January Madness

Sitting down in Invercargill before we head to the awesome indoor Velodrome to firstly train and prepare new riders for racing on a first class facility and tonight they all race, many for the first time on a 250m indoor board track.

After coming back from Vineyards it was straight into the Canterbury Track Carnival. Last year was lacking in numbers and six months ago Syd Martin and I thought with the loss of the Grandstand (due to be red stickered post earthquakes) that track let alone the Carnival was not going to happen.

But to Syd's credit and assisted by Bruce Dawe, myself and some new blood on the track committee we got there in the end and put on the best Carnival many (inc some riders who have raced around the World at the highest levels) have ever been part of. We had 5 Olympians in Natasha Hansen, Eddie Dawkins, Simon Van Velthooven, Marc Ryan and Shane Archbold who all showed us why they are World Class and delivered superb performances every time they came to the line.

Bruce Wilson captured the excitement and intensity of the racing from both nights...

Mitchel, Luke and Max duke it out!

Kate and Christine get ready to race!

Olivia was undefeated on both nights!

Shane Archbold and Eddie Dawkins entertain the crowd before and during the racing!

The next weekend was NZ Elite Road Nationals where the Carnival Atmosphere transferred to the tar seal and again New Zealand's Elite Riders showed their class. Roulston, Bennett, Henderson, Bauer, Sergent, Oram, Vink, Kiesanowski, Lowe and many others showed just how strong we are as a Cycling Nation. Sam placed 5th in the Elite Men's TT and 20th in the Road Race while Mitchell went several laps in the Road Race.

Next week Reon (NZ Team) and Sam (Budget Forklifts) ride the NZ Cycle Classic. In two weeks time Maddi, Luke, Max, Ben, Angus, Andrew, Greg and Holly all do battle at NZ Elite/U19 Track Cycling Championships racing for Gold and National Selection to various events. Then there is Canterbury Track Cycling Champs, Age Group and Elite/U19 Omnium Nationals before we focus back on the road for Oceania Champs in Canberra, Tour de Lakes or TeA and focus in on Club Road Nationals.

January 2013 Update

Wow, it's 2013 already, just come back from the Tour de Vineyards in Nelson where I was the Chief Commissaire for the Woman's Grade.

Since getting back from Tasmania it has been a full on time as I got stuck into the Track Season. Good news is Sam Horgan is back on his bike and riding hard after his horrific crash in Tassie.

The Track Season has been rather awesome with great turnouts for the Wed and Sun racing and the level of competition has been excellent. Looking forward to running the Canterbury Track Carnival on the 4th and 5th of January.

Went up to Auckland to present my (proposed) research at the SPRINZ Strength and Conditioning Conference at AUT. Also got a chance to watch two nights of racing at Manukau. Some very good riders there which is more motivation for Canterbury riders to race hard before Nationals. One last hurdle to leap with my Masters research (Ethics Approval) tracking changes in cycling specific fitness with a power meter.

I was the Chief Commissaire for the Benchmark Homes Festival of Cycling which was an awesome event and showcases what a top promoter like Simon Hollander can do for Cycling in Canterbury. It is great to hear that he is coming on board with the Benchmark Homes Elite Cycling series and the new addition to this series will be a Master's Grade with their own races to go along side the Men's and Women's races.

Took a group of riders down to the Southland Track Cycling Champs and all performed excellently with a surprise NZ record for Olivia Podmore in the U17 girls 500m Time Trial and we really saw Rhys Jones lift his game riding tactically in the Sprint.

We ran a Mid Season Champs at Denton Park which is something we haven't done since the 80s so it was good to give a lot of riders an opportunity to ride Championship events before they go to Nationals, and for the Age Group riders before they ride Canterbury Champs. Olivia Podmore, among others, smashed out a few Denton Park records.

January is full on with the Track Carnival, NZ Elite Road Nationals, NZ MTB National Series (DH and XC), Southland New Year Track Carnival, NZ Cycle Classic, Waimate Track Carnival and NZ Elite and U19 Track Nationals. Motivation for Africa to get out and race hard!!!

Hamish

2013 Manifesto!

*Who?

Who do you want to be in 2013. The person who wins the race, breaks the National record, becomes World Champion, lowers their time for LeRace, gets invited on to the squad or team, loses 5kg! Decide now, write it down, think big, small goal are not a stimulus for action!

*Why?

 Because who we are is what we repeatedly do! I assume your goals above have deep and personal meaning to you. Only set goals if they will help you to focus and engage properly.

*How?

By focusing on the NOW! 2012 is over. 5 Oceania Titles, 16 NZ Titles, and countless South Island and Canterbury Titles has been reset to 0,0,0 and 0. You must do the same. If things didn't happen for you in 2012 you still do the same. NOW is January so you focus on January, Today is the 2nd so you focus on the second. If you don't do today right you will be behind the eight ball for tomorrow anyway.

*What?

By racing with the appropriate focus and right level of engagement. Only start if you are there to improve your performances. Be a race maker, have a plan and embrace the complexity of racing. You can always learn more but when the race starts you have to work with what you have. Analysis after the race is no good, use the pre-briefs to programme yourself for success!

*When?

NOW!!!