Get Lost

Or should that be, try NOT to get lost, and get round the forest as fast as you can in the meantime. What am I on about?

Sunday saw a random edition to my training plan. The NZ MTB Orienteering Champs were on in the Whaka forest, so I figured why not give it a nudge. I was super experienced afterall..... with a stellar performance at some primary school orienteering event in Naseby back in, oh, about 1985 I think?! Best case scenario was I'd do great. Worst case.... I'd get lost, ride in circles, and as a result get a solid days training in.

Aparently you need a mapboard and compass. Since my preparation was so good I didn't have either on Sunday morning. So bugger the compass.... but I did fashion a magnificent mapboard out of random stuff around the house. See pic below. Reason #126 for regular ice-cream consumption.

The event? Well I started great, and was leading apparently till the 4th control which I messed up pretty good. Then rode and navigated steadily and slowly brought the gap down until the last control which I made a monumental error on and lost an estimated 7min. Oops.

End result? Well it was an NZ champs, which means obviously I finished in the regular slot.... 2nd. Andrew Bott rode/navigated awesome and smashed me. Great fun though and certainly something different. Recommend all to give it a shot once if you can find an event.

For a proper event report click here

Looking focussed? Well I still knew where I was going at this point!
Only the most technologically advanced equipment for me thanks.
How much sense of this do you make?

Whirinaki Quest

So there is now a new addition to "Cabin and Nic's must do, highly reccomended NZ MTB events" list. The Whirinaki Quest.

We enjoyed an awesome comeback to competitive MTB after a wee break with this great event, now in its second year, which all going well will become an iconic NZ event. Organiser Nick Reader does a great job drawing on his experiences with Motorcycling to bring together the key elements for a great ride.

We turned up on Friday night for the free camping on the sportsground. BBQ dinner, a few beers, and great company made for a very relaxing start to the weekend. Rolling out of bed literally at the start line made things so much easier the next day too!

The event? A great mix of purpose built singletrack, old logging roads, and 4wd trails added up to a challenging ride for all. The final addition at the 30km mark of "Grovel Hill" will go down in Folklore. A bike carry/push to rival the Devils Staircase proved the final kicker.... but led straight to a fresh cut loamy singletrail downhill that in Gaz's words "after two corners made you forget the effort in getting there."

I managed to take a comfy win after being chased hard all the way by Rotorua junior Nigel McDowell. Nic won the women's and managed 10th overall. Making it all the better was the relaxed social atmosphere afterwards. The BBQ cranked up, burgers on offer, and smashed competitors in varying states of "smashedness" relaxing on the grass and telling tall stories of their battles with the course.

Worth the trip? Hell yes. Will we be back? Definately. These guys run an awesome event and have plans for more, so keep your eyes pealed. And we'll see you all at Whirinaki 2010.

The Night before
Post race and organisers Nick and Deb's enjoy a well deserved burger in the sun

.... while Marty goes for the trusty beer and chips combo.

One of the more relaxed race venues you'll come across

The local catering crew was awesome. Steak & Egg burgers anyone?

The "wise" men? Nick and Gaz deep in discussion. Judging by the Gaz's hat I can only assume it was about the best format for a backyard cricket match?

Finding Balance..

It's been pretty busy here in Rotorua for the last couple of weeks. In between working back at the farm in Raetihi, Training, and shop work in Rotorua; Nic managed to find and negotiate a deal on a mint house for us here in Rotorua. So we are now home owners! (Well we will be mid december).

So we'll be expecting visistors a plenty. Are you reading this Conrad? MTB, Dirtbikes, and awesome fishing... and no clashes with XTERRA's NZ & Sth Africa in 2010. No excuses.

In other news, reports of the impending Bushlove/Wgtn December assault on Rotovegas will certainly have the locals concerened. Fortunately we won't have possession of our new house then so at least that is safe.

Other than that its just been fun times mixing work and play (also known by some as training). Road + Runs + ice-cream + MTB + Swimming (even used up a 10swim card in 3 weeks!!) + Pizza and Beer + BMX + great friends to catch up with and hang out = Awesome.

And a wee bit tired..... Resting today. Whirinaki Quest MTB on Saturday, which added to Road Crit racing on Tuesday night, and BMX club racing wednesday will make a great week of bike racing. Life is good.

Tuesday Crit. First Road Race in a loooong time....
.... As it was also for proud mum Sonia

And getting in some sneaky BMX practice

Labour Day musings

So it's a public holiday, it's a gorgeous day here in Rotorua, and I've spent the morning staring at the laptop.... partly because I trained lots last two days and I'm a bit smashed..... but more so as I've been being the avid sports fans following the fortunes of a few of my friends who also happen to be pretty classy at what they do. So big congrats to.....

Paul "The Axeman" Whibley. It's a long way from Pahiatua to the East Coast of the USA and big time professional motorcycling. But Paul put in a strong and consistent ride this morning at the final round of the prestigeous GNCC series (reputed to be the toughest off-road series in the world), to secure the overall title for 2009. Awesome work. And I hope the Suzuki team who cut him from their roster after 2008 are feeling a little sheepish now.

And these two. Richard Ussher and Scott Thorne. No nicknames needed. Just genuine hard men. Tough as nails, shown here smashing each other at XTERRA NZ, they have just finished 11th and 13th respectively at the 2009 XTERRA World Championship. In what was perhaps the deepest field at the event to date..... Rich put in the equal fastest run split, and Scott the 5th fastest. Doing NZ proud.

And Scott.... competing at that level, amongst big name professionals, in spite of a full time labour intensive job....So perhaps unofficially the Amateur World Champ? No excuse for the rest of us. Right then, maybe I should go training them.

In other good news. Apparently, outlets in the Bay of Plenty have on average the most generous servings of cone ice-cream in NZ. I knew there was another reason I moved to Rotorua.... :)

New Toys!

.... so pre-season training is underway, and while theres a few tried and true methods to get fit and fast for summer I think we are all well aware I'm not really one for following traditional training methods. Always keen to throw new things into the mix, so when Nic decided she wanted to take up BMX who was I to argue?

Bloody good way to work on strength and power. Great skills, and a hell of a lot of fun. So after aquiring her very own ABD Pro BMX on wednesday there was no stopping Nic. Turned out to be a long training day!

My Haro Cruiser (I'm an old man after all) hadn't arrived yet, so I went running instead. Will have to wait for next week. Actually, we also got a Powertap wheel for the roadies this week too. Pretty serious training investment there.... but the BMX is far more fun.

Nic even managed to fing a helmet small enough
Bit more scary start view than an MTB race?

Just in case you were missing Pattle.....

Nic on the gate with the boys. Thats Tom Holland on the right, and Aaron "bling bling" Perry in white beside Nic

Just Living....

Time for another blog update, and really, we're just living.... !

Another fairly hectic weekend, even with the absence of racing. This time with a whistle stop visit back to Palmerston North (via Raetihi and Wanganui). Friday night I was guest speaker at the Sport Manawatu Grassroots Sports Awards. Kind of cool honour to be asked. Firstly, in that it recognises I might have something valuable to say. And secondly, I must be getting better at them?!

Seriously though, it was a great opportunity to give a bit back to the sports community where I developed myself as an athlete. And also where I hopefully made some impact on the youth too.

So Cabin got a haircut, and a real job!!!

Was a great opportunity to think about and acknowledge all the club volunteers whose tireless work allows us to do what we do. Fittingly, a number of the award winners on Friday have directly influenced me over the years, and I was able to acknowledge and thanks these people on the night.

If you compete at all, can I suggest you take a moment to think of all those that assist you.... and perhaps say thanks. Without them we don't have a sport/sports.

At least I thought I was entertaining?!

Finally, we moved into our short-medium term accomodation on Sunday night (until we find a suitable house to buy). Residing in the basement of the Diproses new place. Must say it's awesome to no longer be living out of bags (as I kind of have been for about 8 months now), and having some sort of regularity back in my life.

Guess that means it's time to start a proper training program again then? Wonder if I can still remember how to swim?

The Whaka 100....

Fot the third time in three years I'm feeling a little broken from chasing Scot Thorne all around the forest during the Whaka 100. And I didn't even race! It was a little different this time...

.....after a good break (like a whole month of complete laziness for Cabin.... a wee bit less for Nic), we hauled the bikes out again last week thinking a 100km race wasn't too smart, especially with a desire to do a long steady build up to the 2010 season. So Nic decided to race the 50km option, whilst I strapped a helmet camera to my head with the intent of capturing some good in race footage for future highlights/promo films.

Turned out to be a fun (and a little bit painful) day. Happily stayed with the lead group for approx 30km, before taking a shortcut to relocate to another filming position. All the while watching an inpressive Scott Thorne control the race.

Jumped in and out of the race and captured the crucial moments (I think... haven't watched the footage yet), and experimented with a few shots as my creative side came out?!

Stopped for a break at 60k, and joined in behind the 50km race, following Nic, as some poor chap desperately tried to prevent himself being beaten by a girl. Nic's mean. Despite a gnarly crash early on she ended up winning the womens easily and nabbing 3rd overall in the 50km. Amazing what a decent break and feeling fresh does for you.

Meanwhile I decided to keep Mr Thorne company as it looked lonely at the front. After another 40+ mins following I decided the last hill was a bit much so left the man to it and shot back to the finish for a rest and a much needed feed. And in time to watch a very impressive and strong looking Thorne take his 3rd stright title. He's looking good for Maui and am excited to see what he does.

Looking forward to ressuming training now. Looks like I've got some ground to make up

The Cameraman hangs on for grim death behind Thorne
Nic waaayyyy out front of the womens 50km

Thanks to Alan @ Fotoengineers for the images