Finding My Feet

I've been pretty busy lately as the student life starts to catch up on me. With the threat of mock exams I spent 6 weeks mostly locked away studying with occasional fitness breaks to help maintain my sanity, and absolutely NO RACING.

In some ways it has been good to take a break, as it helps get your head in order. After a long season that stretched over 6 months, switching from XC to Multisport then to long distance XC, my legs jsut needed a rest, and those 6 weeks offered exactly that; a chance to maintain my fitness but not put my mind and body through the pressures that training to be the best entails. It's been good.

But, a restless spirit such as myself can only hold out for so long. I don't agree with going completely cold turkey of the addictive cocktail of adrenaline, endorphins and screaming muscles that constitutes the drug known as racing, so with a hiatus from study before the final push at the end of the year IO decided to have one last try.

This is why I maintained some of my fitness. If there's one thing I hate more than missing out on competition, it's competing and getting my ass kicked. Egotistical? Yeah. Petty? Probably. But it is this drive to succeed that has carried me through my competitive life with a modicum of success so why stop what works? My secret weapon at present has been getting into running. Highly transferable with cycling fitness due to similar muscles being used, and easy to do with high rewards for shorter sessions. So, armed with 2 sets of trainers and a choice selection of foot paths and fields, I set out to race my school cross country.

Cross country and I have a strange relationship to say the least. My first ever race was school cross country, where I finished a credible 7th. It all went downhill form there though as I was always that guy who was pretty proud to not come last. Cross country was a compulsory event up until year 10, and my year 9 self was convinced I would never race cross country again. Then I tried this crazy thing called puberty, started getting good and sport and never looked back. It has always been one of those ghosts on my record sheet though. Forever doomed to take a series of second and third places, it seemed that it was one nut I would not cracked. I wanted to change that.

I knew who the competition were, and I knew what they were capable of. I also knew what I was capable of and that I had fitness to work with. Thanks to my fledgling career in Multisport I have been forced to work on running fitness and technique, and with this has come a huge increase in speed and endurance. Armed with this, I entered into school cross country with the single track mind that had served me so well through my cycling escapades so far.

Essentially a few laps around a muddy field, cross country is not a technically demanding race at my school. However, the 3km length means that it is too long to sprint, but not long enough for endurance runners to take a lead. It was here we would test our mettle and, if all went to plan I would have used my last chance to successfully scratch this one off the list.

To put it simply, I won by a literal mile. Somehow finishing 40 seconds ahead of second place with plenty more left in the tank made it all seem a little too easy. Bursting off the line and disappearing out of sight before anyone really realised I was ahead was a little too easy for my liking. Of course, there were all the excuses of "I wasn't really trying" on the faces of some shocked looking competitors (who if rumors were to believed secretly had thought they would win easily), but despite this it was a slaughtering and to be honest took all the fun out of it. I am a sucker for a fight to the death that comes down to a bloody, frenzied sprint finish, but it was not to be. Running a race with plenty left in the tank, without being pushed, was not enough. I wanted to see what I could really do.

Fast forward two weeks and we arrive to the final of the Xterra Auckland Trail Running series. 6 km long in the lovely Hunua Ranges, here I chose to take another shot at getting that kick that only comes from a hard race. Against seasoned veterans of the trail running world with four races of preparation behind them, I prepared to do battle. I had no idea how I compared to everyone else there. All I knew is that the majority looked tall, lean, and fast. Remember, dear reader, to never judge a book by its cover.

From the start I found myself in the top 5 right from the gun. Within 500 metres we had narrowed it down to 4. At the 1 km mark the 1st placed runner was building a lead and I found myself chasing in 2nd place, and building a lead on 3rd and 4th. Setting the kind of pace that made school cross country look like a light jog, this was what I had been waiting for; this was a proper race.

The first 2 kilometers were gravel road, where the pace stayed high. After this I knew there was to be 3 km of singletrack before the final sprint back to the finish. Entering the single track I hit my straps and began doing some damage. Catching up to 1st on a climb, we began a game of slingshot where I would pull ahead on a technical climb or decent, and get caught when the trail flattened out a little again. And so it went through the trail for 3 km. By the time we hit the roads again I had built up around 15 metres lead and was running in first. It was not to last as despite my power through the single track, the former race leader regained his throne and pulled away in the final kilometer back to the race village and the finish line.

In the end I finished 8 seconds off the top step of the podium. This left me not just 2nd in my age group, but 2nd overall out of everyone racing that distance, against some of the fastest trail runners in the region. This was the race I needed, and it was the race I got. It is a nice reminder to know I can still aim high at sport and actually hit the targets I set for myself.

With that said and done, I am now better prepared for my last push of the year; my final exams. Wish me luck everyone, and I'll see you soon.

Robin

Cycling Foods

GCN recently released a video on the Top 10 Foods Not To Eat Whilst Cycling. Among that list is something we are quite fond of here at turning pages, and we are not sure we agree with their judgement. What do you think? ;)

Long Term Review: Tip Top Vanilla Icecream

Nutrition is a vital part of any athlete's regime, and the market is inundated with products claiming to be the next big thing for making riders faster. Gels, lollies, bars and drinks are all examples of products readily available in bike shops, sporting good stores and super markets, but there is a more readily available, less expensive alternative; Ice-cream. 

Found in Dairies, Cafes, Super markets and pretty much every where else with a freezer, Ice-cream is a readily available, inexpensive source of all the essentials for race day performance. Over the past year, I have been testing Tip Top New Zealand's Vanilla Ice-cream as a race day super food.

Available in multiple volumes ranging from single serves to 2 litres in most stores, Tip Top have an option for everyone's training and racing demands.

Avg Quantity Per Serving	Avg Quantity per 100G
Energy	397 kJ	863 kJ
	95 Cal	206 Cal
Protein	0.8 g	1.7 g
- gluten	0 mg	0 mg
Fat, total	5.0 g	10.9 g
- saturated	3.0 g	6.5 g
Carbohydrate	11.6 g	25.3 g
- sugars	9.0 g	19.6 g
Sodium	16 mg	35 mg

From the table above, it is clear that Ice-cream is an abundant source of carbohydrates and fats; both vital sources of fuel for endurance sport. Furthermore, Ice-cream is Gluten Free, made from all natural ingredients and the neutral vanilla flavour compliments many different combinations of extra ingredients. If Vanilla isn't your thing though, Tip Top make a range of other flavours to suit.

                              

The cardboard packaging used in the 1L model tested is nicely coloured and does a good job of preventing any leakage of Ice-cream. However, testers did find that the vertical orientation did make accessing the Ice-cream a bit difficult at times, especially without a long spoon.

The Ice-cream itself is lightly flavoured so as not to be over powering, with a consistent texture and colour. This is a testament to Tip Top’s high quality control and finely honed manufacturing process. That said, at times, especially with pre-race nerves, the Ice-cream could taste a little over sweet (a problem not encountered with certain “boutique” brands) but this could be balanced out by adding the Ice-cream to a milkshake with other ingredients to dilute the flavour a little. This also had the added advantage of making the Ice-cream easier to consume on a nervous stomach, as well as faster to digest.

The one problem testers encountered was the need for refrigeration. The coldness of Ice-cream is great for hot days, but does limit its use during a race, and requires access to a freezer for long term storage.

In use, Ice-cream performs admirably. In a series of tests comparing Ice-cream to both Yogurt and "running natural," testers reported feeling more energised on Ice-cream and thus performing better at races. This could be due to the nutritional value, but some theories suggest that the endorphins released during the consumption of "comfort foods" such as Ice-cream relax the athlete and keep them in a positive state of mind, preventing them from becoming too nervous pre-race and therefore riding better. 

Regardless of what the theories suggest, real life usage amongst testers has resulted in the belief that Ice-cream works. Although testers experimented with more expensive Organic and Hand-made varieties from various brands, we kept returning to the Tip Top Vanilla for sheer availability, reliability and low price

A top quality alternative to mainstream sports nutrition products that has been race proven.

SHOTS: Thunder Burts are go!

What is it?
Schwalbe Thunder Burt 29 Snakeskin Tyre.

What is it for?
Dry conditions XC racing.

Who is it for?
Those with a need... A need for speed!

Introduced as a bridge between the immensely popular Racing Ralph and Furious Fred (with it's lack of tread), the Thunder Burt is designed as a go to tyre for serious XC racers. That is, assuming the conditions are drier than my sense of humour.

Set up Tubeless, first ride impressions of the Thunder Burt seem good. In the dry sand of Woodhill forest, as a rear tyre they roll super quick and haven't sent me sliding out on any climbs just yet.

Cornering grip is less than their slightly larger cousin the Racing Ralph (as to be expected), but again, I haven't been flicked out into any drifts or spins because of them just yet. Wet roots have given a momentary pause for thought but set up tubeless they have handled everything the way I would expect an XC tyre to.

My one concern is on the green turf matting used to make trails ride-able in all conditions; that stuff gets slippery and in these circumstances the Thunder Burt didn't do much to help. In fairness, I doubt the slightly larger Racing Ralph that I had up front did much either, but it is worth knowing the limits of the tread design. Keep it on for dry days folks, but otherwise shift to a slightly meatier design to keep your self in check.

More over the next few months as I flog these tyres and see what they can do on a variety of surfaces.

A Stellar Performance and Service with a Smile.

A little while ago I made up my mind to try something different to mountain biking, and that resulted in me competing at the 3D Rotorua Multisport Festival. I loved it and told myself that I would return better armed for the experience.

I know I am a good mountain biker; the results showed it. However, I was a slow runner and mediocre kayaker. The running required hard work and hours on pavement. That I did. But I quickly realised that for the Kayaking leg I would need more than a sit-on-top plastic touring kayak to train on, and a borrowed boat to race on. I also figured that Kayaking is a lot like Mountain Biking; once your technique is down, the easiest performance enhancement is often simply to pull out your eftpos card...

So I began to search. I wanted a boat that could be raced hard and fast on oceans, rivers, lakes and more, but would also be a fun boat to train on when things weren't too serious. Lastly, it had to be affordable.

I settled on a surf-ski; it fitted all the performance criteria and there was potential to find a second hand bargain that fitted my price range. Fast forward a month and I wasn't getting much closer. I had a few "almost" opportunities that dissolved at the last hurdle, and it seemed that I was destined to another race on a borrowed boat. Then I stumbled across something spectacular...

Based out of Whakatane, the New Zealand distributors of Stellar Kayaks had some ex demo boats for sale. Demo boats take a beating, and the prices shown were at the upper end of my price range, but I gave them a call to see what they were. Turns out "demo" was another word for "used as a display model, still in original packaging and never actually been used on the water". I couldn't believe my luck!

Having tried a Stellar in Auckland and deciding that I liked the fit, we planned to visit Whakatane to try the boats on offer. Now, this is where the story changes from the run of the mill sale and is the reason I have chosen to produce a post on the topic. Whakatane is a 4 hour drive from Auckland, so a trip there was going to have to be an over night excursion. Little did I realise it, but the distributors (Franz and his lovely wife) had a small house on their property that they rented out to visitors coming to demo boats...

But it gets better, usually visitors were charged for the stay and then refunded if they then chose to buy a boat. Franz decided that even though I was buying a demo boat for significantly less than the retail cost of a new boat, he was going to let my accomplices and I stay for free... Imagine our surprise and gratefulness at being told that we had a place to stay as well as the opportunity to get a great boat at a price I could deal with...

We then discovered that Franz was not content to let me show up and purchase a boat I had picked out from his website. Oh no. He took out an in use demo of each model boat I was likely to suit, and put me out on the river in each one to make sure that I was choosing the right boat. He then proceeded to spend over an hour setting up the boat and giving me some on the water coaching in said boat to ensure I could use it to the best of my ability.

This is what I believe fits in to the category of going above and beyond for a customer. They took a group of complete strangers, invited us into their home, and took care of us over the entire weekend to ensure we got what we were after. I have never heard of this level of customer relations before and quite frankly I was astounded, flattered and more than a little bit humbled.

I had visited other kayak retailers before then whilst scouting out my options, and some other retailers fitted into the category of fantastic as well. A special thanks to Oscar at Fenn kayaks for helping me out with a boat at last years race, and for sourcing out a quality paddle for future excursions, and to Garth at Flow Kayaks for helping me out with some coaching and the offer of a boat if I needed it.

And yes, while I met some retailers who didn't come anywhere near the bar set by the others, my overall consensus of this community is that it's one I like the look of. I fell that the mountain bike community, as wonderful as it is for the most part, could learn a trick or two from these guys to take the industry to the next level.

So, to those retailers who have helped me so far, I would like to say a big fat THANK YOU! for all that you have done for me so far, and I look forward to being a part of this awesome group of people in the future... If you get a chance to check any of them out, I highly recommend them and I have put their details at the base of this post.

Until next time, see you out there.

-Cpt A.

Amazing folks with an amazing attitude towards their customers.

Awesome boats with a great guy behind them here in NZ.

Made in New Zealand and super versatile, super tough craft.

Cover Girl

I recently wrote a bike review for NZMTBR here in New Zealand, and was asked to do a photo shoot with the bike for the review. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that they used on of the photos for the shoot for the cover of the magazine!

If you want to read the full story you will have to go and buy the magazine, but until then I leave you with a photo of the cover so you can find it easily...

Captain Awesome: The Winter Athlete

"Most of the Endurance community don't believe he exists. The ones that do call him The Winter Athlete. He's a Ghost... You'll never find him."

Out in the early morning gloom, a shadow whizzes past. Witnesses often describe an occasional whirring, clicking sound, often followed by a "thunk!" and then nought but heavy breathing from the direction of the noises. They also report a light gust of wind as the shadow comes barreling past, and catch a glimpse of red and white stripes on a background of blue before the figure accelerates out of sight.

Some report the figure to be on a bicycle. This always correlates to the sightings where the noises are heard. Other encounters are more silent, and the apparition is usually reported to be either on foot or in a self propelled water craft of some description. In these instances, witnesses have had more of a chance to build an image of the apparition, and report it to be of moderate build, average height and most probably masculine in build.

The are a few things that all these sightings have in common. In all of them the figure is moving very, very fast. He, assuming the figure is a he, is also seen predominantly during the Winter, and often appears at athletic events with some level of casual atmosphere, such as local race series and races with a reputation for killer spot prizes. He has, however, also been sighted at prestigious events such as Regional and National Championships in multiple sports.

No-one knows exactly who The Winter Athlete is, but one thing is for certain; he is training for something, and he definitely looks fast...

Keep an eye out for The Winter Athlete on a trail near you...

A reconstructive artist's precis developed from witness reports of The Winter Soldier.

Coming Soon: SHOTS!

Coming soon on Turning Pages:

SHOTS!

What are shots, you may ask? If you asked different groups of Mountain bikers what  SHOT was, they would all give you different responses; XC riders will open yet another fruity tasting energy gel, downhillers will wave small glasses of spirits at you and photographers will scramble to their portfolios to show you some of their "shots". And all the while the Enduro riders will sit aside from all of this shaking their heads, with a fruity smelling alcohol soaked photo of their latest race run stuffed into a back pocket...

But here on Turning Pages SHOTS means something a little different.

Standing for Short Hard Out Testing Sessions, SHOTS reviews will be a collection of reviews where I haven't had a product long enough to get a long term reliability report or explore every nook and cranny of a product, but feel that I have enough information to give an opinion on it. This will be ideal for situations such as Demo days where I will only have a limited amount of time with a bike or piece of equipment, or as a precursor to a long term review to keep you guys updated.

Look for them soon in a blog near you this winter...

-Robin





Note: SHOTS: Short Hard Out Testing Sessions, is a term I devised late one night for Turning Pages. As such, I reserve the rights to this term under New Zealand Copyright law. Please communicate with me directly if you have any queries.