Karapoti Classic

Despite having first competed in the Karapoti in 2000, it has only been in the past four editions that my affection for the race has bloomed. Part of the reason for that stems from my slow migration towards the steeper, rockier terrain of the lower North Island and away from the groomed, almost carpet covered trails of the central plateau.
This year the Karapoti finishes off a block of summer racing which consisted largely of chasing young fellas round and round a 5km loop without too much success. When I heard that the weather forecast was going to be rubbish, I couldnt help but look forward to it even more then if it were dry.

I managed to be the first person to set foot on the opposing shore of the river, successfully avoiding the large boulders, (Id encounter those on the way back though) and leisurely ambled onto my bike and tucked into the first few positions.I made sure I stayed in the front few riders on the way to the warmup climb, making sure not to drift back too far. As we approached the top of Deadwood, I had conceded about half a minute to the front 3 guys (Tim, Anton and Dirk), but my intimate knowledge of the course helped me to focus on bridging that gap before the rock garden. Theres a lot of riding between the top of Deadwood and the Rock Garden, and I put my head down knowing exactly the pitch and length of every rise in that section of the course. It paid off, I was closing in and manged to bridge up about 5min before the Rock Garden. A rush of confidence flowed as I realized I was at the front of the race. A confidence I took with me into the descent probably a little too brazenly. A little mishap and a dropped chain forced from 1st back to fourth about 2/3rds down the Rock Garden and I quickly thought.....comon man theres no time for heroics down here, just get down smoothly and in contact.

We all crossed the river together and Tim forced the pace up the Staircase. My calves and back were burning but I turned myself inside out to hold on up the pushing sections. I was elated to reach the clearing still in the group.

We descended big ring boulevard and my eyes began to fill up with silt. I had to do something because I could barely see and it was getting painful. All I could do was squirt energy drink into my eyes to clear it.....not ideal. It stung so much I lurched to the left and collided with Tim, luckily he stayed on but I had to step off the bike to avoid hitting the deck. Thinking he had caused it, Tim was very apologetic but I stressed to him that it was my fault.

I think we all knew as Dopers approached it would be the deciding stage of the race. And no sooner had we crossed the creek Anton was out of sight!! The rest of us had to dismount through the scree that had accumulated after the creek. My take on it is that Anton was light enough to keep the wheels on top of the scree while the rest of us got bogged down as the rear wheel cut into the loose rock. In any case once we started chasing it wasnt until some of the longer straights where we could see Anton, and only Dirk was strong enough to bridge the gap in a display of riding that he described as "easy enough". All I could do was watch and my focus was on securing 3rd as I approached the summit.

My seat bag containing all of my tire mending equipment flew of the back of my bike on the descent, but there was no way I was going to stop for it. My UST Kenda Karmas had been a stal-wart of the preceeding 2 hours and they werent likely to let me down now. I got down the gorge smoothly, and to my delight was only 30sec in arrears of Anton who had managed to take the win and become the youngest ever Karapoti winner.

For me it was a great result against a quality field in epic conditions. I fought hard to get to the front and gave myself every chance of winning. I did everything right throughout the race and can be thoroughly content with 3rd knowing those other two just had a little bit more to give.

A reluctant congrats

Photo: Janine Copp

National Series Nelson

Since the early races in January training had been going really well and my form was lifting nicely. I knew I had better legs than a month ago, but as you will read that doesnt neccessarily turn into better race results.

The course in Nelson was a condensed version of the National Champs held there two years ago, so I knew it well. Not a particularly demanding course, but difficult to make time up due to the meandering nature of the climbing.

The start didnt work out at all how I was hoping. I went from 4th wheel to about 12th or 13th in the blink of an eye as we approached the top of the road and had to shuffle into the line of riders as we negotiated the next 8min of singletrack without a single opportunity to make a pass.

I took some places as the course widened and finished the first lap in 8th, just under 1 minute behind the front of the race. I knew there was only one place to really make up time, and that was the first climb; 3 min on a gravel road.
I was feeling desperate to move forward so I pushed really hard to gain a much advantage as I could.  To a degree it worked; I moved all the way to 3rd place. This was where I should have been all along, trouble is I had used a lot of energy to get there, hense it was short lived.

Frustrated by how the day was panning out, I slowly lost that advantage and drifted back into 7th place. It was a prime example how important the start is in being able to maintain a constant effort throughout the race. I had raced hard, and felt strong, perhaps a little restraint in the early laps may have prevented the (brain) fade that occured in the last laps, but I wanted to feel as though I was in the race for at least a small portion rather spending the entire race limiting losses.

Photo:Debbie Retief

It is nice to process what happened and say ok, I know what went wrong. Each race has its unique challenges, and my 13 years of experience didnt stop me from letting a bit of panic take control. Ive been hitting my forehead with the base of my palm ever since, I know better than to react with fury on the pedals, a patient response would have been better.......

Wellington XC Champs

With the remnants of a tropical storm approaching it was looking ominous that the Wellington champs, held in Wainui, would be a wet one. I had made provision to change tires, and had packed warm clothes in anticipation of the weather. But gladly the storm had tracked slightly north and left Wellington basking in warmth and sunshine...at least until late arvo.

The trail network in Wainuiomata is a new and excellent addition to Wellingtons plethora of trail networks. Those looking after its development have catered well for all by ensuring the climbing meanders up the steep slopes of the ranges, through the manuka in a twisting gradual manner, and the descending offers variety for the beginner and the advanced.

Saturdays race used a long gradual singletrack climb. Being fast meant being smooth, it was easy to use too much energy by braking too late into the hundreds of corners and having to punch out of them on the way to the top of the course. Time gaps were hard to open, I made sure I learnt the climb on the first lap and figured out the sections where a burst in power was rewarded.

It wasnt until half way through the race I hit the front. Ben Murphy, who rides in Wainui a lot, used his local knowledge, aggressive tactics and brute strength to lead the feild for the first half. He caught me by surprise and ducked inside me into the singletrack early on. He proceeded to open a small gap as I tried to use brute force to stay in touch, which for reasons mentioned earlier, was primarily serving to tire me out. I knew I had to take my time.

The first time down Spoonhill, a 6-7min rough, rooty, rocky downhill was a little hairy. Your main ally on this trial is the death grip you have on the bars, especially in the dry where its possible to open the throttle a bit more. I had ridden it perhaps a year ago, and really didnt remember a thing. I got to the bottom in one piece and its fair to say the subsequent laps were a little more comfortable.

Once I hit the front I knew I wanted to open the gap straight away, I didnt want anyone getting into a rythm following my back wheel. I really put the gas on a managed a 20sec gap. There wasnt much more time to be gained out there, so I focused on maintaining it and staying in control down spoonhill. I took the win from Tom Bradshaw who had stayed in touch really well in the second half of the race.

It was great to hang out with the Wellington crowd and share some laughs. I enjoyed racing on a slightly different trail to what we would usually ride, although having said that, there were many parallels with Makara Peak. Wellington continues to impress with its variety of ridable terrain.

North Island Cup Round 2, Napier

Eskdale Forest has always been a great place to race, and the Hawkes Bay mountain bike club once again put together a course that was fun, challenging and unique to any course we had raced at Eskdale. Adding to that the intense heat of a Hawkes bay summer and we had a sweaty, dustbowl of a race to compete in.


(photo: Michelle Bellamy)

The addition of Dirk and Carl to the field since Tauranga meant the competition would be stiff. But none of us knew quite how each other were really going, the tension was certainly there.

I would have to say that the first 2min of the race was some of the fastest Ive had to cope with. Part of the reason for this lay in the first half km of the course. We had to contend a straight, false flat drag strip for several hundred meters before it funnelled into singletrack. I was swamped after starting on the left side of the front row, but managed to find a place in the line and followed wheels until the climb.

I dug deep on the main climb to make a few places up and chase down Dirk, Mike and Carl, who had got together at the front and created a small gap. Just as I was making headway, Dirk attacked the other two and opened up a small but significant lead, which he continued to build on as each lap went by. My efforts succeeded in firstly bringing back Carl on lap 2, followed by being passed again by Carl, but then passing Mike on the 3rd, to eventually being passed again by mike and resorting to chasing the pair of them again as they held me at 20 seconds.

The final lap saw me close right in on Carl who had let mike go. It was a thrilling race to be a part of, and although I was 4th, I was happy to have put so much into the race, while being close to the front. My lap times showed I have form, as the times were pretty consistent. I have gained clarity on where I can improve and now have time to knuckle down and do something about it, I am excited!!!

North Island Cup Round One in Tauranga

Before I began back training at the end of October, the Tauranga race was going to be the first event to target. The Huka XL, Rice Mountain Classic and Eastern Express had all been build up races, and I had felt my form building as each of those events passed.
I chose a very traditional buildup, focusing purely on base in the first 6-7 weeks, then dropping back the milage and hitting the intensity. I was strict about how I went about it, and it seems to have paid off as the base I developed has enabled me to get through a lot of intensity training. And with pretty much no hiccups in almost 3 months. I knew I could perform strongly, and was aiming high.

Once I prerode the course in Tauranga, a compact and steep 15-16min race pace loop, I realised that the descent would be a telling factor, and it proved to be.
At around 3-4 min, it was a long descent for a cross country race, and a chance for those a little more risky to gain some advantage. I found my climbing form to be pretty good, despite having to let Mike Northcott go a little on the 2nd lap. The climb was around 7min, again it was long, and it contained around 10 steep sections requiring very short intense bursts, not a rythm climb.

The biggest mistake I made in the race was to not leapfroging the eventual winner Sam Shaw at the top of the descent on Lap 2, I conciously remember deciding not to. It was one of those moments when you make a decision but during making the decision you realise in your gut it was the wrong one, so you try to convince youreslf it wont matter, but really you know it probably will. He put something like 20sec into me on the descent, I knew I had blown it. I was only able to close half of that advantage down on the climb, hense he kept going ahead slowly but surely, and I wasnt prepared to risk myself on the descent. All I could hope for was a mistake from him, but you cant really wish that on someone because it was a descent where you didnt want to crash, as Mike found out later in the race.

I was optimistic of a chance for 2nd place when some spectators advised me that Mike had crashed and lost his front brake. This did not slow him down enough for me to catch him, but it did however cost him the race, and he was a bit tender afterwards.

In the end I was happy with 3rd, I was consistent and strong, and glad my relative weakness was the descent and not the climb.

This weekends race in Napier is a vastly different course, flatter and a bit faster. Ill be looking to improve on 3rd.

World Championships

Hermida winning the Worlds

What an insane race the World Championships is. There is no more of an honest race to compete in. Theres no hiding, no sitting in, and everyone is on their limit and desperate to show their strongest hand.

The weather had been interesting, intense heat and humidity earlier in the week was replaced by more mild, but rainy weather. The course however could cope with the precipitation, and it got tacky with wet rock and roots to make it interesting. Up until now I hadnt ever had to use my Kenda Nevegal tires, Karmas and Small Block 8's have been adequate but I am sure glad I chose them for this race cause they were amazing. Ive never used a tire that hooks up so well in muddy or tacky conditions so if you want a tire for mud, youve gotta get them. I had all the confidence in the world and didnt put a foot wrong, I used the 2.1 rather than the 1.95, which allowed me to run slightly lower pressure.

The beginning is always a fun time, 85 riders racing elbow to elbow at full gas, trying to take any gap that opens to gain an advantage. I always enjoy the first few minutes, the close racing doesnt phase me and I often am able to find a few gaps. Eventually we come to a standstill as the course narrows and 6 wide has to go to single file. This is a chance to breath a little, but it also adds to the intensity once we get going again. The spikes in intensity on the first lap are difficult to cope with, and something the guys at the front rarely need to go through. So while they are making hay at the sharp end, us near the back are still tooth and nail to gain spots.

The format of the race was interesting, we did 2 half laps first, and the same half of the lap which included the two climbs of the race. So we had to hit 4 steep climbs in the first 20 minutes. It was insane and I was feeling like I had left my best legs in the races in previous weeks. All I wanted to do was to find a rythm and hold it. With such a short lap I wasn't confident of staying on the lead lap, and only half of the riders did. So I made sure I rode as hard as I could and get in as much of the race as I could.

Its kinda tough knowing that your best day is still going to leave you wanting. Then having to battle through having not such a great day makes it even tougher. But to have the opportunity to race for the biggest annual prize in the sport, puts it in perspective.

It has been a brilliant month of travelling and racing. Lots of stories and good times with friends. I hope its been an enjoyable read as its sure been fun bringing it to you.

Racing and its up and downs

Up until yesterday I had been able to resolve things that had happened in the races and still continue without too much penalty. But yesterday was a different story. Racing World Cups requires everything to go right, as youre already losing time hand over fist to the superior ability of the top 5 riders in the world.

I got away from the start line well, managing to go around a couple of tangle ups. The speed was insane up to the top of the course on the first lap, but I managed to hold a good position, right around 50 of 100 riders. The descent was fast and this is where all the carnage began. I would say 20 riders flatted on the first lap alone, including myself. Parts of the course were high speed over rocky terrain, and it was carnage for tires. A split second before I flatted my internal computer told me "TOO FAST"....bang. I needed to tip toe that section a little, but I came in heavy and paid for it.

There wasnt a lot I could do except ride it to the tech zone and get a wheel change. However the wheel I got was a different alignment to mine and the rear brake was dragging and making a loud noise as I climbed. I persisted as it was all I could do, but I felt laboured after having the break in rythm and having to deal with a dragging rotor. And at the finish I realised the extent of my brake dragg, I got about half a turn out of the wheel when I spun it.

I only managed half of the laps due to the time I had lost. It was one of those days you hope doesnt happen, but eventually does at some stage. I certainly wasnt alone in my misfortune, a lot of riders suffered with punctures. It seemed to be the nature of the course.

Ill be putting this one behind me a refocusing on next week. Over the years I have got pretty good at putting disappointments behind me and not letting them affect me. Like I have said, everything has to go perfectly well at this top level or else you get hammered. Ill be looking to have a race where I can push as hard as I can and have a clean race, and if I can do that Ill be more than happy.