The Rice Mountain Classic

Last year I had been planning to do this race but decided not to, as I hadn’t done much training on the road. This year I was doing a lot more road riding than mountain biking, as I am aiming for the Junior Track Nationals in March, rather than Karapoti (sadly they are on at the same time so I had to choose one or the other). Track and road are complimentary so I have been training on the track, the turbo trainer and the road bike. The Rice Mountain Classic was a good aim for halfway through the season.




As part of my build up I took part in the PNP Horokiwi Hill Climb on 15 December. It was warm and calm, perfect conditions. The only problem was that it was a hill, and a very steep one at that. I couldn’t believe how slowly the kilometres ticked by but I somehow ended up at the top of the hill in a time of 24:15, even if I was wheezing and shaking. Jony completed his climb in 25:17, so I was happy to get one over him, especially on hills! It was good training. There were 28 people there, although there was a distinct lack of Bushlove shirts. Maybe they only come out for the mountain biking.

On 19 December we got to Gladstone early and drove around the C course. It looked challenging, but well within my ability. The hills didn’t look too steep and it looked as though there were only two. Oh how looks can be deceiving. The weather around Gladstone was OK: fine, but a bit windy, with a brisk north-westerly, which meant a tailwind for the final climb up Admirals Road.

We got back to Gladstone Hall and did a small warm-up while the A and B grades started their epic-length races (still no Bushlove jerseys, where have they all gone?). Waiting is always the worst bit of the whole race in my mind. Finally my group started, and the race was under way. We worked in a pace line for a bit, but I was struggling to keep up. The others were all sitting up and looking relaxed, but I was spinning flat out and breathing hard and doing everything I could just to keep up. Naturally, I got dropped and so began the long lonely and hard race.

In the car it looked like two hills, on the bike, there were too many to count. At some point (I was too tired to remember where) the B grade men passed me, thank you to those who shouted “Go Hannah!” or something like that. The race wore on and the kilometres ticked by. I got chased by a scary dog, I slugged up some gruelling hills that I could have walked up faster, and I got passed by all the groups.

By the time I got to Admirals I was practically dead. The climb wasn’t exactly easy and it was sooooooooooooooo long! Thank you to Cameron Wood who encouraged me on the last bit of Admirals, I really needed it. Well done to my little brother Jony who was literally half the size of most people there, but finished the 60km one minute and two seconds faster than me (Grrr). I was very proud of him, and he was pleased to have got revenge for his defeat at Horokiwi.



It was one of those races where I was glad I had done it but I was really happy it was over. Thanks to the Bike Barn Boys for fixing my bike so many times in one week, I ended up going to see them every day. Also, thanks to Shane from Penny Farthing for fine-tuning the set up of my bike. Special thanks also to Malcolm Allen and his dedicated team of volunteers who made a great race happen;
and lastly an acknowledgement to Alan Rice (currently PNP Treasurer) for whom the race is named - his decades of racing and volunteering have helped make the PNP club what it is. It's hard to imagine being at a race without seeing Alan and club mascot Walter.

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Kevin Smith Memorial Race - Otaki, 12 December 2009

Saturday 12 December was the fourth Kevin Smith Memorial handicap race. This race honours the memory of Kevin Smith, a keen vet cyclist who was a PNP President and a big fan of handicap races, where everyone has a chance for victory. He passed away on 16 August 2005. This year it followed a picturesque country circuit just east of Otaki - the location was chosen to reflect his efforts to bring together cycling groups from the Wellington and Horowhenua regions.

I was a bit worried when I woke up to strong gusty winds, showers and big dark clouds. However by the time we got out to Otaki (thanks to Gary Gibson for giving us a ride) the skies had cleared and it was looking quite nice.

The field was small, about 30 people altogether, so they combined Limit with Break 4, Break 3 with Break 2 and Break 1 with Scratch. I was in the first group to go. We had to do seven laps of a 7.5km circuit. The hill at the start was steep and went up in steps, two of the people in our group dropped the rest of us and we didn’t see them till the end. That split the group for a while, as Beth Balmer and I worked together for a while, but the others soon caught up, so we all crossed the line together.

The second lap was pretty ordinary. Beth, Candice Pretorious, Candice’s Dad, my brother Jony and I worked well together in a steady pace line, each taking turns at the front. In the third lap Candice and I got away on the hill. The two of us set a hard pace for ourselves and got a good gap back to the others.




















Candice and I rode the rest of the race together, but she gained a little bit on me on the final descent and crossed the finish line a few meters in front of me. Unfortunately Beth got a puncture. Jony and Mr Pretorious worked together and came through the finish together.

In the end I got first placed Under 15, which pleased me as a good way to finish the grade - after New Year I'll be moving up to U17. The first U17 rider was Vaughn Pretorious. Sam King-Turner got the fastest time in 1.24.11. Paul Larkin won the Kevin Smith Memorial Trophy for 2009 after winning the sprint against Graham Hawkins and Steve Chapman.

It was a brilliant day despite the small turnout and the weather was good to us. Thanks to all volunteers including Malcolm Allen, Gary Gibson, Aaron Anderson, Simon O’Reilly, Rebecca O’Donnell, Dave, Glen Offord, Alan Rice and my little sister Martine Barnes. We owe the biggest thank you to Rachel Anderson-Smith, the race manager for organising such a wonderful race. I can’t wait till next year's race.

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Riding With the Girls

Recently I have started riding with a number of women’s groups, both mountain biking and road.

Rebecca Spiers has been leading the MTB Chicks rides. They have been great fun. There is a great group of women who are very friendly and supportive. I have now been on three rides with the group, one at Battle Hill, the Kapiti Klassic course, and Belmont. All of these rides have been hard but very enjoyable and I highly recommend this group to women who want a fun social mtb ride - check it out at http://www.mtbchicks.org/index.htm.



On Saturday mornings I usually go down to On Yer Bike at 8am to do a relaxed road ride run by Ashleigh and Marjolein. This is a fun ride that usually goes around the bays. Most days there are a few women who want to go at a different speed so this ride caters for all.

The other women’s ride I have been doing is on Monday evenings at 5:30. We meet outside Freiberg Pool and ride around the bays all the way up Happy Valley Road to Brooklyn. Run by Lisa Morgan, this ride is a bit faster than the Saturday morning rides, but still just as fun.

Riding with women has been a great way of getting confident riding in a bunch. It is also good for me to be doing a 50km road ride on a regular basis (By the time I have ridden to the Monday ride and back home to Karori it’s about 50km.

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PNP MTB Spring Series: Round 5-Makara

After the first four races in the series, the Under 19 girls category points were all sussed out, and I had secured second place, but there was no possibility of winning the first place series trophy. So I decided I may as well marshal, particularly because I was feeling a bit under the weather.

I ended up being posted at the top of Lazy Fern with the Cruise family. From very early on this was a busy intersection, with riders coming at you from every direction, all having to go in different directions. It got a bit confusing.

Martine (my sister) and Skylaah Cruise were together for most of the race and seemed to be enjoying themselves. Jony (my brother) was riding strongly, but the unbeatable Eden Cruise ended up on the top of the podium, With Jony in second and Marti in third. The under 13 category has been a huge success and we now have lots of young, keen and strong riders in it.


In the Under 19 Girls series points, Caitlin Pilcher took first, I took second and Emily Ryan got third. Numbers have jumped hugely this year and I have had to fight in every race.


Over all a brilliant series and I’m glad I did it. Many thanks to Marco and the PNP MTB subcommittee.

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PNP Club Criterium Champs

Saturday morning was beautiful and sunny; unfortunately it didn’t stay that way. By lunch time it had clouded over and there was a strong wind. We got out to the race and registered, U15 boys and U17 girls were the second race after the Open men; we had 15 minutes plus 3 laps around the same Trentham circuit where the Secondary School Champs were held in September. I started to warm up around the circuit. ‘This isn’t too bad’ I thought as I started, ‘I can hardly feel the wind’. But then I turned the corner. Suddenly there was a hurricane. Much to my disappointment the hurricane never stopped or eased off but continued to blow on that side of the circuit.














The race started with a neutral lap, and then it was race on. Ollie Jones and Matt Grenfell took off and left the rest of us for dead. They ended up lapping everyone once and most people twice. Jed McDermott, another boy (whose name I don’t know), and I were next in line and working well together. I couldn’t really see what happened behind us, but I think that the next person must have been at least a straight behind. Ione Johnson, Ari Evans, my little brother Jony and a few others formed a group. I almost lapped them, finishing on the same straight, and about a bike length from Ari and Ione.







This was Jony’s first road race; he finally had a road bike to ride. Dad had recently retrieved a custom built Clamont made in 1991 from a friend (he replaced all the componentry), and so I inherited his Marin, which was a really good fit for me, and it has a carbon fibre rear triangle, with wishbone seatstays, which my old bike didn’t have. Jony got my Kona Lisa, although a little on the big side, it worked pretty well for him.



I saw lots of familiar faces, other than the people I mentioned previously I saw Courtney Grenfell, Zoe Anderson, James Truebridge, the whole Johnson family and lots of others. There was a great turnout of track juniors, most of whom I can’t name but recognise. It was a great race and was heaps of fun.

Cheers to the organizers and volunteers Garth Gregory, Clive Bennett, Kah Chan, Alan Rice, Grant Perry, and all the other people helping out. Special thanks to the guys in the Bike Barn workshop for working so hard to get the Barnes family bikes re-assembled with the right bits for us all to race today - a couple of them even came in on their day off to make sure I could race on a well set-up bike!

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Thanks to the Doctor!

I just wanted to post a special "Thank You" here to Peter Page of Doctor Bike in Christchurch (http://www.doctorbike.co.nz). I've passed my road bike down to little brother Jony, and I've got a new bike, but the handlebars were far too wide, so I needed a new set of handlebars urgently. The great team at Bike Barn are re-equipping the bike but they didn't have any bars narrow enough for me. Doctor Bike had a perfect set on TradeMe, and Peter Page bent over backwards to make sure the bars came up to Wellington in time to upgrade the bike before the PNP Criterium Club Champs on Saturday 21 November. THANKS DOC!!

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A Relaxing Weekend (Yeah right)

After a full on exam week of 7 two hour exams, all my school friends were planning to have nice relaxing-do-nothing weekends. Not me.

On Saturday morning I was up at seven, and then it was off into town to do the women’s road ride from OnYerBike in Vivian St. We started to go around the bays but when we reached Oriental Bay a woman called Ellie and I decided we wanted to go a bit faster, so we split off from the rest of the group. We talked as we rode and she said that she was a triathlete, and was going to do the first Scorching Bay triathlon on the 15th so good luck to her. We continued around the bays and decided to go up Awa Road, to get in a bit of a hill in. So we went over it to the bottom of the other side and back, twice, and then continued on our ride. Eventually we headed up Aro Street and then she turned off to Kelburn while I carried on to Karori.



I got home and showered, had lunch and then it was about time to go out again, as I was marshalling for the Wild Wellington relay. During the three hours I spent at the Alexandra Road saddle I became quite amused. Upon orders from Davo Aldred, I had made a ‘Go Bushlove!’ sign, and so every time a Bushlove guy was due to come past, Marco would be waiting. He would then sprint up the hill alongside then waving the sign madly in their face and screaming to go faster, then spanking them with it as they departed down the hill. Lynskey turned up and debated with Marco whether gears or no gears are better. Then he told me I should be getting onto a single speed. A little while later Tiger went past in a fairy skirt and so Marco and Lynskey departed to wait for him at the bottom of the short climb. Soon enough, I heard them coming, screaming and cheering and spanking and waving the sign madly, they were quite a sight, with fairy skirt and all. My three hours went by quickly, but I got to see Jackson and Rose Green (famous for riding a tandem around the B course at the Belmont round of the PFC-PNP MTB series) as they went past in pirate costumes, hats, swords, the lot. Actually some costumes of note were: the guys in Speedos and swim rings; the floral people who had flowers all over them and their bikes; the chef; the lady bugs and Tiger’s fairy skirt (it matched the pink on the Bushlove shirt very nicely). Check out the photos at http://www.bushloveracing.com/2009/11/wild-wellington-09-12hr-relay-lolfest.html and http://www.onlinefotos.com/site/images.asp?Studio=100000148&Gallery=100003161.

After I arrived home again I had to hurriedly wolf down my dinner before rushing to the neighbour’s house to babysit their seven year old son. I didn’t get home till about eleven thirty, when I fell into bed and started to snore immediately.



Sunday was another early morning, and a cold one too. I clambered out of bed at 7:30 and by 8:50 I was at Karori West Normal School waiting for the PFC-PNP MTB Round 5 pre-ride to start. We were riding lots of the Makara Park tracks backwards and so earlier in the week Dad had put up lots of warning signs. Despite this we saw lots of surprised riders going the “right” way, who had obviously not read the signs. Lazy Fern was really nice to ride up and I was trying to remember when the last time I rode down Koru was. The ride went pretty smoothly – right at the end there was a minor collision on Koru with a non-sign reader but no damage to bikes or riders. By the time we finished it had become a nice day, and Jony and I now had to rush off to the Hataitai velodrome for Junior track coaching. Track was fun, as it always is and we did a variety of sprints and some activities on the grass. By four I was totally blown and in need of an early night.



Getting up the next morning was a struggle but I was pleased with what I had done in the weekend and looking forward to next weekend.

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PNP MTB Spring Series - Race 4 Belmont

After last year’s dramatic and muddy race I wasn’t too keen on going back. The week before I did the pre-ride and realised that Danzig was way better this year (huge thanks to all the guys who worked on that), and my own riding ability has improved. This was also a very important race for me, because if I lost to Caitlin Pilcher then she would win the series.

Race day turned out to be beautiful and sunny, we couldn’t have asked for better. Danzig was pretty greasy, and both my wheels ended up covered in slippery clay, which made getting over all the roots difficult. I got up there ahead of Caitlin but only just. We were riding together for most of the steep grassy climbs (man that was a killer!), but somewhere after where A, B, and C split from D (the Waitangirua Ridge), she left me for dead.








The rest of the race was hard but enjoyable. Going down Danzig I had a number of scary moments, but luckily no crashes. I ended up four minutes behind Caitlin, so not the win I was hoping for, but still a good race. I thought the route planning was brilliant and my memories of Belmont are now good ones. I’m looking forward to the last round at Makara, it should be great fun.

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Seaview Criterium - Sat 17 October 2009

The best thing about this race was that it was in the afternoon, so I still got my sleep in. During the morning it rained on and off, and we weren’t sure if we should go or not. In the end we did (obviously) due to the fact that it seemed to be clearing. We got out there and I was surprised how few people there were. Because of the small numbers, they put the A and B grades together, and the C and D together. The circuit was 700 meters long and all flat.

The first race was good to watch: most of the people I recognized but couldn’t name, however Lee Evans seemed to do pretty well, a major player in the chase group (chasing the one-man break away), I could be wrong but I think he came second. Other familiar faces were Zoe Anderson, who shone at the Wellington Secondary Schools Road Champs in September, and Luke McDermott from PNP Track Juniors. They both held their own well against the more experienced A and B grade riders.





After their 40 minutes were up we had 15 minutes to warm-up. Just before our start it began spitting, though luckily it didn’t rain more heavily than that until after we had all finished. A group of stronger riders took off from the front and ended up lapping the rest of us several times, but I still felt I did well. I worked together with some different people over the duration of the race, eventually either getting dropped or dropping them. One of the people I rode with was Ari Evans (Lee’s younger brother) who I know from track cycling: he did pretty well for only his second road race.







It was difficult to tell when to stop, but when I saw that everyone else had and the organizers were starting to pack up I did another lap and stopped, so I think I did a bit extra. I averaged 31.5km/h (that’s quite good for me) so I felt pretty good, and it had been a good workout and a small, but fun event. Many thanks to the main organizers Steve Chapman and Chris Newman.

This was my first serious outing on the road bike since Alex and Owen from Bike Barn helped me do a major re-setup: thanks, guys, your help with that definitely improved the bike's handling compared to the Secondary School Champs.

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PNP MTB Spring Series: Round 3 - Mt Vic

After each winning one and coming second in one Caitlin Pilcher and I were even on points. After being in bed sick for a week I only had one week to get back up to speed. I went to the pre-ride and was surprised to see that about sixty people had turned up, compared to the usual pre-ride groups of about 20max. Obviously everyone was scared that they would get lost in the wild maze of tracks that run willy-nilly all over Mt Vic. The ride went quite well the course seemed much easier than last year (that’s a good thing by the way). I turbo trained on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and then I took Marti (my sister) out on Thursday. On Friday, despite the wind, hail, and mud Jony (my brother) and I set out and went along that Skyline Track and then did sprints up Varleys (aaaah!).



Race day came and the sun shone. We arrived and registered, got our gear sorted and all the other pre-race stuff. The start horn sounded and we were off, the tiny gate out of the velodrome was hectic and the trails were all slushy with mud. On my first lap I had a few crashes, because my wheels just slid over everything. When I got to the big dipper I charged and got to the top, only to slide all the way back down again! I completed my first lap and started my second lap. After much sliding, slipping and getting muddy I made my way to the finish line. Although Caitlin and I had been riding very closely for most of the race, passing each other then getting passed, Caitlin ended up with nearly a two minute win, so well done to her. So its race on at Belmont, if she wins this one she wins the series, and I’m not going down without a fight.

Thanks to Stephen Massey of Soul Focus for some awesome photography, and also to the other (unknown) sources.

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PNP MTB Spring Series
Race 2 - Wainuiomata
Unlike the cloudy day that race one brought, this day was one of those that have no clouds whatsoever. I had done a really useful pre-ride/skills session with Peter Reynolds, and although I was a bit nervous, I wasn’t scared for my life. Once again we had an enormous grade in Under 19 Girls, three people! We need to get more young women to dare to have a go on their bikes.

The huge climb up Roller Coaster really got me puffing. When I finally reached the “top” I found that the bit I thought was downhill actually keeps going up for ages before they let you go down. Spoonhill wasn’t too bad, I managed to ride most of it and pass quite a few people. I got to the playground and clambered over the wooden stairs and rode along the road a bit to far, so focused on sprinting hard that I went a couple of hundred meters past Waiu Street, before I realised I was going the wrong way.

Jungle Scout and Gym got pretty trafficky. You could hear Ashley from a long way off, which was really good because I could figure out how far I had left to go. It was probably one of the trickiest places to marshal, with the A,B and C riders all coming at you one way and the D graders coming from the other way, but she handled it perfectly. The first time down Beeline there were too many people pushing their bikes down the drop off for me to be able to ride it, but the second time was good.
I was leading the race at the final corner, but it seems I was the only person who had difficulty finding the entrance to the school, there you go, I lost three minutes weaving around the buildings instead of taking the straight route. I only got a second place for this race, and so it’s “race on” for Mt Vic. Congratulations to Caitlin for her first win. Perhaps my navigational skills will serve me better next time, but for now all I can do is train lots.

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Wellington Regional Sec' Schools Road Champs

Wellington Regional Secondary Schools Road Cycling Champs in Upper Hutt - September 13th

This event had three elements: A 1.7km hill climb over the Wallaceville hill; an 8.5km time trial; and a criterium (15 minutes + 1 lap). I came first in U15 Girls and 2nd in U17 Girls; details to follow.

Many thanks to Gary Gibson for his coaching, and to Mr Tideswell of Marsden Collegiate School for his support - hopefully we can have a great Marsden squad here next year!

Here are some photos . . .

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PNP Spring Series 2009: Race 1 - Makara Peak

As soon as the course descriptions came out I started practicing the route. The original D course was short and simple, and there was nothing technical in it, so eventually they changed it, so we pretty much just had to do two laps. This now meant that the D course was 21km, rather than the original 15km. I worked on getting the speed up and rode the course so many times I could have ridden it with my eyes closed.

When race day turned up it was a bit overcast but it wasn’t raining - yet. Because we live so close to Karori West School we rode down there on the bikes. We registered and got our numbers, did all the last minute bike checking and warm up. I was very pleased because I wasn’t the only one in Under 19 Girls (I had done nearly all of last year’s series without any competition so this was actually quite a big thing). My strategy was to keep it nice and steady on the first lap, and then totally give it everything on the second.

By the time I had climbed up Allington Road to the start of Rimu the mass start had split up and so although Rimu wasn’t traffic free, it wasn’t too clogged up. Big Tom and Lazy Fern were sweet, and I passed a few people on Koru. Sally Alley got a bit bottle-necked, and every now and then I’d fly past a scared, puffed looking boy waiting to get passed. The rest of the ride went pretty well, I came back to the school and had my chocolate (cheers to whoever had the idea to give those out). Congratulations to Emily and Caitlin for a great race, and I hope to see you at all the other races.

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PNP Balfour Pennington Road Race Series 2009

Intro
After a long break over winter, that was made longer due to the weather and me getting sick, I was a bit out of shape. This year’s Balfour Pennington Series was really just for training. I had started riding regularly and was very pleased to find I hadn’t lost as mush fitness as I had feared. This series was very well run, organised and marshalled, and was a very fun experience.

Round One- Burnham Wharf Lyall Bay
My favourite thing about these races is that they don’t start until lunch time so we still get to sleep in. I was in the limit group and the people at the front were setting a very fast pace, I soon got dropped and was on my own until I caught up with another dropped rider. As we neared the turn-around we could see the remains of limit as they went by in ones and twos, not in any kind of bunch. The other bunches passed and though I tried I couldn’t manage to stay with any of them. As I was starting to speed up and sprint for the finish line ‘Scratch’ came flying buy, broken up because they were all sprinting too. Needless to say my exceptional sprint of about 40km/h suddenly felt a little bit pathetic. Nevertheless it was an enjoyable ride and a great start to the season of racing.

Round Three- Wainui Coast Road
After missing round two, I was keen to race. I had some knowledge of the course as I pre-rode it in training for the Wellington Secondary School Road Champs last year. This time the limit group of four worked quite well together. We dropped one rider about halfway to the turnaround, but the remaining three of us held the other groups off until we only had about 5 km left to go. We all picked up our pace and managed to merge into Break 4. However the pace was picked up dramatically when Break 3 caught up and we all (the limit riders) got dropped. I managed to get to the finish before any of my fellow limit riders and got a personal best average speed of 31km/h.

Round Four- Mirimar Loop + Mount Crawford
After some encouragement from Steve Chapman, I decided to move up to Break 4 in this race. This was a big mistake as not only was the pace quite fast but there were hills in the course. I kept up on all the little streets around Mirimar but then Awa Street was under us and it was too much for me and I got spat out the back. There was a strong wind going around the coast and I was by myself. By the time I had clawed my way back up Awa Street again (we had to do three laps of a 13km circuit plus a 3km hill climb at the end) I had caught up to another stray rider, who I rode with for the rest of my second lap and my third. As we approached the killer climb up Mount Crawford I dropped her and progressed slowly towards the finish line at the top of the hill. Not one of my most victorious rides but it was still fun.

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NZ Secondary Schools MTB National Champs

Training
Yes, well, about that. After Karapoti I had one week off, and then I had a whole week of school camp at OPC, where we went caving, kayaking, rock climbing, tramping, mountaineering and lots of other things. The day after I got back was the Wellington Champs, which I won, despite being so out of shape. Since that weekend I have been sick, and not able to train properly, only doing shorter rides than I would normally do. So as for the training, there isn’t really much to talk about.

Events along the way
After very little riding for nearly three weeks I wasn’t exactly in perfect shape for the PNP Club Champs. The course was short, fast and hard. The great ascent up Crazy Man and Rollercoaster put me in front of the other two girls in my category. I passed a lot of young guys as well, so I could see how much I have improved since the PNP race here last September – back then I had to get off and push the bike up the steeper sections! Then followed a great ride through beautiful native bush – the team from Wainui Trail Project have done a fantastic job here. The final downhill on Spoonhill was scary and very rooty but I managed to get down without any collisions with trees or the ground to take out a comfortable 1st place in both the PNP Club Champs and the College Sport Wellington Regional Champs (U19 Girls).

The Nationals
Racing two grades above my own turned out to be quite a challenge, but although I didn’t win it, I felt I held my own in the Under 19 Girls. I could have raced in the U14 grade but I thought the courses for that grade (only 2 laps of the 3.5km Cross-country circuit and a considerably shortened hill-climb) looked a lot less challenging than what I am accustomed to in Wellington. Also, because I race U19 in Wellington against very limited competition, I wanted to know what my successes really meant at a national level.

Cross Country
The cross country consisted of one lap of the short course (3.5km) and two laps of the long course (6.5km). In the short loop we went up the big hill that was very tiring and then back down and to the start/finish line. The long course was similar, still going up the hard hill but instead of coming back down we went down the other side of the ridge, round, up and then down. By the time I finished I was shaky with fatigue and as red as a beetroot. I ended up coming 6th out of the eight girls.

Hill climb
To put it simply, we rode up the hill. But this hill was very steep and when I got to the top I was dead, like actually at the point of collapse. On the way up I did end up passing a fair few people and that felt good. Just in front of me the whole time was somebody called Hannah. I know this because around every corner there were people shouting “Go Hannah!” and they weren’t talking to me. I got to the top (with another 6th place in U19 Girls) and prepared myself for the downhill.

Downhill
With a full face helmet, elbow pads and knee pads, a very low seat and a hard tail bike, I lined up to await my doom. Much to my personal delight I managed to ride the whole thing, and I had a great time. In my time of 5 minutes 53 seconds I earned myself my third 6th place, and giving me the overall placing of (surprise, surprise!) 6th.

At The end of the season
This event was pretty much the end of the cycling season. With winter well on its way there aren’t really any more events until August when the PNP MTB Series starts. This season has been a great success as my first season of serious competition:
 I have won the PNP MTB Series,
 I have come 1st in the Wellington PNP Club Champs,
 I have won Most Improved Junior at the Wellington Velodrome,
 I have been ranked 6th best Under 19 College Girl in New Zealand, and
 I have survived the Karapoti Classic.

I never could have achieved any of this without Bike Barn Wellington, who have been a great sponsor, and continually fixed my bikes, Gary Gibson has helped me so much, and my parents who have always been there on the sidelines cheering me on, who always drive me to my events.

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My 08/09 Track Cycling Season

Track Cycling ’08-09 Season
By Hannah Barnes

Getting Started
I first started track in September 2008. Being the first time ever on a track bike I often found myself reaching for the brakes when I needed to slow down, however being a track bike, it had no brakes so I had to learn how to slow down and stop by using just my legs. On my first day after getting set up on a bike, I timidly rode around the very bottom of the velodrome, terrified to go any higher, but when Gary (the junior coach) told us to ride around on the blue line, or the stayers line (the line half way up the track) I found to my great relief that it was easier than it looked. At the end of the first day I decided I might as well do a race with some of the more
experienced riders, where I came 3rd after just losing a sprint for second place, but
still a good result for my first day.

General Training
I went to junior track sessions twice a week, on Tuesday after school for training and racing and on Sunday afternoons. During these sessions we have done various exercises on the flat grass area in the centre of the velodrome, including slow races, riding very close to someone, and wheel touching. We have also done interval training, learnt all the different types of races and the starting procedures, and of course the safety rules of riding a bike with no brakes.

At home to train for track, I do time on the turbo- trainer, 45 minutes on an easy day, 1 hour as my standard, and 1½ on a hard day. I practice spinning at a high cadence, spinning one legged, and pushing quite large gears.

Tuesday Night Racing
On Tuesday nights after junior training we have racing with all the senior riders in
Wellington, who come to compete, and some of the better juniors stay and race. The riders are put into categories, cat one, two and three (cat one being the best, I
race in cat three). One week (the 16th Dec) I actually won cat three. I came 2nd in the 500m time trial to begin with, then I surprised myself and won the elimination by a very close sprint with arch rival for the night, Rebecca, and I mean close, there was about an inch in it! I then won the keiren by yet another very close sprint. After those two gut-busting efforts, I didn’t have enough left in me to pull back the 20m to get to Rebecca in the Handicap but I still came second. In the last race of the night, a scratch race with cat one, two and three riders, (12 laps but cat three started a lap up, and cat one a lap down) I came just short of my third win by a little more than a foot, but we did pretty well not to get lapped, except by Lee Evans, who wins cat one by a long way. A pretty successful night.

Recently the numbers have boosted, practically quadrupled and multiple heats are now necessary in all categories. Though this is good in theory it does mean that there is much less actual riding and much more sitting around. However Tuesday nights have become quite a social event, with a disposable BBQ, sausages and marshmallows these nights were always full of fun and drama.

Wanganui- The Wooden Velodrome
At the end of November a small group of us went up to Wanganui for a day to ride on the wooden velodrome. It was both scary and fun. I was shocked to see how much steeper than Wellington it was, and it was much smaller, only 250m compared to Wellington’s 330m, and so the corners were much sharper, and it was harder to keep a straight line. No matter how scary it looked I was determent to conquer this wooden beast and so I rode around the very top of the banking for a full lap, and won a prize for being the first new person to do so.

Racing that evening was not very successful, but my excuse was I had been riding all day and was tired, which was true. I was dropped in the first four laps of the Keirin and in the last lap for the other races. It was still a great experience and I’m glad I went.

Laykold Cup Carnival
Laykold Cup Carnival was held on the 6th of December. It was a massive event and was blessed with the best possible weather conditions, hot, dry, and very sunny. Being the only under 15 girl I was racing against the two under 15 boys, who were both in year 10. Unfortunately I did not win any of these races. The day was not without its drama, halfway through there was a massive crash, only two came out hurt but one broke his collarbone. Since then they have been putting a heavy emphasis on track safety, no surprises there. It was a great learning experience watching the elite race in the main event, the race for the Laykold Cup. It was great to see all the different tactics used, and what does and doesn’t work. It was a great day and I think everyone there got a little (or in some cases a lot) sunburnt, but it was still
great fun.

The Summer Stunner
The Summer Stunner was set on a beautiful summer’s day, well a beautiful Wellington
summers day. With a bit of overcast and a taste of the wind that Wellington is so famous for, this tournament was fun and successful.

All Said and Done
I have broken all the records for all individual time trial events in my category, making me one of only four people (and the only girl) in the club to own all the records for their age group. Although I am currently the only under 15 girl, this is still a big achievement, as there were records set by people in previous years that I have broken. And talking of breaking things, I have also broken the record for the most spokes broken in one go, and I just break spokes all the time. The good side to this was that I could always get them fixed at Bike Barn, and they are always so helpful and get it fixed in time for my next training.

At the end of the season I have managed to not only get all the records but have constantly been improving them. I have also won the Most Improved Juniors trophy, a great honour. Gary Gibson has told me that if I were to focus on track alone that I could be a medal contender at the Nationals next season. I have yet to decide if I should do track only next season, or continue with mountain biking. As a first season
I have had a great season, achieved lots and have had a great time.

With My Deepest Thanks
Gary Gibson has been an amazing coach. He has put in so much time, patience and effort into training us all, and I know that it can be very stressful at times. A huge “Thank you” to Gary. I also need to thank Hamish Norton for his intensive week of training earlier this year, and Rachel for organizing all the racing. Bike Barn
has been very helpful, particularly when it comes to broken spokes. There are some great guys in that shop.

PNP Junior Track - Fastest Times for 2008-09 Season
 Times recorded at the Wellington Velodrome only
 Ages specified as per Bike NZ age-groups
 As at 9 April 2009
JU15 Girls PNP record Date Name
200m Sprint 16.02 Mar-09 Hannah Barnes
500m Ind TT 48.23 Mar-09 Hannah Barnes
1 Kilo TT 1.41.44 Dec-08 Hannah Barnes
2000m Ind Pursuit 3.25.36 Jan-09 Hannah Barnes

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My 2009 Karapoti Classic

The Karapoti Classic

In the Beginning…
When first confronted with the prospect of doing the Karapoti Classic, the immediate reaction was ‘Hello isn’t that the 50km one that is REALLY hard?’ But after a little thought I figured that I am a sponsored rider now so I had to do something big, plus it was ages away, I had yonks to train. But the 3 months we had from Christmas to DDay (the D standing for Karapoti, Doom, Do or Die, and other daunting things like that) seemed to pass with amazing speed. One moment it was still two months away, the next it was only a week away. I started my training, by going on a 20km circuit every other day, but then not far into January we went into Karapoti and did a pre-ride of the Deadwood climb. It was then that I realised just how much more training and effort I needed to put in.

General Training
After our trip to Deadwood and back, Dad and I made ourselves a rule that all training rides from then on had to be a minimum of 25km, to build up endurance. We also went out seeking the steepest 4WD in Makara that could be incorporated into the ride. I ended up riding up places I barely knew existed, all those commonly used 4WD that you only ride bits of, to get from one single track to another, suddenly turned out to have scarily steep ends. I got into the routine of going for a hard ride every 2nd day and taking Martine and Jonathan (my younger brother and sister) for a simple ride every other day. I would go like this for about a week until I would have a well earned rest day, before getting stuck into another week of hard training. For some of the hard days I did a couple of 70km road rides with Dad, over Haywards and back, and we also rode over the Akatarawa Road, to build up that essential stamina and endurance. We also went into Karapoti again, this time from Maungakatukutuku Valley, and rode up a 4WD, then down Big Ring and through Dopers Creek and then up the Pram track and came out at Karapoti Gorge. We did this ride with Bernie and Eden Cruise; Eden has become famous as the 9-year old boy who did the
Karapoti Classic in 3:35 (also on a bike from Bike Barn!). I was still going to track twice a week on Sundays for junior training and Tuesdays for junior training and senior racing.

Events along the way
North Island Cross Country Champs: The weather was in a bad mood on Sunday 18th January, and riding around Mt Vic was an absolute mud slide, particularly as much of the race was on the newly built downhill tracks. I came away from this event with a first place, a few more bruises and a very, very muddy bike! The Akatarawa Attack: This was one of the main training events for Karapoti. Dad and I made up a team in the open mixed, just for the four hour option. We hadn’t done any riding in the area before the event, so we set ourselves a guideline that we would go out for two hours collecting controls, and then we would turn back. However we hugely over-estimated how long it would take to get back and so we got home with just under 40 minutes to spare. We still managed to win our category and have a great day.

D-Day- The Karapoti Classic Itself
Looking out the window the day before the big race I was slightly horrified to find that the rain was pelting down in bucket loads. The next morning it wasn’t much better, and so after a restless night of tossing and turning, we made our way to Karapoti. Much to my delight the rain eased off slightly during the long drive there. During this drive I had one of the most terrifying moments of my life, I thought I had left the plastic bag with all my food in it sitting on my desk at home. To my great relief I did find the bag sitting in the car with all my other stuff. By the time we finally arrived the rain had eased almost completely and was just spitting lightly, but the damage to the tracks had already been done, and the 2009 Karapoti Classic was an epic one.

Lining up at the banks of the river, waiting for the start hooter was one of the most nerve wracking moments of my life. Is it just me, or do they actually wait for a whole hour between each supposed “second” on the count down? Personally, I think it slightly cruel of the organizers to make us go through the icy cold river crossing at the very beginning of the race, ensuring that there is no possible escape from being cold and wet from the very beginning, but then again you have to either have a screw loose in your head, or be into self harm to actually do Karapoti in the first place, so I guess it makes sense.

The first part of the race, the bit where you go along the road was probably the only part where I was not getting steadily covered in mud. The Deadwood climb was unrideable in most places, and by the time I finally got to the top to have my banana I stuck my hand in my pocket and found lots of yellow mush and about a quarter of the banana left in the skin. After slurping this down I continued down the Rock Garden, which wasn’t as bad as I had imagined. The first part was unridable but not very far into it a narrow, but very rideable track appeared, that wove its way around most of the rocks. The next part was the huge ascent up Devils Staircase. What can be said about Devils Staircase? I guess the name suits it quite well. Though it was nothing like I had imagined it was still very energy draining. The huge mounds of clay cliff that we had to climb over were very slippery because of the
recent rain, and I managed to slip and fall over at least half a dozen times. It was I great relief getting to the top of Titi. I knew I had done the hardest part of the ride.

Going down the hill was really nice and enjoyable, though I think that it was were lots of people had their big crashes. Going up Pram Track was agonisingly slow and painful. By this point I was feeling the effect of the 35km I had just done. The number of false summits is enormous, and there are no words to express the massive relief that I felt when I finally reached the top. At that point I knew I had almost
completed the Karapoti Classic. It was all downhill from there, all the hard bits were done. I thought. The hardest bit of the whole race was probably the river crossing at the end. I was shaky with fatigue and was at that point where all I wanted to do was collapse. The fast flowing river was much deeper than it appeared
and even though I went through one of the shallower bits I still got up past my waist in the icy cold rapids. Just staying upright was a mission and I was one of a
limited number who didn’t fall over and get completely dunked. As I ran out of the water and rode the last 10 meters of the race I knew I had achieved something
big. As I stumbled back to the car on shaky legs I knew that I had set out to do something and had done it. That was when the utter fatigue and need to collapse left and that gleeful feeling of knowing you have done something that will raise eyebrows settled in. I had survived the Karapoti Classic, and this had been the worst but at the same time the very best day of my life.

I Couldn’t Have Done it Without you
I would firstly like to say a huge thank you to my sponsor, Bike Barn Wellington, for always fixing my bike quickly and for providing me with the gear I need to be competitive. Everyone in there is always really friendly and helpful. It also just feels really cool to say I’m a sponsored rider.
To Gary Gibson, the PNP juniors track coach, you are one of the most hard working and devoted people I have ever had the pleasure to meet. Without all your
encouraging support I wouldn’t be where I am today.
Peter Reynolds, thank you for your patience during the skills courses, you have taught me some essential skills that I wouldn’t otherwise had the chance to learn.
To all the people out there who said “Hi” to me, it’s almost scary how many people know my name whom I barely know. It is always nice to feel people know who you are.
Finally to my parents, Peter and Pauline Barnes, who never gave up on me, even when I gave up on myself. They are always there to discuss new training routes and take my bike into the bike shop. They also give me some serious help in the financial side
of things.

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The 2008 PNP Mountain Bike Series

PNP Mountain Bike Series ‘08
By Hannah Barnes
This year’s PNP series was a great experience. I decided to do the series because I did not have much on, and I had recently rediscovered my passion for mountain biking. It was a bit of a shock doing so much more mountain biking than usual and sure enough, it wasn’t long before the bruises started popping up on my legs again. In my training I was doing five or six rides a week, including mountain biking, road riding, turbo-training and track. After missing the first round I got stuck in on Round Two.

Round 2: Wainuiomata
After being slightly daunted by some of the track names (Roller Coaster and Crazy man in particular) I started my training, going riding after school most days. I didn’t have a set program of what training I would do because the weather didn’t always want the same as me, so on rainy days I would go for a 1 hour turbo train, and go for road rides and mountain bike rides on nice days, save Tuesday evenings and Sunday afternoons, when I had track, at the Wellington Velodrome. It was a big help going to Bike Barn every time I had something wrong with one of my bikes, because they were always so friendly and helpful.

When it got to the day I had a greatish start, after beating all the boys along the road, as soon as I turned to go into the bush, my chain came off, putting me at the back end of the bunch. It was a tricky ride and Roller Coaster was well named, taking us up and down in a dramatic and dizzying fashion. Going down the hill at the end was barely rideable, as it was very steep and muddy in some places and there were people from the higher grades constantly trying to get past. Overall it was a short but tough race, and gave me my first unexpected win, making me keen and excited about Round Three.

Round 3: Mt Vic
Now that I had won one medal I was determined to get another, and was inspired to try harder in my training, which was pretty much the same as it had been for the previous race. The day before the event I took part in a mountain bike skills training course, where I learned lots of useful skills such as balancing in one place, going around in tight circles and I learnt how to jump. We also did part of the Wild Wellington course that uses lots of the same tracks as the race.

The race was a fast two laps of a circuit that had lots of short but steep climbs that left you breathless, and then back to the velodrome to start your next lap. The race went pretty well for me but at the very end my chain got stuck between my chainrings and so I had to run the rest of the way home to pick up my second gold, and this time it was a full podium, so that made it feel like more of an achievement, plus I beat my brother which was something I had failed to do last time. It was after this event that Bike Barn offered to sponsor me.

Round 4: Belmont
The pre-ride two weeks before the race made me realise that this was going to be one tough ride. It seemed impossibly uphill, despite the fact that it started and finished in the same place. At the start of the ride was a tricky track that wound its way steeply up through the pine forest. As it was so damp and muddy all the roots
were exposed and in one place I fell and hurt my arm and it was aching for a week after, but you don’t need your arms for biking much so I was able to continue with my
training, particularly inspired to try my hardest to get a good result and thank my new sponsor, Bike Barn at the end, which I did.

After having rained all night the tracks were a bog, I think that for this race a wheelbarrow would have been more appropriate than a bike. My new helmet was
so much better than my old one that a few times I had to put my hand to my head to check I was wearing it, it was so light! Every now and then I had to stop and clear the mud off my back wheel because it was so clogged up with mud that it wouldn’t move. The rest of the ride wasn’t much better, and 90% of it was walking, and I came in after a long hard ride (or walk) in two and a half hours.

Round 5: Makara
It was good to be back on home territory and it meant that I could practice the exact course multiple times. And I did just that. After riding the course about four times in one week I probably could have done it with my eyes closed. I was working on my speed and on one day I beat the previous day’s time by fifteen minutes, and I
was feeling pretty confident and ready for the race, especially with my snazzy new Kona Lisa from Bike Barn.

The wind was blowing hard on the day and I got off to a good start. It was quite scary at the top because the wind was almost blowing us off the cliff, and so I had to jump off and run about 50 metres to avoid a date with the cliff face. At the end I put on a good sprint to finish the series in style, and beat my personal best
by three minutes, a satisfactory result.

Overall the series was full of some great rides and lots of fun. I am now commonly referred to by other cyclists as “one of the Barnes sisters” after Marty joined the
competition at Mt Vic. The new bike was probably what helped me do so well at Makara and by the end of the series I had improved not only in my cycling but also in my speech making skills, though I guess after my first grand speech of a embarrassed “Thanks?” this area wasn’t the hardest to improve. It was a great series, and I’m looking forward to next year’s events. For now I’ve still got road and track to concentrate on, and I hope there will soon be some great results for those as well.

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PNP MTB Series photos:

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