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		<title>NZDiaries - Digital Salt</title>
		<link>http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/index.php</link>
		<description><![CDATA[No Footer to suicide!]]></description>
		<copyright>Copyright 2010, Sam, Seb and Adam</copyright>
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			<title>wah-wah-waaaaaaaaaaaa</title>
			<link>http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry070320-013811</link>
			<description><![CDATA[<h1><b><center>Fin</center></b></h1><br /> <br />]]></description>
			<category>The Diary</category>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry070320-013811</guid>
			<author>Sam, Seb and Adam</author>
			<pubDate>Tue, 20 Mar 2007 05:38:11 GMT</pubDate>
			<comments>http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/comments.php?y=07&amp;m=03&amp;entry=entry070320-013811</comments>
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			<title>new racing deal for 08</title>
			<link>http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry070311-203031</link>
			<description><![CDATA[due to the Diaries.com team abmissal performance at this years NZ National series we have decided to go in a different direction next year...<br /><br />..and so we are proud to announce the Diaries.com Jack Russell racing team!!!<br /><br /> <img src="images/jack_russel_2.jpg" width="127" height="85" border="0" alt="" /> <br /><br />For anyone who has not being lucky enough to see jack Russell racing in the flesh then just look at this  <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSUdVcdmmY8" target="_blank" >youtube</a> <br /><br />Our Jack Russell racing epiphany came this last weekend when we went to the Wanaka A&amp;P Hillbilly Fest. This festival is just like Galstonbury festival but with more plaid shirts and less burberry.<br /><br />The Jack Russell racing consisted of 45 little nippers lined up at one end of the field, a dead rabbit is paraded in front of the dogs by a man in joumpers riding a big horse, then all at once the owners let go of their prize racing cannine midgets. The dogs are supposed to chase the dead rabbit weilding horseman but most of the dogs use this oppurtunity off the lease to try fucking and fighting each other. the race is over very quickly but the chaos really begins when its time to collect your pooch becuase they are having a whale of a time running all over the showground. last year most of the dogs where lost. bad news for the dog owners good news for the newly arrived turkish kebab store owners.<br /><br />team kit is undecided but i promise it will be better looking than the Atherton Teams new Zebra print outfits <br /><br /> <img src="images/geee.jpg" width="484" height="671" border="0" alt="" /> <br /><br /><br /><br />]]></description>
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			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry070311-203031</guid>
			<author>Sam, Seb and Adam</author>
			<pubDate>Mon, 12 Mar 2007 01:30:31 GMT</pubDate>
			<comments>http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/comments.php?y=07&amp;m=03&amp;entry=entry070311-203031</comments>
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			<title>new clothing line: By Midgets For Midgets</title>
			<link>http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry070308-214428</link>
			<description><![CDATA[ <img src="images/tom.jpg" width="170" height="226" border="0" alt="" /> <br /><br />yup, just got word from lady boy humping English rider Tiny Tom Hey(formerly of Pint Sized Racing) that he is collaborating with biscuit sized hucker Robbie Bourdon on a new clothing and sex aid company.<br /><br />The new line will be ready in time for another smouldering summer in Whistler. The first items to be released will be shoes, vests and penis enlarging knob jackets.<br /> <br />The shoes will feature 6inch platform soles with 5-10s Stealth rubber. The protective wife beater vests will have the necessary padding to protect you from angry Mavic vans but will be totally see through so you can still appear like you are hard enought to ride shirtless.<br /><br />heres the official word from Tom himself<br /><br /> &quot;Indeed me and the bourbon biscuit are making a clothing line for small people, do you want a penis jacket?&quot;<br /><br />I can&#039;t wait.<br /><br />for more info go to <a href="http://www.myspace.com/tomhey49" target="_blank" >http://www.myspace.com/tomhey49</a> ]]></description>
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			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry070308-214428</guid>
			<author>Sam, Seb and Adam</author>
			<pubDate>Fri, 09 Mar 2007 02:44:28 GMT</pubDate>
			<comments>http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/comments.php?y=07&amp;m=03&amp;entry=entry070308-214428</comments>
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			<title>nz riders are soft</title>
			<link>http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry070306-203646</link>
			<description><![CDATA[so another fast nz racer has announced his retirement. first JK (not from that band jamoroqui) retires, and now Alex Rankin has done.<br />he is certainly not old so i think its becuase he cant get anyone to pay him a fat enough check to ride so he is gonna go stack shelfs at the supermarket instead.<br />personally i think mr Ranking can see the future and its of much faster and younger riders in the main frame and no room for him anymore.<br />]]></description>
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			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry070306-203646</guid>
			<author>Sam, Seb and Adam</author>
			<pubDate>Wed, 07 Mar 2007 01:36:46 GMT</pubDate>
			<comments>http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/comments.php?y=07&amp;m=03&amp;entry=entry070306-203646</comments>
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			<title>Most important question in the history of ManKind answered!!!</title>
			<link>http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry070226-204217</link>
			<description><![CDATA[No we dont know if God exists or who cuts Mel Gibsons hair but the life long mission of whistlerdiaries and NZDiaries has been answered.<br /><br />Yes thats right Duncan Riffle has spoken to us, we had to goto elaborate lengths to comunicate with the snappyest dresser in the US but after writing our questions on a postcard marked Santa and throwing into the steaming volcano at the top of mount doom, we have an answer.<br /><br /><blockquote>Diaries: How do you keep your socks so high?<br /><br />DR: Years of practice…constant attention, it all comes down to your dedication. How bad do you want it? </blockquote><br /><br />So there it is from the mouth of the riffelator himself, not quite what I was expecting, but definitely something for the diaries scholars to ponder.<br /><br />Duncan also answered another of our questions to:<br /><br /><blockquote>Diaries: Why does Decline magazine love you so much? <br /><br />DR: Ha. I love Decline magazine. Maybe it’s a mutual plutonic love. I have known Scott Hart or maybe I should say Scott has known me since I literally first started racing. I ‘introduced’ myself by asking if he was in my class. I guess he found it rather funny that the little grom worrying if he had to race against him kept showing up at races and found his way all the way to where I am today. Shawn Spomer, Ralph, Mark Jordan, Scott, all those guys are super cool and have always shown there love. Thanks boyz. </blockquote><br /><br />So there we have it, I almost feel as if this website has now lost all purpose.<br /><br /><i>Big thanks to DW for making our dreams come true</i><br /><br />SAM<br /><br /><br />]]></description>
			<category>The Diary</category>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry070226-204217</guid>
			<author>Sam, Seb and Adam</author>
			<pubDate>Tue, 27 Feb 2007 01:42:17 GMT</pubDate>
			<comments>http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/comments.php?y=07&amp;m=02&amp;entry=entry070226-204217</comments>
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			<title>Rnd 5: Levin - English Pounds and Eskimo Pence</title>
			<link>http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry070225-004328</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Round five saw me drive all the way back down the country again, via the goat island, through the egg village, via pikey nun ville, past the art deco capital of the world!!11one  and back down to levin.<br /><br />The week saw me not ride at all because it was too hot, I kept up with traditions by drinking coffee siting around and asking people where to buy pedals.<br /><br />Any hopes of riding on Thursday at levin were dashed when yet again they were doing course maintiance the day before the race, these people clearly never ran with the boy scouts. Anyway the usual course maintaince technique of cutting out interesting roots, making other bits more dangerous, ruining my sneaky lines etc was in full affect. Interestingly there is apparently a rule that the back side of a jump must be at 45degrees, quite how landing into a 45 degree slope instead of about a 70 degree one will help you when your coming up short on a 50ft double was not made clear, however it seemed to keep a few people busy and out of trouble for a while.<br /><br />Course conditions where looking good on thursday, but when we woke up at our campsite/boyracer donut circuit on friday morning it was raining, this was about as welcome as a dead bunny at easter.<br /><br /><br /><i>more to come when i rob an old lady to fund my internet habit</i>]]></description>
			<category>The Diary</category>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry070225-004328</guid>
			<author>Sam, Seb and Adam</author>
			<pubDate>Sun, 25 Feb 2007 05:43:28 GMT</pubDate>
			<comments>http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/comments.php?y=07&amp;m=02&amp;entry=entry070225-004328</comments>
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			<title>National Champs...three weeks late</title>
			<link>http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry070220-183334</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Right, just so people dont get confused, the following is from the NZ National Champs  in Nelson that were held three weeks ago. Yes, thats a long time ago. Yes, we are slack. And yes, it seems odd to bother putting this up after a report on the following round? well, deal with it. We had been meaning to do a full report, but the weekend was too painful to think about so it got put on the back burner. Then the day I decide to actually pull my finger out, Sam wrote the report for Auckland, so instead of a full report here is a photo essay of crap photos I took with Adams MyFirstCamera. <br /><br /><img src="images/nelson1.jpg" width="200" height="266" border="0" alt="" /><br />Joe Barnes jumping <i>&#039;The Forty Footer&#039;</i>, which was actaully not even thirty feet long. For bonus info Hes jumping this switch footed.<br /><br /><img src="images/nelson2.jpg" width="200" height="266" border="0" alt="" /><br />Giant Glorys are ugly so i tried to beautify this shot of one. didnt work<br /><br /><img src="images/nelson3.jpg" width="200" height="266" border="0" alt="" /><br />Ebony and Ivory.<br /><br /><img src="images/nelson4.jpg" width="200" height="266" border="0" alt="" /><br />Another Tin Donkey.<br /><br /><img src="images/nelson6.jpg" width="200" height="266" border="0" alt="" /><br />Some dude who spends alot of time colour coordinating his attire.<br /><br /><img src="images/nelson7.jpg" width="200" height="266" border="0" alt="" /><br />The bit before the road crossing.Which way was faster? to the left off the log or to the right going low and across the log. Either way there was a huck to flat. strangely the landing looks really big and inviting but in real life it was pathetically small and mincy.<br /><br /><img src="images/nelson8.jpg" width="200" height="266" border="0" alt="" /><br />Uplift. Riders complained of not enough runs. The upligt dudes went on break whenever they fancied it regardless of actual race schedules. Trucks broke down. Trucks crashed into parked cars. It was hella dusty. and Sam had his shifter snapped off on the uplift on the way to his race run.<br /><br /><img src="images/nelson9.jpg" width="200" height="266" border="0" alt="" /><br />Dusty.<br /><br /><img src="images/nelson10.jpg" width="250" height="187" border="0" alt="" /><br />Sam on the step down at the finish.<br /><br /><img src="images/nelson11.jpg" width="250" height="187" border="0" alt="" /><br />Podium for Pro Elite.<br /><br /><img src="images/nelson12.jpg" width="250" height="151" border="0" alt="" /><br />My short lived 4x race. DQ&#039;d a fraction of a second after this photo was taken.<br /><br /><img src="images/nelson13.jpg" width="250" height="187" border="0" alt="" /><br />Thanks to Ginger Si&#039;s mom and dad letting us stay for the weekend. Their hot tub was put to good use. <br /><br />Posted by SEB<br /><br />]]></description>
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			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry070220-183334</guid>
			<author>Sam, Seb and Adam</author>
			<pubDate>Tue, 20 Feb 2007 23:33:34 GMT</pubDate>
			<comments>http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/comments.php?y=07&amp;m=02&amp;entry=entry070220-183334</comments>
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			<title>Rnd4 Auckland- Strictly No pictures</title>
			<link>http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry070219-151254</link>
			<description><![CDATA[The course was good, although some of the modifications made the day before the race could only be described as &quot;bizarre&quot; digging your own braking bumps is a definite first. Much of the jump construction would best be described as pikey and someone definitely got a bit over zealous with the chainsaw.<br /><br />Thankfully this track wasn&#039;t in England, otherwise health and safety would have<br />put a stop to the race before it had even begun, laying logs across the track? hello? anyway most of the logs rolled off when the more pedestrian of the riders hit them.<br /><br />But despite my whinging I really enjoyed the track, fast, a bit loose and tricky enough to mean I didn&#039;t have time to smoke my Sherlock Holmes pipe or drink any tea on the way down, contrary to what any commentators had to say.<br /><br />Riders wise the usual people looked fast and the other people looked slow, no surprises there, race results are available on some other website that you checked before you looked here anyway.<br /><br />Joe Barneseses poomerow finally gave up the ghost with a bust main pivot, fortunately James shirley had put himself out of the game with a tree hugging incident so he hopped on James vp-free and promptly broke that too.<br /><br />A quick note for Si Paton, I&#039;ve broken another set of your pedals. Big thanks to the philanthropic James shirley for the lend of some pedals.<br /><br />In other British news Alex stock seems to have recovered from his mauling by Pc Pooch with a solid result there.<br /><br />Coming up shortly is the final round in Levin where I&#039;ll be keeping it realer than a Brazilian Bureau du Change (work that joke out if you can be bothered).<br />]]></description>
			<category>The Diary</category>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry070219-151254</guid>
			<author>Sam, Seb and Adam</author>
			<pubDate>Mon, 19 Feb 2007 20:12:54 GMT</pubDate>
			<comments>http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/comments.php?y=07&amp;m=02&amp;entry=entry070219-151254</comments>
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			<title>How-To: Cutties</title>
			<link>http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry070218-165348</link>
			<description><![CDATA[<img src="images/Cuttie.jpg" width="300" height="400" border="0" alt="" /><br /><br />Back in the day if you wanted to impress the kids in your cul-de-sac all you had to do was a big fat skid down the drive way. Then things moved on and the skid didn&#039;t cut it anymore and the only way of showing off in front of the girls hanging out behind the bike sheds at was to pop a wheelie. Then the Hans Rey phenonmenon kicked in and you had to do back hops outside the off-license whilst Sid the local homeless dude was inside getting your bottle of Scrumpy.  These moves were great to do because they made you feel like a super star amongst mere mortals, even if the truth is that you just looked like a big headed little show off. <br /><br />So in an ever changing and fickle world it’s no surprise that the wheelie and the skid just don’t hold the same sort of kudos anymore. At the NZ nationals we noticed the emergence of the Car park Cuttie as the de riguer move for little bastards. It seems that after practice runs every young git with a full TLD outfit is expected to make his way back to fathers Merc doing a fish tail all the way through the car park.<br /><br />It’s not big and it’s not clever. Every time a kid comes barreling through the car park doing cutties it throws up dust clouds that waft into your open car window, covers your sandwich in a thick layer of carpark crap, and which you later digest. To make matters worse impressionable young Adam has latched on to the craze. Instead of going riding he often spends half an hour having a cuttie session in our driveway. <br /><br />So here is a detailed how-to on carpark cutties…<br /><br />Step one: If you feel the need to do a car park cuttie then the first thing you need is a good length of rope.<br /><br />Step two: Tie the rope in a knot and pass it over a tree branch.<br /><br />Step three: Put your neck through the knot and jump.<br /><br /><br />Cutties, JUST DON’T DO IT!<br /><br />Posted by SEB<br /><br /><img src="images/Morewood.jpg" width="300" height="225" border="0" alt="" /><br /><i>That says it all really</i><br />]]></description>
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			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry070218-165348</guid>
			<author>Sam, Seb and Adam</author>
			<pubDate>Sun, 18 Feb 2007 21:53:48 GMT</pubDate>
			<comments>http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/comments.php?y=07&amp;m=02&amp;entry=entry070218-165348</comments>
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			<title>Killing time...</title>
			<link>http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry070208-201851</link>
			<description><![CDATA[News:<br />There is none.<br /><br />Instead here is a photo. If you&#039;re really bored then please leave a caption in the comments below. Best one kills time.<br /><br /><img src="images/weird_shot.jpg" width="300" height="225" border="0" alt="" /><br /><br /><i>ps. this is not photoshopped</i>]]></description>
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			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry070208-201851</guid>
			<author>Sam, Seb and Adam</author>
			<pubDate>Fri, 09 Feb 2007 01:18:51 GMT</pubDate>
			<comments>http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/comments.php?y=07&amp;m=02&amp;entry=entry070208-201851</comments>
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			<title>News Round up</title>
			<link>http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry070203-175807</link>
			<description><![CDATA[vanessa quinn (aka VOQ or V-Quizzle or &quot;whos that fit bird on the blue Intense?&quot;) broke her neck at recent NZ nationals. She did it in her seeding run when she hucked to flat and did a proper head banger on the bars. <br /><br />The Collective has received one of action sports films highest honors by winning the “Best Director” Award from the X-Dance Action Sports Film Festival in Park City, Utah. Why it should recieve an award for gnarly dancing is beyond me. Maybe i havent found the secret bonus section where the Claw takes it to the dancefloor.<br /><br />Whilst out riding around in the wilds of cyberspace in my G-wagon i came across a rumour that Nico Vouilloz will be returning to competitive downhill racing. Just to remind everyone Nico comes from a time where grown men like Steve Jones had the choice between the rough and rugged Shaun Palmer or the nice boy Nico Vouilloz for their wet dreams. It was like the choice between beating off to the Spice Girls or All Saints.<br /><br />I sent him an email to find out for real.....<br /><i>Nico</i>  Hi are you the real Jill Kintner? :-) the 4x star? Amazing season congratulations! <br /><i>NZDiaries.com</i> No sorry Nico its NZDiairies.com. I had a shit season, thanks for reminding me arsehole! Anyway whats le 411?<br /><i>Nico</i> Yes I will be present on 2 WC events, probably WC2 and 5! I will also compet in rally car in a new IRC serie (like european championnish) I really do that for fun and challenging myself! After 4/5 years, it should be really difficult to come into top 5! The top guys, specially Sam look very fast...<br /><i>NZDiaries.com</i> Do you mean Angry Sam Gothorp?<br /><i>Nico</i>  Have a good season! Bye Nico&quot;<br /><br />Steve Peat bust his ankle doing street riding...[GROAN]...apparently he wasnt doing an Abubaca on a plant pot (have you seen Aaron Chases section in NWD7!! no? GOOD!), in fact he was doing some stair hucks with Brendon Fairclough. WTF? Surely thats not condonned in the Team Honda G-cross training manual?<br /><br />posted by SEB]]></description>
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			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry070203-175807</guid>
			<author>Sam, Seb and Adam</author>
			<pubDate>Sat, 03 Feb 2007 22:58:07 GMT</pubDate>
			<comments>http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/comments.php?y=07&amp;m=02&amp;entry=entry070203-175807</comments>
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			<title>Nationals Round 3: <i>And then there was rain</i></title>
			<link>http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry070130-202421</link>
			<description><![CDATA[With 2 rounds down of the New Zealand national series down the NZ-Diaries team had little to show for it. We had lost a team member in the first round and hadn’t even managed to breakout into the top 20 since. Fingers were pointed, accusations made, “locals knew the tracks better”, “ there not even proper race courses”. But all the banter had to be put aside, round three was upon us and from what we had heard it was the first proper track on the series featuring rocky technical sections, tight wooded single track, and little bit wide open mayhem.<br /><br />The riders:<br /><br />Another bad finish would not be tolerated and our training efforts were doubled in the week prior to the race. Seb upped his cigarettes and coffee intake. He managed to hire a circus midget to role his cigarettes so he could spend more time inhaling and he had a espresso intravenous drip rigged up but later abandoned it after a face killing incident at work. Sam upped his hating from mildly distraught to raving. He spent his days prior to the race roaming the streets of Wanaka and slapping children reminding them why they weren’t good enough. And I upped my egg intact from 4 eggs a day to 2 cartons. My heart is slowly starting to stop but that doesn’t matter. A true champion must be able to not only win the race but grab his bike snap it over his head on the podium. <br /><br /> So you have heard about our hardcore training regiments but I haven’t even mentioned the emotional fires we had burning inside. Seb’s goal of podium was completely dropped after his humiliating defeat by me at Trebble cone (.09 sec.). He all of a sudden took a new angle on life. He was determined to beat me not only on the track but also off.  Racing me to the kitchen for frying pan supremacy, fighting over who was a better driver, and even stealing my all egg and tuna diet thinking that that might be my (.09sec) edge. Sam was determined to pull together a good race run and finally prove to the world that he was not only the smartest but the fastest racer and that yes one can race with a monocle and top hat under his helmet and still be 95.4% race affective<br /><br /><img src="images/dunedin2.jpg" width="200" height="266" border="0" alt="" /><br /><i>Hardcore race prep</i><br /><br />Myself, I had yet to experience how I had first visualized mountain bike racing; crossing the finish line only to be showered by roses and big busted women screaming my name and praising me on how great I am, at which point I would break out into a academy award winning song and dance number that would only further my greatness. <br /><br />The mood was set, we all new what we wanted and had the tools to get them. All we needed now was the stage...<br /><br />The Track:<br /><br />The track was located on signal hill, only a 10-minute walk from down town Dunedin.  Access to the track was available via a paved road that wound its way through residential neighborhoods located hillside. The course ended in the local high schools soccer field. The high school was gracious enough to extend their arm to the event and allow riders use of their washrooms and hoses that were much needed come race day. <br /><br />The course itself was a complete opposite of the two previous stages. The two prior races, Coronet and Treble cone, were both alpine tracks with no trees. Coronet was wide open with jumps and berms where as treble cone was just wide open, both having little to no technical sections. Dunedin had a little bit of everything.<br /><br />The top of the course had a few wide-open berms through a field into a next to impossible 12ft step-down. Another berm and a jump and you found your self in the woods with a long but fairly flat 2-part rock section. To many riders this was there favorite section of the track.  The technical rock section featured many different lines for riders to choose from none of them being too risky due to the lack of slope. The 2 rock sections were split up by flat road that you had to pedal your ass off in order to clear a death double, luckily the huck spat you back into the woods and rocks. After another bout in the rocks you were shot out into a steep open field featuring a few high speed doubles, a ski jump, a sweet 30ft step up and a hipped road gap that claimed bones all weekend. Next up was a flowy single-track section through some dense and lush, almost tropical woods. The course ended with a steep technical rocky-rooty section that opened up into the soccer field and finish line.<br /><br /><img src="images/dunedin.jpg" width="249" height="333" border="0" alt="" /><br /><i>The last chute</i><br /><br />Race Day:<br /><br />With a dialed day of practice behind us the team was eager to tear apart the track on our race runs. Our unfortunate luck of the previous races was over. We had jammed in as many practice laps as possible the day before even sneaking back up onto the hill at night to practice the jump section. We all knew the every corner, jump and sneaky line on the course. The New Zealand locals were going to finally feel the wrath of NZ-Diaries un-touchable bike skills. Every angle was covered, except for one.<br /><br />An hour before our seeding runs it started with a slight dribble. “Its okay”, I said, being all too confident in my words, “ its just going to spit down a bit and make the track nice and tacky”. Never before have I eaten my words so bad. It was pouring 10 minutes later and the team was forced into the confines of the Subaru (twin turbo). Racers all around us quickly started tossing on their spikes for they knew all to well what the course was going to turn into. For the three previous years the national race at Dunedin had been done in the rain. Any local knew that to come to Dunedin without spikes was about as smart as moving to new Zealand and investing all your money into a Subaru (twin turbo) instead of the van in which you could fit all your belongings into.<br /><br />In pouring rain we stood at the top of Signal Hill waiting our turn for seeding. It didn’t take us long once arriving at the top for Sam, Seb, Si and myself to notice that we were the only riders smart enough to not have spikes on. One by one we were given are countdowns and shot down the track. I was the last rider of our pack to start. <br /><br /><img src="images/normal_353~0.JPG.jpg" width="267" height="400" border="0" alt="" /><br /><i>Not an uncommon sight</i><br /><br />The first 100 ft of my run I was getting more grip than I had expected but the next few corners and this initial thought was crushed .I came into the corner before the impossible step-down and had as much traction as a greased up fat boy gleefully sliding across an ice rink.  The days before course consisting of hard packed with a layer of dust on top had turned to a slick clay with a thin layer of grease on top reducing the best of riders into amateurs. My run that followed had my feet off the pedals the whole way down the course. I took chicken runs through the rock garden, and crashed into half the trees on the course. I was feeling very defeated as I slid around in the mud like trying go get back to my bike. A local girl trackside shouted, “Adam get back on your bike, p.s. you’re the best”. Her attempt at positive re-enforcement was all I needed. I immediately tore off my shirt and kneepads, tossed my goggles to a female spectator screaming my name, hit a double back bicep pose and shot down the course. I flew over every obstacle on the track turning the slick course into my play toy. I blazed across the finish line coming to skidding stop in front of the time clock, awaiting my UCI point winning time. After the announcers idiotic Canadian comments my time finally flashed up. An 8:14. Four minutes behind the leader! <br /><br />As it turns out my record number of crashes had put me into a shock induced delirious state. The teen adolescents screaming my name was in fact a much faster racer’s much fatter father, a small boy even accosted me for hitting him with my goggles. My dreams were crushed as were everyone else’s. Sam had gotten a flat just before the rock garden. He decided to sit out the rest of his run and stand trackside at the rock garden. Quietly laughing to himself every time a rider impaled himself on the sharp N-Z rocks. Seb was actually having a fast run right until the technical section before the finish line. As it turns out he was blazing down the section when he thought he saw his long lost love trackside (she will remain nameless but is known to sport toilet bowl scheme apparel) he lunged out to embrace her only to embrace his back around a tree at 40km. I later overheard spectators talking about a racer wearing a black cowboy shirt (Seb) who “crashed so hard it could have paralyzed a cow”. Our choice of tires was definitely showing in our seeding times. <br /><br />So now the decision at hand was should we man up and crush everyone in our race run even with our nearly slick tires, forever burning team NZ-Diaries into there memories?  Fuck that. With the bikes barely hanging onto our bike rack, the Subaru’s twin Turbo’s howled out of the car park before lunchtime. They may have been kings of track that day but we were forever kings of the open road.<br /><br />Notes: the Pro men category was won by Frenchie Fabien Pendemaud. Female category was won by Scarlet Hagen. Most importantly Seb’s seeding run time beat Adams by 2 minutes therefore silencing the doubts.<br /><br />Posted by Adam <br />]]></description>
			<category></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry070130-202421</guid>
			<author>Sam, Seb and Adam</author>
			<pubDate>Wed, 31 Jan 2007 01:24:21 GMT</pubDate>
			<comments>http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/comments.php?y=07&amp;m=01&amp;entry=entry070130-202421</comments>
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			<title>Vomit was flying everywhere...</title>
			<link>http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry070130-201746</link>
			<description><![CDATA[ <a href="javascript:openpopup('http://www.vorb.org.nz/images/albums/userpics/18127/normal_20070127-125549.jpg',800,600,false);"><img src="http://www.vorb.org.nz/images/albums/userpics/18127/normal_20070127-125549.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a> <br /><br /><br />Heres Pro rider and fast guy Sam Blenkinsopp with a trick I like to call the &quot;Monkey Whip&quot; as Buddy Holly once said &quot;If you aint got it, dont bother&quot;. Sam demonstrated his complete lack of style and elan again later when news filtered through that he intentionally put in a slow race run to make sure he didn&#039;t win the champs and therefore could continue to wear his sponsors rubbish jersey.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />  <br /><i>Photo stolen from a website</i> ]]></description>
			<category>The Diary</category>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry070130-201746</guid>
			<author>Sam, Seb and Adam</author>
			<pubDate>Wed, 31 Jan 2007 01:17:46 GMT</pubDate>
			<comments>http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/comments.php?y=07&amp;m=01&amp;entry=entry070130-201746</comments>
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			<title>Fashion Don&#039;ts</title>
			<link>http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry070121-192217</link>
			<description><![CDATA[<img src="images/breakdancing.jpg" width="250" height="187" border="0" alt="" /><br /><br />This guy is one selfish muthafucker. When he decided to stop halfway through the trails and do a spot of breakdancing it was kinda funny, but then we looked closer and noticed that his outfit is the straw that breaks the camels back. i mean, come on, this selfish custard tart has more colour in his outfit than is decent. Theres unfortunate souls in Nuneaton who have to make do with drab and dour outfits because this douch bag stole all the colour in the techno rainbow.]]></description>
			<category></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry070121-192217</guid>
			<author>Sam, Seb and Adam</author>
			<pubDate>Mon, 22 Jan 2007 00:22:17 GMT</pubDate>
			<comments>http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/comments.php?y=07&amp;m=01&amp;entry=entry070121-192217</comments>
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			<title>Round two...FIGHT!</title>
			<link>http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry070120-181206</link>
			<description><![CDATA[<img src="images/scenery.jpg" width="300" height="225" border="0" alt="" /><br /><i>The Remarkables. Not much to do with riding but it looks nice</i><br /><br />Even before the dust had settled on the course at Treble Cone riders had begun making their way to Coronet for round two. The course this time around couldn’t be anymore different than last week despite the hills upon which they are located looking like carbon copies of each other. Instead of fire-roads the course was a long downhill motocross style course. It was twisty, jumpy, bermed fun from top to bottom. It was fast and pedaling wasn’t required because all you had to do to gain speed after corners was to take the brakes off and you were flying.<br /><br />Due to Coronet opening to the public week previous and many riders taking advantage of this to get the course dialed the course had seen a lot of use by the time the race weekend came around. This meant what was a buttery smooth course became riddled with a lot of breaking bumps, which actually made it a more technical course because line selection, being able to keep the flow, and physical strength became essential towards putting down a good run.<br /><br />Also what looked like a relatively one line course before the weekend actually became quite open to line choices. The choice was often ‘do I stay on the outside and use the berm? The berm that is becoming very potholed. Or do I hang it out on the inside line where it is smoother but looser?’ Likewise there were a number of very clever and ingenius lines that were cropping up. One of which I’ll come back to later.<br /><br />A bit of moisture on the track in the early mornings meant the dirt was beautiful tacky yet firm Hero Dirt. You know the conditions I’m talking about, it’s the kind of dirt that after a good days on the trails makes you feel like a god. You feel like you can turn better than a Scalectrix car, you feel faster than the Millennium falcon in hyperdrive, you can drift better than an inch of snow in Nuneaton, you rail corners with military precision, and your confidence levels are higher than a gambler on coke who thinks he has a sure thing. Well if you have ever had a day like that then the chances are that it’s because of conditions and not because you are actually a better biker than the day before. Sorry, but its true. How many times have you had those kind of killer days in a foot of mud for example?<br /><br />As for the Who-What-Where, Adam finished dead last in the Senior category, Sam once again proved that no matter how well he goes in practice he can never put together a fast race run (40th in Senior), Brit Paul Stevens placed 14th in Senior, Ginger Si disappointingly crashed out in his race run despite riding fats all weekend, and even though I finished 21st I still managed to get a gasp from the crowd as I slipped both pedals across the line.<br /><br />Junior rider Sketchy James Shirley managed to get himself a new nickname after finding and riding the most controversial line in NZ Nationals history. Knowing that the fastest way between two points is a straight one, Jimmy Straightline (as he now to be called) took a beeline through about a hundred yards of tussock which cut out about three corners and 200 yards of track. The little bastard would of got away with it had he saved this line for his race but was caught out in his seeding run and had his bottom spanked by officials. <br /><br />The weather had been great all day, that is until the Pro riders had to come down which forced a lot of frantic action in the pits by the pros trying to change to wet weather spiked tires. The silent but deadly Scottish ripper Joe Barnes wasn’t phased by a little rain and was positively grinning at the prospect of riding in the wet. He came down in 16th place, on High Rollers!. Meanwhile other bigger name pros were made to look like absolute amateurs in the newly wet conditions. Standing at the bottom one could be mistaken for thinking a bunch of seal lions had been let loose on unicycles. However, the fastest pro man was Glenn Haden who looked as fast in the wet as he did in the dry. Seven seconds later second place went to Des Curry and in third was Mike Skinner.<br /><br />apologies for the lack of photos and badly written report. no excuses.<br /><br />Posted by SEB<br /><br /><br />]]></description>
			<category></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry070120-181206</guid>
			<author>Sam, Seb and Adam</author>
			<pubDate>Sat, 20 Jan 2007 23:12:06 GMT</pubDate>
			<comments>http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/comments.php?y=07&amp;m=01&amp;entry=entry070120-181206</comments>
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			<title>Fashion don&#039;ts</title>
			<link>http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry070115-210315</link>
			<description><![CDATA[<br />This picture sums up exactly why the future of mountain biking needs to be looked at carefully. Seriously, do you want your beloved sport being taking over by Timothy from the country club bringing his spoilt little yachting heritage to the trails or by dumb little kids that are so influenced by what they see the Riffleator  doing in Decline and by there chronic lack of social awareness. Not sure which one this little monkey is but I don’t like it.<br /><br /><img src="images/socks.jpg" width="200" height="266" border="0" alt="" />]]></description>
			<category></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry070115-210315</guid>
			<author>Sam, Seb and Adam</author>
			<pubDate>Tue, 16 Jan 2007 02:03:15 GMT</pubDate>
			<comments>http://www.nzdiaries.com/blog/comments.php?y=07&amp;m=01&amp;entry=entry070115-210315</comments>
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