3/08/2017



To North Canterbury Cycling



Craig and I (Ben) thank the club for its much-appreciated support for our 2017 World Champs campaign, Cairns, Australia 5th – 10th September. The clubs contribution will cover a third of our costs and will enable us to have a week in Cairns before joining the rest of the NZ team. This will give us plenty of time to acclimatize to the conditions.


 Craig has recovered well from his accident in Andorra, our training is going pretty good but has been interrupted by the weather and flu. All in all happy with where we are at and looking forward to heading away on the 25th August to Cairns where we will put the finishing touches to our training.


It is always a privilege to represent NZ, so we will be giving it our best effort to achieve a great result.




Regards



Ben and Craig Oliver



Ride your Dream



 July 2017 Newsletter  ❤️        Image    Ben 1st place Swiss Cup, Granichen                                                                                                               Hello Nice to return home to find brother Craig recovering well after 5 weeks ago having a accident while riding on the road (in Andorra). We are pleased to report that his head aches have all passed, hand is on the mend, the hole where the stitches were is all good and the discomfort in his lower back is coming right. All in all, he has been very lucky and even more so with the generosity of many who donated to the Givealittle page set up by Julie Friel. This will go a long way to replace components and frame on Craig’s bike and the airfare home.     A big thanks to Giant NZ for the new Helmet/riding kit and the use of a bike.  I was very happy with my results in the last 2 World Cup races, firstly Andorra, at altitude, where I had my best result to date in a World Cup, placing 6th I had a great race riding consistent lap times being mindful of what racing at altitude can do to you if you push too hard.  That result seen me move up to 9th in the overall standings and put me on the second row at my final World Cup of the season in Lenzeheide, Switzerland. Within the first 100 metres my luck ran out as 2 riders collided and I had nowhere to go but straight over the top, ending upside down on the ground, I managed to straighten my levers and found myself back in about 50th place at the end of the road the race started on. I battled through the field to 26th by the end of the first lap. By this time the leaders had gone, the track was very wet from rain the night before, rocky, rooty and very bumpy, funny enough it seemed to suit me and I slowly picked off riders 1 by 1, finishing the 7-lap race very happy in 12th place. I return home 10th in the world cup rankings with 2 races to go that I will not get to race in.   I will have a week off before building for the World Champs, Craig started his build up with the wind trainer 2 weeks ago, he has his cast off now so will be back in full swing in a couple of weeks . Our race is in 7 weeks’ time on Friday 8th September in Cairns.  

The support Craig and I receive is Awesome, without it we could not continue our journey to become the very best we can in the sport we love, (XCO racing) we are achieving goals along our pathway and are looking forward to the next year ahead.   A huge thanks to everyone. *Follow us on Facebook:    Oliver Brothers mountain biking   Craig Oliver and/or Ben Oliver *On Instagram:    @craig.oliverxc   @ben_oliver


 Craig and Ben June 2017

Hi

I, Craig have returned home 3 weeks earlier than planned, as I experienced a nasty accident while riding on the road (in Andorra) to the trails for a training session. Long story short, I was the third rider in a line of 3 and a guy decided to open his car door just as I went past, talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I was flung across the road into an oncoming car, over their bonnet and landed on the ground unconscious. I think my brother Ben and Paul Wright thought I was dead, thanks to my helmet that was avoided! Ambulance ride to hospital, many tests, a cat scan, xrays and several hours later I was discharged, with a broken hand, cuts, abrasions, 5 stitches on my chest and a massive head ache. My bike, helmet, gloves and kit are all a right off.

A week on, and I am home to recover. Very happy to report that the head seems to be pretty good, I have an appointment to see a doctor at Sportsmed on Monday afternoon and that will give me a better idea of what is a head of me.

Really disappointed to finish my Europe campaign this way, but was stoked with how my form was coming along and my race speed had come back in perfect time for what were going to be my last 2 races. Ben is riding bloody well at the moment and is on track for good results at the next 2 World Cups, July 1st and 8th .

Racing in the HC class race at Hadleigh Park, the home of the 2012 Olympic course in London was awesome, made even better by both of us finishing in the points, Ben and I also finished in the points at Austria and Switzerland. Ben achieved placings and points in both World Cups, Czech Republic and Germany.


06 May - UCI Elite HC Hadleigh Park (UK) Ben 12th Craig 21st

14 May - UCI HC U23 AUSTRIA (Obertraun) Ben 2nd Craig 8th

  • • 21st May - UCI World Cup U23 Czech Ben 9th Craig 52nd

  • • 28th May - UCI World Cup U23 Germany (Albstadt) Ben 20th Craig 82nd

  • 11th June - HC – U23 Swiss Bike Cup #4 & JWS Ben 1st Craig 7th

  • • 2nd July - UCI World Cup Andorra

  • 9th July -UCI World Cup Switzerland

  • A mate’s mother and family friend (Julie Friel) has kindly set up a Givealittle page on my behalf, funds raised will be used to replace my race bike, replace special parts, reimburse Mum and Dad for my changed early flight home and if there is any money left over it will contribute to the cost incurred representing NZ at the World Champs. The support Ben and I receive is Awesome, without it we could not continue our journey to become the very best we can in the sport we love, (XCO racing) we are achieving goals along our pathway and are looking forward to the next year ahead. A huge thanks to everyone.

    *Follow us on Facebook: Oliver Brothers mountain biking Craig Oliver and/or Ben Oliver

    *On Instagram: @craig.oliverxc @ben_oliver

    Ride you Dream

    Craig and Ben


  • We are happy to have been named this week in the MTBNZ XCO World Champs team to race in Cairns, 3 – 10 September, every opportunity is a privilege and should never be taken for granted so we will be taking it with both hands and giving it our all. After a few weeks recovery, I will be working very hard to be back better than ever. Ben has also been named on the long list for the 2018 Commonwealth Games, and I am hoping for a really good result in Cairns - that could see both of us on that list.


Paul Cooper (keen outdoorsman & father of the current national & Oceania Junior  MTB Champion, Anton) has the new role of Junior Development to add to his busy schedule. The Club has resolved to devote some time & money toward encouraging more young North Cantabrians to further explore & develop their riding options. Paul has some ideas under consideration at present so watch this page for updates.North Canterbury Cycling Club junior cyclists are seriously enjoying getting finish line fever.  Recent successes suggest a very bright racing future.As a result of parental support & funding itiatatives of the Club, these talented Juniors continue do dominate at every event they enter!We very much appreciate and thank all the hard work that the club has put in to support the juniors, especially Debbie Hills who prepared the funding applications and followed this up for the last few years.The Club id indebted to the following Charities who have supported our Junior Team*Pub Charity NZ*The Mainland Trust* NZ Community TrustThe Junior Team members display theses supproters' Logos at evennts & take every opportunity to thank contributors in victory speeches or race reports.