Lyttelton Urban DH 2014

Last weekend was the annual (if not delayed) Lyttelton Urban Downhill Race in Lyttelton, NZ. This is a crazy DH race that involves jumps and drops in the urban setting of steep city streets and suburban backyards. Scott raced in the 2013 LUDH, and posted his video, which I then posted to this blog. 

Anyways, here's my photo montage from this year's event. 

Scott at the treehouse jump.

Not Scott. But look, containers and harbor views!

Scott jumping out of the haunted house.

Not Scott. But it could have been!

Guy I caught at the right time...

Scott, who I caught at the wrong time.

Someone else's photo of Scott coming off the Porthole Bar.

Jump to the finish off the roof of the Porthole Bar.

He was pleased with his race, and rightfully so- coming in 4th in Open Men, and 19th in the overall Pro category. He also filmed his race run again, which is pretty much the coolest thing ever. 

CLICK HERE!!!!!

And yes, I know I'm painfully behind on posting anything. But I've been away traveling. So lots of photos of mountains and sheep to come. (Don't like mountains and sheep? Go read someone else's blog.)

Road Trip to Wanaka and Alexandra (but mostly just bike pics)

This has been the rainiest summer/fall that Christchurch has had in ages. In March there was 4 times more rain than in your average March (thank you, cyclone Lusi.) Every time we visited Queenstown, we heard about the amazing weather they had been having, but it always rained. We are starting to feel like the rain follows us. We headed back down to Central Otago for a quick visit to Q-town, then a few days in Wanaka and a few days in Alexandra. Although we had some fair weather in Wanaka, the rain followed us to Alexandra. Which is a desert.

Anyways, thats my winge about the weather for now (except that, Im not even kidding, we are experiencing the end of Cyclone Ita - the one that devastated the Solomon Islands a few days ago… and once again the windows are rattling, the roads/houses are flooded, and it's raining inside my house in 4 places.)

Ok, now I'm done with the weather report. Back to last weekend.

Scott teamed up with a much faster partner than last year for the 6 Hour Super D in Queenstown. The gondola shuttled them up to the top of the hill, where they then zig-zagged back down, trading off turns, for 6 hours of fun/excitement/endurance/pain/torture. 

Their hard work also paid off, as Scott and Nick took 3rd in the Men's Teams of Two, out of 33 teams. 

They're team "Jamaican Hopscotch Mafia" - the ones in the matching hats.

Meanwhile, while Scott was racing, I went out and did some very cold, wet shuttles with a few friends. I smashed the ground hard and thought I broke my hand. Oddly, a few ibuprofen, a few beers, and a good night sleep fixed it up right.

The next morning we rode some fun and some crazy trails in Wanaka. Scott and our friend Dane (visiting from the States) took turns hitting big jumps and drops, and I found my place as photographer. 

Unfortunately Scott took a chunk out of his knee, causing him to take a very temporary break from riding on Sunday afternoon. This allowed some one-on-one coaching time for me, and I practiced getting my wheels in the air. Which is the scariest thing in the world, only secondary to giant squid.

You gotta start somewhere...

My photographer is working on his skills, which might need close to as much practice as I do at jumping. 

Scott and Dane woke up early Monday morning to do a sunrise photoshoot, while I slept. It was fun for everyone.

Dane and Scott's new car. Both have superior off road efficiency. 

Dane left early Monday morning to fly back to the country where the sun exists, while Scott and I leisurely drove further down south to Alexandra. On the way, we stopped in the adorable (probably retirement) village of Clyde, which happens to have the most killer trail going. It's called Cup Cake Track, which makes me like it even more. 

And it was sort of sunny-ish. 

Wheels in the air!

We stayed 12km south of Alexandra in a little stone building called "Paddys Cottage" (Rent It Here). It was built in the early 1900's out of stones from nearby ruins. Stone buildings were built in the 1800's during the Central Otago gold rush. There are barely any trees in the area, so people used the one resource widely available. Hence, ruins can be found all over the area today. Kinda neat.

Outdoor BBQ, indoor wood burner, lots of charm, sheep in nearby paddock, beds for 8 people, hot water for 2.

Old-timey stuff.

Cozy Stuff.

The next morning, a bit of exploring and a hike around Flat Top Hill. Pretty fall colors galore.

We spent Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons riding in Alexandra on borderline illegal but completely ripper trails.

Alexandra is very cute. And kind of boring unless you are on a bike.

Getting artsy.

Good thing we filled up on adrenaline and smiles this week, as it looks like we'll be battening down the hatches for another 24 hours or so here in Christchurch. Hopefully the weather clears after this though, because we're going to try for a West Coast trip over Anzac weekend.

Hope it is sunnier where all of you are, and that you have a great Easter weekend!

Oceanias Race and Other Recents

As I mentioned in my recent serious, if not a little depressing, post- whilst Cyclone Lusi was wreaking havoc on the little bitty south island of New Zealand, my husband was off competing in the Oceanias National Downhill MTB Championships. Brilliant.

Luckily for him and the bones in his body, he seems to excel at riding in sloppy, wet conditions. See post race run photo:

Pretty gnarly, eh? And I don't know who the guy below is, but this is the course he had to work with in these fine conditions:

Craziness.

But as I mentioned, he seems to excel in these conditions, and he brought home the win in the Masters class. This race was the championships for all of NZ, Australia, and the Pacific Islands. So that's pretty cool.

Also a nice photo of Scott at the recent Dodzy Memorial Enduro, more wet and challenging conditions:

I wish I could say I was racing too but Im just not quite that tough yet. Below, a few photos from our last Queenstown trip. My idea of a good time!

Doesn't this just scream "summer"?….

Mmmmmm….. wine.

Race Report: Gravity Canterbury Enduro #1 - Godly Head

To 99% of my readers who are interested in life in New Zealand, immigrating, expat experiences, etc… I'm sorry. It's bike season again. I will truly try to write more helpful bits and pieces about expat life in New Zealand.

But today, not so much. The first enduro of the summer was a few weeks ago, actually the day before Scott's birthday. It was basically in our "backyard"- literally about 10 minutes up the hill. However, in true enduro fashion, we started at the bottom of the racecourse, down at a little beach called Taylor's Mistake. We climbed up a steep, twisty trail aptly named Anaconda, which we would later race down as the final stage. After this climb, we climbed for several kilometers on the road, right to the tip top of Mount Pleasant.

The weather, however, was anything but pleasant. We were greeted at the top of the mountain with wind and horizontal raindrops. The track was rocky, muddy, and slick. From the top of Mount Pleasant, we completed three different timed stages. The first was unbelievably slippery, and I quickly made it my goal just to finish intact. The second and third stages were much shorter than the first, and as we dropped in elevation, the weather lifted and the traction improved. Here's the course, uploaded from my Garmin:

It was a total of 13.9 miles (beginning and finishing at that checkered square on the right) with 2,500 feet of climbing. For anyone not familiar with the area (all of you?) I think it's pointless to try to break down the stages (plus, no one cares but me and I recognize that). But there's the map. It's nerdy and I like it.

I found the following photos of Scott and I, taken during stage 3 (the driest stage) of the race. Photo credit goes to Tony Brunt.

Gawd, isn't that 'stache horrible??? And the retro 90's kit to boot... Watch out ladies!

Below, a few photos of people I don't know. But it gives a nice idea of the course, weather, and scenery.

In the end, the wild weather still treated us pretty well. Scott ended up 1st in his class (Masters 30+) and 5th in the race overall. I placed 2nd in my class (Women's Open under 30) and 4th in the Women's overall.

Pay attention when you're on the podium!! Ha!

The next race is this weekend in Dunedin. It's supposed to be a big one. Full face helmets required and an urban race tomorrow night for seeding. Should be good!