WADE'S
JOURNAL
March
28th
Cairns BMX club was the host of round
7 and 8 of the UCI Oceania World Ranking Series and the Australian National Championships
this past weekend. With official practice starting on Wednesday, two rounds of
the UCI series run on Saturday, Sunday and the finals for the National Championships
Sunday afternoon, made for a long week in the hot and humid conditions in the
tropical area of Northern Queensland, Australia. The track was physically demanding
with 2 concrete berms and a long last sweeping dirt corner with a numerous amount
of jumps on the 410m track. With over 1700 entries for the weekend of racing,
this clearly shows that BMX in Australia is coming back strong not only in numbers
but also with stronger and higher levels of competition. This weekend was also
the official launch for Percentage Designs which seen myself race on the new prototype
BMX frame and in TeamWBR/Percentage race gear. The launch was very successful
as there were a lot of interest towards the new Australian bike company and the
TeamWBR race program.
UCI Round 7 started off with a perfect score for
me by wining all motos and qualifying through the quarter finals and making it
into the semi final. The Semi finals seen some upsets by some top riders not making
it into the main event. Series leader, Luke Madill unclipped out of the start
and was not able to pull back into the top 4 positions to transfer in the main
event. I was in Semi 2 and bobbled on the short jumps in the second straight which
found myself back in 5th. Down the last straight I was boxed in by the riders
in 3rd and 4th position, which then seen Tiger Robinson come from behind and go
by all 3of us down the last straight to qualify for the final. Kamakazi had the
holeshot in the main event with Fenwick close behind. Robinson again came from
behind in 3rd place in the last corner where he had a super smooth last straight
to take them both on the line for the win.
Elite Men Results
1st Robinson
2nd Kamakazi 3rd Fenwick 4th Turesson, 5th Johnston, 6th Harvey, 7th Codega, 8th
Wallin.
UCI Round 8 finished off a lot better for me as I made my way
into the main event by qualifying through my motos, quarter and semi final. This
would see the toughest final for the weekend due to all the top Elite men making
it through to the final. Kamakazi again took the holeshot with myself holding
my ground on top of the first berm from lane 8. Robinson then made up some ground
and was trying to pass Kama on the outside of berm 2, Kama then rode high to protect
his lead, but this then left the door open for me to dive towards the inside to
take the lead from both riders. Fenwick then gained some ground and made his way
up to second with Kama, Codega and Madill in toe. Madill made a big charge down
the last straight to get by Codega and Kamakazi for 3rd while I was able to hold
off Fenwick to see myself take out one of the most exciting races for the weekend.
Elite
Men Results
1st Bootes (TeamWBR) 2nd Fenwick 3rd Madill 4th Codega 5th Kamakazi,
6th Limm, 7th Taylor, 8th Robinson
National Championships were decided
by the combination of the motos in both UCI rounds which then seen the top 16
riders go straight into a semi to qualify for the Nationals Championship final.
Both semi finals seen some great racing which left a super line up in the Elite
men's final for the National Championship crown. I had a shocking start from lane
1 which seen Madill take advantage of the inside of the first corner from lane
2. Fenwick was then sitting in 2nd coming out of the first corner with Kama and
myself close behind. Turesson and Codega were also closing in by the second corner
which seen some rubbing of tires. I seen a big gap and was going for a move from
4th to 2nd place. In mid move, Turesson's front tire connected with my rear tire
making myself go into a flat "belly flap" spin on the concrete berm.
Codega also went down hard and Kama was interfered with my bike while sliding
across the track. Madill was then on his way to another National Title with Fenwick
behind. Robinson took advantage of the crash and made his way up to 3rd position
leaving defending Champion Kamakazi in 4th.
Elite Men Results
1st Madill
2nd Fenwick, 3rd Robinson, 4th Kamakazi, 5th Ryan J, 6th Turesson, 7th Bootes
(TeamWBR) 8th Codega
March
27th
I
just won round 7 of the UCI World Ranking series on my new bike from Percentage
Designs. After just riding it for 3 days I was able to adapted to it with ease
to take out one of the hardest finals this year. I ended up crashing in the National
final as my rear end was tapped by a rider behind which ended up putting me into
a belly flap spin on the 2nd concrete corner in Cairns, which I ended up getting
back up to ride into 7th place.
More
details to come.......
March
25th
RIDERS
WANTED
TeamWBR
is now accepting resumes to be apart of the Factory and Factory Support race teams.
Click on Riders
Wanted and fill in your sponsorship application.
March
20th
After test riding the 1st Percentage Prototype
frame I made a few changes. Here is the 2nd prototype frame which I will race
at the Australian Championships next weekend. Stop by the pits and have a closer
look. Katrina Miller will be racing on the smaller version as well. Here are a
few pictures for you guys who are not going to be in Cairns.
March
19th
An
update shot of Brooklyn, always smiling like his daddy.
March
16th
Here
are the Chinese riders eating fish and chips after a mornings training session.
I have had them over a few times now to the house and it is funny to see the difference
between cultures in the way they eat. They all have to watch some one first to
see how the food is handled.... as we had a BBQ one time and they were not sure
what to do with the sausage and the buns.
The
Chinese riders have come a long way since I have been training with them. The
riders are so fast at pedaling but just need more skill work and time on the bike.
Now they are jumping big doubles at the Nerang track and small dirt jumps at the
trails. Their track speed has also come a long way as at the start they could
not even pump around the track with out pedaling. With the improvements in 3 weeks,
I am sure we will see some riders improve enough in 3 years to be in the mix at
the Olympic games.
Lunch
after a morning session.
March
14th
I
have just made a deal with BSc Body Science-Sports & Lifestyle Supplements,
to give out a discount to all the grass root TeamWBR members. BSC has also agreed
to give out this discount to all readers of BMX Internet sites.
I
use these supplements myself and find they are better than any U.S based supplements
I have previously used.
You
can check out www.bodyscience.com.au
for information on all their products.
So
depending on what you want to achieve with your training, i.e.: Gain weight, Lose
weight, Recover more efficiently, Pre-hydration/Re-hydration, Strength, Stamina
or Endurance and many more, Body Science have the supplements that can help you
achieve the absolute best results.
All
you need to do is Email teamwbr@discountnutrition.com.au
with your details or questions and you will receive the BMX TeamWBR team Price’s
on BSc’s Broad Range of Sports & Lifestyle Products.
March
13th
East Side BMX club in New Zealand
was the host of round 5 of the UCI Oceania World Ranking Series and also a round
of the New Zealand Super Class Series. With a quick 3-4 hour international flight
from most major cities in Australia, a bunch of Australian riders were there to
represent. The weather was fantastic for the 2 days of racing and the club provided
a smooth running event and a superb track for the riders to compete on. The track
had 3 concrete corners and had plenty of fun jumps which made for some exciting
racing. New Zealand is surely stepping up to the plate in regards to competition
and has a well organized high performance program set in place which has definitely
been the key factor for the New Zealand team riders.
The UCI World Ranking
series main event went down like this. The current leader of the series Luke Madill
and myself went into the first corner side by side, I had the inside and held
the lead down the second straight. After coming up short on one of the doubles,
I unclipped out of my pedal which allowed Madill and Willers to sneak pass both
sides of me going into the second corner. I was not able to clip back in until
the third straight which then seen Robinson fly by the outside. Madill held the
lead to the finish which seen a close race between Willers and Robinson on the
line for 2nd and 3rd. I manage to hold onto fourth place by the time I regained
pedal power down the 3rd straight.
1st Luke Madill (Aust)
2nd Mark
Willers (NZ)
3rd Tiger Robinson (Aust)
4th Wade Bootes (Aust) TeamWBR
The New Zealand Super Class Series seen some fast and exciting racing with
both Junior and Senior elite competing together. I cruised through the motos and
meet up with an even split of riders from Australia (4) and New Zealand (4) in
the final. With the 3 final final, this would make for the most consistent rider
to take out the overall win for the day. In the first main I unfortunately unclipped
out from the start which left me behind to fight back from last position. Madill,
Robinson and Willers had a close race but ended up finishing in that order. I
only manage to come back to a disappointing 7th place. 2nd main seen Robinson
take the holeshot with Madill on his heals. Willers and myself were fighting it
out for 3rd place in the last corner were we made contact, I took over 3rd place
by the use of my many years of racing experience. 3rd main there was even more
action. Robinson, Madill and myself were all together in the first corner. Madill
had the inside and rode both of us high which allow Willers to high low into 3rd
position. Madill came up short on a double down the 2nd straight which seen Robinson
pull up beside him, Madill was stuck in a manual while Robinson made the move
into first place, Madill ended up high siding on Robinson rear tire which seen
him hit the second concrete corner hard. Robinson then had an easy win to the
line with Willers and myself in toe. After calculating up the points, the overall
top 4 finished like this.
1st Tiger Robinson (Aust)
2nd Mark Willers
(NZ)
3rd Luke Madill (Aust)
4th Wade Bootes (Aust) TeamWBR
In
2 weeks time we will see all the Australian Elite riders meet up in Cairns, Queensland
for the 6th and 7th round of the UCI World Ranking Series and the Australian National
Championships for BMX. I hopes to improve on his results in Cairns by fixing and
working on my unclipping problem I had this past weekend in New Zealand.
Into
first corner in Main for UCI race
Out
of first corner UCI Main
I would like to say thanks
to Cory at StiffyBMX.com for
his hospitality on the weekend in New Zealand. It was great to get back down there
after so many years and meet up with all the riders again. A few of the riders
went out Saturday night and had dinner and then went onto shoot a few games of
pool.
March
6th
Tuggeranong BMX club in Canberra was the host
of round 4 of the BMX UCI World Ranking series and the ACT State Championships.
Day one had some bad weather but the track held up very well in the rain and Day
2 was a perfect sunny day. The track was super fast and quite long with 6 fun
straight aways. The starting hill was huge and made for a quick top end speed
by the first jump which made us all fly into the first corner. Racing is getting
more and more competitive here in Australia with the Junior and Senior Elite Categories
as the National Championships are just around the corner. This weekend also seen
the National New Zealand and Chinese team competing for those most important UCI
Oceania points for 2005.
The UCI World Ranking series round went down
like this. 2004 Junior Elite World Champion Mike Fenwick (now Senior Elite) got
off to the early lead with myself in tow. Fenwick pulled away after I over jumping
the second jump into the first corner, while Robinson went around the top of me
and Johnstone went underneath. By the second corner I worked my way back to third
with Johnstone and Madill close behind. Robinson went for a last ditched effort
to swoop under Fenwick on the last corner and nearly pulled it off but Fenwick
was too strong. It looked like I had passed Robinson on the line but the judges
saw it another way. Madill finished in fourth then Willers, Johnstone, Wilcock
and Ryan J in eight.
The ACT Championships seen some fast and exciting
racing as there were 43 AA pro riders signed up. I cruised through the motos and
semi finals to meet up with a world class final. With all the top heavy hitters
all line up side by side made for some contact racing down the first straight.
Robinson went down hard with Johnstone, which tangled with Fenwich and myself.
Madill had a clean shot to the first corner from lane 1 which left all the racing
action behind him. I worked my way back up to mid pack behind Willers and Fenwich
in 4th. Going into the last corner Fenwich was setting up Willers while I was
trying to set both of them up for a super high low in the last corner. Fenwich
lost control in the last few jumps in the rhythm section just before the corner
which allowed me to just squeeze by the outside and still able to make the high
low move on Willers to come back to solid and an outstanding 2nd place.
Racing
was fun in Canberra and we all head down to New Zealand this next weekend for
the 5th round of the UCI World Ranking Series.
I received my
first Proto Type Percentage bike this weekend and did a photo shoot for a new
team poster. The bike is really sweet and has some really cool features. A lot
of riders were impressed by the design and looks like it will be a great seller.
With the over sized down tube, European bottom bracket and machined out chain
stays, this bike will get the job done by delivering power to the rear wheel.
I will be riding this bike all week and will give all the feed back before the
bikes go into production. Yes, that is a Hayes Hydraulic disk brake on the rear....
the bikes will come with an option of regular or disk brakes. Percentage frame
will be sold with a Percentage Carbon fork, Cane creek head set and Percentage
Stem. More details and close up photos to follow. Check out www.bmxultra.com
for more pictures from the weekend.
Main
gate at the ACT Championships.
Proto
Type Percentage Designs BMX bike.
Upclose
shots
