Well done to the Devinci/Haven Distribution (and Jack on his Ellsworth!) team riders:

Dave Duggan – 4th Expert
Craig ‘Snowy’ Taylor – 14th Master
James Kidd – 18th Senior
Gareth Jones- 42nd Senior
Jack Reading (Ellsworth) – 28th Elite

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The race was over a 14.3km loop and we had to do 7 laps of the course.  My bike of choice was my Ellwsorth Evolve and Darren rode his Speciliazed Stumpjumper so once food and drink was in place we headed for the start line and at 8.30am we were off and as usual we started near the back of the field ( we must learn to pull our finger’s out and start at the front).   We headed up a gravel road then into single track which caused a small pile up as always happens at the start of the race, then it opened up a bit so passing was a bit easier and then I heard the call for MEDIC a guy had crashed in the first few minutes and smashed his face in so I turned around and went back and got help then stayed with the guy until the medics got there.  I was now right at the back of the field last man actually so time to play catch up, Darren at this point had managed to worm his way up to about halfway.   The course was fairly dry with only a couple of boggy bits and wound around Swinley Forest taking in some of the good bits including a few  sharp climbs AKA the wall and after seven times up this puppy was happy to see the last of it, once past this point the course was fairly flat and fast with some good fun single track bits where I had the pleasure of ripping past a few guys much to their suprise…….  

By the end of the first lap I had managed to catch up and pass most of the women riders so was fairly happy and now settled down into a steady pace.   Most people were very friendly and it helped pass the time chatting to fellow riders with a bit of banter thrown in.  The course was enjoyable and had a bit of everything for everyone  and the big wheels were a god send on the open gravel tracks where it really showed its speed and made a few guys on their 26inch tyres blow as I managed to brease past them.

Darren was going so well he was having trouble keeping count of how many laps he had done even resorting to counting fingers to try and work out where he was thinking he had another lap to go but then finding out he had actually finished much to his relief . 

Darrens time 7.03 and ended in 19th position in Mens so a great result given he was on a all mountain bike racing some of the race wippets on their carbon 29er speed machines.

I finished 2nd in the womans so for me was not bad effort for first race of the season and very happy with the bike it rode like a dream thanks to my mechanic (darren) and to the guys at Freeborn and Haven for all their help you guys ROCK.

So all in all a great day out,  now time to get stuck into some training and big miles to get myself alot stronger and fitter for the next few big races looming.

Amanda and Darren

Just a little post about the demo day we had at peaslake on Good Friday.

Great fun day out trying new bikes and being out in the sun just before we eat loads of chocolate from the Easter bunny, The day started cold but wow it heated up so quick, by 10am Peaslake was bursting at the seams with riders. It was really nice to just be out in the sun on the bikes.

Trails where amazing due to nice sunny conditions.

Jim from specialized turned up with all the brand new 29er plus a couple of 26″ Camber/Stumpjumpers. 2012 Camber comp carbon 29er Rocked! one to keep your eye on people! Definitely an eye opener to people who had not previously ridden 29ers.

We also had the demo fleet including Ellsworth And Devinci, Both showed what true hand made frames can do! Some of the favorites where: Ellsworth Epiphany, Ellsworth Evolve, Devinci Dixon and last but not least the Devinci Hectik.

Was just a lovely day seeing people enjoying riding as much as we do every day and experiencing what we all blabber on about everyday, Now you all see why we do it, just such great bikes.

Thanks to Haven Distribution who turned up with their teams race pits and provided some great music and some great videos to watch while pedals were being swapped.

A special thank you to Daren, AJ, and James from team Ellsworth Haven who heroically rode all day keeping the demo loop going. And not to forget Teddy, Dan and Phil for their hours of work keeping things running smoothly.

Once on the bike I head off to the top of the forest opting for leg power over the uplift, once at the top of all the downhill trails I head off down Huckleberry hound which is a fast trail with some knarly roots and a section of bumps of varying heights that you need to pump over.  This leads onto corners which has 69 bermed corners which has you grinning from ear to ear once you get to the bottom its graded a level 3 so in UK would be a like a blue / red run.  Once at the bottom I decide to go back up to the top and ride one of my favourite loops here called Tuhoto Ariki which is a lovely grade 4 (Black run) single track through covered native bush with lots of tree roots to ride both going up and down,  the track always changes every year due to weather which makes it a great ride as you never know whats coming.

From here I then linked onto Split Ends a brillant fast swooping trail with great views out over Rotorua then onto 3 other trails to get back to near the bottom then it was back up to the top for one more blast down a trail that runs alongside Corners called little red riding huck by this stage my stomach was telling me it was time to go for food guess after 5 hours I was starting to run on empty so off to the campsite for Pizza a bottle of cider and the hot pools to soak my weary bones ready for another days riding tomorrow.

Sunday got up early to hit the trails and also get on the uplift to do some practise on corners as this is definatley my weak point after doing 6 runs down corners I was starting to get the idea of it all and actually got faster too so much more fun when you get the speed up.  After this I thought I had better do a bit of climbing so off up to the top to Billy T a grade 4 track which is very fast and has lots of drops in it and about half way down I found a new track they call snuffaluffagus so headed off down this again was a grade 4 trail so like a black run in UK and the trail started off fine with a few bumps and came round a corner to be met with a steep drop off lets just say I shat myself and am sure all of Rotorua could hear me swear but at least I managed to stay on the bike but would not get any points for style!   Once at the bottom I was buzzing so headed back over to Split Endz for another yippie and down pondy old and pondy new onto rollercoster and then down old chevy to get to the bottom then for me it was two last trails that I had to do “Be Rude Not  To” they have just opened the trail again due to logging and Mad If You Dont both these trails are so much fun it was a great way to end the day so 6 hours riding and a massive grin on my face it was time to pack up my trusty Epiphany and head back to hastings ready for work Monday.

Amanda

My name is Amanda Brooks and as you might have guessed I’m from NZ and am a keen MTB rider who dabbles in endurance racing.  Actually some of you may have already seen or heard me out on the trails in Peaslake as I’m the one usually on the back of our Ellsworth tandam laughing loudly (thats the sign I am starting to bric it on the back).  I am currently in NZ training and working so though I would do a few write up of some of the trails we have here.

Rameaka / Cannon loop trail this is my favourite training ride as is on my Mums back door, situated in a small town called Takaka Golen Bay.   I ride from mums place so a 22km gravel road warm up to the start of the single track once here you head up climbing all the way to the top starting on benched single track from the creek winding up through some pine forest, then it pops out onto a gravel road where you cross it on to the  newly opened Rameka pack track and follow this up through a open gulley that has some awesome views over golden bay and the kaharangi mountain range  then you will dissapair into mature native forest where you will grunt up a short knarly climb to then be rewarded with a gental graident to the top middle ring all the way over some very sweet single track over roots and rocks with a few small creek crossings.  Once at the top of this track “pages saddle” the ride then hooks onto the Cannon Loop which was built by the local MTB club, this track loops around a working Department of Conservation farm and takes in some lovely open back country and the trail has something for everyone including a trip through log city where they have taken the track over some of the fallen trees’  the last part of this is swooping bermed corners down to the Harwoods hole care park where it’s then a short climb to pages saddle and back down the Rameka going back down they way you came up and believe me this is the best part,  the track is great to climb BUT this will have you smiling all the weay down to the bottom 25km away.  So it takes me 5.5 hours about 1600m climbing and 78km round trip back to Mums a perfect days riding with some awesome single track.  Keep you posted on my next trip.

Happy riding! Amanda.

Myself and a couple of friends flew out from Gatwick airport on the Friday and landed at Valencia airport in the early evening, where we were collected and were taken to our hotel for the weekend.

Saturday morning I am up early for a good days practice. By the time I have signed on and got my number board on the bike, I’ve missed my chance to walk the track, so just go for inspecting lines on the way down and take a nice slow first run down. After a couple of runs I really start to get into my groove and begin to get up to speed when I manage to catch my pedal on a rock, sending me over the bars and off the side of a small cliff landing, luckily for me, into some very thorny shrubs which break my fall nicely (you can see this crash on the go pro edit) . Apart from this crash the day goes well and I’m feeling confident for the next days racing.

Sunday morning begins early to try and get a couple more practice runs in before our seeding and race runs. I manage to only get one practice run in, but feel happy on track and feel good on my Devinci Wilson. I decide to take a nice smooth run down in seeding and not do my normal hang it out and crash run, but some how still crash hard in the worst rock section on the track. I lose a lot of time but still manage to qualify for the afternoon’s race runs. Once the adrenaline dies away I realise I have hurt my leg quite badly and nearly don’t go up for my race run as I can barely stand up and pedal the bike. I go for it still, but have to slow down due to the discomfort from my leg through the big rocky sections and can’t put in the big sprint towards the end of the track, so lose a lot of time. I end up coming 47th out of 122 elites which I was not really happy with, but considering how much pain I was in during my run I was happy to just get down the hill without crashing.

Roll on the next event as now I feel really motivated again and back in race mode after the off-season. I’d like to say a big thank you to Paul and everyone at Haven Distribution for giving me the best bike available which ran perfectly all weekend.

Brad

As I often find in the duathlons that I’ve done, I can make up a lot of time on the bike, as most people tend to be runners who ride, rather than me who is a rider that also runs. Trouble was, it was easy to get carried away and ride fast and make navigational mistakes, so I still needed to be careful. I also got a 3rd checkpoint, which was nastily placed halfway down a steep hill, which my route meant I had to go down to and U-turn back up.
It was very obvious now that my longer than planned run had compromised my bike time, so I checked the map and changed my route. I ended up at my 5th checkpoint with 7 minutes left, at the same time as a guy in London Phoenix kit and we jointly decided to get 1 more checkpoint in, which was pretty much on the most direct route back – which meant pushing the bike back up that same hill I’d had to run/walk up! We got back on at the first opportunity and I chased the guy across ‘The Gallops’ towards the checkpoint. Unfortunately, I was too busy riding hard and mistakenly trusting that he knew where it was, and we plunged down the hill, got to the bottom and realised we’d missed it. There was only 3 minutes left, so we shrugged shoulders and rode round the corner and back into the finish area, dipping in with 1 minute and 40 secs to spare.

I got a downloaded print out of my score – 110points and a free massage from a rather lovely young lady with amazing hands that worked some magic into my tired legs.

My 11 checkpoints got me into 11th spot out of 49 in my category, which I was really pleased with for a first go. I’ve realised the navigation and strategy and planning adds an addictive ‘nerdy’ element to racing, and I can’t wait to have another go, now I know so much more about how it works. The massage at the end is all good too of course…
Big Daddy…