Just about 1 month up of track building

Just about 1 month up of track building, we have properly had about 80 percent of our days it has rained or snowed and had a few sunny mint days. We have been working in some extreme conditions today for one, while I’m writing this some of the boys are still up the hill but myself and Scott are back down in the warm house. We woke up this morning and it looked like the weather was closing in, on the way up the hill it started raining and you could see it was snowing just above us, I had all my warm kit on but soon as we started work it just got colder and colder we are working up at about 800meters, by smoko half of us were thinking about going home at lunch because the weather was so bad, after smoko we couldn’t get going again we all were frozen so we decided we would go back down to the hut to warm up then go to our track at 600meters to fix it up because it’s in the trees and shelter from the wind, rain and sleet. Once we got to the hut a few of us were quite cold and after a while by the fire decided to make a move myself and Scott gapped it to the house had a shower and got warm. Kind of looks good again out there but I’m not going back out again today that was the coldest I have ever been in my life.

Building is hard going on the body and hard on the training, I’m not doing a hell of a lot of training as after work I’m just too tired to get back on my bike and go out again, I still feel I’m doing enough riding but not as much as I would like to be, but with all the digging I think I will be sweet come Canada. I have been doing a bit of running when the weather is too bad to ride and I haven’t run in about 9 months so legs feel super good and not saw at all.... NOT My legs are hating it.

Only 2 more months of hard work then off to Canada away from this Chilean Autumn/Winter, Winter don’t start till June gutted for the boys that are coming when we leave in July, the weather isn’t going to be nice then I wouldn’t think.

Carl

First full week in Paloma

I have just got in from my first full week of building mountain bike tracks in the mountains of Chile. The week started off very good we were off to finish the track we had started in the few days we were here before the weekend and got in to it and got it done by Wednesday afternoon, pretty cool benched trail. Thursday we changed location we went from about 600 meters to around 800 meters to make a more tech rugged trail, and the weather turned to shit we have just worked 2 days of 9 hours each, in the pissing rain and today there was a howling wind with rain coming straight into our faces, watching the mountain about 500 more meters above us turn white with snow showers throughout the day, it was hard going we just had to keep working to stay warm, the shit thing is I picked up a cold on Tuesday and have been struggling ever since and that weather properly doesn’t help.

We have about a 45min climb up to where we work and we do that every day with some super technical up hills and then a few really hard downs coming home, just riding to and from work is about an hour and half so its mint training no matter what, and now I am smoked my arms back and legs hurt so much I don’t know what to do with myself.

We have 2 maids that do every think for us it is pretty cool we get every think cooked and made and cleaned for us all we do is work come home and sit here smashed from a hard day’s work. We have limited power and internet usage because we are on a generators and it’s only turned on in the morning and late afternoon. As for now we are all sitting in the living room having a few beers and just chilling, we get given 2 beers a day haha so we save them up and have a few good nights.

Tomorrow we may do a few hours over time work in the morning but if the weathers bad I ante going out there. But at 2pm we are off to town, it takes a little while to get there because we have to boat across our lake to the dock get a taxi that takes about 45mins on a gravel road then we are there. We are going to do some shopping for a few extra thing we need and some of the boys are going stay the night in town and party it up with the locals (Coyhaique 55,000) as for me I’m going to come back home have an early night and try shake the cold and hit up town another time. I think!?

Carl

Day 1 at Paloma

Finally got here at lunch time today to our final location, we are now out of the smoggy city of Santiago it was so smoggy this morning that u could only see a few hundred meters and it stinks and really tastes bad. As we flu south past all the mountains the snow slowly got thicker. We arrived in Belmaceda and there was nothing there but like 5 slums... honestly if you have watched slum dog millionaire Santiago was like that in some places pretty freaky, but any way now we are at our lake and accommodation in Paloma it is pretty amazing just in the mountains with a lake.

I went a had a quick ride up the hill earlier took like 15mins to get a little way up the hill the tracks are so so cool and I only did like 2 tracks. I also did the pump track some of the other boys built and after 6 laps I stacked it on a soft corner but just about every 1 crashes on this corner and I wasn’t the only 1 at the time. They have a mean dual slalom track also over by the pump track which is only like 100meters from the house it’s wicked.

Have our first day of work tomorrow its ment to be fine but the boys said every morning it is clear the ground is frozen and it snowed a bit last week so looks like we are in for a cold wet time I’m not gana post every day haha just thought I would let you No some more.

We are on the net from 5ish till 10ish that’s like lunch time there, but we are all on the net at once so it cuts out lots.

Talk soon

Carl

Track Building - Chile

Hi Guys
It’s been a long time coming but I’m finally in Chile at the moment I’m sitting in The Holiday Inn which is about 100 meters away from Santiago International Airport, we are staying the night here and flight out to Belmaceda at 830am in the morning. Sounds like the place we are going to is very cool, we have to ride a hour every day up over a hill to work and we get paid for that, has lots of track so my big training rides I won’t have to do the same track twice and there is lots of fish in the lake, trout and salmon so ill be slaying them in my spear time. Looking forward to it a lot just one more 4 hour mission in airports.

Keep ya posted when I get bored until then I think it’s time I hit the sac only got 45min sleep on the plane and I have force out the day. Also I will be on Skype most days around 11-2 or 3 NZ time that is 7ish-till late here.

Thanks to every one for the mint party the other night,
Carl

Oceania Championships 2nd U23 women

Oceania’s this weekend finished off our domestic season, and my build up to this race was not what I hoped…. Going to Dunedin I was confident I was a lot healthier than nationals but still being on antibiotics (after the first course of antibiotics not working GRRR) I was definitely not 100% and as a result my training had not been what it would have over the 3weeks between the two important events. The training focus had shifted from intense training session to recovery/rest, getting healthy was the main objective, at that stage and given the situation it was all I could do.

As Carl said we charged on down to Dunedin arriving at about 4.30pm with enough time spare for a couple of laps. The cold really hit my chest and stirred things up bit resulting in waking up on Thursday feeling off colour, the decision was made that I would take the day off the bike and off the track to keep warm and stay rested in order to feel fresh and well on race day. Friday was my chance for a last lap on the track Carl showed me the lines he had gone over on Thursday and I was really excited and confident to race the great track Dunedin had.

The rest, awesome meals (Thanks to Jo), and great accommodation in Dunedin meant that I woke up on race day feeling a lot better than I had been, with only a bit of congestion and with 2days left of antibiotics It was definitely a good thing. I was ready to put everything that I had on the day out there regardless of the outcome.

I was seeded on the back line, due to my poor nationals result so I had to start hard. The start was pretty tricky as I got blocked out by the riders in front I ended up out of touch with the front of the race from the get go. Managing to get through a few riders before the first single track helped but there was a bit of blocking and what not through the track so I had to wait to the climb to get into it. On the first climb I struggled finding it hard to breathe but as the race went on the congestion cleared and I felt good towards the end of the first lap. Samara Sheppard (2010 U23 NZ national champion) and I battled it out on the first lap and then I managed to get a gap and started to close in on two riders in front of me, who were both elite, an Australian and Michelle Bellamy, on the last lap I managed to get past the Australian but Michelle held me off finishing in 8^th whilst I placed 9^th.

Overall I am pleased with the result, my build up was not ideal but I dealt with it and altered training etc to make it work the best it possibly could. The final result was 2^nd in a strong U23 Oceania championships field to Australian Rebecca Henderson (2010 U23 Australian National champion) With Samara Sheppard 3^rd.

Womens Oceania Short Track (3^rd place)

On Sunday I woke up not knowing I was going to race the short track had a mean big breakfast (too big to complete) and then headed off to watch the downhill and possibly race the short track. I decided once I got to the short track that I may as well race and Carl and I decided we would try each other bikes out and did a bike Swap, I had heaps of fun racing, it was extremely hard, partly because I had eaten a huge amount 30minutes prior which made me feel pretty seedy on the way round and the rest was due to the pace which went from the start line. I spent the first few laps on the back nearly getting dropped but as I warmed up I came right and got past a few others, Eloise was in 3^rd and one place ahead of me so I dug deep and hurt even more to get in front and then thought I had better attack before the last laps or there would be a sprint on, and I didn’t fancy my chances of my legs actually working. I finished in 3^rd with Fiona taking the win, and Nic Leary 2^nd.

I have had a fun few months with lots of up’s and down’s I think this season I have learnt so much, I didn’t get a smooth run. I can’t wait till Canada where I will get to take the next step up in racing getting even stronger and developing as a mountain biker. Thanks Bergamont bicycles, Waiariki institute of technology, Jane, mum, dad, and Carl!!!

Oceanias

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 8^th in the elite field and 2^nd under23 with the Australian under 23 national champion Paul Vander Plog getting 4^th in the race, dirk stuck in for 10^th and 3^rd 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 2^nd 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

National Championships

The good and the bad, it feels like a lot of our post’s end up like this but its racing and the competition out there is tough and getting everything right on the day is not always as easy as it seems. Our accommodation was awesome Ngaio cottage, a little holiday home where we all got the best night sleep in ages. We will start with the bad news first so we can end the blog on a good note.

Katie

When travelling to wellington on Monday I noticed I wasn’t quite right with a very sore throat however with a week to nationals I thought it was just allergies and that I would be able to get on top of it. I spent the next few days getting dialled into the track and all was going well, I loved the climbs, and loved the descents even more, especially after the boys showed me the fast lines.

Anyway Race day sick as a dog, it went a bit pear shaped Wednesday when the throat had got worse and an infection was obvious. I lined up on the start line with no thoughts of being sick, my main goal was to defend my national title and I wasn’t going to just give it away. The race started out ok I didn’t fire off the start line or anything but I was still up there, but by the second climb in first lap I was struggling, I couldn’t breathe up the hills and as a result I crashed down the hills as I was trying to make up all the time I could, by the second lap I was really struggling I was getting caught on my breath and it felt like I was unable to breathe out which completely scared me, I was unable to finish the race and lapped out on the second lap.

This wasn’t the race I had wanted, complete disappointment, I had taken vitamins I was on deer velvet and I was in bed early eating well, everything I knew and was able to take for sinuses I did, but couldn’t shake it. Part of biking is about getting everything right for the big events, congratulations to Samara, the new U23 National champion, she rode a strong race. Even if I had been fighting fit it would have been a hard race but one I am ready for at Oceania’s. As disappointed as I am all I can do now is put it behind me and look forward, So Jane Borren (Waiariki academy of sport manager) is taking me off to the doctor this morning.

Carl

The good news I guess. My week went well and build up went fine. Before the race the Commissaires and Mildy informed me there was no under 23 podium and that we would be racing for our title amongst the pro field, this was not a problem for me as if I was going to win I wanted to win elite but it was still a bit of a shock. At the start we had to start behind the whole elite field but it was strait into a hill so I was happy. I had a good start and was through a line of pro riders before the first turn I thought I had, had the best start form the under23 riders but then I saw Scott right up the front so I boosted over to his wheel, into the main single track climb I was about 4 and was tasting blood and heart rate was bound to be over 200. I was hurting but was all good, Mikey cleared off nearly strait away with Bergamont Brendon Sharratt holding on with myself, Stu, Dirk and under 19 Richard Anderson not far back. In the middle of the race I had another bad patch and was climbing weak as, I just wasn’t getting the fire I got at Tokaroa and at nationals previous to this 1, so I felt like I was just riding my bike was kind of gutted but I was still doing well so was keeping a clear head. At this stage Brad Hudson and Logan Horn had caught me back up and I was riding with them but I still had an extra lap than them and started trying to race them, which was good in a way cause Stu had blown and I really wanted to catch him and on the start finish line going on to the last lap I past him and got a second wind and took off finishing in 4 in elite and 2nd under 23. Well done to Dirk Peters for beating me fear and square and winning his first under23 title as a first year, and to Mike Northcott for winning another elite title, and Brendon 2^nd

Massive thanks to our Coach Evan McRae, Jane from Waiariki, Philipp from Bergamont and the Bike Culture boys in Rotorua thanks. Oceania’s is the next race in a few weeks may do some build up ones between then keep ya posted.