Ventana riding Gorilla wreaks havoc!

The weekend of the 28th of March, Christchurch riders were blessed with fine weather, and some of the region's keenest racers swarmed to Living Springs for some XC racing action.

Another gem in Backyard Event's crown, the Living Springs course is the culmination of more than 1000 hours of volunteer labour producing a twisty and universally rated circuit.

The morning race was a mass start XC event, the third of the Canterbury XC series.
In a recurring theme, Oliver pounded out a lightening fast start, and took Auckland pinner B. Tilby's wheel into the first singletrack, just ahead of the young phenom Anton Cooper and the equally awesome B. Hudson.

Brad's unfamiliarity with the course produced some sketchy moments on the descent, but when it turned upwards he peeled off, letting Oliver and Anton shred the climb.
Power to weight triumphed on the day and it was the last Oliver saw of the young pinner who went on to post some scary fast laps including a 13:11 final lap!

A crash put paid to Oliver's plans of a good finish, but he rallied on the final lap to pull of third in the Open Men grade.

Less than an hour to recover and it was in to the afternoon's events; the South Island Single Speed Champs (SISSC for short).
After deciding to focus on the morning's events, Oliver opted for some fun antics in the afternoon, and chose to ride the ace in a fully fledged furry Gorilla suit.

Struggling with visibility through the tiny eye slits, Atilla the Gorilla (Oliver's afternoon persona) battled though the start loop to the amusment of the rowdy crowd.

After stripping off the asphyxiating rubber mask, gloves and gorilla toes Atilla proceeded to shred the course, stopping only to pick fleas from his fur or to chow on particularly enticing bananas, howling like a gorrila all the way.



3 laps and in and the extra 2 inches of fuzz was beginning to take its toll. Dehydration hit this gorilla like a punch to the face and it took an effort from some of the more altruistic crowd members to strip back the furry opressor.


In a cruel turn of fate, organisers forced Ollie to snack back on the worlds dryest snack; a Weet Bix. Safe to say that any moisture left in his body was used to devour this dubiously labelled breakfast 'treat'. Check the You tube footage for some ravenous munching.

The winner of the afternoon's antics was a scarily fast beer drinker/bike rider in the form of a PJ wearing B. Sharrat. He will represent the CHCH SS massiff with pride at the Rotorua nationals.

Oliver reports that completing the race in a gorilla suit satisfied one of his life long goals. The resulting levels of exhaustion will likely ensure he stops short of such nonsense in the future.

Mountain Pedaler out...