Mountainbike National Championships Day Three Wrap
Downhill Survival at a Windy Long Gulley

The third day of the 2010Mountainbike National Championships was completed today at the Long Gulley Downhill venue at Brooklyn in Wellington. Difficult weather conditions created a huge variable for the 200 Downhill competitors racing for National titles, with hot, dry and vicious gusting winds turning an already challenging race course into a treacherous race for survival.

Wyn Masters race one.

The Downhill race for National Championship titles was under way at 2pm. The morning’s seeding session produced a mixed bag of results across the age group categories, with many strong favourites being gathered up in the clutches of the gusting wind to fall off the pace. However, come race time and the summer form book regained its worth – deserved champions crowned across the board. Of note was the performance of George Brannigan (Hastings) who was racing in the Under 19 category for this title after a summer racing in the Elites. Brannigan convincingly won today, in a time that would have placed him 6th in the Elite field. Likewise Local Wellington rider Dan Meilink – like Brannigan Meilink seeded first in Senior Mens and backed that up to win his first Senior Mens Downhill National title.

Cam Cole

In the Elite Womens race Harriet Harper (Blenheim) was after back to back National Championship titles in the prestiguous Downhill discipline. And she did this in style, winning over the fast improving Sarah Walker. BMX Olympian Walker was all praise after her foray into downhill racing, recognising first hand just how tough and uncompromising this sport is. Walker may just have enjoyed this experience so much that it won’t be the last seen of her on a 26″ downhill race bike.

Dan Melink

The Elite Mens race was missing New Zealand’s two highest ranked racers – Sam Blenkinsop through injury and Justin Leov. However, the quality of field chasing this 2010 National title was extremely high, with all of NZ’s other top professionals and several visiting international athletes in the field.

Wyn Masters finish line.

Wyn Masters (New Plymouth) seeded first, and the rest of the top ten seeded riders were right on his tail time-wise. But this race was to be Wyn Master’s finest moment and he followed through on his top seeding time to take the Elite Mens National Championship title from Wanganui’s Glenn Haden. Haden had won at Long Gulley before in similar conditions, and lost out to Master’s typically powerful and controlled display by only 0.3 seconds. Levin’s Nathan Rankin took third, with Cam Cole (Christchurch) and Four Cross National Champion Matt Walker (Kawerau) 4th and 5th. For Masters this title win seems to have been a long time coming, and for the likeable and charismatic Taranaki streak, totally deserved this year.

George Branigan

Glenn Hayden

Louis Hamilton (Under 17 National Champion)

Matt Scoles

All Photos- Caleb Smith.

The RaboPlus Mountainbike National Championships finish tomorrow with the Hillclimb event on Mt. Victoria at midday.

Words and Pics:Ace Woodley

Well racing in snow ! new one for me,  never done that before,  made things more interesting. So Coombe Syd, an old NPS venue last used for that back in 2004,  not up to current NPS specs but a firm favourite down south as it’s got good length,  a fair vertical drop,  carpark and UPLIFT,  and not to rough an uplift track and the tractors go round in a big loop,  none of this one road up same road down business.   Anyone out there who raced back in 04 would have felt right at home as the track is still the same.  Not the most technical but great for a work out and not to scary for newbies which being a local race there where a few popping the old race cherry.

A few minute push up from the drop off point,  and Sunday morning was a bit fresh and the snow was still there, the timing was set up where the red posts are.  So from the start my 1st run,  lil Chris Lamley zips off, he isnt that far off me on shorter tracks so i go on the 30 second mark, drop in,  few pedal strokes then slam into the roots and remains of a drystone wall,  new wheel grabbing holes, tight through the trees, slip the pedals to stay up and scoot over the log into the braking bumps and hit the fireroad,  SPRINT stay in the stream of meltwater or take your chances in the inchs of snow and slush,  hit the bus stop hard and fast and you carry enough speed to get up and over,  going well, dab the brakes line up to exit the bus stop you are about 10 feet above the fire road,  i then wondered why the marshall was in the way down there, i am committed to the exit,  an emergency stop is not going to happen,  NO red flag, the marshall shouts stop !  lil Chris is lying on his back and the marshall has a hand on his head.   I CANT STOP,  stay put i will go round,  this all happened in a few seconds,  to try and stop there and then would have put me on top of the pair of them,  i safely ride round,  Sprint again hit the next bus stop again carry as much speed as possible to get over it, this one is long and flat with bumps and logs,  step down exit, i go right of the tree slower but no roots, dab the brakes set up straight then hold on (somehow i managed to flat land it on the 2nd run, marshall here was impressed i didnt snap the bike again about 10 foot drop to flat)  Into the middle woods,  no snow here, tree cover too dense but its thick mud i cant hold the cheeky corner cuts and aim for the big rut and stay in that,  the mud is clogging the wheels ( some had to stop and clear it to get rolling again) the bike is all over the place and slowing down fast,  slower you go the more mud you pick up,  stay in the new rut around the 2 small jumps to slow to jump,  the gap jump is in sight,  did it last year, screw it just skim it and the bike sheds mud and as if by magic picks up speed again.

The gap jump sends you into a right then left berm then hit table 1, the run in is full of braking bumps all full of standing meltwater, the upslope is rutted,  no wind today so no worry of being blown off the jump, i skim it and pedal where i can, the open field is cross rutted and very wet, table 2 skim over that and into more cross ruts full of water and hit the double,  thats Dan Fisher up there from Team Big Peaks making a better job than me,  short sprint and i batter the double double, sit down tuck in and pedal to the small step down to the fire road and yes you guessed it SPRINT pedal like buggery,  dead tearoff graveyard here,  line up for the bottom woods,  hard braking straight line, let go and stuff the front wheel over the roots and hard right, then hard left weave round the trees and straight line into the bombhole,  my line now hits the big rut in the bottom of the hole that wasnt there a few hours ago and i get spat into that big tree stump on the upslope and go over the bars uphill,  grab the bike try to clamber out with flat shoes on, run and jump to get rolling more roots and a line split,  fast boys go left and aim for the spine of the rock drop, i go right and into a berm and go down the right hand side of the tree,  loads binned it on the left faster choice, i choose the longer slower right and stay on the bike, go slow to go fast and carry speed to make the akward exit, hard right and a chunk of shale comes up with the mud and jams the cranks,  back pedal then forwards then back again, it’s cleared exit the woods, line in sight, pedal over the speed hump and SPRINT and jump the finish,   drop the bike and talk to Tony about lil Chris,  a radio check goes up as they have heard nothing,  he is ok  and shortly sets off to finish his run and then crash’s out again, 7 mins after starting he rolls over the line and dont look good,  he clipped a stump on the bus stop exit and went over the bars and flatlanded on his back,  badly winded and sore ribs.  We were surprised when he rolled up for run 2 !

Run 1 went well, no snafu’s with timing, loads of DNF’s but no injury (not that i heard about, and uplift is gossip central for whoever crashed out) Time to clean off the bike ready for the next run. 

Other stuff ! i had the normal social things on the go and wanted to talk to a few people about things i have heard,  keeping quiet about the details at the moment but we may well be getting an official uplift service (other than kustom bikes) at the moment it’s mates only,  but they are thinking about a proper public service (bookings only) and have to look into the legal side of things,  it looks good, have to wait and see on that one, if it goes “official” i will pass on the details.

The Men from Mule.

After the first run a banner appeared on there car,  i wondered if this was a race sponser so slinked over for a chat, Jimmy and Giles from www.mulebar.com i have had a look at there site and they like adventure,  well they got that allright,  Jimmy(on the left hiding the bike) is the big Boss and this was his first DH race,  Giles was making sure the boss didnt get nailed,  it gets better (dont tell Intense!) they kind of “borrowed” an Intense Slopestyler for a “test ride”  in the course of this test it was subjected to a proper tractor trailer uplift (we all know what that does to a new bike) and then got raced in all that grinding mud,  Giles bagged 3rd in master’s on that 951 and Jimmy was happy to survive,  who knows maybe they will appear at a few more DH races, it was nice to see industry people at a local race,   and racing for kicks to try it out,  the box of mulebars in the boot came in handy when they had to get out of the carpark,  nothing like a bribe for a push,  my Toyota is of course awesome and had no trouble getting out.

Other stuff, i heard via acebook that Mr Deakin is doing training days,  i got him to stand still for five minutes and asked if this was true and not an internet windup..  I got a press release later on,  heres the main details.

Ben Deakin Mountain Bike Coaching and Training days

This is one2one training whether you are into Xc, free ride or downhill or just an absolute beginner looking to get more from your bike and riding.   Ben has the following,  British cycling level 2 coach,  CTC trained instructor,  M.I.A.S. level 3 (mountainbike, instructor award scheme) and is trained in Adventure first aid,  the course can be tailored to suit you and will cover,  the basics and bike set-up,  kit and equipment,  cornering technique,  jumps and drops,  line choice,  race prep and training.

Prices start at £25 per hour for a one 2 one session lasting between 2-4 hours.    Or a group booking up to 6 riders at £20 per person, per hour for a 2-4 hour session.  For more information email bendeakin5@hotmail.com or call him on 07940485311

  Ben is a well known character down south and a bit of a powerhouse on the bike, he is also a Royal Marine and has been training them to ride and race, he is now riding for Torico and Muc-off.   You see what i mean about down south getting going !  secret cookie races,  Woodland riders winter series at Tavistock, the Uk Bike park is having a major facelift as well, Kustom bikes racing and uplifts now we have personal trainers,  we might not have the big tracks here but we seem to have a very strong growing DH race scene, look out out for team big peaks this year,  and it’s growing as i heard a few other things as well.

AND I HAVE MOVED NORTH against my will…   bugger.

Ben is the one in the middle, Andy Payne from Torico on the left and Andy Wright from Axo/RHUK on the right, yes the HT podium for results check www.kustombikes.co.uk  or go an d check out Sebs www.rootsandrain.co.uk which is pure gold for race results and well worth a look anyway.

Right trade show stuff next, icebike show here i come.

Fraser Britton was on hand to witness Filip Polc winning the race.

Stay tuned for more photos/video/report from Fraser as soon as he’s brewed up some coffee.

Men

1 47 Polc Filip SVK19820410 SVK 0:02:34.000
2 25 Genova Enrique CHI19870909 CHI 0:02:39.000
3 30 Jarrin Mario CHI19840125 ECU 0:02:39.000
4 36 Leon Johan CHI19900804 CHI 0:02:40.000
5 37 Maio Jeremias ARG19891117 ARG 0:02:42.000
6 2 Acuña Mauricio CHI19880815 CHI 0:02:45.000
7 18 de Santiago Santiago ARG19890917 ARG 0:02:46.000
8 41 Miranda Wallace BRA19850327 BRA 0:02:46.000
9 21 Ferreira Pedro CHI19890426 CHI 0:02:47.000
10 66 Vieira Federico BRA19900917 BRA 0:02:50.000

Women

1 3 Oliveira Luana BRA19910528 BRA 0:03:20.000
2 2 Miranda Veronica CHI19860911 CHI 0:04:37.000

Dirt reader Jimmy Doyle who lives in Finland was at the first round of the Finish Winter series in Messilä about 100 km north of Helsinki.

Jimmy reckoned conditions were great, about -10C, 50cm+ of the white stuff and not too icy, just fun, fast and tricky, some times a challenge to keep her upright.

Jimmy says: “If anyone fancies an office day out I will put on a winter race on the 13.03, it will be FUN! one run on the DH bike and then a 4 cross on Stigas (snow sledge, click link to see what I mean: www.bossbi.com/bike/stiga/stiga.php , I smell an ambulance)”

So with a perfect day of Naki sunshine we were all set to go for the 2nd annual Backyard Masters Dirt jump jam I suited up to be dressed for the occasion as the host, a decent crowd of around 50-60 people turned out to witness the action going down next the veggie patch, we had lots of people coming in for a look as it was the same day as the Round the Mountain cycle race so there were lots of cyclists in town, Lots of riders showed up also and rode hard with cold Red Bull’s giving them the “wings to go all day and bust big for some of the awesome prizes donated by our sponsor’s Red Bull, Revolution Products, Wide Open Distributors and Rockstar Racing .

The first event of the jam was the Whip comp which was sick to watch all the young kids throwing one out there, several Wanganui riders showed up and were throwing a few out close to 90 degrees! The win after the top four whip off was taken by “BJ” Brandon Jackson of Wanganui who had one of the best looking whips and managed to whip every jump.

Then followed the best trick which didn’t really take off I think everyone was just enjoying having a chill day riding the trails rather than busting big, although for some reason everyone was getting old skool with heaps of Nac nac’s going down, but eventually I managed to pressure Seano McCarroll and Boof Reader in to going for a flip after many attempts he eventually landed one very briefly but I counted it so Seano took best trick taking home a sick set of Chromag bar and stem, Boof’s 2nd attempt was a little worse but took out crash of the day and a set of Gravity bars for some compensation.

Then the annual Best Style award was taken out by local boy Matt Cameron who knocked off work at 3.30 and pinned it there in order to catch the last hour or so and still managed to flow through the jumps so well that it was decided he had the best style. Best young rider was taken out by little Jackson another local 15 year old who went through the the whole run with style every time he hit the jumps, a pretty good effort considering some riders were struggling to get past the 2nd jump, he took the award in style and downed a beer bong and rolled away on some fresh Tioga tires from wide open.

So that was the main parts of the day from then on it consisted of a chilled jam session on the jumps with the sounds and BBQ cranking then once it was all wrapped up it was time to sit down kick back a reflect on what a day it was over a few coldies, which eventually ended up turning in to a pretty loose night as well!!

I would like to thank everyone who helped put the event on, everyone that helped with digging the jumps, everyone that showed up and rode or watched, my Mum and Dad for letting me have events like this and finally all the awesome sponsor’s for supporting me in organizing an event like this, so to Red Bull, Rockstar Racing, Wide Open Distributors, and Revolution Products I’d like to say a big thanks.

With luck Backyard Masters will be back next year bigger and better. Photos thanks to www.pix2c.net

Cheers,

Wyn Masters

Anyway, here’s the full story:

More than 2,000 spectators made their way to the White Style course designed and built by Kona Clump team rider Grant “Chopper” Fielder. Grant received lots of props from the other riders for the set up consisting of different elements like:
An igloo at the start with a small drop, a set of two doubles, followed by two massive fruit bowls combinations (with a 15ft. drop) as well as a huge double at the finish (about 40ft. far).

Riders jumped the last gap and reached up to 25ft. above the ground. The most important point to remember: the whole course was built out of snow. So it was definitely a challenging set up. But some of the world’s best riders came to Leogang. They impressed the spectators and sometimes each other by pulling off the biggest tricks that were seen in a mountain bike contest.
The riders seemed to feel already quite comfortable in the first training session on Thursday, and even more on Friday. Some of them even changed from their small travel full suspension bikes to hardtails – a proof for a smooth course, even though there was so much airtime involved.
The qualifications on Friday evening were dominated by Swedish rider Martin Soederstroem (technical and clean riding including double tailwhips), Yannick Granieri from France (by far the biggest backflips performed on a contest), U.S. American Cam McCaul (great style and big bag of tricks), Canadian Darren “The Claw” Berrecloth (360 look downs at its best). Linus Sjoeholm (SWE), Amir Kabbani (GER), Sam Pilgrim (GBR) and Jamie Goldman (USA) completed the Top 8 of the qualifyings. But qualifications and finals are always a different kettle of fish: Martin Soederstroem, who won the qualifications, couldn’t finish his first run because of a technical issue. Then he crashed pretty hard on his second final run trying to pull a double tailwhip
because he overshot the 40ft. gap and landed to far down – 11th place for him.

Jamie Goldman did what he can do best, showing a huge backflip off the big fruit bowl, but unfortunately slipped from his pedals landing a backflip superman at the last double and therefore only placed 7th. Cam McCaul, Darren Berrecloth and Amir Kabbani showed clean runs including backflip tailwhips, super seaters, opposite 360s, 360 x-ups and backflips.

But it was France, Sweden and Great Britain to dominate the podium:
Yannick Granieri managed to be the highest one in Leogang’s sky with huge 360s, backflips and tailwhips in his first run. He might have even been at the top of the podium, if he had landed his 360 tailwhip drop in his second run. But he over rotated and missed the following jumps. The third place is still a good result for him and a good start into 2010 on his new bike.
Linus Sjoeholm, Martin Soederstroem’s best riding buddy, was the big surprise of the contest. His clean execution and range of technical tricks impressed the judges and spectators: 360 at the starting drop, double tailwhip at the first double, superman at the second jump, backflip off the fruit bowl, barspin into the 2nd fruit bowl, tailwhipping the big drop and finishing his run with a flipwhip at the last double. Linus’ second place and 1,000 Euros were well deserved!
The man of the day was Sam Pilgrim, no question: tailwhip at the start, frontflip at the first double, backflip no hander at the second, 360 x-up out of the fruit bowl, tuck nohander and backflip at the 2nd fruit bowl, as well as a backflip table at the last jump.

Sam couldn’t stop joking after his success having 1,800 Euros in his pocket: “I will spend all the money for sweets, for real!” But he also stated pretty serious: “Crashing on snow is not that funny, because it’s much harder than you might think. It took me a bit to cope with it when I competed the first time at the White Style, but man, it was fun this year and Chopper did a really great job, big respect!”
A short overview of the top 12 riders – seems like every bike brand sent someone of their rooster:
Place Name Team Country
1 Sam Pilgrim Diamondback GBR
2 Linus Sjöholm Scott SWE
3 Yannick Granieri Commencal FRA
4 Amir Kabbani Mongoose GER
5 Darren Berrecloth Specialized CAN
6 Cameron McCaul Trek USA
7 Jamie Goldman Santa Cruz USA
8 Sam Reynolds DMR GBR
9 Grant Fielder Kona GBR
10 Niki Leitner YT Industries AUT
11 Martin Söderström NS Bikes SWE
12 Jakub Vencl AGang CZE
For all of you that didn’t make it to Leogang last weekend:
A 24 minutes event report will be aired soon in the Red Bull TV
window on Servus TV: March 6th at 11:30 pm CET.
You can watch it with your digital satellite receiver or on March 6th
at 11:30 pm CET also live online at www.servustv.com (click
“Servus TV Live” link on the bottom left hand corner for the
stream).
The White Style partners Kona, CamelBak, Bikepark Leogang and
ONE BIG PARK hope that you liked the hot mountain bike
slopestyle action on snow. More detailed information about the
White Style partners can be found on: www.konaworld.com,
www.camelbak.com, www.onebigpark.at and www.bikeparkleogang.
com.

Tom Davison just sent over this great video of the event.

More Mountain Biking >>

At last we found out which of the Parkin Brother is the faster, and also that Dirt Tea boy Jake is quite good on his home track.

Pro Am
1. Dave List 1:06.915
11. Jake Ireland 1:12.848 (Dirt Tea Boy)
12. Rob Parkin 1:16.557 (Dirt TV)
13. John Parkin 1:19.512 (Dirt TV)

Full results on MiniDH

The South Island cup is done and dusted with, well not so much dust this year. The series was wrapped up over the weekend with round 3 on the infamous Kaka Hill, Nelson. After some some sick riding and plenty of bloody sand fly bites here is my take on what went down.

Photos:James Allan

Arriving in Nelson to pouring rain on Friday afternoon was a bit shit. Kaka hill is mostly rock based ridgeline and does not get affected much by the rain so i wasnt to worried. The rain cleared up that night which allowed for a quick track walk and it was much the same as previous years. Varied with a native tree section at the top then out into the open hauling ass down some rocky ridgelines before dropping down the last section with a bunch of switchbacks lined with gorse either side. Most people ending up picking this gorse out of their ass for the next few weeks haha. With close to no pedalling and big grins for the ballsy Its got to be my favourite track of the year and one of the best in the country.

The next morning I was keen as to get into it when I arrived at the hill. Shortly after gearing up for first run it started to rain again but didnt last to long, Showers would come and go all day but not changing track conditions a hell of alot. It was loose but still fairly controlled and everyone was loving every minute of it. Shuttles where charging all day and everyone got enough practise runs in. Line choice was simple as the fastest lines where resonably obvious. I felt fast on the track and good results there in the past gave me good confidence for the race the next day. Thanks to Cam Johnsons Mum for cooking us a beauty of a feed that night!

Race day I got out to the hill bright and early so I would get a good park. Same as the day before it started to drizzle just as morning practise was schedueled to start. It didnt come to much and i got up there with the first few to go down. Having rained over night it was wild down the rocky sections but the sun came out and the course was becoming quite dry in time for seeding runs. As for seeding i went out pretty hard knowing i was sitting 2nd overall in the Si cup and needed as many points as possible, I went alittle to hard and crashed up top which cost me my run and ended up 2nd. With a bit of luck and a win in the final it was still possible for me to take the overall.
But it wasn’t to be, I stacked on the fastest bit of the track. I got up quick and rode hard trying to salvage the best result i could and took another 2nd. I was fairly pissed off with myself but what can you do. As for Pro men it was another hot contested race, Nathan rankin made an appearance and after qualify first he took a downsky in his run. Mathew Scoles took the Win with Frenchy Fabien Pedamaund in 2nd and Jr World champ Brook Mcdonald in 3rd.

Post race there was an after party at horses pump track although not alot of pump track sessioning went down. With the Si cup in the books there is now a couple week break before the Ni cup kicks off in rotorua. Big thanks to everyone involved with the organising of the Si cup over the past few weeks, There has been some good times had by all for sure and it wouldnt be possible without all the volunteers who put there hand up to drive Vans and blow whistles etc. Also thanks to Tomac bikes and everyone who is helping me out this season.

Cheers,
Jed

Rather than try and give you a detailed meteorlogical report on the weather, I’m gonna sum it up in the form of a scene from one of my favourite films, Sexy Beast. It’s the beginning bit where Ray Winstone is sunbathing in his budgie smugglers by the pool. Cue deep-toned cockney accent: “Oh yeh… Bloody ‘ell… I’m sweatin ‘ere… Aaah…….. Roastin’… Boilin… Bakin’… Swelterin’… Its like a sauna… Burnin’ on my stomach… Huuh… Who wouldn’t let this up… It’s ridiculous. Tremendous… Faaan-tastic. Fan-dabba-dosey… tastic.”

Yes it really has been that good, some say too hot. Except for one day last week, and of all the days, it would be a Thursday. And trust that on that Thursday, after a beautiful and hot day, the skies would grey over and throw down lashings of rain right about 5 o clock. Just in time for the next League of Gentlemen! The event had to be re-named for obvious reasons to “Suicide Slip n Slide Snakes in the Grass”, which was an old school duel slalom held on the grass above the Frankton Beach.

Conor Macfarlane, making the trip up just for this event along with all the others from the Invercargill Massive.
Dedication to a two dollar un-race!

At first it looked like the rain had got the better of everyone; no one turned up at 630pm. But slowly the riders gathered and in no time we had a cold but fun two wheeled soiree on our hands. The course was as follows: Start on grass, round a tree, round another tree, wide around the next tree, round the outside of the orange cone, then round the other cone, then through the finishing cones. As you can see, this was a man’s track and no place for the faint of heart.

Webbo. Pinning it on grass LoG stylee.

Having had a ball busting day at work I was favouring the alcohol side of the League of Gentlemen Series. Magners cider was the tipple of the evening and despite being a big and bulky bottle I managed to hold on to it just fine whilst practising the track. Alcoholic? ME? Never! Riders names were drawn at random and placed into heats, of which I lost my first one, which I was stoked about as it meant more time on the booze. There were some interesting heats, having both just bought GT Sanctions, and both being ginger, Si Smith and Tim Ceci had a battle of epic proportions and it was Si who eventually got one over on the boss. Gradually, crash after crash, victory after victory, the riders were slowly whittled down to just a few. It was getting pretty rowdy in the losers circle too. The combination of beer, rain, wind and cold meant heckling conditions were at the absolute optimum. Stack of the day has to go one a-piece to the Weir brothers. Mat for getting Mallet finger within the first few minutes of practise, and Pete for his front-wheel-washout to “oh-shit-it’s-suddenly-gripped” to high-side-almost-face-plant-into-tree. How you didn’t break your neck is a mystery! If you braved the elements, spectator or participant, then pat yourself on the back and open a cold one. To say the most was made of a truly shite evening (weather wise) is an understatement! Just mind the litter next time, thanks to those who stayed behind to clear up the few empties.

So for those who have been paying attention to all the juicy NZ news that’s been pouring out this summer, you’ll have heard a lot of talk and hooha about a wee bike shop called Vertigo Bikes. Now I figure everyone understands that they play a pretty significant role in the local biking community, whether your needs be a cable ferrel or a heli bike trip to remember, so I figure it’s about time you met the man behind it all, Mr Tim Ceci.
Tim has very deep roots in biking, a quick flick through the old skool photos dotted around the shop is testament to that. Whether it be razzing a little 2 stroke MXer as a nipper, rocking the lycra and pads through the fashion-faux-pas years or going head to head against the likes of Titley or Cheesey Pete in the old SAMS races in the UK (Do your homework kids if you don’t know who they are). So how did he end up as Grande Fromage of a bike shop in Queenstown, NZ? Best ask him I suppose.

Tim Ceci, taking fashion to extremes “back in the day”!

Name:
Tim Ceci

Age:
Doesn’t matter!

Birthplace:
Birmingham, UK

Years living in NZ:
11

Brief history in the sport?

I started out mainly doing motocross as a kid, which sparked a huge interest in mountain bikes. Entered my first race in 97 which was a SAMS DH (Southern Area Mountainbike Series). Carried on doing the SAMS for a while, mainly against the likes of Cheesy Pete and Titley! Ended up getting sponsored by a local bike shop who sorted be out with a GT STS and shortly after I won an MBUK downhill race on the south downs. Funnily enough after all these years I’m back riding a GT again! I’m loving my new Sanction. Pang has started a trend…

Any claims to fame?

Not sure if it’s a claim to fame so much as a funny story… But once at a SAMS race Cheesey Pete was bike surfing, y’know, one foot on the saddle and other on the bars. He must’ve made it look easy but I remember having a go and just binning it so hard. My bars went into my groin and had I not been in so much pain I may have had the opportunity to be embarassed!

What made you leave the UK?

After I finished university I went travelling in 98. Simply put I made it to NZ and fell in love with the place. I popped back to the UK briefly but what kept me coming back was Skippers Canyon. When I used to race SAMS the tracks were very short, and the first time I raced Skippers I won it in 7 mins 15 seconds. It was just epic, nothing compared. I returned to NZ on a work visa and set up the shop in 2000. It’s moved around a bit, we’ve had about 5 different locations. But we’re very happy where we are now.

You must have seen some big changes since being in QT?

Where to start?! Inititally when we set up it was just two of us guiding sporadically, but over time it just grew. I’ve had the likes of Justin Hauvakinien guide for me, as well as Paul Angus who used to race world cups and who still guides for me now. Having riders like these work for you is a privilege but also gets word out about the place. Over the years there has been a gradual increase in riders in the town and now it’s at the stage where Queenstown is really getting the recognition it deserves. Vertigo has gone from two mates doing occasional trips to a fully functioning guiding company and bike shop. Speaking of guiding, if anyone fancies a radical change of lifestyle, can hold a conversation as well as ride a bike, get in touch. As long as you’re not an idiot and feel you can bring something good to the table we always welcome new guides. It’s hard to find long term employees in towns like this and we try to keep it like a big biking family.

Describe your role in the MTB community now:

I pretty much run Vertigo Bikes flat out, however, with the closure of Coronet Peak, and the arrival of Zip Trek Eco-Tours from Whistler operating above our skyline downhill tracks, we felt an upgrade of the old Vertigo track was needed. This is both from a community and a business point of view. The MTB locals have gained an amazing new trail and Vertigo Bikes has a valuable resource to guide on. Personally and professionally, my aim is to promote a passion for MTBIng to a wider community. It gives me the best buzz to show a novice rider some of our more adventurous trails and see them at the end of the trip begging for more.

Where would you like to see MTBing headed in Queenstown?

That is an obvious one for me to answer as the question I get asked most frequently in the shop is ‘how much is a day pass to ride the gondola?”. So for QT it would be back to the future as in the early nineties MTB bikes were allowed on the gondola – but there were no MTB trails.
This caused conflict and the eventual exclusion of MTB’s. So I would like to see the expansion of future trails on Skyline Hill both by Vertigo and MTB club and public access to a zoned Bike Park. This would benefit both the MTB community and the community as a whole with the tourism it would bring.

Best part about your job?
The satisfaction of building Vertigo into a highly succesful business from a one man band and hobnobbing to having visiting pro’s that we get to take riding and filming on our tracks. Generally hanging out with a bunch of good dudes who ride and enjoy the outdoors. The Vertigo end of season road trip has become an institution that we all look forward to. The last few years on opening day of summer, Pang has said ‘only 182.5 days until the road trip!’

Worst part?
Wannabe Sam Hills telling us how amazing they are. NB let your riding do the talking!

Anyone you’d like to thank?
All my staff that do an amazing job in Vertigo Shop.

“After what seemed like a bloody long week at work I was stoked to see the weekend roll around once again and hit dunners for the 2^nd round of the NZ Mtb cup. Having been told the weather was crap all week in Dunedin I was prepared for the worst.  The track on signal hill is sick with a bit of everything and is always keeping you on your toes. Especially the big rock garden at the top of the course which would prove to be wild over the weekend in the wet conditions, A few big crashes and plenty of sketchy moments had in there Im sure! Signal is my local and I know the hill pretty well so I was pumped to try and bag another good result.

Photos: James Allan

My hometown of Oamaru is only a 1-hour drive to Dunedin so I decided I would just make day trips down on practice and race day. Up bright and early Saturday morning I fueled up the Trusty old transit and headed south to dunners. With registration out of the way vans started shuttling everyone up the hill and the general vibe was everyone loved the track although a bit loose in the rocks. The shuttle turn around was short so blasting out heaps of laps wasn’t a problem at all, Not doing too many was the key. Over the course of the day the track proved fairly unforgiving with a few riders being claimed including myself, I took a nasty digger towards the end of practice which left me with a tweaked wrist and a mild concussion. I iced up my wrist pretty quick and headed home unsure if I would be able to ride the next day.

Sunday morning I arrived in Dunedin to wet roads and low misty rain covering the hill. I was there super early keen to get up for first runs to see if my wrist would hold up. Sure enough the car park filled up pretty quick and transport got underway. Course was super slick and the weather looked set in, my wrist was holding up all right but im sure the painkillers where helping a lot. Morning practice went quick from 9 am to 10.30 and one run extra for the pro boys. Following a rider briefing they got straight into it with seeding runs. Most of the course had dried out by now but the rocks in the trees where still wet and wild. My plan for the run was to take it easy and save my wrist for the final, I ended up crashing and bending my rotor pretty bad cruising in out the ass in about 9^th.  Which wasn’t to good for points. Putting that behind me I got myself sorted and felt confident about putting down a good race run. I started off well but went down in a heap in the rocks, don’t know how I didn’t get injured but I got up quick and rode the rest of the course all right. I ended up 3^rd in Junior which I was still pretty happy with. In the big boys class local man Justin leov Took it out with a fast 2 min 43. Cam Cole in second and current junior world champ Brook McDonald in 3^rd.

Dunedin put on a great race and the track made for some awesome racing. Also MC for the day Eddie Masters was good for a few laughs. For me its Back to work for a few days then I will be headed north to the top of the south island for round 3 in nelson.  Cheers to Everyone who put on the Event in Dunedin and my sponsor Tomac bikes.”

So there you have it. Happy riding and see you next week.