The beginning of this year sure has flown by. School has kept me very busy with assessments and assignments due regularly and with the time off for BMX it has been hard to keep up.
At the start of the month I travelled over to Canberra, Australia to race the ACT State Titles. This was a good experience for me as I went over by myself instead of with my family as I usually do. Had a mechanical breakdown the first days Probikx round, going from 3rd to 8th in the final which i wasn't too pleased about. On the Saturdays Probikx I was feeling a lot more confident on the track, which lead to a couple of first and second placings, followed by a third in the final which was much better compared to the previous day. Sunday was the actual ACT Championships, in which i was winning all day until I got stuck in a soft patch in the final and got overtaken, ending in second place which was not what I would havehoped for but overall not too bad. The competition over there is much better than here in New Zealand, so it is always fun to go over and race at their events.
The next weekend was the UCI Oceania Continental Championships held in Puni, Auckland. This event attracted people from all over New Zealand, Australia and even a few Americans made the journey across the ditch. Junior Women was amalgamated with the Elite Women class as as result of us Juniors losing a rider. This made for some tough racing but was such a good experience racing against the older girls. We were also made to jump the last straight pro section which was new for most of us but also pretty fun for a change. I managed to pull out a couple of 3rds in motos and got through to the final. I was the youngest to qualify for this final so I was happy I even managed to accomplish this. In the final I got a good gate but as I expected I got shut down on the first straight. Ended up 7th in this final which I was very stoked with, an amazing start to the weekend. On the Sunday our class was also amalgamated as we thought it would be. I got a pretty good moto draw and made it through to the final easily, once against the youngest of the girls in there. This time I got shut down even worse and just couldn't make up any ground on the other girls. Overall an amazing experience racing with them and a real eye opener to see the difference in skill level and speed between the two classes.
These past couple of weeks I have been crazy busy. I have been on two 3-day school PE camps, one to be taught skills such as high ropes, kayaking and archery; and the other camp I was leading a group of younger students and teaching them what to do. This was a good learning experience for me and was well worth doing. I have had a significant number of assessments due and I am now on top of it all, or atleast I hope so. Nationals are coming up quick so I'm looking forward to racing. North Harbours new gate and ramp is looking soooo goood and the track is looking smooth. Hopefully the weather stays good and it should be a good weekend. That's all until next time. (: