venerdì 6 febbraio 2009

Dunedin South Island Cup Round One Report

Ecco il solito report di Wyn sulla gara di Dunedin. Alla fine troverete anche il solito bel video della gara e del percorso realizzato da Vorb

---------------------------------------------------

Dunedin South Island Cup Round One Report

We headed to Dunedin straight after the race in Levin catching the ferry to the South Island the night after. It was then a long boring drive ahead of us from the top to the bottom of the south island. Everyone was really tired from racing that day, so a few energy drinks were had along the way, but eventually we made it to Dunedin.

We arrived in Dunedin and headed straight out for a XC ride on some of the local tracks it was great fun and a good training ride. The next day i had to do some training hill sprints, probably the hardest training sessions i do, and Dunedin was the perfect venue for this as its home many steep hills, and also in fact the Worlds steepest street! Although i didn't ride up that one i still had a hard session and nearly lost my breakfast ha ha!

We then headed put to check out the track, Its an awesome course in Dunedin i rate it as one of the best in NZ, it has a bit of everything in it starting off with some great rock gardens and then heading in to some fast open stuff followed by some nice bermed sections then heading out to an open fast finish!


The practice session on the track went really well, i was feeling fast on this course it really suited my style, as it was similar to a World Cup track, my team mate Brook was also really enjoying it and feeling good, the bikes were amazing on this track through all the rough stuff like it was nothing!

The next day was race day, there was again a great field of talent there and a few big names including, Justin Leov, Ben Cathro, Cam Cole, Danny Hart, David Vasquez. Its great to see pretty much an international field at our NZ races and also perfect training for the upcoming World Cup season.

Anyways i took my seeding run pretty smooth, but never really gave it to much as i wanted to save myself for the finals, I ended up seeding in 5th place but the times were tight and i was on the same second as 3rd, so i knew i had to give it all in the final as i wanted to put a decent result together and knew i was on the pace.

I warmed up seriously and was really focussed for my run, probably the most focussed i have been in the NZ races so far. I set off strong and rode all the top section of the course really well and kept it smooth through all the rocks, i knew i was on a good run and kept it going, till i came off a blind drop off a little off line and ran in to a tree, coming to a stop in a section were it counted to hold your speed.

I was annoyed, so i just held the bottom section pinned and did as much as i could to make up some time. I ended up with the same time as my seeding which was no good as i really was looking for more but thats racing sometimes, I can still feel im getting faster each week with all the training i have been doing and thats about all i can take from it i guess.

I ended up a disappointing 7th place although still on the same second as 3rd it doesn't mean much to me. My team mate Brook was happy with how his run went and ended up 6th. Cam Cole took the win with Kieren Bennett 2nd and James Dodds 3rd.

The next event is Next weekend in Queenstown, so i have another hard week of training ahead of me. Until then keep it real everybody!

Wyn Masters
Ancillotti Cycles
Rockstar Racing

Link video su vorb