2011 Avanti Team Competitor...Complete with XTR 28/40T 10spd groupset, the Fox F-series Terralogic 100ml fork, XTR wheelset w/ Kenda tyres & Zero/Easton components. Love it!
From another angle w/ my preferred 640mm riser handlebar.
2011 Avanti Questa 2.0 Roadie...an all important racing and training tool. Next up I have the Tour de Femme (Nelson), followed closely by the Elite Road National Champs (Chch)...yep, getting amongst it. I expect a damn tough day but a good test for sure.A very BIG Thank-you to Avanti. They have an awesome range of XC, 29er, dual suspension & trail MTB's for 2011. Plus their ever-impressive road bike selection. Check them out.
In other news, time is fair flying & we have been head down bums up working, training & this last weekend getting pretty wet! Cabin is doing a good bit of running, swimming & riding fitted in around a busy work schedule as he prepares for the Tauranga Half Ironman (Jan 9th).
Hot on the heels of the Huka MTB Race, we travelled to Chch for the Armstrong Festival of Cycling event. We attended this last year and had an absolute blast, so were eager to return. It was a fantastic event yet again. We raced the MTB race on Saturday, approx 3okm including the uniquely testing single track of the Port Hills.
Following last year I was keen to get a bit of practice in ahead of the race. We skipped up Dyers pass on the Friday afternoon to get familiar with the terrain. We ended up riding far more than we should have on the eve of a race, but it was an awesome evening and we were enjoying the views and the trails too much!
This year the start of the course was changed to include some more off road riding in the way of farm track. Thank-you to the Scott Family who allowed us all to race through their property. With a few steep pinches, undulating farm track and a good bit of sheep shit to dodge it made for an interesting ascent to the top of Rapaki track.
The men's race was hotly contested. Defending champ Brendon Sharratt was back and stomped up the climb to take the King of Mountain title. Not far behind was Avanti team mates Richard Anderson and Cabin and youngster's Brad Hudson, Anton Cooper. The single track is punctuated with a couple of road sections, including the last 4km to the finish. As it turned out, Brendon, Cabin & Brad were close at the bottom of Captain Thomas Track. They came together on the road and it was game on...so they lapped it out some until it was time for the sprint finish. Cabin hesitated, Brad jumped, & Brendon came around to take the win on the line. Nice! Cabin was 3rd, but happy enough.
I had a sweet ride, winning the women's race. I found the twisty rocky single track challenging to ride fast. This was brought to my attention rapidly when I was gettin caught & passed easily by a number of men who I had raced to the top. I was trying hard to go fast but didn't quite have the knack for it. There is always something to work on...
Day 2 of the Festival moves down town to the 'strip' with the feature races being the mens & womens criterium races. Oh, and of course the 'celebrity tandem race!'. Brendon Hart & I were racing for Benchmark Homes whilst Cabin & his stoker were representing The Heart Centre. Once again this was super fun and we have some photo's which we will post for you to see.
I had also packed my road bike and jumped in the Women's Criterium race..gulp! It was great fun! Being just my 2nd crit race, I was more than a little nervous but after a few laps I settled in and enjoyed the ride. I finished in the main group, and banked a few notes on crit racing. It was a great training session, and I will certainly look to do more of this too :)
That is all for now, some pictures to follow. In the meantime everybody have a safe & happy festive season :) Train hard & enjoy the goodness of Christmas!
1 comment:
those are two very HOT looking rides! head out there and do them justice Nic!
and Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year if we don't see you both before then :-)
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