Organised by the all-round good guys and godfathers of New Zealand Mountainbiking, the Kennett Brothers. Had hoped to compete in the
50km Classic, but entered the shorter distance due to a virus. Still a very tough climb in this race though!
March 15 - Powerbar Rainbow Rage. (Mountainbike 106km) 20th Open Male in 4hrs 32min of 1056 riders. Tough headwind for last half of the race made
riding tough, and slowed times considerably. Suffered with cramps for last 40km - highly recommend HCH Cramp Stop spray!
March 22 - Pass to Pub. (Mountainbike 32km) Burke's Pass to Albury in South Canterbury. 4th Open Male of 600 riders. Reached a new heart-rate max in
the finishing sprint of 193 beats per minute. Once again a perfect late summer day for the event, and spot-prizes galore.
and a stiff headwind. 1832 vertical meters of climbing! Will keep trying to master this event - one day! (If it doesn't rain)
May 04 - Hurunui Yahoo! (Mountainbike 27km) 2nd in Sport Open Men. Felt great, awesome scenery, fun course to ride - what more could you want?
Highly recommend this event for any mountain biker that likes their long climbs and technical singletrack.
May 24 - Mt Isobel Challenge. Mountain Run 8km (1000m ascent), Mountain Bike 27km. 7th fastest rider overall of 249 finishers, and fastest in our grade
in 1hr 05min. Competed with Rangiora's ex NZ professional road rider, Maria Hassan, (try a search on Maria with Google, & cyclingnews.com)
who did the run. Finished 18th Mixed Open Team out of 36 teams. Great fun, awesome Hanmer scenery, and then there is the hot pools!
June 07 - City Club Races, Prebbleton. Road Race 40km, 3rd in C Grade.
June 08 - Laurie Dawe Cycles Canterbury Winter Champs, Race 1, Bottle Lake Forest. (Mountainbike 30km) 2nd in Sports Class in 58min. Body felt great
after feeling sluggish in the City Club Winter Road Series the day before. Blue Dog Events had a huge turnout, with a massive group in the
Sports Class.
June 21 - City Club Races, Prebbelton. Road Race 37km, 1st in B Grade.
June 28 - City Club Races, Prebbleton. Road Race 36km, 10th in A Grade.
July 13 - Laurie Dawe Cycles Canty Winter Champs, Race 2, Orton Bradley Park. (Mountainbike 14km) 4th in Sports Class in 1hr 01. Very cold morning,
course was a mixture of very deep mud, steep grass hill climbs and descents, and creek crossings. A lot of uphill running on the steeper sections.
Another good turnout of people happy to suffer!
Aug 03 - Laurie Dawe Cycles Canty Winter Champs, Race 3, Montgomery Spur. (Mountainbike 15km) 3rd in Sports Class. Classic mtb course, three laps
with a 4km climb followed by a 1km downhill. After being near the back of the field in about 60th at the start managed to work up to 3rd by the
second lap, but still a long way down on the leaders.
Aug 16 - Canterbury Centre and Club Time Trial Champs. (Road 40km) 2nd City Club Senior Male behind Mark Bailey (14th in Dualthlon World Champs).
6th Overall (unofficial - not centre registered) in 1hr 03min 40sec. Beautiful warm August day, but very windy due to blustery Nor'wester. The
wind made for some high speeds on the return leg.
series. Championships finished; 1st Phil Costley, 2nd Scott Crampton, 3rd Aaron Clark. Same order as the last two races. Nice tough course in
the Ashley Forest with four good sized climbs, mixed with some fast open downhill, and some technical downhill too. Congratulations to Rod and
his crew for a well-run series.