Giant 2W Gravity Enduro: Horlor comes back smiling

TOO QUICK: Rotorua's Lisa Horlor on her way to victory at the Giant 2W Gravity Enduro event in the Whakarewarewa Forest on Saturday. PHOTO/JAMIE TROUGHTON/DSCRIBE MEDIA SERVICES

Rotorua's Lisa Horlor reckons undiluted joy is the secret behind her brilliant comeback to mountain bike racing.

The former downhill and BMX star triumphed in the latest round of the Giant 2W Gravity Enduro series in Rotorua on Saturday, capping off a meteoric re-entry into competitive cycling after eight years away.

Horlor edged Nelson's Raewyn Morrison, winner of the October round of the series, by 28 seconds over the six-stage event, held in stunning conditions in the Whakarewarewa Forest. Auckland's Janine Kavanagh was third in 33min 26sec, 58 seconds behind the Rotorua rider.

With an eye on March's Crankworx festival in Rotorua, Horlor said loving her riding was helping her succeed.

"I never got right to the pinnacle where I wanted to go and I was probably mentally held back," Horlor, 36, said. "I just feel mentally stronger coming back because I've lived a lot more life and learned about failures and mindset.

"I know now the mindset you need is just to love it - just to have the most fun day and naturally you'll start flowing.

"When it starts to get painful on the pedals, if you've got a smile on your face, it doesn't feel as hard. That's been my big thing and that's why I wanted to come back to racing - to see how I've learnt from those years."

The racing on Saturday was a step up from October's round, which was run in freezing conditions and the occasional snow flurry.

The stages took riders all over the forest, from the fast, flowing Corridor-Boulder Dash stage to the technically demanding Te Tihi o Tawa and Kung Fu Walrus trails.

Meanwhile, despite spending a lot of time off his bike lately, Rotorua's Sam Shaw took out his third 2W men's title with a narrow win over Kawerau's Matt Walker.

After winning October's round in the snow, Shaw - currently studying ecology at Massey University in Palmerston North - has spent a lot of time working between Napier and Gisborne and hasn't ridden much.

But he still managed to finish with a combined time of 28min 01sec, just four seconds in front of Walker with Rotorua's Carl Jones third in 28min 28sec.

The next round of the series is in February, with organisers promising the perfect warm-up for Crankworx and the New Zealand round of the Enduro World Series.

- Results:

Men: 1 Sam Shaw (Rotorua) 28mins 01sec, 2 Matt Walker (Kawerau) 28.05, 3 Carl Jones (Rotorua) 28.28, 4 Byron Scott (Auckland) 28.39, 5 Keegan Wright (Auckland) 28.45.

Women: 1 Lisa Horlor (Rotorua) 32.28, 2 Raewyn Morrison (Nelson) 32.56, 3 Janine Kavanagh (Auckland) 33.26, 4 Annika Smail (Rotorua) 33.29, 5 Sasha Smith (Wellington) 34.24.