long weekend...

and the trails are dusty and mint so there was nothing to stop us from riding them over and over again and making the most of our long weekend! but how could we not aye? and there is no excuse with the forest full of trails right next to us.
every so often i have to pinch myself to make sure i am not dreaming as we are just so lucky to be living here in Rotorua next to this very large forest covered with wicked trails!
it's funny we have so many options but then we still then to ride some trails quite a lot more then others and a few we ride pretty much every ride, but then some other trails we forget they even exist . but everyone is always going to have favourites no matter the number of trails there are. we have been mixing it up a little more again lately and it's nice to ride some different trails again, it's like you are riding in a different place.
and i also had a few rides down the rock garden, which is probably the key feature of the Oceania cross country course in March. it's a nice little challenge to ride down it for the first time, it gets your heart pumping a bit quicker, which is quite nice.
below is what it looks like but it doesn't quite do it justice.

February 2012

i cannot believe it's February already! i guess part of it is because it doesn't feel like it. we are half way through summer and i have only just been for my first swim! and this isn't because i don't like going for a refreshing dip, it just hasn't been hot enough, or maybe i am just a bit soft.
the weather has been good lately which is so nice after we had a few too many days of rain leading into summer. the trails are in great condition where they are getting nice and dry and a little slidey on top. it will be getting to the point soon  (but maybe i am just too hopeful) where you will either need to stick really closely to the wheel in front or keep quite a distance, anything in between and you will be in a cloud of dust and won't be able to see where you are going. it is actually good fun!

we have been meaning to go back to our 'dear old friend' the Moerangi track for a while but the weather let us hang for quite some time so it was only the other weekend that we finally made it there. it was great to be back there surrounded by this stunning bush and wild life. the trail was unfortunately quite overgrown so it made it a little hard to ride in places. DoC promised us to get it cleared, so i will be back there soon, maybe even for a double crossing.

there is a new trail up in the native section at the top of Tawa rd, it's called Te Tihi o Tawa, a fantastic trail in magnificent bush leading back into Billy T. a must ride! :)

and... big Congratulations to Dirk Peters, Karen Hanlen and Anton Cooper for winning their individual XC National Championship Titels

i forgot to introduce my new bike...

santa cruz trc

my new favourite!! 

Shimano XT 10 speed with Fox Kashima Forks,... what else could you wish for? ah yeah of course some of those flash new wheels...

Easton EC90 carbon

it's so fast and nimble, stable and sooooo much fun!! :)

plus the new wheels are the bomb too


all thanks to Santa Cruz New Zealand and Bike Culture

so here it is my new pride and joy and new best buddy in crime.

Huka XL 2011

wow what a day! i wasn't too sure if you was going to do the race as my form at the moment isn't what i would like it to be but i decided to do it anyway and see how i go as i just love this race and wouldn't really want to miss out on doing it, plus i was going to go for a ride anyway so why not in Taupo despite having to get up at 4.45am for it.
unfortunately the weather was anything but perfect for our race. the sun was out, apart from some clouds, and the temperature was nice and cool, so we were not going to roast out there on the course, but there was a rather strong wind blowing... it was all good until we got to the trails that were wiggling through rather old forest that was also fully exposed to the wind due to felling of other side of the hill side. the trees were groaning away above us and one actually came down just above three of us riding relatively close together. it's rather scary to hear that big noise of a falling tree just above you. i didn't really know what to do other then to try and not get squashed by it, but how? i was too much in shock to look up to see what direction it was going to fall to so i was just riding ahead hoping for the best. all three of us got away lucky as the tree landed between me and the guy behind me. we kept riding on half heatedly as we were in shock, i was wondering what had just happened and if it was a good idea to keep racing, realising that we could have just died. having the adrenalin pumping in a race is not uncommon but not for those reasons. for some reason i kept riding, probably because everyone else seemed to keep going so maybe it was the thing to do? and also i was not in the frame of mind to make decisions after our incident.
after a while i started getting back into the race swing and was pushing along nicely, it had taken me along time to warm up but i had expected that with my lack of form so i was pleased with how i was starting to feel as i was confident i was going to be ok for the duration of the race. every now and then, depending on where in the forest we where, i could hear some branches and also the odd tree falling, there were at least 4 that i heard fall and every time i cringed.
around 30km's in and out of the blue we got stopped at an intersection and got told that the race was being stopped, maybe we would restart in 30min but for now we would just have to wait. the area filled up rapidly with riders popping out of the trails from all directions. noone seemed too surprised or upset, disappointed of course but everyone could see that it was way to dangerous to keep going in these conditions. after a while we all rode to the main road to the chopper cafe and car park to find other groups of rides who had been stopped at different places in the forest. it was then that we all had to realise that the race really was over.
a weird day and race for everyone involved, race organisers, marshals, supporters as well as racers, i am sure we all hope it doesn't happen again and we will probably all remember this day.

'little' run through Tuhoto and Hatupatu

i have just come back from a really nice run through our great local forest here in Rotorua. i decided to venture up to the top of one of the bigger hills to scope out what condition Tuhoto Ariki and Hatupatu are in. and i decided that they are in perfect condition for riding, so next time i will take my bike up there. but then again i do enjoy running up there as i have more time to admire the huge variety of native flora and i have a better chance of seeing a few of the bird that are singing their songs.

on sunday we went for a fun ride in Taupo, we did the W2K track and Kawakawa Bay. the trails were in great condition, slightly loose on top to keep you in your toes. and the views there are just stunning, we could see right across  the lake to the volcanic mountains which still had some snow on them. mt ngauruhoe was half white half black, it look really cool, you could see where the sun had made an impact on the snow.
the weather was perfect for our ride, with a bit of wind to keep us cool. unfortunately we could only admire the water, we'll have to wait another little while until the lake is warm enough for a swim. a refreshing dip in the lake just makes for the perfect ending of a ride day, we had to make do with a delicious gelato instead :)

ok it's been a VERY long time since i have been doing any updating... yes i do feel bad!

what have i been up to?
- hibernating like a bear?
almost spot on haha, not quite no.  i have been enjoying some great skiing on Mt Ruapehu and have been throwing in a few rides on the drier days through winter so i wouldn't completely forget how to ride.

it's great to be back in summertime now, it means we are able to finish the day with a single trail ride (if it isn't pouring down, which is has been a lot lately) it must be the best way to finish a day, out in the forest watching the light change - or am i meant to watch where i am going instead?! :)
now we just need the weather to play it's part and we are away!
unfortunately it is rather wet at the moment and so is the forest and the trails. this called for some rides on my single speed, it is great fun too and there is no easy way up the hills which makes for some good training. i do admit it's not quite the same as riding my Santa Cruz TRc (what a bike!!).
i don't mind heading out for a run in this weather either. and you do get a special treat for heading out on a rainy day, you most likely get the forest all to yourself! don't get me wrong i love sharing the experience with my friends but it's pretty amazing to be the only one in this gigantic forest! (or at least it feels like no-one else is out)

ok better head out there, all this 'talking' about the forest makes me want to go there...

... more next time, who knows i might have found some sun by then?

Xterra 2011

Finally I get round to posting this, it feels like months have gone by since the race but it's not quite a week yet! I had intended to post this much earlier but I haven't had the time till now to get this done. So here it is, a bit about my Xterra 2011 experience :)

Rob and I were out on a cruisey run on sunday a week out from Xterra when we started talking about Xterra and about who we thought might be doing it and somehow over the course of the run (which was no longer then an hour) I changed my mind from being convince I was NOT going to do it, to 'oh well I might as well do it, what have I got to loose? Worst case I come last but I will most likely have a good time out there.'

So that gave me not quite a week to get ready which pretty much meant all I could do was getting my head around doing the event as doing training during the 5 days before the event wasn't going to make me any faster but rather slow me down more.

Unfortunately I am really not a swimmer and to be able to do well at Xterra you want to at least have an average swim time, not super slow like me, so there aren't quite as many people ahead going into the bike leg, which means there are less people you have to pass to keep up a good riding pace.

Another small thing was that I hadn't done much running and had only been on the bike once since the final race of the N-Duro Bike Vegas Summer Cup on 13 March, instead I did a couple of weeks of skiing in Canada (I could call it cross training to make it sound better? ;) Cross training or not it was great fun and it made me feel more at home on skies but less on my bike, hopefully just for the moment. I am also pretty sure I am going faster on my skies then on my bike. (or maybe this has something to do with the skiing being downhill? ;) )

And the last little hiccup was that I didn't feel too rested after having worked with 90 teenagers over the last two weeks, most of them where great kids though!

So long story short, I was ill prepared for the event but was looking forward to a fun day out there.

I was a bit nervous before the race, even though I told myself I was just doing it to have some fun. Luckily for me the event starts with the swim so the 'worst' part is over and done with early on, the down side to that is that if you swim (or whatever you want to call what I do) as slow as me you end up at the very back of the crowd when you start the ride and there are masses of people to pass.

I came out of the water pretty much last in my field and probably in the field overall. It was crazy the amount of people I saw in front of me when I finally got on the bike, I was trying to pass as many of them as I could and made up quite a bit of places. By the time I changed into my running shoes and started my first lap of two around Lake Tikitapu (Blue Lake) I was in third position, I was a little surprised to hear that and was hoping I could hold my place. I knew that I wasn't going to do a fast run as my overall fitness wasn't great so it was about making sure to hold an ok pace and keeping that lead to 4^th place which I managed to do.

There were heaps of spectators all around the lake cheering us on and having a good time which made it fun and entertaining, and the weather was just perfect, sunny and not too hot!

I am super stoked with getting 3^rd in the women Pro field behind Karen Hanlen (who won) and Susie Wood at this years Xterra and I might seriously consider going for a swim before the next one ;)