The event was hosted at the Catalina Sounds vineyard in Waihopai Valley on a technically challenging course, made more challenging by the heavy rain on Saturday morning.  Thankfully the sun was shining on race day, but the course was still slippery and the river crossings were quite deep.

Cyclocross is a unique discipline of cycling that can be best described as a cross between road cycling, mountain biking and steeplechase. The courses can include gravel roads, off road tracks, steep banks, river crossings  and obstacles.  Often cyclists have to dismount their bikes to run up stairs and steep embankments which makes Cyclocross very technically challenging.  This event featured a slalom around wine barrels as well.

The MGC team performed very well, bagging three South Island titles. 

Maddy Sinclair (Year 13) lead the team in her final Schools CX event.  Maddy put in a solid ride in the U20 Girls Category to take gold and bag another South Island title to add to her extensive collection whilst representing MGC. 

From a MGC perspective, the U15 race was the most exciting of the weekend.  MGC was represented by Brooke Goodsir and Emma Anderson (both Year 9).  Brooke took an early lead and was over a minute ahead of Emma at one point.  Emma showed her resilience and stamina and put in some strong laps in the second half of the race to catch Brooke.  Emma and Brooke ended up in a sprint for the line with literally less than a centimetre separating them.  It was so close that the timing system recorded the times as first equal (this was down to a 10th of a second!).  The Commissaires had to consult the photos and judged that Brooke beat Emma by about a centimetre.  It was a fantastic race and Brooke and Emma both deserve congratulations on their achievements representing MGC on the national stage at a Cycling NZ event for the first time.

Maddy, Brooke and Emma combined to form a team for the relay event in the afternoon.  Special credit to Brooke and Emma for riding up and joining Maddy in the Senior Relay Race despite being eligible for the Junior Race.  The three girls combined well and raced superbly taking the Senior Girls' South Island Relay Title. 

Neil Sinclair

(Photo credit to Dom Blisset at Blissfield Photography)