Bike Culture 16" Wold Champs Dual Slalom 2010 - SSWC 2010 festival week

if you weren't there you did miss out on a very exciting as well as hilarious event.

here a few shots of the race: 

Fiona McGaffin in action, taking the hot line on the burm, dodging a few Sheep poops while aiming for the spectators :)

yep that's me: looks like i am thinking: " i'll be fine if i just close my eyes" ;) - it was pretty scary on the little bike (it was close to being the right size :) ).

a very fast guys who could have won the title. but didn't. maybe next time.

the winners: DJ could have been it but somehow Casey King goes on to take out the World Championship title.

Taupo Mizuno offroad half marathon

what a great weekend!

crazy to think it's already a year since last years running race on the W2K track in Taupo/Kinloch. I had a great time last year and decided there was no reason not to do the race again this year, despite not having the best running form, as it was no doubt going to be fun and mind blowing (due to the views)!

we weather leading up to the race wasn't quite as good as before last years event so the track was going to be a bit more slippery but the weather on the day was perfect, sunshine and blue sky. sure it was a bit chilly but that was to be expected seeing the race was in Taupo and with the wind blowing straight off the snowed-in mountains. there were over a thousand people taking part in the half or quarter marathon race, it was great to see all these keen people out to have a good time surrounded by stunning views and nature.

the course starts with a gradual uphill which helps  spread the field early on, so there is not much congestion and the other big bonus is that you know you will finish on a downhill, if we try to forget the extra bit along the water to get to the finish line, which normally seems a little harder then it should when you are longing for the finish line ;)

once you get to the top of the cliff the track starts looping around the top and you get to admire some stunning views, but it is by no means flat at the top there, the trails keeps weaving through the native forest with lots of corners and ups and downs to navigate through, which makes for an interesting run and keeps you on your toes, especially as the trail was rather slippery at times.

i started off feeling quite good and got into an ok pace to make my way up the field a little, i thought; 'awesome this feels quite easy', but unfortunately this feeling didn't last and it was getting harder to push ahead and i could tell i was going backwards, so i tried to focus on the trail and nice flora around me and started feeling stronger again. i kept having waves where i struggled but then got myself out of it again. i certainly wasn't fit enough to run a good race but i managed to get through it all-right and didn't let the other girls catch me. i am stoked to make it to the finish line as the first female.

i had a great time and the awesome views made it an other unforgettable event. it was quite special how lake Taupo looked more like an ocean then a lake as the water was completely covered with whitecaps when we ran towards it at the end of the race. the wind was rather strong so that you felt it pushing you sideways all along the beach front and what you really wanted is it pushing you forward ;)

I finished off the weekend with a play on the snow, we had great snow and enjoyed some awesome views, again. yep skiing is great fun :)

and there was an article about the race in the nz herald

nzherald W2K

ps: i am obviously back in good old kiwi-land, it's great to be back as well as it's always sad to leaving Switzerland after a fantastic time over there.

st wendel uci marathon world champs 2010

well i am already back at the swiss home and the race i had been waiting to do for so long is been and gone! crazy how fast it all went in the end!

i left on Saturday morning by car to drive to St Wendel in Germany, the drive was somewhat over 5 hrs, a bit longer then expected but pretty painless but it was good to get to the destination and being able to stretch the legs.

st wendel, the host town, is a lively small city with lots of old buildings, a busy cobblestone plaza and a big dome right in the middle of it.

i decided to go to the team managers meeting at 6pm the night before the race, so i wouldn't miss any vital last changes to the race or other useful information. it was weird being there not knowing anyone, i usually see a few familiar faces at the xc races, but not this time. there hadn't been any changes but i found out that they would give out water bottles at the feed stations which was something i didn't know. now i had an other option to taking my hydration-pack which would be quite nice in the temperatures we would potentially race in. i wasn't too sure if it was a good idea to change plans so close to the race but i decided to go with the bottle option and not get the disadvantage of getting too hot. 

when the gun went we started off as expected but then didn't split up into smaller groups as i had thought but rather rode together as a big group. i soon realised that i was in a road race, the riders kept in a big peloton and we cruised around (at a good pace) the country side, up and down the hills through fields and small towns and forests. it wasn't quite as cruisey as it sounds, not at all, but the the views were nice. i lost contact with the front peloton close to the half way point due to dropping the chain. it was nice to be riding by myself and being able to ride a more constant pace. i caught 5 riders and was starting to ride better but then i run out of water and the next feed station didn't come for ages. i was going backwards rather fast. in the end 3 of the riders passed me back so i finished the race in 23rd place in just under 5hrs. the course was physically  and mentally quite challenging, with hardly any single trail but loads and loads of climbing on all sorts of roads.

my marathon world champs experience was quite different to what i had trained, planned and hoped for. i didn't know i had entered a road race as when i first had a look at the course description about a year ago it said 25 % single trail, the rest forest road, nature trails etc. but somehow they had changed their mind or couldn't find enough single trail as we had hardly any single trail in our race, bummer. now i think, it was a typical european marathon race with almost only forest, grass and gravel roads and no mountain bike skills required, very unlike our kiwi races that are specked with single trails. so when i am talking about 'road race' i am also talking about the fact that we were racing in a big peloton and using the front riders to get pulled along etc, and it was quite windy on the exposed roads. i am not used to riding in big bunches of riders like this, i have only done a few road races and never go riding with a big bunch on the road so i certainly lacked the experience and aggressiveness you need to get and keep a good position close to the front of the field rather then being pushed to the back of the group and having to constantly adjust your speed to keep in touch with the peloton, the yo-yo effect. so all in all it was an experience i will remember and i will take lots from. and even though i was hoping to do much better it's still not too bad to get 23rd at a world champs without a support crew and on a bike that is meant for riding single trails ;)


here the course graph 107.93km long and 2556m of climbing; yep it did go up and down quite a bit ;)

champery the race

here a bit about the world cup, it was a bit of a 'non' event.

my dad and i drove to champery on saturday morning, the drive was 3 and a bit hours so not too bad really. i had heard that it had rained heavily all day on friday and later i found out it had rained all night to saturday as well, the course was a mud bath to say the least! i started preriding the course and got stuck on the first climb, a grass climb, by that stage the mud was almost half a foot deep and it was therefore slippery as and you could hardly ride it (let alone walk it!) at the top of that climb there was the first technical steep downhill which all riders who were preriding the course were walk/sliding down, so there was no way you could try to preride it as you would end up slamming into the other riders. i decided that there was no point in pre-riding/walking/sliding (whatever it was going to be) the course as i wouldn't learn to ride it by walking it anyway and my bike would get so muddy that it potentially wouldn't work for the race the next day. i therefore decided to abort the preride session and get surprised by the course the next day - true kiwi style ;) i had heard it was rather technical so it would be rather beneficial to pre ride the course but oh well, without mechanic on hand i didn't want to take the chance and Dirk talked me through the course so i had a fair idea of what it was like. nothing like a little surprise when you are racing, ha ha ;) Nathalie (who i went riding with on Tuesday before the race and who went to win the race (her first world cup win!) told me her forks stop working after 1 lap of preriding on Saturday - so hearing that i was assured to do the right thing by staying off the course before the race.

race day: it's not that great to start in the last row, there wasn't much chance for me to move up into a good position fast, due to the design of the course and in the conditions we had as we had soo much traffic and most riders were walking through the more technical parts which meant that i had to walk/run as well as otherwise i'd end up flying/sliding into them and most likely get tangled up as there is not much control on the slippery mud and wet roots, so i keep loosing more and more time on the front riders. so for the start lap and a bit i could hardly make any ground at all, i was just stuck in the masses. after that i could finally pass some riders on the climbs and flats mostly. i was running half the lap as it was faster and safer running then riding (crazy!?) luckily i had been running enough so i felt pretty strong running through the mud and made up some places there too but then on the very last super steep climb i got my chain stuck between my frame and crank and couldn't get it back out (there was so much dirt stuck in there too so that made it worse) i didn't want to pull too hard on the chain as i was sure going to bend the chain as then it wouldn't work anymore anyway so i decided it was time to call it quits and ended the race there and focus on my real race the marathon worlds. 

so next time i do a world cup i will make sure to collect some uci points before hand and get a better starting position and maybe take my mechanic + support crew + feeder = Rob with me ;) 

all good though as it was still good to be doing a part of a world cup again (after 4 years break!)

not long till the World Cup in Champery

it's been a while again, been busy getting used to the rather hot temperatures and getting myself ready for some racing. i think i am getting there.

on Tuesday i was so lucky to get taken for a mean as ride by Nathalie Schneitter (a top Swiss xc rider) and Jonas, a great cycle cross and xc rider. they took me on the best and gnarliest trails they could think of in their backyard and it was awesome, there was no shortage of roots, rocks, pine needles and off camber skinny as trails; yeah my handle bars didn't always fit, and at times i was busy looking ahead to find a line that was ride-able to suddenly finding myself stopped by the trees holding my bars ;)

ah yeah the views where stunning too, if you see past the sheer cliff that disappears next to your bike into nowhere... yep breath-taking ;) i loved it!

bummer i didn't have a camera with me, when i take one it's too hazy to take pics and when i don't... yeah same old story, it's just perfect for taking pics... ;)

better get started with my training for the day, there is forecast for some rain this afternoon so would rather be back by then. last hard training session before Champery for me, it's very exciting to be racing a world cup again, it's been four years since the last one! crazy thought!

i hear the course is nice and technical and a real mountain bike course, not one of those boring roady courses where you need no mountain bike skills, can't wait to see it :)

unfortunately i have to start at the very back of the field, so will have to see how i can move up the field...

the race is on sunday 11.15am

i have arrived in Switzerland

I am enjoying some Swiss air and hopefully soon some summer weather, which will be the combination for perfect training conditions. The weather here has been much like the weather i tried to escape from, cold and wet. But it looks like summer might finally be arriving here now, we are meant to be in for a sunny day  and 20 degrees ; )

The plan for the next few weeks is to do loads and loads of riding to get in great shape for MTB Marathon World Champs in St Wendel on 8 August, very exciting outlook :)

A huge thanks to my sponsors:.

Bike Culture, Santa Cruz Bicycles, Biotrace, Blue Shark, Pig'n'Whistle, Maxxis, Adidas Eyewear, Cycletech, RideRotorua.

Ah yeah, almost forgot! I've got a brand new super fun, super fast and super light race bike!! :) very very cool, it's a Santa Cruz Blur xc carbon with lots of nice bits on it, and only nice bits :) I will send some pics soon.

I will be back with some pics from my rides.

i have arrived in Switzerland

I am enjoying some Swiss air and hopefully soon some summer weather, which will be the combination for perfect training conditions. The weather here has been much like the weather i tried to escape from, cold and wet. But it looks like summer might finally be arriving here now, we are meant to be in for a sunny day  and 20 degrees ; )

The plan for the next few weeks is to do loads and loads of riding to get in great shape for MTB Marathon World Champs in St Wendel on 8 August, very exciting outlook :)

I will be back with some pics from my rides.