Well we hit Dunedin on Wednesday afternoon and got out to the track asap, the weather was dry but freezing the serious southerly that all of you in NZ felt was keeping us wrapped up, We did a few laps of the track together and sorted lines out strait away so we weren’t mucking around much in the lead up days. Friday I did a lap with Katie to sort out a line and then a hard lap, I was primed and ready to go that nite Joe Locky Mcarthur's mum made a huge feed that was perfect pre race meal and a mint sleep we were staying in the mints warmest house in Dunedin, it was a farm stay that had Alpacas cool as http://www.stonebarn.co.nz/
Carl
The race, soon as I turned up at the track I saw all the Australia boys riding round and I got goose bumps rolling though me, before I new it we in the start box and cracking some jokes and getting really nervous. The under 23s were racing with the pros for one podium as we had all season so we got called up amongst the ozy and Tahiti guys. Race started and I just took off strait though some of the big guys and slotted in about top 10 up the first main climb I gave another attack and stuck with dirk peters the NZ under23 champ we rode pretty close together for the hole race with dirk slowly slipping away getting about a 20 second gap on me, coming on to the last lap I could see dirk fading and I gained confidents, within a few minutes I was right back on dirk and did what he does to me when he passes me, soon as I got to him I hit the pace as hard as I could and I got a gap that I just tore open by the end of the race beating him by about 2 or 3 minutes I was stoked with how I went I was 8th in the elite field and 2nd under23 with the Australian under 23 national champion Paul Vander Plog getting 4th in the race, dirk stuck in for 10th and 3rd under 23. I was stoke I had beaten dirk as I hadn’t done it at nationals and very happy with where I finished in the pro field.
We have been busy ever since the race down here in Dunedin we have been attending a development camp that MTBNZ is running for us. Only a few days till the NZ team long list is out for the worlds in Canada at the end of August. The team will be confirmed on the 2nd of August, we have been told on the camp the team is not going to be like last year where world were in Australia and a full team was sent, this year because it is long way to go, so they have set high standards and the only people that are guaranteed a spot are the national champions and the rest of us have to perform at a high standard over seas against the other world class athletes.
Travelling home at the moment had a good time in Dunedin, Katie is driving at the moment so she will do an up date at some stage this week. And this pretty much wraps up the NZ summer for me.
Thanks to every one for the help over the last few months we will post an update when the long list team is out. I leave for Chile in 14days for 3 months of hard work track building then to Canada for 2 and a half months of racing. Keep ya posted
Carl
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