The people you’ll meet.. the places you’ll go

Willow Koerber has really inspired me as of late, she is one of two of my #1 heroes on the bike. Funnily enough, it’s not because she’s one of the most talented mountain bikers in the world - it’s because she is genuinely balanced and spirited within herself. It’s just fricken awesome! Read her blogs and you will get the picture (willowkoerber.com - “The Training Part” is my fave).Plenty of people have labeled her as a tree-hugging hippy, but I totally disagree. She has simply struck her inner balance. I think that’s what we are all in pursuit of - racing is just one of many channels in which to discover it. Besides, those who criticise are not World #3. She must be doing something right, eh?

I have been fortunate enough to get a small insight into just how much it takes to train and race at your best – to find the inner balance that enables you to do so. Not only is it what you do on your bike, it’s actually mostly what you do off the bike to back up all the training you do! The first two NZ MTB Cup rounds have been nothing short of shocking for me. I have deliberately not updated my blog for a while so I could give myself time and space to process everything, and look at what I didn’t quite do well, and what I need to improve. Then explain it all neutrally. It was difficult for a while to stay positive when things don’t go well, but therein lies the challenge! I want to and need to be able to focus on learning from these situations to be able to move forward. It’s a process, it’s exciting, and I’m improving.

Sometimes you just have to look at your dreams again. They’re big, they can be achieved, but they also need to be bright, and right in front of you. My dream is to race on the pro circuit and represent New Zealand at the World Championships. If I get distracted, my focus word is “Kia Kaha”. Be strong. It reminds me that I am a Kiwi (a very proud fact), and also reminds me I’m out there day in, day out, working towards the day I will wear the Silver Fern. Yep, there’s been ups and downs, there will be plenty more ups, and a few downs. I’ve been distracted, made wrong decisions, second-guessed myself, been confused, tired and worried, and haven’t walked my talk. But above and in front of all that, I’m strong, fast, happy, laugh at stupid shit and have a lot fun.

Besides, how would you know what a special moment is when you don’t have a tough moment to compare it to?

A 3rd of 3. The medal for me was about being rewarded for not giving up when my performance wasn't great.

What you can learn... off the bike

There's two ways you can approach being relegated to the couch: Sulk about it and be silly enough to get back on when really you should let your body fully recover, or - seize the opportunity to make good use of rare downtime. Unfortunately I am a little bit sick and so have taken the last three days off to recover. With the extra time I now find I have, I've been doing some reflecting on what's been going on lately - on and off the bike.

Last weekend I raced at the Napier Mid-North Island Cup, with Gav, Jude and Shane. A great weekend away was had by us all, lots of laughs, great weather and a fun course to ride. Gav did very well placing 3rd in Open Men. Here's a pic he snapped at the end of his race:


For me, this race did not go well on the whole. I've identified what didn't go quite so well and have reflected on what I did do well and what I could have done better. I find it is beneficial to find the cause of why my performance didn't go quite as well as planned, so I can make sure to be better prepared in the future. It is also very good to listen to well-seasoned elite racers who notice the small details that someone who is learning the art of racing (like me!) would overlook. Racing, to me, is about bringing out the best in you - and your competitors. This best is always evolving, and I know that every race, your best has the potential to become even better.

My descents were fast and for the most part, mistake free during the race - this is a strength I like to focus on, as I am able to pick lines quite well and evaluate them as they change over the course of a race. One particular girl I played cat and mouse with for two laps was stronger than me on the climbs but a little more hesitant on the descents, so I knew on the final lap I could just hold her wheel on the hills, attack at the crest, and make time on the descent. This plan worked perfectly - and I overtook her on a tricky steep "A" line chute - she took the B line so I created about 10 seconds for myself where I descended and sprinted to the finish. In that respect, it can pay off sitting behind a competitor for a while so you can identify where you can exploit their potential weaknesses. It's not sinister - it's just racing.

I also managed to catch up with my young team-mate Frank Sutton, his Mum snapped some shots unbeknownst to us - which ended up on Facebook later in the weekend (like everything does!)



I'll leave you with my take on my top 5 of " 20 Things That MTB Teaches you about Life", sent to me from my good mate Tanya (cheers mate - see Emily has gone to Subaru-Gary Fisher??) , you can find the fullpost here:

http://sacredridesmtb.blogspot.com/2009/11/20-things-mountain-biking-teaches-you.html

19. Desperation breeds mistakes (Be patient, stick to your race plan, and trust your instincts)
18. The hardest parts are also the loneliest. (This is why mates don't come out on a 60min 110rpm Tempo session.)
10. It's tempting to focus on the immediate problem rather than the big picture. (A bad day of training is not a problem. Carrying it over to the next day is.)
6. The fun starts when you push the limits. (Training is an investment in how much fun you will have in the future.)
1. Love hurts. But don't let it stop you from falling in love. (MTB, training, racing, it can hurt in all sorts of different capacities. Get back up,learn from it and move on!)

And - a quote from my favourite MTB shoe brand - Louis Garneau

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, and never give up."

Em

MTB Madness at Lake Mahinerangi and great news from Bergamont

Farr.... last week has been absolute madness for me!

October means exams for Scarfies = plenty of study and no socialising = busy. In addition, both the KiwiFutsal (Primary Schools) and Secondary Schools Futsal leagues have begun, which entails logistical coordination on a mammoth scale - sometimes not always going to plan.

Fortunately, I have managed to fit training and racing in, which balances out all the stress with a bit of high speed madness and definite fun! A spot of Commonwealth Games coverage managed to find its way onto the flat's TV. I am very proud of the effort the Kiwi cyclists and athletes put in - Shanksy bringing back another gold and Nikki Hamblin bringing back two silvers in Athletics. These girls came from behind to clinch their medals, which just goes to show what can be achieved if you keep a level head and focus on doing your thing.

First and foremost, I have some news which I am pleased about. Bergamont have announced their 2011 Bergamont-Endura racing team, putting me on the team as an U23 XC rider. I am excited about representing Bergamont and Endura at events around the country, and look forward to learning from my very experienced and sucessful team-mates. More about the team and the brands can be found on the Bergamont-Endura page.

Yesterday proved to be a typical spring day - totally unpredictable! Myself and Tanya Louw embarked on our journey out to Waipori Falls at 8am - a quality hour for a Sunday! Sometimes I forget how fortunate we are to be New Zealanders. On a great day, NZ scenery can not be beaten, which made the 60km drive to Lake Mahinerangi incredibly enjoyable, albeit difficult to navigate. We arrived at the site of Mahinernagi Madness MTB slightly late, just like everyone else, and went quickly to work setting up our bikes and registering. Navigation proved to be a major issue for most competitors, resulting in the start time shifting 45minutes late. Things change quickly in racing, so I went from being short of time to being in excess. Nothing wrong with extra time to check your bikes and warm-up again though! Unfortunately with the later start, I had to race the short course due to other committments in Dunedin in the afternoon, so this halved the distance. Next year I will be taking on the full course without a doubt.

This impromptu change ultimately proved to be a blessing, as within an hour the temperature dropped 5 degrees and a gusty front arrived from the south. I made my way to the front of the start and on the gun sprinted down the hill. We were greeted with a long steep climb which quickly put my heart into it's maximum pain zone. I was in the lead bunch after the first few climbs but was really feeling the burn. After the course tapered out a little, I got into the groove and really put it into the dog, averaging 35kph for the undulating final 10km. Coming into the final kilometer, I was cheered on by a group of walkers. This kicked me into a crazy gear -there is nothing like being extremely focussed and knowing that your performance has been consistently beyond max throughout the race. I arrived at the finish line in 59.3 minutes, with the next racer arriving a shade over 10 minutes later. The course was mainly loose gravel roads and 4wd track, but was still fun.

Looking back on the race, I feel great about my performance. I got the mixture of pre-race nutrition right for once, and did not feel tired during the race - after a week of hard training and no taper. All I could feel was pain and burning - a timely reminder that I am alive. After the race and for the remainder of the day I was feeling very strange, easily irritated and detached from reality. I'm not sure quite what this is - perhaps a post-race fuelling issue, perhaps a sign that I pushed way beyond, or maybe just nervousness about exams. Either way - it's all part of the journey and every race presents me with a new challenge - sometimes it really, really hurts!

I will leave you with this. It is a reminder to focus on your own race and trust your instincts. Just like Shanksy and Hamblin!

New sponsor - and first season win on the Bergamonster!

Last Sunday was the end of an era - nope, I am not all of a sudden ditching bikes! The Invercargill Winter Series for 2010 finished on a typical beautiful Invercargill day. I think Dunedin's weather could learn a thing or two from that place.

A good roadie friend of mine, Ruby Grant aka Mark Cavendish's future wife, joined me on the epic 6am mission to Invers, which made things fun. We were pretty hyper about the race (and seriously sleep deprived). Suffice to say she's now converted to dark side and hooked on racing. Stoked Rubes, well done on your 2nd place, and welcome to the dark side!

For me, Sunday's race was all about just getting back into the swing of things, and focusing on specifc skills, trying to get them honed for the big races later in the season. My specific aim for the race was to get ahead from the outset by making a strong sprint off the start, then maintain a consistent pace and dial each technical section. The sprint was awesome and going into the singletrack I was ahead of all of the girls and a few guys.

The remainder of the race was all about putting time between me and the girls behind, and I acheived this by being consistent and trying to ignore how non-responsive my legs were for the most part. For some reason I felt tired the whole race (probably fuelling issues), but managed to hold off and win by 4 minutes. Quite appropriate this was my first race on the Bergamont - still unbelievably responsive, reliable and quick!

Progress for me is about feeling stronger, racing faster and resisting fatigue for as long as possible. I have just compared Round 1's time to Rounds 6's time. I was trailing the series winner by 7 minutes in the first round, but lead her by 4 minutes in the final round. I am quietly please about this, as it shows I am becoming stronger and faster - a direct result of structured training.

With a new season comes a bunch of new opportunities, so I'd like to thank my sponsor, Bike Otago for their awesome support so far. You guys are so much fun to hang out with, and know your bikes backwards - I look forward to representing the team at this season's races and joining the staff for Summer - guaranteed to be a good laugh!

All the best to Charlotte Ireland, Jude Young, Erin Greene, Coaches and Support Crews for this weekend's 24 Hour World Solo Championships on Mt Stromlo, Canberra. Put it in the dog for the Kiwis!

How to bake your best self..

Is it just me - or has New Zealand taken a beating over the past couple of months? From earthquakes to storms to Commonwealth Games dramas, a lot has been keeping us Kiwi's on our toes. Despite the distractions, I can't justify completely abandoning my blog for 3 months! A lot has been happening since June, so I thought it might be good to stop studying for tonight and spread the love to my fellow MTBr's.

Over the course of August, I managed to 'acquire' some new machinery, in the form of a road bike and a race bike. Sitting in the hallway is a 2009 Diora Modena II roadie bike, courtesy of Kay @ Bike Otago. This is my training weapon of which I spend 75% of my riding time on, and while I enjoy my time on it, this does not mean I am a roadie - despite my reputation of being "my hypothetical roadie self" ;). The more exciting bike is the 2010 Bergamont Platoon Team. Suffice to say weighing in at 9.3kg's and SRAM/Magura specced, the Bergamonster makes climbing a breeze and descending a shitload of fun! Thanks Bike Otago and Bergamont for making it happen.

With new bikes, came a new training program, of which I have just completed the 6th week. Unsofar I have had many learning curves (and one big roadie crash) and have come to realise the importance of recovering well, listening to your body, and fuelling it with what it needs. Already I am feeling stronger on the climbs, faster on the descents, feel I have improved endurance and an all-round stronger body and more determined and committed attitude. Lisa Morgan has taken me on for my first proper race season, and does all the hard yards analysing my progress, deciding training and putting up with my stream of questions and piss-takes. Occasionally, when enough is enough, I am treated to a delightful lecture when I've been more troublesome than usual ;) Thanks a tonne Coach - I'm absolutely loving the program, and I think you know how much I appreciate your guidance and support.

Out there on the bike, 2 hours a day, 6 days a week, I spend a lot of time thinking. I think about how University is just like being on the dole, except your parents are proud of you, how funny Emily Batty is to have wirless hair straighteners at her races, and most importantly - how the hell Paul Henry gets away with all the shit he does (an inspiration - truely!). I also interrogate myself as to why I want to race, and understand what motivates me to voluntarily visit the hurt box everyday. I can put it down to two things: I enjoy riding – every aspect of it. The pain, the challenge, the fun, the good people and the coffee. I also enjoy training. Why do I train? I train to race. But, why do I race? To get the best out of myself. Why do I want to get the best out of myself? To see what I am capable of. One day in the future, I would like to compare my best self to world class athletes. But in order to be your best self, you've got to understand how get there. Strange as it seems - I reckon it's very similar to baking a cake, and here’s why:

• With a cake, you have to have the right combination, quality and proportion of ingredients. You also have to be committed to making it happen. If you skimp on the input, the output won’t be as good. Just like training, you get out what you put in.

•There is a very key ingredient to make a cake rise, which is often forgotten: baking powder. If you don’t have it, you get a flat cake. I liken this ingredient to determination and resilience on the bike. Important, and often lost sight of when the going gets tough.

• If you don’t get the right ratio of ingredients, the cake’s gonna taste funny, be lumpy, or blow up altogether. Sometimes you are lucky and when you shake things up a little, it works out ok. But for the most part, follow the recipe – it is tried and trusted for a reason. Follow your program, trust it and don’t lose sight of your ultimate goal.

• Just like the cops say, “don’t drink and fry - you just might die”. If you don’t keep an eye on the baking process, more than likely, it will burn and be uneatable. If you eat burned cake, you might die too ;). Just like baking, when you train you have to look after and listen to your body and mind – after all, it is what you are investing all your time into.

If you just so happen to get the combination just right – you get a world-beating cake. The same goes for becoming your best self – you only get out what you put in.

An Ultimatum

I’m a little bit worried about what I’m going to do when I get really old. I see old people around everywhere struggling to just be mobile. Do they ever get frustrated? Do they ever reminisce about the good old days when they could run a half marathon in under ninety minutes? Why is a nineteen year old talking about problems sixty years in the future, you ask? Well, I’m actually thinking about the opposite to restricted mobility – going fast. I’m noticing more and more that I’ve got to be going fast, otherwise I can get impatient and frustrated. This can be potentially problematic, so I try to redirect this attitude from rushing through study and channel it back into the bike. I guess my point is we’ve got to make the most of the time we have. I don’t want to be moping around on a mobility scooter in sixty years wishing I had made better use of my body when it could actually be made to go fast.

So, in my typical last-minute fashion, Fi from Bike Otago and I decided to enter the Southland MTB Club’s Mad Winter Enduro (on night that entries were due – as usual!). There’s something so exciting about racing - the promise of going fast in the weekend made it incredibly difficult to concentrate on studying for exams! Somehow I managed to live through them, and all of a sudden we were heading to Invercargill in Scotty’s newly established mountain biking van. Check out how comfortable the bikes are in the back!

After a quick warm-up it was time to line up for the Le-Mans start. Any of you who have done one of these know how hectic it can be, but I managed to be in the middle of the pack heading out of transition. The first two laps were rough – my derailleur threw a tantrum, refused to shift single gears and slipped when under climbing pressure, and to add to it all I was also hungry and had too many clothes on for the weather! But, you really have no option but to grin and bear it, so I decided to hunt down a girl through the single track to distract me. I even threw some drama into the mix by sprinting past her on the inside line through a hairpin in the transition zone! Fi blasted off to complete her laps, while Celia and Scotty fed me up with bananas, a chocolate bar, Powerade and Peak Fuel - great for someone who was seriously lacking sugar!

After Fi came in I was feeling much better and only had summer gear on. We were hoping to get in another lap, so I latched onto the back of an R&R rider and chased her around the single track. Little did I know it was Erin Greene, which explained why I was blowing myself to bits trying to keep up! Nevertheless it was great to see her race lines and style and even better to have two former Otago Girls’ girls out on the track. After a reasonably quick lap, Scotty hooked me up with some Peak Fuel and told me to use it for the next lap. I was stoked to be able to do another, so gave it everything I had and have never felt so shattered! I sprinted through the transition zone to the finish. Little did I know, I had already passed it, and a spectator had to tell me I had finished – I never realised because I was so focussed on what was ahead! I think it’s safe to say everyone had a great time, thanks so much Southland MTB Club for another great event, to Scotty Cain for being support crew and congratulations to everyone else for surviving!

Because I’m relatively new to racing, I always feel I come away from a race having learnt a whole heap about how my mind and body handles racing. Coming away from that race, I reflected on what got me to the finish line when I felt my body couldn’t. There seem to always be the same two quotes that stick with me during a race, especially when I feel I can’t give anymore. Lance tells me that “We are so much better than we know” and Lisa tells me to “Give everything in the moment”.

“Give everything in the moment, we are so much better than we know” resonates well with me. It gives me the belief that everyone has the capability to do things they would not even imagine are possible. This is what goes on in my mind when I am trying to beat a fellow competitor, when I’m so tired I want to get off the bike and collapse, or when I want to just walk away. It’s like another energy I draw from to get me to the finish line. Of course I can bloody well go fast to the finish, so I trick myself into thinking my life depends on it. I always tell myself that I want to cross the finish line in the future at a World Cup race, and tell my friends, parents and coach I gave it my all, had nothing left - despite the outcome, fantastic or terrible. I am going to give this racing thing my very best. There is no room for excuses, reservations or doubts anymore. Ultimately, out there on the track, I am my own greatest rival. But, if I play my cards right, I can be my own best friend.

A new bike and a new direction

Do you consider yourself to be much of a philosopher? I certainly don't! But I appreciate life lessons, motivational quotes and can sometimes rock out with some kind of coherent statement that explains reoccurring observations I have. Lately I have realised that sometimes the greatest display of a person's strength is in admitting their weaknesses. I have seen and heard some truly inspirational stories from various people, some of whom you would not expect, people who have risen from bad spaces to the top, or even just overcome roadblocks, and become stronger, faster or better for it. I admire them for their courage and determination in the face of adversity.

My recent encounter with failure lately has been bloody good for me. I received a 48% in an Economics test six weeks ago and it has been screwing with my mind ever since, I have questioned my entire Degree over it. We recently had another test in which I got a 67%, and while not being the 80%+ I aim for, it is a step in the right direction. It may seem arrogant, but I was bought up to always achieve highly and in my mind, anything less than a B+ is a failure. I have always maintained good grades throughout my education. While this attitude has generally been beneficial in my life until now, upon reflection, I certainly don't know what I was thinking - measuring my success with arbitrary grades? Who's to say you're not good enough? Who's to say you're the best? Who's to say you need to put more effort in? Only you, and only you can achieve your goals. So while I continue to aim high, failure has put my ambitions into a realistic perspective.

This is the attitude I intend to carry in to next season's racing. I have spent a bit of time lately writing up a document outlining the next season, medium and long term goals, potential races, as well as doing a SWOT analysis. I have inadvertently realised through my epic road bike rides that I thrive on speed, power and a challenge. It's great to get everything down on paper, and I am pleased to observe that a lot of strength I will draw on in the new season lies in the support of the various parts of the MTB community. If you have any suggestions or experiences you'd like to share with me they would be greatly appreciated!

I’m sure you will agree that the international cycling season is a very exciting time for all of us (despite the ridiculous school girl bitchings, professional cycling doping scandals) ! A special mention must go to Nic Leary and Rosara Joseph who have been performing well in the recent World Cup XCO rounds, as well as our DH boys Wyn Masters, Justin Leov and Cam Cole. Great work NZ, keep it up! Lisa has also recently departed to Canada for her international season and is doing a lot of cool tripping and racing around the place – go hard Cheif!

P.S. I have just bought a 2010 Bergamont Platoon Team. He's on layby to prevent me riding him through Winter. Thanks to Bike Otago and Bergamont for making it happen.