Portugal Video 2

My 2nd and final video from Portugal, more vids to come when I get back to NZ.


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Lousã Avalanche Race

So the past weekend over in Portugal, the whole trail building crew packed up the van with all bikes and we headed to Lousã for the Extreme riders Avalanche race's I had heard good things about this place, so it was a perfect excuse to check it out and get some racing in.

We headed off with little idea where we were going other than a GPS that was generally used for marking out new tracks rather than driving, so a few wrong turns were in order. But I never thought it could have been that bad, after driving for about 4 hour's I started to realize we must have gone wrong somewhere, we finally arrived in Lousa which didn't seem like a place where a race would be held, as it was completely in the middle of no where and looked to be a town of around 50 people!! And after driving through it I realized it wasn't where the race was we were in Lousa and were supposed to be in Lousã! Turns out after another 2 hour's driving we had gone about 250 km the wrong way we had a van full of boy's eager to ride their bikes, I was going a bit mental myself as it was the longest 2 hour drive I had ever done finally taking 6 hours!

So after finally arriving we headed up the hill, well hill was and understatement this was a proper mountain after an hour drive in a bus up a pretty crazy road where you imagine what it would be like if the bus went off the side. The top of the track there were awesome 360 degree views of the towns and countryside around the area, there was hundreds of huge windmills as well! Myself, Kurt Lancaster and Abe Winwood hit up a run together the top section was all gravel road and had some flat sections that were tough on my little 4x bike and would be killer on a DH bike, but after a couple of mins on the gravel it was in to the single track which was sick proper DH track, real loamy soil which cut up real quick and lots of sweet off camber sections it was around 10 mins of this then a short sprint to the finish line. We only got to do one practice run on saturday due to arriving so late and the mega drive to the top, but we were all stoked with the track.

So sunday rolled around and we were up early to hit another practice run, me and Kurt did a reasonable pace run down the top gravel section and it was clear his XC bike was the ticket for this section and that would be his race plan, the rest of the track was sweet but getting real cut up with a few corners getting blown out.

So after some lunch we headed up for the race run and the bus driver thought he would show us a few of his Schumacher lines on the way up rarely letting off the throttle and on one turn he was within 10 mm from hitting the rock wall, we agreed that it was lucky this was our last run up the hill in the bus. We go to the top cranked out a bit of a warmup before getting put in to the start row's, we were 3rd row back which was going to be tough with 30 riders in front of us to get past.

I got set to go and off went the starters horn, I set off to a pretty good start despite having to stay behind a few riders as there wasn't much room for passing but I got in to a bunch of about 10 riders at the front by the time we hit the flat gravel, I was starting to wonder when Kurt was going to pass me, and then I saw him come past me in top gear and pull out and pass the whole bunch and precede to drop them with ease to take the lead before hitting the single track. I went in to the single track in around 8th and was getting sick of following the train down so I started getting "moto" on it and making some pretty rough but legit passes at the same time yelling at the guys in front till they started feeling the pressure and made mistakes or took themselves out, I was loving it! I made a mega block pass to get in to 3rd and then started pushing pretty hard to try to get up to Kurt and the leader and then my back brake started losing power big time and to the point where I had to hold it on the whole time! I came in to a turn a bit hot and went straight off it in to a little gully and my bike got stuck on a branch so once I got up going again heaps of guys had past me included Abe Winwood, I got going again but was pretty tired and got block passed myself but then sprinted and past the guy back giving him a bit of a scare at the same time. So after that it wasn't far to the finish and my race was over for the day I took 8th place with another "checkers or wreckers" day and a big lack of rear brake.

Kurt ended up 2nd after having a bit of a digger on the single track pretty sick result on the XC bike though! The guy that won expressed his thought's in Portuguese and we could make out that he thought Kurt was a bit crazy! Abe Winwood took a solid 6th place too so it was a good showing for the kiwi boys, could of been better but we all had a sick time so thats all that matters.

Anyways now I got some more trails to build, I am back in the land of the long white cloud next week in time for xmas, and should be getting my new bike together for NZ Cup Series more news on that soon.

Merry Xmas everyone!

Wyn

Portuguese WynTV

Wyn Masters Portugal Trip video 1 from Wyn Masters on Vimeo.

Arrival in Portugal and Portalegre Downhill

So after an awesome 2 weeks at home in the Naki it was time to jump back on the steel bird again Europe bound for the 3rd time this year, going to Europe nearly feels like going home these days..I was headed for Portugal where I have just started a new job working for Jeff Carter and James Dodds creation NZ Trail Solutions a company building XC trails all over the world.

The 30hr travel sucked as I caught some bug and upon arrival, had to spend 24hrs in bed to try get better before starting work, Its the first time this year that I have been that sick so guess i had a pretty good run really. So the first week of work flew by and we even got to build some cool stuff, some pump track/bmx style rollers and berms and we finished the first track over the week and now have a pretty sweet run built.

Then on our first proper weekend in Portalegre, there was the Portalegre Downhill which is an annual event held in the hill's behind Portalegre...talk about perfect timing. I was only on my 4x bike as thats the only bike I brought over with me, the track was pretty good on the little bike, and sometimes its more fun just cutting loose on the smaller bike's and I was doing exactly that on saturday's practice session still recovering from two huge night's out on the town meeting all the local's, I was having a rad time on the track swapping out..left..right..and center!

Sunday rolled around and was race day, was cool to be doing a real low key race for once with not much pressure and getting to chill a bit more than racing at World Cup's, saying that though I knew I still had to put in a good run to be able to compete with the local's as there are some pretty good riders in Portugal and they race their home tracks really well. So my first run went pretty solid was a good steady run and I finished up in lead by 2secs over local rider Domingues. I knew that he would probably pull a bit more out in the 2nd run, so I held the next one more wide open and got a bit looser but kept it rubber side down to knock 3secs off my first run time doing a 1.49 i was happy with that as i dont think I could of pushed much more on the 4x bike. So I took the win over Domingues with Nelson boy and fellow track builder in 3rd on a 1.55 another kiwi podium...which is sweet!

Anyways I gotta go, Trails to build!

Keep Living it!

Wyn

Newspaper Article

Here's a cool article Taranaki Daily News did with me, check it out here www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/sport/2980453/A-globetrotter-on-wheels

WynTV This is Taranaki

This video has been deleted due to the fact that Moutain biking is prohibited in Egmont national park and I dont suggest anyone rides there under all circumstances.

Schladming videos

Downhill


4X


DH practice

Worlds Racerun pics

Heres some pics of worlds racerun that i found if i had a 4th one it would be me on the ground, haha pretty rad shots though!

Schladming World Cup Finals Report

So on tuesday we packed up the camper with all the bikes and gear myself Tomy and Brook and headed off from Florence. We drove the whole way through and didn't arrive in Schladming till 1am, lucky for me I got to sleep the whole way catching up a bit after a big monday night out in Florence.

Tuesday we got to check in at the hotel, and then headed up to walk the DH track, I had heard many good things about this course but had never been till now and upon inspection it looked awesome, It was rough already and practice was still yet too start, so I knew it was going to get wild. We had a quick look at the 4x track too which also was really good with some good dh style sections in it and a couple of big jumps. The next day was the start of a busy busy week for us, as we had dh practice for most of the day the late afternoon had 4x practice as well, I wanted to learn the Dh track pretty well so I punched out 7 runs and it was going real well except it was probably the most physical track I have ridden in a long time and you hardly even had to pedal, it was littered with holes and braking bumps the whole way down it. After Dh practice finished I felt like I was done for the day..but had to go off to 4x practice.

The 4x track probably had one of the most different uplifts I've seen at a race before, First you had to go in an Elevator to the top of a carpark then walk across to the next lift which was like a really small gondola on rails..then finally you got to the top. I did a run with Brook and looked at the course a bit, Brook decided to go straight for the big doubles without checking them out, he got the first one good but then nose cased the 2nd getting thrown over the bars and some how came away with nothing more than a bent front wheel..put me off hitting the 2nd one till later in the practice session though, I reckon I must of seen around 15-20 people wreck themselves on that jump! The rest of practice went well and the track was super fun to ride I was stoked with it as it was a step away from the usual BMX style track.

The next day was the biggest one of the week for me, first up was Dh practice and I had a shit time struggling to find the right settings with my forks, and was just getting bounced all over the place spending a fair bit of the time on the ground..So when qualifying run came around all that was on my mind the whole down was just to stay on the bike nothing more really and my run felt really pretty average over braking in turns and blowing out a few corners I was surprised to have come in 27th and knew I now had a bit more up my sleeve for finals. Brook had a rough day blowing his hand off in the steep wood and going over the bars..just missing out on qualifying he now had some anger to use for 4x though!! 4x qualifying went pretty well for me, apart from one mistake up the top sliding out before the rollers and riding them like I was on a moto. I was happy to qualify in 17th place and Brook went really well too coming in 30th not bad for us considering there was 110 starters in 4x, we were both happy to have easily made the top 64 cut.

The next day was another round of Dh practice and I put some different forks on to try find the right set up, as on this course suspension set up was crucial, I did 3 runs and by the end of the session my bike was feeling dialed thanks to a bit of Tomy Tuning, I was stoked after struggling with it the previous day, now I was just looking forward to finals time! I spent the rest of the day resting up in the hotel trying to find some fresh energy for 4x, and It was really good to have a little bit of a break as my body was really starting to feel the effects of how rough and long the Dh track was. I got a couple of practice runs in for 4x and even tried to do a couple of gates to try minimize the damage for racing, mine and Brooks gate would be some of the worst out there I reckon most of the girls would beat us out, we got something to work on for next year though.

My first heat I was up against Filip Polc and some other guy that was probably a bmx rider as he had a good gate but couldn't corner to save himself, he held me up a bit and each time i had a chance to pass I couldn't find the space until he pulled to side of the big jumps and I passed him by jumping them. So that was me through the first round, the 2nd one was never going to be easy and my gate was tough with Prokop, Polc and Longden. I got a shit start due to Will Longden beating me out then slipping a pedal and swapping out in front of me, stuffing up the move I had planned for the 2nd turn, 3rd turn I tried to make a move on Polc but swapped out and lost my speed and had to follow him through the jumps, and then nearly got him on the last corner but just missed out..was some of the most fun racing in a while though. Brook pulled some sick moves too and made it all the way to quarter finals nearly to semi's with a last turn move that just didn't stick..So I finished in 18th and Brook in 12th next year we might even learn to do gates..

The day was the big one, DH Finals day. I put in 2 pretty solid runs in the morning, although there were now some holes in the middle of turns that were nearly axle deep it was going to be hard to put down a solid race run without any mistakes. So in finals I tried to tone my riding back a bit and in some sections I felt I did a bit much, but its better than crashing, I was also not feeling as fresh as I would usually be for a race run as I had done so much riding in the one week. But all in all I felt I had a pretty reasonable run but not like I had been riding in practice. I did have one big moment and it was on the easiest part of the track the jump in to the finish, somehow I managed to clip my pedal on the take off and got sent in a nose dive no footer, I have no idea how I pulled it back and it certainly would not be the place to crash as you were going around 50k on hard gravel..I was lucky I guess, even the commentator couldn't believe I pulled it off. So I finished up 22nd my best result this year, just missing the top 20 due to my last jump swap out. Good to finish off the season with a good result though.

There was the usual after race party and everyone was getting in to it, all pretty happy to have just finished what was a really long season. Im now back in Italy for the Doganaccia Double DH race this weekend and then will be heading home to NZ next tuesday can't wait as I have been away since the start of march. Anyways will have some other stuff up in the next couple of weeks and get a few pics up in the next few days, Finally thanks to Tomaso and all my sponsors, Ancillotti Cycles, UFO Plast, Doganaccia 2000, San Marco seats, CampaBros, NZRIDE, Maxxis Tires, Landini Auto, Formula Brakes.

Keep doing it...Whatever it is..

Wyn

Caldirola Italian Cup Final Report

So over the past weekend was the final round of the Italian cup series, held at Caldirola near Genova. Myself and Brook travelled straight there after getting off the plane in Milan, and were both pretty smashed from the 30 hours travelling from Sydney, there so some sleep was first thing on the cards for us. The next day we checked out the course and were not overly impressed with what we saw the top section was super flat with a big pedal out of the start, and the rest of it was really wide and fast but lacking any technical sections, we did a few runs after walking it and pretty much got all our lines sorted in about 3 runs. There were a few jumps in the course that were pretty fun, especially one big triple that would of been about 40-50foot to a flat landing made for some harsh bottom outs but a few laughs as well.

The next day we did a few more practice runs and got the course dialed, so did some runs on one of the other tracks which was probably better than the race track, as it was off camber turns the whole way down. Caldirola probably had the slowest chairlift ever and with only one person chairs, there were huge lines for the lift, although they had just finished building the raddest luge on rails, me an Brook got to try it out and raced each other down hitting some mega G's on a few of the turns.

Then race day rolled around and it was a early start for us with practice only from 7 till 9, earliest I've got up in while thats for sure haha.. I did 2 runs with Brook and all went well apart from on the 2nd run a kamikaze rider tried to take me out when we were passing him, I don't know what was more funny that or the fact that he was wearing MotoX boots, theres certainly a few guys rocking some "out of it" riding kits over here!

So finally after watching the thousand other classes come down the hill it was time for my qualifying run, I set off pretty well putting in the pedals but held back a bit in some sections to save some energy for the race run, I qualified 3rd half a second off fastest qualifier Nathan Rankin with Marco Bugone keeping the Italians happy in 2nd. Brook was in 5th place and had saved some for the final as well.

It was the final that wasn't meant to be though...with thunder and lightning, hail and rain all coming in at once, just when they were down to the top 15 riders. We were all pretty much still running dry tires too as thats all we had on and no one had tear offs! It was one wild run probably couldn't count with both hands how many "moments" I had, I snapped my chain about halfway which was shit left me coasting the rest of the way to to the finish. I was just happy to have finished the race and to get out of my saturated clothes. So it turned out the lightning had caused the timing to go down for the last 10 riders, which I was kinda happy with as then I wouldn't get smoked by the random guys that had dry runs, but it still would of been good to have seen our times in the wet..so I ended up 3rd and Rankin took the win, Brook took 5th and the junior win not too bad of a weekend. Roll on Schladming for World Cup Finals though!!

Thanks to Tomaso and Alberto for keeping the bike tip top, No thanks to Hotel Vittoria for the rabbit grade food and rock hard beds..Finally thanks to all my sponsors, Ancillotti Cycles, UFO Plast, Doganaccia 2000, San Marco seats, CampaBros, NZRIDE, Maxxis Tires, Landini Auto, Formula Brakes.

Canberra Worlds and pumptrack worlds videos

Here's a couple of vid's over the week at the worlds, and one from the pump track worlds.
enjoy

Canberra World Champs Wrap up

So after spending a week in Canberra riding Bmx and relaxing a bit, after a pretty full on 2 weeks in Whistler that consisted of 100 runs and 5 races, the World champs week finally kicked off on the monday beginning with the track walk.

We greeted by a very similar course to last years World Cup event, although there were a few changes in the bottom section to help hold more speed in to the rather flat final straight. As we walked the course we were entertained by a very drunk Donny, who made the trip over to Oz to support the boys and have a good time a decided it would be a good idea to crack a bottle of vodka at 10 in the morning, at least he made DirtTv's web video with his antics walking the course, although some of the national teams were really wondering what he was up to...

So tuesday was our first day riding the course, and it was pretty fun but at the same time a little too easy for a World Champs course virtually the opposite of last years Worlds in Val Di Sole, Italy. So after 3 runs of the course I pretty much knew where I was going, and also knew it was going to be one huge week of practice with 5 days of practice. The next few days I took it pretty easy making sure not to over do it, or get bored of the course, only doing around 2 or 3 runs each day.

After my first day's practice I had the first of and hopefully what will become and annual event, the pumptrack world champs. It was held in the backyard of local bike shop owner Gazza, where he had made the most of the little space he has and built a really tight pumptrack. This was an underground event as the yard could only hold a maximum of 200 odd people so it was invite only and with Northland boy James on the gate uninvited had no chance of getting in. By the time qualifying was about to kick the yard was packed out with people the BBQ was sizzling and the majority of the crowd was enjoying a few cold ones. Many of the top World Cup riders showed up to give it a go, there was the likes of Minnaar, Peaty, Bryceland, Lopes, Kovarik, Fairclough just to mention a few all there battling it out with the locals.

My qualifying run went alright but with the crowd going so crazy and loud it was hard to keep it smooth, even though there was a no pedaling rule you still got up a huge amount of speed up and it became really hard not to make a bobble on a turn or in the rollers. Many riders took advantage of the rerun rule after crashing out, I went pretty well out there reppin it in my Jandals or thongs as the aussies call them, I think I qualified in 5th spot. No surprises with the fastest qualifying time going to Brendan Fairclough as he is certainly no stranger to a pump track with one in his own backyard in Guildford, 2nd fastest went to top aussie junior Rhys Willemse with Sick Mick Hannah taking 3rd.

By the time finals rolled round the crowd was amped and they cut the finals to only the 15 best riders which made so some tough competition and for finals there was no reruns so there was only one chance. Many of the first few riders felt the pressure and made mistakes or simply crashed out. I was a little over excited in my run with all the crowd being so loud and made a few little mistakes which slowed me down a bit, but I was happy to have put a time in. I think I was 4th which isn't the best place to be, but I wasnt worried as it was such a fun event. Brendan Fairclough was robbed of the win after his pedal disconnected the timing in his super quick first run and he was forced to do another one when he was already tired. Sick Mick Hannah took the fastest time and the 2 n half grand that went with it, in front of local hero Timmy Eaton taking home 1000-bucks and 3rd went to another local Dave McMillan who put down an amazingly fast time for a 15 year old kid certainly deserving of the 500 dollars cash prize money.

So what a way to kick off the Worlds week, thanks to all who made this event happen, and all the awesome sponsors who put together an awesome amount of prize money, and cheers to Gazza for putting it on in his own backyard. Hopefully someone continues it on next year at Mt Saint Anne Worlds!

So then after that it was just a cruisy schedule of DH practice till friday when there was the timed training runs. My timed training run went ok although I overshot the last jump in the triple treat section landing on a rock losing most of my speed, then at the bottom on the new triple triple section, some reason maybe our aerodynamic NZ race kit was going way faster than on other runs and landed on the take off of the 2nd triple, I swapped out big time but somehow managed to ride it out, but lost all my speed for the final flat section. So I was expecting to finish around 40th and to finish 23rd I was pretty happy with that as I now knew I had sometime up my sleeve. Cam Cole qualified in a very impressive 5th place, and in juniors my team mate Brook was in 3rd, I was gutted to hear that Aari Barrett had gone down in the rocks breaking his finger and was quite possibly not going to be racing on Sunday.

Saturday was a good rest day with only 1 hour of practice, I walked the course before our session started and sorted out all my lines, then my practice session went as planned and i was feeling real good on the track, and my bike was so dialed thanks to Tomaso who had travelled all the way out from Italy to look after myself and Brooks bikes. I was looking foward to the race the next day, and couldn't wait to just get it done..

Sunday rolled around quicker than ever, it was Worlds race day the race that only comes around once a year, that one chance for glory. And Glory it was for my Team mate Brook Macdonald taking the gold medal in style with 1.18 seconds to spare over the home town favorite Shaun O'conner, I couldn't believe it myself that Brook had done it, gone a smoked all those clip pedal riders on a really pedally course. It was probably the sickest race to sit and watch that I've been to this year. I have to mention Aari's effort as he rode with a broken and dislocated finger, and was apparently on a flyer when he front flatted coming in to a turn and went over the bars in one of the fastest section's, he still finished the race, a tough kid with some real tough luck in the space of one week. George Brannagin and Daniel Heads finished in very creditable 7th and 8th spots especially since they both are 1st year juniors, watch out for them come Mont Saint Anne next year.

So after watching all the juniors race, I had to go get ready and head up for my own run for some reason we headed up way too early and i was at the top for around an hour and half before I left the gate, which wasn't the best really but I was really pumped for my run and knew what I had to do. I started off really well and rode the top section as I would have wanted maybe bit loose but it is World Champs. I was on a real good run till I hit a loose slightly off camber turn and somehow my front wheel slid out from under me forcing me to put it down, although I kind of half saved it and continued on now trying make time back up, I didn't get much further till I had a decent crash and ended up on the floor..race run over..I didn't even want to get up. My week had gone perfect I had no crashes all practice then to have two in my race run I was pretty gutted about it...but somedays thats the nature of racing.

So I sat at the finish for a while wondering why my day had ended like this, there's no one else to blame but yourself in this sport and some days its pretty hard, but you just got to keep looking to the next race. I was stoked to sit at the bottom and watch the one guy I've always wanted to see win worlds, actually do exactly that...Peaty is a legend, not many 35 year olds win an elite men's world championship. Seeing that alone made me not worry about having a bad day, and turn it in to a good night, which it sure was.. many whisky's were downed toasted to Brook and Peaty the two names of the night. I even had a good run at the casino so the night came with no cost other than the hangover the next morning, things don't get much better than that.

Cheers to everyone who has made this event possible for me, especially Tomaso, Chris Mildon, Adrian Armstrong and John Kircaldie and anyone else that helped me out. Cheers to Azza and Dossy for letting me crash at their place for a few nights as well. Finally thanks to all my sponsors, Ancillotti Cycles, UFO Plast, Doganaccia 2000, San Marco seats, CampaBros, NZRIDE, Maxxis Tires, Landini Auto, Formula Brakes.

Im now back in Europe for the final Italian Cup this weekend and the World Cup Final in Schladming the weekend after, should be a good end to a long season. I have some pictures and video from worlds that I will put up soon when i have a good internet connection.

Keep doin it!

Wyn

Weston jam session

Heres a vid of me riding Bmx with a mate first, i managed to borrow a bike for the week to kill sometime in Canberra as there isnt too much else to do, so was some good fun. Cheers Azza for lending me the bike. Its the first vid made so was bit of a laugh.

Enjoy the vid

Crankworx Final Report

So the Wednesday saw the running of the A Line downhill race, which probably in my mind was one of the worst tracks possible to have to race on it just isn't fun to pedal in between jumps that are too small for the speed you have, saying that the practice session was some of the best fun throwing whips and scrub's off every jump and hardly ever even needing to put in a pedal stroke. If i compete in this event next year then it will definitely be chain-less. Anyway the race was won by Brian Lopes, who is going to be making a surprising appearance at the World Champs in Canberra in 2 weeks time, 2nd place went to power house Chris Kovarik and Andrew Neethling took the 3rd spot. I don't remember where i finished i think it was around 29th certainly nothing to write home about..at least practice was fun though!!

Thursday I awoke to a lot of rain and slept in for a while as there was no race, I went out in the afternoon and had some of the most fun I have had in a while in the wet, the tracks were a little bit slick which made for good times. I was supposed to race in the giant slalom but after seeing the track I thought it wouldn't suit me so well so decided I might as well get some good training done for the pedaling at Canberra and I entered in the Enduro Downhill, I had to hunt around for a bike as after a test run on my Tomaso DHP it was just too much for this course, Its one of the best bikes to go downhill but not uphill!! Luckily enough for me Kieran Bennett stepped in to help and lent me his Intense Tracer which was the perfect bike for this type of event. After a coupe of practice runs I go the course sorted and was ready to go. The race started on saturday morning and was a mass start one of the first mass start Downhill race's i had done, I had to start from the 2nd row which made it a bit more hard to get up to the front before we hit the technical DH sections some of which were scary to ride on these shorter travel bikes. I got out of the start pretty well which for some was chaos as there were a few riders that went down, Set in to a comfortable pace and was sitting around the top 5 when we hit the only hard and sharp climb on the course, everyone went to sprint as Brian Lopes was setting a crazy pace out the front, I tried to stay in the bunch of riders but eventually ran out of gas and had to stop at the top of the hill cause my googles had fogged up, so i set off again only to slide out on a wooden bridge section and go down. I managed to catch back up a fair bit and crossed the line in 4th in my first enduro DH event I was also first rider on flats as most were using clips. Not a bad result but I would have loved to have gone one place better as 3rd place took home 700 dollars prize money,maybe next year... Lopes smashed everyone and showed us really how fit he is, 2nd went to local Matt Ryan and 3rd went to Wellingtonian Chris Johnson an Xc racer turned gravity junkie nice work mate!

Saturday night saw the slopestyle boys come out and show us their stuff, I think there was around 25,000 people in the crowd which was awesome to see the sport getting so much public attention. Nelson boy Kelly McGarry threw down some awesome runs and netted himself 9th place which was rad to watch. Andreu Lacondeguy got a little unlucky with crashes in both runs but still won best trick with a 360 flatspin seatgrab indian air, he is probably one of the best there is always throwing sick style, another that has sick style is Brandon Semenuk a Whistler local who put together enough for 2nd place behind winner Greg Watt's who went huge and landed everything perfectly and took home the biggest check! Was great to watch this event as its the first time I have seen a world class slopestyle competition.

Anyways so after the Enduro there was no time for rest i had to go home for lunch and swap bikes then head out to try get the Canadian Open Downhill course sorted as the race was the next day, I was so tired from the enduro race that all i could manage was a slow run stopping and checking out all the lines. The course was really one of World Cup standard and had a mix of rocky, fast, steep, tight, and a few jumps thrown in as well for good measure, I was loving the track although was a little too tired to be as focussed as I would usually be for a race. Sunday I really got stuck in, in the practice session and managed to get 5 runs in the 3 hours which was good to learn the track as I hadn't had time to ride with all the other events I was doing. My race run wasn't till around 5 30pm and by this time i was starting to really feel the effects of doing 5 races in one week, I didn't have the energy left to really push as i usually would a race but I still got down the hill all the same the crowd was so sick! Drunk Aussie's make an awesome crowd where ever it may be in the world. I finished in 19th which wasn't the best result but I was happy with that as I knew I didn't have any energy left to give it anymore than that. Sam Hill absolutely destroyed it taking the win by 8 seconds over Brendon Fairclough with Canadian Steve Smith in 3rd, Aussie Josh Button showed he can run with the big boys in 4th good job mate!

So thats my 2009 Whistler Crankworx experience over, It was one of the best weeks of riding and racing I have had in a long time, and was certainly good training for the upcoming World Champs in 2 weeks time, I cant wait for this event the crowd will be one of the best you will get world wide! I now have a few more days in Whistler before i fly out to Australia where I will spend a week training before World Champs kicks off.

Finally thanks to all those who made this happen for me my sponsors, Ancillotti Cycles, UFO Plast, Doganaccia 2000, San Marco seats, CampaBros, NZRIDE, Maxxis Tires, Landini Auto.

More updates soon

Wyn

Whistler Crankworx report so far..

So after Bromont I flew down to Vancouver, then waited for my bag to arrive..which ended up not happening so I caught the bus up to Whistler with my bike but no bag. Thanks to Air Canada second time they lost my stuff in 2 weeks, it seems they must be good at it.

So after arriving in whistler i met up with nelson boy's Reuben Miller and Des, I would be staying with them for the next few weeks in whistler. The next day i went up the hill with Des and he showed me round a few of the better tracks on the hill, the first things I noticed was the huge amount of people in the village and on bike's up on the hill, it definitely looks like the sport is growing here for sure! And the other thing was how rough the tracks were there was braking bumps on the uphill sections, it certainly beat up your bike. I even got to do the famous A line track which was a laugh and you had to get the scrub on the whole way down as the jumps could of been a fair bit bigger.

The first race to kick off the mega week, that is Kokanee Crankworx was the Dual slalom. The track was perfected groomed and pretty much looked like a downhill pump track, Id heard the slalom at crankworx was awesome so I just had to do it, and luckily Reuben lent me his hardtail and I was sorted. The first few runs were kind of awkward but as soon as you got it dialed in it was good times and flowed real well, although it was going to be hard to race as it was hard to go much faster than anyone.

The next day was a busy one for me, I had dual practice in the morning then dual qualifying, then after that i went home got the dh bike and went and did two practice runs on the Garbanzo race course which is probably the longest and most physical race track I've ever ridden, its about 15 mins long and full of braking bumps, rocks, and roots. Even the flat bits were rough as making it real hard to get the pedal stokes in to hold speed. So after Garbanzo Practice it was home to swap bikes then back to Dual, a couple of practice then racing kicked off.

My 1st race was easy as the other guy crashed and gave me the advantage for the 2nd race, although I blew out a turn and finished just behind him in the 2nd race I wasn't worried as I knew I would go through anyway. Well that's what I thought anyways somehow they had managed to make a mistake and put the other rider through instead of me, even the other guy couldn't understand how although he wasn't keen to tell them thats how he felt. So that was my dual over and not by choice, I was pretty pissed off about it too as you can imagine, but they had made a few other mistakes with the timing as well.

So the next day was Garbanzo race day, I went up and got one run of practice in in the morning and got all my lines sorted. Then it was a big wait till racing got underway as I didn't start till the end of the day at 5 06pm. I spent the day resting up as I knew I would need as much energy as possible, as the course had a few uphill and flat sections that really took it out of you. The weather looked like it was going to turn sour and rain, It seem DH races haven't happened that much this year without the weather playing havoc. But somehow it held off enough to leave most of the track dry, bar the top section which was really slick! I set off in my race run and made quite a few mistakes in the top section, but after i got in to a good rhythm I managed to hold it together pretty well most of the way down. The flat sections really smashed my legs there were a few places where i knew I should be standing up on the pedals but just didn't have anything left in the tank.

It was probably one of the hardest races I've ever done and wasn't at all like a normal Downhill race, this was an endurance race. I was happy with how I went as I certainly hadn't prepared for a race like this but had fun all the same, and ended up 14th getting super loose off the last drop! The fittest man took well deserved win that being fellow Kiwi Justin Leov, probably the hardest working rider in the business, 2nd went to Chris Kovarik, and 3rd Sam Hill. Reuben Miller rounded out the kiwi's in creditable 21st.

Anyways so thats how my Whistler Crankworx experience has gone so far. Tomorrow I have the Air DH race, a race down A line which would be much more fun if it was a chain-less race but should be good times anyway, although A-Line certainly isn't no race course. Finally thanks to all my sponsors, Ancillotti Cycles, UFO Plast, Doganaccia 2000, Formula Brakes, San Marco seats, CampaBros, NZRIDE, Maxxis Tires, Landini Auto.

More updates to come soon.

Wyn

Bromont videos

Race day from mtbcut


Bromont practice from mtbcut


Bromont practice from Dirt

Bromont World Cup Report

So after Mont Saint Anne last week, we packed up all our gear and got ready to leave but before we left we had a session at the Go Carts in MSA which was sick, mega carnage in the 20min main event with a maybe 15 Downhillers and 4x riders racing it was good times. After that we had a short 3 hour drive up to Bromont which is kind of in the middle of nowhere, but is a pretty cool place all the same with maybe 20 DH tracks on the opposite side of the hill to the WC track all finishing up next to a huge water park that was absolutely packed the first day we got there it wasn't even the weekend either and there was maybe 10,000 people there making the most of the mid thirty degree day!

So the first day riding in Bromont didn't set off so well for me while filming on some of the other tracks that I'd never ridden before, and on the first shot of film I slid out in a rock garden and slammed my hip and side in to a sharp rock, finishing my day of riding and giving me a mega hematoma which is still coming out now. So I spent the next couple of days before practice started resting that up and packing in the ibuprofen tablets. On the wednesday we walked the course and I was pretty impressed with it although it was a little short it had some sweet steep rocky technical sections in the middle that were cool the bottom was a little flat and plain tho but what can you do..

So practice kicked off and I was enjoying it although it was so short it was still pretty hard to piece it all together and I did a fair bit of pushing back up to get my lines sorted and everything dialed in, then on my timed run in the afternoon I was on an alright run when I had the funniest crash I've had this year, It was on this tricky rocky slab section that must of collected a lot of riders over the weekend I reckon, I came in drifted on the rock then had to take a foot off and try to correct it then hit a hole both feet came off the pedal's and I went off a drop sitting on my top tube which had me Wide eyes.... brown pants, as Ox would of put it, but some how I managed to save it pretty well and got away with it, certainly made for amusing viewing check it out here il upload the video in the next few days..

So next day was qualifying, and i thought I was going to have no problems getting in the top 80 cut and I rode well...much too slow and made a few mistakes had a shitty run and took my LCQ ticket in 73rd. I was pissed with that result and disappointed to be that far back but it was seriously probably the tightest WC i'd been to time wise. Although I did go fast in one section setting the 5th fastest speed trap for the day ha-ha. I certainly knew I had change that result around as it wasn't where I should be!

So around came race day and I did 2 runs practice dialed all my lines in and felt a lot better on the bike. Being 73rd qualifier I was 7th to drop from the gate so had to head up a bit earlier than I usually do, and felt like no time at all from the end of practice till start of race run, I headed up early to get a decent warm up in, cheers to Adam at Maxxis for letting me use the wind trainer, I got myself in the right frame of mind and was real psyched to go get it done. I was so angry after qualifying so shit that I just put all I could in to it, I went probably the hardest I have this year straight from the start and was going pretty good, I held it wide in the steep section and got loose as..the crowd was going so it got me going a bit harder again, I made one bad mistake sliding out on a berm and lost some valuable time on a track this short there is no room for any mistakes, look at Steve Peat yesterday for example leading at the split till one mistake in the rocks and finished 7th 1.6 down on the win. Anyways the rest of my run went pretty well and I was happy with It but I didn't get the hot-seat which I had wanted but I knew I was on the pace. I ended up in 32nd place which isn't my best finish but still at a race this tight I was happy enough with that. Sorry haven't got any pic from this race yet, but will upload some in the next few days, anyway heres a rad one of me from Velovert of me a Maribor.

Anyways so I've just woken up from the after-party which was pretty wild as usual for an WC after-party! Now Im off to do some riding before I leave Bromont should be good times, next stop for me is Whistler where I'll be racing at the Crankworks which should be rad. More updates to come soon. Thanks to all my sponsors for keeping me on track, Ancillotti Cycles, UFO Plast, Doganaccia 2000, Formula Brakes, San Marco seats, CampaBros, NZRIDE, Maxxis Tires, Landini Auto.

Keep it lit

Wyn

Mont Saint Anne Race Report

So I flew from Italy over to Canada for the 6th World Cup round in Mt Saint Anne, Quebec. It was my first time in Canada which was cool and I was pretty excited to get to ride the track that i had seen in so many videos and pictures!

I spent a couple of days chilling out in Quebec city at a backpacker's waiting for the Scottish boy's Joe Barnes and Ben Cathro to pick me up, which was sweet to get to check out the city a bit. Joe's flight didn't get in till late on the day before practice so I didn't get the chance to walk the course which I was a bit pissed about, but just had to get up and try do a slow run down and have a look at the course, which was harder said than done. I followed some other riders down and was starting to get in to the course, till I missed the take off for a small gap and went over the bars into a big pile of rocks. It certainly wasn't the start to the weekend that I had wanted, the result 1 swollen hand and a scraped up back. But nothing a bit of tape couldn't fix although it was pretty painful holding on on the rough rocky track that is MSA.

So after my crash I took the rest of practice pretty easy and was loving it, I rate it pretty high among the best WC course's in the World. It has a bit of everything in it and some awesome high speed section's that are just rough as anything! The rest of the day went pretty well a bit loose but no major crashes or anything so it was sweet. Overnight we got a spot of rain and it made the course a bit slicker but was still heaps of fun. I took my qualifying run real steady and didn't really push it too hard as I just wanted to get down with out any crashes or anything after the previous day, I ended up 47th which wasn't the best result so I knew I had a fair bit more work the next day for Finals. The other kiwi's went alright as well with Blinky 4th Justin 6th, Aari 40th, and young George Brannagin in 53rd not bad for his debut World Cup, and Rankin and Cam Cole were in the mix too with average runs.

Finals day was a fair bit more muddy and after my first run down with Dry tires on I changed to cut spikes which favored the wet condition's a bit better just were scary on the rock sections. I did 2 runs a felt pretty comfortable for my race run. I started off pretty well putting some pedals down in the top section and felt good then in the woods I felt a bit cautious, as It was a fair bit more drier than I had expected. In the bottom section I struggled to hold speed and was make stupid little mistakes that were costing me a lot as it was crucial to hold speed through the bottom section.

I ended up one place worse than Qualifying in 48th which was for me a disappointing result but it was a bit of a rough weekend for me anyways, but just have to keep the dream alive, and look to the next weekend to go better. Kiwis faired ok but maybe not as well as they would have wanted with Justin 10th, Blinky 16th with a mechanical, Cam 25th, Rankin just in front of me in 46th, Aari 63rd with a crash and George 67th.

Another World Cup done, leaving only 2 more for the year, next weekend in Bromont and the final in Austria in September hopefully these races can bring me some luck. Thanks to all my sponsors for making it happen, Ancillotti Cycles, UFO Plast, Doganaccia 2000, San Marco seats, CampaBros, NZRIDE, Maxxis Tires, Landini Auto.

Until next week
Wyn

Abetone Italian Cup Report

So last weekend we spent racing at Abetone, which is around half an hour from our base in Doganaccia which was cool as we didnt have any long drives to get there and could stay at our place at night.

The track in Abetone was pretty good and has an awesome first section nice and fast and open, and then it goes in to the trees where its a bit more technical has a few rocks and roots that catch you out sometimes. Me and Team mate Brook got some riding done there on the thursday before to check out the track and see what it was like, I enjoyed most of the track but struggled a bit on some of the really tight turns near the bottom.

We had a great turn out of Kiwi's representing, with myself and Brook, Matt Scoles, Nathan Rankin, and Junior Cam Johnson. So you could say it was kind of like an NZ race which was sick. Practice day was cool got a few runs done in the morning in the dry..but then as we were in Europe in came the rain for the afternoon, and turned the track in to a mess, the rocks and roots came super slippery on the spike tires but it was fun to ride I got a couple of runs done in the wet and was stoked on it.

Then on race day it was a perfect sunny day and started drying up a bit, which actually made it harder to ride as the ground got slicker, and it was also a struggle to get a full run in as other riders were just stopped everywhere on the track, they don't pull off to the side of the track over here just stop in the middle. So after one terrible practice run I was heading up for my qualifying run.

My qualifying run was a bit of a shocker, I slid out on a flat rock in the second corner and it sent me of the bike which wasn't the best start to the run, the rest of the way i tried to just keep it smooth and stay rubber side down. I was surprised that i had qualified in 3rd behind Nathan Rankin with my team mate Brook in the number 1 spot. So after qualifying the track started drying up a bit more, and we all went off the spikes we ran for qualifying and on to dry tires. Not something that i like doing as you kind of don't know what to expect or how much grip you would have.

So race run I started well made sure I got through that 2nd turn and rode the top section real good, then in to the trees where the ground was dry but all the rocks and roots were still slick as, I felt like i was swapping all over the place and in some sections just couldn't keep a straight line and was making a few extra uncontrolled turns but it was pretty fun, just had to hang on to it. I got to the bottom put a few pedals in to the finish and I did 3 53 and went in to first with two riders to go Nathan came down and I just beat him, after him was Brook who loves it in the wet, and he smoked us all with an awesome time of 3 47 nice work!

Young Cam didn't have the best day as he went over the bars in the steep rock chute and smashed himself up a bit. The ambulance crew were intent on taking him to hospital but he didn't want to go so he was trying to escape from the ambulance providing a funny scene for everyone watching, but once he calmed down we told him better to get all checked out and off he went.

So it was a good weekend for Ancillotti with 3 in the top 5 as Matt Scoles had to borrow one as his bike wasn't running, the top 5 went Brook, Me, Lorenzo Suding who in the process broke the Italian podium drought, then Nathan Rankin, Matt Scoles. Finally thanks to Tomaso and Alberto for keeping my bike looking and running sweet. Thanks to all my sponsors, Ancillotti Cycles, UFO Plast, Doganaccia 2000, San Marco seats, CampaBros, NZRIDE, Maxxis Tires, Landini Auto.

Next weekend I have Italian Champs and then I am off to Canada more to come soon.

Wyn

Team Videos

Hey guys here's a couple of videos, one from Maribor 4x and one from Doganaccia where myself and team mate Brook are based.in Italy enjoy...


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Canazei Italian Cup Race report

So over the past weekend I raced at the Italian Cup in Canazei in the Dolomites. It was a pretty amazing area to see awesome scenery from the top of the track would be a sick place to go skiing in winter, as there are so many gondolas and chairlifts in the area i think it said 1200 km's of ski piste's.

Anyway so on friday afternoon myself and Brook, walked the course and going off first inspections, we thought it would be pretty boring as the whole course was grass and didn't really have anything technical in it. But then once we got to ride it the next day it was real fun, although it did have a bit too much pedaling for my liking, it was wet and rained on and off the whole day, but that kind of made it better all the turns were super drifty so a good days riding was had, i think I did around 8 runs.

Sunday morning we awoke to clear sunny skies which was cool, but it was hard to tell if it would stay around for the whole day, the weather can change so fast up in the mountains, the bottom of the course was at 2000 metres probably one of the highest finish area's I have seen. My practice run went well, I decided to keep it at one as i had most of lines dialed. 

My seeding run went alright although i missed a few lines in the top section, and saved a bit of energy for the final as thats what counts. I ended up in 3rd which was ok but i had some work to do. Then we had a 4-hr wait till final run which was a bit boring, I just wanted to go and get it done. The clouds started coming over a bit before we headed up so it had a few people changing tires backwards and forwards , I just stuck with the cut down mud's that I'd been running all weekend. 

When we got up the top of the hill for our runs it started spitting, and then got a bit heavier before i went in to the start. Typical euro racing i guess though. So I hit the track and was riding a little cautious as i thought it would be slippery and i rode the top section way too slow, as it was a lot more grippy than I thought it would have been. I started riding faster the further I got down and by the bottom sections I was riding how I should of the whole run, pretty pissed with how i rode. So i ended up 4th 3.4 seconds off the pace of fellow kiwi Matt Scoles. It was a day of kiwi dominance with Scolesy taking the win Nathan Rankin 2nd, my Ancillotti team mate Brook Macdonald 3rd and myself 4th. 

Anyways a good weekend of training and learning more about racing for me, I now have a weekend off, then I have another Italian Cup after that.

Finally thanks to all my sponsor's for making it happen for me, Ancillotti Cycles, UFO Plast, CampaBros, Formula Brakes, Maxxis Tires, San Marco, Doganaccia 2000. And also thanks to Tomaso and Alberto for keeping the bike running sweet.

Until next time

Wyn

Maribor Mud and Stitches

First day of practice at Maribor went off!! the track was super rough but also much faster than previous years, I was right in to it and enjoying it. Myself and team mate Brook "Ronny" Macdonald cranked out a few runs, and we did a helmet cam run for Dirt TV, was probably the worst run ever, I crashed about a minute in to it bending my bars, then Brook kept going to go off course in the rocks, So he went up to do another run with Kona rider Joe Smith and nearly got a full run in behind Joe but went over the bars near the bottom, check out that footage here:  Dirt video

So after DH practice was finished it was off to 4x practice, we did 2 runs and both helmet cam the first for Dirt TV check it out here: http://video.mpora.com/watch/P2eVv1Cg6/    . The second was for Slovenian TV and was quite possibly the dodgiest set up I've ever seen, i had the camera taped to my frame with the battery unit in my pants and the cord between the two wrapped around my seat, hope they got some good footage. Then we went and got ready for qualifying I put in a steady run not too much pedaling a couple of whips keeping it fun..I qualified in 39th spot not too bad for my World Cup debut, team mate Brook came in 57th squeezing in to the top 64 cut with a cruiser run.

After that big day we were off home to get some food and sleep. I awoke the next morning on DH Qualifying day to the sound of pissing rain on the roof. I knew it would be pretty hard on this course in the wet, as it quite hard-pack surface and littered with roots. So I got some cut down spikes on and headed up for a run it was actually a whole lot better than I had expected as all the water on the course kept it king of grippy, the only problem was trying to see the track through wet googles!! But either way it was super fun, then at the end of the practice session, thunder lightning came over causing them to close the gondola. So they had to postpone Qualifying to the next day, I was happy as I was keen for a hot shower and some clean clothes but it would of been cool to have raced in the rain! But it was a wise decision as the gondola at Maribor is the oldest in Europe, I don't even know wether to trust it in fine weather let alone lightning!!

So it was back to the hotel a nice hot shower and then a bit of a Facebook session, then it was time for 4x, myself and Brook were both not that keen to go back out and get muddy again. But still we had qualified so may as well give it a go. We got there a bit late and missed all the practice just rocked up the start got our numbers and went in to the gate...Fresh is Best... We were both in the same first heat and up against some tough competition Lukas Mechura who had placed 3rd at the previous WC and Michal Marosi, who is a bit of a legend. 

We both got smoked out of the gate but held speed in the first turn I managed to lean on Mechura and get around him, but he got me back on the next straight, it was on now! next turn i insided him then he got me back and then in the next turn I hit him and knocked him off line in to a hole. Then I chased Marosi down and and trying to get through the inside but my bars hit his back, pulling my front brake on sending me over the bars, Brook got around the outside winning the heat..teamwork one of us got through so I was stoked. Had to be one of the best 4x races was so fun and moto-like. Brook kept the sick passing move going and made it to the quarter-finals finishing 12th overall not bad for a debut!

So the next day was Finals day and the track was drying but it didn't get better, it made it a whole lot worse as more roots came through and they all became polished and super sketchy, the rock section also got pretty loose and was pretty much a gamble to ride. I did two practice runs with both of them being pretty average, although it was the same for everyone so had to get on with it. I set off in qualifying pretty well and was riding well till i hit the rocks, I got high sided by a slippery rock and smashed my ankle on a rock putting a hole in it. But i tried to keep going although it was a struggle and i was happy to see the finish line at the end of that run. Certainly wasn't one to remember I missed the cut by 3 seconds was pretty disappointed and had to get 5 stitches in my ankle. 

So far this year has been real disappointing for me,  I gotta turn that around soon and get back up to where i know i should be! Looking forward to Canadian World Cup rounds and Crankworks. The next few weeks im back in Italy, my second home training and racing some Italian Cups. The only thing I am stoked on right now is next years Wc

At last I'd like to thank all my sponsors, Ancillotti Cycles, UFO Plast, Formula Brakes, Doganaccia 2000, Campabros, Maxxis.  Thanks for all the support.

Keep the Dream Alive

Wyn

Goodtimes in Slovenia

So havent updated for a while, been busy enjoying the nice weather here in Slovenia. After Fort William I headed out to Slovenia for the European Champs in Kranjska Gora, which was a real cool event the track was sick nice steep section at the top and fast middle section, it certainly made for a good weekends training. My race didnt go so well as i got red flagged by a marshall and couldnt get a rerun but oh well still was a sweet weekend! 

We then packed up and drove to Maribor where we spent the next day doing runs on all the tracks we had a train of us pinning it down pretty much trying to beat each other which was a good laugh! The day after myself and Tam Murrell a young aussie junior headed in to town to check it out, and it was definitely worth the look..the amount of hot girls was crazy so it made for a good days worth of looking at the local scenery.

Then today we met up with Ancillotti main man Tomaso "le Tomato" and checked out Brook's sweet new bike that he will be testing here, It has lighter tubing and a sweet NZ flag sticker kit! We will both be on similar bikes to this in Canberra for the World Champs. After that we walked the DH course which looked sick a couple of new sections in there cant wait to ride it tommorow,  we then killed some time mucking round in the pits,  busting out some sweet flat land moves, getting us warmed up for 4x practice it was myself and Brook's debut to WC 4x and we were having some fun on the jumps the track here is pretty cool, hopefully we make the cut in qualifying, might have to stay "low and Pro" although that looks abit boring! 

Anyways I gotta go have some food and sleep busy weekend this one, DH practice tommorow followed by 4x practice then 4x qualifying. 

Hold it wide..

Wyn

Fort William return from injury

So myself Brook and "Tomaso the tomato" flew from Pisa to Glasgow and then drove through to Fort William, was an entertaining drive with Tomaso behind the wheel he wasn't so used to driving on the other side of the road and car. Myself and Brook spent the drive watching the Mirror get closer and closer to the bank on our side waiting for it get taken off but somehow we made it to Fort Bill and somehow  still with 2 mirrors.

The next day we headed out to the course, walked the track and checked everything out, the track looked well groomed some of it like concrete but after a few days of practice it would be destroyed. I already hated the midgys as well the worst thing about Fort Bill is those little things i cant stand em..

Next day was first day practice and after a few runs i was in to it, the track at Fort Bill is sick roughest track on the World Cup Circuit and probably also the longest, and in my book its up there as one of the best. I did a couple of runs with my Ancillotti Doganaccia Team mate Brook Macdonald he was riding well also. I got a flat in my timed practice and destroyed a wheel, the first of 4 for the weekend, my record as far as wheels go don't actually know how I broke that many, last season I only wrecked one wheel the whole year.

Then it was Qualifying day i did a couple of practice runs then headed up Qualifying I had a terrible run, just wasn't focussed and was made a few mistakes, I think most of it was due to having three weeks off the bike and kind of lost the edge you need for World Cup racing I finished in 65th. And Knew I needed to change that a bit in the Final. Brook had a crash and took to LCQ ticket in 74th. At least we were both in the finals.

Race Day was good, i had a big sleep in and was fresh and ready to go practice went well I was a bit loose but thats kind of my style a bit. Race run was off to a really good start I had a really good top section and was on pace for a good result which I need but then about 3/4 of the way down I washed out on a turn and over I went I kind of knew it was over after that, but i kept going with my helmet visor down and my brake lever up i tried to push it down while i was riding which was a bit loose. I got the finish and finished on a time of 5.01 for 59th place better than qualifying but thats no cigar, I was pretty pissed with myself but checkers or wreckers I guess it was the latter of the two for me lucky i didn't hurt my hand i guess, i just cut up the other hand. 

On to the next race I guess next week Im doing European Champs in Kransjka Gora, Slovenia. After that is Maribor WC got get it together there need a decent result this year. Thanks to my sponsors, Ancillotti Cycles, Doganaccia 2000, UFO Plast, Maxxis, Formula Brakes, CampaBros. And big thanks to Tomaso and Alberto for keeping my bike going would be lost without them. 

Keep it rubber side down people.

Wyn Masters

Quick Update

The past week i have spent in Doganaccia doing a bit of road riding and getting physio most days my hand is nearly healed up now, which im pretty happy with cant wait to get back on the bike properly Fort William WC next weekend which should be good times!  Anyways heres a shot by Sven Martin that pretty much sums up my injury and all injuries for that matter haha.

                                                         Keep it real everybody

                                                                      Wyn

Update from Italy

Hey havent updated for a while, mainly due to the fact i have healing up from my broken knuckle and there hasnt been much going on. I watched the World Cup in Andorra and it was sick to see Peaty set the World Cup win record at 17 what a legend! Also was good to see fellow kiwi Justin Leov up on the box in 5th! 

Ive been back in Italy the past week getting some training done and enjoying the good weather. Now im at the First round of the Italian Cup Series, just watching as I going to let my hand heal up so that il be back fit for Fort William World Cup hanging out for that! 

So il leave you with a pic of me mucking round, trying to kill some time in the pits at the Italian Cup. 

Keep it Real Everyone

Wyn Masters

La Bresse Qualifying pain

The track in La Bresse was super sick, and i was loving it on friday during practice i think i got 4 runs done, until I was coming though a drifty turn a little bit quick and drifted out a bit wide and my back wheel clipped a tree, highsiding me over as i fell my hand caught on a rock peeling my middle finger right back. It was pretty sore even to ride down the bottom of the course but i hoped it was just bruised, But by the next day it was super swollen and it would be too painful to practice. Heres a video with a few words from me below.

http://dirtmag.co.uk/worldcup/category/Videos/dirttv-saturday-pit-talk-part-3/dirt-1235028.html

So I walked the track and watched during practice, then took a couple of pain killers and decided i'd have to give it a go and ride qualifying although it was going to be pretty hard as my hand was so sore i couldnt even bunnyhop, I had to tape my hand around the bars as it was my only chance to ride and with no practice I couldnt ride it very fast and wouldnt want to crash either with my hand stuck to the bar. 

But at the same time i couldnt stand the thought of sitting it out and watching. I rode pretty average stuggling to hang on and riding pretty much blind I basically felt terrible I ended up doing 2.24 which was ok considering I wasnt so stoked and neither was my hand but at least i rode i guess...And i missed the cut by .2 of a second which was no good but better off anyways after the run i went to the hospital and got Xrayed I had a broken knuckle no wonder my hand was so sore and i couldnt hang on.

Il probably be out for a few weeks which is a bit dissapointing, but its all part of what we do I guess and il get some good training in over the next few weeks so thats the only good thing I can take from this. I think half of the reason I got injured is cause I was just thinking the other day I'd been having a lucky run with injuries but that was it. Dont think like that no more haha.

Anyways I watched today and Peaty took it out which was super sick! Im stoked to see him back on top, Hill took 2nd and Sik Mick Hannah in 3rd super stoked to see him making such a good come back from his year off. Brendon Fairclough also stuck an amazing run for 4th place and Gee Atherton took 5th. First NZ rider was Blenky in 9th Followed by Justin Leov in 10th, my team mate Brook Macdonald took 2nd junior.

Anyways I gotta go get some rest and Im over typing left handed 

Thanks to Ancillotti, UFO, Formula, Maxxis, Camperbros, Doganaccia 2000, and everyone else whos helped me out cheers!

More Townhill Pics+La Bresse

Heres a few more pics of the Bergamo Townhill, thanks to David Umberto Zappa some sick shots check out his other work at www.duzimage.com. Im now in La Bresse for the 2nd World Cup round track looks sick should be fast and not too much pedalling for a change. First day practice tommorow should be sick! 

Gotta roll 

Wyn

Bergamo Townhill Race

                                                           Photo Credit: Matteo Cappe http://www.mc-photographer.com/

So over the past weekend i raced at the Bergamo Townhill event in Italy on my Ancillotti Scarab X bike. 

A bit of a run down on how the race works, its a downtown race through the streets of Bergamo, with a few drops and jumps added in as well, and its raced as a dual. It was my first time racing a street event so it was cool to see how it would go.

We spent all Saturday afternoon practicing and it was fun the track was pretty easy but the crowds of people made it way better! And i was really surprised at the amount of media attention there was for this race, myself and friend Filip Polc had to do a fair bit of filming and photo's after the practice had finished which was cool to get some good coverage. Also after riding the top riders had to do a press conference which is something pretty new to me haha. The whole town pretty much was in to this event Saturday night they had a big party which I wish I could of stayed for but got to race the next day.

Sunday I awoke to rain which i knew was going to make the track super slippery, stoney and marble Italian streets in the wet equals mega drifts! I did the early practice session and was enjoying it although any touch of back brake in the turns had you sliding out. 

Then we had a seeding run and the top 32 go through to the dual, I got so loose in the seeding run on this section where you had to ride on this north shore wood bout 2 meters up, you go round a turn and in to a drop, my back wheel slid off the side of the wood and i nearly fell off somehow how i held it up luckily as i would of fallen on to a tree or concrete wall but i still managed to huck the drop as you do on the north shore... 

So then it was dual time, I was stoked with my first race the rider i was supposed to race didn't show up so i just rolled down saving some energy, my next few races i had to pedal pretty hard stay in the front and it was mega tiring similar to interval training. I made it to the top 4 where i had to race Bruno Zanchi I knew it was going to be a hard race Bruno is a pretty good pedaler, hes a legend in Italy won the Junior Worlds in 1990 i think and he's still ripping. I had a race on my hands, I knew i had to get a good start, and we battled it to the first turn where i managed to shut him out a bit and took the lead and didn't look back. 

I was into the final and was stoked to have made it that far, in the final I was up against Livio Zamperie the Italian 4x champ. I knew i would need a real good start, and i really surprised myself to have half a bike length on him by the 2nd pedal, but the 3rd pedal....Snap and i was rolling on my front wheel, chain snapped nothing i could do but roll down from there to take 2nd place. I was disappointed but at the same time nothing i could do, and i had heaps of fun at the race so thats what matters, it was a brand new chain too, guess i just got too much power....haha 

Next we had prize giving, Bruno Zanchi took 4th place with my friend Filip Polc 3rd, me 2nd and Livio Zamperie 1st. The prize money was the best i have seen in a while and ill be living off it for a while, 3rd got 800 euro, I took home 1200 and the winner took 2000 euros, massive compared to NZ. More pics to come as i get them.

Now I'm back at my Training base Doganaccia for a week then im off to La Bresse for the 2nd World Cup.

Keep It real

Wyn Masters

Lastly but not least,  I'd like to thank my sponsors, Ancillotti Cycles, UFO Plast, Formula, Doganaccia 2000, Rockstar Racing, CampaBros, NZRide, Maxxis.