Versatility pays off for mountainbiker

After blown tyres and multiple crashes, you would think Richmond mountainbike rider Ollie McGlashen would have returned from the South Island Schools MTB Championships with a hard luck story.

Instead, the 12-year-old was the overall winner in the U14 boys section in Methven, Mid-Canterbury.

“I had only gone 10 metres downhill in the first practice session and got a flat tyre. So, Dad had to get me a new one” says Ollie.

“Then, on my seeding run, I came off a drop and there was a corner straight after and I washed out.”

It became a recurring theme but at least he escaped injury. Other riders weren’t so lucky with three breaking femurs during the course of the event.

Ollie saved his best for the three races that counted. Last year’s U13 runner-up started well with a third in the cross country, his least preferred discipline.

“I don’t like cross country because it buggers you,” he quips.

But he backed up with a fourth in the downhill, riding his enduro bike, in testing weather conditions.

“Getting a downhill bike as well has been mooted. It is one of those things that will turn up at some stage. We should be looking for sponsorship,” says his father, Andrew McGlashen.

Ollie took the overall lead into the final race, the enduro, and finished second.
Several riders chose not to compete in all three disciplines, so Ollie’s versatility and consistency earned him enough points to take the U14 overall title.

“I was pretty happy with that,” he declares. His St Paul’s School had three other riders in that grade and claimed fourth place overall.

Oliver Lee was fifth, Connor McGlashen (Ollie’s twin brother) 17th and William Jaworski 28th.

“Connor and I train together and push each other hard. A migraine kept him out of the cross-country race,” says Ollie.

Andrew says his sons are used to riding everywhere all the time, and local tracks like Silvan Forest MTB Park provide the technical challenges needed for enduro.

“People ask, do I ride with them, and I say about to the second corner,” grins the Richmond pharmacist.

Before heading off for training, Ollie confirmed he has even bigger goals later this year as the national secondary school champs are coming to Nelson.