National Champs - Nelson - Fringe Hill - 27-29/01/12

Since it was national champs we had 1.5 days of practice and then race day. Friday was the half day of the practice. I flew in Friday morning and landed just before the first lot of shuttles had started. By the time I had got to the track and got ready and everything I had probably missed the first hour of practice. Unfortunately the turn around for runs was about 1hr and there was only 1 wave of transport going instead of the 2 alternates that are normally run at races. I managed to get 3 runs in though which I was happy with. After practice was finished we went up as a team and did a track walk but there weren’t really that many lines that weren’t obvious/the main line. After the track walk I got the boys to drop me off at the Super D so I could have a go at racing that. Probably wasn’t the smartest idea and was considering dropping out after doing a run of the track due to the stupid amounts of pedaling, and also because of my huge amounts of unpreparedness. (I raced it on my little bike with street tyres and a front brake that pretty much went into the bars). I decided to stick it out though since I was only doing it as a bit of fun and had already entered. Got my two practice runs in and was looking forward to racing it apart from the uphill. I pretty much died on the uphills, but was feeling good on the downhills until I got a little off line coming into an off camber section and ended up in a tree. Ended up 3^rd place in the open women which I was pretty stoked on. Was feeling a bit better about racing the downhill on Sunday as I figured I had now gotten rid of my race run crash.

Saturday was a full day of practice but I only managed 4 runs which I wasn’t too keen on as I hadn’t made up my mind on some of my line choices or kept missing lines due to coming into sections too hot. Don’t think I managed a run without a crash of sorts or at the minimum a stuff up. On my 4^th run down the hill I stopped and looked at one of lines I kept missing and realised that I needed to slow down coming into it and take a bit of a different angle into it. I was planning on doing a 5^th run to try it out and just focus on making a decision on what lines to take, but the team boss told me to not do anymore runs. I now decided I had to make up my mind on my lines from the team tent and remember them for Sundays practice runs. Despite this it was a good days practice as I didn’t over do the runs and managed to hit the step down that I needed to do and was feeling pretty comfortable and good on the track apart from the few places mentioned above.

Sunday practice runs went good. I was feeling good and hit all the lines I had wanted to do yesterday. 1^st run down I took it a bit slow just fully focussing on getting my lines as good as I could and doing a full run. 2^nd run I did the same again but tried to hit them faster while trying to keep up with my main competition and biggest rival this weekend Harriet Harper. After doing that run with her I knew that I was going to have to put it all on the line if I wanted to walk away with the win. Seeding run came and went and it was a pretty mint run apart from a stupid crash for no reason in the 2^nd corner of the track, getting caught behind two riders in front of me and having to follow the first for ages as she wouldn’t pull over and ended up having to pass her on a jump and then crashing while trying to overtake the 2^nd person not long after. Ended up about 50 seconds behind Harriet and somehow in 2^nd place. I was feeling a bit more relaxed coming into race run and knew that as long as I kept it upright and went a bit faster I would stand a chance at taking the win. (Figured I had lost about 30-40 seconds overall due to the two crashes and getting caught behind people.) Race run came and went pretty painfully. I gave it everything and lets just say I nearly lost it a few times but managed to hold it together. Was pretty much dead by the time I reached the bottom. Sitting and waiting and staring at the timing board waiting for Harriet to come down and see her time was pretty nerve wreaking as I knew I had made a few mistakes but had done the best I could. Ended up winning by about 3 seconds which I was well entirely stoked on as I wasn’t expecting to win at the start of day. So for now I still remain undefeated in the Elite Womens field which I hope to keep that way.

SI Cup Round 3 - Christchurch 20-21/01/12

I never had any intention of racing this race due to lack of money. But after the 2nd race of the SI Cup in Dunedin, was offered a spot on the NZ Monster Specialized team since one of their riders (Cam Johnson) had injured themselves in the 1st race of the SI Cup in Queenstown. It just so happened that he was the only rider on the team that rode a small and all his kit and gear was the size as what I normally wear while racing.

I flew down to Christchurch after lunch on the Thursday and Hendi picked me and we went back to his where we waited for Louis to get in on his flight that came in a couple of hours later than mine. Once Louis was picked up we carried on to Methven where we checked into our accomodation and then headed up to teh track to do a track walk. Brian (the teams mechanic) dropped us (Louis, Richard, Hendi and Me (Bryn was joining us later as he was still making his way up from spending the weekend in Queenstown with some mates)) at the top. The top of the track was pretty much all just one line and was essentially a freeride track. Fast and flowy with some decent size jumps. All the jumps looked like if you made the one before you would make the next one and so on. I knew I would easily beable to do them all if I could just committ to doing them. The track then entered some trees just before you crossed the road to the get to the end of the track. In the trees the track was a quite a bit slower and off camber. The track ended with a drop and jump.

Friday was practice day. Since I was on a new and completely different bike I headed up as soon as I was ready to try and get used to the bike. First run down I just cruised down and hit one of the smaller jumps and knew straight away that I would be hitting all the jumps. The Specialized just seamed to jump itself. Didnt even realize I had a done a jump. By the 6th run I had hit all the jumps including the bottom drop and jump and big Step up about half way down the track. Now it was just time to work on my consistency on the end drop and jump. The drop was realively easy to get wrong and the jump very easy to overshoot. By the end of the day I had the track pretty much sorted and was getting pretty close to getting the end drop and right everytime.

Saturday was race day. I managed to get 2 practice in before practice closed. Through out the day two people got helicoptered out of the track both after getting the end drop wrong. The first person ended up with 2 broken legs, the femur on one leg and the tibia and fibula on the other leg. Seeding run was good and I was happy with how it went. Didnt pedal as hard and long as I should have and decided to save it for race run since I knew i already had the overall and it wouldnt make much of a difference to me if I didnt win the seedings. I won the seedings and feeling good for my race run. With a long wait up the top for our race runs after the 2nd person went down on the end drop just after the last couple of under 19 males and the first couple of elite females had left the start line. This caused 4 people to need a rerun. There was a long delay while we waited for the injured rider to get sorted out and for the rerun riders to make their way back to the top. Again like my seeding run I was happy with how it went. Hit all the jumps and all my lines and gave it everything.

Since this was the last round of the South Island Cup and I had won all the seedings and race runs at each of the 3 races I easily took the overall.

I would just like to thank bicycle.co.nz for their support over the past couple of years and also to Hendi (Darryn Henderson) for putting me on the Monster team and the team mechanice Brian Tindall for keeping the bike running mint. I would also like to thank the Monster team and their sponsors: Monster Energy, Specialized Bikes, Fox Racing Shox, Troy Lee Designs, Oakley, Shimano.

SI Cup Round 2 - Dunedin - Signal Hill - 13-14/01/12

Thursday night it rained and I was guttered as to wake and find it wet outside and still raining. I could tell from yesterdays track walk that the track as gonna be hard to ride in the wet. I waited till about lunch time before i headed up for some runs in the hope that the rain would stop, but of course it didnt. First run down the track wasnt too bad. The top bit of the track out in the open was rideable but a bit slow and boggy and the top half in the trees was rideable but about half way down through the trees I was having a hard time staying upright. The track got harder and harder as the day wore on. I did a few runs with my mates and could either lose them or keep up with them in the top bits of the trees but they would lose me in the bottom part of the trees due too my numerous amounts of crashes in always the same spots. In what ended up being my last run I crashed in a place I hadn't crashed before and caught my knee on a rock so called it quits before I damaged myself anymore. I was a bit guttered about that crash as I was getting pretty close to nailing one of the bits I was having trouble with. (I was now able to ride to the bottom of the chute only to slip over at the bottom, compared to slipping sideways halfway down the chute like I had been).

Saturday rolled around with extended practice since practice had started late and finished early yesterday. First run down I got a few nice surprises which I guess everyone got. The track

builders had been up the track doing some work to make it more ride able in places and thankfully it was the spots I had been struggling with the most. I was pretty happy with these changes and just had to make sure I remembered the entry points to them. After quite a few practice runs It was seeding run time. I was last down in the Elite womens field due to winning the last round only to find out Justin Leov was starting right behind due to him not racing the 1st round. Lets just say I was pretty nervous and scared about that especially since he only wanted a 1 min gap between him and me. Thankfully we got a 2 min gap. I was pretty happy with my seeding run apart for a really close over the bars which I managed to kind of ride out of. After that it was waiting around for race run and trying to decide whether to change to drys or not.

I came to the conclusion of sticking to drys as the track was still a bit went in places and I dont like changing tyres. Not long after making that decision I was glad I didnt change to drys as rain clouds started to come in. the rain didnt start untill the end of the Under 19 Mens field and carried on through all of the Elites. My race run was pretty average. It was more slippery out in the open than i thought and nearly had a few close encounters with the ground but managed to hold it together. Once i was in the trees I thought it would be like seeding as i figured that the rain wouldnt have gotten through the trees much. But I was wrong... While the ground had dried up and compacted through out the seedings and earlier race runs the rain had now made that hard ground slippery and it was even harder to stay upright. I had a few crashes and tripped over a few times. Managed to still take the win despite the shocking run.

Otago Daily time article: http://www.odt.co.nz/sport/mountain-biking/194490/mountain-biking-atkin-shows-elite-rivals-slippery-downhill-course I need to work on my interviewing skills..... (Note to self, think of what you're going to say and how it will sound. :/ )

SI Cup Round 1 - Queenstown - Remarkables - 8-9/01/12

Thursday before the race was spent making the 12hr drive from Nelson to Queenstown (I was already in Nelson for a family holiday which worked out good). For this Queenstown race and the following race in Dunedin I will be traveling with Ricky Pincott. Ricky did the most of the driving. Driving the first 9hrs with a small stop for lunch while I drove the last 3 hours. Once we reached Queenstown we checked into the campsite and pitched up our tents where we would be staying where we would be staying.

The next day we headed up to the track to do a track walk. We were only allowed to walk half the track due to the farmer whose land the 2nd half of track was on didnt want people on it due to his stock still being on it. Even after only walking a little bit of the track, I could tell the track was going be more fun that I originally thought it would be after watching a video of the track earlier in the week. The track was mainly off camber grass and off camber corners. There were a couple of steep chutes with berms that were sure to get blown out after a couple of hundred riders and been down the track. Once we had finished our track walk we back to where the Monster/Specilized team was staying to grab my new forks (Fox 40s) off them. (Hendi had sussed me out some new forks due mine cracking at a club series race a week ago). Once I had picked up the forks and thanked Hendi it was back to the campsite to put the forks on my bike and get it all sorted. Once that

was finally done I headed out to Wynyard to catch up with some mates and do some jumps while testing out the new forks. Have to say, the jumps were bigger than I thought they would be and the forks were definitely up to my standards.

Saturday rolled around and practice started. Track was a little dusty but pretty grippy at the start of the day but as the day grew on the track tore up, braking bumps became holes, berms blew out, and the steep bits turned to dust bowls. It was pretty much impossible to follow anybody down the track unless you didnt mind not being able to see a thing in front of you. I did most of my runs by myself, trying different lines and different entry speeds and what not. About half way through the day did a few runs with my mate following me to tell me where I was slowing down too much. Turns out I wasnt slowing him down too much and just needed to start entering sections of the tracks a bit faster, so I worked on that for the rest of the afternoon till practice finished.

Sunday was race day. I managed to get 3 practice runs in before practice finished. I was feeling

confident about how I was riding and new that if I could just hold my runs together like I had been during my practice runs I would have a pretty good chance of winning. This year was my first year out of junior so I went into Elite with Vero and a new chick from the Uk called Harriet. I had no idea how fast Harriet was so knew I had to give it everything. I gave my seeding run everything I had and was pretty stoaked on how it went, got a bit lose and drifty up the top but managed to hold it together to take out first spot for seeding in my category and also out of the girls all together. Now I knew I just needed to do the same again and hopefully better to take out the win. I pretty much did an identicle run with a few bits where i made some mistakes while also going a bit faster in some bits as well. But overall my race run time was on the same second as my seeding run time. With my time I took out the Elite Womens grade and bettering all the other girls times as well which i was really happy with. And too top it all off I managed to beat my mate who ive been trying to beat for about 2 years now by about 4 seconds. Really couldnt have had a better start to the National season.