Thomas Hodgson
Picture to come Hodge!!
Well here is my little blog on the racing with the NZ U19 Team, in the Junior Tour of Canberra. July 2010.
The first day was a 23 km ITT. That was good; Dillon and I were the only guys who used our road bikes and not specific time trial bikes. I placed 12th and Thomas Ashley was a further 6 seconds behind.
The funny thing is though, during the Time Trial I actually passed around 11 riders ( all with disc wheels and expensive bikes), but that was all good, until one rider decided he was going to sit on my wheel, and then pass me when he felt recovered from my slipstream. So I got angry and told him to get off my wheel, which upset my rhythm. Fortunately for me, the course was very hilly so I could ride the big guy of my wheel, and that was Mitchell Lovelock who took out the time trial with an impressive time of 32:28.
The next day was about a 53km road race, and a 45 minute criterium, later in the day. I
decided I would take a shot at the KOM; the first one hit me hard, about 9 km into the stage.
I had brick legs and just held off for 5th (Only the first 4 rider’s collect points) we weren’t as organized as we could have been though. This stage was all a big hit for some of us, as it was the first race ever to take part in out of New Zealand, and I was a little nervous. All in all it went average and I got some results in the KOM’s.
Straight after we went back to the AIS for lunch and also we received a massive lecture from our coach Ken Bewley (father of Sam Bewley, the young kiwi rider in Lance Armstrong’s Radioshack Pro Tour team) he basically told us we need to start taking control of things and he was absolutely right. So a couple of hours later, we hit the criterium. It was off the chain! My legs were feeling great, so I went from the gun, and made some attacks off the front to get the Aussies to work in order to help either Thomas Ashley or Dillon Bennett who both had a better chance of winning a sprinters criterium than I did.
There were also two big crashes that I was very fortunate not to get involved in, unfortunately Paddy was not so lucky, but he wasn’t too badly knocked up. Ken was happier with our performances in the criterium, but we still had something to prove the next day.
The last day of racing featured a 106 km road race, with 6 KOM’s up for grabs. That
one day of racing was by far the most incredible day of racing in my entire life. Just like
Ken said we would, we all rode into this tour on the last day, and it was great! Here’s how it went - I was riding with both my head and legs screwed on, as there is a KOM 9k into the stage. I went right from the gun and it worked out beautifully, we formed a breakaway group of around 6 riders of which 3 of the guys were in my team. Paddy, Denay and I took control and I overpowered them and the Aussies to collect maximum points. The break soon lost momentum and the bunch caught us. When we were caught it was great to see our whole team on the front in total control of the bunch. I then ended up taking the majority of the points and with 15km to go Dillon Bennett attacked with 2 other Australian riders with him. As soon as that happened, our whole team
got into the third wheel from the front and stopped contributing to the pace making.
They didn’t like it one bit; there was a lot of abuse going on! But my team mates
did it for me when I was up the road, so now it was my turn. After some abuse, angry looks and foul language Dillon had nearly taken out the stage, but got 2nd, which is a
solid effort considering that stage was the Australian ACT championships. That day of racing was so incredible, because we took control from the start till the end of
the race. We had it sorted, and that is something I’ve never experienced before in my time in racing. All in all, I am very happy with the experience and my results, I ended up getting 1st equal in the KOM classification and 8th overall. But unfortunately I didn’t receive the polka dot jersey or prize money because the guy I tied on points with, Jackson Law, was higher up than me on the GC which meant it was given to him. So I was a little bit gutted, because the polka dot jersey was what I really wanted. A bloody good experience though.
Thanks to Avanti plus Nelson for maintaining my bike and giving it an awesome full service to make it run nice and smooth before the trip and Mitchell for lending me his wheels.
Cheers
Hodge
Thomas Hodgson
Tasman Wheelers Nelson
Peter Gibbs
Just because you get older, it doesn't mean there's any lessening in the competitive spirit. Nor does it mean the competition gets any easier.
You can line up in a Wheelers race or a tri club event and know you're going to get hammered by all the young blood, but there's plenty of opportunity nationally and internationally to race other geriatric competitors.
I find that the many of the same competitors I raced so enthusiastically when I was 35 are still there now, nearly 30 years later. And that's part of the challenge. Time can cut you down if you let it, but you can slow down the decay by racing on as if you were forever young.
Since I entered the ranks of 60+ competitors, I've worked harder and smarter to keep the competitive edge, helped considerably by my sponsors Stewarts Avanti Plus Nelson and Shoe Clinic and my coach Lionel Padial.
For the last two years, my twin goals have been medals at national triathlon events and top ten finishes at the world age group triathlon championships.
In both 2008 and 2009 I picked up the bronze in the sprint distance and the silver in the Olympic at Triathlon New Zealand's national championships.
The international goal is a little more elusive. Back in 2003 I picked up 12th place of 80 competitors in the 55-59 age group at the world tri champs in Queenstown. ( I also placed first in the warmup aquathlon event)
Last year 2008 I slipped a bit, breaking my scapula six weeks out, then striking some atrocious weather in Vancouver to place 13th from 100 starters in the 60-64 section.
On September 12 2009, it's time for another throw of the dice. With record numbers, there could be 120-150 of the world's best lining up in the 60-64 age group. Training through the winter's been no fun, so I'm not feeling like a world-beater, but watch this space for developments. I'll be on the best tuned and maintained bike on the course, thanks to Mike and the team at Avanti Plus Nelson.
Reuben Olorenshaw
Reuben cleaned up both the South Island Downhill Cup and the NZ Mountainbike Down Hill Champs in
the under 17's in 2009.
Reuben at the End Jump Dunedin 2009
Reuben at Rotorua 2009
Reuben thanking Chris and Avanti Plus Nelson for the total reliability of his bike. Reuben's bike
is serviced at the shop by Chris.
Vaughan Watson
Masi Speciale CX in New Zealand
I'm not exactly known for being "a man of few words", in fact... I'm pretty well known for being
"wordy". However, sometimes there is nothing I can say better than the words of somebody else. With
that said, I'm going to let Vaughan Watson of Christchurch City, New Zealand do the talking
here:
Hey Masi Guy,
just thought I'd send in a little story and some pictures of what my Speciale CX and me have been
up to over here in New Zealand. You see, over here there is absolutely no such thing as
Cyclo-Cross, i.e. no races, nobody knows what such a bike looks like, they're a novelty in obscure
corners of foreign magazines for the most part. So what do you do with a steel 'cross bike in New
Zealand?
It's done 4 100km+ road races with me placing as high as top 5 in my age group amateur class, and
first bunch of amateurs each time in fields of over 1000 people. It's wonderful mixing it up with
the carbon boys as many look upon your soulful steel beast with utter disdain!
It's completed two proper XC MTB races in the local Canterbury Summer XC series, first race I got
2nd in sport, then mixing it up with the elite boys I got 6th with a puncture at the next one,
despite the mud and slop and many people walking the downhill sections, which the Masi nailed.
It's completed a 106km 'off road' race, consisting mainly of gravel 4x4 road, getting me 30th place
out of 700 odd, in freezing cold conditions with a few people getting treated for hypothremia. I
tell ya, there is something satisfying about nailing past full suspension bikes downhill in the big
ring on your CX bike in an 'MTB' race!
It's done 850 road km in one week, with 414 of those in one day between my hometown Nelson and
where I now live in Christchurch City, a goal I've long wanted to accomplish, the Masi rode
comfortably for the whole 19 hour (including stops) effort.
It's been ridden through a number of the local MTB trails, some of which get raced in Downhill
competition, and the easy line of jumps at the local trail!
It's also been a reliable commuter doing about 80km in that duty each week since I bought it, and
has been on a nice leisurely ride with my girlfriend down the local recreational cycle path.
About the only thing it hasn't done is Cyclo-Cross!
Although there is no such thing as Cyclo-Cross in New Zealand, this bike has proven an awesome
choice for all types of riding. STEEL IS REAL! I've never had such a comfortable riding road bike,
sure rocky MTB trails can be a little hard on the body on this bike compared to the full suss, but
sometimes you just gotta suck it up, there is something so satisfying about using such a simple
bike to conquer such rugged terrain.
If for some reason I could only own one bike, I would be happy with it being my Masi Speciale CX
over any other! Thanks for making such an awesome bike.
Cheers,
Vaughan Watson
Christchurch City
New Zealand
(P.S. those Masi team cycling kits are looking sharp, perfect for getting the word out about your
brand at the races!)
Like I said above, there's nothing I can add to make Vaughan's commentary any better.
Thank you Vaughan- we sincerely appreciate your passion for Masi and your Speciale CX... and we
agree with you- "steel IS real".
Tim
Vaughan stoking for me on my 13th Rainbow Rage 2010 1st (and only) Tandem. Custom converted Avanti Uno Due Tandem.
Michelle Bellamy
Michelle a former sponsored rider by us for many years. She is shown in action at the 2009 Nelson Nationals.
