In the past few weeks I have been down to Mt Hutt to race at the Oceanias Championships, then this weekend I competed in the North Island Secondary Schools at Hunua. These events brought an end to a very busy New Zealand National season for me, that has been a lot of fun. I have really enjoyed travelling all over the country to ride new tracks and race against the best kiwi riders.
The Mt Hutt track for Oceanias had a bit of everything, with a fast top section complete with a good rock garden that gave almost everyone a flat tire. There were bike park style berms, some good fun jumps and a steep gnarly section that came down to the finish gap jump.
The container bridge across the road was a cool feature on the track. With the weather bomb expected on Sunday seeding was brought forward to the Saturday night. I had a good run and qualified in 5th place.
When we woke up on Sunday Mt Hutt was covered in a white mist, it had rained over night and the track had become a slippery mess. The mud tires went on and after a couple of practice runs, we headed up the mountain for race runs. I got a bit off line up the top section, but managed to hold it together to the bottom. In this weather it was difficult to determine how fast to push it and stay in control, I held back a little but had a clean run which meant I finished in 6th place.
North Island Secondary School Championships
Photo Credit: Erica Welsford
The North Island Secondary Schools was held for the first time ever, out in the Hunua Ranges. It is a Schools event to find the fastest secondary school mountain biker in the North Island. It involves three events, Cross Country, Downhill and a Tiebreaker to decide the overall champion.
Photo Credit: Erica Welsford
On Saturday morning I raced the Cross Country, followed by the Tiebreaker which was a fairly flat undulating track with tight corners that took just over 2 minutes. After a 13th place in the 24km Cross Country race, I was happy to take out the Tiebreaker and win the chocolate bar!
Photo Credit: Jack Pearson
Sunday was the fun day! It was downhill time and everyone had a great time on the awesome Hunua downhill track. I got 1st place in the downhill, a great way to finish my summer racing season. Here is a video of all the fun:
Huge thanks to John Hassler from Auckland Grammar for organising the event and all the volunteers that helped to make all the races so much fun. Also Avantiplus Waitakere who have been so helpful through the season, getting me on my new Gambler and keeping my bikes rolling. Cheers
No comments:
Post a Comment