BMX Update November 18, 2009
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I’ve got the BMX racing bug.
It’s fun. It’s fast (well, sometimes). It’s competitive. It’s great for skill transference to the MTB. And BMX racing is strangely addictive.
With all that in mind, I decided to look into getting a race BMX. Now, my Giant BMX was a great bike, bought to see if I would actually enjoy BMXing (with the added bonus that it was pink), but it’s really designed for street/park/jump-style riding – and being made of chromoly steel, it was insanely heavy.
Armed with money from the sale of my Giant BMX and my Santa Cruz Chameleon frame (I had given up my dreams of singlespeeding some months ago after all the trouble it’s caused with my knee), the search for a race BMX began. Race BMXs tend to be lighter (alloy frames.. and that’s about as far as my research into them went). However, they are kind of hard to come by in Dunedin. In fact, as it turns out, not many of the major bike companies bring race BMXs into the country, or even make them.
Thanks to the crew at Bike Otago, however, I managed to get my hands on a 2010 Haro Pro race BMX.
And of course, with a new BMX, I just had to get some new BMX racing kit. So an order was placed with Sports Pro for a Fox MX top..
and matching MX pants..
Armed with a new bike and new riding kit, I headed to my fourth BMX club race last Thursday. I was feeling slightly self-conscious with all my new kit, but I needn’t have worried. The first thing one of the kids said to me was “oh! you finally got your own kit!”. Huh. Guess I was more conspicuous when I didn’t have the “right kit” on!
The new bike behaved well, and accelerated a lot faster than the Giant. In the past few weeks of BMXing, I’d been moving between A, B, and C grades, with my best being a 3rd in A grade, my worst being a 4th in C grade. Last week was no different really. It was quite a good confidence-booster winning my first moto of the night though! Go the new bikey!! I can’t wait to take it out tomorrow for the next BMX club night.
So my weeks of riding are getting into a bit of a pattern: Monday night womens ride, Tuesday night MBO Club ride, Wednesday morning gym rehab session, Thursday night BMX, Friday morning gym rehab session, and a ride (or two) in the weekend, with another gym session on Sunday. It’s nice having a wee bit of structure to the week, but it’s also fantastic that quite a lot of the riding I do nowadays is quite social. It sure makes a change from the last couple of seasons. From the race last weekend, I realised that to get to the fitness and endurance levels that I would like to be at, I have a bit of work ahead of me. What I don’t want to lose however, is the motivation to ride. So the emphasis this summer is going to be on fun. And if I happen to get fitter, faster, and stronger while I’m out there doing that, then that’s just a bonus.
Kaitangata Black Gold Trail 2009 November 15, 2009
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Last weekend, my weekly womens MTBing group headed out to Kaitangata. Where is Kaitangata you say? Well, it’s a small town in South Otago about an hour from Dunedin, and is where my lovely husband is from (and is happy to admit!). But my family connection wasn’t why we were out there; we were actually checking out the trails that were being used for the following weekend’s Black Gold Trail MTB race.
Despite the clash with another MTB event (the Coastal Classic), we still had a dozen or so women show up for last Sunday’s “pre-ride”. And after a couple of hours of riding around the tracks, which consisted of a mixture of gravel roads, 4wd forestry roads, and singletrack, I had decided I was going to enter the MTB race this weekend.
A few of the women out on the ride..
Extreme self-portrait taken while riding along a gravel road.
With that decision made, we thought we’d make a weekend of it since Scotty’s parents own a crib (bach/beach-house – whatever you want to call it!) at Measly Beach, around 10-15 minutes from Kaitangata. A couple of friends also wanted to do the race, so we all headed over to the crib on Friday night, had a late tea, and “prepared” for the big race (i.e., drank cider and watched TV till late).
We arrived in Kaitangata on Saturday morning, picked up our registration packs, and sifted around until the start of the race. I headed out for a warm-up ride (which, as it turns out, wasn’t particularly effective), and pondered how I would go in my first MTB race of the season. Would my knee handle being pushed at “race pace”? How would I feel on the uphills with a winter of not much riding? Could I possibly beat X, Y, and Z? I was fairly happy with my decision to ride the shorter 21.5km course instead of the 45km course, where I foreseed a great amount of suffering to be had.
At 9:30, it was time for the race to start. The first section was around a km or so on a sealed road and I thought I had quite a good position towards the back of the bunch that had formed at the front. We were flying down that road at a great speed of knots until we had to make a right-hand corner onto a gravel road. Being at the back, by the time I turned the corner, the bunch had already surged off, my quads solidified into blocks of [insert something solid and blocky here], and I felt like I was moving backwards on the gravel road as people behind me began to pass. Yup, I guess I’d blown the start by going a bit too hard off the line!
The course climbed up a gravel road for a while until it turned to a 4wd forestry road. I was passed by three junior riders who often come along on the Monday night womens rides. It seemed that they were casually (but speedily) pedalling up with no effort required. Meanwhile, I was suffering on the uphills with no speed/intensity/hillclimbing training under my belt, until we hit the singletrack. Here, I joined a convoy of riders going through the track at a comfortable slightly-faster-than-walking pace and I got a chance to catch my breath while simultaneously riding carefully around people who got off/fell off in front of me.
After exiting the singletrack at around the 5km mark, the next 10km or so was all on gravel roads. I decided that instead of my usual approach of pushing a bigger gear up the hills, I would try spinning – it turns out that it was easier on the knee and I was actually travelling faster up the hills! Ahead, I could see the three juniors riding together and I pretty much stayed in that position for the rest of the race – I wasn’t gaining on them, but I wasn’t losing too much ground either.
Trying to not look completely knackered on the uphill.
Photo: Richard Schofield Photography
Somewhere between the 15-20km mark (I’m not sure exactly because my speedo stopped working at the 8km mark and I pulled the display off my bike in frustration because a reading of 0 km/h on the uphills wasn’t particularly motivating), the gravel turned to 4wd road again, and we crossed a tarseal road to head over to the tracks on the other side. Here, it was an undulating climb to the final pieces of singletrack. I had ridden the singletrack twice the previous weekend so was looking forward to its fast flowiness (and the fact that the end of the singletrack signalled almost the end of the race!). I suddenly found my legs again and the rest of the course was a fast, fun ride swooping through a 1.5km flattish piece of singletrack, then a fun descent towards the road. Onto the road and into the biggest gear possible for a hard and fast pedal to the finish in 1 hour 28 minutes.
What I find most impressive about small-town events is the effort that the community goes to to make the event run smoothly. The start/finish line was at the local rugby clubrooms. Included in our entry fee was a free lunch (sandwich, piece of fruit, and a slice of cake) which you could see the people in the kitchen working away making as the race went on. The bar in the clubrooms was also open (with $7 jugs – and yes, I did have a couple of beers while waiting around for prizegiving). There was both a coffee cart and an ice-cream truck (with the cutest chocolate cats!), a raffle to win a bike or dinner for two at the local pub, and a muffin-baking competition! Not to mention all the people who marshalled, timed, and built the tracks. What a great community effort!
There was a wee bit of a wait for prize-giving because in addition to the 21.5km MTB race, there was a 45km MTB race, a half-marathon, and a duathlon (21.5km run + 45km MTB!) on at the same time. Kudos to those who did the longer-course options! At prizegiving, I was very surprised to learn that I won the Open Women category, and was only a minute or two behind the juniors I was chasing – sweet! Massive congrats to Anja who won the 45km MTB race on a cyclocross bike!
Between the end of the race and prize-giving, I had a bit of time for reflection. In hindsight, it was probably unrealistic of me to think that I could ride at the speed and intensity as I was last season. I was really struggling to breathe on the uphills but the next race I’m planning on doing isn’t until January so I’ve got a couple of months to try and get some fitness back. On the upside, my knee didn’t give me any trouble during the race, so the gym rehab stuff must be working – yay!
All in all, it was a pretty fun weekend. After the race, we headed back to the crib, cooked up a BBQ for an early tea, and went for a wander down the beach. Today, we headed back to Kai and rode the last few pieces of singletrack again then headed back home. It was good to head away from Dunedin for a weekend but it’s also nice being home. It’s not too long until our next trip however – we’re off to the 10th anniversary Vorb Queen Charlotte Walkway MTBing trip in a fortnight. It will be our first time on the QCW and I’m really looking forward to our road-trip north to such a beautiful part of the country.
BMX Racing Begins! October 22, 2009
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Tonight was the first proper night of BMX racing at the Dunedin BMX club, and I have to say I’m beginning to quite enjoy this 20″ high-intensity sprinty madness!
I’ll admit I spent some time in front of our brick wall at home during the week practising clipping in and standing up with the front wheel perpindicular to and against the wall – I must’ve looked a bit strange to the neighbours who could look over the fence! After a wee bit of practise however, I was feeling more confident that I could clip both feet in at the start gate and not fall over sideways.
The weather wasn’t as nice today with patches of rain and sun, along with a chilly breeze, but there was still quite a good turnout at the BMX track come 6pm. I went and enquired about signing up and was pleasantly surprised that I get to try the first three club nights for free! Woohoo!
After a few practises at the gate (success! I think I’ve almost mastered it!) and a few times around the track, it was time for the racing to begin. There were five motos (apparently that’s the right word!) tonight, with 8 people called up for each grade. With each moto, the top two moved up to a higher grade and the bottom two moved down to a lower grade (at least, that’s what I think was going on! – there’s a lot to learn eh).
As a newbie, I started off in the lowest grade (D I think) for the first moto and came third (not surprisingly, Justin Leov kicked my arse..). The next two were more successful, with a first in the second one (and got moved up to C grade), and first in the third one also (and got moved up to B). I stayed in B grade for the final two, where I came 6th (I think) both times.
Leading D grade in the second moto
Woohoo! In first place! (yes, really I was. Although with no-one else in the photo, it’s hard to tell..)
So all in all, it was a pretty good night! I really enjoyed myself and it’s looking very likely that I’ll keep this up for the season. My weeks are looking busy now with the weekly womens ride on Monday nights, Mountainbiking Otago club nights on Tuesday nights, and BMX club nights on Thursday nights. Add in two gym sessions (knee rehab stuff) and my spare time during the weekdays are pretty limited. Thank goodness things are a bit quieter at work now so I have more time to spend out on the bikes! 
celia rides mini bikes (dot com) October 15, 2009
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Mini bikes – it seems to be a theme from the last week or so!
Last Saturday, I hung out at the Womens Lifestyle Expo promoting Mountainbiking Otago and the weekly womens rides to women – every now and again, I headed out on a lap on a kids bike, much to the amusement of the kids and their slightly confused looking mothers..
(this bike was surprisingly easy to bunnyhop!)
This evening, I headed out to the Dunedin BMX Club’s first club night of the season. The track has been redone for the 2010 South Island BMX Champs early next year, and quite a large turnout came along to ride and race on the new track. Yesterday evening, I rode around the track a few times to get a feel for it (for reasons both in and out of my control, the BMX hadn’t actually been on the BMX track before yesterday..). After yesterday’s “pre-ride” I decided to swap the baggy jeans (which got caught on the cranks) for shorts + knee/shin guards, and the flat pedals (which my feet kept flying off) for my trusty Mallets. Add my fullface helmet, my $5 Rockstar Racing top I got from R&R Sport during their fire sale.. and I was all ready for some vrrrm vrrrrm BMX action this evening!
Wind the clock back 6 years or so, and I was sitting on the sidelines at club nights watching Scotty race BMX. I hadn’t really started riding (in any form) then, and it was quite inspiring watching everyone, both young and old, parents and kids alike, make their way around the course.
Fast forward to today and the tables were turned. Scotty was hanging out on the sidelines catching up with lots of people he knew, and I was out there riding. It’s quite interesting how things have changed over the years.
About racing itself, there are a number of things I need to learn – the key one being how to clip in and wait at the gates. Of the dozen or so laps (what is the right word in BMX terms?) I did, about 10 of them started with my left foot unclipped for the first few metres as I tried to clip before the first jump. Hmmmm. For the other two laps, I was kindly “assisted” at the gate by one of the organisers who held my back wheel for me – cheers dude! There was such a friendly vibe at the club night, I’m looking forward to getting some more BMX riding in this season.
In other bike/riding-related news, my knee cap is tracking slightly better and I’ve moved onto a new knee rehab exercise programme. I’m also allowed to go on slightly longer rides as long as I take it easy on the hills – wicked! I also took the Nomad out for a short ride on Tuesday night and managed to fall off a see-saw onto my left shoulder (yes, I’m an unco muppet) but that hasn’t put me off my Nomad! It’s such a different feeling riding a bike that’s got lots of squish front and rear. I can’t wait for Scotty to get his DH bike back in one piece (he’s getting his frame powdercoated too) so we can go shuttling together.
So all in all, things are looking pretty good
Who’s that hiding? In the treetops? October 3, 2009
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It’s that rascal,
The Jitterbug!
Should you catch him..
Buzzing round you..
Keep away from..
The Jitterbug!
Yes, an obscure Wizard of Oz reference, to a deleted musical number from the movie. (For those who don’t know, I have a soft spot for musicals!).
So it wasn’t quite as magical is clicking my heels together three times and making a wish, but thanks to a wonderful husband of mine, my wish of giving the Nomad a make-over has been fullfilled!
Gone is the “black chrome” paint job (a strange chameleon-like colour that looked black, green, or purple, depending on what direction the light was coming from), and say hello to Cola Red! (perhaps it should’ve been called Ruby Red to go with the Wizard of Oz theme here?..) – Cheers Procote Industries! Complete with a Nomad 2 sticker kit, and a “custom” CELIA sticker, made from a DAKINE sticker we had lying around. And to complete the red theme, we’ve even got some Santa Cruz Peaty lock-ons!
Component-wise, it’s running pretty much the same main parts as before, but has now been made more “downhilly”, with new tyres, a bashguard instead of my big chainring, and 8″ rotors for exxxtreme stopping power.
Those who are observant might notice that it’s missing a front derailleur cable (which is coming), but for the most part, the bike is now complete!
(For those that like before and after photos, click here for the before photos.)
So.. less sitting around blogging about bikes, and more riding I say! I’m off for a ride! Vrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrm!
Birthday weekend antics September 21, 2009
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Last Saturday was my birthday (and International Talk Like a Pirate Day!), and also the date of the Mountainbiking Otago Haggis Hunter 6 hour race. I was originally going to call this post “it’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to”, because, to be honest, I wasn’t looking forward to spending a large chunk of my birthday watching an event I couldn’t race. However, the day turned out to be a lot more enjoyable that I thought.
The race was from 4pm-10pm, and I kindly offered to be the tail-end charlie for the first lap so at least I got some riding in without the pressure of “racing”..
After heading out for my “sifty” tail-end charlie lap, I then helped out a bit with the timing, and hung around and supported Scotty who was tackling the 6 hour solo. He made it to the 4 hour mark before his lower back was hurting too much (a combination of running a hardtail frame a bit too small for long-distance XC riding, and his limited gearing..). I managed to also catch up with quite a few people who I hadn’t seen in a while, and enjoyed a couple of BBQs that were going – gotta love the social aspects of 6/12/24 hour MTB events. A bit later in the evening, I took someone else’s bike out (just for a change!), accompanying a friend on her night lap. It was quite interesting riding another bike, especially when the setup, geometry, and suspension system were sufficiently different from mine to take notice.
So all in all, it ended up being quite a good birthday. I managed to get a couple of laps in, and got to hang out with like-minded people who enjoy riding bikes as much as I do.
And if that wasn’t enough, I made an impulse purchase yesterday and bought a new laptop as a late birthday present to myself
Yarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!! ( I never spoke like a pirate on my birthday, so that’ll make up for it!).
Progress Report 1 September 11, 2009
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For those who are interested, I’m 2 and a half weeks into my gym rehab and things are feeling a bit better. For the first couple of gym sessions, I was pretty unbalanced while trying to do the various exercises, and my knees kept trying to go in the wrong direction (inwards instead of in line with the ball of my foot). Not surprising since that’s my dominant pedalling style – knees and heels in. Combined with my preference for seated climbing (even on the singlespeed up steep pinches), it’s no surprise that 9 hours of singlespeeding in April pretty much killed my knee..
I’m feeling more stable when doing the exercises now, and my knee/leg seems to be tracking in the right direction. The movements seem to be more natural, and I’m trying to transfer them over onto the bike, although pedalling with my knees straight still feels kind of gammy. The knee still aches a wee bit, but I don’t want to push it for longer/harder rides to see if it aches under those sorts of pressures.
I’ve been out for a couple of rides, but nothing too long or strenuous (which Ash will be happy to hear). Last weekend’s ride up Bethunes Gully was great – I feel that my technical skills have improved since I got the BMX, and I’ve finally learnt the “push the bike out in front of you while throwing your weight back” thing when going off little drops! Yes, it’s only taken me 5 years or so. All this time, I’d been trying to time the “push down on suspension while trying to pop off the edge” thing, which, to be honest, never really worked for me.
So, I guess I’ll just keep on trucking with these rehab exercises. Surely, things can only get better from here
They Tried to Make Me Go to Rehab… August 24, 2009
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I said no.. no.. no.
OK. Enough Amy Winehouse. And contrary to the song (which I don’t really like to be honest!), I am saying yes.. yes.. yes, and will be going to the gym for some intensive rehabilitation to try and sort out my knee troubles. I’m working with Ash Rohloff at Body Logic Active Rehabilitation to try and sort out my hip and muscle imbalances which are ultimately leading to my knee and lower back issues. I’m not quite sure I understand the physiology behind it, so I won’t embarrase myself by trying to explain it. I think the short story is that I’m all a bit out of whack.
So.. what does this mean? Well, in the short term, it means I’m limited to relatively short, moderate intensity rides so I don’t undo the gym rehab stuff. Unfortunately, this means that a few of the races I was planning on entering in the next few months are out the window, in particular, the 6 hour solo at the Haggis Basher in the middle of September, and 12 hour solo at the Timaru 12 hour race at the end of October. I’m pretty gutted about this and am quietly kicking myself for thinking that attempting to ride 12 hours solo on a singlespeed at the Naseby 12 hour race in April was a good idea – that was when all the trouble began (although I’m sure these imbalances have always been there – it took 9 hours of pushing a single gear around a course over and over to really highlight the problem!).
On the upside, the rehab will (hopefully!) slowly improve my imbalances and ultimately help my power output on the bike, and reduce (if not eliminate) my knee and lower back problems. It’s a matter of short-term sacrifice (no races or long rides for the next few months) for a long-term gain.
I’ll admit that this blog post is essentially acting a written reminder for me to follow Ash’s instructions to a T, and to not give up or give in to the temptation of riding at anything beyond a “moderate” intensity for the next few months. It’s going to be hard (and probably quite frustrating!), and I’m not looking forward to it, but I hope to come out better and stronger at the other end
The World’s Smallest Bunnyhop! August 23, 2009
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Heh. Hey well, we’ve all got to start somewhere! (Both wheels off the ground in picture 4..). I’m learning how to use flat pedals, instead of cheating with clipless pedals and just pulling up with my feet. It’s a steep learning curve!
Impulse Purchase August 14, 2009
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A quick trip into R&R Sport this evening to browse their winter clothing sale led to an unplanned purchase of a new bike!
Molly checks out my new toy!
It’s a 2009 Giant Method 1 in Raw/Pink. Naturally, the pink was a big selling point!
Why a BMX? Well, there’s a BMX track just down the road from our place (less than a km away I think), and I’ve sometimes thought that playing on the BMX would be good for my bike handling skills, and racing BMX would also be a great workout from a short, high-intensity, sprint perspective. When I first met Scotty (and before I got into mountainbiking) in 2002, he only had a BMX. I often borrowed it to get around town and to and from work. Unfortunately, he sold it (to buy groceries or something silly like that) and I went back to walking everywhere, until I got my first mountainbike in 2003.. and the rest, I suppose, is history.
So, I’m looking forward to heading out this weekend and getting acquainted with my new toy. The local BMX track is under reconstruction at the moment, but there are a few sections which are still rideable. I might have to pull out the knee-shin guards again though! I haven’t ridden with flat pedals in years!
Final random thing to mention before I sign off on this blog post: Apparently, there’s live shellfish in the creek at Bethunes Gully. Yup.. you heard right – cray in the creek! Guess you do learn a new thing every day!
(No cray were hurt in the making of this photo)
