The Dunedin Mountain Bike Club made an awesome job of preparing the track. A good mix of technical descents, flowing single track, and testing switchbacks, made this track potentially the best of the series.
Unfortunately Dunedin greeted us with very wet conditions. Bike NZ made matters far worse by reducing some of the races. (Some to only a couple of laps). This made some races so pathetically short, they would have been suitable for your average twelve year old. Anyway, I will try not to let my disappointment in BikeNZ spoil what was an awesome effort by all.
Expert Master 40+: Trevor Woodward - What can I say, he's a machine! These were truly testing conditions, with extremely slippery technical descents, off cambered corners, and bike wrecking mud. He showed us all what a superb rider he is. His lap times were around the same as the top Pro Elite men. Another first - well done Trevor!
Expert Master 50+: Peter Arkwright - This was Arkie's first race for the series, and what a baptism of fire. As with all races today, Peter was faced with conditions that were far less than ideal. At one stage he was leading (quite comfortably I understand) when for some reason he thought he was trailing the leaders. This made him step up the pace which made him make a simple mistake over a fairly simple man made crossing.
The front tyre "burped" and lost most of its air. Arkie pulled out the trusty old Co2 inflation device which didn't turn out to be so trusty. The tyre didn't really inflate properly which of course led to another "burp" further down the track. Not to be put off, Arkie decided to run the rest of the course, finishing a credible fifth place.
This was one occasion where a shortened race was a good thing.
Expert U19 Women: Samara Sheppard - Samara knew that Monique Avery was not going to give up without a fight after last week at Coronet Peak. Samara started strong, maybe too strong. She crashed very early on in the race which knocked her about a bit. Uninjured she hopped back on and got straight back into it. The wet conditions suited Monique who pulled away from Samara. The shortened race also did not suit Samara who prefers the longer races. Always a strong finisher, Samara was able to make time on Monique on the last lap but unfortunately run out of time finishing second. I for one am looking forward to see Samara at Nelson.
Expert U19 Men: Jordan Blake - Jordan started the race as badly as you can start a race. Jordan had trouble clipping in from the gun. This caused him to fall onto the cross bar. That was ok, until he tried to sit back on the saddle.
You guessed it, his shorts caught on the front of his seat, and down they came (I hate it when that happens) thankfully, all of the riders that were behind him are now receiving counselling.
Dead last at the start of the single track, he had some serious catching up to do. This didn't take him long, and when he came out at the BMX track he had made it to third place. This took its toll on the lungs. A slippery technical descent and a fairly compact bunch lead to several crashes of multiple riders which made the race a bit of a lottery early on.
Jordan made it to second place at the top of the climb on the second lap, but an incorrect choice of shoes made running downhill impossible and he slipped back to, and finished at fourth place.
Elite Men: Stuart Houltham - Stuart on the other hand had an awesome start! First into the single track and looking strong. The elite men's race was the only race that was not shortened by BikeNZ. The light rain had stopped and the track was starting to dry in some places. Things were looking good until in lap three, Stu's rear derailleur must have caught on something and the hanger snapped like a carrot. That was the end of Stuart's race. I talked to Stuart after the race who said he was feeling strong - bugger!
Never mind, I'm sure if BikeNZ don't stuff it up, Nelson will be better for all!
Unfortunately Dunedin greeted us with very wet conditions. Bike NZ made matters far worse by reducing some of the races. (Some to only a couple of laps). This made some races so pathetically short, they would have been suitable for your average twelve year old. Anyway, I will try not to let my disappointment in BikeNZ spoil what was an awesome effort by all.
Expert Master 40+: Trevor Woodward - What can I say, he's a machine! These were truly testing conditions, with extremely slippery technical descents, off cambered corners, and bike wrecking mud. He showed us all what a superb rider he is. His lap times were around the same as the top Pro Elite men. Another first - well done Trevor!
Expert Master 50+: Peter Arkwright - This was Arkie's first race for the series, and what a baptism of fire. As with all races today, Peter was faced with conditions that were far less than ideal. At one stage he was leading (quite comfortably I understand) when for some reason he thought he was trailing the leaders. This made him step up the pace which made him make a simple mistake over a fairly simple man made crossing.
The front tyre "burped" and lost most of its air. Arkie pulled out the trusty old Co2 inflation device which didn't turn out to be so trusty. The tyre didn't really inflate properly which of course led to another "burp" further down the track. Not to be put off, Arkie decided to run the rest of the course, finishing a credible fifth place.
This was one occasion where a shortened race was a good thing.
Expert U19 Women: Samara Sheppard - Samara knew that Monique Avery was not going to give up without a fight after last week at Coronet Peak. Samara started strong, maybe too strong. She crashed very early on in the race which knocked her about a bit. Uninjured she hopped back on and got straight back into it. The wet conditions suited Monique who pulled away from Samara. The shortened race also did not suit Samara who prefers the longer races. Always a strong finisher, Samara was able to make time on Monique on the last lap but unfortunately run out of time finishing second. I for one am looking forward to see Samara at Nelson.
Expert U19 Men: Jordan Blake - Jordan started the race as badly as you can start a race. Jordan had trouble clipping in from the gun. This caused him to fall onto the cross bar. That was ok, until he tried to sit back on the saddle.
You guessed it, his shorts caught on the front of his seat, and down they came (I hate it when that happens) thankfully, all of the riders that were behind him are now receiving counselling.
Dead last at the start of the single track, he had some serious catching up to do. This didn't take him long, and when he came out at the BMX track he had made it to third place. This took its toll on the lungs. A slippery technical descent and a fairly compact bunch lead to several crashes of multiple riders which made the race a bit of a lottery early on.
Jordan made it to second place at the top of the climb on the second lap, but an incorrect choice of shoes made running downhill impossible and he slipped back to, and finished at fourth place.
Elite Men: Stuart Houltham - Stuart on the other hand had an awesome start! First into the single track and looking strong. The elite men's race was the only race that was not shortened by BikeNZ. The light rain had stopped and the track was starting to dry in some places. Things were looking good until in lap three, Stu's rear derailleur must have caught on something and the hanger snapped like a carrot. That was the end of Stuart's race. I talked to Stuart after the race who said he was feeling strong - bugger!
Never mind, I'm sure if BikeNZ don't stuff it up, Nelson will be better for all!
No comments:
Post a Comment