Santa Cruz Coppermine Epic 2011 - Post II

Coppermine Number 4;
The Santa Cruz Coppermine Epic has evolved to more than we could hope for.  Ian Goldschmidt and James Hufflet are passionate mountain bikers and like everyone who rides mountain bikes in the Nelson region, passionate about the trail network we have too.  So how best to show it off, with a little race they called the Coppermine

We at Hyperformance Hardware were happy to get involved, not only are Ian and James good friends, but we loved the riding and always thought the the bikes we sold (Santa Cruz and Ibis) just seem to work so well in Nelson.

The race has quickly become the 'must do' event and one that's just a little different than most.....but you can expect the following.

picture thanks to shuttersport.co.nz

Some post race conversation

'Nah, I haven't been training either'

picture thanks to shuttersport.co.nz

A nervous start line (what's James H doing?)

picture thanks to Matty Bruces FB page

Of course, like any race......you should really expect a fast start.  That's James Hufflet on his 2011 Blur XC carbon.  So not only does he organise the Coppermine, he races it too. (Finished 27th overall with a time 2.36.47) Ian G has his back to the photo (yes wearing the Coppermine t-shirt), someone has to say 'Go'

picture thanks to Matty Bruces FB page

Some guy going off the front early (that would be George Bennett)

picture thanks to shuttersports.co.nz

Last years winner trying to control the race (that would be Robin Reid)

pictures thanks to Matty Bruces FB page

You should expect the sponsors bikes to look at.....mmmmmm, nice bikes

picture thanks to Matty Bruces FB page

More bikes

picture thanks to Matty Bruces FB page

A big arse climb....and I mean big, you climb for longer than you think.

picture thanks to shuttersports.co.nz
Still climbing
(Andy Reid, Ashley Whitehead (DNF'ed....climb must of been too long) and Ed Crossling)

picture thanks to shuttersports.co.nz

A really, really long climb

(that's Susie Wood and Nathan Fa'ave)

When you get to the top of the climb, a guy dressed as an air hostess to serve you refreshments.

If the man in uniform is a little too scary, Chris Burr was there to bring you back to reality.

picture thanks to shuttersport.co.nz

Some fast guy winning the race....probably riding a Santa Cruz
(that would be George Bennett with a super fast winning time of 2.03.15)

picture thanks to shuttersport.co.nz
Some other fast guy coming in second place
(that would be Tim Wilding on his Tallboy only 22 seconds behind George)

 picture thanks to shuttersport.co.nz
A fast women winning the race
That would be Meggie Birchard

picture thanks to shuttersport.co.nz
Some other fast women coming in second place
That would be Susie Wood

picture thanks to shuttersport.co.nz
And another fast women coming in 3rd place
That would be Brenda 'Bob' Clapp

picture thanks to Matty Bruces FB page
A variety of bikes to race
(that would be Ethan Glover, Blur XC carbon, 2.14.05 and Andy Reid, Nomad Carbon, with a coil, 2.16.13

picture thanks to shuttersport.co.nz
A few laughs after the race
That would be Tim Wilding (2nd) Richard Usser (3rd) and George Bennett (1st)

Thrills and Spills
That's Cam Junor, Mr. Macpac.

Santa Cruz Coppermine Epic 2011.

I will do an update sooner or later, plenty of excuses so far.

Here's a picture of what you were missing if you weren't there.
If you were there, thanks for turning up, hope you enjoyed yourselves and look forward to seeing you next year.

Petrol Head Friday - The Hot Hatch

Aaaah, the Hot Hatch, pretty much my favorite type of performance car, cheap to buy (for a performance car), cheap to run, lots of fun and practical too.  (I got 3 bikes and 3 people inside my Peugeot 106 XSi once)
Take an average Joe hatch back, put in a grunty engine, make it handle properly (instead of compromising for comfort) and maybe some racing stripes and buckets seats and you have the a Hot Hatch.

Arguably VW started the whole thing off with the Golf GTi in 1976.

  Thanks Auto Express for the nice picture of the Golf GTi.

I am one of the people that believe that if it wasn't for the Alfa Romeo Alfasud (released in 1971), there may have never been a Golf GTi.  Top Gear gave it the car of the decade (the 70's, that is) and it's probably one of the few times I would agree with Tiff.  (I might have owned a couple of Alfasud's in the old days).

The other Hot Hatch of the '70's was the Renault 5 Gordini, which also pre-dated the VW Golf GTi.


The 1980's & 90's seemed to be the hay days of Hot Hatch's, here's some of my favorites and basically a bucket list of cars I need to drive.

The Fiat Uno Turbo, I have driven a couple and the advert speaks the truth.

It was also one the cars 'tuners' loved.


The Lancia Delta Integrale.


Yes, yes, yes......I'm not ignoring the Golf GTi.


The Golf R32 is well worth considering these days too, pretty cheap (if you can find a first generation model) and almost bullet proof.  Evo magazine rave about it.......which means the price won't be going down in a hurry.


The Peugeot 205GTi, the car I regret never owning.


Not forgetting the 306GTi 6....the other car I should have owned.


Renault Clio Williams


Actually, nearly and Renault hot hatch, Renault seem to be on a roll at the moment. Not sure why we don't see more of them in NZ?



Just in case Jules thinks I am ignoring the Focus RS, here it is.


So you think I have forgotten the Japanese cars eh?  Well the EVO's isn't quite a hatch and the Impreza has only just become a hatch, but they are still good value for money and quite practical.


And of course there is the Honda Integra Type R, if you can find one.  Evo magazine claimed it's the best front wheel drive coupe around.  (OK, so it's not quite a hatch, but you're just nit picking)


There are of course more cars than a blog about bikes can mention and if you've noticed there is no MINI on this list....well that's because I don't like them, they're not cheap, they're not really practical and BMW want you to use all capitals when you write MINI.  Doesn't sound like fun car to me.

And of course, I loosely tie this into mountain biking. Here's Gee taking on James May in a Clio.

Coppermine Butcher - Ready to Roll

Butcher is ready to roll, here is a crappy picture and I will see you all at the Coppermine on Saturday.

Mojo HD review in Bikemag

Seb Kemp, our friendly skidder and ex-tallboy rider (he's got a Butcher now), give the Mojo HD a great review.

Great to see the bike is set up as 1 x 10.......it is the future.

Also there is great little article on the Ibis website about chain-suck.

The Great Battle - Nelson MTB Cup XC Pro-Elite Men

Nelson, mountain bike racing at it's best.

The action started on Friday, kicking off with DH practice day...where I snuck out of the office to spend some time quality time on my Syndicate V10 Carbon practicing the new Fringed Hill DH track.

It was packed weekend at Hyperformance Hardware HQ, with people sleeping on the floor, noisy Candian DH'ers hanging out at the neighbors, to add to the usual organised chaos.
We'll cover the DH race later, with the XC race still fresh in my memory, we'll start with that.

I will admit to a little bit of nervous tension before the start of the Pro-Elite XC race and the men's race was the one I was waiting to play out.

2008 world champs was the last time Dirk Peters and George Bennett raced each other (as juniors), since that time both of these guys have taken different paths and disciplines.  But on Sunday 13th February they would race against each other again.

George Bennett, new sponsors for the up coming road season and already has a loyal following

BIG thanks to Paul Cooper for the photo

Photo thanks to Paul Cooper

photo thanks to Paul Cooper

another photo by Paul Cooper

photo thanks to Paul Cooper

Dirk Peter winning the race with a 2 minute margin

There were 22 Pro-Elite men riders and 13 Under 19 men starting at the same time, it was a pretty stacked field.  This was also Anton Cooper's first chance to mix it up with the Pro-Elites and he eventually passed George on the 4th lap (which was Anton's 2nd to last lap) and winning the U19 field with nearly a 6 1/2 minute margin.  

Full results and a write up can be found here;

So Santa Cruz Blur XC riders claiming the 1st and 2nd podium spots in Nelson.

A great speech by George too.

T-Rex and his Tallboy came across the line in 13th, photo thanks to Debbie Retief

A little further down the field was Tim Wilding on his Tallboy, Tim is in Nelson to prepare for the Coppermine.  It was noted that the last time Tim did a MTB Cup XC race, before another race, was when he won the Karapoti.  Just saying.

Ethan Glover snuck ahead of T-Rex by almost a minute in 12th, you'll catch Ethan at the Coppermine too
Another photo thanks to Debbie Retief.

Dirk Peters

George Bennett

video clips thanks to Paul Hufflet.

Petrol Head Friday - Quick Random Stuff.....because I'm off riding my bike

First up, this is the most watch ad ever and it's for the new Chevy Camaro ad.......Petrol Heads are everywhere.

It looks like there was nothing wrong with the self accelerating Toyota Prius after all, the drivers were just pressing the wrong pedal or just made it up.  More on Jalopnik.



And you gotta love this, an Ozzie study has found that speeding means safer roads.  Not sure which state will be bumping up their speed limits first, but it might be time to get that Ferrari rental car I always wanted and go for a drive in Australia.
Now driving in Ozzie will be just like the movies.



One day I want to cover hot hatches, but until that time.......here are two that you need to drive.  I would take the Renault......Jules would take the Ford, more practical.


Oh yeah, if you're trying to get a hold of me today.....try the Fringe Hill DH track, might be time to see what the V10 Carbon Syndicate Replica rides like.

Hot Fudging Sunday - Racing and then Standing on some Podiums

Kaka DH track, Nelson (aka the cheese grater), 30 degrees, dry, dusty course with a reputation.

Harriet Harper leaping her V10 Carbon the 40 footer into first place ahead of Swiss pro-rider Emilie Siegenthaler and Nelson local Amanda Pearce.

Vero Sandler finishing 3rd on home course, but it was Sophie Tyas setting a very fast time in the junior field which would have given her a 3rd in the Pro-Women.

Jake Boylett photo thanks to Lou and Chris

Jake Boylett back on his bike after injury and finishing 4th in the senior men and the 20th fastest time over all. Close on his tail was BASIC sponsored and carbon V10 rider, Nick McConachie. It was Bryn Dickerson who took the win with the 8th fastest time of the day. 

Nick McConachie photo thanks to Lou and Chris

What wrong with the above picture (excluding my crappy photography), the plan was for a clean sweep by the local Nelson riders in Master1 class.  Hayden McKay and Derek Winwood played their part, but Stanley Cres DH gang president was hampered by puncture on his race run.  Ricky P (who at least lived in Nelson for a short time) was happy with his third placing.

Some very close racing in the U17 race, with Bullit hucking Tom Burns took third with only 2.55 seconds behind the winner Kurt Summerfield and less than half a second behind Harry Chapman.  Chris Mildon needing to stretch his muscles.......obviously or maybe he was doing the funky chicken?

The Pro-Men's field was exactly that, Justin Leov, Cam Cole, Brook MacDonald, Matt Scoles and Nathan Rankin hogged the podium, with Leov setting a scorching time of 3.07.8.

Official results and report can be found at mtbnz.org