16/08/2026
THAT was Winter Worlds. ❄️
There was a genuine discussion on the drive out today about whether we should postpone.
The rain was horrific.
Then, almost on cue, it cleared.
And Winter Worlds finally got the weather required to properly earn its name.
A wind chill around **1°C**. A savage south-wester straight off the mountains. And, because apparently that wasn’t quite enough, a storm rolled through and fired **hail directly into everyone’s faces**.
Beautiful.
To every rider who pinned on a number today, and especially every volunteer who stood out there while we raced past pretending we weren’t cold:
**TAKE A BOW. 👏**
Because doing hard things matters.
It would have been very easy to stay home. Warm house. Netflix. Coffee. Perhaps a smug little indoor trainer session.
Instead, you turned up.
You pinned on a number.
And you raced.
That says something pretty bloody good about this cycling community.
And today wasn’t just a fast bunch ride either.
It was a **points race**.
Attacks. Counter-attacks. Decisions. Positioning. Knowing when to work and, just as importantly, when not to. Watching who was moving. Thinking about the next sprint while somebody else was trying to remove your legs.
That’s what makes racing so bloody addictive.
A smashfest with your mates is hard.
**Bike racing is different.**
At 50, 60, sometimes 70km/h, inches off another wheel, things happen ridiculously quickly. You’re calculating, reacting, hurting and trying to work out who is about to launch before they’ve worked it out themselves.
It’s about as close as most of us are getting to Formula One without needing a billionaire father.
And today there were some fantastic races across every grade.
# # # ROUND 5 PODIUMS
🏆 **A GRADE**
1. Michael Audeau
2. Josh Davies
3. Saxon Morgan
🏆 **B GRADE**
1. Eli Dimbleby
2. Joe Bebbington
3. Matt Hartnell
🏆 **C GRADE**
1. Alex “Burglar” Mann
2. Warwick Moffat
3. Sophie Brown
Yes, unfortunately the race director managed to win his own race. An independent inquiry will commence shortly. 😂
🏆 **D GRADE**
1. Charlie Sara
2. Jacob Morris
3. Ben Hewitt
🏆 **FOUNDATIONS**
1. Steve Morris
2. Brendan Cook
3. Leo Sincock
And that brings **Winter Worlds 2026** to an end.
Five rounds.
Frost. Wind. Rain. Hail. Sunshine occasionally sneaking through when Canterbury wasn’t paying attention.
But most importantly, **proper bike racing**.
To our volunteers, sponsors, supporters, families and every single person who took a deep breath, clipped in and had a crack:
**Thank you.**
Winning is cool.
But turning up when it’s bloody uncomfortable, racing hard, learning something, getting dropped, attacking anyway, coming back next week and having another crack?
**That’s what Winter Worlds is actually about.**
You lot are friggen awesome.
See you on the start line again. ❤️🚴
