After about a month with no races and the somewhat boring
emptiness of school holiday, I was fairly excited about this race. With the release
of NCEA results days before I was in a pretty good mood (I got excellence in
case you were wondering) and was happy with the course (even if there was a tad
too much up).
Being a Cup round quite a few people came from all over New Zealand,
meaning I had someone to race against, and Sam Gaze was there.
The race was just as tough as I expected (if not a lot more)
and although Jess Manchester (the other girl) thoroughly beat me I still had
lots of fun. If anything it was good to be beaten because it made me aware of
the standard I need to get to if I want to race competitively.
Although I only got second I feel like the race was a huge
success, I raced as hard as I could, I rode all the descents fine so I’m
confident in my ability, and I know more about who I’ll be up against in the
future. Of course I wouldn’t have been able to make race day if it weren’t for
the huge crowd of people supporting me.
Lisa at Cowbell coaching for making sure that my legs were able to turn
fast on race day and will be able to recover so I can hit the Taupo Round on the 7th
of Feb. All the guys at MUD Cycles
helping me out and making sure that my bike can make it round the course
running smooth as!! – The new forks are pretty awesome to race on!! Ryan Hunt
for all his tips and inside info on the competition (AKA who would be there).
Also helping in the tips department are Kim, Ricky and Lisa all helping me
figure out lines (like watch out for that rut, if you take it wrong you might
break your hand) and talking me through the course- Extremely useful two days
before the race when you’re having a bit of a nerves attack!! Of course there’s
all the driving around that Mum and Dad do for me, as well as the insane
amounts of support and encouragement they give me! Looking forward to Taupo in a
few weeks time!