21 Jan 04 - Blue Dog Events, Bottle Lake Forest Twilight Series, MTB 18km, 4th Open Male.
22 Jan 04 - Blue Dog Events, Ruapuna Raceway, Road 20km, 3rd Overall. Rode off the front to catch Jeremy Inglis after 2 laps and stayed away for the next 4 laps, didn't realise Widdup was away! Nice racing on the car track - very smooth and no cars!
24 Jan 04 - Papanui Cycling Club, Eyreton, Road 52km. 6th A Grade. Empty legs after 4 races in 1 week.
1 Feb 04 - Howes Brothers Race, Fairlie, Mountainbike 31km, 6th Open Male. Wet & wild! Course changed due to rain, and boy was it muddy & soft. Meant it didn't
hurt when you "slipped" off though.... Couldn't get the heart rate up due to anti-inflammatories taken for sciatica, but enjoyed riding sub-threshold. Shame though, when you feel like revving it up.
Main Divide Race
at Arthur's Pass.
15 Feb 04 - Kaiwara Classic, Culverden to Cheviot, Mountainbike 43km. 5th Senior Male. Fantastic event, despite the raining weather making the clay very slippery and
heavy going. Suffered a puncture on the first climb after 7.5km, and fell back to 10th last. Managed to get going again, and was happy to get a top 10 placing. Great after-event with hot showers and a good meal to finish the day.
28 Feb 04 - The Main Divide - Darfield to Arthur's Pass. Road 110km. 7th in B Grade, 3:39:17. What a day in the saddle. Very wet! 1535metres gained in climbing, with the major climbs being Porter's Pass (939m) and Arthur's Pass (920m). Descended the Craigieburn Cutting at 79.6km per hour with the brakes on, trying to keep the rain out of my eyes. Front derailleur jammed in the big chain-ring at Grassmere, so had to climb the saddle at Mt Horrible in the big chain ring. At the foot of the last climb I pulled on the cable until it snapped, and the chain dropped into the small chain ring.- saved walking! Thanks to my wife Michelle for driving all the way on a wet day, standing in the rain at Castle Hill feed station, and picking me up at the finish!
suffering in the rain & cold for the past two years, my wife Michelle & I entered as a Mixed Team. Michelle rode the first leg of 57km which left Cathedral Square, Christchurch went up Colombo St, and straight into the very steep climb of Dyer's Pass Road. After descending Gebbies Pass there was a flat 30km to Little River into a stiff Nor'West wind. Michelle was the 2nd woman into the transition point, not bad for her first road race! I then had about 3km of flat riding, then 40km of some of the longest climbs on Bank's Peninsula. With 4 good climbs, and some high speed descents with a side wind added in for fun, the last part of Le Race is quite tough, but I really enjoyed being in a team and having all my energy for this part. The Mixed Team that beat us were only 92 seconds ahead at the finish. Next year should be fun!
18 Apr 04 - Lees Valley Challenge, Mountainbike 75km. 2nd Overall, 3:10:18. Wow, what a race! 6 Climbs, beaut roads, incredible scenery, and a very well run event. The body felt great, and a good result too. Managed to pinch 2nd in the last 100m, after David had been away all day. 1st Heath De Garnham, 2nd Aaron Clark, 3rd David Carmody, 4th Kristina Strode-Penny
2 May 04 - Yahoo! Mountainbike 30km. 4th Expert Open Male, 2:11:48. One of my favourite races. 3 laps of climbing pain, broken up by the sweetest purposebuilt technical downhill singletrack, big ring false flats & river crossings.
12 June 04 - City Club Races, Prebbleton, Road Cycle 45km. 4th in B Grade in 1:05. Felt good after a month off, but the sprint wasn't quite there.
19 June 04 - City Club Races, Prebbleton, Road Cycle 45km. 3rd in B Grade in 1:04. Strong head/side winds made for a good hard day out.
17 July 04 - Canterbury Interclub, Lincoln, Road 60km. 5th in B Grade in 1:39:22.
24 July 04 - Canterbury Interclub, Cust, Road 75km. 11th in A Grade in 1:57:48.
8 Aug 04 - The CaveMan, Cave, Mountainbike 26km. 2nd Open Male in 2:05:31. One of the toughest races I have ever done with the unrelenting steep climbs. Cool winter morning with soft ground conditions made the ride a bit tougher too. I'e never had to push my bike so far before! Congratulations to my wife Michelle placing 2nd in the Open Women too, in her first MTB race
11 Sept 04 - Sefton Classic, Sefton, Road 64km, 1:44:22. 5th in A Grade. Nice fast race on the undulating Sefton loop.
27 Nov 04 - Mainland Outdoors MacDonald Downs Mountainbike Adventure. 1st Overall in 2:06:28. Mtb 35km. Wow, was this hard! 1221m of height gained over 35km. So much granny gear pedalling! Great scenery, awesome location, well run, friendly event. Nice to take out the win, as I was feeling very broken by the end!