Flagstaff Dunedin – Photo by Flashworks Media

If you asked me a year ago what my passion was, trail running would be it. Slapping on some trail shoes and heading out into the mountains for some serious exploring was what made me tick. My weekends consisted of long runs in the hills above Dunedin, avoiding the road as much as possible. If you‘re a runner reading this, then you’ll understand what I mean when I say running can become rather obsessive. Often to the point where you NEED to run, and if you don’t run, then you’re not a very fun person to be around.

Surf Coast Centrury 100km, Anglesea, Australia

I loved racing, even when my legs were hurting, when I was dehydrated, or when my gastrointestinal tract stopped working (I won’t go into more detail there). I loved both the physical and mental battle of ultra running (any distance longer than a marathon). I was lucky enough to spend 7 years running trails, training, and competing in both New Zealand and Australia. Behind the scenes of this journey was a consistent injury, well known in the running community as Illiotibial Band (ITB) friction syndrome. To cut a long story short, I made the decision to have surgery on my ITB in 2014. The ideal outcome was that once recovered, I could return to ultra running and make my way back to the podium, most importantly pain free. As I returned to training and racing, I was not pain free, and my body was telling me no! Words cannot describe my disappointment at this time. I had just moved to Wanaka and I was surrounded in beautiful mountains and endless trails I was unable to explore. Times were tough!

So, I had this rather expensive mountain bike that didn’t get much love. Basically, I only rode it when my knee was too sore to run. It kept me somewhat sane, and most importantly, it got me on the trails. Because it was pain free, I started riding more and more, and once I got past that unco phase, I really started to enjoy it. My good friend Mops, who is a super talented rider, took me under her wing and basically taught me everything I know. I can’t thank her enough for her advise, encouragement and enthusiasm, allowing me to progress to where I am today. Mops has put together a women’s mountain biking team, full of some true big hitters such as Scarlett Hagen, Harriet Latchem (Bob), Mary Jowett, Natalie Jakobs, and herself. The concept of this team is – Ride bikes often, offer good chat, drink beer and get others riding. I have been lucky enough to ride with these girls and learn a thing or two. Next season I may even make the team officially!

Ro4m Free Mountain Biking Team – Big Hitters

As my love for Mountain biking progresses, I have discovered several advantages over running…

• Firstly, it’s quite a lot faster to get anywhere. Which means you can explore further in one outing. More kilometres = more trails, and you can’t complain about that.
• The FUN factor has definitely increased. I used to think running down a hill as fast as you can was pretty fun, but have you tried it on a bike? The trails become rather different when everything is moving much faster! Descending time has definitely decreased.
• Mountain biking is certainly more challenging than trail running, but I find that a positive thing. Developing your skills on a mountain bike is a true journey, and I don’t think that journey ever ends. I find myself tackling steeper and more technical terrain, and I’m excited to see how far I can progress with my skills.
• As a runner, I was always getting little niggles and injuries that needed attention, due to the weight bearing nature of the sport. So far, mountain biking has been a lot easier on my body. That’s as long as I stay on my bike of course!
• I have been overwhelmed by the friendly and positive atmosphere of the mountain biking community. When you are out on the trails, other riders are always willing to have a chat and even do a few laps with you. When I went riding on my own in Rotorua recently, I made 6 new friends! That didn’t tend to happen with running, and when I passed another runner I would say hi, but it would usually stop there. Maybe I was just and anti social runner, but I feel have made substantially more friends through mountain biking and it’s only been one year!
• You need a lot more gear for Mountain Biking. Helmets, shoes, lycra, baggies, tools, pumps, and the list goes on. More gear = more toys! I have been told that there is a formula for working out how many bikes you need. It is n+1, with n being the amount of bikes you currently have.

There are some things that I need to watch out for. I wouldn’t call them cons, but more like potential threats…

• Mountain biking is more dangerous. As I continue to push myself on more technical terrain, I do crash every now and then. It’s all part of the sport, and I am learning relax as I hit the ground.
• When I reach the summit on my bike and start descending, I feel like I’m going too fast downhill to appreciate the scenery. You also have to pay close attention to where you are putting your bike, so enjoying the scenery isn’t really an option.
• My bank account is not too happy now that I have two rather nice bikes. And believe it or not, I still need more bikes – you can never have enough! (n+1).
• As a trail runner I avoided the road at all times because ‘bitumen is boring’. Apparently, I need to start road cycling if I want to get faster at XC racing. My running coach never told me to go smash out a whole lot of Kms on the road to get faster at trail running! Road cycling is the last sport I thought I would find myself in. But if that’s what it takes to get fitter and stronger on my mountain bike, you will probably see me out on the road soon.

XC National Cup Round, Hawea Flat – Photo Credit: Flashworks Media

So the moral of the story here is I have found a new passion! I have come to realize that my determination, focus, competitiveness and obsessive personality can be used for another purpose other than running. Who would have thought?!! Over the last year, I have been dabbling in a few different disciplines in this Mountain Biking scene, from Enduros to XC racing. It didn’t take me long to figure out that I needed two bikes to for fill my trail needs (a trail bike and a XC bike). The races I have done so far have been very short and fast compared to the type of racing I was doing on foot. But you need to start somewhere right? I am excited to say that I’m lining up for my first 12 hour Solo race on the 2nd of April in Naseby. I can’t wait to see how my legs go for the longer slower stuff. I am not going to make any promises, or set any expectations that I will be as successful at Mountain Biking as I was at Trail Running. But what I can say is that I am going to give it a bloody good try!

See you out there!