Red Bull Defiance 2017by Joanna Williams Experiences of Team Outside Sports
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21 Apr 2017
Red Bull Defiance 2017by Joanna Williams Experiences of Team Outside Sports
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7 Mar 2017
by Reuben Thompson- Ambassador "February was a real breakthrough"with some pretty spectacular performances as my form is starting to show going into the final month of my Tri season. I started the month with two A Grade club race wins two weekends in a row. The worst race was up coronet peak where I won by several minutes. I then won again the following week after attacking on a sharp hill with about 3km to the finish and held my advantage all the way to the end. I had two of my more important races of the season on the 18th and the 24th. The 18th was the Wanaka Round of the New Zealand 16-19 junior series. Having only turned 16 three days prior I was one of the youngest in the field. After a pretty trashy swim I was around 2 minutes down on the leaders. Then I had my work cut out on the bike where I rode the fastest bike split by a minute to get into 5th. My run was a really good one. Got from 5th to finish on the podium in 3rd. On the 24th was the Southland Secondary Schools Champs. I had a relatively good swim coming out 28 seconds down. My bike and run were really quick and I biked over two minutes faster than my nearest competitor and then over one minute faster in the run to take the win. February 26th was the first round of the Calder Stewart Elite series held in Cheviot. The course was 137km with one very steep climb to face 5 times throughout the day. "I was the youngest rider racing and the only under 17 racing against seasoned pros like James Oram and Brad Evans."The first 2 laps were fine as I rolled along in the group saving energy but halfway through the third lap I got a bit excited and jumped on the gas a bit on the climb and then rolled some hard turns on the flats. This took its toll on the final lap when I blew up a bit and fell off the back of the bunch to ride the final 20km solo. I am still happy to have finished as the tough course whittled the field down from 80+ starters to 43 finishers. It really was a valuable experience and a lot of learning done out there. I was also pretty cool to be riding as a team in our rather slick looking kit from Champion System, Central Benchmakers, The O'Brien Group and Willbike Cycle Coaching. And as ever thanks to Specialized Bicycles, Outside Sports and Southern Sports Podiatry for the continual support. |
20 Feb 2017
by Casey Brown “Welcome to our team 'Slice of Heaven'! We are pretty much 4 people that love running and exploring and somehow managed to talk ourselves into this crazy bloody race. Made up of 2 mums, a track guide and a personal trainer we simply hope not to be short coursed and cross the finish line talking to each other. With ultra off road running as our backgrounds the thought of sitting on a bike grinding up large climbs wasn't too appealing to begin with. Battling our way through on 10-15year old bikes made initial stages of training really tough! And then came the Ruze Expert 6Fattie.... we love , love, love our fatties! They are like sitting on a lazy boys. Great mobility on single downhill trails, will beat any 29 up hill, roll efficiently on the road and are easy on the butts off road. Follow our 3 fatties and a skinny around the unknown course starting on Feb 25th! We are team #73. Yell loudly if you see us going around in circles.... Thanks Outside Sports Te Anau and Andy's Bike Shop for looking after us and our bikes!! |
8 Feb 2017
January Race Wrap UpReuben Thompson- Ambassador In January I continued to build on my training, clocking in my biggest bike week ever as well as a good block of swimming and running. I was very privileged to do some training with Youth Olympic Triathlon Champion Aaron Barclay and now have Aaron helping me out with my triathlon plan and am also on board with the Willbike Cycle Coaching Team with James Williamson. Aboard my old steed I raced three final times in January. My first race was on the 2nd of January, the Dunstan Tri. I came away with third place in the “under 18 category” and fifth place overall. My new bike started off sharply. My first ride on it was from Queenstown to Wanaka and back and aside from the rain and some snow on the top of the crown range it was great fun. I raced it the following day at the Cromwell to Alexandra handicap race. Again placed on scratch our four man group had to make up 27 minutes to the leaders over 39km. I came close to catching them but fell short by around 200 meters. I did however take the fastest time of the day after attacking on a short but steep hill to ride away solo from my group. My last race of January was a 35km mountain bike from Clyde to Bannockburn through farmland with 993 meters of climbing. I surprised myself to come away with 3rd place ahead of some very big fit lads who were on form one week out of The Pioneer. In February I will be racing the first race of my secondary schools season at the southland secondary schools triathlon champs as well as the challenge Wanaka sprint tri as part the NZ Junior try series. I will also be riding for the first time as part of the Central-Benchmakers Willbike Cycle Team in Round 1 of the Calder Stewart Cycling Elite Series.
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7 Apr 2015
With over 700 entries for 2015, Contact Epic is one of New Zealand’s longest mountain bike challenges. Past competitors have ranged from 16- 73 years old. Staying in touch with the traditional kiwi value of self responsibility, Contact Epic has minimal signage and support people along the course to create an untouched, true adventure race for any endurance athlete.
Contact Epic 2014. Photo courtesy of Contact Epic
With a total distance of 125 km Contact Epic circumnavigates the shores of Lake Hawea, Wanaka in the South Island of NZ. An ultimate bike race through the Hunter Valley and Dingle Burn high country farming stations of Lake Hawea. The course exposes challenging and varying terrain with bursts of short climbs and long descents, through river and stream crossings.
Contact Epic 2014. Photo courtesy of Contact Epic
There is also the 95km Classic option on the same course and a shorter 35km Traverse race also starting at the Lake Hawea Dam and riding through local farming country and along the mighty Clutha and Hawea Rivers.
There is no official bike checks, no compulsory gear list, no cotton wool and no excuses, just you taking on this challenge on your own terms. Entries have now closed for 18th April 2015, but for all of those tough enough to enter- See you at the finish line!
Get race ready with Outside Sports and make sure you're prepared for the ultimate challenge with a Bike Service, before and after racing. Nutrition to keep your body fuelled and bike clothing and equipment from Top leading brands such as POC and Specialized.
GU Energy, Fuel your body before and after.