Another great day racing out at the Crocodile XC MTB Park! Awesome to hear the support for other riders out on the tracks too. Well done to the riders who were racing those types of tracks for the first time … a few crashes but nothing serious.
CBHS were giving some great support and making some noise for their riders so they can see me next week for some choco treats for the team! Rangiora New Life School enjoyed some today for showing brilliant team spirit last week.
I will work on grades, courses, and race times for next week, over the next few days, so please check the racesingletracks website for updates after the weekend.
The grades riding all of the tracks next week will be using the Crocodile / Crocpot loop and Upload and Download. Get out there and practice! If you are wanting to change grades from sport to competitive (or the other way around) please make contact with me through the website or the email link in FB above.
This weeks results can be found here.
Latest News
Time Trials Tomorrow!
We’re close to kicking things off for SINGLETRACKS 2018.
All we need is a better weather forecast for tomorrow! The tracks are not all weather tracks so if there is any doubt, make sure you check here for an update on the day.
We have around 225 registered riders this year. An awesome number but also a large number to get through a fairly ambitious and tight little course of time trials.
There are some riders that need to finish earlier than others. If you are in no rush then let others start first and you can relax until a bit later on. This will help spread things out and you can get out on the course and support other riders!
Please … be patient and respect everyone on the course, fast or slow. It is supposed to be fun and the times are only a guideline for week 2 grades. Grades are adjusted each week so it’s not fixed after the time trials. This is not the championships day … treat each week as a build up and a chance to improve for the final race day.
Some riders will be held up, especially in TT1 on the downhill sections where passing is not really possible. If you’re worried about a hold up then get out there and smash the other time trials. They all count.
Parents, Teachers and Students: We have a number of volunteers out on the course as marshals and timers. They will be trying to concentrate for over 2 hours. All help that you can offer the timers would be fantastic, even if it’s for a little while and you pass it on to someone else. You can help manage the riders for the starters or call out numbers for the finish timers. Talk to them out on the course as they will need support.
Remember … there will be a lot of riders giving some tracks like Download, Murphs and Crocpot a go for the first time. Make sure it’s positive!
Get Entries in now for 2018 Series
SINGLETRACKS Canterbury Secondary Schools 2018 race series is getting closer! Start date is 28th February and entries close on Friday 16th February. All races will be at Crocodile XC MTB Park at Halswell Quarry.
If you are a secondary school student and wanting to race, make sure you talk to your MTB or Sport Coordinator if you have not already had a meeting at your school. They will enter you through their school sport system.
If you are in year 8 and you are a competent and keen racer, you can enter on the racesingletracks website. There is the possibility of some year 7’s entering but they will need to be strong and fast riders. (As it is a secondary competition, secondary students will have priority over intermediate entries if numbers are too high)
If you’re a parent or teacher that will be at the races and you’re not required to organise your riders, I’d love to have a few more helpers for various things on the day. Please make contact with murray@singletrack.org.nz
Day 1 is a series of time trials, one main loop being compulsory for all grades and 3 other loops being optional, as they are more technical. Any rider wishing to compete in A grade will need to do all 4 time trials and we would encourage other riders to have a go at as many as they can enjoy riding! (No problem if it’s just the one … it’s about enjoying the riding!) Exact race details will be on the website nearer the 28th but they are essentially;
TT1 – C2 / Crocodile / Deviation / Lower Deviation
TT2 – Uppercrust / Murphs
TT3 – Upload / Download
TT4 – Crocodile / Crocpot
This year we will introduce some more tracks into the races for A grade, and hopefully some for B grade. C and D grade will be a similar loop to 2017. We are hoping to have a longer B line built around the rock garden at the bottom of Murphs to enable more riders to use Uppercrust and Murphs in the time trial.
Change of Dates
Please note the latest dates for the Singletracks XC Series. They will now begin on Feb 28th and finish with the Canterbury Secondary Schools Championships on Mar 28th.
The National Secondary Schools Championships will be held in week 4 so any riders travelling to the Nationals will not miss our final Championship race in week 5.
Coaching in October, Races set for Feb/Mar, and the SIXCO Champs
Make sure you talk to your sports coordinator at school to get involved in the coaching series in the first 3 weeks of term 4.
Check out the dates for next years SINGLETRACKS XC race series here.
You may also be interested in the South Island XCO Champs that are being held in Christchurch and hosted by the Christchurch Singletrack Club on Feb 4th 2018. A top level NZ event and a chance to race against some of the best or come along and see them ride! Details for this event can be found here.
The Final Race for 2017
It’s the final race in the SINGLETRACKS series this Wednesday. It’s been great seeing so many of you out there racing and it’s been impressive seeing the improvements in times over the three XC races so far.
This week we’ve got some more great prizes to give away to riders that have been at every race, riders at the last race, riders that improve on their race time, and those that can improve on their fastest lap time!
Each week, every rider and every age group place getter gets points for their school. After race 5 we will know the top schools.
The photo in this post is an area of track at Halswell Quarry used in the race. Can you name all of the tracks in the picture? Write the answers down at registration and you’re in the draw for some more spot prizes! 
Results for Canterbury Champs
Thanks everyone for making the Canterbury Championships such an awesome event. The rain held off (just), and there were some fantastic races. It’s brilliant just watching you all out there enjoying the racing, and enjoying messing around on your bikes.
Congratulations to those that made it to the podium! There are some photos posted on Facebook from the prize giving, just a couple of gaps where people had to leave early.
Scott Smith and Hamish Bennett both did the fastest laps with 5:59,and Courtney Ross got the girls fastest lap of 7:13. Awesome!
Congratulations to the spot prize winners, and thanks to GoPro, CamelBak, Ground Effect and Torpedo 7 for being extremely generous and supporting the schools racing. Let’s support them!
We’ve got the final race of the series next week and I’ve still got some great prizes to give away!
Information for next Wednesday’s race will be up early next week. See you all at the final race!
Canterbury Champs
The information is up for this weeks Canterbury Champs.
GoPro Spot Prize
Today I picked up the random spot prize for Wednesday’s Canterbury Champs race. If you are registered, race and are at the prize giving you’re in the draw! Pretty good odds?
Thanks GoPro!!!
Grading for Race 3
Another awesome week of racing last week, however there have been a few questions regarding grading, so here’s a bit of detail and insight into how it works!
At the start of many races, especially in the first corners and climbs, the track can get congested. It even happens in world cup races! It’s caused by the number and order of riders, the course, or riders not managing to ride through a technical piece of track.
Race 2 was graded from Race 1 which was a non-technical time trial. This had some effect for riders in Race 2.
To help make the start of the race run smoothly, we’re making a couple of small changes to the lines that can be taken in the early corners. We’ve also done more work on the grading.
The grading for week 3 has been worked out with lots of effort, taking into consideration the total time from Race 2, the rider’s fastest lap in Race 2, and the time from Race 1. Major crashes and mechanicals have also been considered. This should make for a smoother start and minimise unnecessary passing.
Please don’t worry about the position you (or your child) has been placed in. Some have changed grades based on results and some grades have changed simply to balance the numbers in the four races. You may or may not be in the order of placing from Race 2. You should be around riders of similar ability. You are in a position that best reflects your results so far, and this should make it more enjoyable!
If you do get stuck behind other riders, work out how you can best conserve your energy to be ready to take advantage of a passing space. There are three races to go, aim to improve your technique and your times over the series.
And most importantly – Have fun!
Race Singletracks 2023 