Matthew Reilly
Rider Profile
Date of Birth: 13/12/93
Type of Riding: Cross Country
Bike: Yamaha YZ 125
Sponsors: Dad
Years Riding: 12
Class: 14 – 16 Years 125 2 – stroke
Goals: Having fun racing and meeting friends. No point in not having fun.
Likes: Mountain biking, Trail riding, Camping, Cross country racing, Hanging out with my mates, Road bikes.
Dislikes: DNFs (only had one though), Injuries, Dust, Losing.
Highlights: Won Rookie Class Maramarua Two Man Cross Country 2010 with his friend William Paterson from Albany. 3rd in Dirt Guide 2009 Championship.Looking forward to a new year with plenty of racing and riding and hopefully another wet Dirt Guide championship. Looking forward to meeting more riders this year. As we live near Maddix Park, plenty of riding up there.
Latest Report: GNCC 13th February 2011 Final Round
I went into the weekend leading the championship but I knew that I had some work to do as my main rivals had already had their drop rounds.
I got an excellent start, passing a KTM on the second corner to lead into the bush. I had a great first lap where I passed a lot of riders. Parts of the track were quite wet and challenging. Many of the slippery wet places caused me to lose some time falling off. As I was riding on my own most of the race so far my goggles weren't too covered in mud. Dad told me later many riders were removing their googles and throwing them away in the pits after the first lap. After the third lap I stopped to refuel, change my goggles and Dad had a look at my clutch cable which had come lose. Having no clutch was making riding pretty difficult especially on a 125 2-stroke. Dad did a very quick fix at the pit stop which improved the clutch but didn't fix it. On the lap after the pit stop I hit a hanging vine which managed to wrap around my neck. I managed to stay on but it left a mark on my neck looking like rope burn. The last lap was quite difficult as the track was getting quite ripped up with deep ruts seemingly everywhere. I knew the race was hard as I returned to the pits after crossing the finish line to have another rider collapse off his bike right in front of me. I managed to avoid running him over but checked on him and he was dehydrated but ok.
I ended up coming third in my class (Rookies 14 - 21) both on the day and in the championship.
GNCC 13th November 2010
Our weekend started on Friday where Dad was attending an action photography course at Maddix Park. I was to be the subject. As it was quite hot my good gloves became quite sweaty so I decided to wear my old gloves for the GNCC. I didn't realise how much this would impact the race the next day.
Saturday at Matata turned out to be quite different from last year, this year was hot and dusty. I was feeling excited as I was quite confident that this could be my first GNCC win. The first lap was the only lap that there was a problem with the dust as I had to catch and pass people from rows in front of me. The race was going well until I tried to pass a slower rider and hit a rut sending me to the ground. Lucky for me my bike was still running so I leapt on and took off. No damage done to rider or bike. I caught the slower rider and passed him again with no problems the second time. The dark part of the forest was quite black even on the sunny day making it quite hard to spot obstacles but none of the hidden obstacles caught me out. The track overall was quite bumpy giving my hands and arms a hard time, testing the suspension on my YZ 125. After entering the pits for the fourth time it was time to refuel. Dad refueled my bike as quick as possible, we were suprised that we had used more petrol than we were expecting. While Dad was refuelling I noticed blood from my hands on my gloves, this answered my question as to why hands were in so much pain. I didn't know at the time but I was running in first place in Rookies and my age group. The next lap was farily unevenful with the pain in my hands increasing. I came through the pits, now in quite a lot of pain which was demotivating and then I saw Dad holding the pit board and it read "1st + 1:30" I quickly figured that this meant I was leading the race and second was close behind. Due to the pain in my hands increasing I found it harder and harder to keep the same pace as I had in the previous four laps. As a result second passed me while filling up for the last lap and I tried my best to catch but the pain was unbearable and third overtook me about half way around putting me in third position which is where I ended the race. I parked up my bike eager to get my gloves off and acess the damage done to my hands. They were quite blistered and bleeding with my gloves wet with blood. I had never been in so much pain in my life but felt good to still have come third. The ambulance lady put iodine and bandaged up my hands. I am looking forward to the next round at Waimiha with my good gloves this time.