Canterbury Summer Track Carnival

Late in December, Dad was stumbling around on Vorb where he came across a poster for the Canterbury Summer Track Carnival on 5-6 January. We already had plans to spend the week after that in Picton, which meant missing the PNP Screaming Hot Carnival, so it was a good chance to make up for that. A quick scan of Air New Zealand’s Grab-a-Seat page found me some cheap transport, and a phonecall to my grandparents in Christchurch found me a bed.

I went down to Christchurch not really knowing what to expect. I knew that Canterbury is one of the top centres for track cycling, and I knew that the velodrome was 400m around and that was about it. The day before the racing started, Hamish Ferguson, the coach down there kindly offered to let me do a bit of riding on the track, and to come down and help me.

The Hornby velodrome was very smooth with no bumps at all. The 400m track was so long, every lap goes on forever! I did some standing starts, some sprints, and some motor pacing behind the motorbike with Hamish. It was brilliant to be able to experience what the velodrome felt like before racing on it. I also met Syd Martin, Canterbury Track Chairman, who was there for a while. I was told a list of names to look out for, and I was getting a bit worried when every girl seemed to be a national champ for this or that, and another one is a time trail road champion. Slightly nerve-wracking . . .

The next evening we turned up for racing. I was amazed by the huge number of participants, but even more so by the spectators. Every seat in the grand stand was taken, and more people stood to watch. The whole A grade was made up of world champions and New Zealand champions. There were also some top women, a four time Olympian and a New Zealand Champion.

As much as I would have liked to sit and watch everyone else I did have to get up and ride myself, so I lined up with the other girls to race. Most of the races for us on both nights were scratch races, with one Devil Take the Hindmost, and a couple of Handicaps thrown in. The longest race was 3000m and the shortest was 800m.

Unfortunately due to my slackness I still had my Under 15 gear on, giving me a small roll-out. As of the 1st of January I am Under 17 so this was a disadvantage.

The pace was hard but I managed to keep up with the girls despite my tiny gear. I got dropped in most of the mixed boy/girl races but I only came last in one. That is a result I was relatively pleased with given that I was racing some of the top young athletes in the country. I was at the rear of the girls races but didn’t come last in any of those either.





It was a really good experience and great practice for Nationals in March. The Cantabrians were all very friendly and nice - so I have to forgive them for spelling my last name without an E. A couple of weeks later I received a very kind gift from Syd Martin and the team, a pair of bib shorts, something that my wardrobe was previously lacking. Thank you very much, they fit perfectly. Hopefully I can ride to victory in them in Invercargill!

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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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