Term 1 was a busy one for our Mountain Biking group competing at the South Island Secondary Schools' and Canterbury Secondary Schools' Championships.

This year our teams were able to compete in flash new mountain biking tops sponsored by Tom Tschudin and his business Extrastaff.  Thanks so much for your support Tom - the team really appreciates it! Check out how good the new tops look.

SISS Championship, Coronet Peak, 20 - 23 March

During Summer Tournament Week, a team of 10 BHS riders had a blast at the stunning Coronet Peak Ski Area.  The weather was perfect, the view second to none, the riding hard and fast, and most importantly all riders and bikes came back in one piece.

The team didn't manage any podium finishes, however our team of nine male and one female rider made the most of the riding that Coronet Peak has to offer. Many of them bettered their seeding run times in their final runs in the Downhill event.  In a sport where the difference between 1st and 10th can be just a matter seconds, shaving multiple seconds off a run time is an impressive achievement, especially when this is the first time that many of our riders had seen these trails let alone ridden them at speeds that would make their mothers' cringe.

The Cross Country course was very challenging with a long, steep uphill portion which the riders got to ride up 3 or even 4 times if they were really lucky.  For our riders who are used to the luxury of the chairlift at the Adventure Park, it was a real test of their fitness and resilience, but all of them proved they were up to the challenge.  None of them got off and pushed, although this may have been because we could see the entire up hill from our team tent at the bottom of the course!

Although the Enduro is a timed event, there was an opportunity for our riders to have a more 'social' group ride as they moved between the timed downhill stages.  This event proved to be the perfect way to finish off the team's time at Coronet Peak, the tracks were fast and flowy and this format of riding seems to be a little less of a pressure cooker than the Downhill event.

Congratulations to Tasman Woodfield who placed 9th overall in the U13 Boys, and to Blair Rayner who placed 12th overall in the U15 Girls.

Thank you to all the parents who accompanied the riders to the event for all their support, encouragement and provision of the daily sausages.  

CSS Championships, Crocodile Track (Halswell Quarry), 03 April

A group of six riders competed in the weekly CSS Cross Country competition at the Halswell Quarry.  The first weeks of riding are graded by riders ability and the goal is really to improve and challenge your own times each. During the final week of this competition, the CSS Championships are held. All our riders competed extremely well in the Championship rides with many of them leading their wave out of the start gate.

Special congratulations to Blair Rayner who placed 2nd in the U15 girls Championship.