On Tuesday the 6th of March I flew to Sydney to be ready to fly to New Zealand for my first ever international competition early the next morning with the Australian long team. We arrived in Auckland on Wednesday afternoon and then drove to Rotorua where we would be competing in the Oceania's MTB Championships ! That night we went shopping for food as we would be cooking our own meals for the rest of our stay which was a little challenging but led to some master chef quality food ;)
Photo of the Rock Garden: Thomas Reynolds
On the Thursday we got to Redwood State Forest to ride the track that we would be racing on the Saturday. I absolutely loved the track, with a good climb to begin with, then some sweet flowing single track. Near the end of the race loop was a challenging rock garden, which I enjoyed the first time around but second time around my front tire blew, which led to 9 stitches on my knee cap and some nasty grazes.
Unfortunately because this prevented me from being able to race on the Saturday, although I was still able to go watch everyone else compete which was awesome as all the Australians put in a fantastic performance which was great to watch!
Luging photo: Donna Dall
On the Sunday after waiting for the team to have a 3hr trail ride in Redwood we all went luging which was awesome fun especially in the rain! Overall it was an awesome experience even though I didn't get to race, I would like to thank all the guys at Drift for all of their support and my parents for giving me the opportunity to go.
- Holly Harris (reporting from Rotorua, NZ)
Photo of the Rock Garden: Thomas Reynolds
Unfortunately because this prevented me from being able to race on the Saturday, although I was still able to go watch everyone else compete which was awesome as all the Australians put in a fantastic performance which was great to watch!