Riding an 'antique' bike at the World Champs?

Yay!  The teams been announced and I’m in it! 

I’m one of two women selected to represent New Zealand at the world mountain bike orienteering championships in Hungary in six weeks time. 

Interesting thing is that I’ve qualified on a bike that’s just about an ‘antique’.  It’s ‘from last century’ as my husband, Phil would put it!

I was selected after achieving a 3rd at the Oceania Championships in October last year, and great rides at the Australia/New Zealand Challenge in January (my mapboard broke in one of the races and I had to ride more than half of the race with my map in my hand wrapped around the handlebar, hoping the wind wouldn’t rip off a critical bit).  All this, on a bike dating back to the mid-1990s – my Avanti Competitor Pro.

It’s the only competitive mountain bike that I have and was considered a top bike in its time.  Bike weight, performance and specifications have moved on, and I’ve been told there are minutes to be cut off my race times on a current competitive bike. 

I am competing in the elite class and not the masters or age group categories.  This means I’ll be competing against the best mountain bike orienteers in the world.

Stay tuned for anecdotes about me and my bike and my hunt for something better, and my journey in training and raising funds for Hungary.