Reeves Plans Gruelling Double Campaign
JUNE 8, 2015: Manawatu's Adam Reeves is a glutton for
punishment.
How else can you explain why the Palmerston North man is
planning to be twice as busy with racing this winter than he ever
has before?
The 33-year-old former champion dirt bike racer is planning to
take his Yamaha YZ250 to tackle two major off-road series at once,
both competitions he is well capable of winning.
The three-time former national cross-country champion has just
wrapped up his 2015 New Zealand Enduro Championship campaign -
where he finished fifth overall and second in class - and his only
disappointment there was that he was not also able to challenge his
close friends and fellow Yamaha riders Paul Whibley and
Adrian Smith in the parallel but separate cross-country
nationals.
"There were too many clashes with the dates for the two series
and so I had to choose one. I enjoyed the enduro series but would
have liked to have been able to challenge Paul and Adrian in the
cross-country champs as well.
This weekend he heads to forestry land just south of Tokoroa for
the first of four rounds in the popular Dirt Guide Cross-country
Championships, an event that doubles also as round one of the
inaugural NZXC cross-country series, a new five-round series
created by just-crowned national cross-country No.1 Whibley.
By contesting both series, Reeves will be pushing himself and
his bike to the limit right through until early December.
"I did okay at the enduro nationals, but not great ... not by my
standards anyway," he said.
"I'm really looking forward now to the Dirt Guide series and the
NZXC series as well and, because Sunday's results count for both
series, it is doubly important for me, and the other riders too, to
do well this weekend.
"I think the NZXC will be a true test to find who is best in New
Zealand because it is being raced across all terrain types, not
just farmland and not just pumice or sand.
"Paul (Whibley) has been training me and running me into the
ground. I have almost been throwing up. Instead of him leaving me
alone while he heads overseas to race, like in past years, he's at
home in New Zealand fulltime now and so he never lets up. I only
live about five minutes down the road from his property at Taikorea
(on the outskirts of Palmerston North), so I'm always there."
The second round of the NZXC series is at Taikorea and so that
should play right into Reeves' hands.
Dirt Guide Cross-country Championships 2015:
Round one: June 14, Tar Hill, south of Tokoroa
Round two: August 9, Ohakuri, south of Tokoroa
Round three: September 6, Atiamuri (new venue)
Round four: October 4, Tar Hill, south of Tokoroa
NZXC series schedule 2015:
Round one: June 14, Tar Hill, Tokoroa (part of the Dirt Guide
Series)
Round two: July 18, Taikorea, Palmerston North (the stand-alone
Yamaha Taikorea 500)
Round three: August 30, Woodhill, Auckland (part of the Woodhill
Two-man Series)
Round four: November 14, Maddix Park, Tauranga (part of the NZ
GNCC Series)
Round five: December 5, Castlehill, Pahiatua (part of the
Central CC Series)
Words and photo by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Andy McGechan
BikesportNZ.com Ltd
Phone 06-758-5182