Off to Guigang, China

While the world champs were on a couple of weeks ago, Jeremy Christmas was at the managers meeting for New Zealand and it was announced that there was to be a UCI cat 1 race to be held in Guigang, China all expenses paid for invited international riders. There was a race held here last year and China really want a world cup to be held there, to do so they need international riders form lots of nations to race the event.

So after a lot of panicked emails and phone calls to make the deadlines, Katie and myself put our names forward and waited for other New Zealand riders to confirm, in the end we have 4 of us, Sam Thompson coming as our manager, Sam Shaw, Katie and Myself. There was going to be 3 NZXC riders going but unfortunately Norway wouldn't process Kate Fluker's visa so she can no longer come.

We got visa confirmed at the end of last week and finally got tickets yesterday and we leave today (Wednesday) exciting times. We have had 2 and half weeks of intense training, after 2 months of very limited riding we are feeling the strain but will give everything we have. There is a huge 94 International riders going 74 males and 20 females and only 50 Chinese riders, we are not sure on the genders of the Chinese riders yet, but it will be a massive cat 1 field with top pro riders (Julie Bresset in the chicks current Olympic and World Champion) and 30 different nations.

Facebook, Twitter are band in China so check website for updates, and hopefully we can get a few updates off.

Cheers

Carl and Katie      

Old Race Bike For Sale 9.9 SSL

Hey guys I'm still trying to get rid of my old race bike if you buy it off me directly and not off trademe I will accept offers above 3 grand. and have extra tires if you want them 

Trek 9.9 SSL 
Medium 18.5 
26inch 

18months old. I have been on a new bike since February. 

Ex-team bike of sponsored rider 
Comes with warranty for manufacture defects only from Cycle Sport NZ 
- so if the frame breaks or cracks you will get a new one...

-Bontrager XXX lite Carbon wheels have now had a full respoked (previously had replaced spokes)

-Fox float 32 100mm forks with remote lock out with brand new Kashima stanchions 

-Easton carbon bars 660mm 
-Truvativ 80mm stem 
-Bontrager XXX lite carbon seat post 
-Bontrager Evoke seat new
-Full XTR 

- Tires continental race king white walls. running tubes but has a tubeless rim strip. 
- No pedals or an extra $150 for XTR ones

Has a few paint chips the most serious one is on the rear chain stay i was hit from behind and took some paint off, but all is good.

headset and BB bearings haven't been replaced lately and has been sitting for a long time with out a rider :( but are still ok everything still turns

This is the fastest 26inch race bike I have ever had but it has to go.

World Cup #3 Val di Sole, Italy

We have been based up in the ''valley of the sun'' for 3 weeks now and the trip has finally ended with this race as we head home Monday, the weather here is always great and was the perfect base in Italy to train and race.

This track has always been a very steep climbing course this year there has been some changes they had taken away a long grass climb to add a new steep gravel climb followed by a very cool on the edge decent. The course has three major climbs and three descents the only flat is the flat to the start finish line and the start loop which is a bunch ride around the paddock. Today the heat was turned on with all the racing temperatures well into the 30's.

Katie's Race

Today for me was a massive improvement, with a glimpse of what is to come but nevertheless heartbreaking at the time. A huge portion of the first lap saw me off the bike running due to congestion  many riders around me were in the same boat. My body however was just not up to the impact of running and I paid the price struggling a great deal on the second lap barely turning my pedals and loosing places and time as I tried to recover. By the end of the second lap I had recovered enough from the running race and I was able to hit the third lap full gas, I produced a lap time over a minute faster than my one prior and within the top 40. The next lap I was able to go again and pick off 5 riders ahead getting to 44^th right behind team mate Kate, except unfortunately not close enough and the 5-10seconds back saw me miss out on cut off. My last lap based on the time I left and the time Kate crossed the start finish plus the 10 seconds back I was would have been a sub 18minute lap and around 28th fastest. Beyond disappointed to miss out when I was making such rapid gains and feeling strong enough to continue.

Regardless of the initial disappointmrnt of falling short of the top 40 result I had been aiming for I am stoked with my campaign over here. For me to have made it here to World cups and progress over the 5 races I have competed in is pretty damn cool. Cliché but it would not have been possible without those around me, I really would not have booked tickets and got a plane without the great support. 

The list is endless but I’ll give it a go… major thanks to my Physio Corey at the Physio Therapy Clinic who put me in the hands of an awesome Surgeon and helped with rehab (only a couple of my goals ended up unrealistic *Nationals *Oceania’s didn’t quite make them ones J) Sam Thompson NZXC manager and physical conditioner it is amazing how much he has put in to travel with us and he is a pretty good head chef too, My Coach Evan McRae for adapting my program daily as I gradually built back up, Sarah Mchardy for my weekly massage and zen have sure missed that over here in Europe, Waiariki (I tested more than any other year as we made decisions on what would be realistic for me to do, and areas to focus on), my friends and family especially my mum, and Carl who has made damn sure even from my first race back that I am on that start line even if I am scared out of my boots, and the Multi-Day adventures and MBR crew. All and all not a shabby support network, group of friends and family, definitely looking forward to getting home and hanging out even if it is winter:-/, planning to make the most of it, a few snow missions maybe?? and thinking I need to give cyclocross a go, at least one race, from what I hear it might help me with these world cups starts!!! 

Rookie photos from Carl mainly parked under a tree before his race 

Carl's race

I had quite a solid start with a massive crash right in front of me 200 meters off the start I got on the brakes and climbed over people and sprinted off getting up to the 50's after the little start loop, but really had a rough patch through a few of the 1st laps going back into the 60's and really struggling away, it was a real battle. I then started to pace myself on all the climbs and started to pass people. From lap 4 something changed for me and I was a different person, my heart was back under control and I started to pass and leave people on all the climbs, descend well and move up the field. On the lap I got lapped out on I moved up 6 places and was really flying, and was so gutted the lap here was so short and Nino and Julian boosted the 1st lap to make the lap out 80%  under 10 minutes only 44 people made the final lap and these 2 guys were 2 minutes clear of the rest. I finished 54th my best ever world cup result yet again but yet again not the top 50 I was after here.

Thanks to everyone that has supported me to this point mainly Sam for investing a lot of his own money into the NZXC team and my Family and Katie's mum Pam for the massive loans I have had to take out and all our NZXC sponsors I hope we have done our job for you. I have made some massive progress since I was last here in 2011 results wise and owe most of this to the support I'm getting. I'm look forward to the next trip, planning is already underway to keep improving and achieving our goals.

We are on the plane late Monday night new Zealand bound where I have lots of catching up to do with the Family, I have a brother with a baby, a brother that's been in Canada for 6 months and now has a broken to smithereens hand  and 40% of a liver and a cousin that with the other 60% of my brothers liver live's to fight another day.

Cheers Carl

Pro photos from Katie

     

Vermiglio, Italy Cat 1

Yesterday was our final hit out before our last World Cup in our European race campaign.

Saturday morning we headed up the valley to check out the race track, it basically consisted of one steep eat your stem climb and one steep holey crap rocks every where descent along with grass sections steep up hills and flowy slightly off camber descents through the grass fields and fast flat. So steep up, steep down and flat. First lap neither of us were too excited but after the second lap of practice we found it pretty fun so we left it at that.

Katie’s Race

Epic day out for me! I messed up another start opportunity, something I hope I cannot get wrong many more times. For the duration of the race I was not riding with any real snap and I took a bit of time to work my way into the top 15 and pick off riders I had kindly let passed me at the start :-(. The race really took a bad turn when on my second to last I managed to crash and break my shoe on the main rocky descent, that was slippery and loose after the rain. Although frustrating and awkward I rolled to what I thought was the finish, loosing sight of the girls in front that I was hoping to catch but holding on just enough to not loose a position. This lap however was not the finish and soon after coasting through the start/finish I realized it felt wrong, so I continued riding along the track, when I got to Sam he let me know my suspicions were right and I still had another lap, only problem being we had nothing not even tape to fix my shoe on (a rookie mistake from myself in getting the techzone stuff ready) so out I went for my last lap loosing even more time on a track, a broken shoe was less than ideal due to the steep climbs and the hike a bike section. So far from a good day out but this is racing and the forced back off in intensity over the final laps may actually work in my favor in terms of recovery for next weekend, many times I have been able bounce back from poor races to lift my game the following weekend.. so here goes, 5 Days to the Italian World cup. Also big Thanks to Sam for the support in the feedzone and the Trek Factory Racing team for giving me a new buckle after my race :-).

 

Carl’s Race

I had a good start to the race sitting around the top 25 but had a few block passes thrown at me and nearly rode into the lake beside the path we were on, on the 1st climb everyone was off walking, slipping over and pushing and shoving. After the 1st lap I was further back than I was hoping but worked  back through the field to maybe be top 20 or close to. It then started to rain and our track became very slippery my tires were perfect and I was riding where most were running. After 3 solid laps my legs couldn't go much harder and people started coming around me and I just couldn't hold wheels and I started slipping back through the field. There wasn't much I could do about it but keep pushing I finished up 30th and still not a happy chappy both the Category 1 races I was hoping to do better at but stuff just hasn't gone right. Now for 5 days recovery into our last world cup and hopefully perfect preparation.

Sight seeing poor little bear

Gelato – Back Stage at our local cafe

                                                                   

Lugagnano Internaizionali D’Italia XC series

This weekend been we left the awesome team base in Val Di Sole, Italy to head to the Lugagnano Valdarda Bike race a round of the internazionali d'Italia XC series.

We got away on Saturday morning, a 3hr mission checking in to Hotel Arda our accommodation for the night along the way. We arrived at around 2pm but after mucking round a bit did not have enough time to ride a full lap of the track before the relay racing. We decided as it was a technical track with lots of rocky sections and tight twisty descents to wait until the racing had finished to get in a full lap. This was a perfect opportunity to clean the bikes and get in a bit of study, nothing like sitting in a car for 3 more hrs. We had a pretty good lap of the track, which was steep, technical and completely exposed providing minimum shelter from the sun and no opportunity to rest.

After packing up the car up we went back to our hotel for dinner and off to bed, excited for our Italian breakfast which was included with the room. Unfortunately as we found out in the morning the Italian breakfast was a cappuccino, and with the lack of English (or our lack of Italian) there was not much chance of getting anything more than that. We headed to the supermarket to get some food for the day and then to a café for breakfast. 4 Café’s later we realized we were in for something sweet, pizza, coffee, or our favorite an alcoholic beverage. Back to the supermarket it was, where we settled for a pizza bread, croissant, and some bread and nutella. Pretty sure we checked the carb’s box with one of those items so we were happy enough to roll with it and get to the track to get the racing underway.

Katie’s Race.

I woke up feeling pretty average all round at that point I knew either way the racing went that I would need to be ready to hurt. My warm up went well and was ready to get racing and embrace the 30 degree high that Lugagnano had put on for us.

My first lap was ok I started bad again too busy watching the near crash, I then got going and picked off riders quickly to about 5th position. the 2nd lap I felt average and was wondering how I would survive 5laps, but stuck to the plan drink, drink, drink, keep the body cool and gels going in. By lap 3 I felt great I was climbing really well in comparison to other weeks, lap 4 I attacked the girl with me getting a nice gap feeling even stronger than lap 3, however I got caught in a crash with a jnr guy going down (around 80 jnrs had started a few minutes prior and we were working our way through the back of them). I stayed up but ended up having to run the section lost a place and momentum so I sat in and recovered to ensure I could hit out fast when passing back. On the last lap I attacked again like lap 4 but no hold ups this time and managed to do another solid lap. My lap times showed a similar story and on lap 3 and 5 I was lapping in 3rd position and really enjoying the steep climbs, I was making gains on the podium however 4th place was mine as I crossed the start finish for the final time. Eva Lechner World cup #1 winner took out the race, would have been pretty awesome to stand on a podium with her.

Big thanks to Carl for feeding me, my race was before his so he had to cook in the feed zone before totally baking out on the track! Will be nice to be back racing with the NZXC set up for our final two races where Sam Thompson has been doing an awesome job as manager and manning the feed zones we definitely missed support this weekend, but well worth making the trip.

Start line - 2nd row

On the way to the finish

Feedzone 

Carls Race

My race pretty much didn't go as I wanted it. I had a good grid position in 15^th 3^rd row but somehow buggered up the start and got boxed in and swamped down both sides, I slipping into the 30s on the 1^st climb it was open and fast and I started passing people again but once we got onto the single track a guy in front of a group of us decided he was on a Sunday ride and with no way to get by we were all getting gaped very quickly. I got a beauty of a block pass into the single track down hill on this guy and continued on. The heat was unreal with over 30 degrees and been not very conditioned to it at all I really struggled to keep cool, every bottle was to the top with half going over me and half into the tank even the shots drink mix was going on me. For the 1^st 45 minutes it seemed like the body was fighting me and not wanting to go but once I managed to cool myself down a bit the last hour was good I was coming back through the field, on the last lap I was very strong and could see a top 15 result but managed to hang myself upside down in a tree for a bit.

I finished 18^th and am pretty disappointed about it lots of guys I have been beating at the world cups along way in front. Just an all-round bloody hot day in the sun but nice to see Katie ride very well and get much loved UCI points and a bit of cash to pay the bills.  

On the start

Last single track before the home straight

Happy to be resting in the shade after the race

Travelling back to the mountains

T42

In the rush to pack for Europe and leaving 2 days latter we had forgotten to do an up date on T42 a few weeks latter here is one.

Carl's race

It was a bloody cold start not quite bad as the one I sat out last year but I had an uncontrollable shiver on the start line and no warm up. It was my first time every on the 42nd traverse and people had been talking it up so I was amped to find out what it was about.
Down the first main road before the race really kicks off we were all just trying to warm up cruising along, but with some very dodge people trying to push the pace, passing in the grass and sprinting through gaps that weren't there so I decided it was time to boost it and be safe, so I took off with Graham Norman and Cabin Leishman coming with me, I soon pushed on and every so often for the first half hour Graham would start coming back to me on some of the slippery descents where I didn't want to take risks. Mid race I really put the hammer down and tried to continue extending my gap. I won in 1.45.35 ahead of Graham at 1.50.12 and braking the course record.

Katie’s Race

The T42 was a bit of a milestone for me, It was the last race before my time off the bike. I was definitely on the limiter fitting it in between finishing up at work, and packing for our exciting Europe adventures, and was definitely zoned out with all the goings on demonstrating this when on the way to the race I drove past the turn off and was on my way to the who knows where. Lucky before going too far I snapped out it and made a quick U-bolt. Nothing like a scenic drive to an event.. And Carl was totally fine with it… J J. 

I was pretty nervous when I arrived as the women’s field was pretty large and my race experience was definitely on the low side but got off to a good start and once we hit the grass I took the lead and managed to stay there. I had a few good battles out there, which made for a bit of fun as there was a bit of cat and mouse and even some attacks with some of the guys. It is the type of track where this is possible as it is very fast and flowy. I enjoyed the event and was stoked we only had to ride some of the way back to our car (too cheap to take the bus). Big thanks to Megan Domentos for giving us a lift the rest of the way back after we stopped for a break and a kitkat at the gas station J.

World Cup #2 Nove Mesto Na Moreave, Czech

We arrived in Czech late Monday afternoon and settled into our accommodation in a small village called Bystre deep in the country side of Czech a 30 minute drive from Nove Mesto. We were staying with a guy who calls himself Milky at a penzion (Czech hotel/motel/backpackers) Sam Shaw and Dirk had stayed with him last year and said he was a good guy and hard case. Hard case he was he spoke very little English but enough for us to understand him if not we would take a trip to Google translate and sort the situation. 

The World cup track at Nove Mesto Na Morave is awesome, along with Champery it is definitely a favourite. Carls description ‘Rotorua on steroids’ is a good description for those back home although missing the over 130km of it. It is naturally technical with rooty descents and climbs, further technical features (steroids) have then been added with downhill, uphill and flat manmade rock gardens.

The track was much the same as we remember it from two years ago, with the addition of one more rock feature, a gnarly looking rock descent. It was a risk versus reward section where the easier line reduced the chance of crashing and flat tyres. We found out when racing we were able to pass 2 riders at a time if they went into the slower safer line so was pretty happy to make it safely down the A line with no flat tyres or crashes all week and during the race.

Carl's race 

Unfortunately after last week I was hoping to move up on World cup ranking however the new UCI rules this year have you continuing on world ranking position and not the world cup ranking, so it was back to 83^rd for me 10 rows back I was called up 76^th so there was a bit of a movement forward with riders DNS in front of me, and on the start line I snuck another line when we pushed up, maybe to the 8^th line of 120 riders. On the start lap we follow the roads for a couple of minutes going on to one of the main climbs of the track and continuing onto the race lap, this gives you a bit of time to move up as much as you can, I sat in holding my ground until the 1^st little climb then hit it hard passing a large number of riders, down the other side of this hill it was a high speed right hander a few riders went down and we got slightly gaped to the main pack dodging them. From then on I had space to move on the next single track climb we still had to run but looking behind me there was way more riders than normal. I come round to start the 1^st normal lap of 7 1min20 down in 63^rd so I had already made a big jump on my grid position and last time I raced here after the 1^st 8min start loop I was 100 position and 3mins 20 down, so I was slightly stoked hoping I was in for a good one. However things kind of stalled out from here and I went backwards again before coming forwards, having a few rough patches where people would pass me and I couldn't hold their wheels to me absolutely smashing it back past them. I was loving the technical sections and making back time every time things got tough. Again I made the last lap not sure by how much but the next group of riders behind me missed out so must have been close, on this lap it started to rain and the track became very slippery and the

roots and rocks were very different and then my through axle come loose and had to stop and do it back up so I settled for 63^rd another PB World Cup result so still moving forward. Hopefully an even better story in Val Di Sole in 3 weeks.   

Katie's Race

My race was crazy hard I was ridden off in the start loop, not confident enough in my climbing or riding to assert being there. What ground I had made was quickly lost when I got tangled with another rider. I came through exactly where I started at the back. The first full lap I rode well technically and felt compose however there was nothing there. My legs were not participating and for the first time ever I actually wanted to just stop, I did not feel I should be there. It was pretty hard to stomach, riders destroying me up the hills with just the technical component keeping me in there, the complete reverse from previous years.

Fortunately my coach has always drilled in the mental aspect of the sport and even when the body is not participating to never give in. On the third full lap it started paying off not only did I feel good through the technical areas but I found my legs and was able to pick off riders ahead moving from 50^th to 47^th this however was short lived where on the last technical climb I started struggling with my bike it slipped a gear after I presume clipping the derailleur somewhere as till this point it was working perfectly. I ended up running. I then dropped my chain through the next section called the ACDC I got it back on but not settled in a gear for the ‘rock n roll’ so again got my run on.. Once back on the bike coming through the start finish I was back to 50^th where I had been in the second lap, so what physically was a strong lap, where I was able to pass riders who had been pulling away in the climbs ended up a bit average. I quickly settled back into my rhythm again and although my gears were not perfect I got them to hold and still feeling strong I passed 2 of the 3 riders who had got passed during my issues and got back up to the wheel of the one ahead, unfortunately not quick enough as we both missed the cut off for the final lap by seconds. By no means am I disappointed, I have come such a long way and am continuing to make inroads each week, race and training session. 

I will continue to search for further improvement racing two Category 1 races over my last 3weeks here in Euroland to prepare for the Val Di Sole World cup which is on a very demanding track.  

     

UCI MTB World Cup 1, Albstadt Germany

Travelling for 8hrs to the Next world cup race in the Czech Republic seems like a perfect opportunity to write up an update for everyone.

We arrived in Munich Germany almost 2weeks ago, and continued on to Sigmaragen, Germany where we based at a triathlon club building into the first world cup in Albasdt Germany Just over 30minutes drive from our base. The set up was primo, having everything we needed.

It took us awhile to get used to Europe, possibly the jet lag or change of diet and had many average days which also meant for some average training days. Glad to have had that buffer weekend where we were not racing to get dialled in better.

We found a couple of trails close to home however spent most our time on the world cup course during training, each lap was different and the track conditions varied from dry to completely muddy and very slippery. The track consisted of 3 climbs, a steep one to start off and then two longer ones to follow. The descents had a bit of everything, rocks, roots, jumps the dirt here is very different when its wet it is like ice and when its drying it’s like ice but flicks up on to your bike adding a good 5kg. But over the buildup we got to test all conditions and different tyre combos.  

Katie

It’s awesome to be back lapping up an XCO race track, it has been over a year since I raced my last XCO race the 2012 Oceania Champs. The track was fun, technical and brutally hard. During the week I got a feel for where I was at and also got in my first max efforts. Training up to date has been around threshold so I found it hard to push to this level and recover.

In my warm up I felt like continuing to ride in the opposite direction with the daunting World cup being less than 1hr away this would have been much easier, instead I followed my routine and got to the line. The start was hard but not in a physical sense, I made the mistake to look back and realize after starting back line I had made no ground I was still at the back, so decided to just look forward from then on this however was also a bit grim as the top 20 or so ride off with the other 50ish riders in a bottleneck. My first lap ended up a minute slower than my other laps and during the other laps I was also getting held up, the same story for everyone. During the race I was stronger in the descents but passing was not easy in the single track, so it was pretty frustrating as I definitely struggled climbing, which is where there are more passing opportunities.  I hope as I lift to the higher intensity in training and become race hardened I will find my climbing legs again to be able to make use of these opportunities! Used to love a good climbing track so I know it’s in there somewhere...

Happy to have made some ground on my start position and hoping this will be a starting platform to build from… Looking forward to World cup number two. 

Carl's race report

The forecast was for thunderstorms and a high of 8 degrees so and the track was hell in the wet so I was hoping it would stay dry as it had for the elite woman. As they finished and I was kitted up to start my warm up the heavens opened and it pist down. So my warm up was more a freeze my ass off and get soaked to the bone. I had a start plate of 82 out of 135 riders so still where I usually am but a hell of a lot more riders than I’m used to so I ended up been in the middle of the race instead of the back and I didn't not want to be getting to the back off that 135.

Sitting on the start line in front of 30,000 people with a nervous heart rate of 125bpm I got positioned behind a Brazilian and a Mexican not ideal start buddy’s to have in front, sure enough off the start they were slow but I managed to get around them on the 1^st bottle neck of the start straight. We were all maxed out until the 1^st single track climb where I literally hoped off my bike and stood in 1 spot for 1 minute, then walked up the track to the top of the hill hoped on my bike rode very slowly down the hill hit the next climb as hard as I could got to the top of that stood around for another minute then slowly rode and ran down that hill climbing over people lying in the mud… then my race started the track was in the worst conditions we had seen it. I crossed the start line 3 minutes 13 behind the leaders in 83^rd.

This is the most time I have ever lost on a first lap at a world cup so to not let history repeat and get lapped out I had to go deep, from here I pushed on passing small bunches and chasing the next each lap taking 5 or 6 riders but been held up a lot on the descents was making work tough but letting me recover enough to hit the climbs harder than the other riders. Lap 4 I had a stunner and lapped 37^th fastest and went from 71^st up to 64^th sitting at the back of a bunch of 5. After this effort I couldn’t get away from this bunch and in particular in front of 1 guy every climb he would just out climb me and I had to descend stuck behind him until the last lap of the 7 lap race where my body just started to shut down, I was riddled with cramp, my vision was blurring and my hearing was in and out from pushing harder than ever before, the weather made this so much harder than it needed to be. So my hopes of maybe slipping into the top 60 faded with my energy and I settled for 66^th my best result at a world cup but still needs work.

Hopefully this week at Nove Mesto, Czech I get to start 66^th (as now points go on world cup ranking and not UCI ranking) on the grid and continue making inroads into the top 50.  

Pretty cool to make the redbull tv highlights real watched by millions 

http://www.redbull.com/us/en/bike/stories/1331591328156/uci-xco-world-cup-report-and-highlights