St John's College pupil Max Williams is competing in his maiden Cyclocross New Zealand Championship at the EIT circuit in Napier tomorrow. Photo / Warren Buckland
St John's College pupil Max Williams is competing in his maiden Cyclocross New Zealand Championship at the EIT circuit in Napier tomorrow. Photo / Warren Buckland
When Max Williams scans the field from the saddle of his carbon-fibre bike it'll hardly matter to him who's in the field of 10 in his junior men's grade in Napier tomorrow.
That's because it's Williams maiden Cyclocross National Championship so he hasn't got the foggiest idea who is likely to give him a run for his money from outside Hawke's Bay when the junior men's grade starts at 11.15am.
The 15-year-old relishes the code because it provides an ideal platform for "cross training".
"I'm not sure about junior men where they'll come from but I know the elite men have people from Palmerston North and Wellington coming up here," he says.
Williams isn't sure if his youthfulness in a grade that goes up to 18 years will be a disadvantage but, again, all that only pumps up his adrenalin even more going in blind.
He took up the code two years ago because of the sheer enjoyment but also recognised the benefits of gaining top-end power in other cycling events.
"It helps with track and road cycling events as well as mountainbiking," says the St John's College Year 11 pupil who will attempt to tame the 2km Eastern Institute of Technology course in 45 minutes.
"Your heart rates up at 180 or 190 the whole time and you're just pushing it," he says.
Williams finished runner-up in the individual pursuit event of the track nationals at Invercargill in March. The North Island Championship secondary school runner-up also was second in the scratch race down south.
"Cyclocross is faster. It's a circuit race so you've got to be pretty much on your toes the whole time because you never know who is going to jump you," he says of the Cyclocross Hawke's Bay-hosted event tomorrow that will challenge riders to chalk up as many laps as possible within that 45-minute spell.
The villager describes the course as tight, hilly terrain with cramped corners before a staircase route brings riders down to earth.
The Bay is hosting its third nationals. The first one in 2011 was staged at the EIT grid and the second was held at Roy's Hill.
Ivar Hopman says Cyclocross Hawke's Bay opted for the EIT course again for the nationals tomorrow because it's awesome. Photo / File
Club spokesman Ivar Hopman says that they have returned to the EIT venue is "awesome" and it is a "worthy championship course".
"We have more than 100 riders coming here and they are predominantly males," says Hopman of a champs that has beckoned competitors from Dunedin, Blenheim and Wellington, including 15 elite male riders.
Williams, a Ramblers Cycling Club member,says; "Your lungs are hurting. You taste blood, pretty much, so it's just full gas the whole way. It's hard, your legs are sore but you just keep going."
The former Havelock North Primary School pupil has won two Bay series legs in the junior grades.
Cyclocross HB has between60 and 80 riders in the Bay Ford-sponsored club series, which is at the halfway stage.
"It's really well supported here and we have riders come to compete from outside our region, too," says Hopman.
Williams believes he'll have to take the lead from the word go to dictate the pace.
"That's the key. You can mark it and others will have to ride to your pace. When you're in front you can use the technical sections to slow people down and then break early."
Williams says it is akin to track cycling at a velodrome and there's no rest for the two-wheel warriors whose machines are reinforced with carbon fibre and equipped with wider tyres to better handle the rough terrain.
Rain is forecast tomorrow morning but clearing as the day progresses.
The teenager says wet weather will make the races more technical so riders will have the option of "running the tyres lower" for better traction.
"It'll definitely make it more faster and more challenging."
