National Champs 2021

Online entries have closed but late entries ($100) will be accepted on the day for the non-uci categories (everything except U19, U23 and Elite).

The Christchurch Singletrack Club and Gravity Canterbury are pleased to be hosting the CyclingNZ National Mountainbiking Champs in 2021. The cross country races will be held on Saturday 27 February at the Crocodile XC MTB Park.

We want the races to be a big success – our dream is to have a great course, a great number of spectators and full fields across all categories. We think we have the first one sorted. The second is an almost given (based on previous events). The third is up to you!

Want to help at the event? Let us know here.

We recognise there are a number of barriers to people entering the Nationals and as a committee we have come up with several ideas on how we can attempt to address these. 

Cost

The Singletrack Club gets some money from CyclingNZ for hosting this event and we would like to use this to support those Christchurch Singletrack Club members who enter the cross country race. The committee have agreed for the club to cover the on-the-day licence fee for the non-uci (age group) categories ($10) and the full national licence fees for those who wish to race in the U19 ($35), U23 or Elite ($65) categories. To qualify, you need to be a current (at the time of the race) financial member of the Christchurch Singletrack Club AND to race in at least one of the Crocodile Summer Series races. No double-dipping – if you have a sponsor paying your licence fees we won’t cover it. If you need to get an international licence we will cover the amount of a national licence. Enter the race as normal and we will reimburse you afterwards.

Fill in the form here to get your licence reimbursed.

Goals

The fastest amongst us want to get on the podium, but if that is not realistic for you, what is your goal?
To be within 5 minutes of the leaders time?
To beat your mate?
To be faster than you were “last time”?
What goal can you set yourself and who can you challenge to race against?

We know there are lots of good riders out there and we’d love for you to come and race. We’re also hoping to have an all women’s race so you’ll have lots of support out there on the course. You’ll get to race on the best XC lap course in the country and have the most support from spectators you’ll ever race in front of! Give it a go!

Fitness

Based on past events, Elite riders are likely to race for around 1:20 –1:30, Under 23 around 1:15 and everyone else for about an hour. Most people racing in the Elite/U23 categories and many in the U19 will have a coach and specific training plans, but for everyone else you may like to make a plan for getting your fitness to a level where you can race strongly for an hour.

For some ideas, check out these sites:
Red Bull xc mtb training plan
Training Peaks workout for MTB racing
Mapmyrun 4 week plan
Complete Performance plan for Motatapu (not so relevant as it is for a different format of race, but you can see how you might write a plan out)

Event information

Head to the CyclingNZ page at mtbnationals.nz to get more information about the event.

Proposed forest part of course

Skill capability

(I’ve moved this to the bottom because the opporuntity has passed for now)

We think that many people, particulary women, think they are not good enough to be racing in the nationals, either due to skill level, or to do with fitness/speed. To help overcome this barrier, we have arranged for some targeted skills instruction with Michael Simek and Jeanette Gerrie. Michael and Jeanette are part of the Cycleways crew. They are talented riders who regularly teach women how to ride various obstacles and features on the Port Hills and at the Crocodile XC MTB Park well.

At this stage they are offering two 2-hour sessions on Friday 20 November at 5:30 pm and Saturday 12 December at 1:30 pm. Sessions cost $15. If you would like to avail yourself of this opportunity you can sign up here. While we created this with women in mind, men are welcome to take up this opportunity as well. Even if you are not entering Nationals, we would love to see you get your skills up.