Since my last update I have raced the Argentina World Cup in Santiago Del Estero, ridden and tested the World Championships track in Medellin Colombia, raced the Manchester World Cup and now am based here in Aigle Switzerland getting ready for the next World Cup in Papendal with the UCI team.
 
Argentina is always a culture shock making me appreciate the little things in the world and especially New Zealand. Practise came and went and with the track not changing since last year it made for a relatively easy practise working on the weaknesses I had from the previous year. Qualification racing came and went sitting in 12th going into day two finals day. Finals day I really struggled to put it together down the hill just getting cut off each lap and struggling to work my way through the pack and getting pushed off the last straight blowing my points out ending my day in 1/8ths.

It was then onto the burn of a travel to Medellin Colombia for a few days to trial out the World Championships track. After all the story’s of how steep it was and how gnarly it was, I was expecting to have to get really turnt up and get the job done but upon a few little changes and tweaks here and there of the track, it was relatively easy to get used to and complete everything. The city s amazing, the people are great and the coffee…WOW! This place will make for a good event come May.
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I then headed to Manchester England to get ready for the next world cup. This track being the most physically and mentally demanding on the circuit made for some good sessions on the track building up and in practise. We landed at 8am in Manchester and with 3 hours sleep, had a session on the track and got everything jumped and completed. First official practise came around and it was straight to racing. My weekend ended in qualification motos unfortunately for this race due to battling for the lead into turn 1 with 2 others going down luckily only coming away with grazes. This race seen more crashes than I have ever seen at one event reminding me why BMX is in my opinion one of the craziest sports around!

I have just recently landed here in Aigle Switzerland to a hot sunny day, the mountains full if snow and ready to get out and shred one of the best tracks in the world. Papendal in 3 weeks…..lets go!
 
#Nine4nine

​Well it’s been a while between updates. I’ve been a little slack on the whole thing over the New Zealand summer with so much going on but I am currently back on the travel life so have a little more downtime on my hands.
 
Since my last update way back in Rockhill a lot has happened. As most of you might have seen through social media I didn’t need to go under the knife with surgery on my hand so that was good news, but on the flip side it took a lot longer than anticipated to heal being 9 weeks in total meaning I had to miss racing the North Island Titles in Taupo, New Zealand leaving me to cheer on all my riders and athletes I coach.
 
Nine4Nine BMX Coaching has been going crazy with all my regular weekly clients around the Waikato along with running coaching clinics in Alexandra, Invercargill, Christchurch and weekly coaching down at the Cambridge BMX Club. Regular training programming is going well seeing me all booked up and at full athlete capacity. Along with this, my elite group has been progressing really well with weekly track, gym and sprint sessions, testing sessions and monthly sports psychology sessions have been going really well. It makes my job so much easier when I get to work with riders who want it just as much as I want it for them! I am currently taking more coaching clinic bookings for the 2016/2017 season. If this interest your club or region, please contact me via facebook. #Passionate
 
Since my arm came out of splint I went back to business as usual in the training element on the bike, in the gym and mentally getting ready for this season. A few weeks being back on the bike I unfortunately crashed again in training putting me back off the bike for another 2 weeks leading into our national championships and Oceania Championships at the end of January in Auckland. Being my first weekend on my bike coming into this race from my hand and other crashes I felt a little timid out there with the main goal for me was to just keep it upright and not go down. National champs final came around and I punched out ok but being stuck on the outside backed off into the notoriously wide open first turn to try and stay out of the traffic and sneak up to the inside of the first turn and then wamo, snippered from behind going down in the first turn. Day done and the sleeve gone. It was the weirdest day of racing for me as I struggled to focus and find the drive that I usually have on the gate.
Day 2 being Oceania Champs I turned up feeling a lot more confident and back in the game cruising through motos and the semi final. In the final I popped out strong and felt good to the bottom of the hill but tagged the first jump a little to much and got swamped a little finishing up in 6th for the day walking away feeling good. Its funny how a few bad results mixed with a few crashes can mess with your mind and you start to question yourself as well as what and why you are doing the sport. Fortunately enough I have been given the tools to pull out of this mind set and I pulled out of it within a few days.
 
Training resumed and things finally started to move forward and upwards chasing goals, dreams, P.Bs and ambitions. I left the am currently in San Diego, California training at the Olympic Training Centre staying with good friend Tyler Brown. In between rain and getting the man flu when I first arrived here, things are going well. 1 Session on the Rio replica track and 2 on the Beijing Replica has made for some good international big hill sessions. For the first time in my career, the first few days here I struggled with a small case of home sickness but once I found my feet out here I soon got back on track.
 
The burn to Santiago Del Estero, Argentina for the opening World Cup starts this Saturday to meet up with the New Zealand team. From there we head to Columbia for a few days to ride the world championships track in Medellin, then onto Manchester for the second world cup. I then head to my favourite place other than New Zealand of Switzerland to train with the UCI crew for 2 weeks leading into the Papendal World Cup. My plan after that (If selected to race the world championships) is head back to the states to train leading into Colombia.
 
Anyways, time to go stretch and tick all the boxes!
 
#Nine4Nine 

Since my last update, a lot has happened.  I have raced a Word Cup in Argentina, headed to USA and raced the final round of the World Cup, flown home back to New Zealand, sustained injuries, had university exams, started training again and back into the full swing of my 3 days a week coaching and running clinics all over the country in the weekends. You could say things have sped up since returning home, not slowed down that’s for sure.
 
I went into Argentina after spending 2 weeks training in California ready and prepared. As I competed at this race last year, I knew the track relatively well with only a few changes to the heights of jumps.  Practise came and went and so did qualifying motos going though to finals day. I drew some outside and idle lanes for motos, which I went through comfortably to quarterfinals. I drew a decent rack for my quarter and came out strong sitting in 4th the whole way till the last 1metre into the finish line where I was passed missing out on going through to the semi final. That was my day done having to watch the semis and finals still struggling to believe what had just happened.
 
From there we flew up to Rockhill, South Carolina where we were based for the next 3 weeks to train, ride the World Cup Track and settle in and have a base for more than one week. Training went really well. The Dutch national team and a few others that came and went during the build up which made for some quality training keeping everyone honest every effort.
Racing came and once again like most world cups this year, the week leading up to the race the weather was great and come the weekend, it would either rain or be crazy winds. This weekend did not disappoint on previous trends and practise came and it was raining and windy. First practise went well. Then the second practise session right before qualifying racing unfortunately seen me rip a clip before the first jump in the wet and blow to pieces. As all Bmxers can relate but going back to the pit area I knew I had broken something in my hand or wrist but strapped it up, ate some pain killers and clenched my teeth and got on the gate. First moto took the holeshot and finished in second, second moto somehow managed to flip the gate and coming in last going into the last moto having to take the win from lane 7 which getting the holeshot and taking the win secured me for day 2s finals day. The day left me sore but confidence levels high knowing I had just gone 12 rounds with Tyson in practise and moto 2 and won.
Day 2 I woke up and felt exactly that, I had gone 12 rounds with Tyson. My hand had blown up and bruised, the body was covered in grazes and bruises and I struggled to turn it on and surpass the pain. Once again I strapped up, ate painkillers and did what I could in racing but couldn’t manage to qualify out of motos into quarters. Mentally I struggled to turn it on and the pain got the better of me.
 
From there I packed up, went to my first American Football Game and flew back home to New Zealand.The same day I landed into the country I went straight to the mountain to snowboard for the week and catch the tail end of the snow. I also headed down to the south Island and ran another successful coaching clinic with Vic Hill once again re iterating why I love this sport and everything to do with it.
On my return back to Cambridge where I started to settle in again I went and got scans on my hand showing what I already knew was the case and I had broken my hand which meant 6 weeks in a splint and at first possibly surgery but managed to stare clear of that.  This meant I missed the nNorth Island titles in New Zealand and training has had to become creative but loving being back into it. Also as you do as a student, you leave everything to the last minute and
That meant I had to cram and spend every spare minute I had finishing assignments and studying for exams. Fingers crossed I have done enough to pass this semester haha. Studying on the road is usually easy for me but this year being away and racing so often I have really struggled.
 
I’ve learnt a lot being overseas for the 6 months I was away. I’ve experienced a lot, been to a lot and although I love living out of a bag and traveling race to race, the feeling of actually putting your clothes in a set of draws and not having to sleep in 2 different beds per week has been amazing. The things I learnt out on the track from this seasons racing will be worked on over summer and coming into the final year building into the Olympics is crucial that every box is ticked is crucial.
 
Moving forward, training will commence back to 100% when this splints off my arm, my coaching schedule is fully booked out till I fly back out to race next season in march and I’m looking forward to a New Zealand summer!
 
All for now, time to go train!
 
#Nine4nine

Since my last update I have left the UCI Training centre in Switzerland, attended the World Championships in Belgium (as a coach), raced the last World Cup in Sweden and am currently in California, USA getting ready for the next World Cup in Argentina.

It was a sad day having to leave the centre as that place not only grows you as a racer and rider, but it promotes friendships and good habits in life that cannot be broken moving forward. I can’t thank the team and Thomas at the centre enough along with Royalty BMX bikes for having and supporting me for these 3 months.

The World Championships was a different feeling for me than normal. Being at such a big race and not actually competing made for some very mixed emotions good and bad. Good being there was no pressure what so ever to perform and bad, because I wanted to be on the gate so bad throwing down and competing. That said, once things kicked off, the coaching the junior elite riders from New Zealand went well and I was on the road again to Sweden.

Angelholm, Sweden is a small town north of the border of Denmark. We were based there for the next 2 weeks building into the race where we got some solid well needed track time. Qualifying racing came and went and the main day I felt good. Cruising through motos, quarter finals were up next. A slow lap in the last moto meant I was up for 7th pick giving me lane 7. Tagging the gate and going sideways meant I was last down the hill getting cut off. Trying to fight back I got up into 5th then washing out in the last corner trying to push it to fast wanting to pass 4th place down the home straight. Day done! The feelings you get when know you were capable of making the next round but didn’t is unbearable post races and the same was for this one. On the bright side there’s some solid work ons moving into Argentina.

I am now based in California staying with fellow kiwi (can’t say fellow BMX rider as he has just retired) for 2 weeks before heading to Argentina again for the next world cup. Post Argentina I will be heading up to Rockhill, Carolina to get prepared for the next world cup and then back home to New Zealand post this race.

University has been pretty stressful lately with assignments due and mid semester exams the weekend of racing and on travel dates/arrivals. The hustle is real that’s for sure and I have big goals outside of the sport which I am putting into place now for the future. More on that as it unfolds....

I also tried my hand at the dark side and chucked the leg over a downhill bike for the day in Switzerland and France...lets just say I make a better BMX rider than downhill rider crashing 3 times in a day hahahaha.

This journey is never possible without the support of many and once again I have received a scholarship from both Massey University and the Taranaki Elite Athlete Foundation. I am over the moon for their continued support and can’t thank these guys enough for believing in me! It means a lot!

All for now,

#Nine4Nine

Over the past few weeks I have had races in Italy and in Switzerland as well as regular training here at the UCI Centre in Switzerland. Weather has been amazing with some crazy temperatures of 40+ so training has been fun you could say.

Racing began in Italy being a UCI category 1 race and two days in Geneva, Switzerland the following weekend for their national championships.  

In Italy, I went on to hole shot  the final and take the win. We then headed up to Geneva the following weekend in some crazy heat once again holeshotting the final and taking the win both on Friday night and Sunday as international riders were unable to race Saturday due to it being their national titles.

I've been feeling really good on the bike, around the track and down the front straight of late thanks to the man him self Thomas Allier which is also complimented with ridding with a good bunch of skilful horse powered riders. Training has been a lot different to what I am used to and I struggled to adapt for the first week but in the big picture, it is all working which I'm not complaining about coming into the best shape I have been in during the my whole period of racing.

What's next?
Unfortunately I was not selected for the World Champs as I wasn't seen as fast enough from the selectors at the moment so I now have a 5-6 week period of hard training to be ready for the next world cup in Sweden which couldn't come any sooner. I may also be showing my face in Belgium to step into my other role of coaching to help out the fellow kiwis at this once in year opportunity. I am also finalising a few details but it may look like I will go to USA and compete in the final round of the world cup series in Rock hill, Carolina which I am also excited about doing.

All for now
#nine4nine

Well things have been ticking along nicely here in Aigle, Switzerland at the UCi Cycling centre. Training has been going great ridding one of the biggest tracks in the world if not thee biggest and having coaching input from one of the legends to come out of the sport day in day out. Training has been completely different to what I have been used to which keeps every day a surprise...for the better! Ridding with a good bunch of dudes always makes it that much better also. Another new aspect to me was a road ride charging a killer hill climb and a first for me wearing licra.....let’s keep that to ourselves haha.

Race wise since my last update; I have raced 3 Swiss cups here in Switzerland and 2 UCI races over in Prague.

The first Swiss cup was in Wintertu which was a last minute decision to head out and race due to the heavy load from the training week. After turning up a little late and almost missing practise I had 3 laps and sorted everything. First 2 motos breezed through until the third moto came around and I came out of the gate strong and right before the first jump ripping a pedal causing me to hit the deck hard. That ended my day and walking away sideways with a decent concussion and some very uncomfortable showers for the next week due to grazes.  I was scheduled to head over to Denmark for my first European round the fowling weekend but due to concussion issues and doctors orders I stayed home and slowly got back on the bike.

Next up was a weekend of racing the next round of the Swiss cup in Sion. Track was basic and fast with thee slowest gate I have and will ever ride in my life. First gate I left on green and almost flipped it which made for some inconsistent gates come racing haha. I was super surprised at the amount of riders here in Switzerland pulling enough for quarters. Both days I cruised through motos, quarters, and semis and onto the final for both days placing 2nd and 3rd.

Following that weekend I then headed off to Prague, Czech Republic with the team ready for the 2 day UCI race. Track was fast, different and tight. Race days came and went cruising through motos, semis and onto the final. With a 3rd and 4th place finish in the semi meant I had lanes 7 and 8 in the final each day. The gate dropped and even though my gate and front straight was ok, I couldn’t manage to push my way over into the first turn enough to get the hole shot enough getting held high in the turn and finishing up in 8th place.

What’s next on the calendar? another UCI race in Italy this coming weekend and then the UCI race at the Swiss national championships the fowling weekend.

All for now, time to train! #nine4nine