There was Round 3 of the South Island NZ Nationals in Nelson last weekend. Tomac’s young shredder Jed Rooney was again in attendance and by the sounds of it had a bit better weekend than in Dunedin. Here he is with his round up of the events:

The South Island cup is done and dusted with, well not so much dust this year. The series was wrapped up over the weekend with round 3 on the infamous Kaka Hill, Nelson. After some some sick riding and plenty of bloody sand fly bites here is my take on what went down.

Photos:James Allan

Arriving in Nelson to pouring rain on Friday afternoon was a bit shit. Kaka hill is mostly rock based ridgeline and does not get affected much by the rain so i wasnt to worried. The rain cleared up that night which allowed for a quick track walk and it was much the same as previous years. Varied with a native tree section at the top then out into the open hauling ass down some rocky ridgelines before dropping down the last section with a bunch of switchbacks lined with gorse either side. Most people ending up picking this gorse out of their ass for the next few weeks haha. With close to no pedalling and big grins for the ballsy Its got to be my favourite track of the year and one of the best in the country.

The next morning I was keen as to get into it when I arrived at the hill. Shortly after gearing up for first run it started to rain again but didnt last to long, Showers would come and go all day but not changing track conditions a hell of alot. It was loose but still fairly controlled and everyone was loving every minute of it. Shuttles where charging all day and everyone got enough practise runs in. Line choice was simple as the fastest lines where resonably obvious. I felt fast on the track and good results there in the past gave me good confidence for the race the next day. Thanks to Cam Johnsons Mum for cooking us a beauty of a feed that night!

Race day I got out to the hill bright and early so I would get a good park. Same as the day before it started to drizzle just as morning practise was schedueled to start. It didnt come to much and i got up there with the first few to go down. Having rained over night it was wild down the rocky sections but the sun came out and the course was becoming quite dry in time for seeding runs. As for seeding i went out pretty hard knowing i was sitting 2nd overall in the Si cup and needed as many points as possible, I went alittle to hard and crashed up top which cost me my run and ended up 2nd. With a bit of luck and a win in the final it was still possible for me to take the overall.
But it wasn’t to be, I stacked on the fastest bit of the track. I got up quick and rode hard trying to salvage the best result i could and took another 2nd. I was fairly pissed off with myself but what can you do. As for Pro men it was another hot contested race, Nathan rankin made an appearance and after qualify first he took a downsky in his run. Mathew Scoles took the Win with Frenchy Fabien Pedamaund in 2nd and Jr World champ Brook Mcdonald in 3rd.

Post race there was an after party at horses pump track although not alot of pump track sessioning went down. With the Si cup in the books there is now a couple week break before the Ni cup kicks off in rotorua. Big thanks to everyone involved with the organising of the Si cup over the past few weeks, There has been some good times had by all for sure and it wouldnt be possible without all the volunteers who put there hand up to drive Vans and blow whistles etc. Also thanks to Tomac bikes and everyone who is helping me out this season.

Cheers,
Jed