Post race feed, beers, and general crap talking at the Ra Bar
* Sunday morning run up signal hill, then down the DH course
* Busting out my digging skills with a big stick to help shape up the Short Track
* Catching up with so many friends both old and new
* Going home. With both Nic, and a KTM 125 awaiting

Nationals.... already?

2011-02-24T15:10:00.002+13:00

Am just about to head off to the airport to hop a plane to Dunedin. National MTB Champs on Saturday. Am I ready? Don't know! After Napier 6 weeks seemed ages away. But the time has flown by.

To be honest, it feels a bit strange. The tragic events in Christchurch kind of put things in perspective, and heading off to race my MTB seems a bit frivolous and unimportant really. Thoughts are with those in and around CHCH. Kia Kaha.

Do I have any form? Maybe. I was sick after Kinloch and had a whole week off. A trip to Hamilton for Nitro Circus show was pretty awesome, and helped get me amped up for the week that followed. Got some key sessions in, raced my BMX (even won a moto), and then having missed a scheduled MTB race with illness(Black Stump), made a last minute decision to jump in the Elite Race of the Rev 120 Road race to get a long hard session in. Good to be back on the road, and it was actually over 2 1/2 years since I'd last done a road race (a few 20min club crits aside).

Pace was pretty hot with many of the hitters in attendance. 2 x Pure Black boys off the front for 70km, and 4 x Subway trying to chase meant to pace was high on the relentess Rev 120 course on which only the last 15km is flat. My positioning was average at times and the road boys really put the hurt on me. I stayed cosy in the front group till about 105km when the lights went out... sadly the Rev is 120km.

I doddled the last 15km solo at about 25km/hr and cruised in around 30 something'th. Even if the result didn't come off the objective of a hard session was certainly acheived. I then proceeded to smash myself on Sunday on MTB to finish myself off. Both physiologically, and physically when I decided to introduce my head to the ground at high speed. So been a bit sore this week. Hopefully it comes to fuition on Saturday... and again the following week at Karapoti.

Spot the MTB'er. Hanging out to the far right at about the 75km mark while the subway boys and GMC chase the Pure Black boys up the road. Felt pretty good at that point....it didn't last.

.... the alternative MTB Nats build-up continued.....

2011-02-06T21:13:00.004+13:00

My noble stead for the days "training" effort. Wasn't too shabby. Carried me to the fastest bike split of the event.... (although thats unofficial as the bloody transponder ankle fitting was too loose for my pinner wee ankles and keep sliding off. They are lucky its not on the bottom of Lake Taupo. I had to stuff it in my shorts leg.... consequently it didn't read)

And that bike split helped me to winning this.... the new NZ 30+ Sprint Triathlon National Champion.

So clearly I didn't line up at today's N-Duro. In my alternative MTB Nationals buildup I figured 1hr on the rivet at the 2011 National Sprint Tri champs at Kinloch was a better workout. It was actually going to be harder... I was going to race with the elite boys. Somewhat idiotic as I would've been over 2mins down after the swim, but I had thought the embarrassment of being so far back would make it an even harder/better trainiing day. TriNZ bent over backwards to bend the rules to let me in... 2XU was awesome trying to organise me an ITU compliant race suit at last minute... but courier post wasn't so awesome. No suit meant no race.

So age group it was. I was feeling pretty average with a head cold and a hard weeks intervals in the legs, so it was probably a good thing I was in agegroup. An average swim saw me 2min15 down starting the bike in about 65th or so. I felt below par on the bike, but smacked it as hard as I could. I very hilly 20km knocked out in 32min (fastest split), and I got off the bike 5th overall. Couldn't get really humming on the run but still did about 3rd quickest run. Was catching front but ran out of real estate. 4th overall, just 5sec off 2nd.

So a good solid hitout. Can't wait to get onto the MTB for some quality intervals tommorrow. Nic.... continuing to seek answers and vent frustration for her stalled training headed back to the farm and went deer stalking. Got two apparently so successful weekend allround. Can't wait for the venison. We are gonna need a bigger freezer!

The alternative Nationals build up....

2011-02-02T18:15:00.002+13:00

So as January has passed us by my preparations for the years big races continues in earnest. I'm trying a few different things than in previous attempts at elite MTB XC nationals (way back in 2007 being the last for me)trying to really develop that high intensity race fitness. Sunday's Blue Lake Tri was a good option.

Always on the radar for me, and despite Lance obviously getting wind of my attendance and subsequently pulling out.... a very large and strong field fronted up. Lance's intended presence saw a large number of Junior hotshots (who can actually swim) on the line to make it a really tough day. However it's a good hilly course so always a great challenge and test of my training.

My only distraction was the arrival of the toy pictured below which neccesitated 3hr of testing (along with Mikey and Nic) to all the highest points of the forest in search of the best trails. It was a successful mission. Anyway...the tri...

Actually swam pretty decent and only gave up a tad over 2min to the front of the race, in 47th out of the water. Onto the bike after a pretty lame transition, and I smashed out a half decent bike ride. Hammering the hills, but struggling a bit on the flatter sections with no one to work with (it was draft legal). Caught Cam Durno late on the ride so had company for the run. We hammered out a pretty fast lap of Blue Lake and ended in a sprint. I got the nod for 4th in open men, but only because he dipped for the line, while I kicked my leg out (the transponder was on my ankle). Cunning.

Unfortunately there were 7 U20 Junior whippets ahead of us. So it was only good enough for 11th overall. Bugger. Positive news is we ran at the same speed Rich Ussher did when he won XTERRA. Bad news is he did 2 laps, we did one. Ah well. I know what it feels like now and I still have 9 weeks. Until I can swim like the triathlete fish I'll never have a hope in draft legal triathlon. Which is what makes this training plan all the more interesting. Stay posted....

And an update on Nic. Many of you may have noticed the absence of news from Nic in the last month. Never fear. She is ok. However she has been struggling with some mystery health issues that have limited her ability to train to the level she knows she has capable. Which is exceptionally frustrating, as she super motivated, and is better than ever technically at the moment. Simply loving the MTB. But such is the nature of high performance sport we are having to take a big picture view and ease our way through things. So thanks for the support and concern everyone. She will be back!

I'm back....!

2011-01-17T20:40:00.004+13:00

In Elite that is. It was February 2007 that I last lined up for a National Series Elite race. Since then I've happily lined up in Masters. This year however, XTERRA Worlds loom large, and to be remotely competitive I will need career best MTB form. That in mind I'd decided use the 2011 NZ MTB Elite XC Champs as an interim focus.

I fully intended to make a stealth attack on the boys... and not take an Elite licence until that race. But with a few different training plans on the horizon, I decided I had best test where I was at, so I know what to work on. I've got plenty of endurance at the moment, and am skinny as ever. But Elite level UCI format XC is a different kettle of fish. So I decided on Thursday that Sundays UCI Cat #2 race at Napier would be the comeback.

The first time in nearly 4 years that my bike has sporting an NZ "Elite" race number. Somewhat lower than it used to be. In golf its apparently a great achievement to shoot a round that matches your age. This was my version.... the race plate matching my age. That'll do for me. I used to have a habit of having race finishes that matched my number plate. With 20 starters in Napier, I was quietly confident of at least beating the number plate

3rd lap or so up the steep climb. Strangely it was climbing that had been my biggest worry pre-race with the last 4-5 weeks dedicated to 1/2 ironman training. Instead I was climbing pretty well and actually enjoyed this section of the track. It was the descents where I was pretty average (literally riding like a triathlete), and lacking any real brute strength and punch. No suprises there. And plenty to work on for National Champs

For first 3 laps I was in the mix. My descending cost me, as did strength. Then I wavered mentally on Lap 4... drifting out of contention. Still, I am stoked with a result like that on limited specific prep. Lots to work on in the next 6 weeks and many areas to improve. And lots of ideas for how to do it.

4 years ago at my "farewell" at Mt Vic I was 5th.... so not much changes. I've certainly got faster, but so have many others. Fellow veteran's Stu and Mikey also shared the podium with me that day. Dirk on the other hand was 2nd in the U17's back at Mt Vic, while Patrick Avery (whom I batled for 6th at Napier) was 4th. Great to see such progress from the young guys. Exciting for the future in NZ.

The never ending education

2011-01-11T09:36:00.003+13:00

I sometimes wonder what it is that makes me continue my pursuit of my sporting dreams, and it is really quite simple. It's searching for the performance you are entirely happy with. Where the result is somewhat irrelevent, it is putting together the complete performance that matters.......Which is why I'm a bit disspointed about my weekend.

Tauranga Half did not go to plan. Just under 4hr15 and top 25 overall. Within seconds I recorded an identical time to last year. This was not the plan. I swam faster, I biked a bit faster, and I folded on the run. It just wasn't happening. Coulda, shoulda, woulda? I didn't.

I just felt lat and struggled to get power down on the bike. I tailed off throughout, and by the time I started the run my hamstrings were already cramping. Not plesant. On reflection there were many reasons, and many contributing factors. Many of them I should've controlled better. I will bank those lesssons, and not make the same mistakes again if I front back at Tauranga again. The positive is last year I was happy as with Tauranga half. This year I was average, I struggled, and I still did the same time as last year. I'll take that as a positive. My base fitness is quite reasonable. XTERRA is 3 months of yet.

To vent some frustration I lined up for the NDuro MTB race the following day. Not suprisingly I lacked any 'zing' in the legs but was relatively strong. I just didn't have the punch or real top end speed. Rode upp to 2nd at about the 45min mark before fading a little, then taking a little unneccesary deviation and sampling some extra singletrack along with Patrick Avery after a course marking hiccup. Ah well. Extra training. 4th in the end so can't complain too much.

Time to rest up the legs then kick into phase two of the season. Developing some MTB speed for National Champs.

Bobbing round awaiting the swim start. One of the few times I would still be surrounded by the other "pro" swimmers for the rest of the day.

4km or so into the run. Trying my best to fool my legs into thinking they actually have some 'go' left in them.

And so it begins

2011-01-07T09:58:00.002+13:00

In less than 24hrs it's all on again for 2011 race season. Except while most MTB'ers are choosing whether to go with the National Cup race in Tauranga, or the N-Duro in Rotorua, I've made the obvious choice....

.... Tauranga half ironman

Maybe not the typical choice for an off road athlete. NZ's premier half ironman, with a flat fast bike course that favours the strong swim/bikers. I'm on a bit of a hiding to nothing as while its a draft illegal race... the speeds are that high that the front of the race is a freight train, and I will have been unhitched very early (like in the first few hundred metres of the swim).

Nevermind, it becomes a very hard self paced time trial of swim/bike/run for hopefully not too much more than 4hrs. After giving it a nudge last year, its exciting to go back and try and improve my perfromance. I've got a time goal rather than a placing to strive for....And it should really benefit my "base" fitness for the upcoming MTB season... which will probably start the next day.

After a few visits to the candy shop that is the wideopen warehouse, my sweet Avanti chrono is now all decked out in vision parts, fast wheels, and all ready to go.

Unfortunately we can't afford wind tunnel testing... so a solid weeks training in Palmerston North between christmas and new years was the next best thing. I tried to have an easy week this week, but the weather didn't really cooperate. Stunning sunshine "forced" me into a couple of MTB missions... including the Moerangi trail. 36km of Singletrack epicness. Am sure that's a good taper? Will soon find out tommorrow.

Despite my mocking of triathletes and the "all the gear, no idea" mentality I'll even be sporting this piece of go fast goodness. Although judging by the name tag inside the helmet I'm not sure it will ever have been as slow as its likely to be tommorrow?!

Nic's sweet 2011 ride!

2010-12-20T10:26:00.010+13:00

Woo! Check out my new ride for 2011...Avanti Team Competitor. Santa did his rounds early & I was one very happy girl when these two mint bikes turned up at my house last week! I am pretty excited about heading out into the forest to give it a good whirl. I have been getting well acquainted with my roadie in recent weeks but I will be getting this dirty soon - first impressions report to follow!

2011 Avanti Team Competitor...

Complete with XTR 28/40T 10spd groupset, the Fox F-series Terralogic 100ml fork, XTR wheelset w/ Kenda tyres & Zero/Easton components. Love it!

From another angle w/ my preferred 640mm riser handlebar.

2011 Avanti Questa 2.0 Roadie...an all important racing and training tool. Next up I have the Tour de Femme (Nelson), followed closely by the Elite Road National Champs (Chch)...yep, getting amongst it. I expect a damn tough day but a good test for sure.

A very BIG Thank-you to Avanti. They have an awesome range of XC, 29er, dual suspension & trail MTB's for 2011. Plus their ever-impressive road bike selection. Check them out.

In other news, time is fair flying & we have been head down bums up working, training & this last weekend getting pretty wet! Cabin is doing a good bit of running, swimming & riding fitted in around a busy work schedule as he prepares for the Tauranga Half Ironman (Jan 9th).

Hot on the heels of the Huka MTB Race, we travelled to Chch for the Armstrong Festival of Cycling event. We attended this last year and had an absolute blast, so were eager to return. It was a fantastic event yet again. We raced the MTB race on Saturday, approx 3okm including the uniquely testing single track of the Port Hills.

Following last year I was keen to get a bit of practice in ahead of the race. We skipped up Dyers pass on the Friday afternoon to get familiar with the terrain. We ended up riding far more than we should have on the eve of a race, but it was an awesome evening and we were enjoying the views and the trails too much!

This year the start of the course was changed to include some more off road riding in the way of farm track. Thank-you to the Scott Family who allowed us all to race through their property. With a few steep pinches, undulating farm track and a good bit of sheep shit to dodge it made for an interesting ascent to the top of Rapaki track.

The men's race was hotly contested. Defending champ Brendon Sharratt was back and stomped up the climb to take the King of Mountain title. Not far behind was Avanti team mates Richard Anderson and Cabin and youngster's Brad Hudson, Anton Cooper. The single track is punctuated with a couple of road sections, including the last 4km to the finish. As it turned out, Brendon, Cabin & Brad were close at the bottom of Captain Thomas Track. They came together on the road and it was game on...so they lapped it out some until it was time for the sprint finish. Cabin hesitated, Brad jumped, & Brendon came around to take the win on the line. Nice! Cabin was 3rd, but happy enough.

I had a sweet ride, winning the women's race. I found the twisty rocky single track challenging to ride fast. This was brought to my attention rapidly when I was gettin caught & passed easily by a number of men who I had raced to the top. I was trying hard to go fast but didn't quite have the knack for it. There is always something to work on...

Day 2 of the Festival moves down town to the 'strip' with the feature races being the mens & womens criterium races. Oh, and of course the 'celebrity tandem race!'. Brendon Hart & I were racing for Benchmark Homes whilst Cabin & his stoker were representing The Heart Centre. Once again this was super fun and we have some photo's which we will post for you to see.

I had also packed my road bike and jumped in the Women's Criterium race..gulp! It was great fun! Being just my 2nd crit race, I was more than a little nervous but after a few laps I settled in and enjoyed the ride. I finished in the main group, and banked a few notes on crit racing. It was a great training session, and I will certainly look to do more of this too :)

That is all for now, some pictures to follow. In the meantime everybody have a safe & happy festive season :) Train hard & enjoy the goodness of Christmas!

Kids at Christmas Charity Auction: Buy us!

2010-12-08T12:09:00.003+13:00

Right, so hopefully we have some wealthy and philanthropically minded fans reading this who are keen to come ride with us in Rotorua next year.

Nic and I are an auction item in the AirNZ Christmas Kids Charity auction (well… a trip to Rotorua, a ride/coaching with us, accommodation, shuttle pass etc…). @Heart are the benificiaries and we'd love to think they can get a good chunk of $ from this. Check it out at the below link.

Bidding closes next Wednesday (Dec 15th)

http://www.sella.co.nz/general/travel/other-travel/70mvn3

Cabin's big day out - part 2

2010-11-29T21:20:00.004+13:00

.... I really would have liked to stay in Taupo Saturday night.... but I had to get home for a reason. Sunday saw the first race of TriNZ's Contact National Tri series at Blue Lake.

I've hardly run or swim in the last few months. As a hint I do need more than the fingers on one hand to count the respective runs and swims. But I wouldn't need my feet....

A demanding hilly bike course, and equally testing run were right up my alley, so what better way to kickstart my 1/2 ironman training? In perhaps logic only I would use I thought racing on smoked legs from the Huka would be great endurance training. Turns out it worked ok. But not after one of my most bizzare race experiences yet.

My swim was average (but to be expected). I would have enjoyed it except for the munter who seemed insistent on trying to read the model name on my googles. I can only assume that is what he was trying to do since he insisted on swimming on top of me for almost the entire 1500m despite my continual movements away from him, and the complete absence of other swimmers around us. Anyway, I survived, 6min or so down on the front, and executed a good transition before getting into my work on the bike. Until my race took the bizzare and unexpected twist...

.... a car on car collision occured at the bottom of Okareka Hill just moments before I arrived. I wasn't first on the scene, but was the first triathlete to stop. Someone quickly gave me directions to go rouse a local doctor who lived nearby. I found the house evebtually after some unsure circling and got him on the way. It seemed to take forever but was realistically only 4-5min. I was at a bit of a loss then as to what to do. Race was effectively over, and there was nothing more to do as accident scene was under control.

So I rode on, in somewhat of a daze, before deciding it was training and to start hammering again. I took a visual check when I passed the leaders on and out and back section. 20km later and it was only Mark Bowsted who had made any significant time on me. So it was nice to know I was one of the quickest on the course.

I got pretty angry with some of the lead (top 10) competitors who were ignoring the race breifing to stay on the walking track and running on the road (open to traffic) and forcing oncoming cyclists to ride wide on the road. I yelled at a few, rode straight at a few, and even paused in transition to ask the tech official to send a roving marshall out. I might seem like a grumpy old man, but organisers have safety rules for a reason and it pisses me off when competitors think they are so special they can do what they want. If you don't want to paly by the rules.... Stay home.

Anyway, when I got running I put together a solid time. Top 10 run split, 15th overall, and when TriNZ correct me time (which they generously offered to do to account for my doctor searching mission) I was around top 10 overall. I was then called up at prize giving for a special prize to acknowledge my mid race detour. So big thanks to TriNZ and huge credit to them for a well run event and their care for their participants. Nice work.

I'm typing this on Monday. It was a big weekend. Not surprisingly I am a little smoked.

CabiNic's big day out

2010-11-29T20:48:00.005+13:00

So it was a big weekend for us. The Taupo Cycle Challenge, with its 10,000+ participants it is the event that argueably holds up the NZ cycling industry so it is a pretty big deal. And we are pretty satisified with our respective 3rd places.

Having the Huka XL MTB marathon as a feature really makes it a must do. Rapidly gaining popularity, the (now) 82km single track fest is as gruelling and tough as it is fun (perhaps with the exception of Kergresse.... participants will now what I mean!). This year saw pretty much everyone who is anyone in NZ MTB line up to test their early season form. And we were no different. Despite a lack of "speed" training we were certainly both keen to put a good result on the board. After last year Nic was keen to finish, and do so with her sight.

A 4:40am start to shovel breakfast into our faces in the dark was quickly followed by an hours more precious sleep before rousing ourselves for the 7am start. At least that meant the race would be over in time for lunch. For the guys, the pace was on from the very start, and we took great pride in beating the roadies (who started beside us) to the top of control gate hill. I was pretty focussed on slotting in at the front... the epic abundance of Singletrack meaning positioning is important. Holding 2nd when we reached craters meant I was then in a position to choose my pace rather than play catch up. It was soon pretty clear Mikey and T-Rex had some very good form and they dictated proceedings. Soon it was they and Dirk Peters cleared off, I was solo in 4th...At halfway I got a time check. 2min down on the lead trio, but more than 1min30 up on 5th/6th. So it was a solo time trialled for the next 2hrs. I held it together, railed some singletrack, enjoyed my mint new Avanti Team Competitor 29er, and eventually picked up a fading Dirk and crossed the line 3rd, a mere 2min after Mikey won a sprint over T-Rex.

Nic's race was a little different. She was pretty conservative early and with "junk" feeling legs from the previous weeks training was in her words "creeping" back in 5th for the first 20-30km whilst Annika Smail and Karen Hanlen danced off the front. By 30km she started feeling pretty good and put the hammer down. Legs were better and she was loving the flowing, and challenging Taupo trails. Riding back up to 3rd but running out of time to chase down Karen. Stoked to actually finish, and see some good results from the last months training block.

The afternoon then saw the highlight of the weekend..... our appearance as escorts/celebrities for the @Heart 5km kids ride. These kids enthusiasm is amazing and saw everthing from small MTB's to 12" training wheel equipped bikes tackling the 5km. The boys from Pure Black were on hand to lead out and thanks to Mark Langlands mad skills (inherited from Paul perhaps?) was able to keep the kids in check. I accompined young Josh from Tauranga who wound up his Ben 10 16" and put in some mean passes out on the grass, took some sweet lines (he really wanted to MTB... I could see it) and consistently informed me how much we were "boosting it" to keep up.

Simply awesome to see the enthusiasm and pure joy these kids got and is a pretty humbling experience really. Also big thanks to the boys from the Avanti Plus team (Hisky, Scott Green, and Josh Page) for answering the last minute SOS call for extra guides. Much appreciated boys.

We then enjoyed a great afternoon laxing in the sun and seemingly catching up with everyone we've ever met in NZ cycling..... before finally making it home to Rotorua around 9pm to hit the hay and get ready for round two on sunday......

Update

2010-11-16T14:15:00.006+13:00

So it's been a few weeks, and probably timely for an update. Since SSWC we both had a week off to let the tired and beat up bodies recover, before getting into some regular training again with a view to the 2011 season.

I seemed paricularly messed up... proving that whilst you can get through events like the Whaka and SSWC on limited prep, you do rather a lot of damage in doing so. Theres been a couple of events since then. First up Nic lined up at the K1 Elite road race. Perhaps a wee bit ambitious with no recovery after SSWC but she was keen to measure her current form against the best roadie girls.

Event didn't go brilliantly, but a good learning experience. We enjoyed a great weekend away, I got in some good rides on my new Quantum 2.o (whilst spectating), found a mint fish n Chip outlet, and enjoyed watching the ITM Cup semi final at the pub..... before gapping it home Sunday to mow the lawns and be home bodies....

Another couple of relatively uneventful weeks followed, with some solid initial training shuffled into the working week. This brought us to the weekend just gone and the annual Rotorua-Ohope 100km "fun" ride. While new pro Clinton Avery decided a solo TT for 45km or so was the best move, Nic was working on her road racing smarts with a good solid hit out showing training is on track.

I meanwhile decided to line up at Toi's Challenge. A brutal 18km Mtn run out of Whakatane/Ohope. Real smart as I have run 4 times (all 30min or less) since start of October. A conservative start saw me 25th into the first climb before steady running saw me find myself in 5th and rapidly catching 3/4th with about 3km to go. That was until my claves screamed enough, and my age (wisdom?) kicked in and said to back it off and cruise to the finish (translated... make it to finish without trying so hard you collapse)

This resulted in a 9th overall, just 2min back from 3rd. Not too shabby. When I recover and can walk normally again it should give a good springboard to the half ironmans I have on the calender for summer.

I then proceeded to destroy myself by riding home to Rotorua. 100km with some nice climbing seemed like a good idea.... Save for the block headwind the whole way made it a pretty much tempo effort the whole way just to mainatin the eventual 25km/hr average. Don't think I ever rode in anything that bad in the Manawatu even. A coke stop midway was essential. So a long and testing training day. What ever doesn't kill you........

.... and Cabin's 2011 ride is....

2010-11-04T12:14:00.002+13:00

...Avanti

Pretty exciting news for me really. The guessing game over the last week from the sneak peak pics has been fun, and nice to know that there is 1) so much interest, and 2) so much knowledge of 29ers out there.

As the photo shows my deal is a great package that allows me to enjoy top notch equipment in all my endevours. I'll be piloting the brand new Team Competitor 29er when off road, the Chrono TT rig in selected triathlon events (sprint through to half ironman distances), and the Quantum 2.0 in training and the odd road race.

For the eagle-eyed who were thrown off the scent by the nude carbon 29er.... I am privilaged to have had my hands on the Prototype. It's a very nice handling bike and a proved that Avanti's delayed entry to the performance 29er market has allowed them to do their research. I'm excitied to be debuting that bike at both the Huka XL in a few weeks time, and the Festival of Cycling MTB event at Christchurch as I try to give the bike its maiden win (It will eventually replaced by the actual Team Competitor as soon as they are available).

Think I best get offline and go riding....

Cabin's 2011 ride: Sneak peak

2010-10-28T09:24:00.004+13:00

So I've got a new deal for next year, and a sweet new ride. All will be revealed next week, but as a sneak preview here are a few pics. The MTB is Carbon, it has big wheels, and it rides REALLY nice. Stay tuned for details.

CabiNic Racing @ SSWC 2010

2010-10-26T13:41:00.007+13:00

So SSWC are done and dusted and Nic and I are World # 2 and 4 respectively. Does that make us the Worlds fastest SS couple?!

Huge event. Massive festival, and seems 99.9% of people had a great time (save for a couple of sad sacks who complained about the start). We had pretty "mint" starts in around the 400-500's.... I had planned on being crafty, but got distracted by the circus on show that is SS'ing and kinda missed the start a bit!

Pre-race and at a whole 5ft Nic "Tall Beast" Leary makes a fitting tribute to SS officiando Andrew Durno of Head Like a Hole.
We had plans of both going HLAH styles, but as Mr Durno himself pointed out that to make an accurate "booga" I would have had to probably wrap Nic around my waist and that may have made riding a bit hard. So having described SS'ing to the newspapers as the Punk of MTB mid week I made an attempt at Iggy Pop. Although even I'm not quite skinny enough for Iggy (I think I'm the late in career, made some money, and can afford to eat Iggy.... kind of like fat elvis?)

On a bit of a charge, trying to get back up the field. Apparently got to 3rd and 30sec off lead late in lap 1 before my legs cried enough (I was running 34-18 on the 29er if anyone was wondering) and my speed rapidly diminshed. Highlight of my race was a back and forth battle with legendary Moto GP/Superbike star Ben Bostrom. It was ironic that I would have been one of the few in the event that knew him and was excited by his presence.... although at the time I was just impressed that someone had dressed as Bostrom.... I realised at the finish.

Pushed pretty hard on the descents as I tried to show JHK and Ben Bostrom my mad skills. Did a few hucks and made the most of any slight whip opportunities. Stayed upright, but fork started feeling a bit floppy on the 2nd lap. Saw this at the finish so guess that was the reason?

Tall Beast Leary put in a huge charge. An early race crash and subsequent rapid air loss from tyres saw a few interesting moments. Reports had her about 3min30 down at one point mid race before an inspired charge got her to within 20sec at the finish. For those interested in such things Nic was on a 32-17 gear.

Tall Beast and eventual winner Heather "Fun Police" Logie

Awesome weekend. Can't quite believe its over and everyone has gone home.Kind of odd rolling down to a World Champs from your house in the morning. I'm just stoked everyone had a great time, enjoyed some sweet trails, and equally sweet weather. Apparently Ireland has the hosting rights next year. Will we be there? Hmmm. Not sure if I could handle guiness on the shortcuts. Will leave that as a maybe.

We knocked the bugger off...

2010-10-18T21:29:00.004+13:00

Looking determined? Some serious pain and fixated on the finish.... just 1km to go...

The Super Light Nic Leary SS weapon

60km through Sunday's Whaka 100, my ever changing plans for a costume for SSWC seemed finalised. Ed Crossling was nearly 4min ahead, I was already cramping badly, and it seemed the often joked about bridesmaid's dress was going to have to be used next week.

Just like the Karapoti fairytale this one shouldn't have happened. I hadn't even done a base ride longer than 3hr30 since January, and no MTB races since July. I didn't really want to race until I was somewhat guilted into it by this article with massive 2/3 of a page pic in the NZ Herald

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10680837

I'd even left the bail out option of entering Nic and I as a relay team (her doing the 2nd 37km leg) also, so if trashed I could pull out. I very nearly did. By the time I reached Old Chevy I was smashed. I'd been on my own for almost 2hr. But after a bit of fun (and the step down gap jump on Old Chevy) I figured I was so smashed what would another 40km do?

So I took a feed bag, handed the team transponder to Nic. Smashed back a few jelly dinosaurs, guzzled some water, and headed on my way in 2nd (with Nic leading the teams race).

Mentally it was a grovel. I felt I was creeping and had to keep reassuring myself. Really I was just trying to beat Nic to the finish, who was smashing it on the hilliest part of the course on her Singlespeed. After grovelling to Billy T I let rip. 1/2 way down Roller Coaster to my surprise I caught Ed. He seemed pretty blown and I figured he'd be regretting the beer he'd turned down the night before, as clearly those extra carbs were now to my advantage.

Climbing Direct Rd it was simply a matter of will power. Ed was blown, but so was I. I just tried not to show it and attempted to make my riding posture look strong and composed when in reality I was cramping badly, really uncomfortable, and starting to see stars. Getting a good gap I hammered HotXBuns. I grovelled Lions Trail, and Katore Rd climbs. Dizzy with blurred vision I actually tried to throw up... I couldn't. Tokorangi Pa was misery, and the finish couldn't come soon enough.

It did... and with it the win. The time? 4hr50 which in the conditions, on a modified and tougher course, riding largely on my own was a complete surprise. I guess I was going fast.

And Nic? She appeared a mere 10min later. Having smashed the course, she very nearly caught Ed also, and left us 3rd overall, taking a huge 38min off the team race record. Not too shabby.

So I knocked the barstard off. Think I'll happily spectate the Whaka next year, and no more bridesmaid either. So better start finishing off those alternative SSWC costume ideas.....

October already? We really should do some training...

2010-10-05T14:29:00.001+13:00

Daylight saving has kicked in and it’s as if while changing the clocks over someone remembered to turn the crappy weather switch off finally. Literally overnight things have warmed up, and the sun is out. Just in time really as the carnage in the Forest from weeks of wet and wind was starting to look pretty grim. Suddenly the forest is buzzing again with riders/walkers/runners. The tracks are riding fast, and it’s only all the extra firewood and saw dust (the remnants of some great Chainsaw work by Murray Avery clearing the mess) that hints at the mess that existed just two weeks ago.

For us we’re back into things again after most of September off on rest and recovery (well…. Recovery for Nic. Me? Just lazy rest really). Thanks to UCI and their convenient timing of Worlds, our garden is now looking pretty mint. Nic gets bored not training so has attacked the garden with vigor… just in time for spring.

We’ve resumed training with a pretty simple training plan. Our MTB’s have been Singlespeed converted so no need for efforts. We just ride the Singlespeeds. My gear is kinda big. It hurts. But I figure we’ve got SS Worlds in 3 weeks…. And I may as well go big or go home. Convenient really… because if and when I crack I really can just go home. It’s only 10min ride from the course and the fridge is waiting.

For “training” when we’re too wrecked from SS’ing, the road bikes are there to give us the wuss out option of gears. And there’s also the easier and more convenient running option. Remembering that I’m supposed to be a Triathlete this summer, and that Nic is XTERRA NZ champion….. it’s quite handy to throw the odd run into the mix (and the odd swim… but I do hate doing laps of pools and the lake’s too cold for open water swimming yet so the volume is pretty low).

The long absence from racing ended on Saturday when we jumped in the Tikitapu Trail Run’s on the weekend. There was a ½ marathon, but I took on the awesome 19km adventure run. A very hilly run that was based on the ½ course, with a couple of mint shortcuts completely off track through the bush. I loved it. Apparently ran alrite too as I won by 4mins and clocked the fastest split through Tuhoto Ariki (4.5km of tech singletrack) of all the runners (1/2 and adventure run) by a considerable margin. Nic was 2nd overall in the 10km event to XTERRA Worlds bound Junior Man Oli Shaw. Guess we can keep our New Balance sponsorship a wee bit longer?

Still haven’t satisfied my dirt bike urges. Need to scrape up a few dollars yet. So if anyone wants/needs a new Road bike or MTB give us an e-mail. Currently up for grabs to clear our garage are…..

2010 Malvern Star Oppy C7 roadie (56cm)
2010 Cannondale Flash 29er (M)
2009 Avanti Team Competitor (S…. 2010 frame)
2008 Jamis Xenith Team Roadie (XS)

Garage Sale.... The Cabin Racing bike clear out

2010-09-12T13:14:00.003+12:00

Time to clear out the garage, and at the same time clear some travel bills. So we've got a few bikes available. Great chance to score yourself a great bike for summer.

To make any enquiries, ask questions, or make an offer, please email us asap on cabinracing@gmail.com

Avanti Team Competitor. Size Small. This is Nic's race bike from 2009 Worlds. Largely unridden since January 2010. Bike is in excellent condition. Light, Stiff, and fast.

2010 Team Competitor frame
DT Dwiss XRC100 fork (completely rebuilt, this is a new, unused fork)
Full Shimano XTR (wheels, groupset, brakes etc...)
KCNC Ti post, Zero Carbon bar, easton stem

Bike also has the option of FSA Carbon 2x9 cranks (29/44 and 170mm) instead of the XTR cranks currently fitted (22/32/42 and 170mm)

Asking $4200

Niner EMD Hardtail. Size Medium. This was Cabin's Summer 09/10 race bike. Frame is one year old. Most of the components far newer than that. Again, bike is in excellent condition (with a few scratches on TT)

2009 Niner EMD Alloy frame
Rock Shox Reba Team fork (freshly rebuilt with new stancions)
Avid Elixer R brakes
Groupset - X7 trigger shifters (X.O grip as option), X9 rear mech, XT front, XT Cassette (11-34)
FSA Afterburner 386 Crankset (27/42 and 175mm)
Bontrager X-Lite Wheelset
KCNC Ti post, FSA SLK Carbon riser, FSA OS-150 Stem

Asking $2900

2008 Jamis Xenith Team (size 48) Bike is in fantastic condition. Had little use, well maintained, and has been in storage for last 9mths.

Full Ultegra 10spd groupset
Mavic Kysrium Elite Wheelset

XS Size measures 426mm Bottom bracket to Top Tube, and 515mm (effective) Top Tube in length. 380mm wide handlebars. 170mm cranks

Asking $ 2600

For any further information, or to make an offer, please contact us asap at cabinracing@gmail.com

The week that was...

2010-09-08T04:31:00.008+12:00

I am about to jet home to NZ. This is exciting, but sadly I feel far from content or satisfied with how my last two weeks panned out here in Canada. It is damn frustrating. It is part of racing, but this is the first time things havn't gone well for me and it is very hard to swallow.

Excited about the team relay and putting Windham behind me.

I had trained well in Bromont. I was a little tired from this but I was sure that with a 2-week taper including the final World Cup at Windham into World Champs - I would be humming. The course at Mont Ste Anne was up my alley and I was confident of going well come Sat 4th Sept.

Unfortunately at Windham I did not have the race outing I thought I would. My pre-ride was awesome - I danced up the climb, I felt fresh with a few efforts and was descending clean & fast.

The next day was a striking contrast - I had 'lead in my boots'. I started OK. But pretty quickly I found myself working too hard, my legs were heavy, tiring and I was going backwards. I was groveling, but I trusted that my legs would come right & I would work my way back into the top 1/2 of the field at least. On the descent I was determined to make up for lost time & positions. I entered a wooded section too fast, avoided a rock then heard the sound...pfffft! My rear tyre. The Stan's in my tubeless worked its magic to hold at about 10 PSI. Knowing I would need a wheel change regardless I rode the descent, got to tech and Selby whipped a new front in for me.

At this point I was torn. Do I keep chasing hard and salvage what I can? I had lost a good bit of time, and with my legs struggling as they were I almost felt I was doin 'more harn than good' by continuing...particularly with my World Champs race in 7-days exactly. Undecided and grumblings in my head, Selby helped my decision and said 'just ride'. He was right, a DNF just was not acceptable. I got pulled on the 80% rule after 3-laps. This was immensely disappointing. I have never been 'pulled' from a race before (this is when your time down to the lead rider is more than 80% of the first lap time, so the officials remove you from the course so you do not get in the way of the leaders).

I was upset. I was confused - what had gone wrong? Puncture aside, I was not in the race to begin with and this was concerning. I reckon (and I think I still do?) that if you have 'bad legs' in a race it is because you have not prepared well and it is therefore a poor excuse for a below par performance.

Aware of this, I did a mental debrief of my preparations - knowing I had less than a week to get my ducks in a neat row. Fortunately I was travelling with Stu Houltham (fellow Avanti rider, 6 x National Champ & I learned that he has had a rough race or two in his time). We had a 5hr drive back to Bromont to chew the fat, and this we did. I also had Cabin. From afar he helped me put it behind me and we hatched a plan for the week ahead to the grand finale.

A contributing factor was a very sore tail bone. During the Windham race this really flared up. A week prior I had a 'silly' crash within which I rammed the nose of my seat into my tail bone - yeah, ouch. Sure it was tender to sit & stand particularly on the bike for a few days but focused on the World Cup I did not let it worry me. However, the long rough descent at Windham 'kicked my a*$e' - it hurt like a jack hammer when I was standing to try to absorb the bumps and even climbing out of the saddle. This just added to the misery, but afterward I realised that it was much more irritable than I had realised. Funnily, it reminded of a time when I was little and my brother kicked me up the bum wearing a steel capped boot...owwie. That was probably deserved though :)

Roll on Mont Ste Anne...

Following Windham I was stoked to be participating in the NZ team relay. I needed to get some confidence back - it took a hiding at Windham. I was amped and flew out around the first part of the course riding smooth fast & strong - yes! Then, too eager I had two wild crashes in the later part of the lap. The dust was deep and I was pushing too hard. My head was ahead of my legs it seemed, but the outing did the job.

Throughout the week I had prepared well, I was ready. My nagging tail bone was remedied with a dose of an anti-inflammatory med ahead of riding, and Ant Croucher (The Physiotherapy Clinic) had panel beated my muscles early in the week. I was raring to go. The rain on race day did not phase me, in fact I was even happy about this - the heat & humidity in week had almost been unbearable.

Warm up went fast, call up and count down even quicker. BANG & we were off. I was about 4th row on the start and held this through the first turn sprinting up the road to the next left hander. Positioned well (or so I thought) a rider cut across the corner from my right. I turned early to avoid her....and there was a noise. Like a scrape/pfft/stan's explosion. I totally thought it was the girl on the inside who I had connected with as I turned. Thinking myself lucky I stood up to pedal.

Next moment I glanced down and had a massive sinking feeling overwhelm me...front tyre on the rim. It IS mine. This is not happening. The field spilled around me in waves and pedalled on. I did an assessment - tech is right there! I was running...then realised tech might be 'right there' but I have to run/push the entire 2nd half of the course (used as a start loop) of about 3km to get back to it...I stopped. In need of a complete miracle I grabbed my CO2 and engaged it. The tire rose momentarily then rapidly deflated - I was screwed. I started running again.

I just had to run. I was doing maths in my head...start loop takes 11min to ride, if I get to tech & get a new wheel I will at least be able to ride some of this race. Here on, I just rode every lap like it would be my last, purely for pride and to salvage something from what was a disaster of a race. I could have chucked in the towel, afterall, I was not 'in the race'. But I couldn't. This is the World Champs, I did not come here to throw my toys over a bit of bad luck and sit and watch my the raceI should be in. I really enjoyed riding the course and the crowd were wicked. They knew that I was the poor bugger right at the start running with the tail end moto revving behind me. But by the end of lap 1 proper I had dropped the moto and I enjoyed what I could salvage from my race.

It was a hopeless situation, but I think that was the best I could do given the circumstances. I am no happier, but perhaps more philosophical about it a few days on. Character building as they say. And, I have plenty to look forward to yet.

In the meantime I am ready to get on this plane and tick off the hours on the journey home to Cabin :) And enjoy a 'bit of time off'. Thank-you all once again for your many kind words and support. It has been huge, and certainly appreciated. Thank-you too Thierry & Melissa, you have been so wonderful having me in Bromont and I was grateful to see you at the finish on Saturday after my race. Cheers all!

World Champs - Not exactly to plan

2010-09-05T16:07:00.003+12:00

56th at World Champs was not the way Nic was planning to end her season. But it was a pretty brave effort after a bit of a freak incident saw her with a gashed sidewall 20sec into the race, and 3km from nearest tech zone.... watching as the other 67 women in the race sprinted off into the distance.

Rather than throw the towel in Nic ran/carried/pushed her bike to the tech zone... a long way down. Not detered she salvaged what she could clawing back up to 56th before the 80% rule ended her efforts. Brief report from her below. More to come later.

"Could not believe it when it happened. I was in disbelief. I heard the
sound and said to myself it's not mine, it can't be. Next glance I was on
the rim & realising the stink situation I was in. 20sec into World Champs, gashed open tyre... and almost 3km from tech zone.

What can I say. Could only salvage what I could. I just made the most of it, and enjoyed the racing that I did, albeit with myself. I just rode for pride.

The crowd were fantastic. A heap of bravo's etc flying around esp when
I hit finally tech zone, and then started chasing hard. I decided to just 'ride every lap like it is your last'. First proper lap when I was so far behind I got to the rock garden (which was wet/slick and I don't think many were riding it) I rode it. The crowd roared! That was pretty cool and definately bouyed my spirits."

Truck 'n trailer practice at Mont Ste Anne

2010-08-22T10:53:00.007+12:00

Just a quick update. I have spent the last 2-days up at MSA, training on the World Champs course. It was great to get some time on the track. It is a cracker. I raced it last year in my first World Cup and had an absolute blast. It didn't take long to get familiar with it again. The 'tech' rock garden was pretty sweet in the dry...but anything could happen race day! Stu got a picture of me comin down...

OK so it does not look very steep but it kind of is. There are a couple of berms at the bottom to catch you as you literally have to 'let it go' once you line it up.

The course is a busy one with 2 main climbs up or across a ski slope & several sections in the trees littered with mostly rocks & a few roots. Throw in a few tight corners & trees to go around & I liken riding my MTB to piloting a truck & trailer through here. It pays to have some precision in knowing where your rear wheel will track because like a trailer, it shortcuts when you turn corners. If you calculate this well enough a 'line' can be alot smoother depending on whether you go around or over an obstacle, and in tight sections it can certainly help maintain go forward.

So, it is a good thing I am a farm girl & learnt to ride a four wheeler often with a trailer on behind. Precision! What else did I learn? Grunt. To get up and over a short climb, obstacle or pinch give it throttle, but the correct gear is key - wheel spin & you are probably stuck.

I am back in Bromont this evening. I have a couple of days training here before we make our way south to Windham (USA) - World Cup race day is Saturday. Keep you posted. nic :)

Coupe de Canada, Bromont. 4th Place.

2010-08-17T01:40:00.021+12:00

The start, I'm behind Mary McConneloug in an almost identical riding stance. I had a good start position as I was called up for the front row.

Salut! Yesterday I kicked off my pre-Worlds North American campaign with the Canada Cup final here in Bromont. I was fourth. This was OK, not brilliant. Which is exactly how my legs felt in the first 1-2 laps, OK but far from brilliant. Whilst I was pushing hard throughout I wasn't able to contend as I would have liked. Top American & very accomplished World Cup rider Mary McConneloug dominated from the outset as expected. I was 8mins down at the finish, I had hoped to be a good bit closer than this. Amanda Sin of Canada was 2nd & Mikaela Koffman third, 30sec ahead of me. Jenn Smith (NZL) rounded out the podium in 5th a couple of minutes behind me.

On race day I woke early to a bluebird day, clear skies and the mercury already on the rise. With a start time of 12pm & 30deg the predicted temperature I was immediately concerned about racing in the midday heat. I promptly filled extra bottles with water to dump on my head and help cool me down during the race. I also set about ensuring I was extra well hydrated (like peeing every half hour) and I intentionally reduced the concentration of my carbohydrate sports drink (Balance Elite Restore + Caffeine) to increase the absorption rate of water from my gut into my bloodstream during the race.

For those that are interested in a little physiology...

During exercise the vascular system distributes blood to skeletal muscle with the greatest immediate demand for oxygen (my leg muscles) and away from areas that have less demand i.e. the viscera & major organs. However, during vigorous exercise in a hot environment there is an increased urgency to dissipate heat in order to regulate our core temperature. To do so, blood is shunted to the skin to promote heat loss largely via sweat (evapouration).

An increased sweat rate contributes considerably to a decrease in blood plasma volume, making our blood more viscous (thick), and in turn our heart rate increases to be able to maintain a high cardiac output (the amount of blood pumped by the heart in 1minute). Our heart rate cannot compensate enough and as a result there is a progressive decline in cardiac output. So exercise intensity increases considerably in the heat, and so too does our percieved level of exertion and sometimes exercise performance (if we are not well prepared or heat acclimated).

Anyway... that is why I wanted to try to keep my body temperature down (water immersion) and drink a more dilute drink (maintain blood plasma volume from sweat loss).

The course was in great condition. It starts with a lengthy climb to the top of the course, punctuated with short steep pinches throughout. We had changed my front (XX) chain ring combination prior to coming to Canada with this in mind & I sure was grateful we did.

I started well, but by halfway up Mary & Amanda were creeping away from me and I was not capable of their pace. I felt pretty awful up the climb the first two laps, the harder I pushed the more my heart was going to beat a hole in my chest & my legs were protesting. However, brain and body managed to agree on a good steady pace and I was able to ride reasonably well here-after.

Going up the climb in the final lap I had a little dig to see what else I had and got sight of 3rd place. Confident of bridging up I let rip into the traverse tech single track section, only to find myself making errors and losing time hand over fist, including a dropped chain. Perhaps more fatigued than I realised I got it together again to finish 30seconds off 3rd. Next time.

Trying to hold good pace into the rougher rocky sections of trail.

Full extension of my arms, fork compressed. Initially I thought my position was bad, but apparently I was going fast through this section. Let's hope so anyway.

It is notably harder to ride smooth and fast on these trails, particularly when you are puffing like a little steam train from a good hard climb and then dive into a rock/root infested descent. Suddenly your fatigue is more apparent as your body position, upper body strength, reaction speed and overall co-ordination are all tested at once. Typically in a race in NZ you can be lacking in one of those area but still descend OK b/c the trail is much more forgiving. Riding and racing here are obviously providing great practice, and I am certainly working on improving in this area.

So in summary I really enjoyed the race, and it is great to have the first one under my belt. I was a little tense lining up, having not had a major XC race since May (Offenberg World Cup) and following my strength block at home it was always going to be interesting as to how I went. I have also enjoyed a couple of hard training blocks since arriving in Bromont and as this race is in the plan to build for Ste Anne in 3-weeks time, things are good.

Post race last night we had a pleasant evening with all the Kiwi crew here (10 of us!) plus friends of Thierry & Melissa's here for a BBQ. Thierry generously cooked a beautiful peice of lamb on the BBQ (rotisserie style) and we enjoyed a good few laughs. This morning I went out for a nice recovery swim in Lake Bromont and this afternoon a spin on the bike is in the pipeline, or just a play down at the BMX track perhaps :) Maybe a French lesson too (got a bit distracted with the race toward the end of last week).

Finally a BIG THANK-YOU to our generous hosts & friends Thierry & Melissa for feeding us, doing tech support and the XPREZO support in the lower tech/feed zone for me. This is very much appreciated. Big congratulations to Melissa on her second place in her category yesterday too! Thank-you Sebastian for taking some great photographs and giving them to us, they are awesome to have. Merci beaucoup!

Thanks for reading, check back soon. Cheers! Au revoir pour maintenant. Nic :)

Weekend Wrap

2010-08-16T12:19:00.005+12:00

While Rotorua (along with the rest of NZ) suffered under heavy rains... Nic was adapting to the heat of a Canadian Summer as she gave her race legs a good test at the Final of the Canada Cup Series at Bromont. She'll report in later, but apparently the race legs were a little flat for the first few laps...

.... so she was a tad dissapointed to only make it to 4th. Nevermind. Good start to the North American campaign

.... Meanwhile back in Rotorua I took to trying out my skills as a post-race interviwer, as the Dean Watson/N-Duro pact with the devil seems to have run its course, and not only did we see the first wet N-Duro in a long time.... the race course was pretty much a river. Winning time a good 30min+ longer than expected. So my woosing out with a sore shoulder may not have been a bad move. And save's me from hours of bike maintainance.

At least my training bike got a good work out though, dragging Tony the Tiger Bushlove to a 3rd place Open/8th place Overall finish. Didn't throw him on the ground like it did to me 2 weeks ago. He must've been nicer to it?!

Becoming a Cyclist & an update...

2010-08-07T04:35:00.009+12:00

Salut!

Yes I am in Quebec, Bromont to be precise. I have been here one week now & it is superb! I have a mountain of interesting, technical trails a short warm up away & the temperature mid 20's most days. I am from Raetihi, a little cold blooded maybe, so the first few rides in the 25-27deg heat I felt like I was going to melt. I am not complaining, I am adjusting. I have completed my first hard training block since arriving and I feel suitably thrashed but good. I like this.

Following my 'debut' in Europe I had a great 2-months home in Rotorua, getting stronger! I completed my first 'gym based' strength/conditioning programme, amongst many an interval session & long ride. It was a little challenging at the time, riding on trashed legs every other day is not the greatest feeling and several times I thought 'S*^#t! I am getting slower not faster'. This feeling was made no better when 7 weeks into it I hop on the scales & find out I have stacked on 2.5kg...woe alright! Too many beef or venison hot pots? Cabin had also put on weight but that was partly before I got back and, he eats pies and ice cream :)

On second thoughts, I was quietly excited. Because when I started mountain-biking (racing) two years ago I watched the Tour de France (for the 1st time) and decided that a rear-end like Fabian Cancellara was what I would need to go fast - power! Sure every girl has a bit of a complex about getting a bit 'choddy' (thicker) but I flipped the coin & decided that a few extra pounds were aok with me as long as my wattage went up. So now I am here in Canada whipping that extra 'muscle' into XCO specific strength and I am hopeful it is working :)

I will spend 5weeks in total here ahead of the World Championship event (Sept 4th). Within this time I have two races - the Canada Cup final here in Bromont & the World Cup series final in Windham, New York. Both of these races I am looking forward to, I am confident I am improving and just maybe I am starting to become a mountan biker...we will see.

In other news, Cabin is at home nursing a very sore shoulder. His housemate/room mate/physio goes away for 6-weeks & within days he has a 'big off' on his MTB. From what I believe it was a wet miserable Sunday and Poppa felt the urge to go ride fast in the forest. Flying around the berms of Dipper (yes the Dipper trail) his trusty Cannondale let go & smack! Choosing to use his shoulder to stop himself, so he is a regular at The Physiotherapy Clinic this week and has had to shop for a new helmet also, busting his in several places - ooh.

Cabin's edit: I crashed on my training bike... The Cannondale is far too good to let me crash

Unfortunately Cabin will not be joining me, following the volcano erupting & disrupting our plans for Europe I guess he figures I am capable & can manage without him! Not so. I certainly would prefer to have him here, he such an integral part of my preparation and he knows what is needed to help me perform my best. But, it is expensive, we have a house & he must work. He is holding the fort, and I am very fortunate to have his generous support. And, the support of my sponsors - Avanti, Nature Valley, 2XU, Balance Nutrition, New Balance, Smith & n-Duro events, Rotorua. It means alot.

The NZ team for the World MTB Champs has been finalised and go the Elite Women - 4 of us! (Rosara, Fiona McDermid, Jen Smith (USA based) & I). Also best wishes to Annika Smail who is racing the World Marathon Championship event in Austria this weekend.

That is all for now & I promise more news soon! Au revoir, nic

Galaxy Travel Winter N-Duro series #2

2010-07-12T13:44:00.005+12:00

When you live in Rotorua, and overnight your garage suddenly looks like this, you can be pretty sure there must be a race on. With Race 2 of the N-Duro winter series on we had a full house. Our garage is chocker at the best of times but this weekend was ridiculous. 16 bikes, at an average value of at least $6k (brought down by 2 BMX's and 3 crappy commuter's), and enough carbon to build a new airbus.... it was a little ridiculous.

With one Sth African in residence we enjoyed a fantastic Saturday evening watching the All Blacks give the Springboks a right drubbing. Good work boys.

Sunday morning and beautifully sunny, yet incredibly cold morning greeted us all. A strong field was in attendance, and with a number about to head offshore to try and prove their World Champs credentials we were in for a hot pace. I wasn't looking forward to that, so blagged myself an ubber ghey Bushlove roadie hat to claim I was just sifting...

The bluff didn't work as despite feeling quite slow I somehow found myself in 3rd/4th relatively comfortably as Mikey toyed with everyone and headed off on his own training ride. Think he just wanted to get back to the coffee cart before everyone else.

Managed to catch and fast "fastest man" Ed Crossling in the last single track which was nice. At least I was first home of those camped at our house for the weekend. So a solid 3rd it was. Pleasing with the lack of hard training in recent times (although 100km dirtbiking last weekend helped the endurance).

Nic proceeded to smash the womens field. Had a few issues to contend with which stopped her challenging for a top 15 overall which was a goal, but signs are good for Canada all the same. Only two weeks more of winter for her to put up with before she can head to summer weather and start the buildup proper. Good times.

Santoft Sizzler... in Pictures

2010-07-07T14:54:00.005+12:00

I should have waited 24hrs before the previous post... as now I have pics. Never mind, better late than never. The photographer accused me of showing off for the camera.... I told him I just prefer to pretend I'm on a moto at every opportunity (thats the real reason I use gripshift, I can pretend its a throttle).

Nic on the other hand was concerned looking at the photo gallary that she seemed to be the only rider wheelie dropping this lip... need not have worried... thats why you are fast Nic

Enjoying the sweet flowing trails of Santoft. Credit to the Manawatu MTB club members for their years of work on these. A great asset for the area, and I know how many volunteer hours have gone into them. They even raked pretty much the whole 6.5km race loop the day prior! In rugby lingo.... full credit.

Winter miles....

2010-07-06T12:33:00.002+12:00

Check out those pine cones.... They are actually a trophy. How cool is that?! It's 9 days ago now, but we shook off the winter blues with a trip down to Palmerston North to take on the Manawatu MTB Club's Santoft Sizzler. They are a great club, with great people, and with really cool (relatively low key) events. We kinda miss hanging out with this lot so it was great to be able to get back and enjoy catching up... as well as taking ain a pretty cool event.

The Sizzler was a 5hr teams race (well 4hr30 + a lap). Held out at Santoft which is a sand based riding area with little elevation. This = Hard! As there is no rest. It also pissed down all weekend making it slick and somewhat heavy going in places. Nic and I entered as a 2 person team, with Nic kicking it off with the first 3 laps. Neither of us felt lightening quick, but we were solid enough. Eventually taking the overall win, and with it the two prized golden pincones.

Back home and training is ticking along. Hard work for Nic in the Worlds build up. Miles (Road and MTB), Gym sessions,intervals, and a bit of BMX. I tag along for only some of it.... and not all of it. Great thing about Rotorua is its central location and all the other opportunities to play.

So when Craig Corbett kindly offered to take me trail riding on Sunday my planned MTB session was quickly ditched. 100km ish of high speed "play" on a KTM SX125 later and I think I've got my mojo back (although maybe moto skills, rather than MTB). The video below gives an idea of what my Sunday looked like....

(disclaimer: This is not me. This is Chris Birch. He is very good. He just won Redbull Romanics. I did not. I just went trail riding. About 60% of his speed feel's very quick to me...)

Onboard with Chris Birch from NZ Greenroom Productions on Vimeo.

Finding my mojo

2010-06-20T09:35:00.002+12:00

It's been a month since we last posted something here..... yes we are still alive! We've been taking a break from racing for a bit. Working, training, and just taking it easy for a bit.

We sat out the first race of the winter N-Duro series last week and by all accounts missed a cracker of a race. My absence in particular confused many as I'm pretty vocal about my advocacy for racing lots. However, I was a little burnt out from so much racing in the last 5 months. If not physically, certainly mentally.

When I line up to race again I want to be excited as this kid....

Nic has another Northern Hempisphere campaign upcoming as she builds to Worlds. So she's back to work as a physio to pay for it. And also into some solid strength and endurance training to build up her engine.

I on the other hand don't have any major events on the horizon so motivation is somewhat lacking. I find I need inspiration to train. Usually that comes from an event. Although at the moment it is coming from reading the blogs of international friends such as the Conrad Stoltz. It is their stories that are motivating me to do some solid base training. So that when I pinpoint an event, I am as excited and inspired as the Italian MX kid.... and fit enough to do the work required.

Offenberg World Cup: 40th

2010-05-24T11:12:00.003+12:00

Quick report in on behalf of Nic, as she's packing and getting ready for the long trip back to NZ.

Last night saw the 3rd round of the World Cup at Offenberg, and it went pretty well. She put in another strong ride and finished 40th. Oh so close (and frustratingly so) to the elusive 30's with only 1min covering the gap from 33rd-40th.

Weeks of steady rain cleared to bring beautiful sunshine, warm, and a picture perfect day in the vinyards of Offenberg. The Scenery soon gave way to some brutally fast race on the demanding and technical course. A very fast start saw Nic hold position from her start number of 57. She fought bloody hard and put everything into it, slowly clawing her way up the field to grab 40th on the last lap.

"yeah, I'm a bit smoked" was her text message immediately after the race.

It's been a tough campaign for Nic. 4 races in 5 weekends with some very consistent results on courses that didn't neccesarily play to her strengths. Truth be told we have been just trying to carry her form from Feb/March through... so she is excited to get home and put in a solid block of training to rebuild stronger and faster for the 2nd campaign in a couple of months.

Thanks to everyone at home and around the world for your support and best wishes. It is certainly appreciated. And also to everyone who's helped her out these last few weeks. The various team mechanics, the Sram tech guys, Jeanette/Jase, and....... even the aussies! On behalf of Nic, Cheers!

Cabin

Crank'in in Taupo

2010-05-23T08:51:00.006+12:00

Last week it was Kayaks and Road bikes changing things up. This weekeneds activities saw the use of this sweet Nature Valley DH bike (Ok, so maybe its a Norco.... thanks Bike Vegas).

Saturday saw the innagural running of Crank Taupo. The brainchild of Epic Events Nick Reader and JK it was a pretty cool day for all Mountainbiking. A great XC event on virgin MTB terrain. A sweet DH in a unique prologue format of as many timed runs as you wanted over 6hr. And an All-Mountain title for those keen for both.

Taupo turned on the weather. The live DJ spun some phat beats all day. And a couple of hundred keen Mountainbikers had a great day out. Very cool.

First up was a rather gruelling 30km XC. There was a good field on hand, and after a bit of a late reaction on the start (don't know what I was expecting... but it wasn't the van horn tooting that did signify "go"), I set about chasing Mikey Northcott who bolted. I held him at about 12-15sec for the first 7km or so until we hit "Tucks Loop".

Maybe I was still tired from Kaimai 6 days ago, but once on the steady and energy sapping climb, Mikeys superior strength and power showed on the moderate gradient as he slowly dissapeared into the distance.

The course was riding really well, and got better (we repeated an 11km loop twice) as it bedded in. I keep pushing hard. It was a hot pace and in the end I was probably happy to limit Mikey's winning margin to 2mins. Super fast Junior Sam Shaw was third.

XC done and no time for recovery. Quick change of clothes and a quick bite to eat (this is where Nature Valley bars are awesome!) and it was onto the transport for the DH. Afterall the Dh'ers had already been having runs for 2 1/2hrs so I had some catching up to do.

Took a wee bit to get comfy with things. Riding a DH bike is quite different to anything else and takes some getting used to. Being that my first run was also my first ride on the bike (borrowed the night prior) I was a bit sketchy.

Things got better and by my 3rd run I was into the top 25. Not too shabby.

I then started experimenting with hot lines and trying to jump stuff with mixed success. I figured I needed to do these so I could post a competitive time in the Super Final. I was doing runs in the 2min 50 bracket, fast times were in the 2:30's, and I was keen to get into the 2:40's.

problem was I never put in a clean run again. My pace was good... but I made at least one major mistake each run. Turns out I didn't improve my time, and others did. So just missed the Super Final for the top 25. Bugger.

Always had respect for Dh'ers but now even more. So hard to put together a fast and mistake free run. In XC you can make a mistake and have time to catch up again. Not so here. Respect.

DH pro Des Curry deservadly grabbed the All Mountain title after a solid 6th in the XC. I was 2nd.

Great day out. The event will surely grow as word gets out. There is talk of moving it into the coveted New Years holiday period. How cool would that be as part of your holiday? Bring it on I say.

Crank Taupo: See you all there next year.

Bundesliga 'Bike the Rock' & I like it here...

2010-05-20T22:36:00.004+12:00

Hello! Okay I realise I am not getting any quicker with these reports but as they say better late than never & internet cafe's have to be saved for poor weather days in my opinion. One big plus of late is that Cabin has been ace at scheduling my recovery/easy days co-incidently with the rain & cold - less than 10deg & steady rain out today...brrrr. I have however had a good bit of practice on this Offenburg course in the wet as I have been based in the lovely nearby town of Durbach for the past 2.5weeks, staying at a local winery. Great place, nice wine (hic!) & great training most importantly!

The other mucky biking practice came in the form of the Bundesliga (German National Series XC Race) 'Bike the Rock' at a place called Heubach on Sunday. Again, I was as happy as a pig in s#*t as the course was quite muddy & the descent slippery - many a rider tripoding or skiing in practice! So we -Aussie rider Kat O'Shea & partner Ray accompanied me in my little Peugot red rocket - pootled, no, hooned up to Heubach Sat to get in a practice lap/2 ahead of the race Sun. It is an 'HC' Category race which is quite up there in UCI points so always attracts a quality field apparently. My enthusiasm for another wet/muddy race may have got the better of me as I cranked out some efforts in practice & felt great...'til the next day warming up that was!

The course was simple, you climb up the hill & then you come down it - the 'D' was wicked & once again the spectators sensational! A beer tent was set up on the plateau at the top & every lap they got more & more rowdy as the commentator announced us through. All I caught was my name & 'Nusseeland!' then a chorus of cheers. Many other spectators acquire a start list & cheer you on first name basis. Gives you a nice little perk, knowing the whole crowd & all... haha! To give you an idea of the calibre of race Julien Absalon won the mens & Irina Kalentieva (World Champ) was 5th in my race. I think it is fair to say she perhaps did not have her best day.

I managed 16th place. Rosara raced also & finished up ahead in 13th place. I was happy enough, although a little disappointed I went backward up the climb after a great start (if I do say so myself). The legs definately felt flat until the next time up the climb but hey, my first was still my fastest lap so it can't have been that bad. What I did learn was that added weight & effort riding in mud drains the legs more so be conservative in your pre-ride in such conditions. Seems a simple statement but when you feel good it is easy to get too keen.

In other news, I can speak a little French & German & a combination of both at the wrong times! However creative charades remains an essential communication tool. Great fun. Jeanette & Jase Gerrie are in Durbach too so we have been going to the pool & bakery & the bakery again. We went for a drive up to the nearby mountain range, & saw a ski jump like at the Olympic normal & big hill ski jump events. Yeah, they have balls. There were three sizes. We climbed up the launching seat of the big mother & it was pretty daunting looking down not being able to see where you will land! Of course it was just grass, no snow at the moment but you got a pretty good persective on the sport of ski-jumping. Also spent a day in Strasbourg, France visiting a few interesting spots & learning a bit of history about the Strasbourg Cathedral that Jase stirred up from somewhere. It was really interesting. I will have to post some photo's when I get home & relay the lesson to you. Watch this space...

Enough of my jabbering, I'm off to the supermarket (another essential part of my week). The deli meats in Germany are sensational! Being a farm girl I can't go long without a good serving of red meat so this is perfect. I am also going to clean my bike, a bit of a daily occurence at the moment. My Avanti has had a bit of a hiding in the conditions over here but is holding up grand & we are looking forward to another tough but good outing this Sunday at Offenburg...

Thanks for reading, touch base again soon :) Tschuss!

and now for something completely different

2010-05-17T20:35:00.006+12:00

The eagle eyed amongst you will have noted the race calender on this blog listing for saturday... "to be confirmed. A few events to choose from". Well, above is the car loaded up and ready for what became my choice. Road bike in TT spec, borrowed Kayak, and my cannondale in the back seat. Yip, it was inevitable really. I am now a multisporter.

I was 3rd yesterday in the Kaimai Classic. A popular, and very gruelling scenic tour of the Tauranga countryside. 5km trail run, 17km MTB, 11km kayak, 23km road bike, and 11km run to finish it (and the athletes) off.

Secret training in preparation? Far from it. I first kayaked last wednesday (10 days ago). I had planned a debut in a few months. But those that read this blog know my thought process fairly well by now.... The best way to learn is get amongst it right?

Long race story short..... Ran well in first 5km and controlled my self. Took lead in transition and built up a lead of 3-4min of which I proceeded to hand 1min30 or so back late in ride when around 1m of rusty barbed wire wrapped itself around my rear hub. Bugger.

Tried my best to look like I could kayak. Dwarne Farley did his best to teach me a few tips when he blazed past (3min lead evaporated in first 10min of paddling). Lost around 17min to dwarne during the hour or so I was on the river and got out of the boat in 12th.... and very tired and sore!

Smashed the road bike and ran as hard as I could. Taking some time back and catching 3rd place in the last 300m. My final run surge must've looked ok. The old boys at the rugby club were yelling out "do you play rugby cuz? We need a winger." I politely declined, said I was a halfback. "sweet bro, we need one of those too." Think they'd had a few too many speights already. Couldn't they see the size of me?

Final result? 3rd. 11min down on Dwarne Farley who won his 6th (?) Kaimai title, and about 1min shy of 2nd. Think I could get to like this Multisport thing with a bit of Kayak training?

And the best bit? Probably couldn't go past the post match (ah.... race) feed. Too much. All events should be hosted at a rural rugby club. Burgers. Beers and more than a few tall tales in the sun. And Mr Whippy was there too. Mint.

I am pretty happy with that debut. And very sore today. Time for some specific training I think. I've been getting by on my february/march form for a bit too long now. Time to rebuild and race less (for a lttle while anyway).

Only after this saturday though. Crank Taupo beckons. XC race, and then a DH as well for a combined all mountain title. Should be sweet.

Moonride 2010

2010-05-09T21:16:00.006+12:00

Only the best bikes for us! This bike did only do the last tent village "victory" loop

After a 3yr absence I once again lined up at the Moonride. Filling in ambassador duties for our awesome sponsors at Balance, we fronted up for 12hr duty as Team Balance Elite. I was given a bit of stick for not taking on the 24hr but I've spent enough sleepless nights in that paddock that when you own a house in Rotorua your bed is a little more attractive. And besides, after 5 24hr wins in years gone by we were keen for the sligtly higher speed challenge of the 12hr.

Being only 12 hours we figured we'd only need 4 riders (Myself, Scott Thorne, Brendan Sharrett, and Dave Sharpe). We hid behind the excuse of being multisport athletes as we've all been running a bit recently. And 3 of us were also on those "slow and not suited for XC 29er bikes". Turned out we didn't need excuses as our experience (should that be age?) showed through in the end. The Rotorua XC Development team pushed us very hard for the first 6-7 hours before we edged away to an evetually comfy win. Our 2lap stints at 90% proving a smarter strategy of 100% one lap sprints of our rivals.

Big thanks to my team mates who showed great speed and consistency. Especially Mono who failed dismally in his attempt to sand bag and slow us down. Thanks to Keryn for her impromteau management. Balance for the nutrition products. And Steve for the sweet Supersprint 20" BMX I rode for the last 1km to the finish.

The revised Moonride course was fast. Very fast. Like 27-28km/hr average speed for a hot lap. Perfect 29er territory, so lucky for us thats what 3/4 of the team were on. I was pretty stoked with the performance of my Cannondale Flash 29er.... but then again it would be pretty hard not to be.

First time through the event village on the start lap. After consultation with others it was decided that the start of these evnts is taken far too seriously by many. So the infamous beige Skinsuit was taken out of the mothballs with a lovely pair of compression socks to top off the look. Seemed to work. The fastest lap of the race follwed. Perhaps the embarassment of wearing such a suit forcing the pace so I could get out of it as soon as possible?

I'd say we were slick with team work.... but I'd be lying. Not exactly F1 styles going on here. Thanks to Keryn for deciding to take on Team Manager duties after the race start when it became clear how well organised we weren't. Our sweet wee ezi-up setup must have looked enticing. One gentlemen ran a little wide on the corner and decided to come have a lie down in our foodbox in the middle of our tent. He could have just asked for a feed?!

Mr Thorne hammering on my other bike. He took to the 29" concept pretty quickly. Not sure how smart that was of me.... he now realises my advantage. Thorne, Whaka 100, 29er? Scary.

Houffalize, Belgium!

2010-05-05T19:22:00.010+12:00

It is Wednesday and my legs are still a bit toast from the race at Houffalize Sunday, even after a couple of easy days...tough race! You will see in the photographs my face screwed up enduring the hurtbox throughout. But really, it was a pleasure to race at Houffalize - I loved it! There is something about mud, carnage & pain for almost 2hours that is strangely euphoric. At the finish I had no clue what place I had come, and I wasn't really in a hurry to find out. I had raced hard, I was tired, I was muddy & I was happy.

Looking real happy here!

Turns out I was 44th. Last week I was 40th but this week felt better. Sure I can identify costly mistakes, moments of impatience and again I struggled off the start line against the bigger more powerful girls. But given the deeper field (+30?) & more testing race conditions I applied myself better and managed to move through the field throughout the race.

Believe it or not, my fastest lap was my last lap. I think this is an indication of the trouble you run into on the first lap with 120 riders in single track, the more powerful but less technically competent riders dismounting preferring to run a slippery descent and hence you are forced to follow suit. I wanted to get out of the aforementioned trouble with a more aggressive start (which I did this week) but I took a tumble through the tape in the single track of the start loop as I was too eager in a passing manoeuvre. Razzled (& very shitty) I continued to make errors that inevitably cost me a position or three. The good thing is, that so long as I address these few things I learn in each race I will go better in the next one, right?!

...and here! Trying to recover a little before a steep pitch that was a bit too much for me in my smallest gear (XX groupset). It was fine in the dry during practice...lesson learnt.

Aller! aller! aller! Pushing hard and trying to go straight.

I had been intrigued by this place called Houffalize the first time I heard of it. It had some sort of appeal to have raced there & be able to refer to it. I guess it has that effect. I laughed to myself when I drove into the village, it has one road through it & a central roundabout - the race village is the village proper & it was bursting with fans, families, riders & team personnel from Thursday. Despite the rain on Sunday, the support of the spectators & race atmosphere was fantastic. They are passionate people alright!

I have a weekend free of racing to fit in a bit of a training block this week & next. My next race is a German national series race in Heubach ('Bike the Rock') May 15th followed up with the XCO WC #3 at Offenburg May 23rd. Looking forward to lining up there. So without further ado, I am going to test the legs with a ride in the countryside. Thanks for reading, more news soon...

Ou Revoir! (I am learning some French too)

PS: Cheers to Jarrod for the photo's above & the rest of the Australian group for having me stay & the race support provided. Much appreciated!

The t42

2010-05-05T15:17:00.002+12:00

Every cloud has a silver lining so they say... and for me, while a dirty big volcano in Iceland curtailed my plans to support Nic in europe, it did mean I was able to partake in the innagural running of the t42. Both running and MTB events racing through the iconic 42 traverse.

Glad I did. It was a fantastic event. 250 fellow MTB'ers, and about the same number of runners agreed. Well run. Beautiful setting. The owhango community really got behind it. And a great after match meal and party at the Park travellers lodge in National Park. Awesome.

As you might expect, while I like running, an off-road marathon doesn't really appeal, so MTB it was. It proved to be a great decision as I enjoyed a fantastic weekend at National Park, met some cool people, had a great ride, and even managed to take a win. I eventually stopped the clock at 1hr47 for the 45km (ish) ride, after having to double back after riding down the runners finishing chute. Thats alright, it'll make beating the record easier in future. I think 1hr40 is the magic target for future.

Somewhat embarrisingly I have never ridden the 42 traverse. I am pleased to report it is awesome to race. No its not technical.... but you try dealing with slippery rutted papa at 40km/hr plus downhill an a hardtail XC bike. It's only as hard as you make it. Seemed I tried to make it pretty tough on myself. A couple of off track excursions into the shrubbery ensued but nothing major and just added to the entertainment factor.

Early in the race I'd pushed pretty hard to get clear. Thomas Reynolds semmed pretty determined and was pushing hard. I'd been told he hadn't been riding much just running a lot. Which scared me as I know how well I ride when I'm in running form. So not keen to hang around I pinned it on the first descent and just TT'd the rest of the way in fear.

After Henner's on the sweep moto (an sweet ag 125) got stuck on a climb and left me on my own I backed off a little. While I reckon the Lefty fork is pretty stiff I wasn't keen to test its frontal impact strength on anything coming the other way, so a got a little cautious on the descents. I climbed strong though and the steady gradienst of the 42 meant I never got out of bigring (which is a 40 tooth on my bike).... this is probably why I won.

Thomas kept pushing himself along and crossed the line 2nd about 4min back. Shame for him he was part of team Vitasport. I'm sure if he was using Balance caffienated drink like myself he would've been closer. 3rd and 4th were Board Sailor extraodinaire JP Tobin, followed by yachting guru Carl Evans. I'm really liking the cross-over into MTB by all sorts of top performing sportspeople. Shows how cool our sport us. Maybe also shows us we should open our eyes to some alternative cross training?

So I went home via Wanganui and picked up Nic's Multisport Kayak. Went to Blue Lake this morning to give it a nudge. Only fell out twice. Damn that lake is cold without a wetsuit.....

World Cup XC Yorkshire...

2010-04-29T06:52:00.004+12:00

Apologies for the late update from Sundáy's race, I have been on the move negotiating my way down through England & then from Frankfurt (GER) to Belgium adjusting to the right hand side of the road & that 130kmph is actually quite slow! As most of you are aware, we had planned for Cabin to be accompanying me for these initial stages but Iceland erupted & I am relfing it big time over here...yes Cabin I sure do appreciate you! With Cabin were my race wheels & tyres, so you could say that last week was a little hectic leading into my first race up at Dalby Forest, Yorkshire. It was World Cup XCO #1 and after an encouraging domestic season in NZ I really wanted to hit the ground running & pull off a stellar result.

What would have been a stellar result? To be honest I did not know but thought that the least I would be satisfied would be top-40, and I was 40th. I was aware that coming to race in Europe the field would be deeper than in Quebec last year, but I underestimated the congestion that occurred in the start-loop and that cost me. I had a dismal start as myself & the girl in front failed to clip in and then proceeded to get tangled up in a couple of off-the bike moments in the start-loop. Consequently early on I was fighting just to get back to the start position I had had. The first lap was agitatingly slow as I tried to gain some track position, laps 4& 5 were my best but the finish came too soon. This weekend I need to start on time! Rosara smoked up from the back of the grid to pass me in the first 50m to finish a credible 25th place in her first race back. Nice!

So I will be looking for an improvement when I line up at Houffalize this Sunday. I might be being unreasonable, but I know that Dalby wasn't my best work. It was good to blow out the cobwebs following travel, disruptions & the bit of extra stress that presented, but I will be looking for a more complete performance come Sunday.

For the record Yorkshire was a great place to visit. The quaint wee town of Pickering was the gateway to Dalby Forest, and where I was warmly accomodated by Amanda & Mike Hawtin of Eleven Westgate B&B. They also own the local Big Bear Active Bike shop & operate guided MTB tours of Dalby & the surrounding Moors range - you'd almost think Cabin planned to leave me with the perfect hosts?! They were fantastic to say the least, and I certainly hope that the World Cup round remains in Dalby so I can return! The course was especially spectator friendly with several drops, A/B lines & fast bermed sections. It was great to have plenty of enthusiastic support course side on Sunday - Amanda & the children (Ethan & Emily) + fellow guests Tim & Sue & Ian - truly awesome, thank-you!

Tomorrow I will spend a bit of time on the Houffalize course ahead of Sunday. Hopefully there is a big hill 10m wide at the start! Will keep you posted, it is certainly great to be here... Ciao! nic :)

XTERRA Championship repeat (updated)

2010-04-11T17:14:00.006+12:00

Back to back.... MTB form equals good XTERRA form

Crap swim, Great ride, strong run = 2nd = happy
Credit to Monique Avery who put up a real fight to eventually finish 2nd.
Excellent choice of shirt by Super spectator Mike (in background)

Nic's report

I added another wee feather in my cap for the summer successfully defending my XTERRA NZ title at Blue Lake on Saturday. It was a hugely satisfying to have the #1 plate and race to the win off very limited triathlon preparation. It goes to show that as an individual sport mountain biking requires a high level of general body fitness, which, according to Jack Lovelock is key. He reckoned that ‘for any part of the body to function efficiently the whole body must be mentally and physically fit’. Sure, I didn’t have the specialized event fitness, but the foundation was good.

I had been agonizing over whether I race or not for several weeks. I reckoned that as the current champ I was obliged to line up and defend it. However I had made it clear that my focus is purely on XCO mountain biking, and as I leave for a race block in Europe so soon after XTERRA I did not want to detract from my MTB form at such an important time.

Turns out I couldn’t resist. After a brick session and a set of run intervals the weekend prior I knew that I could be competitive. Cabin was awesome, as he manipulated only the last week of training and managed to maintain the physiological objectives of each session for the MTB.

I was quietly excited about the race and the challenge I would have on my hands. I had a simple strategy - survive the swim, smash the MTB (get to the front of the race) and run smart. The swim was it’s usual carnage, and then some. I swallowed a heap of water and kidded to myself that hydration is good. I was pleased to touch the sand and arrive in transition to where my Avanti Competitor was waiting patiently for me. I felt a bit rubbish as I belched and burped my way up the tar-seal and I hoped the swim hadn’t knocked too much wind out of my sails. Soon after hitting the forest my legs came right and I was moving well through the traffic.

Monique Avery was charging at the front and I finally caught her heading up Moerangi Rd. As I went by she hung tough and rode with me for the remainder of the MTB and into transition. 10-metres was the difference leaving transition but I quickly got into my work, got past and made a small gap along the sand. I settled in and concentrated on running efficiently at a pace that I would be able to maintain throughout. I actually enjoyed the run, particularly once I had it under control. Running the last side of the lake and up to finish platform was especially rewarding with a heap of support from spectators. I crossed < 2mins up on Monique and 5mins ahead of 2nd Elite woman Rebecca Rae & Suz Wood of Nelson was 3rd. It was great to have Monique right up there putting the pressure on, she had a good strong race and will no doubt be a strong contender to defend her age-group title at Maui.

Thank-you all for the amazing support; AVANTI, BALANCE NUTRITION, 2XU, NATURE VALLEY, NEW BALANCE, SMITH OPTICS, N-DURO EVENTS. I have enjoyed a busy but successful summer bagging the National & Oceania MTB titles and XTERRA too. Your input has certainly been instrumental, thank-you. I am looking forward to Europe where the challenges only get bigger, but so do the rewards. Will keep you posted. Cheers, nic!

... And Cabin's account

2nd again, and my 4th straight XTERRA NZ podium. I'd be frustrated, except that I put together a strong race, used everything I had on the day, did all I could, and was only beaten by a complete performance by Scott Thorne.

My swim was a little dissapointing. I've been struggling for speed, and felt I was coming right. However I dealt with the carnage of what was a rough swim poorly. Shuffling back through the pack after a great start to eventually emerge 2min45 down on front, and crucially 1min30 behind Scott. I should probably be happy I emerged at all, as the IRB made 3 rescues for a broken arm, concussion, and broken collarbone respectively!

Onto the bike and I really was charging. Despite a few slight delays in trying to pass slower riders who refused to give room (why? I never understand. Why wouldn't you let the faster rider go and follow? You might learn something.), I got through the field pretty quick. Legs were great and I pushed hard. So much so that I decided to have a wee lie down on the road at the top of chesnut link for a rest. Not too much damage down and I emerged off the bike just 30sec down on Scott.

We later realised how hard we'd gone when we saw splits. I had the fastest split at 1:14. Other than Scott (@ 1:14:55) and 1:16 something from Junior MTB star Sam Shaw, the next fastest split barely broke 1:20!

With Scott in my sights I set off hard on the run, cutting the lead to 15sec after 1km. I then realised it was a bit too hard and immediately started to crumble as cramp set in. Scott was strong and increased his lead to 1min with one 5.5km lap to run. Focussing on efficient technique I pushed as hard as I could throughout the closing kilometres, but it was all I could do to hold the gap. Crossing the line 2nd, and just 59sec down.

Scott deserved it. He worked hard, and the only downer was Richard Usshers absence. Scott put such a complete race together I suspect he could have beaten pretty much anyone on Saturday. Between us I think we proved this really is an event that requires special skills, strength and determination. No longer can a strong road triathlete expect to turn up and lead the way. If anything, it proves just how good Hamish Carter was as an athlete.

Next up for me? rest, ice cream, and I'd better go looking for a Dirtbike.

The 29er's keep getting faster

2010-04-07T14:53:00.002+12:00

Some eye candy for 29er fans out there. May I present the latest edition to the Cabin Racing stable. I've been through a few iterations of 29ers now, and quite honestly they keep getting better. Pictured ready to go for XTERRA this weekend its weighing in (as pictured with pedals and tube taped to the seatpost) at a massive.... 9.1kg!

No its not skittery and sketchy to ride. Its actually one of the best descending XC bikes I've had the pleasure of riding. Might be the lefty? Might be the geometry? Either way it rides sweet. Even kept pace ok with his royal radness Ross Schnell on his remedy (maybe he was just being nice?).

For standard spec you can have a look here But I have made a few mods. Threw on an FSA carbon crankset (27/40) and a XX fr derailleur (modified with an angle grinder to accomodate the rings). Switched to grip shift. Put my Stans Race 29er rear wheel in. 12-26 road cassette (closer ratios), and istalled some favourite Bontrager tyres. Good to go. Its quick.... I just hope my legs/lungs can do it justice.

2010-03-25T10:54:00.002+13:00

So its been a bit of a flurry of media activity for Nic in the wake of Oceania's. Latest (and perhaps coolest from a cyclists perspective) is that she made it onto cyclingnews.com

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/new-oceania-champion-nic-leary-looking-forward-to-european-debut

There's a few more features in various publications lined up. Meanwhile I have to make do with this piece from Dunedin TV

http://www.ch9.co.nz/content/dunedin-mountain-biking-facilities-becoming-world-class

Oceania Short Track

2010-03-23T13:50:00.003+13:00

Oceania Short Track champs. Not entirely sure whether my face is showing exhaustion.... or relief that I finally beat Mikey for the first time in 4 races (where our combined seperation over two N-Duros and 2 x 25min Short tracks is still less than 60sec).

Mikey did stop for a lie down on the track in the first few minutes so did well to get back to contest the finish. Must have been a hard night on Saturday huh Mikey?

Oceania Champ... Nic's report

2010-03-22T19:29:00.007+13:00

So a pretty good weeked for Team N-Duro/Nature Valley in Dunner's. Ater Nic's Saturday heroics I enjoyed a mint Sunday....

.... got up. 1hr10 trail run. Went to crusty corner for chocolate croisant and coffee. Won the Oceania Short track title!!! Scotty cooked a mean BBQ for dinner. Watched 4 episodes of Nitro Circus season 2, and polished off some cake and ice-cream. Nice.

Anyway..... Nic's report on the weekend as follows.....

I am home from a successful weekend racing the best of the Aussies in the Oceania MTB Championships held in an old stomping ground of mine – Dunedin. Quite contrasting is that back then I was a student playing premier club rugby at half-back for the Varsity women’s side, running a bit & quite possibly socializing too much! Indeed it was a different agenda this weekend & I am happy to report that I had a strong race claiming my first Oceania XC women’s title to go with my recent National Elite XC title! Rowena Fry (Australian National Champ & Avanti team-mate) was second (+1min20sec) & the one who I had to keep clear of throughout the four lap race on a superb course at Forrester Park.

It was my birthday on Friday, which I had forgotten about until Cabin mentioned it. Then I was reminded frequently as fellow XC racers Gav & Raewyn had speckled the course on Friday with an array of signs to make sure everybody knew! It made for an entertaining pre-ride.

I was feeling fresher & stronger as race day approached. I had had a flat day at the Karapoti race 2 weeks ago, and that race seemed to further knock the stuffing out of me. I did manage to fit in another ‘block’ of training in between & we changed my approach to Saturday’s race which was a good call. I was recovered, and raring for another punishing outing.

First Lap, and pace is on to hit first singletrack

The race start was hot off the line, but into the first turn & single track it slowed, quite significantly. I was about fourth wheel & felt we were creeping so I made a couple of passes & sat in behind leader Rowena Fry. Up a short pinch I boldly went around Rowena & pinned it for the ‘farm track’ climb. I kept the pace reasonable and she drew alongside and we rode to the top close enough. Rowena led into the first single track descent, and along with Fiona MacDermid we seemed to have gapped the field nicely.

Impatient up the next climb I was raring to get by & get away so I attacked & after a lengthy piece of single track I popped out clear of Rowena - much to the crowds delight! I knew it was now my race to control & went about riding smooth, strong & fast. Mid-way through the second lap Rowena rode back to within 15sec of me. I could see her on the switchback below which startled me a bit, but I sensed she was working hard. I rode the descent well & made a plan to stay consistent until the climb then test the legs again. There were 2.5 climbs on the course, the farm track was the most grueling & each time I went up it I felt better & better. By the fourth & final lap I was firing & I managed to extend my lead. I was pretty happy exiting the forest for the finish line with no-one (but a few U19 boys I was amongst) close. I won by a tidy 1min20sec.

Post race interview. Cabin super impressed by the old school journalism. Pen and paper, jotted notes..... and he wrote an interesting and accurate story too.

I seem to be learning more & more about race craft & it felt great to be able to apply the pressure, absorb some & finish off so clinically. I was not only happy to win but I was happy with my performance all round. It is definitely onward & upward from here, in 3.5weeks I will be in Europe to contest the first three World Cup races – a big step again, but one I am looking forward to. It is great to measure up, tick that box & then set about the next goal.

I would especially like to thank my sponsors for their marvelous support. AVANTI, 2XU, BALANCE NUTRITION, NATURE VALLEY, RIDESTRONG, N-DURO EVENTS, SMITH OPTICS & NEW BALANCE. I certainly hope to be reporting more great news as my season continues. Thank-you also to the many others that support me, most of all Cabin – coach, partner, team-mate, house-mate, masseuse, mechanic…you get the gist. Cheers!

Oceania Champion!!!

2010-03-20T18:41:00.002+13:00

Quick post.... Nic Leary is the 2010 Oceania XC Champion!! Great display of controlled agression on what was a super testing, but very fun, Bethunes Gully track in Dunedin. Aussie Champ (and Avanti team mate) Rowena Fry 2nd.

Pics and a proper report to follow later.

Oh yeah.... I rode the morning Masters race and spent the morning chasing super freak 15yr old Anton Cooper. Worked out ok as we did the 5th/6th fastest lap averages of the day.

National Champion....On the 3yr Training plan

2010-03-01T20:36:00.004+13:00

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present your 2010 NZ Elite Womens XC Champion (and Short Track XC Champion), Nic Leary. Mission accomplished, next step Karapoti, and Oceania's. One very pround partner typing this.

One who was then motivated to add to his freshly crowned Masters XC title, to smash out a decent ride himself in the Short track and pushed National Mens Champ Mikey Northcott to the limit, before grudingly settling for 2nd.

Saturdays National XC Champs win by Nic was extremely satisfying for Nic (and me). She's worked bloody hard towards this, and her display on the day was impecable. Riding strongly off the front from the outset. Putting together a mistake free race extending her lead with every lap for an emphatic victory over Fiona Macdermid. One very accomplished athlete herself.

What was more special was that Mt Vic provided the location. As opposed to my 25yr training plan mentioned in the previous post.... Nic's has been less than 3. It was at this very venue almost 3yrs to the day that Nic took in her first National XC event. As a spectator on the sidelines watching me in what was my last Elite XC national in NZ. Thinking it was cool to watch, but perhaps even more exciting to be a part of, a new sporting pursuit began in earnest.

3yrs later, on perhaps the best XC nationals course I've ever seen in NZ (thanks marco, slackboy and co), she pieced it all together. Even better was the crowd support. Nic and I now like to think of ourselves as honorary members of the Bushlove Racing crew.... so it was important to perform in front of this very enthusiatic bunch of supporters. And we really did enjoy the after match socialising with this lot. I even publicly declared them the future of XC such is their enthusiasm and passion for the sport. Cheers guys.

And me? Despite Slackboys protestations I felt no guilt in claiming the Masters National title. Kyle Wood from Timaru scared me early in the race with pace I wasn't expecting. His great riding forced me into an uncharacteristic panicked state. Racing like an excited 18yr old I proceeded to crash my brains out for the first two laps before finally settling down to ride away to (an eventually) solid win.

Bring on Karapoti

The 25yr training plan

2010-02-24T10:00:00.002+13:00

Two days and counting till the primary objectives of our MTB season kick off. The 2010 National MTB Championships, and the Karapoti Classic just 7 days later. Both celebrate the 25th anniversary of competive MTB in NZ, which began with the first Karapoti back in 1986.

So its a big deal. And a quick flick through mums photo albums proves I've been building to this for just that....25years! Pictured above shows a young Cabin (right of picture) circa 1986 fresh from one of my first MTB training sessions. Its certainly a pretty sweet bike. Matched by some equally sweet overalls, and I am sure some pretty sweet jumps were completed too.

Fast forward to 2010 and Nic is feling pretty good. Wrist injury has progressed well and she'll be getting the Nat's course dialled. Meanwhile I've completed my final "secret" Karapoti smashfest training session today, so hopefully will be recovered by next weekend!?!

And at the very least recovered enough to withstand the Bushlove assault on the Masters XC title. Should I be afraid??

N-Duro series final: Mission accomplished

2010-02-15T21:02:00.003+13:00

... so phase one of Team N-Duro's 2010 season is complete, and after Sunday's 3rd and final round of the Bike Vegas Summer N-Duro series, I once again secured the overall and retained my "King of the Series" title to ensure it's been a good start to the year.

It was also suggested that I should have won it...... After all I set the courses. I obviously didn'y do a very good job as this is where I point out that I also didn't manage to win a race and secured the title with three straight 2nds. The bridesmaid strikes again. Frustrating, but in the circumstances I'll take it!

The unique feature of the N-Duro series is that the title is based on cumulative time, which means you can't afford to take it easy at any time. It encourages aggressive racing which can only be good. Fronting up on Sunday I was in for a tough day with Stu Houltham and Mikey Northcott for company, and a tough race certainly followed.

I tried to be conservative, but with Mikey and Stu pushing each other super hard it become a very tough day. I soon found myself struggling to hang on on the ups, and hanging it out on the descents to regain touch utilising the suburb traction (?!) of the Ravens on the slick surface. The race see-sawed a bit until Mikey eventually got away for good up hill road with about 20km to go.

I thought I had it under control, but chasing hard down chesnut link I promptly rode straight into a tree at high speed. Smartly I used the handlebar to stop and while that bent, my face stayed intact. I was a bit sheepish for the rest of the descent but soon got my act together when I realised Mikey had flown the coup. Digging deep I chased hard all the way back and managed to limit the losses to just 58sec at the end. Taking the series by a mere 3min (over 6hrs racing with Mikey). Stu battled hard to chase us home for a great 3rd on tracks not so familiar to his prefered wellington terrain.

I am super stoked that a) I proved to myself I can still foot it with the best of the best in NZ (maybe better than ever before). and that b) I'm going to get to watch a great battle between these two and others at the National Champs in Wellington in two weeks while I relax on the sidelines.

And Nic? She grudgingly sat out Sundays race. Her wrist injury sustained at Tokoroa was a bit worse than first thought. So is off the MTB for a wee bit to ensure she's right for Wellington. Training hard on the wind trainer....and getting a wee bit frustrated!

Two for Two: Team N-Duro takes on Tokoroa.....

2010-02-09T16:23:00.004+13:00

..... and the Tokoroa soil comes up trumps

However, as you can see by the stylish wee medals pictured below, Team N-Duro's first venture onto the National MTB scene this season at Tokoroa on Sunday proved quite successful. Nic put in a rather dominant display to claim her first Elite National Series win, quite fittingly 3yrs to the day since her first real MTB ride. But the day wasn't without incident.

First up in the morning, I decided to race in Masters so I could test the course for Nic....or maybe because I was too lazy to race Elite?! To make things more interesting I decided to start the race with no back brake (The 50km MTB ride I did with brake part dragging on Saturday had finished off any pads that were left). Spicing things up further were the almost 30 U17/U15 riders that started their race 30sec earlier, making the first lap rather interesting. Showing some interesting styles on the technical descents to compensate for the lack of rear brake, I managed to survive the course. Pushing reasonably hard and taking a comfortable win.

So on to Elite, and a pretty intense race was on the cards. The Cougar Park course was fast, and undulating. Promising a brutal pace and quite literally survival of the fittest. With a good sized field of NZ's best women, Nic was keen to force the pace early and lead out. Sure enough she proceeded to appear back after lap one with a 30sec lead, which she proceeded to slowly extend over 5 laps to eventually contest a sprint finish with Carl Jones. She lost.... but then Carl was in the process of taking a well deserved victory in Elite Mens. Nic had taken the womens race by more than 5min.

Seemingly an incident free race..... that was until I discovered she'd had a big crash early on lap one pushing too hard in singletrack (note to self... stop watching Sam Hill footage prior to races), damaging her wrist in the process, and fighting back through the lead pack. The wrist is really tender now so she did well to keep riding. Adreneline is a great painkiller. Then there was an over the bars down the bridge drop. And....and.... Then she settled down to ride a strong controlled race.

And what about that 3 yr MTB anniversary? Surely I'm kidding? No. I thought it was quite a nice story. You see Nic bought her first real MTB late in 2006 from Crank It Cycles in Palmerston North via some dodgy salesman named Cabin. She didn't actually ride it until Waitangi day 2007 when she ventured over Greens Rd. Waitangi weekend 2010 and she posts her first National Series Elite win in dominant fashion. Pretty cool really.

Finally, big ups to Carl Jones. The potential has always been there, and its great to see it realised. Maybe he listened to us and learnt something useful during his time with Aunt Betty's? Or maybe he didn't. Still, I was stoked to be able to witness his breakthrough ride firsthand.

Roll on the final of the N-Duro Summer series this weekend.

P.S. Those that take notice of our event calender.... yes, I did compete in the Blue Lake Multisport festival's Sprint Triathlon last weekend. Short version of events, awesome swim for first 200m. Then I got tired. It was an average time. On to a fumbling transition, smoked the bike (fastest split), and another average transition. Before an adequate run bought me home to a comfortable win in the open mens. All good, except for the 3 young U20 hotshots were still in front of me.....

Summer N-Duro #2

2010-01-25T15:14:00.004+13:00

It was a funny old day for us yesterday at race two of the N-Duro series. Could write a pretty lengthy report, but perhaps easiest is to steel the summary from riderotorua.com...

"another perfect day, warm but not too hot. After a week of rain, clearing to light showers on Saturday, the trails were the right side of tacky and the times reflected that on a course that started on a fast forest road section, then quickly got into tough singletrack in the core network and a climb up Tokorangi Pa Road. Excellent course and an amazing finish in 45KM Men with Mike Northcott and Team Nduro's Mark "Cabin" Leishman duking it out. Mike took the photo finish on the line after an epic sprint. Annika Smail backed up to win her second round with Nic Leary (also from Team Nduro), 2nd. Nic stopped to help an injured rider on Billy T or it would have been very close."

Mikey leading out with one of the most significant gaps between us all race. I made a good break early, was climbing well, and held a 30-40sec climbing frontal labotomy. But then I made a bad gear shift and tangled up my chain. My fault. Gap gone. Was great to race Mikey head to head as we have quite different strengths and tested each other accordingly. In the end I executed my tactics perfectly.... but Mikey simply had a stronger kick and took it by half a wheel.
Nic and Annika were also having a great battle. Again forcing them well clear of the chasing field. Both forcing each other into worlds of hurt, and the odd mistake. Annika missing corners. Nic riding into Punga trees. Their battle was effectively over when Nic stopped to administer first aid. But thats racing. Things happen. No point in what ifs and maybes. Thats simply how it panned out. Roll on Summer N-Duro #3 and yet another epic showdown.

Cabin sporting the ironman bling with the white arm warmers. WTF? Bit gay isn't it? Trying to prove his worth to Bushlove Racing? No.....Utilising inside knowledge of the course (having spent most of saturday course marking) he realised there was a bit of undergrowth to bash through and not fancying cut up arms opted for the 2XU armshades (lightweight sunburn protecors basically). Smart

nix news...!

2010-01-19T17:17:00.014+13:00

A fair few things have happened in recent times, all positive and exciting. I thought I was well overdue for a wee update of my own...so here it is!

I have a new ride!! So I thought my last Team Competitor (the one I raced at worlds & what will now be my training bike) was the best bike yet, turns out my 2010 Avanti Team Competitor is right up there & then some. Check this out!

2010 Avanti Team Competitor

This is my new XC race bike. Complete with the Carbon DT wheel-set, the new SRAM XX group-set and SID world cup fork, this is a true sensation. It has had its maiden ride in the Redwoods & I am stoked! I will be busting it out at the n-Duro this Sunday 24^th so if you want a closer look, I will happily show you & talk about it a lot no doubt :)

A very BIG thank-you to Avanti, my bike sponsor, I am very fortunate to be riding such an exceptional bike. Thanks also to Avanti-Plus Mt Maunganui, A+ Cyclezone Rotorua, Cabin and Ryan Hollows for the final set up & masterful touches (aka pimping) of this bike.

My first road race - a road tour! Yes as Cabin mentioned, & it was a blast! I really enjoyed the Tour de Femme held in Nelson between Christmas & the New Year. It was an entirely new challenge for me, but b/c I had been doing a fair bit of training on the road in my 'build phase' we decided to include it in my race schedule. Mostly to see if I was getting the consistent strength/endurance I had been working on. Turns out I did OK, placing 10th on GC after a big learning curve on stage three that saw me lose the lead group I should have stayed within. It was a great few days of riding, and I feel it was very beneficial as I continue to develop as a cyclist. I look forward to next year where I aim to be competitive in the Queen of the Mountains category...

A special mention has to be made about my Avanti Questa Road Bike. Sure, it is not about the bike, but this is a true gem of a roadie. Below are a few shots of me racing in Nelson onboard my Questa. Once again, I would like to say a BIG thank-you to Amanda Till & the team at Avanti. My road bike & I will be spending some good time together yet, I am sure.

The 19km TT - Do I look like I know what I am doing?!

Takaka Hill Climb - Just go hard & fast...

Avanti Questa Roadie - nice!

In general...

Exercise Induced Vasospastic Amaurosis Fugax...is the phenomenon that (after various appointments/imaging & tests) is the working diagnosis for my vision loss problem. It is early days, and quite honestly we do not know for sure but I am trialing a medication prescribed to prevent the vaso-spasm of the retinal arteries that is thought to be responsible for the amaurosis fugax (or thick white cloud/fog that decends across my eyes) with exertion.

I am a bit of a case study as there are few reported cases in the literature especially as unique as my scenario (with the onset only when racing MTB mod-hard exertion 2hrs+). I am happy to report this progress however, and so far so good :) I suspect Karapoti will be a good test.

I am absolutely loving training & all aspects of biking practice at the moment. Cabin's been dishing out some good hard stuff which I love and feel we have improved a few key areas of my riding. I have just come back from a week at the farm - mustering, drafting, dagging, fencing and docking calves...love it. It's always good to go back to the hills & do some good physical work. Returning to Rotorua with a good few tins of baking and meat for the freezer will always be a bonus!

And…club night & BMX training has resumed for the New Year so Wednesday night I look forward to racing a good few moto’s & working on improving my bicycle skills more and more. I have definitely missed it over the past few weeks. With our whare (house), a garage full of bikes, warm weather, good training & good health... things couldn't really be better!

Thats is for now, thanks for your interest - see you at the events, in the forest or thereabouts...nic J

Hard Yards in Heaven

2010-01-11T13:32:00.006+13:00

Ok, so I blatently ripped off that title from Hamish Carters old training camps.... but that essentially describes my epic weekend. Back home and enjoying our house in vegas, rather than relax I had a big weekend of racing lined up. Firstly, the Port of Tauranga half ironman (NZ Champs), followed with the first race of the N-Duro Summer MTB series on Sunday.

Crazy? Maybe. But I reckoned I would be at my most tired two days later from the half, so racing the next day would be ok. Twisted logic but it seemed to pay off. end result? 12th at the NZ half ironman champs, and 2nd in the N-Duro a mere 40sec behind Dirk Peters. Right now I'm on about my 4th coffee of the day to stay awake.

Saturday: Tauranga Half-Ironman

This was always going to be a big challenge. My logic in entering was that it would force me to commit to a steady period of base training in swim/bike/and run over November and December. Training had gone well, but having never TT'd more than 40km and not run a half marathon since 2001 it was a big unknown. With Nic along to support along with Mum and Dad it was pretty good motivation.

First suprise was to turn up and discover I'd inherited Cam Brown's #1 spot in transition. My Clip on aero bar equipped standard road bike (a mint Malvern Star Oppy C7) looked a little out of place in a rack full of TT bikes but it certainly gauranteed great product placement for my faithful sponsors.

Second suprise was the difficulty of the swim. I hadn't realised how much the chop and currents effected the swim here in Tauranga. And I also quickly discovered I am very poor at picking the currents and swimmingly accordingly. As such I proceeded to almost overshoot turning bouhys, swim extra distance, and fight to stop myself being swept into various boats. I survived the 2km though, but was dissapointed to see myself around 5min further down on where I wanted to be. Exiting in 100 something'th. Not a good start.

The bike? How hard is a flat 90km? Mentally really hard. I spent the whole ride catching and passing people, trying to make up time. I would be constantly out of the saddle every 5min as TT position just didn't seem comfortable. One guy following me even tried to abuse me with.... "can't you hold an aero position? You ride like a Mountainbiker...." Thanks I replied. Compliment I thought. Still, I averaged 39 point something Kph in difficult conditions and passed most of the womens field.

Onto the run and I had two goals. First to catch Robin Reid who'd just smashed me on the bike. And two... to win the womens race. I succeeded. Turns out I run ok for a mountainbiker. Plenty of "go cabin" and "go the mountainbiker" spurred me on to a solid 40min for the first lap. However my feet were really starting to hurt and with 10.5km still to go I was struggling. In my hurry to get through transition I'd gone sockless and I was paying for it with heinous blisters. Pushing on I finally overtook the womens race leader with about 7km to go, but got a fright to see Sam Wariner had closed to about a minute from me. That prompted me to up my game and I finished strongly.

A 1hr21 half marathon the days 8th fastest run, and good enough to move me up to 12th. Not a bad debut....and happily I "won" the womens race by a comfortable 3min :)

Sunday: N-Duro Summer Cup

Backing up the next day was always going to be a tough ask. However I'd done the recovery thing well. Got all the food in thanks to Balance, and had used the 2XU compression as recommended. It wasn't all serious though as a healthy dose of ice-cream was also diligently put away.

Turning up on Sunday morning it soon became clear this would be no easy day. Rotorua turned on the weather and around 240 keen beans turned up to enjoy the trails and racing. The men's field was only missing 2 or 3 riders that would have made it a NZ Champs worthy field, and it wasn't too different in the womens.

From the gun the womens race turned into a Nic v Annika battle. It was great for both of them as they pushed each other hard. Probing for weaknesses with various attacks. The decisive moment came about 2/3 of the way through when Nic crashed heavily on No-Brains whilst chasing a flying Annika. She got up and got going but had lost contact. She pushed hard to the finish but fell 90sec short of Annika. They were flying however and their battle had pushed them 8min clear of 3rd. Encouraging signs for upcoming races.

And me?

Was pretty determined to stay as near as I could to the front for as long as I could. Suprisingly I felt pretty strong. Turns out the pace was pretty hot and whilst I felt comfortable we'd soon whittled down the field to a select group of 5 (Mike Northcott, Ed Crossling, Dirk Peters, Ash Hough, and myself). The race went to pieces up Lookout Rd. Mr Ed attacked hard and only Mikey and Dirk could respond.

I just held a rythym and by the top passed a now blown looking Ed. Mikey and Dirk were long gone. By the bottom of No-Brains I past a stricken Mikey repairing some damage, and inherited 2nd. Getting a time check of 40sec to Dirk I pushed as hard as I could all the way home but really struggled on the steep punchy climbs. Maybe half ironmans aren't good prep?! In the end it was a very satisifed 2nd.... still 40sec down. Carl Jones was 3rd a few minutes later, trailed in by Mikey. But where was Mr Ed?

Turns out he'd decided to use No-Brains for Human Cannonball practice and after a successful and lengthy flight had decided to use his face to stop himself. It was nasty crash and thankfully Ash was quick on the scene to stop and render assistance. So big thanks from everyone to Ash. And recover fast Ed.

All in all a very successful, and very tiring weekend for me. Looking for a few days of nothing, and probably a few pies I imagine!

Swim start as age-groupers watch the pro's to see how its done. For their sake I hope they weren't watching me

Swim survived. Time to go to work

Holding Aero position... must've seen the camera

A bit over 3km to go and stoked its mostly gravel!
My poor feet. FYI. Wear socks when running 1/2 marathon

New Year catch up

2010-01-06T10:29:00.008+13:00

How slack of us. We haven't posted anything up here in a month. Oops. Well, things have been pretty busy. Plenty of training, moved into our new house, family xmas, then down to Nelson for the Tour De Femme.

We had a great Xmas, which was only enhanced with our extra special Xmas goodies packages for our various supporters. Exciting deliveries from 2XU, Nature Valley, Balance, and Smith all ensuring we are well stocked up on food and looking flash for summer. Also there was the small matter of a shiney new Avanti Questa Team roadie for Nic, and some nice Zero Carbon wheels to use also. Pretty damn cool.

Off to Nelson and Nic lined up at the annual Tour de Femme. A great way to build some form and learn some new skills. Not only was it Nic's first roadie tour, but first road race full stop! So it was in the deep end and she quitted herself bloody well. A good climb up Takaka Hill, and plenty of strength shown getting into the front group and doing more than her fair share of work mixing it up. Seemed to improve each day and by the end of 5 stages had grabbed a strong 12th on GC. Ruing a couple of small mistakes that cost her any shot at the top 6 or 7. Next time eh?

Warming up for stage 1 and still smiling
Takaka Hill.... this is actually after the finish. Nic decided she liked it so much she'd warm down by climbing another couple of k's.
Flat TT. Not exactly an MTB'er fortay, but at least we put aero bars on?!
Final stage, lead group sprint. In amongst it.....

....Meanwhile Cabin works on his xmas cake intake

Meanwhile we are back home in Rotorua. Fantastic to be in our own place and amazing how much motivation it gives to actually look after something when you own it eh? I've even mowed the lawns a couple of times already! Taking it easy this week as on Saturday its my turn to leap into the unknown as I give the Tauranga 1/2 ironman a crack (backed up with N-Duro #1 on Sunday). Fitness is good, and with Malvern Star providing me a mint dura-ace equipped carbon roadie and some fast Zero wheels I don't have too many excuses.

Like all good triathletes I relaxed last night with a blast on the MTB and hitting up the step down gap jump on Old Chevy (as did Nic). Life is good.

Festival of Cycling

2009-12-09T09:31:00.006+13:00

Well, we are back home again, after one of the most fun cycling weekends we've had in a long time.

As Nic alluded to in her earlier post about the Huka.... one of the most exciting things for MTB at the moment seems to be the frequency that it is being recognised and included in Festival style events. Following hot on the heels from Taupo, was the Armstrong Motor Group Festival of Cycling in Christchurch. Now in its fifth year, Simon Hollander and his team decided to add in an MTB event so we showed up to try it out.

The festival is impressive. And while the MTB event was maybe a little short, it was certainly demanding. Our races didn't go quite to plan. I felt really strong, but lacked a top gear. So when Brendan Sharratt and the impressive Richard Anderson jumped away I could only watch. I had the tiny Anton Cooper for company. Turns out he wasn't much use to draft off.... and then I made the mistake of letting him lead me into the singletrack.

Turns out Port Hills singletrack takes some time to adapt to. Its narrow and rocky. I didn't see Anton again till the finish. 4th it was then.

Nic on the other hand stormed up Rapaki track into a commanding lead. Relaxing across the top she didn't notice local Sarah Taylor working well with some of the guys to bridge across to her. Making the same mistake of letting the local into singletrack, she couldn't find a way past. And had to settle for 2nd.

We soon forgot all that though on day 2 of the festival and the event we'd all really been waiting for. The celebrity tandem crit (on singlespeed tandems). 10 cycling celebrities were paired with 10 businesses for a pretty fun (and intense) race. There was a bit of carnage off the start line but things soon settled as we started to test how well these things braked and turned. Kashi and Jack Bauer weren't as agressive as we might have hoped, but Nic was making up for things. Meanwhile Heath Blackgrove and Robin Reid proved pretty adept and aggressive pilots and pulled off some strong passing manouveres under brakes. I tried to line them up into the hairpin into the last lap only to drop our chain.

Nevermind... we still hit 46km through the speed trap. Awesome fun. Thanks to Simon Hollander for an awesome weekend. We might have to investgate a few more tandem events I thin?!

Cabin and his shadow.... until the shadow got away
Nic displaying impecable DH form

Before the start of the tandem race where all form went out the window

Lean angles were surprisingly good....

While Nic decided pedalling wasn't really neccessary

Taupo Huka Wknd

2009-12-02T20:57:00.007+13:00

Just like 11'000+ ppl Cabin & I made our way to Taupo on Friday afternoon. Amazing - isn't it? That many people participating in a cycle event! Each year it grows I am in awe of the effort, organisation and community spirit Taupo demonstrates to host such an iconic event. It is quite remarkable.

Cabin & I were there to participate in the Huka MTB race. It was a mixed bag for team n-Duro. Cabin had a fine ride, carving the craters single track at a very consistent pace riding up to third place in the open men's race behind Stu & Mikey. Congrats to these guys who battled it out on the home straight for a photo-finish...kinda close huh. Awesome. And top ride to Poppa Cabin, letting the younger riders know he is not over the hill or even close yet!

Meanwhile I was on the side of the trail trying to come to terms with a DNF. I had a return of my vision problem. Off the start Annika & I rode out to Craters at a comfortable pace & I was thinking sweet, legs & lungs will go the distance well today. Not long into the single track I was aware that my vision was a little 'blurred' but thought it was just a dim day & I was adjusting to the light. I stopped to request riding glasses & lost touch with Annika although on the open climb I could still see her & set about a good pace to hopefully get closer. But I didn't see her again, in fact I didn't see much. My eyes got thicker with white cloud/fog and my vision was all but gone by the time I got to the 55km mark at Heli-star. I had been battling with the decision to w/draw as I was crashing frequently through the last trails in Craters & getting really agitated. When we popped out of the forest into the open, the glare seemed to make it worse - I could see white & bright but that was all. I put my bike down & sat down on the grass unsure of what to do next.

It is pretty hard to deal with when your legs are strong, you feel good & then have something like this occur. I was extremely frustrated and disappointed. I just wanted to ride & finish but I couldn't even do that. So for me, it wasn't the day I wanted. Of course we are investigating further & hopefuly we get to the bottom of it fast.

Even with the generous help of a supporter finding some riding glasess for me (if you are reading this please let me know!) to use, my vision deteriorated pretty consistently once it had set in. I doubt that having the riding glasess helped, but it was definately worth a shot. Thank-you!

The thing that did cheer me up however, was that my eyes recovered within 4hours (previously it has taken 8-10hrs) and I could go and participate in the 5k Heart Childrens ride which I had been looking forward to too! This was a truly fantastic way to turn the day around. Heart Children NZ is the official charity of the Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge. Along with Bevan Docherty & Eroni Clarke I had the pleasure of some quality bike riding and hanging out with these courageous Heart kids. They are inspiring, you would never guess the great deal they have been through. I am sure you will all agree that prizegiving had a particularly 'feel good' factor to it. It was a celebration of participation, riding bikes and fulfillment. It was also a wonderful fundraiser for the most deserving children & families in NZ. Go the Heart Kids!!

So all in all it was a great weekend. We had fantastic accomodation at the Rahui Racing HQ - thanks Marty & Tristan! We liked your racing tales :) We caught up with a good few friends & spent some quality time with sponsors & fellow bike riders.

Someone said the other day that... 'track is for racing, road is for training, and dirt is for potatoes'. I think the addition of the Huka MTB race to the Taupo programme is fantastic & I reckon we will see a few changing discipline to 'see how the other compares'. Let's hope so! 300 starters in the Huka MTB race on Sat... no doubt there were just as many tales and heartbreak in the Huka as with the road event. I don't mind being called a spud if I get to hoon around 70-odd km of single track getting some mean drifts, physical & technical climbs, no bunches and crashing w/o suffering from road rash...suits me fine. See y'all next year (and I will be SEEing you at the finish)...

Photo's to be added :)

Get Lost

2009-11-17T10:53:00.005+13:00

Or should that be, try NOT to get lost, and get round the forest as fast as you can in the meantime. What am I on about?

Sunday saw a random edition to my training plan. The NZ MTB Orienteering Champs were on in the Whaka forest, so I figured why not give it a nudge. I was super experienced afterall..... with a stellar performance at some primary school orienteering event in Naseby back in, oh, about 1985 I think?! Best case scenario was I'd do great. Worst case.... I'd get lost, ride in circles, and as a result get a solid days training in.

Aparently you need a mapboard and compass. Since my preparation was so good I didn't have either on Sunday morning. So bugger the compass.... but I did fashion a magnificent mapboard out of random stuff around the house. See pic below. Reason #126 for regular ice-cream consumption.

The event? Well I started great, and was leading apparently till the 4th control which I messed up pretty good. Then rode and navigated steadily and slowly brought the gap down until the last control which I made a monumental error on and lost an estimated 7min. Oops.

End result? Well it was an NZ champs, which means obviously I finished in the regular slot.... 2nd. Andrew Bott rode/navigated awesome and smashed me. Great fun though and certainly something different. Recommend all to give it a shot once if you can find an event.

For a proper event report click here

Looking focussed? Well I still knew where I was going at this point!
Only the most technologically advanced equipment for me thanks.
How much sense of this do you make?

Whirinaki Quest

2009-11-10T11:14:00.009+13:00

So there is now a new addition to "Cabin and Nic's must do, highly reccomended NZ MTB events" list. The Whirinaki Quest.

We enjoyed an awesome comeback to competitive MTB after a wee break with this great event, now in its second year, which all going well will become an iconic NZ event. Organiser Nick Reader does a great job drawing on his experiences with Motorcycling to bring together the key elements for a great ride.

We turned up on Friday night for the free camping on the sportsground. BBQ dinner, a few beers, and great company made for a very relaxing start to the weekend. Rolling out of bed literally at the start line made things so much easier the next day too!

The event? A great mix of purpose built singletrack, old logging roads, and 4wd trails added up to a challenging ride for all. The final addition at the 30km mark of "Grovel Hill" will go down in Folklore. A bike carry/push to rival the Devils Staircase proved the final kicker.... but led straight to a fresh cut loamy singletrail downhill that in Gaz's words "after two corners made you forget the effort in getting there."

I managed to take a comfy win after being chased hard all the way by Rotorua junior Nigel McDowell. Nic won the women's and managed 10th overall. Making it all the better was the relaxed social atmosphere afterwards. The BBQ cranked up, burgers on offer, and smashed competitors in varying states of "smashedness" relaxing on the grass and telling tall stories of their battles with the course.

Worth the trip? Hell yes. Will we be back? Definately. These guys run an awesome event and have plans for more, so keep your eyes pealed. And we'll see you all at Whirinaki 2010.

The Night before
Post race and organisers Nick and Deb's enjoy a well deserved burger in the sun

.... while Marty goes for the trusty beer and chips combo.

One of the more relaxed race venues you'll come across

The local catering crew was awesome. Steak & Egg burgers anyone?

The "wise" men? Nick and Gaz deep in discussion. Judging by the Gaz's hat I can only assume it was about the best format for a backyard cricket match?

Finding Balance..

2009-11-05T13:32:00.003+13:00

It's been pretty busy here in Rotorua for the last couple of weeks. In between working back at the farm in Raetihi, Training, and shop work in Rotorua; Nic managed to find and negotiate a deal on a mint house for us here in Rotorua. So we are now home owners! (Well we will be mid december).

So we'll be expecting visistors a plenty. Are you reading this Conrad? MTB, Dirtbikes, and awesome fishing... and no clashes with XTERRA's NZ & Sth Africa in 2010. No excuses.

In other news, reports of the impending Bushlove/Wgtn December assault on Rotovegas will certainly have the locals concerened. Fortunately we won't have possession of our new house then so at least that is safe.

Other than that its just been fun times mixing work and play (also known by some as training). Road + Runs + ice-cream + MTB + Swimming (even used up a 10swim card in 3 weeks!!) + Pizza and Beer + BMX + great friends to catch up with and hang out = Awesome.

And a wee bit tired..... Resting today. Whirinaki Quest MTB on Saturday, which added to Road Crit racing on Tuesday night, and BMX club racing wednesday will make a great week of bike racing. Life is good.

Tuesday Crit. First Road Race in a loooong time....
.... As it was also for proud mum Sonia

And getting in some sneaky BMX practice

Labour Day musings

2009-10-26T11:14:00.003+13:00

So it's a public holiday, it's a gorgeous day here in Rotorua, and I've spent the morning staring at the laptop.... partly because I trained lots last two days and I'm a bit smashed..... but more so as I've been being the avid sports fans following the fortunes of a few of my friends who also happen to be pretty classy at what they do. So big congrats to.....

Paul "The Axeman" Whibley. It's a long way from Pahiatua to the East Coast of the USA and big time professional motorcycling. But Paul put in a strong and consistent ride this morning at the final round of the prestigeous GNCC series (reputed to be the toughest off-road series in the world), to secure the overall title for 2009. Awesome work. And I hope the Suzuki team who cut him from their roster after 2008 are feeling a little sheepish now.

And these two. Richard Ussher and Scott Thorne. No nicknames needed. Just genuine hard men. Tough as nails, shown here smashing each other at XTERRA NZ, they have just finished 11th and 13th respectively at the 2009 XTERRA World Championship. In what was perhaps the deepest field at the event to date..... Rich put in the equal fastest run split, and Scott the 5th fastest. Doing NZ proud.

And Scott.... competing at that level, amongst big name professionals, in spite of a full time labour intensive job....So perhaps unofficially the Amateur World Champ? No excuse for the rest of us. Right then, maybe I should go training them.

In other good news. Apparently, outlets in the Bay of Plenty have on average the most generous servings of cone ice-cream in NZ. I knew there was another reason I moved to Rotorua.... :)

New Toys!

2009-10-23T09:51:00.006+13:00

.... so pre-season training is underway, and while theres a few tried and true methods to get fit and fast for summer I think we are all well aware I'm not really one for following traditional training methods. Always keen to throw new things into the mix, so when Nic decided she wanted to take up BMX who was I to argue?

Bloody good way to work on strength and power. Great skills, and a hell of a lot of fun. So after aquiring her very own ABD Pro BMX on wednesday there was no stopping Nic. Turned out to be a long training day!

My Haro Cruiser (I'm an old man after all) hadn't arrived yet, so I went running instead. Will have to wait for next week. Actually, we also got a Powertap wheel for the roadies this week too. Pretty serious training investment there.... but the BMX is far more fun.

Nic even managed to fing a helmet small enough
Bit more scary start view than an MTB race?

Just in case you were missing Pattle.....

Nic on the gate with the boys. Thats Tom Holland on the right, and Aaron "bling bling" Perry in white beside Nic

Just Living....

2009-10-13T10:51:00.003+13:00

Time for another blog update, and really, we're just living.... !

Another fairly hectic weekend, even with the absence of racing. This time with a whistle stop visit back to Palmerston North (via Raetihi and Wanganui). Friday night I was guest speaker at the Sport Manawatu Grassroots Sports Awards. Kind of cool honour to be asked. Firstly, in that it recognises I might have something valuable to say. And secondly, I must be getting better at them?!

Seriously though, it was a great opportunity to give a bit back to the sports community where I developed myself as an athlete. And also where I hopefully made some impact on the youth too.

So Cabin got a haircut, and a real job!!!

Was a great opportunity to think about and acknowledge all the club volunteers whose tireless work allows us to do what we do. Fittingly, a number of the award winners on Friday have directly influenced me over the years, and I was able to acknowledge and thanks these people on the night.

If you compete at all, can I suggest you take a moment to think of all those that assist you.... and perhaps say thanks. Without them we don't have a sport/sports.

At least I thought I was entertaining?!

Finally, we moved into our short-medium term accomodation on Sunday night (until we find a suitable house to buy). Residing in the basement of the Diproses new place. Must say it's awesome to no longer be living out of bags (as I kind of have been for about 8 months now), and having some sort of regularity back in my life.

Guess that means it's time to start a proper training program again then? Wonder if I can still remember how to swim?

The Whaka 100....

2009-10-06T10:12:00.006+13:00

Fot the third time in three years I'm feeling a little broken from chasing Scot Thorne all around the forest during the Whaka 100. And I didn't even race! It was a little different this time...

.....after a good break (like a whole month of complete laziness for Cabin.... a wee bit less for Nic), we hauled the bikes out again last week thinking a 100km race wasn't too smart, especially with a desire to do a long steady build up to the 2010 season. So Nic decided to race the 50km option, whilst I strapped a helmet camera to my head with the intent of capturing some good in race footage for future highlights/promo films.

Turned out to be a fun (and a little bit painful) day. Happily stayed with the lead group for approx 30km, before taking a shortcut to relocate to another filming position. All the while watching an inpressive Scott Thorne control the race.

Jumped in and out of the race and captured the crucial moments (I think... haven't watched the footage yet), and experimented with a few shots as my creative side came out?!

Stopped for a break at 60k, and joined in behind the 50km race, following Nic, as some poor chap desperately tried to prevent himself being beaten by a girl. Nic's mean. Despite a gnarly crash early on she ended up winning the womens easily and nabbing 3rd overall in the 50km. Amazing what a decent break and feeling fresh does for you.

Meanwhile I decided to keep Mr Thorne company as it looked lonely at the front. After another 40+ mins following I decided the last hill was a bit much so left the man to it and shot back to the finish for a rest and a much needed feed. And in time to watch a very impressive and strong looking Thorne take his 3rd stright title. He's looking good for Maui and am excited to see what he does.

Looking forward to ressuming training now. Looks like I've got some ground to make up

The Cameraman hangs on for grim death behind Thorne
Nic waaayyyy out front of the womens 50km

Thanks to Alan @ Fotoengineers for the images

Team N-Duro Shirts Available

2009-09-21T11:37:00.004+12:00

Need a new riding shirt for summer? Or possibly some xmas gifts for someone? Anyway, we are getting ourselves a few new Team N-Duro shirts made up in the next few weeks, so leaves the option open to include orders for anyone that wants one (or three).

$130 delivered. For orders e-mail cabinracing@gmail.com by Friday Sep 25th to get yours.

Shirts will be available end of October

Weekend Reading

2009-09-17T19:04:00.004+12:00

Looking for a bit of weekend reading? Or some fresh mags for the coffee table? Let us make some reccommendations. Turns out we've been fairly active on the media front in recent times, and have been asked to make a variety of contributions to a number of great kiwi publications. So in the interests of blatent self-promotion..... Can we reccommend the October issues of the following :)

Lot's of interesting Kiwi Motorcycling content as always. But this time includes a 4 page feature on my attempts to crossover to dirt biking this past winter. Hopefully makes an interesting read to others and prompts a bit more MTB vs Moto crossover

Okay, so this is the current cover.... but look out for the October issue of NZMTB'r on the shelf soon. Includes cover of Nic's Worlds campaign, a "getting fit for MTB" feature (yes, I wrote it), and of course my column.

And Endurance Sport, with its ever improving content. This month featuring Nic's veiwpoint on stepping up to World Cup level as "Team N-Duro goes World Cup racing"

Happy Reading

Muppets?

2009-09-10T13:03:00.004+12:00

Part of an interesting campaign/experiment today. Currently Ridestrong is driving a petition for law changes requiring drivers to give cyclists 1.5m of space when passing. The reality is most drivers tend to give more thought and consideration to animals.

Thus, an experiment was devised. For results, over the coming days keep an eye on Ridestrong

And of course an opportunity to add your voice, and signature, to the petition

Worlds wrap from nic...

2009-09-09T13:29:00.007+12:00

Smooth through the rocks.... Thanks to Jo for the pic

'35th elite women'. It doesn't quite have the ring to it that I was after. Did my aspirations outweigh my capabilities at this point in time? Maybe. I had a good race, and put together the best I could on the day, so I am happy enough. I shouldn't get too hung up about the end result if the process was as good as I could deliver, so I won't. End of story.

Ok I will tell you about my race though...

The course was a tonne of fun. A few of you might be aware of the rock infested 'cardiac climb' for which I had made the specific 'big ring off and bash guard on' modification to my bike. It worked a treat and I was stepping up, around and over the 1-2 foot high rocks neatly in practice. Oh for practice... b/c come first lap with O2 debt, deprived legs and in a fluster fest I suddenly lost my finesse!

The second half of the course had a beauty bermed descent, several table tops, short dual slalom sections and heaps of flow - wicked! But it was fast and therefore gaining a decent speed differential to pass was tricky.

During the week I had constructed a start plan, as you must. I was called up in 42nd - i.e. back of the grid. There was a bit of a chicane before we swung right onto a fire road that was a gradual incline of about 1km before we hit the narrowed single track of 'cardiac climb'. Your position here would be crucial, and sure enough everyone else had figured this too.

My master plan was based off a similar one I used at Mte Ste Anne that worked a treat. In this case I would line up in the left, stay out of trouble through the first bend then slingshot around the outside on the right hander into the fire road. Unfortunately as the big space opened in front of me to gap it up the side I got cut off and ended up braking hard to avoid a prang. I recovered ok, & pinned it to get across to the bunch that had formed up the fire road.

Note to self, female MTB bunch = absolute shocker. We surged, braked & sprinted for the next 500m and even managed a crash! No shit, a pile up on a 6m wide uphill fire road. Craziness. So my start was not brilliant and I was not where I needed to be as we hit cardiac climb. Hat off to Katie Compton (USA) though, as she was on the same row as me & was apparently 6th going into cardiac. It can be done....

Out back there was a second section of fire road of maybe 500m, a great opportunity to pass. But again it was a gradual incline (not a strength of mine)... and the Euro/road girls just hauled up this section. I tried to hang tough, but I was eating dust. I need some road quads and a butt to boot. I'll be working on it!

I definately took a bit to settle, but by mid-race (lap 3 of 5) I felt I was riding better. I was enjoying the technical sections, taking the 'hot lines' and managed a few passes. It feels so good when you romp a section, make a pass and the crowd goes wild. I had heaps of support out there, it was fantastic.

Another positive from my race was that in the 5-laps my individual lap times differed only by 6-seconds! Yay for Ms.Consistent, just need to get consistently faster now. I am excited, I feel I have a whole lot to look forward to in the next chapter, I have weaknesses to work on and strengths to build upon. Bring it!

Right now though, I have a short break from biking practice. In this time Cabin & I will get ourselves established in Rotorua, I will go hunting and spend some quality time at home on the ranch before settling into a new physio position in the big stink of Roto... yayaa!

Thank-you every-one for your continued interest and support, it is hugely appreciated. Also to my sponsors... Avanti Bikes (DT Swiss & Kenda tyres) & Avanti+ Mt Maunganui, n-Duro events Rotorua, Balance Nutrition, New Balance, 2XU & Ridestrong... these people literally spin my wheels. Thank-you all!

World Champs....35th

2009-09-06T13:48:00.003+12:00

Quick update.... many will already have seen, but Nic put together a very strong ride yesterday at Stromlo for 35th in her Elite World Champs debut. She seem's happy enough, but always wants more so pretty motivated for what comes next.

I'll wait for her to write her own take on the days events, as all I did was stand in the feedzone and yell!

Sneak Preview: Nic's Worlds Weapon

2009-08-27T19:44:00.003+12:00

So riding Worlds can have it's advantages. I've just spent the evening building up Nic's weapon for World Champs, after Avanti arranged advanced delivery of the improved 2010 Team Competitor frame.

I have to admit it looks pretty mint. Along with a few new pieces of bling from Uncle Sam at Litebikes and some Canberra specific mods and presto.... one pretty cool looking, light, and fast Nic Leary World Champs special.

A little insight

2009-08-26T10:43:00.002+12:00

The MTB World Championships are now only a week away. In fact for 4 of our best XC riders, it's only 6 days until the Team Relay kicks things off in Canberra. So as I type this, there are a number of nervous riders around the country. Second guessing themselves as to have they done enough intervals? Is my bike as 100% as it could be? Have I done too much? Have I got the right tyres? And a thousand other questions running through their minds.

The question I am most regularly seem to be asked relates to the level of racing on the World Stage. Just how good are these riders? And as NZ riders, are we anywhere near their level at all? Are we really that bad that many of us get pulled 2 laps doen in a World Cup?

If you want to know, then click here Hopefully it provides some insight?!

Returning to our roots

2009-08-23T20:40:00.005+12:00

Cabin on his new rig.... Not at Santoft though. This is Makara

Great fun (but bloody hard) hitout for us today..... returning to the old stomping grounds of the Manawatu and taking in the latest round of the Manawatu MTB Club's winter series, we put ourselve in the mix for 24km+ of suffering on the undulating sand based trails of Santoft Forest. Interestingly one of the first "races" Nic ever did back in 2007.

Being our first race since Bromont World Cup, it was a key training day for Nic looking ahead to Worlds. Fiona McDermid raced as well, to ensure it wasn't easy. A great chance to try out some new equipment on the Avanti, and try to beat as many of the guys as possible at the same time. Worked out pretty well.... 1hr24 or so of very high intensity riding and managed about 7th overall we think.

For me, it was a chance to debut my new bike. Will post a photo later in the week, but it's pretty light, nice to ride, and it goes pretty fast. Details later, but it's a Niner, and it weighs 9.2kg (as raced today).

So far as the race went I was pretty happy. Was a bit concerned about the Palmee juniors who continue to develop. I spent the first 15mins or so observing as 4 of us rode away. But it was under control really and once I rode away I was comfy (well, as comfy as you can be with heart rate about 10 beats off max for 1hr+). Pretty nice hit out, winning by a couple of minutes as Paul McDermid followed me home to add to the coaches lessons for the Juniors. We better enjoy it while we can as the juniors will continue to get faster. My days are numbered!

Changes

2009-08-20T18:30:00.003+12:00

So we've been a bit quiet for the last week or so. Partly because there hasn't been any exciting race news to report on. But there has been plenty of other stuff going on.

For Nic it's been head down, and training hard to ensure she is as prepared as possible for MTB Worlds. We had a key training day on our "secret" race prep loop at Craters in Taupo, and also some time on the SRM ergometer at UCOL. Both proved what I already knew...... Nic is faster than she used to be.

On my side of things there have been some exciting developments too. I now have a job. A career in fact. Shock horror. What it does mean is that we will soon become Rotorua residents. Fitting, as it's kind of become our second home anyway. The job? Regional Cycling Development Manager for Rotorua. It's a BikeNZ employed role, and is probably as exciting, as it is daunting, as it will be challenging. And just when Nic had finally trained me up with the Tractor and Wagon to look after feeding out duties on the farm too. Pretty extreme lengths to go to to avoid that huh?

It's been a pretty hectic two weeks since we returned. In that space I was interviewed, offered a job, got into training, tidied up other journalism and coaching tasks, all before heading down to Wellington here I've been all week learning the ropes. Rotorua next week, then off to Canberra the following week for MTB Worlds. I'll stop for a breath sometime soon.

Looking forward to this weekend where we'll be back in Palmee North for a couple of days, and I can get out and test the legs (and my new bike) at the Manawatu Clubs Winter Series MTB event. Bit scared the Juniors I used to coach are going to smash me after a week of pretty much nothing.....should be fun?!

Hometime...

2009-08-12T17:03:00.005+12:00

Well, we made it home safe and sound. The return trip (also known as "Cabin's international junk food tour...) was broken up by two nights in Vancouver so wasn't too bad. After spending all my left over Canadian $$ on a good Tim Hortons feed of donuts, we enjoyed a pleasant flight home with AirNZ.

Arriving home Friday morning we were greated by fantastic (but pretty bloody chilly) weather we're wondering what everyone at home was complaining about? It was a hectic few days though after returning. Kicked off by a guest speaker engagement for Cabin on Friday night in Palmee North, watching the Wanganui Club Rugby final in Wanganui Saturday, Nic doing the farm work in Raetihi Sunday (while Cabin followed.... and was somewhat useful, maybe?), and then a return trip to Rotorua on Monday for a job interview.

Phew. But life is returning now to some form of normality. Nic's got some hard days training ahead to ensure she's in peak shape for Canberra. Meanwhile I might start running, swimming again soon. I've still got 10wks+ till Maui after all :)

Bye bye Bromont. And Bye bye summer
Nic enjoys one last Moose encounter...

...as 2-3 days later she's back to mustering sheep

The dog's watch Nic work.... much like Cabin

Mt Ruapehu. Just 15km away from the farm. A little better for skiing right now than Bromont. There's a mint 17km road climb up to the ski-field, but I think in this weather I might pass on that for now.

World Cup Top 25? Check

2009-08-03T09:31:00.006+12:00

Nic put in a great ride today, in fairly trying circumstances, and achieved her first World Cup top 25 at Bromont (Quebec) today.

She was a bit pissed off to be held up a lot on lap one through the technical singletrack, and as such perhaps lost a shot at a top 20. But rode strong to climb to 22nd on lap 4 (of 5), with her sights on the top 20...... before getting a bit keen manualing through a water crossing and flatting the rear. The replacement wheel (tubed) then flatted again, forcing a long run for 1/2 a lap to the 2nd tech zone. Losing plenty of time, but still. Top 25? I'd be happy. And she certainly is. Mission accomplished.

Mens race? Was super wet. The heavens opened in a big way pre-race. I didn't even bother with a riding warm up and went running instead.

I ended up 72nd. Quietly, I had my eye on top 60, and I was definately fast enough, but I messed it up with a very poor first lap. Just couldn't get going, or that excited. Losing far too much time, and the only guy behind me after the first lap was there because he'd crashed.

But I got my s*&% together after that and raced strong consistent laps for me. Closing down on bunches in front pretty steadily. Unfortunately just missed out on a 5th lap, as if I had, am pretty sure there was another 10 spots of so to gain. But wasn't to be.

Pre-Race.... Pretty focussed.
Nic putting the hurt on the top Aussie riders.
Post race, still smiling after the last lap "challenges"

You could say the men's race was a little wet.... Amazingly the stans raven tyres actually gave pretty good traction (yes I am serious!).

Some travel pics...

2009-07-31T01:51:00.007+12:00

So we're back in Bromont. Pretty much killing time awaiting this weekend's world cup. This bit sucks, as when there's back to back racing you have to be careful to recover well, so you end up resting a lot, which is not always great.

Anyway, course has changed a bit since Canada Cup. Some great new technical sections. Course was riding fast yesterday...... until the massive thunderstorm that struck whilst I was out running the course last night. I haven't seen rapids running down a track like that since the infamous K-Loop DH of 2001(?!). Sunny again today so it might dry out. Or not. A few selected pics below for your viewing pleasure.

The 'local' Tuesday night crit in Montreal. Pretty cool set up. Stands, big crowds = Awesome.
All was going to plan for Theirry till some clown chopped him at 50km/hr+. Ouch.

Nic demonstrating what happens when an athlete anxious to race gets almost too rested...

....whilst Cabin contemplates methods to help get to the front of a World Cup XC

Seem's the founding fathers of Quebec City had good taste in beer?

Ever wondered what the front of an XC World Cup race looks like? So does Cabin.

Nic 33rd on World Cup debut

2009-07-27T13:35:00.005+12:00

Well Nic's debut on the World stage went pretty well. From a pretty average start spot at the rear of the 70 ish rider grid, she quickly worked her way forward, then rode strongly in some pretty experienced elite company for a final spot of 33rd. Pretty good if you ask me.

just 30 sec off of her quiet target of top 30. That can wait to next week at Bromont.

And Cabin? With a literally dead last start position my main goals in a brutal 6 lap mens race were to a) last at least 4 laps before the 80% rule kicked in.....b) and to pass at least as many people as Nic did.

4 laps later I'd managed that. The first lap bottle neck was ridiculous, and after lap 1 I was in about 103rd and 6min down. I eventually moved up to 77th.... and remembered just how much World Cup racing hurts. Looking forward to Bromont next week with longer climbs that seem to suit me more these days.

Right. Time to sleep. Thanks everyone for your support and good wishes.

Nic practicing circles in the starting pen. Katarina nash was doing it so it seemed like a good idea?!
Mid race. Pushing hard

4 laps... ouch

Cabin post race: "I remember why I gave this up now..."

Happy athlete and Coach. Time for ice-cream now

An ode to Zipties...

2009-07-20T11:37:00.004+12:00

It's been a week, so time for an update huh? We've had another very productive week on both the training, and relaxation fronts. We've also had a few bike drama's to deal with that make you appreciate the little things. Like being at home in one place for an extended period, and knowing who to contact to help!

5-6 weeks of heavy use and the MTB's are starting to show the stress. The tech support guys at the world cup are about to be inundated. Luckily they know we are coming. In the meantime, inspired by the Caveman, Cabin has been doing his best MacGuyver as he attempts to live up to the NZ #8 wire legend. Only in these modern time's it's a packet of Zipties and a roll of Duct tape being put to use. Examples are shown below.

In the meantime.... We spent three days in Northeast Vermont riding the Kingdom trails at Burke Mtn. Cabin was smashed from XTERRA but did the training anyway. There's two MTB World Cups coming up to get fast for afterall. So 3hrs or so a day of solid MTB riding, with some key intervals thrown in on the awesome network of trails.

The Kingdom Trails are a unique concept, with almost all the trails traversing private land. 100miles worth in fact! Landowners are happy to oblige as it promotes the area and provides business opportunities in the community. All the trail society ask's is $10 a day, or $40 for the season to access the network. With all $ going back into trail creation/maintainance etc.... Pretty cool ifyou ask me. And something NZ maybe should look at as forest/land access issues arise in the future.

Highlight of the riding was our almost too close for comfort encounteers on the trail with two big angry (actually they were just startled) Moose. Impresive, exciting, and just a little scary when they come crashing through the bush toward you. Unlike the Big Bear we passed within 10m of in Vernon and just ignored us. The tree's were much more interesting apparently.

Currently back in Bromont and have had some great training. Caught up with a few of the Aussie women. Man, they have a tough job this year. Despite World sbeing at home, they need a top 15 at a World Cup (or finish within 10% of winner) to qualify for Worlds. How many of our NZ riders are capable of that? Not many.I know there were a few dissapointed people at home at missing selection after good races at the N-Duro's. But this puts things in perspective.

We are talking World Champs, not just sending the best 6 or 7 kiwi's regardless. I actually think the NZ selectors have done a great job of selecting our strongest riders, capable of performing on the World stage. I know I'm riding well at the moment, but also know I'm not capable right now of stepping up to that World Champs level. The World Champs are about performing. Not about attending afterall.

Anyway... enough ranting. One more set of HARD intervals tommorrow then we're off to Mt Ste Anne mid-week. Will keep you posted. Back to the Zip-Ties...

Nic's Lock-out cable crimp got badly damaged it transit. When it consequently bends to 90 degree under load it doesn't work. Without the DT Service tools, careful placement of Zip-Tie, and Cable braced by packing tape works mint in the meantime!
Cabin's reach adjustment bolt fell out of his Magura's. Not the brakes fault, but it happened. As this is also the pivot for the lever... No brakes. Careful use of Zip-Ties again! Works mint. Actually has recently been modified again to provide a better return action. Jude the Magura tech was impressed.

Okay, so not a lot I can do about this one. Above is one of 6 or so cracks in my rim. Thankfully the NoTubes guys are really helpful and I'll be picking up some new Stan's Race29 wheels in Mt Ste Anne

There's a few other things gone haywire too, but thats another story