N-Duro Summer Series - Race 3

Yesterday was the final race in the N-Duro Summer series held in Rotorua's Whakarewarewa forest. It was my first race on my new Bergamont frame and the course that we were racing on suited me well with no major climbs in it. Race prep hadnt been the best with limited riding due to soccer commitments and the odd beverage here and there, however it was the last race of the summer so I had no hesitation in entering the 25km race.

Lining up at the start linr in my lycra race kit, I think I looked like a pro - kitted out in my new Bergamont race shirt and a pair of 3rd hand bib shorts courtesy of Wade and Carl I was sure to be an intimidating figure and making my presense felt. From the start I could tell the other racers could fear me, who wouldnt? The pace was fast with some good riders battling it out for positions heading into the first single track. I was thinking of sprinting for the lead from the start for a laugh but that might have had the better of me later in the race.

I was feeling good on the first bit of single track and sat in with a group just behind the leaders. I was trying to stay in contact with the group and it wasnt until the first real uphill that they pulled away on me. I went through a bit of a lull before I managed to catch a few riders on the decend through 'Pondy New' and got in front of them heading into 'Old Chevy'. I knew that this part of the race was going to drag on but I kept my head down and rode it out. I was suffering from some intense back pain and tried to stretch it out as much as I could while riding when I could.

I had been taking on some Peak Fuel performance energy gel during the race cause ive seen all the pros take them so thought it might give me some kind of superman power and strength. By the time we got to the last biggish climb I was ready to take it on. To my surprise I pulled in a couple of riders going up "Lion Trail' and sat on them for a bit.

Over the last couple km in the race most of it was down hill and I picked up about 5 places. I had a good battle with another rider over the last 500m of the race, he tried to pull away but I managed to hold on his wheel and knowing it was going to come down to a sprint finish between us. We entered the last hundred meters and I pulled out beside him and manged to out-sprint him to the finish line. Lucky I have the odd sneaky sprint with Carl up our road to the house as good practice.

Young Nigel McDowell won the race in a good time of 01.05:46 and I was pretty close behind...or not - eventually crossing the line in 17th spot overall (5th Open Men) in 01.18:29.

Full Results here http://results.racetectiming.com/Results.aspx?CId=34&RId=138&EId=2

Thanks to Scott Green and Patrick Avery for your superb support - normally its the other way around.

So thats it for the summer racing, best finish was 10th (3rd open men) in the 1st race of N-Duro Summer Series. I may enter into some winter races but for now all focus now goes onto the soccer season, first game on 2nd of April in Rotorua. Come down and watch and shout me a beer.

Dunedin Trip - New Zealand National MTB Champs

I went to Dunedin last Monday to watch the national mountain bike champs. I met up with my flatmates Carl and Katie down there and stayed in a pretty nice house which we rented for the week.
Cross Country racing wasnt until Saturday so each day we went out to the cross country track to ride it and learn the lines etc as well as doing normal training.

The track had a section which was very muddy which made it hard to ride in some places.
I was undecided whether or not I would enter senior men until raceday. It was pretty expensive to enter knowing I wouldnt have the best of race so decided to watch and support instead.

In the Elite race, flatmate Carl Jones won the Mens national cross country title and my other flatmate Katie O'Neill won the womans under 23 national cross country title which gives them both automatic entry to the world champs in Switzerland later in the year. I was pretty stoked to see them win their respective titles after seeing all the hard yards they put into training. Congrats guys on your national titles and thanks for making my trip worthwhile.

Next race for me will be the NDuro race 2 re run in Rotorua on sunday 13th March although I may race the Colville Connection race the day before in Coromandel as well.

New Bergamont frame has arrived!

My new 2010 Bergamont frame arrived yesterday afternoon to replace the 2009 frame which broke a couple of weeks ago. Bergamont were really onto it, honouring their warranty and got one air freighted in from Germany really quick complete with a new rear shock (not shown).

I delivered it to the boys at Bike Culture in Rotorua today to piece together and tune up. Looking foward to picking it back up tomorrow all going well and having a blast on it for a few days before packing it up and flying to Dunedin for a week of exploring new trails and watching some of the nationals downhill and cross country racing.

N-Duro Summer Series - Race 2

Since my last update the 2nd race in the N-Duro Summer Series was postponed due to the storms we have had of late and was run today in place of Race 3 which will be in March. Ive been back at pre season soccer training and doing some more riding. I also managed to graduate from Waiariki Institute of Technology with a Diploma in Business Studies. Theres a lot of competition for places in the 1^st team soccer squad this year so a few more evening runs are on the cards to pick up the fitness again.

While i was out riding with Scott Green and Patrick Avery last weekend my bike gave way on me. I managed to break the frame in two places and also snap the rear shock. The result of too many Pies and icecream. Bergamont have been really good about it and a replacement frame is being quickly air freighted from Germany. Thats pretty good service!! My riding training is down now that Im back training for soccer Tuesday and Thursday evenings. I have managed to borrow my dads bike to ride until my new frame arrives. I dont really fancy it that much but its that or nothing for now.

During Thursday nights training session I did something to my back and have been struggling since and at times riding had been unbearable. Both my back injury and riding on a borrowed bike put doubt into whether I would line up at the startline at the N-Duro Summer series race 2. I decided to leave the decision to the last minute to give my back a bit more time to come right. I didnt really want to part with my money either.

Race day i woke up still with noticble pain in my back. I was encouraged to line up and ride anyway by my fellow flatmate Katie O’neill and she also offered an entry voucher to help cover the cost of entering. Thanks Katie! After a quick discussion with my mountain bike mentor Carl Jones, we decided I didnt really have any thing to lose.

I lined up in the 25km race with some good competition compared to the previous race. I made a slow start and slowly made my way up the field. I was out the back up the first climb as expected and was playing catch up for the rest of the race.

As I reached the special timed track (Be Rude Not Too) I held back to conserve a little energy and went for it once I entered the timed section. I was more or less flying like superman. I dont even think you would have been able to see me go past cause I was going so fast.  That rhymes by the way, just a little tho. thanks. I got held up a little by a couple of riders but that would have been the same for everyone. I ended up with a pretty good time for the section – 9^th Overall (5^th Open Men).

By the end of the track I had caught up to a few riders ahead of me but soon lost a couple more places heading up ‘Lion Trail’, a hill with a small gradual climb. Probably a result of a few to many pies and cup cakes in my ‘see food’ diet. However this soon worked in my favour on the next downhill section as I used my weight advantage fly down the hills and quickly catch up to the riders who had passed me up the hill.

I was soon struggling with my back causing me a lot of discomfort. I did my best to put it out of my mind and held off to the end of the race and didnt manage to fly over the handle bars at the stream crossing like several other riders including Wilson Jones.

Anyway I had better keep this short and wrap it. Turning into a bit of a novel really.

All in all it wasnt the best race Ive had. Was good to push myself again. Pretty much got ripped up by all the young guys and even got beaten by a girl. Finished well down the field in 30^th (6^th Open Men) but it should leave me in an okay position in the 25km series heading into race 3 later in March. Pretty keen on getting back onto my own bike again in coming days. Next race is probly Colville in March followed a day later by the N-Duro race 3.

TGFC 2011 National Glass/Penn Tuna Tournament

Our team this year consisted of myself, Matt Dalton (skipper), Jeremy Bennett and Paul Hopkins. We met at the fishing club for a couple of wets, dinner and tournament breifing on thursday 13th January. We discussed a big of a game plan before heading off to our sleeping quarters on our vessel Equalizer where we stayed in the marina for the night due to rough seas.

Friday morning we were up before light and heading out of the Tauranga Harbour in search of some big game fish. The day started productively with a number of skipjack tuna and a couple of Albacore Tuna on board within a few hours of trolling. We reached Mayor Island where we had a quick jig for some kingi's and anchored up in a bay for a few ours so a couple of the lads could find there feet after coming across some rough seas or the after effects of a few too many the night before. The water was relatively warm so we all ended up performing a manu as we jumped in the water for a swim. After an unsuccessful soft bait and a bite to eat we continued on out the back of Mayor island for a few more hours. There was plenty of sign of bait fish so we new the big ones wouldnt be to far away. By the end of the day we hadnt had much more luck and anchor up at one of our skippers favourite snapper spots so we could catch some fresh fish. We fished late into the evening and with a good feed on board called it a night.

Saturday morning we made a big call to head back down the coast to the Rangatira's. Nearly every other boat in the competition were headed north where marlin were being caught and there had been reports of a couple of free jumpers. After a couple of hours into our 4 hour trip to the Rangatira's we were passing over an area known as the Mayor Knolls when one of the game reels went off. A quick look at the time and it was my timeslot in the chair. We managed to land what was a nice 12.5kg Mahimahi which happened to be one of the prize categories in the tournament. There were hand shakes all round as we were rapt to land the fish and knew we were in the running for something at prizegiving on Sunday.
We continued on to the Rangatira's and within half an hour of reaching or destination we were hit again. This time the game reel screamed off and we managed to land a 14kg Short Bill spear fish. Angler Paul Hopkins did a fantastic job of bringing it into the boat where we had the task of keeping it on ice for a couple more days for when we went back in for weigh in.
On our way back to Mayor where we had planned on spending the night we saw a couple of Marlin free jumping at the Mayor Knolls. We hang around for a while in an attempt to hook one but that would have to wait for the next day as light was running out.
That evening we all put our snorkelling gear on and went for a dive in the warm water.

Sunday morning we decided to head back in the direction where we saw the marlin jumping. Two hours into it we heard the sound of our rubber band snapping on one of our outriggers. Jeremy, Paul and myself all stood up to check what had happend and then all hell broke loose as the game reel went nuts. A marlin had taken our lure on its second attempt and was peeling line off like to tomorrow. Paul and Jeremy shot down to deal to the rods in the water while our skipper was stuck on the dunny thinking we were playing a prank on him.
By the time all the other lines were in, the Marlin had taken off towards the side of the boat where it was jumping and had taken 2/3rds of the line. Jeremy was very quickly getting spooled. In order to stop this the drag level was put up and moments later the line went slack. The line had snapped. It was a gut wrenching moment. We knew we had just lost a decent size marlin capable of taking out the biggest Marlin for the tournament.
The rest of the day was pretty quite and we headed in for weigh in and prizegiving where we won heaviest Mahimahi. Paul and I also picked up clubpins for the heaviest fish in our line category so far this season.

Special thanks to Neil Dalton for lending us his 50ft Launch for the weekend. And thanks to our chef P-Hop for the great meals, to Matt for putting us onto the fish and Jeremy for the celebrational cigars :)

Official results from prizegiving: http://www.tgfc.co.nz/tournaments_10tuna.htm

Photos of our catch below.

Welcome to Steve's Sporting Spiels

Hello and welcome to SSS.

Keep up to date with my latest Events, Games, Adventures from fishing to soccer to mountainbiking. Make sure to check out my results, photos and write ups on the activities ive been doing.

The winter soccer season kicks off in just over 8 weeks, with intense training until then and some warm up matches against top opposition. In our first round match we have a home game against the newly promoted but not to be underestimated Old Blues of Tauranga.

Between now and then I have a couple of mountain bike races pencilled in plus going down to watch the national champs in Dunedin at the end of February. Hopefully ill find time to sneak in some more fishing during the evenings and weekends.

Thanks for visiting my blog and I looked foward to updating you with some great results.

Steve Turner