Here is one of the pics from the Unit Party Photo Shoot in December. We had 2 houseboats, 3 wakeboats, 2 helicopters and one big water ramp. Good times!
I got to meet one of my favorite bands BLISS N ESO plus drink heaps with the Unit Sponsored riders and staff.
Unit not only make the best clothing, but can throw a wicked party as well.
Just headed down to Shepparton in Victoria last weekend, to race against some of the best Aussie and Kiwi DH mountain bikers for the Oceania Title.
I flew into Sydney on Wednesday morning and my mate Ryan Hunt picked me up and we drove the 7 hours to Shepparton. Practice was Friday and this was the first time I had ridden the track. The track was really dusty with alot of rocks and I'm pretty sure there wasn't one berm on the track. By qualifying on Saturday, the track was really chopped out and just to put together a smooth run was a mission on its own.
Qualifying: I was the 6th last person in Elite to qualify and this meant 200 riders had gone before me and the track was really blown out. I started off at the gate and I did nothing but blow out all the turns and couldn't link up any sections. I spent most of the run sliding and stuff all pedaling. In the end I qualified in 7th place, which I must admit, I wasn't too upset because I knew I could approve alot on my run as long as I could put it all together in the finals.
Finals: Sunday was a chilled day for me. I wasn't nervous at all. I somehow knew I could win this race if I could put it all together. The thought of racing against Cameron Cole, Josh Button and other big named riders, didn't phase me for once, and I had a inner confidence that I could do well. I got up to the start gate in my finals run and was super chilled out and it was almost like I was riding for fun and not an important race. I took off out the gate and ended up stuffing up one of the first few turns, and I ended up saying to myself "Chill out, don't worry about it and put it out of my head. Before I knew it, I was at the bottom of the track heading for the finishing line. Once I crossed the line, I looked at the board and noticed I was in first place. I sat on the hot seat and waited for the next 6 riders to come down. One by one the riders hit the finishing line and my time was safe. As the last rider come down, I was watching the timer count down and couldn't believe my luck, when I realised I had won. My first 1st Place in a elite race against some of the best riders in the world. I'm stoked!!!!!!
I would like to thank my sponsors for all their support. Giant Australia, Fox Racing Shox/Tekin Suspension, Shimano, Fortheriders.com, Unit clothing and pro yamaha.
Chris and I relaxing: Timmy and Tomac(Michael) have been mates of mine since I started riding. When I first met the guys,they were a tiny out-of-garage business in the bottom of Tomac’s parents house. I've just spent the last week helping move in to the new store.
Their passion was mountain bikes and that passion grew into a small but pro shop in Brisbane. In between racing and riding, they grew the business and now have a strong online store presence. This past weekend they moved about 2km down the road into a larger space and man is it pimp!!!!
Just wanted to say congrats to them and that this shop is the Best Mountain Bike Shop in Australia! And not just because they are mates but for the professionalism they offer from product, customer service and mechanic work to just being there for the mountain bike community. For The Riders is really for the riders.
Just got back from Adelaide after racing the Australian Championships. What a great weekend!
I'm so happy to have place 4th overall. Its been a tough few months with broken bones, but I'm happy to say I'm back to near best and even though I made a couple of small mistakes in my race run, I was really please with this result. My confidence is coming back and I'm really looking forward to racing this year.
Thanks again to my sponsors Giant Australia, Fox racing shox, Tekin suspension, Shimano, Unit Clothing, Pro Motorcycles Yamaha and For The Riders. Thanks for making my job so much easier.
Here are the top 5 results:
1. Michael Hannah, QLD, 2:02.36 2. Joshua Button, NSW, 2:04.27 3. Bryn Atkinson, ACT, 2:04.33 4. Rhys Willemse, QLD, 2:04.41 5. Ben Cory, ACT, 2:05.66
Tomorrow I will be flying into Adelaide to take on the best in Australia this weekend. Sam Hill, Mick Hannah, Bryn Atkinson, Shaun O'Connor and Chris Kovarik are just some of the riders I will be competing against. I'm hoping for a top 5, but we'll see how I go. This is my first real race back from a broken arm, and I've been doing alot of training to get ready for this race.
It's been a long hard road back but I'm finally fit and ready for this race. I won't be traveling overseas this year to race the world cups. I was going to ride for Ancillotti again but unfortunately they couldn't get the funding for the team. I didn't really try to find another team as I had decided to take this time to train, and race the aussie series and then head over to Canada for Crankworks with some mates. All my efforts will be getting ready for Canada where I plan to be at my fittest. I plan on getting noticed again like I did when I got that 13th Place at Maribor world cup as a junior 2 years ago.
So I will be back, better than ever... I now have a point to prove to not only myself, but for teams to finally notice me as a rider with potential.
Claire Buchar: Rhys Willemse Rider Profile: "Rhys asked me to do him up a rider profile/proposal after his mum saw one of the ones I've made for Chris Kovarik. Rhys is super talented, h..."
I'm happy to announce that I'll be riding with new sponsors this Aussie season.
My new sponsors are:
Giant Bikes: I'm really looking forward to hitting the Aussie National series on a Giant.
For The Riders: Thanks to the guys at FTR for always looking after my bikes and for helping me with sponsors.
Shimano: really looking forward to riding with Shimano parts/brakes ect.
Fox Racing Shox: Can't wait to be back riding with Fox forks and shocks.
Tekin Suspension: Thanks to Tekin for looking after my suspension
Last but not least: Unit Clothing. Loving the Unit clothing.
I'll keep you all updated on my racing results this year. I've just got back from racing in Sydney. A full update of my results from the Sydney race will be in Revolution magazine next issue.
Since arriving home, I've been recovering from my broken arm and that's all healed up well. Going into hospital on the 17th November to have the plates taken out of my arm. Leaving the plates in would mean more broken arms in the future, so its time to get them out.
I managed to pick up a couple of more sponsors. Unit are still my main sponsor here in Australia. I've also picked up a Pro Yamaha sponsorship (See photos above) and for the Australian National DH Series, I will be riding for Giant... Thanks to FTR for hooking me up with the deal...
I'm also happy to say that I will be heading back overseas again next year to race the world cups... I can't say who I'm riding for yet as I have to wait for the press release, but considering how shit my year was with injuries, you can't believe how happy I am to be given another chance...
