National downhill title all the motivation Brannigan needs

TRUE COLOURS: The New Zealand flag down George Brannigan's left-arm sleeve is what the downhill national title is all about tomorrow. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

IN GEORGE Brannigan's part of the descending world, everything hits a crescendo once the mountain bikers reach a state of equilibrium.

"To be honest, during the race [the mind] is clean and simple but after the race there's a big adrenalin rush," Brannigan said from Rotorua where he is going to try to defend his downhill crown at the national championships tomorrow.

The riders will take a lift up at the Skyline Gondola before hooning down a twisting and winding track for between two-and-a-half to five minutes at break-neck speed.

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In what may come across as an anticlimax to the uninitiated, they become mere spectators after that, mentally untangling jangled nerves in working out where they'll finish as other rivals come hurtling down to beat the clock.

The Hawke's Bay rider, who is nowadays based in Queenstown because of similar training facilities at the Skyline Gondola resort venue, is using this weekend's nationals as a precursor to the bigger Crankworx event in March in Rotorua.

Today, the riders will get a feel for the track, mentally registering the maze, as a golf caddie would, as well as finding traction with the terrain that hosted the 2006 World Championship.

"You get a feel for things like the jumps, roots, dirt and rocks along the track," explains the 23-year-old from Havelock North, whose bike packs a fair whack of suspension and can cost up to $8000 in the top end of beasts they can use to tame the course.

Fellow Bay rider Brook MacDonald, who was the 2013 champion, finished fifth last year despite riding on the then brand new Prototype 650B Trek Session machine that Brannigan also saddled.

However, MacDonald had shoulder surgery but commendably got on the podium twice in Austria and the US last year.

He was fifth in Austria and Brannigan fourth.

The pair have been part of the Trekworld Racing stable for the past two years, with Englishman Laurie Greenland and Scotsman Greg Williamson, who was at the Central Otago resort town with Brannigan for the best part of last month.

A fifth member of the professional team from the United States has crossed the floor to another rival stable. Justin Leov, also a Trekworld member, won the national title in 2012.

The fun and games on a global scale begin for the riders in April when they'll compete at Lourdes, France, in the first leg of the World Cup Series.

The series, comprising seven races, will also take them to c tracks in South Africa, Scotland, Austria, the US, Canada and Norway.