Ed tackles the Tour of Wellington

Posted on January 31, 2008

Complete Performance Athlete Ed Barrett and soon to be Cycle Skills Tutor will ride for the Benchmark team during this year’s Tour Of Wellington.  Ed will be involved in tutoring the road cycling skills workshops that are due to start in March and is keen to share his wealth of top level racing and riding experience with you.  The Tour of Wellington that started yesterday with a Criterium and will finish on Sunday the 3rd of February with another Criterium.  This year’s edition of the Tour boast the longest and hardest stage ever presented in the tours history, a 185km stage with no less than 11 climbs.  Ed was feeling fit and strong before the race and is keen to attack and put his fitness to the test.  You can follow the tour and Ed’s progress on http://www.cycletournz.com/menstour/Home/tabid/164/Default.aspx

New Team Member

Posted on January 29, 2008

 

 

Last Thursday the 24th of January we welcomed a new member to our team and like any good endurance athlete he did it the hard way…  After 36 hours of labour and a couple of scary moments later Nathan Blake Greer arrived weighing in at 8lb 8oz.  Tarsh, my beautiful wife did amazingly well even when the going got tough, also a big thank you to Rachel our midwife and the medical team for all their help.  We all look forward to many fun adventures together.    

Timaru Tri

Posted on January 29, 2008

 

 

Complete Performance was represented by 2 athletes with very different goals in mind at the Timaru Triathlon last weekend.  Lisa Morrison used it as a finally hit out before the 2 day individual Coast to Coast in two weekend’s time and from all accounts certainly did that.  Now she can have a few days off as she begins her taper and heat acclimatisation phase before her main event of her season.  Nadine Voice on the other hand used the Timaru Tri to further gauge her improvement from last year’s race and her goal was to beat her time by 15 minutes.  Nadine has been continually improving across the summer and has worked very hard to get to where she is now.  She was feeling good when she came out of the swim 7 minutes faster however she had a tough bike leg where she managed to improve by 2 minutes.  Into the run she found it tough in the heat but still managed to go 4 minutes quicker than last year.  Improving her time by 13 minutes meant that she just missed out on achieving her goal but it is another good stepping stone towards her major goal of Ironman 09.  You can follow her progress at http://wiliergurl.blogspot.com/ 

Mountain bike team ready to peak

Posted on January 29, 2008

Our Mountain Bike team had a very successful day out at the Vulcaniser last weekend and showed that they are on track to peak during the Nationals at the end of February.  It was the final round of the South Island National Champs and therefore there where good numbers across the grades.  Henry Sommerville lead the charge with a convincing win in the Under 23 division, which meant he also walked away with the series championship.  Both Michael Nuy (U19) and Nick Emery (Masters 1) had very strong rides both finishing fourth in there respected grades showing a significant improvement in their performances from previous races.  Finally Craig Phillips (a new recruit) won the Masters 2 as a result of riding his own race and some very consistent lap times, all laps being within 37 seconds of each other.     

Team Member looses battle

Posted on January 17, 2008

It’s with much sadness that Complete Performance lost this week one of its most determined young members.  At 16 years old Zac Barker had battled with Cystic Fibrosis for his entire life, but once discovering cycling he developed a passion, that his health was not going to stop him from participating in.  He came along to our spin classes starting with the easier beginners’ class before tackling the hour long advanced class.  He was not one to give up without a fight and this showed during the long training rides that he and his Dad (Graeme) went on.  Riding Short Bays, and out to Diamond Harbour meanwhile conquering all of the toughest hill climbs that the port hills had to offer.  At the start of December Zac and his Dad tackled the Armstrong Prestige Harbour ride in a team where they pulled off a sensational 3rd place in the open men’s team section.  That day Zac also won a spot prize of a brand new bike which he gave to his sister Holly. 
Unfortunately on the 15th of January 2008, Zac lost his battle with Cystic Fibrosis. Zac rode his bike for the love of it and I think that we could all learn something from his approach just getting out there and doing it, Zac’s motto “Ride to live and live to ride”.  Your enthusiasm and passion will be sadly missed.

Ed’s Summer of racing so far…

Posted on January 17, 2008

Ed Barrett has had a huge summer of racing so far this year completing in races all over the country.  His New Year started with the Criterium series in Timaru, Waimate and Ashburton where he rode aggressively and pushed the leaders.  This was followed by a ride in the Tour of Nelson where Ed had mixed fortunes suffering one day due to serious dehydration and bounced back to get a good result on the final stage.  During the final stage the contenders for the overall lead: Jeremy Yates, Heath Blackgrove and Hayden Roulston attacked and counter attacked to determine the overall leader. Averaging 47.4kmh, the 60km Richmond Hill street circuit was a brutal race of attrition for the field of 90 riders still left to fight it out.   As this was happening Ed hung tough in the peloton and the race came back together Ed jumped from the peloton with 400 metres to go to claim second Behind Timaru’s Shane Archibald.
From Nelson, Ed travelled to the Nationals in the Hawkes Bay to contest the Under 23 crown a race which also doubled as a trial for the New Zealand team to train and race in France during our winter.  In very hot conditions the under 23 riders raced with the open men (which Julian Dean won for a second consecutive year) over the 8 lap 128km hilly course.  Most of the where the under 23 favourites dropped away Ed felt strong and was eager to attack as the peloton cruised during the first five laps.  On Lap five the race took off allowing a handful of U23 riders to slip away with the open men.  Then ended up being the decisive move and Ed fought on to finish 8th in the age group and be one of only 27 finishers out of 84 starters.  Unfortunately this wasn’t enough to book a flight to Europe at this stage.  Ed will next head north again to contest the 5 day tour of Wellington starting on the 30th of January, feeling fit and strong he will ride aggressively in the hope of netting a stage win or the under 23 jersey.

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