Jordan Blake

Back on Bike

2008-09-18T20:12:00.003+12:00

Just update everyone of what I have been up too:

Over the last 3 months I have been super busy with both work and study so havn't,
had much time for riding as well.

But now the weathers improved and im less busy ive been able to get back on the bike
and im loving it. The plan now is to focus on Tour of Wellington so i will dedicate most of my time training for that.

Also last night i was privileged to help out at the Giant expo that Vic cycles(my LBS, thats done tremendous things for me) put on.

They had the 2009 Giant bike range which i was very interested in.

I’m currently in discussion as to what bikes I will hopefully be riding in the near future.

Until next time

Jordan

Oceania Mountainbike Champs: Nelson New Zealand 2008

2008-03-16T10:35:00.029+13:00

4 laps, 1hr 26min 1st Place, (22seconds ahead of 2nd place Alex Mcgregor) .
One of the best days in my racing career. Its just awesome to think I'm now U19 Oceania XC Mens Champion!

I had to fight bloody hard to win this one. For the first three laps I felt sluggish. My legs were spinning fine but I didn't have any power. My mind was telling me don't panic you can still win this race.

After fighting my way back from 6th and starting the last lap 32secs behind Alex I knew this last lap was going to be a whole lot of pain. I was shocked, as halfway up the climb I caught Alex, but as we came over the top together, he again rode away as I was paying the price of catching him and I was trying to recover from my hard effort on the climb.

By this stage I threw caution to the wind, riding really quickly in the downhill (on the Santacruz Blur) to again catch Alex. I knew there was a small climb from the finish - about 50m long and fairly steep, so when Alex noticed I was on his wheel, he attacked just before the bottom. I waited patiently, and when I heard Alex changing down gears I pounced and kept it in my big ring and used every ounce of power I could get out of my legs. I looked back as I crested the top and Alex was out of sight I kept pushing for the last 500m to hang on and win. This was my last race on my racing calender so now it's time for some rest, Im really happy that I finished the season strong with 4 race wins in a row.

A few people I would like to acknowledge and thank!!

In no particular order
* My Coach Jeff- for getting me this fit and giving me advice
* Alex(Allco Agencies)- Being a true friend and helping me out
* Vic Cycles- Working on my bikes and helping me out
* PNP- My local cycling club
* Family and friends- They know who they are
* Mum and Dad- Where do i start

Without all of your help I wouldn't of being able to do this

Karapoti 08

2008-03-04T21:39:00.009+13:00

So!
A new Record.

A super fast dry course.
First time on fully.

I just accomplished something pretty good.

Last weekend I did the Karapoti Classic 50km mtb race through Upper Hutt's rugged forest.

Most people are fully aware that this race is a pretty popular one.

Almost every hardcore MTBer in the NZ cycling community has done it and you won't find many who haven't. Anyway I set a new jr record of 2.26 slicing 8 mins off Carl Jone's record.

I rode a Santacruz Blur supplied by one of my sponsors (Alex), I must say I had my doubts at first but that bike is a rocket, it felt as if I was floating the whole time. I managed to ride deadwood and most of staircase, when all the rest were pushing. It's hard to explain in words just how efficently it climbed, even when there was a rock step the backwheel would just flick me up.

And I rode the entire rock garden easily(which I have always struggled with). The best bike to have by far on race day!!

I felt like I was going slow. I taped the 2hr 30min time splits onto my stem as I was hoping to go under that time. I was just shocked each time I checked my stopwatch as at top of staircase I was 9mins ahead of time.

Anyway I stopped 3 times as I got chainsuck badly. My fault as I didn't take time with lubing, and one of the times was at the bottom of dopers so I walked the first part, then rode in granny the rest because I didn't want to risk putting it in middle, so I lost 4mins just on that hill.

Anyway I'm really eager to have ago at Clintons race record next year. I think 12mins is achievable with everything going well.

Sure enough if Jefe creates a strategic plan and conditions are perfect I may be in for a show

watch out next year..

Mt Vic Nat Champs

2008-03-04T21:25:00.012+13:00

Ok, I thought it was about time I updated my site.
I had a great day at Mt Vic where I won, making me national XC U19 Champ so pretty cool tittle to have.

The race plan itself i'd been thinking about after finding out it was going to be a 4 lap race instead of 3laps. This would change my tactics as I now knew that every body would run out of fuel with an extra 26min lap.

Sure enough it happened, Ash drove hard at the front and everybody seemed to panic.
I however knew if these boys can maintain this pace i was going to get smoked. But come 2nd lap I just held the same pace as the first lap and everybody seemed to be slowing down. Anyway i just drove tempo all the way to the finish and i was suprised when i found out i was going 15secs faster every lap and i achieved the fastest last lap out of everybody.

Mid North Island xc series Round 2(Tokoroa)

2007-11-20T16:23:00.005+13:00

1:30min, 2nd place 1min down to winner Mike Northcotte

This course i really enjoyed because it had no rest and was fast.

My legs felt crap to start off with. But as the race progressed i felt better and better. Mike was way in front at the end of the 2nd lap but i managed a good last lap and managed to drop Dirk Peters but also nearly catch Mikey.

PNP Series Round 5

2007-11-20T16:17:00.001+13:00

3rd place 2min down to winner Wayne Hiscock and 1min behind 2nd place Stu Houltman

I felt good throughout the entire race but i just didn't have it mentally in the downhills as 10 days prior to this i fell of my bike while training.

On the last steep climb i managed to catch hiskey and stu but couldn't keep with them in the downhills.

PNP MTB Series Round 4

2007-10-21T20:58:00.000+13:00

1st Place. 1hr 37min
1min ahead of 2nd Wayne Hiscock

This course was definitely a tough brutal course with so much steep climbs especially the last climb Belmont Trig. A steep 15min 350 vertical meters climb. This is where I left Wayne to win my first race of the season. Now I look forward to summer!

Che che
Jords

Time Trial 18km

2007-10-10T08:23:00.000+13:00

27.10
2min 54s down to winner

TT are always hard and this was no different, it was just a local 18km TT around my local circut Liverton Road. I guess my times not to bad considering im not a time trialist and i had no aerobars on.

Enduro 50km

2007-10-08T21:06:00.000+13:00

Enduro 50km XC Race
2.28min 2min down on winner Carl Jones

After watching the All Blacks lose it was mentally hard to forget about that and prepare for my race. This race i did was the last race of the enduro series, I chose to do the shorter 50km instead of the 100km. All the way through the first 40km i was feeling great holding Carls wheel after we broke away in the first 5km. But it was at the highest point of the race where i run out of front brake pad and therefore didn't have the braking power required to stay with Carl. It became a bit of a mental race because i thought i lost more time than i did and the next gravel road uphill i got into a rythm and turned a corner and saw Carl and the lead moto up head. This lifted me but then i remember i have no front brake.

Day Night Thriller 2007

2007-09-17T20:59:00.000+12:00

Recently i competed in the Day Night Thriller held in Taupo, as i do every year. This event is where you take turns in a team of 4 or 5 racing around an 8km circut and try and complete as much laps as possible in 12hrs.This event is more of a social event and about having fun rather then racing. Our team this year was Marco,Aaron, Kane, Denis, Dale and I( Alex was our manager) we placed 5th overall which is pretty good. I felt strong and i was pulling 4 quick laps at one time. My race season starts in October.

29 May Update New Season

2007-05-29T21:56:00.000+12:00

So it's been a while since TA actually a while since i have done anything. Month ago i did the Moonride which was held in Rotoruas famouse Whakarewarewa forest, in this event you can do solo 24hr, solo 12hr or do the 24 or 12 in teams. We did the 12hr in a team of 5, Aaron, Kane,Allex,Mike and myself. I always look forward to this event because the atmosphere is great but unfortunately i wasn't so lucky. I was screaming up this gravel road climb which isn't very steep anyway i was in my Big Ring and all and i seen these group of ladies were bunched over the road, anyway i called on your right and all of the women except one went to the left anyway as you can guess i'll ploud into her smashing my hand up and injurying my shoulder luckily nothing to seriouse other than scrapes and bruises and abit of lost skin. I was the one who come of second best and i went fully over my handlebars doing a speed of i reckon maybe 30kmh i slid for maybe 1-2seconds but a was in a bit of discomfort for the rest of the night.

Anyway other than that i havn't been doing much as this is my offseason, im hoping that from the start of June i will be back on the road bike again doing some miles.

Till next time
Jordan

Te Awamutu Tour Stage 3

2007-04-18T21:25:00.000+12:00

120km
3hr 31 (10mins behind winner)

The first 40km the legs didn’t feel too good but after that they come right and I actually stated feeling really good. This course had a lot more hills then yesterday.

I got dropped(out of leading bunch) at 104km but it wasn’t because I was weak, the bike I was riding was having problems changing from little on front to big. Anyway I couldn’t get it to change, and on the downhill’s I would run out of gears way too quick.

Overall I finished 19th and I really enjoyed the tour. I hope next year with a strong TT and my own bike I can finish higher up on GC.

Te Awamutu Tour 2007 - Day Two, 117km Road Race

2007-04-14T16:53:00.000+12:00

I did my first real road race today, 120km. Fine with light winds.

The first 80km was easy, I was just sitting in the Peleton. A bunch went out on the first 5km and stayed out till 100km until the second bunch that I was in, caught them. Anyway I am happy because I stayed with some of NZ best roadies for 95% of the race but got dropped 5km before the finish. I just didn’t have any more power left.

Te Awamutu Tour 2007 - Day One TT

2007-04-13T21:11:00.000+12:00

34th place out of 55riders

7min down on the winner.

My first serious Time Trial. 26km around a fairly flat course.

Fairly cold and very windy (at least it wasn't raining).

Time trialing is not my strong point! but I enjoyed it all the same.

I was 7min down to the winner. I think I lost most of my time in headwinds

because I'm not strong enough into the wind. I am lucky to have a coach who is a TT expert so I will have to get some tips for next year.

Looking forward to a better day tomorrow, although I think I have my best chance on day 3 as It looks like there are plenty of hills, although I'm not really expecting to set the world on fire as I'm not used to road racing yet. I have heaps to learn.

Thredbo Race, March 2007

2007-04-04T21:40:00.000+12:00

Hi Everyone

The day before my race, I was hydrating and ensuring I had lots of food in my reserves. I woke up on race day to hear the sound of rain, I know everybody hates that sound but not me I was actually excited to race in the wet greasy conditions.

I got to event village about an hour before start just in time for a warm up, in fact it wasn't even a warm up because I was "freezing" literally, anyway found some hills to warm up on but hills have one problem once you go up you have to come down and when you come down you freeze.

Anyway got on the start line as usual but still shivering and covered in goosebumps. The gun went off, actually the pace at the start was fairly relaxed but as soon as we hit the tarseal road climb attacks started happening. Everybody was sprinting to get to the single track first, anyway I got swamped and ended up about 10th into the first single track.

As per usual I just decided to run the first technical climb because hopping on and off wastes energy. I got to the main climb and I looked up only to find the leaders were nearly at the top. This was a tester for the legs which still weren't warm probably down to the fact that I was freezing during my warm up.

As I entered the main single track I reckon I was already a minute behind the leader lying in 9th position. My decent was sluggish and rough I just couldn't ride smooth with all the greasy rocks and steps.

I was riding past the feedzone when someone called out 1min 30s behind I was shocked that I thought I was going fast but really I was slow. Second lap was better my pace didn't slow much and I was gaining on an Auzzie and two Kiwis.

The third lap my legs felt better, I went past the Auzzie and overtook George and James (both Kiwis). About 30seconds after I went past them I heard some yelling, turns out it was George with a puncture. I got to the top of the climb and I decided to try and make some time on 5th and 4th place who I could still se so I tried pushing it a little more on the downhill, I entered a wooden bridge (slippery walking track bridge with no chicken wire) carrying too much speed tying to do a 45degree turn, front wheel wiped out and I ended up kissing the wood.

Once I got back up and riding again I heard some brakes behind me it was James Williamson, I must have lost about 15seconds coming off.

I followed James through the start finish area and he also came off. We were flying on a path when James went to bunny hop this log of wood but he didn't lift his front wheel higher enough and he ended up flat on his face.

Fourth lap it started to hurt on the climbs and they were getting muddier and the descents were more like streams of water flowing everywhere. The climbs seemed to get steeper and the descent more technical.

Last lap, I was in 6th but the frustrating thing was I could see Conor (kiwi rider) who was absolutely flying and the Auzzie a little bit behind him but I just couldn't make up any ground. My legs were dead and I just couldn't go any faster.

I ended up finishing sixth in a time of 1:56mins Nearly 7mins down to winner Paul Van Der Ploeg. I am happy to finish 2nd Kiwi and I now know the pace of competing at the next level, I will sure train harder next year.

Special thanks to:

*Mum Dad

*Allco Agencies

*Jeffy

*Marco

*VIC Cycles

*and of course PNP

Happy Trails
Jordan

Team PNP, Round Three, National Series

2007-02-12T17:25:00.000+13:00

National Series - Round three.

Team PNP Report

At last! a fine race, Rotorua greeted us with an awesome day, however heavy rain earlier in the week and a short burst of steady rain the day before made some sections slippery, but thankfully the track remained mainly dry.

Rotorua is quite different from the other venues because of it's lack of big hills. In some ways this makes it more intensive, as this also means there is no big downhills to rest. In addition, drinking and eating is difficult because of the tight single tracks that makes up most of the circuit. This is certainly one track that having an intimate knowledge of it makes a huge difference.

Once again Trevor Woodward gave us all a display of smooth and consistent racing. Never really threatened all race, he showed us what many years of racing experience can do. I feel sorry for his competitors. Well done Trevor 1st again!

Samara Sheppard continues to battle Monique Avery. This was always going to be a tough ask for Samara as this is Monique's "home turf". I don't think I have ever seen Samara so focused during a race but unfortunately this was not enough to catch Monique. A well deserved 2nd - great stuff!
Auckland and Wellington are going to be interesting as I feel Samara has an edge on the hills - watch this space!

Peter Arkwright - what can I say, he is a real bloke! Breaking a collar bone and dislocating something with a very long name, and still managed to finish the race - in 2nd place!!! what an effort!!! - what a man!!!!
I would love to be able to explain how he came off doing 80km, taking out a half grown pine tree and a small stand of blue gum in the process, but unfortunately the truth is not quite as exciting. Seems Arkie had a senior moment and lost concentration for a second as he was riding past some submerged tyres on the BMX track. He recons the fall itself was quite graceful over the handlebars, but the landing was not quite so delicate.
The PNP club now has it's own Colin Meads - Get well soon Arkie!

U19 Men is a very competitive class, and Rotorua had all of the "big guns" there. A number of the top riders are based in Rotorua, which was always going to make it an extra challenge for Jordan Blake. A faulty start horn caused a bit of confusion for a number of riders, so once again Jordan found himself playing catch up early on. Jordan battled all race and managed a credible 4th place.

Stu Houltham was up against some very stiff competition in the Pro Elite Class. Clinton Avery was always going to be the man to beat, especially on his home track. Stu found himself in 3rd place after the first lap, he then managed to jump up to 2nd on the next lap and that is where he finished - awesome result Stu!! well done!!!

We are all looking forward to go to Auckland (I don't believe I just said that) keeping our fingers crossed for another dry race!

Dunedin Round 2 National Series - Team Report

2007-02-05T17:35:00.000+13:00

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!

Alex - Allco Agencies

2007-01-07T15:52:00.000+13:00

Alex really is the most positive person I know. His attitude is infectious and this helps no end when preparing for a race or an event. Everything

Alex has anything to do with, becomes a success, and his business is certainly no exception. Allco Agencies sell the very best in sub-floor water proofing available.

Both him and his company have helped me a great deal with my mountain biking. Allco have assisted with training equipment, mountain bike clothing as well assistance with travel. Without this help, things would have been very much harder for me and my family - thank you so much!

Alex is a keen mountain biker and enjoys the thrill of heading off into the hills with a group of like minded friends.

I hope to be able to repay Allco Agencies by training hard and getting some good results with my racing - watch this space!

2005-03-18T18:24:00.000+13:00