National Secondary School Champs.

First of all I would like it clear that I have never raced at the Levin Nationals before, and so have no experience other than horror stories told by other mountain bikers of muddy Hills that kill drive trains and spirits...... I was pleasantly surprised.

The weather was kind enough to hold out for the duration of the event asides from a light shower on Saturday evening. The first thing I noticed lining up on the start line was the volume of riders. Oceanias was big but number wise this was bigger. Launching off from a snappy start we were faced with plenty of climbing to keep even the hardest riders honest, and technical, steep downhill to push bikes and bodies to the limit. Broken chains and burst tyres were common as grass, with Hardtail 29'rs the order of the day. Despite my trusty old full sus I came a very convincing 4th place.

Sunday was hill climb territory, dominated by Riders who could push through pain barriers, I still put in a convincing 8th over the 2.5 km climb, again on my full sus.

Downhill should have been my event but a dropped chain wrapping itself around my rear dérailleur (not sure how) put an end to that... Overall though, some great racing was pulled off, although unfortunately there is talk of nationals being held elsewhere.... a shame as this was a great event that I will surely return to.