National Champs DH - The Dust is Literally Settling

Hot, harsh, windy, a big field, a dry couple of weeks, the DH track became blown out and really dusty, which just added to the thrills and spills of a day of DH racing.

The Fringed Hill DH track attracted over 150 competitors for the 2012 NZ DH National Champs, all laying everything on the line in the hope to be the National Champion.

Justin Loev was the fastest rider of the day and showed that he still is the rider to beat.
All photos by Dave Chadwick, thanks again Dave.

Harriet Harper one of the few women boosting off the road gap

Harriet Harper has held on the National Champs title for many years now, Harriet sets the standard that the rest of the field have to move up to.  Harriet set a scorching seeding run, which she could not replicate on her race run.

Sarah Atkin had a great race run and is now the 2012 NZ DH National Champ.

Anka Martin, at home on the fringed hill DH, doesn't her unique white V10 Carbon look good?

Anka Martin showed she has got the hang of the Nelson terrain, by setting the 3rd fastest time of the day.  Anka can't be awarded the bronze since she is not currently a NZ citizen, but was more than happy to share the 3rd place podium with Amy Liard.

Jake Boylett takes the win, with a fast seeding and race time.

The Senior men's class it was all on the line for the National Champs.  The South Island MTB cup rounds showed that there were 4 riders that had the ability to win races and be consistent. Those riders were Jake Boylett (V10 series 3), Nick McConachie (V10 Carbon), Carl Edmondson and Leighton Kirk (V10 Carbon).  Jake's home town advantage showed up by seeding first and then taking the title.......we look forward to seeing Jake in pro-elite next season.

Nick McConachie showed he was consistent through the 2012 South Island DH Cup and set a seeding time  that would have secured a second place, but with a slower race run, he was bumped down the podium the 4th place.

Lieghton Kirk finished up 4th in the SI MTB Cup and 4th in the seeding, but there was no hiding his potential.  On his home course in Dunners, Lieghton set the 2nd fastest time overall (that includes the pro-elites).

His race run was less than perfect and Lieghton finished up 15th....but that, as they say, is racing.

Boyd G, 3rd in M30 class and not cooking dinner for Harriet.

The over competitive M30 class, remained over competitive.  Local Derrick Winwood showed his consistency by winning every race in the SI DH MTB cup, but dark horse Hayden McKay, not wanting to relinquish the national champ's jersey and locals Jamie Nicoll, Boyd Grinstead and Sven Martin were all there to make sure Derrick was going to glide into first place.

Hayden hung onto national champs jersey for another year, by a margin of .15 seconds.

Sven Martin set a credible seeding time in the over competitive M30 class, but punctured on his race run.....so we'll never know.  

Vero stepping up to Pro-Elite this season.

Jono bumped off the podium by the local Nelson riders

National Champs XC - Dirk Peters IS the 2012 XC National Champion

This was a very good day in the office, Dirk Peters IS the 2012 NZ XC National Champ.
Winning the race a very healthy margin of 2min 39s, Dirk set a grueling pace which made a great race to watch.  Dirk told me it was he felt he was on fire and loves the Nelson 'codgers' XC course and it showed.
And this was one tough and packed field too, not one of the other 27 pro-elite men were there to make Dirk's life easy.

What does an over 2 minute gap look like?  Well, can you see anyone behind Dirk?

Dirk just seemed like he was always on the gas......his Blur XC Carbon worked for Dirk on the Codgers trail network.

Ethan Glover had his second amazing ride for the weekend.  After a fifth in the Super-D the previous day, he did one better with a 4th in Pro-Elite XC.  Look out for Ethan at the Coppermine, he's gunning for the win.

Tom Bradshaw also had an amazing race, his fifth place must be one of his best results and he was literally  flying on his Highball.

Tim Wilding, always the dark horse and never to be under estimated.  Tim's new Tallboy Carbon was finished by Oli at Road Works on Thursday, for Tim to race to 7th on Saturday.  Look out for Tim at the Coppermine too, I'm sure he'll be wanting to better his second place from last year.

Ed Crossling, punctured at the Super-D so the only reasonable thing to do is race the pro-elite XC race on your Nomad Carbon.  22nd place in a field loaded with weight weenie XC whippets on a Nomad Carbon wasn't too shabby at all.

The under19 men had a tough battle.  Anton Copper set a pace that nobody could match, Anton was across the finish line 7minutes 14 seconds before anyone else and was the only rider of the day to break a sub 15 minute lap.
Tom Filmer finished in 5th place, which included a tussle with what was described as a 'magnetic tree', which seemed to be popular with some of the riders.  Tom will be looking for a win at the Coppermine too, then will jump on plane and race the Wellington MTB cup round on Sunday.

 Jake Glover using his Super-D skills to finish in a very credible 8th place in the packed U19 field.

Our new 2012 XC National Champs.....STOKED AS.
Congrat's to Anton Cooper, Karen Hanlen and a MASSIVE 'bloody well done mate' to Dirk Peters.  So glad you're part of the Hyperformance Hardware family.

First National Champs Super D - Nelson

Super D racing is still the new black, with it's popularity growing in regional competitions, it's time for  a  national level event, So here we have the first Super D National Champs.

All photos thanks to David Chadwick http://www.davidchadwick.co.nz/

Recent Nelson resident, Sven Martin, styles it up for the camera's (a reverse situation from the norm). Sven set the 15th fastest time of the day, but that wasn't enough to get him on the podium.  Enough for the forth fastest Master30 isn't too shabby at all....considering this is probably the most over competitive class of Super-D racing.

Harriet Harper set a scorching time and was fastest women and 21st faster time of the day.  Harriet takes home M30 women's medal.  Make sure you get to the DH to see how Harriet does on her home track on her V10 carbon.  Harriet also get's top honors for being the faster board member of the day.

Insane result of the day goes to Ethan Glover, 5th fastest time of the day on his Blur XCc, seat up, full lycra kit and using all of his 100mm of travel.  Honestly, it pretty hard to comprehend just how fast Ethan's run was,  he was beaten by world cup seasoned racers, Justin Leov,Kieran Bennett, Joseph Nation and Jared Graves (yes that Jared Graves).

Not sure how much sibling rivalry there is between Jake and Ethan, but these boys basically ride the same bike, the same kit and are fast.  Jake Glover set the 13th fastest time of the day, which was more than fast enough to secure the gold for the junior men's category.

Anka Martin showed that she is getting the hang of the Nelson trails, getting second in the M30 class and the 4th fastest women of the day.  IMPO riding the best coloured Santa Cruz NomadC too.  Anka will be contenting the DH race on Sunday too.

Ricky P set down the 14th fastest time of the day, which was enough to squeeze him onto the podium of the M30 class.  Bronze in the most over competitive class is great result.

Fifth place in M30 class and 25th fastest time of the day, means that Boyd will be cooking dinner for Harriet.  The pressure is really on in the M30 class......and the person setting the pressure is the man pictured below.

On a perfect day Jamie Nicoll can get his Blur LTc down a Super-D course faster than most.......on a good day, he set's the 6th fastest day and takes out the M30 class by over 32 seconds.  This is man who is setting the standard in the M30 class....no pressure.

For some riders not everything went to plan, Andy Reid had a big biff and was looking very worse for wear after his run.  Ed Crossling suffered a puncture on one of the hot lines. (Ed pictured above from his practice run)

This unknown rider had a reasonable run, but it could hardly be called fast....but then again, you only need to do enough to get you down the hill and onto the podium...can't complain about a bronze medal.

Official results should show up here, sooner or later.  If you were too slack to turn up to some of the best racing around, there will be a Super-D race at the Oceania's in Rotorau.  Hope to see you there.

Petrol Head Friday - Chris Harris and his GT3 RS 4.0

Really I shouldn't be thinking about car's this PHF, National Champs in Nelson, Super-D today, XC tomorrow and DH Sunday.....so a big weekend for mountain bike racing.

But, Chris Harris is the Seb Kemp of the petrol head world (I'm sure he'll come out with a video of 'shit that petrol heads say') hooning his Porsche GT3 RS 4.0 can't be missed.....and yeah the spoiler on the back of the car is big enough to hold your breakfast.

Shit Mountain Bikes Say

NZ MTB Cup - News So Far

picture thanks to Aaron McGroover's facebook page

Stormin' Norman (Leighton) Kirk, had a fantastic result at the Dunedin round of the MTB Cup.  Leighton's winning time in the senior men was the 2nd fastest time of the day, ahead of many world cup seasoned racers (124 DH entrants, not shabby mate).  Leighton's new V10 carbon making easy work of the wet and slippery signal hill course....should make up for his result at Queenstown.  Leighton seeded 2nd in the Queenstown, but a crash on his race run meant he ended up in 39th.
Nick McConachie took 2nd place, to make it a V10 carbon podium hog in Dunedin.
Jake Boylett took the open class win in Queenstown, proving that the old alloy V10's still work well.
Vero Sandler got some nice constant result with a 3rd in Queenstown and 4th in Dunners.

Results and reports can be found here for Qtown and here for Dunners.

Dunedin may not have had the best weather, but with all new DH and XC courses, which are challenging without the rain.
Dirk Peters came in a very credible second place, he was unable to match Carl Jones pace, but they both put a big gap on seasoned Aussie racers Chris Jongewaard and Paul van der Ploeg.  Anywho, you can check out Dirk's thoughts on his blog.
Interesting to note some of the elite XC racers are opting for Highballs, one piloted by Tom Bradshaw & Melissa Newell.
You can check out results and report for the Dunedin XC here.

Vero on the hot line, photo thanks to Andrew Bias fb page.

This weekend it will be Christchurch's turn to host the 2012 NZ MTB cup.

Santa Cruz Coppermine Entries Still OPEN

A refreshing Sprig & Fern beer at the top of the climb.

OK, you've missed out the ten buck saving, but you can still enter the  Santa Cruz Coppermine, enter today.
Whatcha waiting for?

Also, looks like we'll be giving away a Santa Cruz Blur LT,

This is what a Blur LT looks like.

Petrol Head Friday - The Driver trailer

Don't know much about this at all, but if you're into car chases, vigilante super heroes and Gorillaz style animation with a side of Gran Turismo,  you'd be thinking the same as me.......looks bloody cool.

Whaaaaaat? Blur LT carbon now available in Red

Gotta say, I really like red. Check it out at the Santa Cruz bike builder or possibly in real life at Bike Culture, I managed to sneak one out of Santa Cruz before they officially existed.

Santa Cruz Higball- Dave Sharpe's 'Bikes of Amateurs'

Dave Sharpe is a witty man with an old collection of mountain bike action mag's (honestly, it's OK to admit you have some MBA's magazines, we all do....and I for one would check out the pro's bike in every detail).
Check out Dave's 'Bike of Amateurs' post on his blog.  It's a Santa Cruz Highball if you can't be arsed clicking thru to his blog.

Check out item 22.....not your usual Highball accessory.

Blur TRc - Is Bicycling/Mountain Bike is 2011 Mountain Bike of the Year

This is a nice way to start 2012, Bicycling.com/Mountain Bike listed their 2011 mountain bike gear of the year and the Blur TRc gets front page billing.

I'm still raving about my Blur TRc.....and currently creating my 2012 upgrade list for it......must get another XTR shadow plus rear mech....since I munted the last one.

The TRc is probably well ahead of the bell curve, I predict more bikes will come out with less travel in the future (less is more as they say).
Least we forget, Santa Cruz came out with the Nomad back in 2005 and some people are only just getting their heads around it.......hands up those of you who have only just got your first 6 inch travel All Mountain bike?  (I still love my Nomad too)......back in 2006, MBA called the Nomad the Ultimate Trail Bike.