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International Mountain Biker Perren Delacour (Pezza) is a member of the Sutherland Shire CC (and is sponsored by YETI) and isn’t too shabby in a sprint either!
Keep abreast of Perren’s 2006 activities here!
Index to 2006 Entries
16/12/06 Thredbo National Rnd 3
GLENORCHY Tasmania, NAT RND 2 06/07
2006 MTB WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS Rotorua New Zealand
NORBA RND 2 SUGAR MTN, NORTH CAROLINA 10/06/06
FORT WILLIAM WORLD CUP # 4 May 2006
Spain World Cup May 2006
Swiss Cup May 2006
Canberra Tour April 2006
2006 MTB Oceania Champs NZ
National Series Finals Mt Bulle
16/12/06 Thredbo National Rnd 3
Hi Guys,
Well I have to admit that heading down to this venue was a pretty hard decision as the XC racing has been well neglected for the past few years. With the Cronulla International Road Crit on the following day 5hrs back at home didn't seem very appealing to thrash myself in the mountains and then pin it straight back home. What the hell........ The heads in race mode at the moment and there was some big names flying in from all round the country to put on a show in my hometown so GAME ON BOYS!!!!!
I hit the trails of Thredbo (One of Australia's biggest ski resorts) on Thursday arvo cutting some laps on a course that I remember racing on back in like 1995. Back in the day!!!!! Yeah!!!! It was a pleasant 18 degrees and the track was a little on the dusty side but hey it was Thursday and it was marked which that in itself was a good sign of things to come. That night she absolutely dumped for most of the night and cleared out in the morning leaving us with a 7 degree day. Whats up with this, its meant to be summer time. We cut a few more laps on the course and spun the old pins up the road for a while afterwards. The afternoon was spent with the newly formed Batchelors training group consisting of mostly Victorians and a couple of SA boys led by none other than our Team Yeti Rider Chris Winn. The boys had an awesome week training at Bright planned to follow the race but were directed elsewhere after they learnt that Bright was on fire like most of Victoria is at the moment.
Race day arrived and with my duties of feeding Maria outa the way it was time to kit up and warm up. The legs weren't feeling super but most of the time that’s a good thing. I got a 4th row start on the grid and did the usual slow start making up alot of places on the first climb which didn't seem to end. I spent most of the race in fifth position 30 seconds down on the 2 Cannondale riders only to be caught by Dillon Cooper (Scott) on the last lap. Not being able to hold onto him as he rode through the field to finish second I was lucky enough to pass Chris "J-Blood" Jongawward on the run into the finish holding onto my 5th place and finishing not too far down on Sid who won his second race this series.
The boys are getting pretty close in the points for the series win so the last race is gunna be a hot one. Next MTB race is Aussie Champs in Jan so stay tuned.
Tomorrow its down to the beach for a run again Robbie Mcewen and all the guns of “The Shire” in The Cronulla International Criterium to celebrate? one year from the Cronulla Riots.
Thanks for reading
Pez
GLENORCHY Tasmania, NAT RND 2 06/07
Well Well Well,
Welcome back to the National Series race report of 06 / 07.
After missing the first round out at what some might say my local course as far as National Rounds go I jumped on the plane and headed down to Tasmania for the 2nd stop of the circuit. We were to go back to what I said last year will one day be a World Cup Venue for XC and 4X at least. This Venue you ask ? Glenorchy, Hobart the home of none other than our Olympian Sid Taberlay who conveniently owed me a bed for the night. Tabs is currently between International seasons and has taken a liking to the discounts you can get down at your local handyman store and is spending his time doing up his house at the Beautiful location of _ _ _ _ _ _ Bay. Don't worry Sid as your training grounds are still off the record. The last thing you need is Euro's coming down and scooping your World Cup Podium class training grounds out. What edge would you have then?
So you might say that heading into this race I was more focused on Maria and that her race went to plan, after all she'd be training properly for starters unlike the redisscovered tradesman here. How good is that regular pay cheque !!! I lined up in the 4th row on the grid and ended up pretty much last by the singletrack.
Note 1 to self. Put intensity and race starts in training program.
I managed to ride into it, kinda like rolling off from the lights in the bunch ride. Once in the zone I passed a whole bunch of guys on the first 3 laps moving unknowingly into the top ten and holding steady in 7th. On the start of the 5th lap I could see Chris Jongewward 30 sec up the road so in trying to catch him I blew myself up and ended up riding my worst lap of the day. Once old mate Matt Fleming and Winny got a sniff that Pezza Dog was in the box and showing his new age of 31 and 1 day they turned it on to catch me. I managed to go down the bank and take a withdrawal on all those Km's from earlier this year and hold them off ‘till the finish. End result 7th and suprised but happy. We then proceeded back to Tabs to pack and head out for a feed. Great dinner with great friends, great Birthday Cheesecake and great cover band down at the Irish Pub.
Note 2 to self. Liteweights are not meant to be in the mosh-pit as they have a tendency to be thrown in the air and get kicked out of pubs by big 110kg bouncers who love guys with shaved legs or even unshaved in my case. Another race under the belt and another year older. When does it stop ?????
Stay tuned as the bug is back and I've got a full calender for the next few months.
Thanks for reading
Perren.
2006 MTB WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS Rotorua New Zealand
Sept 10
Well Guys sorry for the delayed race report but I didn't have much to write home about and more to the fact I've been touring the North Island of New Zealand trail riding with my newest best friend my YETI 575 SL Carbon. Oh the time we've had, but more on that later.
The Venue for this years Champs’ is the lovely stinky Rotorua, New Zealand. Rotoura is a tourism hotspot. The town is full of Gysers and pits of boiling temp mud. The air where ever in town smells like Sulphur gas. Its steams out of the drains and gutters in the street. They just pop up in peoples yards and you can't do a thing about it. Rotorua is also famous for its Redwood Forest called the Whakarewarewa Forest. Here they have some of the best mtb trails in the world and are still building more. Its a riders heaven. You are guarrenteed to be impressed.
The course was set on the mountainside over looking the town and its lake. It was a 5.9km track climbing for the first 8-9 min or so on fire and service roads. From there you traverse across the hillside on a paved footpath and newly cut single track before descending down through the grass moguls and then back up the hillside paddock. You then drop into the trees off 2 step down and into the bermy bmx like section with a few jumps before dropping into the Redwoods where you slid your way down short steep drops and manouvering through the rock garden popping back out into the start finish area completing about a 20 min lap if its dry.
Well the week leading up to the race was spent sitting in our hotel rooms with feet up after every training session. Otherwise we were fine tuning the bike and testing out tyres when on the course. It rained pretty much everyday up to the race so one set of wheels had the mud tyres and the other had the fast ones. On race day I opted for the dry weather fast tyre which was working perfect until half way up the climb on the first lap I dropped into a short descent with about 15 other guys and got shoved off line sending me off the track and off a ledge. Now I thought to myself off the track thats fine and off the ledge, yeah just drop off it but the timing and the shove I didn't account for. I lifted the frontend to late as the wheel was already falling down the ledge and landed with the front end pointing sideways on the front wheel therefore rolling the tyre off the rim. You shoulda heard it....... It was like a shot gun going off. "BOOM". And there she blows. Stans liquid latex went everywhere and the tyre was off the rim. Luckly it was near the top so I ran up the rest of the forest climb then, wheel out, tyre off, wheel in and then it was time to play catch up less the rubber. The legs were fine and I had managed not to crash so the body was fine so it was a matter of telling the head that and getting on with the job.
I passed 8 other riders whilst riding the rim (wheel with no tyre) up the hill along the pavement which I might say was as dodgey as hell into the single track hucking off the drops and then into the descent. As I followed down the descent I watched the current NZ National Champ washout his front wheel in front of me so naturally I gave him a mouthfull still having a tyre and all ..................... Finally I climbed back up to the tech zone and got a new wheel off the Shimano spares guys. I don't know if I should have though. The rotor wasn't worn in so it wouldn't stop and the tyre was shithouse. I shouldn't complain as afterall it was rubber.
I pushed on passing guys where ever I could and managed to get back into the top 50 feeling pretty good still. I could see the next bunch up the road a little and was just making contact when my chain shifted over the top of my cassette into the spokes jambing it between them pretty bloody good. With some heckler in the crowd yelling for me to back pedal the wheel about ten times I cracked and told him to please be quiet in a matter of words. After losing about 2-3 minutes getting it out and losing more then ten places I got my shit sorted and it was game on only to come around on the next lap and to be shut down as I was within the 70% rule.
Day done and race over. It’s a shame because the legs where feeling good. My final place was 57th. Not what I was hoping for but "Thats Racing" ay bro................................
Anyways Thanks again goes out to the Aussie Team Mangement, Thee swanies, Masseur & Masseuse and G-Money for rebuilding my wheel oh so sweet.
Thanks to all my sponsors YETI, FOX SHOCKS, SRAM, TRUVATIV, TWE WHEELS, HAYES BRAKES, BELL, SMITH, HUTCHINSON TYRES, PEARL IZUMI, HIGHFIVE, BLACKBURN, CATEYE, FINIHLINE, STANS NOTUBES, SSCC and everyone else
Thanks for reading
Next stop is the Aust 24hr Champs.
Perren
NORBA RND 2 SUGAR MTN NORTH CAROLINA.
A day that I'll never forget.
After years of trying I have finally cracked the TOP 10 at Norba. MADD.
Well on the end of my European campaign I decided to stop in the US for one last Norba on my way home. Arriving 2 weeks before the race and feeling the need to get some sun, the move from Europe allowed me to hang out in Colorado for a week staying with Aussie buddy Dellys Star and her husband Ryan. It was great to get some more miles in this time without booties and the big rain jacket! I hit the road for the first couple of days and then headed up to the Yeti Factory where the boys are always keen to go out and whip the Pro's ass on the local trails. Having last time wrecked hard on the bosses bikes I decided to take out a new demo 575 which had an 07 Fox Float fork on it. Now let me tell you that the small changes made to the RP3 (now RP23) and the 130mm Float are outa this world. I gotta get me some of those! So with backwards brakes I headed up Apex and the Enchanted Forest trying to hold onto Old YETI RPM Teammate Ross Milans wheel. (Not bad for a cross rider 'Ay Ross). After swapping stories and hitting a few Chipolte Burrito's for lunch I left the boys and headed off to the next venue.
I flew in a few days before my buddy Brent Miller who had organised for me to stay with him and the Fox Racing crew. Fox have developed a great relationship with Yeti over the last few years and after staying with Fitzy and the guys I can totally see why they work so well together. Yeti gives you the feeling that its a bunch of buddies and even a family with everyone having the same passion. Now add Fox into the equation and it’s like meeting the inlaws. We hooked up Thursday arvo at Chalotte airport in North Carolina and drove out to Sugar Mtn about 2.5hrs away. When we rocked up I grabbed my bike out of the Yeti trailor and Fitzy, Brent and myself hit the course. We climbed for about 30min turning the gear over just on fire roads and some crazy fresh cut track up the backside of the mtn. Mostly you just rode straight up the ski run then cut across to some bitchaman, gravel road, boggy dead uphill slug. When at the top you ducked in and out of the forest pinning it over slick raised roots which slid your tyre out if you lost focus on the line. Once you did this 3 times you were at the start of the descent which was pretty fun but again if you weren't on the money you could really hurt yourself. Cutting across numerous different runs in and out of the trees you descended at some warp speed down into the start finish through the feed zone and back up for 4 laps. 'OUCH' After doubts about the quality of the course and the lack of technical sections I found myself woundering what the hell am I doing here ??????
Come race day the legs felt a little dead and I wondered how I would go starting from the last row on the grid. Suprisingly super. I pushed it as hard as I could until I got to the top 20 then backed it off a little trying to not totally blow myself through the roof. I caught up to Brent who started 2nd row and we worked together passing a bunch of guys coming through in 12th and 13th on the first lap. This I think worried our fully equip tech support and team feeder Fitzy who did an awesome job of passing us bottles each lap. "Thanks again Mark". Now on the second lap after passing a few big names on the hill I kept thinking to myself that Rowney said to me if I don't get top ten he was gunna break my jaw so naturally I gave it everything to move into 9th place with others in sight up the road. It all seemed to good to be true and I felt like I was gunna crack half way through the 3rd lap but with a couple of my Lemon Cola High 5 gels I felt nothing and pinned the descent catching a few more guys and attacking Todd Wells on the last pinch I managed to open up a gap and roll across the line in 7th place for my best ever result at a Norba. So at the end of the day I don't get a broken jaw, I flew the flag BIG TIME for all the sponsors and achieved a personal goal from the to-do list and had some of the best riders in the world tell me that I had them worried. ( Brent rode home for 11th).
The next day I Started again in the last grid on the Short Track (This is a dirt crit 2min lap for 20min +3) line up and pushing over the edge I had moved into the top 20 again but laid it over on a high speed downhill section of the course whiping out in a big way. I got myself together and pushed on only to be pulled with 3 laps to go. Not to worry I guess. You have to takes risks sometimes and after riding like a Euro chopping guys up big time it was probably Karma that took me down. Anyways the legs are firing pretty good at the moment so It’s back to Oz for a 10 week block at home in preperation for the World Champs at Roturua assuming I get selected by the panel.
Thanks for reading and cheering me on.
Perren
Thanks to the people that make it possible.
YETI CYCLES, FOX RACING SHOX, SRAM, SMITH EYEWEAR,BELL HELMETS,HIGH 5, PEARL IZUMI, HAYES BRAKES, FINISHLINE, BLACKBURN, CATEYE, HUTCHINSON TYRES, TRUVATIV, TWE WHEELS, SPORTS OXYSHOT, My Coach Donna Hamlin-Dall and everyone else.
FORT WILLIAM WORLD CUP # 4
Finally the table has turned. I arrived in Scotland on the Wednesday before and having the Cross Country on the Saturday practice time on the course was going to be limited. Thursday morning we awoke to some snow covered mtn tops and a drizzling day. We headed out to the track to find that it was just below snow level and that once again it was wet, muddy and that it was a real mountainbikers course. About time I say!!!! All that off season trail bashing , ramp riding and rock droppping (when I didn't crash) was going to pay off this weekend. Without a doubt Fort Will is the most challenging course on the circuit. I kinda wish that I was racing Worlds here next year because its gunna be a bloody great atmosphere that’s for sure.
Anyways for pretty much the whole time that we were there it rained and drizzled making it hard to pick the window of oportunity to get out without my whole bags worth of clothing on. It was great to use the kit that you carry around all season just in case it gets to cold. Leading into the race I pretty much was confined to my room where the TV copped a good working over and the legs got to do nothing at all. I guess this was the perfect race prep. Come race day the legs weren't feeling the best and the nerves were up a little more than usual as well. We drove out to the venue and huddled in the back of the transit van until 2hrs before we went out to face the elements. Warming up on the road into the resort it absolutely started to dump down which was again to be expected. I toughed it out and rolled into the start area with as little time to go as possible. Its funny you know, we stood around for another 15 minutes whilst being called up to the start grid in rain that blew in sideways so that anyone with an umbrella still got nailed. As cheap as it may have looked 2 Aussies Sid and Chris were hiding under one of those $2.00 blue tarps which was the best option by far. The course for the day was 1 start lap and 4 full laps which were an average of about 30 min long. The start lap just missed out some of the first singletracks and headed straight up the fire road to the highest point of the course. Once you were at the top you decended through a man made rock path which ended up being a slippery slide and you just had to dodge the sharp rocks on the way down. You then had a few drops into big sloppy berms, over pick-a-plank bridges and into rooty forest at a highspeed drift. There was one run section that dropped about 15 vertical metres over cut off trees and again a bunch more big roots. You found yourself running not knowing what was under the surface hoping that you don't twist or roll your ankle on some submerged object. (I think my running legs from 15 years ago are coming back). Yeah and had some rollercoaster style ramps and more jumps that you just wanted to launch off but on the other side you could there were big rocks and berms that you had to hit perfectly or you offed down the embankment on your ass.
So anyways I rolled to the line in 73rd on the grid and got a great start holding my position all the way to the top with my legs feeling like they weren't even pushing on the pedals at times. I passed everyones favourite rider Filip Meiharger (who supposedly retired when getting caught for using EPO 2 years ago) on the fireroad climb as he'd been taken out by someone up the front. He sat on my wheel as I was pushing up the outside of the bunch and then rolled me into the singletrack only to be checked again. He almost saved it and got passed a little down the road only to be pushed totally off the track by some noname little Italian guy. You should have seen his face.It was like why is everyone taking me out??????? I wonder Doper!!!! After things spread out a bit I was able to push up passing guys that were running the techo decents. If you got off the back of the saddle and just held the path you could ride 95% of the course and got a massive cheer off the 17000 fans that had rocked up in the rain to watch. I don't know what it is but in Scotland everyone seems to love an Aussie as there were plenty of them out on the course yelling Aussie Aussie Aussie Oy Oy Oy. it was gold. I found myself riding with a few guys that I haven't been able to hold for the last couple of years. Here's one for Winny!!!!!!! Geoff Kabush caught me on the 2nd lap and I rode with him for the next 2 laps pinning back riders left right and centre. I was on fire and he went on to flat on a descent. (Yeti hardtail 1, Tuner dually Nil) .
I tried a bit of a different feeding process this week with every lap I took my usual High 5 ISO bottle but as well on laps 3 and 5 I took a Red Bull and a Coke on the 4th. I was pinging off my head. Should have been in a night club. Anyways on the last lap I faded a little losing a couple of spots to sprint the last 2 km with Jerimah Bishop from Trek finishing 57th. Not bad for a boy from the Australian desert where we haven't seen rain for some time now.
So this result has booked me a spot on the Worlds Team and for now I head back to Italy for a few days and then off to the US for a week in Colorado to ride with the YETI boys. Catch up with Dell & Ryan then off to the Norba in Sugar Mtn, North Caro.
Till next time thanks for reading.
Chow
Perren
Thanks to all my Sponsors
YETI, FOX, SRAM, TRUVATIV, PEARL IZUMI, SMITH OPTICS, HAYES BRAKES, BELL HELMETS, HUTINSON TYRES, HIGH 5, FINISHLINE, TWE WHEELS, BLACKBURN, SPORTS OXY SHOT.
Spain World Cup May 2006
Hi everyone,
Where do I start ?
I landed in Madrid, Spain on Wednesday night staying at a pretty pimp hotel just on the outer edge of the city but still 20min ride from the course.
Along for the ride was Aussie young gun Lachy Norris, Chris (Blood) Jongewaard and a few others. We rocked out to the course to find ourselves riding around a Massive Park in the middle of the city (similar to Centennial x30), It was huge. Now this park has rolling hills, pine forests, singletracks everywhere, oneway road circuits and a lake which is used for swimming, Kayaking and the odd romantic row boat. " But thats not it "!!!!!!! Its is also the hotspot for the local hookers that seem to be working 24-7-365. When ever we were either headed to the course or even on the course we would come across numerous girls with their tops off or even there bottoms, if they had their skirts any further up you got to see the hole picture so to
speak. Now for an 'Honest' bunch of guys we were disgusted, but had a giggle anyways. A number of times we caught an eyefull of random acts in the process whether it be in a car or just under a tree...........................................
The race itself was a bit of a JOKE . I got called up in 77th on the grid of 229 riders (the biggest World Cup field ever). Not too bad having not attended the first round in Curucao. All went well missing a crash on the first corner 50m in and not losing too many places before hitting the singletrack where basically you would say the shit hit the wall. Everyone was trampling each other trying to fight their way through the track whilst the front runners rode away into the distance. Some guy ripped out my front brake hose leaving me with no brake which you pretty much need. Thats when guys started cutting massive sections of the course and running through bush to get to the next section. I'd say I was in the 80's when pushing along like cattle to the milking shed. I looked across to see about 150 guys running all over the place. As I stood there myself and the others watched in anger knowing that we would be left behind. The crowd seeing what was happening started to step in only to be run over by these Euro freaks. All of a sudden I could hear a motor bike. Thinking that it was after the cheaters I realised that it was the tail moto and that I had been pasted by over 200 riders. I had to get outa there or I was gunna get pulled by the 80% rule. It wasn't long after that that I came through the feedzone seeing the look on Damo's face that I was in trouble. I turned it onto 150% full gas and got my ass into gear passing guys where its shouldn't have been possible.
On the second lap I tried to take my usual gel and spewed all over myself probably because of the dust in my throat and pushing it to the limit big time. Anyways using my anger I kept smashing out the laps passing guys that I know should never have been in front of me all the way to the finish. I could hear a few Aussies in the crowd which gave me that little extra
boost to punch over the climbs and to push it all the way home. On my last lap I passed over 20 riders to finish in 102nd place. Not the result I was looking for but I know that I had a bloody good race and I am assuming that if it was a fair event I would have had a very respectable result.
I guess it shows in the final result time that how much cutting the course can help you position wise and with the amount of traffic you have to contend with. From 220th odd to 102nd I finish 17 min behind the winner.
Anyway lets hope that this weekend in Spa, Belgium the officals get their shit together and disqualify any cheaters/course cutters. Till then its back to Italy and on Wednesday we drive 9hrs to Spa.
Sorry to sound like a stick in the mud but when your trying to qualify for a team spot and you have to deal with this it makes the job so much harder to achieve. My result proved that I have met the % for a spot on the World Champs Team but now its time to prove another point to those cheaters and they know who they are !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for reading
Perren
Swiss Cup May 2006
Swiss ya,
After a 3hr drive from Varese Italy (AIS Base) we climbed into a little village callled Hasliburg for a Swiss Cup. We were at about 1400m in this sweet chalet that looked straight over at some awesome snow covered peaks that climbed up 3700m high.
The track was pretty fun with some real high speed slick down hill sections and crazy high heartrate climbs followed by muddy fireroads. There were these rock stairs that went down about 20 steps then turned back on itself at about 140 degrees and ran out another 30 steps.
After a front row start I dropped back into the 30's and once I found my rhythm I worked my way back into the top 20 before my shox locked out and caused me to highside and eat it hard half way down the bloody staircase. I ran the rest of the stairs and tried to regroup and get the head back into race mode up the main start climb. In quite some pain I eventually got it together again and was totally stoked when I got my fork to work again 2 laps later. I chased hard and managed to pull back into 22nd place which was not too bad considering.
Gotta love the mud. Stay tuned as I head back to Italy for a few days training then off to Spain for the 2nd World Cup in Madrid where they have hookers on the side of the race course doing their thing.
Thanks for reading
Perren
Canberra Tour April 2006
Hey Gang,
No, I'm not going to the road like the rest of the boys but just using it for last minute training. I hit the Canberra Tour the other weekend to get the old pins fired up for the next block of racing in Europe with the goal of qualifying for the World Championships in Rotorua, New Zealand later this year.
When I rocked up to the 6.6km Prologue everyone had Aero timetrial bikes and I only had a set of deep dish rims so theirs a go 10 seconds or so that I'll be down but not to worry as I was climbing well and I give it all coming back on the climb.End result 21st place.
Day 2 consisted of two 75km loops of Cotter Rd. I awoke to find that the outside temp was 0 degrees. Whats up with that ? The race held together for most of the stage with 3 guys jumping away late only to be brought back in the last km for a sprint to the line in a bunch finish. My position was same time in 37th
The afternoon stage was a little better as the legs got themselves sorted. A break went about halfway through the first lap and the bunch sat up not chasing. I went to the front and started pushing the pace a little with a few other Mountainbikers and next thing we were off the front. We kept working together swapping off turns until we pulled the break back from 4.5 min to 2 min which is where it stayed.I finished in 10th position.
Going into the last 165km stage I was suprised to find myself in 10th on GC so if I played my cards right and let everyone else do the work and chasing I could go with a late break and maybe even improve my standing. At the 70km mark 3 riders got away which proved to be the winning move as numerous teams went to the front chasing hard but to no aval. My plan was wait till about 30km to go and then attack but coming through the 2nd feedzone some gumby
rider decided to put his feed bag into his front wheel crashing and taking out the guy next to him who then fell onto my bike pushing my rear brake onto my rim.
After stopping to straighten it up a group attacked just when i want to go and therefore I had to chase to get back to the bunch and watch the others ride away. I regathered myself and then thought I'll go on the second last climb but with the pace so high I wasn't able to go. We hit the last climb over Mtn McDonald where a few guys tried their luck but couldn't get away. I
countered and managed to get a gap going crazy up the climb I found that I had to back it off a little where another guy who tried to go with me caught up and we swapped off for the next 3km to the finish where I launched up the home straight where I tried to gain as much time as possible. 8th place and it was enough to hold 12th on GC.
Looking back at my form and not having a team to work with I am pretty happy with my result. I think next time I'll be a little more aggressive and try my luck earlier in the stage. It was quality miles in the bank for the next trip and thats what I wanted.
Stay tuned for my Europe reports.
Perren
2006 MTB Oceania Champs NZ
Hanging out with the Bro's,
With the biggest Aussie Team ever I headed to Rotorua, New Zealand for the Oceania + a few ringins Championships. Due to this race being held on this years Worlds course the organisers allowed a few International stars to come and race with us. This gives them a good idea on how fast and how well the track will hold up for Worlds. We rolled into town Monday and not being allowed to ride the course until thursday we went venturing into the famous Redwood Forest exploring some of the worlds best trails. I must say that if you ride an MTBike and you go to Rotorua you must go ride these trails. They are that good that the government have given $400,000 towards making the trail network and maintaining it. With 30 of Australia's best XC riders pinning the trails they certainly got a workout.
Come time to hit the course we went out and cut a couple of laps then went straight back to the Redwoods. The course is a typical Euro race layout and you climb straight up a fireroad for 9 minutes then traverse across a paved footpath climbing some more before hitting a mogle like down hill flatout, climb up more open grassy paddock and descend down through the woods to the finish. It’s a bloody hard course to race thats for sure.
In the race I started well sitting inside the top ten with the climbing smashing you every pedal stroke. I dropped my bottle on the 3rd lap and that didn't help one bit. Missing my fluids really played a factor as I faded back into 16th or something.T he last couple of laps I seemed to come good again pulling back a couple of places finishing 15th leaving me 7th Pro male in the Oceania Championships.
Knowing that the next couple of weeks I won’t touch the bike we organised to hit the trails one last time with the Kiwi Pro's and with some local knowledge we ripped up 3hrs of NZ's best singletrack.
Thats a ride to remember.
Thanx for reading,
Pez
National Series Finals Mt Buller
Howdie Everyone,
Well back on the road again to the beautiful Victorian Alps of Mt Buller for the National Series finals. Heading into the race I was currently sitting in 4th place in the series but with some luck and a solid ride I managed to get onto the podium for the 5th time in 6 years. Not bad ay !!
The course was mean’t to be exended by another 5 km but after 8 of the top ten riders went out and took 1hr48 min to do 1 lap including 35 min of walking it was decided that we would race last years course which eliminated the 35 min walk section. Smart move.
Knowing that we had a long fireroad and then a 15min descent I sat in the bunch and conserved my energy for the climb ahead. With a few of the younger boys going up the road early it was a matter of watching them either crash, punchure or just blow up. Come lap two I was sitting in 3rd with SA Trek rider/Gun Shaun Lewis on my wheel. We swapped off together and left Old Mate Spinks dangling out in front solo for most of the lap. Knowing that I was fading and the old recovering shoulder was copping a beating I pulled Shaun close enough to jump across to Murray and then ride straight by him which guaranteed Jongeward the series (He crashed on the gay walk loop tearing his knee wide open requiring it to be stapled up and not starting the race) and meant that me finishing in 4th place put me onto the series Podium in 3rd.
Next race is the Oceania Champs in Rotorua New Zealand.
Thanks for everyone who supported me to finish on the box again.
Perren.
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