Nomadic Rhythms in New Zealand.

Life on the road as a racer from New Zealand is pretty full on for six to seven months of the year, you are too far from home to go back between events so you slip into a nomadic rhythm, one event after the other, living out of a bag, switching between vans, rentals, planes and trains, crossing borders and sampling cultures. This wanderlust is what got me hooked on racing but by the end of the season i yearn for stillness, dream of routine and sleeping in the same bed for awhile. Finding the light switch at night. The Saturday market, the Wednesday night ride, the weekly yoga classes with your favourite teacher. Waking up to hearing the same sounds, waving at familiar people, getting to know the check out lady at the supermarket. Silly, small things right? These are the things I miss out on while living a life on the road so when I catch the first glimpse flying into Nelson, from the window of the small prop plane with the beautiful landscape laid out below me, I feel so relieved, so happy, excited and content. It marks the end of another racing season (and this was my final one) but it also marks the beginning of the New Zealand summer, ideal for a few mini road trips, micro adventures exploring new nooks and crannies of our relatively new adopted homeland. 

After way too many flights and long drives the past six months the rules were simple; South Island only, no flights or mammoth drives just a few short overnight trips made possible by bike. New locations or some favourites done differently or with a new group of friends. 

Wild West Coast New Years Escape

This was more of an escape with a group of friends, away from town, away from civilisation away from everything during the hectic tourist season. You can’t get more remote than a six hour 4x4 mission headed south from the last town and road on the West Coast. Along the way we parked the trucks and detoured along the old Haast-Paringa cattle track, basically an old road built back in 1883. This was overgrown jungle riding at its best. We were exploring by bike not mountain biking as you know it. You could hardly see, never-mind find the trail. After the usual sketchy suspension bridge and some boggy riding with multiple river crossings we arrived at our destination for the night, Blowfly hut built in 1905, pretty old for NZ history. The next three nights were spent in Barn Bay about as remote as you can get in NZ. Bush bashing our way in and then hiking down a river for a few clicks before taking a step back in time. Perfect way to see in the new year. 

Old Ghost Road big day out.

A relatively new trail for New Zealand but an old one for us. It is the countries longest continuous singletrack trail, stretching for 85 glorious kilometres from Lyell in the Buller to the mouth of the mighty Mokihinui river on the West Coast. A gold mining boom in the 19th century where miners dreamt of connecting the road from both ends, was rather ambitious and it remained a dream until volunteers decided that it was time to connect these roads and 8 years later they’ve created a mountain bikers dream trail giving us access to untouched backcountry native bush.

We have literally done it every which way, out an back from either end, a helidrop and multiple through rides staying over at Ghost Lake hut. The word must definitely be out because the huts on this must do ride have been booked solid most of the summer, not wanting to miss out we decided to tackle the full ride all in one go. With no sleeping bags, extra clothes and three meals to pack it meant the bikes were light and efficient. It was still very much about the terrain and views but with no gear to weigh us down it was fast and exhilarating too and the cold beer and outdoor shower at the Rough And Tumble lodge at the trail end wrapped up an amazing long day. 

Island Escape

Most of the time you feel the need to go far away from home, to get away, but how often do you literally head out on an adventure only a few kilometres from your house? We headed a whopping 8km from home for an overnighter on an island. Pepin Island is a private island next to our local beach of Cable Bay. You can stay and explore if you rent one of their cabins. It felt like we were a million miles away, hearing new sounds and seeing new sights. A highlight was watching all the fishermen launching their boats before sunrise and hearing the gentle put put purring of their engines as they glided out of the estuary on a calm and beautiful morning. The sunrise looked different than from our house. The light was different. We saw a whole new side to our own neighbourhood, and fell in love all over again. How cool is that?

Bikes and Boats

The beauty of heading to ride one of your favourite tracks each year is the fact that it is different every time. The trail constantly changes, the weather creates the mood, the group shapes the dynamic, your state of mind determines your enjoyment of the trip. Many factors are responsible for creating memories and how you cherish them. While we were avoiding planes this summer we never ruled out boats We’ve taken the water taxi out after riding Nydia Track many times over the years, this time though, we were lucky enough to be entertained by a pod of bottlenose dolphins, a rare sight, and probably my most memorable experience of being out here on the Sounds and a perfect example of how “old” favourites are never the same.

Hopefully this gets you all out there planning and scheming. You dont need an international or exotic destination for your own adventures, look a little closer, explore a little deeper. 

Kia Ora. 

Anka

Scuffers, Burners & good folk, it's not just about the shorts. NZO Active.

It’s funny how things work out sometimes, but then again it was probably meant to be…

On my very first visit to New Zealand in 2006 for the DH World Champs in Rotorua, I bought a bike T-shirt from a very “home grown” type vendor/stall. This doesn’t happen often, as I’ve never been a real fan of most of the bike apparel out there. This was different, the designs were clever, it was fresh and fun and funnily enough, I still own this T-shirt.

Fast forward a few years on and we find ourselves living in New Zealand (a dream come true) and on a road trip to the North Island to the bike mecca of Rotorua. Ever since I had bought one of Nzo’s T-shirts back in 2006, this company has intrigued me and I wanted to learn more about the people behind this brand. To me, it’s about the people, their products, how they run their business and what they give back to the community. When you’re new to a country, you feel this immense sense of pride and this loyalty to promote it and everything that it has to offer and I was on a mission to live & breathe everything kiwi, but I digress… Once in Rotorua, I stopped off at the bike shop to buy my first pair of Nzo shorts. It was love at first fit and I’ve never looked back since. I wanted to represent this kiwi company and have them along for all my adventures, journeys and races. A quick call to introduce myself & say hello to Gary Sullivan or Gaz as he is so well known and Glen, and they insisted I head over to Mount Ngongotaha for a cup of tea and a tour of their home workshop where they have been selling their shorts straight to the customers from their barn. Perfect.

I’m not too sure how many of you in the bike industry knows this, but in my previous life, I submerged myself in the fashion industry. I studied in Los Angeles, sewed, screen printed, bought, merchandised, designed, the whole lot, so clothing is in my blood and a passion of mine that has been put aside for many years to make room for bikes. To be able to visit a company like Nzo, who runs everything from their house, was a dream come true & something that I aspire to one day. After meeting the dynamic duo of Gary & Glen, I was even more excited about these shorts and everything else. They were the coolest couple, making the coolest shorts and they just got on board as one of my new sponsors.

Heading into the 2014 season, the Scuffers were my shorts of choice, combined with one of their many funky T-shirts and raglans, Gary also printed up some custom Kowai designs (along with other sponsors logos) for me onto merino raglans, so I had sweet “race” kits too. With this combo, I suffered through all the Enduro World Series races, survived the grueling Andes Pacifico race in Chile, the Trans Provence multiday stage race, loads of filming & photo trips, product and bike launches, clinics, adventures, missions, wet as a dog conditions, slipping, sliding, snow, crashing & burning and of course lazy days just lounging. I was covered, literally, for anything.

It was a no brainer that I wasn’t going to let go of these guys (or my shorts) with the formation of the Juliana SRAM pro team going into the 2015 season. I was pretty adamant that my kiwi Scuffers, my new kiwi identity was coming along for the ride, and of course my team mates; Sarah Leishman, Kelli Emmet & Juliana brand manager Katie Zaffke was just as excited to get a pair fitted to their derrieres to find out what my raving has been all about.

I don’t think there are too many companies, never mind “smaller” companies out there that will do what these guys have done for our team. The timing was impeccable, as they were just getting ready to launch their new ultra lightweight Burner trail shorts and Gary & Glen offered to match our shorts with our three different colored race jerseys. We now had red, purple and green to choose from, to match our jerseys. We could pick whatever color we were in the mood to wear on that given day and we could all rock a different color on different days to mix it all up and keep our new women’s team looking fresh and funky out on the tracks. Something different & unique to what everyone else is doing & wearing.

Besides their amazing shorts, they write up a fabulous blog, support endless events, are heavily involved in the biking community, participate in races, festivals and all the fun stuff that goes along with bikes. Every few months they release a funny new T-shirt that pops up on their site and they have also collaborated with the good people over at Ride Central in Rotorua for those of you who are more visually inclined. It is one freaking cool bikers destination store.

I don’t plan to change my shorts anytime soon, they’re stuck with me for many more adventures & races to come, and they’re made so darn well, that they will last for many more years to come. Trust me ladies, these shorts are keepers!

I’m getting ready to put my Scuffers to their biggest test yet, spending the Month of March 2016 in these shorts, pedaling 3000km from the tiptop of NZ to the very bottom along with the main man Gaz himself in the Tour Aotearoa.

Cheers to Nzo Active, Gaz & Glen for all your support.

www.nzoactive.co.nz

Italian tornado's, cappuccino's & siesta days - welcome to Italy & the final EWS round.

Back to back EWS races have always been taxing, as you wrap up racing late Sunday afternoon, there is no time to just kick back, it’s usually a mad scramble to clean up and pack up – especially after the Spanish round; I had more mud & grit in my kit than you’ll find in an Egyptian backpackers. Double laundry sessions is what I busied myself with post race to get ready for a 10-hour drive to get to the final round of the series in Finale Ligure, Italy. The final race of the season! Whooohoooo!

This was the third time that we’ve wrapped up our season in Finale, but this year was to be a bit different. The weather gods had other plans for this usually calm little seaside village. Of course upon arrival on Tuesday, the sun was out, it was warm, it was what we had come to expect from this laid-back beach town, which usually gives us our last little taste of “summer”. The forecast for the week had loads of weather warnings, including rain, thunder, high winds, flashfloods and even a tornado warning! It was hard to believe as we sat lazing in the sun sipping cappuccino after cappuccino. With an event of this scale, the organizers need to make decisions ahead of time, to ensure safety, so at registration we were informed that our two-day practice was now going to be one day due to this front that was approaching us. This meant one hell of a big day on the bike to get through all of the six racetracks, with not much time to do any repeats.

We were all in the same boat (literally) with no stage riding on Friday, so it was straight into the race weekend and I felt pretty poorly prepared for some reason. I felt like I was just going through the motions, checking off the stages one by one, and wanting to get through the weekend. It was a combination of just being knackered from the previous weekend where we had a hell of a week – 8 hours of liaison & race time over the weekend and my race fire was flailing. Sadly, stage 1, my favorite stage ended up being cancelled due to possible flashfloods in the canyon & we were going to start the day with probably the most physical, pedaly, uphill stage that I’ve ever raced in any enduro race. Not ideal, but it ended up being my best stage after all. I had a very steady, average day on the bike, never really finding my flow, motivation, power or my speed, but it seemed like I wasn’t the only one. The general feeling amongst riders was very, what is the word, blah. I think we were all tired and ready for a break. In the end Finale got away quite lucky, with this tornado just barely affecting us, but lashing out on nearby Monaco and surrounding Cote d’Azur towns leaving a trail of devastation and a death toll of 17 people. A bike race becomes pretty insignificant after such sad news.

I always look for the positive in most situations, but I feel that the trails chosen for this round was not a great representation of what Finale has to offer and what it has become so famous for. The stoke level just wasn’t there and I wasn't alone in this feeling. I hope that for next year we can return to some of the classic Finale trails and that a little bit more effort can go into doing some trail maintenance before the race with a little less busy road riding during the liaisons. Sunday we pedaled for almost fifty kilometers, climbing almost 1500m, which I'm ok with and ready for but it would be nice to be rewarded with a bit more timed DH racing compared to the amount of in-stage pedaling we had on just two stages.  Other than that, Finale is just a magical place and the perfect host town to give everyone a great send off. I’ve stocked up on my gluten for the next 6 months and eaten my body weight in Gelato’s. I love Italy; it’s food, people, culture and passion and always look forward to getting back here for some sunshine and a re-charge between races.

Of course I would have loved to crack the top 10 again this season, but nonetheless, I’m very happy to have kept my 12th place overall amongst a boatload full of very fast, very talented ladies. The future of women’s enduro racing looks bright, and that makes me a very happy girl.

“This season we had eight rounds in eight countries, two continents, three islands in two hemisphere’s – the World Enduro Series really does take us around the world, which is why I keep finding myself in the start gate each year. We’ve raced on roots, mud, dust, loam, wood, snow, ice and in rivers, so it was very fitting to end on the beach in Finale, to wash it all away in the Med while eating gelato’s. Phew, I’m exhausted!”

Thank you to everyone (you all know who you are), for all your support this summer and for all the laughs, suffering, sweating, scary, fun, sad, tired, exciting and wonderful moments & memories. You guys are the reason that I keep racing & coming back for more year after year. It was a great first year of being part of the Juliana SRAM Pro team, and I’m looking forward to many more adventures with Sarah, Kelli & the rest of the crazy crew that lives this crazy, but amazing life.

Time to pack up everything here in France and make my way back home to New Zealand for a very jam-packed, exciting, adventure filled "off-season" on my bike.

Ciao bella,

Anka x

Whistler EWS #6 Roots, rocks & slippery moss.

The EWS tracks were riddled with roots, hundreds and thousands of them, surrounded by the most amazing, loamy, hero dirt one can imagine, whilst winding it’s way through some spectacular forests. Old man’s beard blowing in the breeze, with very thoughtful hand carved wooden signs naming the trails and low clouds that move slowly caressing the mountain tops and hillsides surrounding this spectacular valley we‘ve all grown to love so much. Oh, Whistler you are so gorgeous and so scary at the same time.

After the very demanding “Crankzilla” round we endured last year, of course we were all pretty scared coming into this round, wondering whether or not it would be a repeat of last years suffering or if the organizers would be kind to us… Turns out, they do have a gentler side and they wanted everyone to have a fun weekend of riding and racing. It was quite a relief to see all the lift access that we were allowed to use to access the trails, with very minimal climbing and very relaxed liaison times. Everyone seemed a bit relieved, but that didn’t mean that race day was going to be an easy day. Easy days don’t really exist in Whistler. Even though we didn’t have to climb much, it still took most of us the entire day to fit one run in on most of the stages. They were all amazing, they offered everything, they were super technical, steep, rooty, rocky, pedally, physical, long and demanding – a pretty perfect combination for an enduro race track and everyone seemed to love them. Again, none of them were easy, but practice day was a big, rad day out on the bikes soaking up the sunshine and the big blue skies.

Gary Perkin photo.

We were all pretty relieved about this round, and then the rain came. It rained all day and all night and those relieved feelings turned into anxious worries & nightmares about how we were going to get down those root riddled tracks come race morning. All the practice went out the window, along with my confidence. Race day turned into a day of somehow getting down the tracks and surviving them. It wasn’t pretty, but of course we all did it. You just switch into this mode and get on with the task at hand. I felt stiff and scared and not too confident in these conditions, but we slowly checked the stages off, one at a time and every run improved slightly. By the time we got to stage three, I felt like I knew how to ride my bike again, stage four was actually fun for me and stage five was just a blast through the bike park and by the time we rode this stage, everything was bone dry & trustworthy again. Of course. Bloody Murphy!

Gary Perkin photo.

I felt so ready and confident on all the race tracks during practice, but waiting my turn come race morning, I definitely felt a tad bit timid after the rain and I knew that I was in for quite a challenging day. Maybe it was a combination of the changed, wet conditions that we couldn’t practice on, but also maybe a bit of what happened at the last round in Colorado. Either way, I just wanted to get through this round safe & sound. These races are never easy, even when the stats look a bit easier, some other unforeseen element will jump in there to make it hard for us in some other way. It ended up being such an enjoyable day out. The girls all had such a laugh and such a great time cheering each other on, listening to all the war stories, the mishaps and the funny maneuvers that were pulled off to get down these slippery tracks. Falling off bridges, losing gloves mid race run, stuck upside down clipped in, it goes on and on, and those are the things that I remember, that makes these hard days enjoyable, and what makes me chuckle for weeks down the line. There were so many Juliana riders out racing at this round and every single one of them represented so well, racing and riding their hearts out. Kelli ended up in 12th place, myself in 16th and Sarah in 17th spot. It was great to have the whole team back together and out there representing again. Huge thanks to Allan, Mary & Tom for getting our bikes dialed and our bellies full all week.

Gary Perkin photo.

The organizers were spot on with the ratio, the trail combo’s, the lift access and the liaison times. We had amazing feed stations with the most delicious mouth watering watermelon and a great atmosphere for everyone to enjoy. Cheers to everyone who worked so hard to avoid turning this round into “Crankzilla” two, you guys killed it!

Loving this chill day today, catching up with life and looking forward to a week filled with yoga, adventure rides, some laps in the park, women’s clinics and chilling at the lake of course.

Peace out,

Anka

x

As normal as it's gonna get. Round #6 Whistler B.C.

This year I headed straight up to BC after the EWS in Colorado finished up. It is the longest period of time that I've ever spent over in Whistler. It was great. It was long enough to settle into a daily routine, a little glimpse into a normal life, a reminder of my life back in NZ and a reminder of how much I look forward to getting back home in a few weeks.

Hannah Barnes & I rented a little condo, out of the village, in close proximity to the grocery store, yoga studio, lost lake, the green mustache and of course Mt Currie coffee shop. Bliss. We cooked in for most meals and all dinners, bought a 1 month yoga pass and abused it - definitely got our money's worth there, going every single day and dragging our fellow mtb temporary residents along with us. We drank white wine while watching chic flicks, went on a paddle board date night with Seb Kemp, Tara & their dog (without knowing), Sunday market, xc rides, early morning, mid day, apres ride and evening swims in the lake. We spent copious amounts of money at the green moustache - Buddah bowls & $8 smoothies was just a daily occurrence. You become numb to the prices after a while and just give in to spending heaps. Of course we had shopping days too and yes, of course - the reason we were here in the first place was round #6 of the EWS tour. We had an enduro race to race. I knew it would be a big one, but just how big was still a distant memory, and for now we were just savoring our new normal routine life - something you don't quite come across living out of a bag on the road.

I was super excited about all the new tracks, all the hard work that went into creating these new, secret tracks and reviving old, tired tracks. Practice was super fun. We just went for a pedal and rode new tracks. They were hard, technical, challenging, scary, but fun and definitely a good challenge. To access most of them, we had quite a pedal, and finding that balance between riding them enough to race and riding too much to be knackered come race day is always hard to find. I opted to ride all the stages once, except for the last one as that was easy to access by chair lift. Due to their very technical nature, I would have liked to ride them more, as they were more like dh tracks where you really had to have all your lines dialed or else. In the end, I didn't, and just got on with it.

I don't feel like harping on things in the past, so I won't say much, but I will say that I wish we had more time and that the day wasn't so rushed. There has been a lot of complaining, and I feel that if we just had some more time, all of those complaints could have been avoided. We're all up for big days out, not opposed to pedaling or riding technical tracks. It was just a combination of short liaison times, in really high temperatures that didn't really offer anyone to recover and compose themselves for more than 10min before dropping into a pretty full on stage. Maybe 2 days would have been better? Or one less stage, to avoid that rushed, stressed out feeling for the entire day? Running stage 4 earlier in the day before we were all toast? Who knows, but I do know that I loved the stages during practice and didn't mind the climbs, but when I had to do all of the above under such a rushed environment, in that heat, it didn't really make for a very enjoyable day.

Anyhow, I still had a blast - its Whistler how can you not? I went back after the race and rode those tracks, they were amazing - amazingly scary! They challenged me, I conquered some obstacles, felt like I progressed my riding, discovered new trails. I may not have got the result I was hoping for, but I made all my liaison stages (with not much time to spare), I rode some scary shit, nailed some lines, completely messed up most of them, fumbled, stumbled, bonded, cried, laughed and survived a pretty tough day on the bike. Hats off to all the girls that raced this one & survived. My poor bike feels completely clapped out after 3 weeks of Whistler schralping, but nothing a little TLC can't fix.

And that was all just in the 2 weeks leading up to Crankworx…the actual festival week is a complete mind f@$k consisting of people, places, schedules, parties, badges, buttons, lanyards, passes, stamps, booze etc.

just some of my highlights:

• Going on a scavenger hunt in Lost Lake with Seb Kemp & the kids that he coaches - remarkable future generation - it restored my faith in the next generation. (and being taught how to ride a teeter totter by a 7 year old).

• Stand Up Paddle boarding & watching Seb get ejected off his board by his dog. (Not sure i'm keen to make SUP a hobby of mine).

• SRAM Women's riding clinics that Rebecca Rusch organizes every year & coaching with so many other inspirational women.

• yoga (some great, some not so great - "say hello to your cells" WTF?).

• Filming for Juliana Bicycles with Seb, Dan & Andy from the Union Production Co.

• Sven's new Bike Magazine cover

• Gary Perkin Photo shoots with fellow Juliana teamies Katrina Strand & Kathy Pruitt (& the Santa Cruz boys).

• Seeing the SRAM videos for the first time on the big screen that we filmed months ago in NZ with my buddy Sarah Leishman, Ross Measures & the MindSpark Cinema Production company. SO Sick.

• Fishing with Joe Parkin in the gondola.

http://www.bikemag.com/videos/video-fishing-joe-crankworx-ep-2-featuring-sven-anka-martin/#.U_Q48ZJwRTI.email

• IKAM magazine.

• Mama & baby bear encounter with Gabby Molloy. HA ha ha!

• The SRAM pop up shop was mind blowing - INSANE! LOVE #theguidetogettinglost

• Pemberton Tacos! SUSHI.

• Meeting new peeps & catching up with old one's - making current plans & planning for future adventures.

It was time to leave today. My bank account is probably in over draft, I'm too scared to check. I'm yearning for the old world and a slower pace of life. I'm looking forward to cheaper food, small espresso's, red wine & quiet time. Time to reflect on the crazy season that its turned out to be and to digest it all, process everything and then decide what I'd like to do with it. I feel the need to press my reset button, to slow down and get ready for the absolute highlight of my year and season - the Trans Provence.

Thank you & cheers to every single person that made the North American leg so much fun - you all know who you are. Till we meet again in a few weeks for pizza, gelato & more wine of course ;)

Peace out,
Anka

Out & about in-between races.

Our European migrations every year does involve a shit load of work, mostly at races & other events, with loads of driving, late night editing, lots of internet cafe time, laundry sessions, packing & re-packing, washing & sorting bikes & gear, getting the trusty (rusty) old van fixed and so on, but we do try to do something fun in-between the long drives from one country to the next and from event to event. These little side trips are usually the one's that we end up enjoying the most and that we end up sharing with our good friends. None of us really have much time at the races & events to actually catch up properly and hang out, everyone is so busy with their own thing, but when we do these little mini trips in-between, that is when we actually get to spend some quality time with our mates on the road & we get to play and ride bikes.

I got to explore the Valley of the Sun in Italy while the DH World Cup action was going on a few weeks ago (pics above).

We got to go to one of our favourite places to ride, swim, eat way too much gelato & drink loads of red wine & lemoncello - Lake Garda in Italy. We had a big old crew this year which is always fun to do one of our all time favourite rides from Malcesine back to the lake. We also got to catch up with our good friends from California, Megan & Andy that just happened to be in Italy for work at the same time. Perfect!

A big shuttling day from Col De Champs before the Val D Allos enduro race was pretty epic.

Another big shuttling day after the Val D Allos race was another pretty amazing day of riding before heading out of this beautiful valley.

After Val D Allos we made our way to the hidden gem of Moustiers St Marie tucked away in the Gorges Du Verdon for some swimming & kayaking adventures with Jon C & Christine and Tracy & James.

There are a few (lots) places that I've always wanted to go to, that we just never end up getting to, so hopefully we'll be able to go on a few more mini trips this summer and experience some new countries, places, trails & cultures. Isn't that the whole reason we got into riding bikes in the first place?

Anyhow, I'll keep you updated here on our mini adventures in-between all the important stuff.

peace out, Anka xxx

Riding bikes, van life & shit.

We just wrapped up the second round of the Enduro World Series race in Val D Allos, France this past weekend & what a great weekend of riding and racing it was. The setting was spectacular, surrounded by majestic mountains, pretty much in the middle of nowhere, in a tiny little ski town and only two hours from bustling Nice. With the French format not allowing any practice before the race, we had plenty of time to explore some of the other tracks and trails in the area, which was good fun to go and ride bikes with your mates and not even bother to give the race a thought until race day, which I love.

We stayed in our van and created a nice pikey site with fellow van-ier (and photographer), Victor Lucas who took brewing up the morning coffee to a whole other level using his big track pump to get the frothy crema on the top of the brew, a sure way to get your morning started off on a good note.

The racing was absolutely amazing. The tracks were really fun, scenic, exposed, fast, sketchy, unpredictable, with shale rock, loamy dirt, dry loose bike park dirt, roots, rocks, cliffs, switchbacks, I mean, it had absolutely all the elements that a good trail needs to have to call it epic. They were super fun to ride, but to race, they were hard. Hard in a good way, as it should be. It tested your everything. On Saturday the tracks were a bit more DH oriented, but still quite pedaly if you wanted to do well, and on Sunday, they were still technical and tricky, but the pedaling sections were just too long for me to make use of my downhill skills to get a good result. I just didn't have the legs to stand up and sprint on all the traversing and uphill sections, but I still had a blast and loved the tracks. Proper enduro riding. Raw, unpredictable & hard. I just need to find my legs now :) We managed to descend 10 000 meters over the two days of racing, so I'd say you definitely get your money's worth at these events. Don't even get me started on the food station and how incredibly delicious it was. I have Haribo sweets stocked up for the rest of the summer!

I was happy with a 6th & a 7th place on two of the race runs, then a bit of bad luck on one of the runs cost me a lot of time, but it was the long pedaly one's on Sunday that killed me and put me into 11th place for the overall results.. All in all a magnificent weekend of racing. Hats off to all the girls that raced - 30 of us, which is pretty amazing to see a start list with so many girls ready to race. The level of the racing for the men & women was really high, everyone killed it & I look forward to this coming weekend to see how Les Deux Alpes will format their racing for the weekend, and hopefully I can have a good weekend and get into the top 10...but there are plenty of trails to go exploring this week and adventures to be had before the race, so I'll worry about that later.

One of my highlights this weekend was meeting up with my good old friend Sabrina Jonnier & catching up with her about life in general and just seeing her glow in the sunshine with her baby belly. I cannot wait to meet Stella soon!

Cheers to everyone for all their support & to Sven for the stunning photographs. It was such a treat to race and ride with all my new Sombrio kit - I LOVE all my new goodies, and they look good! THANK YOU!!!!!

Peace out, Anka xxx

Bawbags, burns & bothies in Ballater.

Ballater

Ballater is a burgh in Aberdeenshire, Scotland on the River Dee, immediately east of the Cairngorm Mountains. Situated at a height of 213 m in elevation, Ballater is a centre for hikers and known for its spring water, once said to cure scrofula.

Man, Scotland is RAD.

I've just returned from one amazing week in Scotland. The sun was shining the entire week, there were no midgies in sight, the trails were mint, the whiskey tasting was endless and the crew was the best. We were out in Ballater with the Santa Cruz Bicycles boys & girls for the new Solo bike & Women's specific Juliana bike launch & we had such a fun week of everything. I finally got to meet & ride with Andy McKenna & his lovely wife Aneela - been wanting to meet these guys that run the www.go-where.co.uk Scottish guided company for so long now - always drooling over their instagram pics, so this was perfect. I got to experience a little bit of their daily instagram-ed lives & I'll never forget Aneela's amazing laugh! We just had a blast riding with the girls, ripping up the heather clad Scottish hills - cheers Mary -Anne, Aneela & Zea!

I also learnt a whole bunch of new Scottish words, don't think they're all good one's, but here are a few - thanks to Aneela: Bawbags, Burns, Fannybawbags, Fannybaws, bothies, Royal Deeside tweed, man, the list goes on and on...and I had a lesson in Whiskey making, smelling, sniffing, tasting & finally drinking. Turns out I'm not too keen on heavy peat flavored whiskey, made my tongue go all numb & tingly.

As for the first WC of the season - it was insane! Such a great venue, i have forgotten how good this venue was and how amazing all the Scottish fans are. I was bummed that the porridge cart wasn't there, but I did sample some delicious Haggis & tatties (the veggie version) and it was YUM. Our Juliana Bicycles booth got a lot of attention & the gals (and guys) loved the bikes! I got to catch up with some members of Team Dark Cloud, reminiscing about the trials & tribulations of the Trans Provence & I cannot wait to ride with this crew once again in September - Team Dark Cloud strikes again! Great to see & catch up with all the Ball's, and got to eat at one of my favorite restaurants ever - The Ben Nevis Inn.

The trails were sick, the scenery mind blowing, the riding crew - super fun. Cheers to everyone who made this week super special. Visiting new places are the best, riding new tracks are insane, making new friends - priceless (no, this is not a visa add). Now I'm back in Italy, in the Valley of the sun for some more world cup action & trail exploration this weekend.

Thank you to Sven for the stunning shots!

Peace out.

Anka

x

A wee bit late, but a bit of a catch up on life on the flip side.

It has been freezing cold, snowing & raining outside (has been since we arrived), accompanied by a wind that just cuts right through any wind block jacket. Yes, it is summer in Europe & I’m pining to be back in the New Zealand winter…pretty crazy thought hey, but their daily temps have been blazing warm (a slight exaggeration), compared to the French temps over here.

I just got back to base camp (mom’s house) after guiding a 7 day mountain bike trip, dragging 12 guests up and over some big mountains in Provence, so I’ve been a bit out of touch with the happenings in the rest of the world and internet was pretty non existent in those parts of the mountains, so here is a wee update.

I feel like the past month or more has just been an absolute whirlwind, trying to get our lives in order for being away from home for the next 6 months. Not an easy feat to get everything organized and taken care of while still trying to keep normal jobs, training, learning about & paying US & NZ taxes, immigration, business licenses, safety plans, environmental impact plans, racing licenses and other normal day-to-day activities going. The stresses of getting bikes built up, shipped to different countries, collecting them during layovers, getting used to them at races – all these little things have just added up to be a wee bit overwhelming, but thanks to everyone who helped to make this process of yearly migration to the other side of the world a little bit easier. O, the dilemma’s of living this lifestyle – I wouldn’t change it for anything, but you definitely need the support from a good crew of peeps to pull this off J

The most exciting happening for me this season has got to be the launch of the new Santa Cruz Bicycles Women’s bike lineup; Juliana Bicycles! This is such exciting news for all the female shredders around the world & I feel really proud, excited & very honored to represent this new line as one of their ambassadors. Have a look at the range of new curves on offer. Powerful, Beautiful, Natural

(www.julianabicycles.com).

A huge big thanks to the guys at Santa Cruz Bicycles for getting my beautiful “roarange” colored Juliana frames sent out to Jon Cancellier at SRAM in CO, who then built up my two new steeds for the season, after hours, over his weekend, and in-between traveling, then shipped them to Clay Porter in Ventura, CA who specially drove them down to LAX and dropped them off for us - curbside service during our short layover in Los Angeles. We quickly repacked them into our EVOC bike bags and checked them back in for our continuing flight over to Europe. Phew, we made it.

At home in Nelson we have Jodie taking care of all our admin & making sure we don’t get into trouble with the tax man (again) – Jodie you’re a legend! Derek is our landscape man & Trade me organizer and the rest of the crew will be visiting our cottage on the hill to make sure it is A OK throughout the winter. You guys all ROCK – thank you!

Back in France, we set off in our jam packed trusty old van for Punta Ala in Italy for the first round of the Enduro World Series, well, sort of. The van didn’t quite make it out of the driveway before we realized something major was broken. After a few hours of stressing, renting vans in French, unpacking, repacking & a trip to the local mechanic shop, we set off on the 11-hour drive to Italy.

Punta Ala, Italy was beautiful. Tuscany- by- the- sea. The forests were stunning & wild, growing right down onto the sandy beaches. The red dirt, green rolling hills, cork tree forests and the shimmering turquoise waters made for such a spectacular backdrop and venue for a race. The tracks were amazing, rough, rocky, long & dry – it was everything that I loved and I felt really confident on them. Practice was so RAD. I loved my new Juliana bikes and I felt so ready for this first round. I was ready to race after our first day of practice, but there was still a long week of training ahead of us. Way too much in my opinion and towards the end of the week, I was pretty over it. People were shuttling everywhere, including us, as if you didn’t, you were at a disadvantage, but it didn’t feel like the usual enduro’s. It felt rushed, stressed and destructive to the forest. I felt like we were invading the forest and drowning out the bird song with engine noise and fumes and stressed out drivers wheel spinning in the mud. I understand that this was the Italian way, but this past week was a bit too much. Too much practice, too many people trying to bend the rules towards their advantage, too many people not respecting the spirit of enduro or respecting the rules. Things like hidden food & water in the forests, not wearing required helmets or back plates etc, left me feeling a bit sour. Never the less, no point harping on silly things, just a tad sad that it was actually present.

I started off my race with two massive crashes, trying too hard & not being cautious enough in the slippery conditions. I was bummed, frazzled and sore and my goal was to just get through the day, to finish. I definitely felt the pressure of the whole week prior to the race. I felt the presence of all the big rigs parked everywhere, of all the mechanics milling about, rebuilding and servicing bikes and parts to death. It was serious no matter what anyone says. People were walking around with compression tights and socks and bottles filled with recovery juice. Everyone had names printed on their jerseys with masseuses and support crews scurralling about to support their riders. There were hoards of press & camera’s and flashes everywhere – even on the tracks. Interviews & photo shoots. It was a bit scary to me. It is great for the sport, and the development of the discipline, and I am truly excited about that, but I did miss the low-key vibe just a little bit. During the Trans Provence when you hammer your bike for 7 days, if you get to put chain lube on your bike & manage to have a shower before you pass out in your tent, then you’ve managed to do well.

The level of racing has skyrocketed and it seems like you’ll need to start wearing a heart rate monitor again if you want to be super competitive in this series and ditch the après ride beers & wine. Do I want to go down that route? Not too sure about that just yet. I think it was the French wine & cheese between stages that drew me to these fun events to begin with.  Hopefully some of the riders also had a moment to appreciate the beautiful forests and scenery, to catch up with friends and to sample the local Tuscan wine.

Other than that, it was a magnificent event. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Enrico so happy, and to have a bike race end on the beach is just so rad. The EWS crew did an amazing job to get all of this organized in one off season. Bravo! Cheers to you guys. It was amazing to have so many World Champions in one place and all of them riding together. Pretty epic stuff to have been a part of. Hats off to all the girls who finished this tough day of racing, it was huge.

I cannot wait for the next EWS round; hopefully I got my crashes out of the way for now. Tomorrow I’m off to Scotland for some bike exploring  & adventuring with the Santa Cruz crew, dinner & many pints at my favourite restaurant in the whole world: The Ben Nevis Inn (http://www.ben-nevis-inn.co.uk), and of course to catch some DH action at the first round of the World Cup in Fort William.

Sweet As.

Anka.

Finding art in all the "right" places.

Who says you have to go to the big cities and the snooty galleries to look at art?  

Well we haven’t been near a big city or a snooty gallery for months now, but we have been deep in the mountains on overnight outback rides and finding pretty amazing pieces of "artwork" in the most unlikely of places. Now, these pieces won't sell for thousands of dollars, but they are just a delight to find when you least expect to see them out in the whop- whops. Just another reason why I am utterly and completely head over heels in love with New Zealand’s backcountry huts, and I cannot wait to explore & overnight in many more of these hidden gems next summer.

If you've ridden some of the sick trails out in the Craigieburn area, you might recognize some of these.

The best part about these finds: you don’t get into trouble for taking photo’s of them, so snap on!

Cheers to the artists!

bikes, burgers, beers & a bit of racing in Queenstown.

What a great week of riding bikes, racing, hanging out, full moon yoga in the park, stunning sunrises, warm sunshine, swimming, drinking beers, racing down rude rock, shopping & eating massive Fergburgers while being surrounded by the most spectacular scenery wherever you looked.

First up was the 6-hour enduro Super D race that Rosara Joseph & I teamed up to race together in the super competitive women’s category of teams of two. We were team Trail Fund NZ (www.trailfund.org.nz), and I had no idea what I had gotten myself into.  Not wanting to let down my Olympian XC teamie, I was getting a bit nervous, and even more so after our first lap when it was revealed to me that this was going to be way more of a xc race than anything else and not at all the track we thought it was going to be held on (which was nice and downhilly). Anyway, not having much of a choice, I gave it everything I could and we managed to clock 13 laps over the 6 hours of racing. I was knackered, but it felt great and we took the win! (Hats off to Rosara who almost died the day before after her carbon bars decided to snap while descending at mach speed).

The rest of the week was spent exploring old and new trails, shuttle runs, xc rides, coffee shopping, eating & free full moon yoga in the park with gluten free cupcakes & wine après savasana – thank you Lululemon! (No wonder their sports bra’s cost what they do).

Next up was the Enduro race, which consisted of 4 super fun tracks, two of them were super pedally and 2 of them were proper, fast, flowy enduro tracks which made for a great combination of racing. There were also two pretty long liaison stages in-between and made for an all round super social, fun day of racing. The racing was super tight and that made it very exciting, especially when I ended up with a mechanical during my 3^rd stage. A quick MacGyver fix managed to hold up so I could race the last stage, but in the end, I finished in second place only a few seconds behind the winner. Harriet & I ended up getting the exact same time down the last stage – Zoot’s, with a time of 1:55, which was really close to the top men’s times, so I was very pleased with that. Cheers to Harriet for taking the win & to Rosara for third place. We rocked it.

Of course a week of riding bikes will cause a few casualties - Boyd hit a tree, really, really fast and is nursing a fractured pelvis, Simon has another gimp shoulder for a few weeks after not agreeing with a gap jump, Sven tore his shoulder ligaments and wrote off his new helmet. Healing vibes coming your way!

Exhausted after a pretty jam packed week, it was time to pack up and head back home to Nelson to hopefully catch a few more sunny days up there on the bike before the Winter sets in.

Cheers to Queenstown!

The Old Ghost Road trail comes to life!

[youtube=http://youtu.be/_Fx4Ugdri5Y] In the North West corner of the South Island of New Zealand a ghost is awakening. A long-forgotten gold miners' road is being revived as a tramping and mountain biking track. Connecting the old dray road in the Lyell (Upper Buller Gorge) to the mighty Mokihinui River in the north.  The 80km-long Old Ghost Road will traverse virgin native forest, tussock tops, river flats and forgotten valleys.

We cannot wait to get out to the West Coast & ride these new trails! They look soooo sick! Cannot believe this is in our backyard either, could be the perfect spot to spend Christmas or New Years. Stoked ;)

peace out.

Anka

Trans Provence adventures of Team Dark Cloud aka The Village people.

It has been a pretty busy week since the finish of the most epic Trans Provence adventure last week, I haven’t had one moment to just sit back & reflect upon the many crazy & many memorable events that occurred within those short 7 days, but here goes…

This past week has been an endless project of trying to pack up all our bikes & stuff that we have had here in Europe for the past 5months. Not only do I have to pack up the 5 bikes that we have with us, but I’ve had to scrub & wash each and every one of them, including all the tires, shoes & gear so that they are squeaky clean for the Nazi New Zealand customs inspectors. Trying to get 5 months worth of European Summer mud off of everything is no easy feat, and I am pretty darn over cleaning shit right now. The only good thing about this, is that the bikes & kit will be ready & raring to get riding as soon as we get home. Yes please.

Right then, back to the crazy adventure that is called the Trans Provence.

Well, I didn’t think that this year would be able to top last year, but it did, in epic proportions. It wasn’t harder, in fact, it was easier, as some of the stages were made a bit shorter, but due to some massive storms, bad weather, near death cliff flinging experiences, helicopter rescues, general crashes due to us pushing too hard, navigation issues, bad water & some emotional stuff that we were trying to get to terms with, it made for a pretty amazing 7 days. From the start we naturally split off into smaller groups and that seemed to stick for the duration of the race. We never tried to get home last everyday, or have something crazy & pretty scary happen to us every day, but somehow it did, and our group just kept growing tighter & tighter, to the point where we were sticking together like glue. We ate together, rode together; pee’d together, high fived together, quit jobs together, laughed & cried together. After a series of events that started happening, we named ourselves Team Dark Cloud, as it seemed like wherever we went or whatever we did, shit would hit the fan! Most of the Team Dark Cloud members were friends before the TP, but we became really great friends last week, and it is a crew that I cannot wait to share many more adventures with.

Tired of me ranting on about the crew, it is hard for me not to. Yes it was a race, but it is hard to explain this race to anyone who hasn’t experienced it before. It is hard, really, really hard & it is mentally & physically very challenging. You start off wanting to win, wanting to push as hard as possible, but as you figure it out, you realize that there is so much more to it that just racing & the results. Of course we are all there, because we like to race & we want to do well, but this week just proved to me again, how important it is to have great friends, and how incredibly lucky we are to meet such great, likeminded people on our bikes.

I am really happy about my 2^nd place finish behind Anne Caroline Chausson, and even happier that I was actually able to win the overall on one day. Rosara and I were close all week too, she would put minutes into me on the longer climbing stages and it would take me days before I could make up the time with some of the shorter downhill stages, but in the end I managed to take 2^nd place with Rosara in third, Aimee Dix in 4^th & Hannah Thorne in 5^th (Not bad to have 3 Kiwi girls in the top 5). Apart from the results, it was great to get to know Anne & the other girls better. A few of us have  been to so many races & raced together for so many years, but we’ve never actually hung out. We did at the TP. We drank red wine, chatted about babies & boyfriends & became friends. I’ll never forget my first encounter with ACC. It was my very first Pro race at Sea Otter classic in 2001 & she started behind me #FML! I take my hat off to each and every girl that finished the TP week – it was hard & they should all be super proud of themselves. It was so great to meet some new girls who like to do silly things!

The race between the AM class men was the most exciting, with Sven, Chris Ball, Seb Kemp, Tobias and many others racing against each other as if they were back on the World Cups circuit! It was great to see these friends rotating results every day, and drinking & bantering over the results each night. In the end it was Toby who took the win, with Seb in second place & Joe in third.

Of course the Pro Men’s race was very exciting as usual. With Nicolas Lau taking the win, Nicolas Vouilloz in second & Jerome Clementz in third (not bad for being part of Team Dark Cloud).

What happened to Team Dark Cloud on a daily basis was more exciting than most people experience in a lifetime. Looking back on the week now, puts a huge grin on my face & I cannot help but giggle to myself. Not funny at the time, but we will be sharing these stories for many more years to come, and that is what life is all about to me. We are rich with memories & friends.

Below are just a few of the happenings that occurred during the week:

Jon Cancellier started off the first stage by carcassing down the steepest part of the track, then I was attacked by a stick that almost poked my eye out, but instead just poked a hole in my forehead causing blood to gush out like a drinking fountain. Hannah Barnes was attacked by that same stick, and the two of us looked like we got into a cat fight.

We got caught on the top of a really exposed mountain, during a really, really big, scary thunder, lightning & hailstorm, where we just wanted to get off the mountain. We didn’t even bother with kneepads; it was too cold to feel your hands. At one point I didn’t even know if I was braking or not, I was so frozen. There was no thought of racing, it was absolute survival, and I was hoping & praying during my race run that someone wouldn’t die. During this stage, we got stuck crossing muddy, waist deep flash flooding rivers, which were mere ride able creek crossings for the earlier groups. Jerome crashed & lost his pants during the thunderstorm & put a hole in his penis. Well not his penis, but close! He managed to finish that stage in his extra holey, fishnet Mavic stockings, I mean lycra. What a legend. Jey also managed to recruit an entire Cannondale team after handing out dry t-shirts to all of us for the remainder of the day. Go team Dark Cloud Cannondale – and this was only day 2.

We all got lost, a lot, especially Chris Ball – that man needs a compass, o, and Hannah & Seb also joined in – or were they just the search & rescue team looking for Chris?

Devastated about his navigational error & time loss, Chris decided to take flight off a cliff the next day, into the abyss, in front of us all, on his 10-year anniversary day. I thought he was a gonner & still have visions of his yellow 29er cart wheeling down to the valley floor & for a moment there I had visions of having to call Kate & e-mail her the photo he took for her just minutes earlier.

Sven managed to acquire the nickname of Sven doggie, so of course that stuck as we all thought it to be hilarious (maybe due to all of us being delirious).

A wasp nest decided to attack some of our crewmembers & of course they were allergic. Bad water the previous day, caused us to almost loose Seb & Jon. Thank goodness I had charcoal tablets & rehydration powder to get them through the day. Jon managed to vomit all day long, including during his timed stage races. As if this was not enough, Jon also slipped & fell down a massive cliff, thank goodness we had Paul Smail the fireman to hoist him back out & then to top it all off he hit a tree going full speed 20 meters before we finished for the day. Not a day Jon would like to repeat.

Sven managed to flat, then double flat again along with Seb & Chris also flatting. Smail knocked himself silly one morning & jacked up his shoulder pretty badly.

I can go on and on, but there were too many things to list. I must say the funniest one was when JC was lying in a ditch and all I could see was a talking head when I came down shouting at me not to take this line!

As the week progressed we tried to stick together incase something really bad had to happen, and of course it did. All we had to do was make it to the beach on a relatively short day, but Sven had other plans. Day 7, stage 1 was slippery & wet and he went down hard, or hit a tree hard I should say. A few of the Team Dark Cloud members were still at the top, so we were able to get to him quickly. He was pretty out of hit, hit his face & head pretty hard, and his arm was looking a bit wrong. As Sven would later say after some morphine, “God, who was I riding with, the fucking Village People?” We had Hannah Barnes, a nurse in real life, who just took charge, she was amazing, and then we had Bjorn the doc who supplied all the morphine & Smail the “handle bar mustached fireman, we had Toby & Sam, the logistics brothers & organizers & Jerome the translator. Chris, Jon, Joe & Matti were the moral support & keep the humor going crew. The whole team was amazing. Team Dark Cloud pulled together. Thank you to everyone that helped. We got Sven stabilized & he got heli lifted out of the forest & off to Nice – beating us all to the beach after all.

"Ankie, Ankie, do they know my arm is broken?"

"Joe Barnes took that inside line, and he made it look so easy".

"Can I take my baguette with me to the hospital, I'm so hungry".

"Be careful, I think it's very slippery today"

Sven’s whole incident in that forest last week was very emotional. It ended up being a badly broken arm & concussion, but it brought back so many memories of when he broke his neck & it freaked me out. I couldn’t stop thinking about my good friend Gabby, who had just lost her soul mate a few weeks earlier & seeing Sven lying there, wrapped up in space blankets, I couldn’t even begin to imagine how Gabby must have felt & how amazingly brave she must have been. We had also been riding with the presence of Jaymie Mart, a good friend of ours that left us all too soon – she was laughing at us & all our antics from the back of Chris Balls number plate all week. Matti also broke down when he saw Sven with flashes of all his past injuries coming back to him and just being too overwhelming to deal with. It brought out so many emotions between all of us, things that we have been trying to deal with and get to terms with over the past few weeks, and I personally want to thank each and every one of you for being there with me. I truly feel we have all made progress with whatever demons we’ve been chasing or have been chasing us.

What was supposed to be a relatively short day with a swim in a sunny, hot Mediterranean sea, turned out to be quite a bit different for Team Dark Cloud. After Sven took off for Nice, we all had to carry on racing. Not ideal. I still had 4 races to do, or to hold it together and get to the bloody beach in one piece. Of course due to our delay  - thanks babes- we got caught in another massive storm while everyone else had completed the Trans Provence & were drinking beers & high fiving all around. Team Dark Cloud was back! Jerome took Sven’s timing chip & clocked him in for every stage race. That was so rad. Thanks Jerome. Sven even managed to get a 2^nd place in the Pro class during the one stage! We raced the last two stages in pouring rain, on slippery ass rocks, and we just wanted to be done. Of course it would all be too simple if we actually just finished up. Two stages, big deal. Hannah managed to flat, I managed to have a massive crash, Toby ripped off his rear mech, we were all starving & out of water, then to top it all off, Chris Ball had a massive crash, wrapping his neck around a tree and that had Seb & Jon pile right into him, leaving them all in a big pile up 200meters from the finish of the race. Chris & Seb managed to get up and clock out, but Jon had done his ankle in pretty badly. Paul Smail, the fireman had yet another rescue to tend to, as he had to carry Jon out of there and get him off to the hospital. OMG, we had all sort of all finished the bloody Trans Provence.

We promised to jump into the ocean for Sven, so we had a mission. Come hell or high water, we were going for a swim. We survived; we bonded (especially with Paul’s leopard print speedo). We became great friends. Hopefully nothing else would happen with our crew before the end of the day, as it turns out Toby couldn’t swim – so we all got a bit nervous, and got the hell out of the water! It wasn’t complete with our missing compatriots, but it was a great feeling of accomplishment. So there you have it, another Trans Provence done & dusted. It was time to drink beer & share stories with all the other brave soldiers. Will I be back next year, hell yes, I’ll be back!

Peace out

Anka x

My own Piwakawaka saddle.

I am pretty excited & quite proud to show you my new signature saddle...It is the SDG Women's Allure saddle that just got a fresh, new look for 2013. This has been my first collaboration with a company as far as designing something new goes. I have been one of SDG's sponsored athlete's since way back when when I started racing downhill in 2001, and the Allure saddle has been my choice of saddle for all my adventures ever since they released it. It is truly an amazing saddle, and has been my close companion for thousands of miles over the years, so when Tyler asked me to help them with "updating" it a little bit, I couldn't be more pleased.

So here you have it. Some bright, funky colors, some clean, minimalistic lines, the same comfy construction & saddle with a touch of fun & something that is very dear to my heart since my move to New Zealand - the Piwakawaka, or Fantail bird to keep you company on your next adventure.

Even though it is a woman's specific saddle, I'm hoping some of the lads out there will be brave enough to buy one!

www.sdgusa.com

Peace out

Anka x

URGE helmet ambassador!

I am very proud to be one of the new URGE helmet ambassadors!

It is something that I am very, very excited about, as it is a company that is really close to my heart. I love their helmets, I love what they stand for, and I love that they are eco friendly & conscious about the environment. A company that gives back, in fact they are a 1% for the planet member, and they have a veggie range of helmets made from linen fibre?!? How freaking cool is that?  I love this, and I cannot wait to go on many more adventures, trips & races representing the URGE brand & trying to make a difference by bike!        (Above pic is me on Day 1 of the Trans Provence, and also my first day wearing my new helmet - I had to see if it worked!)

I just completed the very brutal 7 day Trans Provence race with my new Endur-O-matic  helmet, and it was fantastic. It never moved, the visor never dropped forward to cover my eyes during rough, technical descents - and believe me, there were plenty of that during the TP, the straps were comfortable, my riding glasses fit like a glove, it wasn't too hot, it kept me warm during all the storms we encountered and it matched my green Santa Cruz Nomad to a tee! A girl's got to look good on her bike you know!

Anyhow, check out their 2013 line & see what this forward thinking company is all about.

www.urgebike.com

Driven by our roots.

Peace out

Anka x

So excited to announce the launch of my new company - houseMARTIN Mountain Bike Adventures!