South Island Trip

So we're now back in Rotorua after a great 2.5 week trip to the South Island. It was such an amazing opportunity to see all of New Zealand and ride in so many new places. Here are some pictures of my trip for your enjoyment, (some are cell pics so I apologize for poor quality).

 

After our race at Bluff we headed to Dunedin for a few days. The trails just outside the city were super fun and flowy and we had a great group ride with some of the locals. 

Road ride to Port Chalmers

From Dunedin we made the 4 hr drive to Glenorchy on lake Wakatipu to do some of the beautiful rides around Queenstown.

View of Lake Wakatipu from Glenorchy

"Muddy Creek" was pretty dry

Rees River

Our Chef

Homemade spagetti and meatballs

NZXC team bonding golf

View from the top of Skippers

 

Water levels were a bit high in Queenstown

 

 

 

We made a short stop in Craigieburn on our way to Nelson to do an epic ride up around the Craigieburn Ski Field. This was definitely my favourite ride of the trip and one of the best rides I have ever done. After riding up to the ski field, the trail traversed the side of the mountain, crossing some loose, sketchy rock slides. There was also the added excitement that if you rode a little too far to the left, you would fall off a cliff. The weather was also kind to us and after 4 hours on the bike, we made it home 5 minutes before the hail and rain.



Craigieburn Forest Park

Ski Field in January

Ski Field in July?

Traversing the mountain

 

Just beat the hail

 We spent the last few days of our trip in Nelson for the Top Gun race. It was a great course, but once again I didn't exactly have my race legs and finished up in 3rd. (At least the beach was nice) The 8 hour drive back to Rotorua wasn't so bad, with the 3 hr ferry ride to break things up, and some nice scenery in the North Island.

Nelson's beautiful beach

Ferry back to the North Island

Mt  Doom (Or Tongariro)

Mt Ruapehu

 The weather in Rotorua has been perfect, with everyday being at least 25 degrees and not a drop of rain. Couldn't ask for better training conditions!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Video of Dipper Trail

Here's a short video of a bit of Dipper trail in Rotorua

 

Bluff NZ Cup and NZ so far...

I know it's been a little while so here is an update of the goings-on in New Zealand.

I've had a few weeks of great training around Rotorua and I'm learning to find my way around the forest pretty well now. It has been over 20 degrees most days and I've only had to pull out the arm warmers a couple of times (and I'm not complaining). I got to spend a warm, sunny Christmas with the Peters family and compete in their Christmas tournament, playing some intense croquet and petanque. Our team finished a strong 3rd out of 4 and I learned I'm no good at croquet.

Some Redwoods near Rotorua

My own NZ stocking, thank you Heather :)

Showing everyone how to petanque

For New Years we went to Mount Maunganui on the north coast, and spent some quality time on the beach. It was by far the warmest New Years I can remember and definitely the only one that I've gotten a sunburn.

New Years moon

Top of Mt Maunganui

On Friday we flew down to the South Island to race the first NZ Cup in Bluff. The race course took us up Bluff hill on a long, gradual climb and then back to the bottom on a rocky, bermy trail. I didn't have a great race but ended up rounding off the podium in elite women. It's nice to have the first race of the season under my belt and I'm hoping to have a better race in Nelson in a couple weeks.

Top of Bluff Hill, at the bottom of NZ

 

Velodrome in Invercargill

 

For the next couple weeks I'll be travelling with the NZXC team around the South Island, visiting new places and riding lots of new trails!

Is This MTB Heaven?





The freezing rain and -15°c weather at home made me even more excited to start my trip. After an uneventful flight from Toronto to LA and a long lay-over, I was lucky to get the Air New Zealand Middle Earth plane for the second part of my journey. The hobbit safety video got things off to a good start and the 13 hour flight went by pretty fast. I arrived in Auckland with my fingers crossed that my bike and bag made it, and luckily both were there waiting. I was even lucky enough to have my own personal shuttle service from the airport to Rotorua. (you're the best)

 

 

 

 

I've had a few days to settle in, get some sleep and get out for a couple of rides (and I'm pretty sure this is heaven.) Right across the road is the Whakarewarewa Forest, with 100+ km of the best trails I have ever ridden. It's so nice to know that I will have the whole summer to explore and ride all these amazing trails.



 

Doesn't do it justice at all.

The new bike's first time in the mud (lucky bike)

So Here's the Plan

So I am all packed and ready to head to New Zealand for the winter! A huge, huge thank you to Barry and Taylor Near for setting me up with this amazing Superfly Comp to take with me. I am beyond excited and I will update again when I arrive!

 

All set.

Fall Has Begun, It's a Wee Bit Chilly

The trails are covered in leaves which can only mean one thing, fall is here. It's my favourite time of year to ride, but I don't like knowing that winter is just around the corner. It's also the time of year for our team bikes to head off to the bike show and to new homes. If you are looking for a bike, it's a great place to check out www.bicycleshowtoronto.com/fallshow.html. I'm sad that they are gone but I'm really looking forward to next year's superlight Superflys! Thank you to Trek and SRAM for the amazing support and even more amazing bikes. They helped make it an awesome season!

All ready to go

Lately I've been keeping busy working with groups at Hardwood and playing on the new pump track.

Radical Riders getting their certificates

New awesome pumptrack at Hardwood

And before you go you have to check out this awesome video of a 5 year old ripping a trail in New Hampshire.

Oh Ya We Killed It (Fall Epic 8)

My last race of the the season (as of right now anyway) is over, and I'm a little sad, but it was an awesome race! Erica Leonard and I defended our title at the Fall Epic 8 Hour at Hardwood, finishing off 14 laps of the 10km course to win by a comfy 2 laps. Last year we only finished 13 laps so we must be getting faster (I know Erica is). It was a great race with the best teammate I could ask for, and an amazing way to finish off the season. Hopefully we will be back next year to kill it again!

 

 

Our mothers raced as a tag team as well so they came up with some fitting team names...

 

The girls (left) and the moms
 

Little Sis racing into 3rd with her team