The Golden Spring

It's Brad here writing our last blog of the year. Firstly I wanted to say sorry to Matt as he wrote such a great blog about a month ago and I never posted it. Well I have now and its well worth a read. Check it out on the side tab.

2014: The Step Change
Sometimes it's worth throwing the kitchen sink at something to see how it goes. That pretty much sums up our 2014. We went 'blackjack all in' to see what we could make of a domestic Cycling Team in NZ and its fair to say the Rollercoaster hasn't stopped since then. The highs have been great and its fair to say the last two months have been riding a wave of success. If someone had of said we would win 'The Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge', 'The 2015 Elite Criterium Nationals' and the last 2 rounds of the 'North Island Series' I would have believed it. Yes, Paddy Bevin has been the ultimate star but results show that across the board the team has jumped a level. Case and point: Nick Bain and raising star Connor Brown. On Saturday a week ago, Nick Bain won the last round of the North Island Series. This lamented his place as being one of the up and coming riders in the country. At 9km to go, he broke away solo from a 7 rider pack to hold off Horgan, Vink, Hagan, Rowlands and Torkler. Classy ride considering the weight of the contenders behind. 3 weeks earlier, Connor Brown won 'Bike the Bridge' in Auckland (with team member Sam Lindsay) at 16 years old. This 'kid' has has been on the development team since he was 14 but it's fair to say his name will be one to remember in a few years.


Nick wins the final race of the North Island Series and claims the U23 Jersey


Connor and Sam crossing the line to win Auckland's Bike The Bridge

The story behind the success
Ask anyone of the riders why they are on the team and the answer will be the team culture. This is my 'big thing' and something that we have put ahead of everything else including results. The 'no ego' mentality is important, everyone is on the same level, everyone buys in to the plan, everyone gives it their all when they ride. It's my thoughts that a rider who gets last by doing their job is better than a rider who finishes 15th never touching the front. The guys we selected on the team this year were chosen through these attributes firstly then by results. A unified team will always be more powerful than a team of stars. I hope we have shown this in 2014 and it sure will be front and center in 2015. It is great to see this team is a bunch of friends foremost and when someone like Nick or Paddy wins, everybody shares in the celebration as if it was theirs.

The Paddy Bevin Story
Back in February, Paddy Bevin and I started talking about the possibility of him racing for us. I have raced Paddy for a number of years and the guy has class written all over him. He really is the whole package and there is no ego, just business on the bike and all round good guy off the bike. We planned to work around his track schedule with him focusing on the Comms Games. Fast forward to August and a bit of a change of scene saw him turn his attention back to the Road. He raced a bit for us at the Dynamo Series with some success but that was to be expected. Following on from this he took Australia by storm by winning the final two NRS races including the much acclaimed Tour of Tasmania. He picked up a Pro contract with The Avanti Racing Team from his results. The NZ spring meant some time for him to see how he would pull up after a break and its fair to say that he was still streets ahead of the competition on home soil.


Paddy claims the 2015 Elite National Criterium Champs jersey

The successes

Crit Nationals was something Paddy really wanted to win and all you can do is watch on in awe of the guy. With a 1/3 of the race to go, he had narrowed it down to a 3 rider break and you could tell that it wasn't going to end well for the others. Dion Smith and Mike Northy are some of the best riders in the country but on that night Paddy showed his class to win in the 3 up sprint and take the title. While Paddy won't get to wear the jersey for the team in 2014, it was a cool experience for the guys who were there to be a part of something quite special.


Lake Taupo still remains NZ's biggest mass start race and within the elite field it attracts up to 100 riders. We decided a max of 7 riders would start for our team at this race and within that we had Corbin and John there to continue their development in the elite field. This is a big step up from the U19 scene but a great chance for them to gain the experience for future years.
The race was ultimately won from the 15km mark when 4 riders when clear including Paddy. From his point of view the break worked well together and he attacked on the final hill 20km out to win solo and take a new course record. Again, the class in the guy was amazing. For him it was a chance to race on his home roads and to win in front of his family.
While Paddy's result was awesome, the rest of the guys did a great job in the rest of the race with 4 guys finishing in the top 11 for the day. It was great to see the team as a whole overachieving ahead of the other top domestic teams there on the day.


Paddy wins Around Lake Taupo Cycle Race

The North Island Series 
This was a pretty big deal to us. It was the first true teams series races in the North Island and a chance for us to see how we went against the other teams around the North Island. Race 1 and 2 by our standards were a bit below our expectations for one reason or another. We didn't start race 3 due to clashes with other races but headed to race 4 with a beefed up line up. Long story short, the race was shortened to 40km due to the wind but the team truly stamped their mark on the race. Paddy won solo and the team managed 4 riders in the top 6. It was great to get some runs on the board and to show we could deliver against the best.
As mentioned above, Nick won the last round of the North Island Series but within the detail this was by far the best team performance so far. We set a strong plan before the race to make it hard for the other teams and to get Nick and 1 other rider in the final break. Nick sealed the deal for us and in doing so he won the U23 jersey for the series. Job done and the team spirit after the race showed just how much it meant to everyone.
The North Island Series has finished now and was definitely an experience. I have to talk firstly the race organiser Jorge for getting it off the ground. It's been a long time coming. Second thanks goes to Murray and the team at Avanti Lower Hutt for sorting our logistics with their van. I'm sure it rained every time we drove over the hill from Wellington but the trusty van got us there safely. The final thanks goes to the riders for funding their own way down there. It's not cheap and most of the riders aren't rich.

Looking forward...
Personally I have taken a lot out of the year and its great to look back and say we have really delivered on what we said we would. We are a development team with the majority of our riders in the U23 grade or lower. Across the board, all riders have shown their potential and its exciting to see their progression. I hope in 2015 we can continue to build and set these guys up for bigger things
2015 planning is well underway. Our main goal heading in to the next year will be the New Zealand Cycle Classic and we will look to send a strong team there of core team members and few 'ring ins'. We will also look to have coverage at races like Tour de Vineyards, The Hub Tour and Elite Nationals.
In terms of rider movements, Paddy is moving to Avanti Racing next year and we wish him the best of luck. Hopefully it is a short term stop for him before heading on to bigger things. What this means is a few opportunities for others and Im happy to announce that both our 'ring in' riders for the North Island Series will join the team on a more permanent basis. So a big welcome to Sam Dobbs and Alex Heaney. This will take our elite team up to 9 riders but will reduce the amount of extra riders at bigger races (up to 8 for a north island series) and allow us to compete at more races when there is clashes. This was probably one of our biggest learnings of 2014 but these two fitted in seamlessly.


Some of the boys on the recent training camp in the National Park

Thanks for reading

Brad, Scott & the rest of the NVA boys

North Island Series heats up the racing scene

As the European season once again draws to a close, New Zealand’s best international and domestic riders turn their attention to the much anticipated Tour of Southland. This famous race witnesses some of the most challenging conditions with flat roads and inclement weather combining over seven days. Although we haven’t entered a team, this year Callum, Nick and Matt are riding in the guise of Christchurch based TotalPOS Solutions. A stalwart of local cycling, TotalPOS has provided the boys with the support necessary to make the best of what is set to be a strong rendition of NZ’s most famous tour. While we eagerly await the first road stage, it seems appropriate to touch on some of the highs and lows since our last post.

On the Australian front, Paddy has excelled taking promising results in the Subaru National Road Series (NRS). His performance in National Capital Tour and the Tour of Tasmania were ample efforts to secure a 2015 contract with the Avanti Racing Team. Paddy will be joining Nature Valley Avanti for the last few races of the year before furthering his career over the ditch. We wish him well beyond 2014.

Back here in NZ, the Trust House North Island Series is well underway. Two rounds have already been completed and the third is happening as I write. With each race situated in the beautiful Wairapa, the series offers a professional, well run and centralised opportunity for riders to try their hand in a team’s environment.  

Round One was dogged by high winds and rain over a reduced circuit of 120km. Both Matt and Steve rode well, with the former spending most the race up the road providing a platform for the rest of the team. Crashes, the cold and splits all took their toll on the bunch. In the closing kilometres Steve played a commanding hand, orchestrating a series of moves which saw the leaders caught and a defining split emerge. Embattled veteran Gordon McCauley secured the win from a select group ahead of Wellington’s Dan Waluszewski. Our riders Steve and Corbin preformed amicably wresting hard earned spots in the top ten.     

Round Two offered a vast improvement in the weather, generally blue skies with a soft breeze welcomed the field. A slightly longer course of 146km featured rolling terrain leading into long straightaways that favoured the formation of a break. After a flurry of attacks in the opening stanza, a select group formed containing the majority of the favourites. Of those in the final cut, Nick, Callum and Matt were well placed to affect the direction of the race. Following an unfortunate turn of events, the boys were caught as the break dwindled to six. McCauley defended his overall lead in the series after an artful 3^rd place, bettered only by track duo Regan Gough and Luke Mudgeway. Our riders were narrowly captured by the bunch in what was a well ridden effort by the team.  


Best of luck to the squad for Round Three.


MM