Posts tagged sports blog
Mountain Biker VS Springbok
Pretty crazy video of a mountain biker in South Africa being taken out by a Springbok.
I remember when I was out at Woodhill Bike Park about a year ago, riding a trail and I heard this noise in the bush that sounded like something was coming my way. Two seconds later a deer sprints through the track right in front of me, bounds over a fence and is gone. Thank fu*k I didnt get smoked like that guy!
RWC 2011: Farwell Canada
Canada is officially done at the Rugby World Cup. Yesterday they suffered a pretty big thrashing from the All Blacks. Now that wasn’t surprise and to be honest they really didn’t play too badly. Yeah the score was pretty lopsided (79-15), but for the first 5 min Canada held a 3-point lead ahaha. Overall the All Blacks really didn’t play that well. They seemed to throw some pretty bad passes and had a hard time holding on to the ball. They were lucky they were playing Canada, as against one of the better teams it would have cost them the game.
I am impressed with Canadian rugby! Canada played well this tournament and is making great strides in the rugby world. With a win vs Tonga, a close match to France, a draw to Japan and of course the loss to the All Blacks they have nothing to hang there heads about… they did well. Good job boys!
Good job Team Canada - you did us proud - on the field and in the beard growing competition.
Adam Kleeberger my favourite Canadian of the tournament and not just because of the mountain man beard(damn i wish i could grown a beard like that) but also because of his hard hitting play. That guy was all over the place, tossing his body around with no care in the world. Near the end of the 2nd half he had a head on head tackle with one of the All Blacks and I swear he was out cold for a few seconds. They way he hit the ground, face first just looked like we was knocked out for a second or two. Both players were a bit shook up and I believe Kleeberger had a bit of a spew on the field… now that is going HARD! In the end he walked off, so he is one tough mofo!
If you haven’t heard the All Blacks have lost one of their best players. Dan Carter; all-star fly-half, kiwi favourite and underwear model was out of the Rugby World Cup. While practicing he tore his groin complete meaning it would be a minimum of 10-12 weeks before he could play again. This is a HUGE loss for the All Blacks. Think loosing of it as loosing Sydney Crosby at the 2010 Olympics. I feel terrible for him. He has worked his entire career for this moment and it is now lost. That is sport I suppose, you take the good and the bad.
RWC 2011: Canada VS Tonga
Go CANADA!!!
I was able to attend the Canada vs Tonga game early in the week and it was the best international sporting event I have ever been too. It reminded me of the Vancouver Olympics when Canada beat the USA in hockey, but better because Im in a foreign country. I flew back into Auckland from a work trip in Wellington and Christchurch and my mate picked me up at the airport and we headed on our way to Whangarei. It was me, my mate and his partner plus a random Canadian that joined us for our roadie. That made for 3 Canadians and a kiwi; good mix!
Whangarei is about 2 hours north of Auckland and they had some bevies chilled and ready to go in the car. FYI – it is legal to drink in a vehicle, just not the driver. This made for a fun ride down! We checked into our motel and had a cab waiting to take us to the game. 15 minutes later we were amongst a sea of red. Not just the maple leaf, but also Tonga whose flag fly’s the same colours.
This little girl offered to paint a maple leadf on my face... how could you say no to that!
We had enough time to each grab a 4 pack of beer and then it was time for the national anthems. We did our country proud singing a long, even the local beside us commented on our patriotism. A little girl beside painted our faces with the red and white!
It wasn’t supposed to be a close game, Canada wasn’t supposed to pose much of a threat. But that is the great thing about sport, on game day anyone can win. Canada was much smaller than Tonga, but it didn’t matter. We battled the entire game and pulled off a major upset and then the celebrations began. It was full of cheering, high fiving, hugging, flag waving and many renditions of O’Canada. We walked down to the Thirsty Prawn where the Canadian celebrations were just kicking off. To be honest all I remember is hanging out with more Canadians than I have since I moved to NZ. It was great. The atmosphere was electric and friendly. We got on the piss BIG TIME! After celebrating there for a couple hours we needed a feed and hit up the local eatery in Whangarei.
Once back at the hotel it was a beer, food and bed! Woke up the next morning to a headache, but it came with a smile. We won, had an epic night and had the entire day to make our way back to Auckland. The party didn’t end there…
What do you the next day after a huge win for Canada at the RWC? You get back on it! We cracked some morning beers and let the day come to us. We had to check out by 10am and we were 3 beers deep by this time. My mates partner was driving us back so it was party time once again. We had a case left to drink, a couple girl liquor drinks and a big jug of Sangria to get through and did we ever. On the trip home we stopped off at the beach had a swim, drank couple more beers and then went for a wee hike to a waterfall. Not bad eh! Soon as the booze ran out, night-night. Woke up in Auckland, where I took a nap for another couple hours, then got up and had dinner and back to bed. BENDER!
Here is a gem of a story about the game that game to forefront 2 days later. Michelle has a friend whose partner is Canadian. He has mate over from Canada and they are touring NZ going to all of the Canada games and a couple others. They invited us over to watch the All Blacks VS Japan game. NOTE: I had never met these other Canadians before. I was joking before going over to michelle that I could have met/seen them at the Canada VS Tonga game and wouldn’t have remember as I was a bit boozed. So walk over to their place, meet the other Canadians and watch the game. Cool people and we talked about how great the game was and all of the red and white the Thirsty Prawn. The next day I get a txt from said Canadians saying that he has pictures of me and him partying. Neither of us remember this. Fu*k’n crazy-ass night.
RWC 2011: Opening Ceremonies Highlights
Here is the highlights for the RWC 2011 Opening Ceremony. It was pretty impressive to say the least!
Afterglow – Woodhill Bike Park
It’s been pretty wet in NZ lately! All this rain has kept me inside, meaning I can work a some new videos. I recently took the video camera out to Woodhill Bike Park to shoot one of my favorite trails, Afterglow. It’s a 2 min downish single track ride packed with lots of berms… sweet!
Mountain Biking in the Whitford Forest
The weekend I ended up heading out to the Whitford Forest Bike Park. It was the first time Ive been out there so I really didn’t know what to expect. The forest is about ½ hour outside of Auckland, so much closer then heading to Rotorua! You need to pick up a trail pass for $5 at the Howick information center. The tracks are about 6 km outside of Whitford and can be found once you hop the gate and ride down the dirt road. There is a trail map, which could be replaced, as it was pretty faded and hard to read. I couldn’t find a map online, so I just took a look at the map and then headed off into the forest. The tracks were pretty decent. Lots of single track, plenty of roots and off camber sections. There are also some tight and technical sections. They also have a couple downhill tracks and stuff with jumps, drops and north shore structures. I can’t remember the names of the tracks I rode, but they were enjoyable. I was able to ride for 3 hours and didn’t many different tracks. The trails do need some love and attention. Some of the jumps and structures have seen better days. It is a pine tree forest so the tracks are littered with pine needles – pretty easy to wander off the trail. They could also put up some new trail signs, as the ones they have out there are really faded and almost impossible to read. I ended up getting lost, getting found and getting lost once again. The forest isn’t so big that you can’t find your way out. Overall it’s a fun place to ride and I would give it a 7 out of 10. Definitely one of the better spots in the Auckland area.
Beers, Biking, Rugby & Chinese Laterns… just another weekend in NZ
The Chinese Lantern Festival in Auckland is worth a visit. There was lots of lanterns.. though this is the only photo i took as my camera battery died...argh!
It was another great weekend in NZ! I had drinks after work at the office. I find that there is big difference between Canada and NZ office culture. Back in Canada a lot of the time everyone just wishes each other a great weekend and they all head there different ways come Friday. Here in NZ everyone will get together for a few drinks. It just seems a little friendlier.
Saturday I was up early to go to Rotorua. I wanted to get down early to get in as much riding as I could between 9:30 and 2:00. On the road by 6:30 only stopping for a flat white in Matamta I was on the trails by 9:30. Instead of just hitting the shuttles I decide to ride up (for a change) to get to Hot X Buns. It’s a fun, steep, flowing track that has a couple drops.. but nothing to scary. I hadn’t ridden this since last year and it is def worth the effort of the ride up. Coming out of that track I rode Pig ______. It’s a nice short track that takes you back to the road so I could start doing shuttle runs.
First run down after riding the shuttle up I rode corners. Just a super flowy, bermy track with more corners that you can count. It criss-crosses with the jump track so there is lots of options when riding. I haven’t started back on hitting the bigger jumps. I’m still doing phyiso once a week trying to get my shoulder back to full strength. It’s only been maybe 6 weeks, so it will most likely be another 2-3 weeks until its fully healed – so i am told. First run pure enjoyment.
At the bottom I meet the shuttle and toss my bike on the back of the trailer and like always make sure I secure the tye. On the bus I chatting with a few other riders, discussing other tracks in the area.. nothing unusual. At the top I jump off the bus and go to grab my bike… it’s not there. WTF. I take a double look.. confused.. worried.. where’s my baby ahaha. I look at the tye and it is now frayed and broken. My bike is somewhere on the road! So i jump back on the bus and started down the road looking for my bike. Well there she was half way the road, some other cyclist must have moved her to the side of the road. I jump off the bus, give it a once over. The handle bar and break levers are scarred with rock gashes. It is functional, just not as pretty as she once was. Not a big deal.. I can eventually part it out later on. I was just glad I could continue riding and that it was only cosmetic. I was able to ride another couple hours before having to head home for the rugby match that night.
Once at home I hit the showers and then grab a beer. We caught the train to Eden Park at 6:00. The train ride is free with your ticket – sweet deal. Plus we got tickets for the Canterbury Fan Zone – 2 tickets for $16! Score! Yes we are in the opposing teams fan zone, but it really doesn’t matter to me. I decided that I would cheer for Canterbury. It was a great game and Auckland ended up winning.. which is a huge surprise after seeing them last year. It was definitely the best game I’ve seen live, which made the atmosphere even better. 8 beers later the game is over and it’s time to go home. So much fun and I am hoping to score some more tickets for the Super 15.
Sunday was chill. Groceries, lounge around the city and that was pretty much it. Ive been trying to edit some video and I have been struggling. Hopefully I will have something up soon. In the evening we went to Chinese Latern Festival at Albert Park for the Chinese New Year. It is was pretty cool! A lot of people would be an understatement! I am not one for huge crowds, but I was totally worth it. The latterns were pretty amazing and looked great amongst the huge trees of Albert Park. Unfortunately my camera died pretty much as soon as we got there. Note for next time.. check the battery before leaving the house. I got maybe 2 pictures ahaha. There was heaps of yummy food stalls. After a bite to eat it was back home and to bed as I have a busy week at work.
West Coast Mountain Biking: Day 7
Today there would be no riding, which I was ok with since I was exhausted from the 6 days of straight riding. I had to be at the airport around 2ish and Mark had to take care of his radiator problems. After breakfast Napalm showed off his collection of bikes – he had a variety of hard tails and a couple downhill rigs. Napalm will ride a down hill rig everywhere. Cross-country, single track, downhill, to work or the shop – anywhere. Downhill rigs are usually about 40lbs and now known for being easy to peddle – they are built to huss down a track fast and take a lot of punishment. I think you have to be a bit mental to ride around a bike like that – of course he was a bit of a nutter and he proved that when he took the corner at Craigieburn way too fast and went flying off the track. He is working a new build and told me how he scored a 2010 Giant Faith frame for $100. It was dented along the down tube in the earthquake so they couldn’t sell, so he picked it up cheap. That frame is usually worth a grand or so. The dent really wasn’t that bad either. It wouldn’t really compromise the ride or the strength of the frame.
I then had my first shower in 7-days. I thought my fellow passengers on the air new Zealand would appreciate it. Once all cleaned up I packed my bags and had Mark drop me at the airport. I was there way too early before my flight, so I was unable to check my luggage. For the first hour I broke down my bike and then I just people watched until I was able to check my bag and bike. Once everything was checked in I headed to the bar for a couple pints and a burger. The trip was over! Overall it was an amazing week of riding. We managed to do 2 rides a day – which was pretty tiring, but well worth it.
My favorite place to ride was Craigieburn and Kirwans. The day of shuttling the walking path was pretty crazy too. One thing is forsure, this trip has allowed me to see a totally different way of life and ride some of the best tracks a long the west coast of New Zealand.
West Coast Mountain Biking: Day 4
Today we started the day with a wee bit of labour! One of Purples mates need assistance putting in this massive window, so after breakfast we piled into his van and shot over to his place. About an hour later we had installed the window and it was back to the house truck to take down our tents, prep for the days ride and collect our bikes. The plan was to ride the Britainna track and then head to Berrytown to ride one side of the Croesus Track.
The first track of the day was Britainna which was an old mining trail as well. This track we were abel to ride most of the way up and like the bridal path track from the day before, bomb down! It was a good ride and a great starter for the day. It was all single track, so it was pretty enjoyable! After hussing the track we headed off to Berrytown. Here we were going to meet up with one of Purples mate, who also lives in a housetruck. On the way to Berrytown we stopped for a swim to. Mark was keen to jump off the bridge, even though he didn’t know how deep it was.. not a good idea! We asked a goup of people sitting on the beach if it was deep enough to jump into and they thought so. That was enough for Mark and he then calmy jumped off the bridge. Now the water wasnt that deep and he ended up jamming a two on the bottom, but luckily that was it. Being that none of us had showered in three days we all went for a swim – I am sure we were pretty rank after 3 days of hard riding! Maybe that is why we were getting those strange looks at the grocery store ehehe
After the swim we continued on our way to Barrytown. Barrytown is a popular stop for many travellers. All that is there is a pub, but a lot of the tour opertors stop there for then night. I beleive they have a dress up party there, as the walls are covered in photos of travellers dressed up. We met up with Purple at the pub to have a beer. It went down way to easy so before we ordered more we decided we best get up the hill for the 2nd ride of the day. We had to meet up with Purples mate, Pears who lived just down the road. He has an amazing piece of property over looking the ocean, backed onto the mountain! He also lived in a housetruck. Pears is a character! He had long brown dreads, was rocking jean stubbies (stubbies are short shorts) and gum boots. A couple years back he had a stroke and lost feeling to one side of his body, yet he can still use it, he just cant feel anything. We unloaded our bikes and then headed to the trail head. We were able to ride the first bit, but then it got to steep so it was once again time to hike a bike. This track was super narrow, unlike all of the mining tracks we had been riding, very rocky/mossy and rooty with sharp corners and steep drops off one side. You definitely didn’t want to go off the track because it would have been a hell of a fall down. I was pretty nervous pushing my bike up this track, just seeing that there really wasn’t a lot of room for error. The track demanded all of your attention. We decided we would follow Pears as it was his local track. I think he felt the pressure to huss it, as Mark was on his back tire. I find that when I have Mark following me I tend to open it up a bit more. I think it is the feeling of being chased that really gets you going. Not even 2 mins into the decent Pears caught a branch that was sticking out on the track to the thigh, sending him through the air kart wheeling. Insane crash! Luckily since he has no feeling on that side of his body he was able to pick himself up and keep riding. Now if that were me, I would’ve had a mean Charlie horse and would have most likely laid me out for the rest of the trip – it was a crazy crash. Once back on the bike it was a fast, technical single track ride down to the bottom. It is funny how the nerves disappear once you start riding. You just focus on the track and huss it. All of the obstacles that you were worried about before become a blur and you just sale over top of them. This track had been the knarliest of all the tracks so far. Mark was keen to hike back up again, but I was knackered and happy that I survived riding it once. I was not going to push my luck. We headed back to Pears housetruck for a cup of tea. There we took a look at his leg and it was already starting to bruise and was swelling. He still didnt feel a thing!
A batch by the sea.. not to shabby
That evening we were going to be staying at Hubby’s mates batch by the ocean. This batch was cool as! The ocean was a stone throws away and you could hear the waves crashing in. You couldn’t have asked for a better spot. I was camping since Hubby is one mean ass snorer, I was opting for the tent. It was cool laying in the tent hearing the ocean – definitely something Ive never experience before. Day 4 was sweet! Croseus was the best track so far. The trip has been pretty full on so far.. 2 rides a day, cant ask for much more!
