NZ National Mountain Biking Championships

By Mark Howard | Posted: Tuesday March 1, 2022

Last weekend two of our Year 13 boys, James Gardner and James Howard, competed at the Cycling NZ National Mountain Biking Championships.

This event was held at Haswell Quarry, in Christchurch, and brought together New Zealand’s top cross country and downhill riders. Given the Covid affected race calendar this year it was a great effort by Cycling NZ to put these champs on.

The Cross Country course was made up of a highly technical loop which the riders had to complete 5 times. Each lap took them approximately 16 minutes to complete. Conditions on race day were cool and dry which made for perfect riding conditions.

Both boys are still only 16, however, competed in the U19 elite race. Also, on the same start line was Olympian and National Champion, Anton Cooper! In their race, James Gardner finished 13th (in 1hr 24min) and James Howard 15th (in 1hr 28min). 

In the previous weekends Year 11 student, Alex Gilchrist, was competing in the NZ National Downhill Series.

Round 4 was at home on Signal Hill, and he defied the wet and wild conditions to place 2nd in his U-17 age group. This race also included Otago Boys’ High School student, Shaun Hasler (20th place).

Round 5 (final round) saw Alex travel to Nelson’s Kaka Hill. He was seeded 13th but put down a solid run on the Sunday to finish 9th in this race. This was enough to secure 10th overall in the series.   

With the South Island Secondary Schools’ Mountain Biking Championships being cancelled next month, it is great to see some of our boys still getting the opportunity to race against the country’s best.

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