Well, daylight savings is here, we're closer to summer now than we were over winter (!) so what better way to launch into the extra hour of daylight, than with a fitness goal! The Molenberg SUB Series is gearing up to be another ripper series - with the dates (in the same great venues) being confirmed:

24 January 2010 - Auckland (North Shore)                                                                             31 January 2010 - Christchurch                                                                                            14 February 2010 - Martinborough                                                                                      20 February 2010 - Auckland (Clevedon)                                                                              21 March 2010 - Cambridge

We've jazzed a few things up with the events too this year - to keep you guys guessing! For the blokes and sprogs, a Family Fun Zone will be at each event for dads, partners, sprogsitters and anyone else to rip into while you girls are Striding or Riding (but the coffee, Molenberg breakfast and Sunday paper will still be there for those after a more leisurely start to their day!).

We've also continued our Elite Race Section for the final 65km Cycle Event in Cambridge - so for those of you looking for a bigger challenge, you'll be up in prestigious company with some of the best cyclists in NZ!

We've also added an extra age-group to the mix - Under 18 (including Secondary Schools), 18 - 40, 40 - 60 and 60+, with age-group prizes again being awarded to the first 3 place-getters in each age-group in each event.

We'll keep you posted via newsletters as we move towards the Series kick-off. But check out www.molenbergsubseries.co.nz for more info and updates as they come to hand!

Once again, Cambridge turned on an absolute stunner of a day for the last round of the Molenberg SUBseries for 2009, and along with the organisers around 1000 ladies thought so too (actually 5 short - but if we include Sarah, the odd husband and son and random other bloke that accidentally ended up in the bunch - we hit the 4 figures!) The Cambridge Polo Grounds provided an excellent atmosphere for the day, the only pony’s being ridden however were those around the cycle courses out in the Roto-o-rangi district.

It was awesome to see so many ladies out there and giving it a go, from Auckland to Whakatane, you helped to making the day a huge success! Also the huge number of you out there and giving it a go for the first time, the idea of challenging yourself to go into the unknown is a huge part of the enjoyment and satisfaction of exercise. A huge congratulations if you were doing it for the first time and went further and faster than you ever have before, that’s what makes us as organisers feverish! With almost 60 half marathon walkers and a huge field of 10km runners, the striders to riders was an impressive 50:50! 

For the first time, the 65km Cycle included a Classic Race section with the winner to take home $400. A small break went away from the rest of the field on the first climb containing 4 riders, with some determined riding and strength managed to hold on till the finish, where ex-rower Sonia Waddell won in a sprint finish, ahead of her remaining breakaway companions including first junior over the 65km, NZ Junior rep Maddy Brunton who put in a stellar effort all day and NZ Senior rep Yvette Hill-Willis. Even National Champ Meshy Holt was on bunch patrol, helping out cyclists in distress.

With the increase in size of the event, and to help all the ladies navigate their way safely around the courses, Fonterra changed their milk tanker cycle so the roads would be clear and make for a more enjoyable day out on the roads. Even a group of NZ rep rowers proceeded to come along and volunteer during the day which was awesome.

Thanks to everyone who took part to make the last round of the series an absolute RIPPER of a success. And huge thanks to our legendary SUBseries sponsor Molenberg, we’re well on our way to planning next years events already so will keep you posted! 

Have a cracker autumn of action…and look forward to seeing you all back next year

Sarah and the SUB Team

With the pneultimate round of the 2009 Molenberg SUBseries in Auckland being staged on Saturday at Clevedon, the organisers were in a race against their own clock to get the day happening...with torrential rain and wind ripping tent pegs up and threatening to blow marquees away. However the team turned nocturnal on Saturday morning and had the day ready to go not a second too late!!

The determination from all the ladies competing showed with good numbers despite the weather, and they were rewarded with almost pefect conditions to ride in, little bit of rain to keep the temperatures cool (definitely better than that humidity) and no wind out on course. 

For the 7th year the event has been held in Clevedon, its always awesome to see some familiar faces back out and enjoying the day, whether riding or striding through the Clevedon region. The number of new girls out there and ripping into it was causing a definite buzz in the air, its always great to meet you incredible chicks!

CONGRATULATIONS to all those ladies that proceeded to ignore the weather forecast and make the journey out to Clevedon for the day. See, it is possible to have fun in the rain!

To see a wee collection of photos from the day click through here

The final round of the 2009 Molenberg SUB series is being held in Cambridge on March 22nd so make sure you get your entries in, and test your legs around the mighty Waikato.

The SUB Team :-)

In the latest round if the BikeNZ National Points Series at The Rev Cycle Classic in Hamilton, SUB rider Toni Bradshaw put on a dominant display to capture the win on Saturday.

Raced in testing conditions with rain and wind throughout the race, the strongest riders were left at the end of the 120km. With the undulating and sometimes leg-sapping course around the Cambridge, Matamata and Morrinsville regions, Toni waited until the final 1km before launching a stinging attack to win solo, 5 seconds ahead of the remaining riders in the breakaway group. The win confirms Toni's solid form just prior to her heading away to race for the professional team Lipsmacker in the United States.

Congratulations Toni 

SO good to be back!

The Molenberg SUB Series returned to the Wairarapa last weekend after a year’s hiatus, with our fourth event of the 09 series held in Martinborough.  The Molenberg SUB Roadshow wasn’t the only action in town either, with countless weddings (easy one to remember on Valentine’s Day!) and a winery concert!

But what another ripper! It was SO good to be back in town – on awesome run/walk courses through the vineyards and stunning road cycling courses around the rolling hills of the region – with the hospitality of the Marty locals making everyone feel so welcome.

The day for SOME, ended at the Winery Concert – to cap off a stunning day – bit of walking or wheeling followed by a bit of wining...? Not a bad recipe!

Cheers for making it an awesome day girls

The SUB Team :-)

Once again Auckland turned it on for over 550 ladies competing in the Molenberg SUBseries Round on the North Shore. With the new superb location at the Albany Stadium, meaning a lot of competitors didn’t have too far to travel as has been the case in previous years. But also a BIG THUMBS UP to all those who did travel from out of town to make this an absolutely incredible event.

Congratulations to all those ladies who took part in the events on Saturday, great to see so many of you out there and giving it a go. The competitiveness amongst you was evident with many close finishes at the end of the cycle events. The runners and walkers were treated to one lap of the stadium too finish, hopefully it wasn’t too much of a problem seeing the finish and having to go past it just to finish your event.

A big THANKYOU should be given to our M.C. Jon Bridges for his incredible enthusiasm and encouragement to all the ladies over the course of the day. However he didn’t pick the best time to go to the toilet, and missed seeing his fiancée finish.

For the first time having a SUBseries event held on the North Shore, the day was a great success. From First Timers to the more experienced, you all did extremely well and it really was awesome to see so many ladies so feverish about competing.

Cheers

The SUB Team :-)

After building on last year's success, the 09 Molenberg SUBseries has kicked off last weekend with an absolute bang! The first round of the NZ series was held in Christchurch with record entries, well over 100 more than the previous year, so well done to all those ladies that took part.

It was encouraging to see so many girls new to the sport of cycling taking part in the shorter cycling event which was introduced this year. The competitive spirit was once again shining through in the race for the coverted "Malliot Jaune" in the longer cycling races, making for some absolutely feverish ladies racing around the roads of Christchurch.

All in all, a fantastic weekend in Christchurch, the weather definitely came to the party. A massive congratulations to all those ladies who took part across all the events and next year will be bigger and better than ever!

Well she has done it again....for the 3rd time in history, Meshy Holt has won both the Road race and Time time double at the National Championships.

Meshy, who is in peak training for Ironman NZ in March, took a break from the pool and running shoes to show her class in the two disciplines.

It was a great day for other SUB girls Rushlee Buchanan and Toni Bradshaw who made late bids for the Road Race title, but these efforts where reeled in with only a few kilometres to go...and it was Holt who bolted from the pack to take the title. 

See results below: 

Hey girls!

Just a quick CONGRATULATIONS on finishing your SUB Women's Cycle Challenge - St Kilda last weekend! With 700 girls it was a CRACKER way to spend a Saturday!

Hope you’ve all recovered and enjoyed the rest of your weekend – there’s nothing like a day off on Sunday knowing you’ve done all your hard work on the Saturday I reckon (ok, apart from you guys who did the Sussan Women's Fun Run as well!)

Keep in mind the Molenberg SUB Series over here in NZ too – we’ve got events just for women around the country for walking, running or cycling – a perfect excuse to head across for a cheeky wee holiday in NZ for the girls! And at the current exchange rate at the mo, the whole country would be on sale for you guys!

All the info you need is on www.molenbergsubseries.co.nz

Please keep in touch with us via our website www.sarahulmerbrand.com with any feedback or stories you’d like to share with us or the rest of our SUB friends – we love hearing from you guys!

Cheers – and have a ripper summer over there!

Last Saturday Sarah, Brendon, and I ran our first Ready to Roll Bike Workshop. We had ten lovely ladies arrive at the Deli on the Corner with trepidation in their eyes unsure if they should waltz on in or turn and bolt! Nobody bolted and after a coffee and scone we headed out to Roto-orangi School in a convoy of cars.

We began the day with a little bike maintenance and by the end of mid morning we were all accomplished at changing a rear wheel puncture - without the need of a bloke or cell phone - which was a good thing as there was no cell phone coverage at the school.

A quick coffee break, which highlighted to the girls that Sarah and I did not function if we didn’t top up on caffeine every couple of hours...(!)…and we moved on to some more technical riding aspects.

Everyone took to the road with their head in a spin trying to put into practice all that we had covered. Of course the thunder and rain from the day before didn’t make an appearance – never doubted Cambridge’s weather for a second!

The Deli catered lunch was far too big, with hot soup, chicken salad, rolls, pasta salad and a sweet and fruit platter to full our tums. Delicious!

With full stomachs we moved onto the afternoon topic of riding in a bunch, or peloton, and all the do’s and don’ts that go with it.

Back onto the bikes to put into practice all that we had covered and as one lady so rightly commented “I didn’t know there was so much that I didn’t know”!!

After an exceptionally long and intensive day we freshened up and once again in convoy made the worth while trip to the Woodbox, for a cheeky little wine tasting and a few samples of tapas. From the looks on the faces of the people at the table it was a demanding, challenging yet very enjoyable day.

Sarah and I had a great day imparting as much as we could on all those that would listen or glance our way…there was no escaping a top tip, or morsel of advice…even if you had your head down…!