Good News Everyone! June 20, 2010

The title said in the style of Professor Farnsworth from Futurama of course!

So, what’s the good news? Well, Scotty and I are expecting our first kid at the end of this year. December 24th to be precise (yes, we know it’s close to Christmas – don’t worry – he/she’ll be getting separate birthday and christmas pressies!). It’s the first grandkid on both sides of the family, so needless to say we’ve got some pretty happy future grandparents right now!

Those who are doing the math will figure out that I’m around 13 weeks along, or, as I like to think of it, almost a third of the way there! Hurrah! (skip to the next paragraph if you don’t want to be bored with pregnancy details). As far as first trimesters go, I’ve had it pretty cruisy – a bit more tired than usual, and queasy when I don’t get enough food in, but I haven’t had to say hello to the toilet bowl or anything like that. Have been quite hungry the past few weeks – my hunger levels are very much like when I was in my “hard” weeks of training! Baby was doing headstands (or slow motion head-spins) during last week’s ultrasound, and has a nice strong heartbeat of 150-160bpm.

Regarding the riding and racing, I’m going to take it quietly and not race while I’m pregnant. With bub’s heartbeat already being quite high when I’m resting, I’d hate to think how high he/she would get up to when my heartrate is up! Also, my competitive instinct kicks when in a race situation and I end up riding stuff that I probably shouldn’t, putting myself in riskier situations. While chances are that I won’t crash, I’m not really wanting to risk it.

But I’m definitely not giving up the riding full-stop. Granted, the BMX is now hanging up until next year, but I’m still commuting to work by bike (when the weather allows it), and heading out for cruisy MTB rides when my energy levels feel up to it. Now’s not the time to push my limits so I’m sticking to the easier trails and the nana lines around drops and stuff, but I’m happy to still be on the bike, and hope to be so for a few more months yet!

Although I’m not racing, Scotty’s still getting out and about. Yesterday, we headed down to Invercargill and Scotty did the 4 hour solo (on a singlespeed 29er)  at the Southland MTB Club’s Mad Winter Enduro. I enjoyed being on the “other side” of the race scene, supporting/feeding Scotty, and mingling with the other teams around. I was stoked that Scotty came third in his category!

Scotty at the start line ready for the Le Mans start

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank my sponsor R&R Sport for their support over the years. R&R has played a huge part in my mountainbiking history (as short as it is). My first real MTB was a 2nd hand bike bought off one of the R&R bosses, and my first ride was during an R&R winter staff do in Naseby in 2003. Joining the weekly womens rides in 2005 (led by R&R sponsored rider Sara Macdonald) was a major turning point where I developed my enthusiasm for the sport, and I’ve been riding/racing in R&R kit since my first Nationals MTB race at the beginning of 2007. Cheers R&R Sport!

So, I’m not sure how many riding updates I’ll be posting up in the next few months. If I head out for an awesome ride, I might post up a brief ride report, but no promises! I do intend to race again (sometime after bubs is born and I’ve regained some semblance of fitness), but we’ll see how things pan out.

Thanks everyone for your support and interest in celiaridesbikes.com. Happy trails!

Infrequent Blog Update #1 May 30, 2010

Well,the weather has certainly taken a turn for the worse down here in Dunedin. It’s chilly and wet, and the motivation to head out for a ride has rapidly dwindled.

A few things have got me off the couch though:

Super-D series: Scotty has been running an informal Super-D series every 2-3 weeks in the evenings. The first and second rounds were out at Bethunes Gully, using a similar course to the Masters Games DH, while the third round was at McGouns, with a time-trial around the loop there. The next round will be on Signal Hill this Friday (and looks to be an “interesting” event!). I’ve been helping with timing/sweeping so haven’t been taking the “race” aspect too seriously, although I can’t quite kick the competitive instinct when I start on the descent. Vrrrrm! For more details, check out the page on facebook.

A blurry photo of the turn-out at the first Super-D at Bethunes Gully.

The gym (pronounced the Homer Simpson way of course!): Yup. A bit boring, but when the roads, trails, (and our backyard) are flooded, then retreating to the University gym for a session on the cross-trainer/exercycle isn’t a bad option. It also brings me back to my old student days when I frequented the gym with my flatmates (10 years ago now! I feel old). Although as one of my colleagues kindly pointed out to me, I could probably still pass for a first-year student. I’m not sure how I feel about that to be honest!

BMX Prizegiving: It’s been a couple of months since the final BMX club night of the season, and today, we had the prizegiving. I was stoked to find that I was 12th on the points table, and was surprised to receive the Most Improved trophy, aswell as the Rookie of the Year trophy! Awesome!

So, that’s it from me. Tune in during the next couple of months for the (quite possibly equally as boring) infrequent blog update #2.

Stay warm everyone

Become a BMX Bandit May 1, 2010

A couple of months ago, my friend Sheryl Macleod was writing an article about BMX riding for her regular Mountainbiking column in the Femme Fitness section of NZ Multisport and Triathlete magazine. She asked me a few questions about my experiences with BMX riding and racing this season, and we headed out for a “photoshoot” (i.e., Scotty standing around with a camera as Sheryl and I rode round and round the BMX track!).

The magazine came out recently, and I was stoked to read the article and to see the pretty photos in print – a great piece of writing Sheryl! The magazine is available in supermarkets and local bookstores:

Here are also a few photos taken at the “photo-shoot” that weren’t used in article. We had heaps of fun doing this – cheers Scotty!

In Hibernation Mode April 23, 2010

Oh my poor neglected blog! I’m so sorry it’s been so long!

So what’s been going on since my last blog post? Well, not a lot really. In mid-late March, we had the Oceania MTB Champs in Dunedin, and hosted a houseful of MTBers for the week. It was great having so many people riding the local tracks and fizzing about how much they liked the tracks. I managed to get along to spectate the dual slalom, 4X, downhill race runs, and the short track XC. I also marshalled for the XC event, which was fantastic to watch and support. I really enjoyed cheering for all the NZ riders. A belated congrats to Nic Leary who took out the Womens Elite XC title in fine form. She’s off racing in Europe now – you can read about her racing on Nic and Cabin’s blog.

I had planned to race at the Naseby 12 Hour race last weekend. I was really looking forward to doing the whole “team” thing after my solo effort last year. However, my body had other plans for me, and I managed to catch a cold a few days before the event. I was intending on “hardening up” and racing, but by Friday, I was coughing and spluttering and sniffing and decided that racing and sitting around for 12 hours was probably not going to be the best for my recovery. I’m gutted I didn’t get to race (sounds like those who were there had a fantastic time!) but as people have said to me, hey, there’s always next year

So, I’m turning on “hibernation mode” for the winter. The weekly womens rides have changed to Wednesdays so it breaks up the monotony of the working week. I’ve also been getting into aerobics in the past month or so. Step and Cardio Core are my current programmes of choice. I’m incredibly uncoordinated but am really enjoying doing something different (and indoors when it’s wet and cold outside). I’m not intending on doing any races over winter, but will try to get some long rides in on the weekends, and try to maintain my base level of fitness. Keep an eye out for ride reports and general winter blogginess

More BMX Photos March 1, 2010

Some awesome photos from last weekend’s South Island BMX Titles, courtesy of Andrew MacKay at www.keaphotos.com. Heaps more on his website so check them out!

2010 South Island Titles February 28, 2010

This weekend, I entered my first major BMX event, the “Souths”. 146 riders from across the South Island (plus two from the North) all gathered at the Dunedin BMX track in Forrester Park for two days of hard and fast racing.

Photo credit: Emma Johnston

To my surprise, I had been put in the Elite Women category! This was because there weren’t enough riders to form both my age group category and the Elite Women category. Nevertheless, I was a bit nervous about being put in with the “Elite”, a level of racing which I’d never aspired to get to in cross-country racing.

There were four riders down on the start list for Elite Women but when we lined up at the start line, there were only three of us who’d shown up – Tamryn, who’d been racing for 16 years; Sarah, who’s in her fourth year; and me – in my fourth month.

Tamryn, me, Sarah

We had four races on the first day, and three races on the second. I was trailing behind in all my races, with the other two battling it out in the front (Tamryn with Sarah hot on her tail in places).

Photo credit: Emma Johnston

Photo credit: Scotty Lane

Despite coming consistently last (well, third) in all my races, I really enjoyed myself out there. I was probably erring on the side of caution a bit too much in places (Scotty’s threatening to disconnect my brake) but I now have a better idea about the areas on the track that I need to work on to get faster. It was fascinating to watch the other races, especially riders from other clubs hitting different lines and jumping in places where not many of our local riders jump. In particular, I really enjoyed watching the other womens races. There are some really, really, really FAST junior girls out there and it was great seeing them jump, manual, and pump – I was blown away with their skills on the bike.

So when it came time for prizegiving this afternoon, I felt a bit silly standing on the podium. Had more riders shown up, I think I would have felt better being in last place and not on the podium. I mean, let’s be honest here – I really don’t have the skill to deserve the “3rd Elite Women” South Island title. But at least I gave it a go I suppose! And for my efforts, I got an awesome trophy (the biggest one on my trophy shelf!), certificate, and plate. Cool eh?

So what’s next? Hmm good question! Looks like the Naseby 12 Hour MTB race is the next event on my calendar. I’m learning from last year’s mistakes however and not doing it as a 12 hour solo on a singlespeed. Instead, I’m in an Open Womens team and am looking forward to riding flat-out for a lap, then sitting around and socialising while waiting for my next turn. Of course this means I better dust off the MTB, and get some quality riding time in on the singletrack. Mmmmm. Sweet, sweet singletrack. Can’t wait!

Goodbye To You, My Trusted Friend February 9, 2010

Yesterday, I farewelled my trusty Superlight frame. And while the words of Westlife aren’t quite accurate (for some reason, that song keeps getting stuck in my head when I think about saying goodbye), we’ve had a great couple of years together. We’ve ridden all around the country – two seasons of the Nationals series, one Karapoti, one and a half PNP Series, a six hour solo, a few 12 hour races, Queen Charlotte Track… not to mention all the training and riding in general.

But it’s time to move on. No surprises that the Superlight’s replacement is another Santa Cruz – one that has done many more races and in further places than my Superlight has ever travelled. I had already taken it for a test ride before I bought the Superlight, so I know exactly what I’m getting and how it rides, and I’m really looking forward to it joining my stable. Pictures and words to follow next week.

Regional BMX Champs February 1, 2010

The great thing about this time of year is that there are so many events to choose from. Unfortunately, sometimes there are clashes and last weekend was one of those weekends, with the Otago Peninsula Challenge, the Timaru X-Scenic MTB race, and the third round of the Mainland South Regional BMX Champs all on.

After a bit of indecisiveness, I decided that one XC race was enough for me this month, and I may as well make use of the BMX race license I bought. So we loaded up the car on Saturday morning and headed to Alexandra for the BMX Champs.

Only two days prior, I had my first crash on BMX on the Dunedin track – I screwed up the landing off a step-up into the face of the next roller during the first race of the evening. I ended up bruising and grazing my right side, with a bit of a bump to the head, and doing a bit of damage to my rear brake. I rode the rest of the races that evening but took it considerably quieter!

Since we were in Alex a day earlier, I decided to check out the track before Sunday’s race. I’d never ridden my BMX on tracks other than the Dunedin one, so the Alex one was pretty daunting at first – a steeper start gate, and lots and lots of rollers and step-ups – a little bit frightening given my new-found aversion to them. I spent about an hour out there rolling around the track, trying to get the body used to moving around on the bike, which had to move quite precisely over the terrain. By the end of the hour, my legs were getting quite tired from the constant bending (something I’m not used to doing so much) so I called it a day.

Sunday morning rolled around, and true to Alex form, it was going to be a hot day. My choice of predominantly black race kit turns out to be not particularly practical when it’s super-hot outside! Ah well. I registered and picked up the programme, then went and sat in the shade for a while. I took a look at the programme and found that my grade (17-29 girls) had been amalgamated, so I was racing in the 15 years + mixed category – 6 guys, and me.

Similar to club nights, there were five motos for each grade. Before we’d even hit the first tabletop in my first moto, I was already trailing behind. From that point, I decided to treat the day as a good skills/practice session, working on my technique and body position on the bike instead of speed. And without the pressure of competition as such (since I was the slowest rider in the group), I was having fun getting a feel for how my bike rode on the track. I also learnt how to start from a steeper gate than the one on my home track (turns out it’s slightly easier to balance on a steeper slope.. go figure), and how to use my arms and legs more.

Me on the far left

On the first tabletop

In the end, I came 7th out of 7 riders, but the position wasn’t something I cared too much about.  It was a great learning experience and it was good seeing how the other Dunedin riders stacked up against the others in the region – pretty quick it turns out! I’m looking forward to heading back to my local BMX track this evening to practice the skills I picked up this weekend. Hopefully, by the end of the month, I will have gained a bit more speed and skill for the South Island BMX titles.