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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