Rotorua mountain biker Daniel Self continues strong start to 2019

Rotorua's Daniel Self gets airborne during stage three of the Enduro in Christchurch. Photo / Phoenix Enduro

Making the step-up from under-21 to elite in the Enduro World Series this year could be a daunting prospect, but Rotorua's Daniel Self is achieving confidence boosting results in the lead-up.

He backed up a strong showing in Rotorua's Giant 2W Gravity Enduro Series with an overall win in the Under-21 EWS Asia-Pacific Continental Series recently.

"I was pretty surprised, mostly because I had forgotten that I was actually still eligible for the under-21 overall, since I raced as an elite. My EWS membership and age is still under-21, the points still count towards the correct category."

The series originally comprised four races, in Tasmania, Victoria, Nelson and Christchurch, but the Nelson leg was cancelled due to last month's fires. Self was able to compete in Victoria and Christchurch and performed well enough to take the under-21 series title.

"I didn't go to Tasmania, I couldn't afford that, then there was a round at Mt Buller in Victoria. I raced the elite category there and was the fastest elite behind the likes of [Australians] Sam Hill, who won, and Josh Carlson, who are both Factory enduro riders. I would've won the under-21 category had I been in that, but I wanted to step it up a bit.

"In Christchurch I was seventh in the elite field and I think that time would've sat me at second in the under-21. That was enough to take the overall in under-21."

Self raced in the elite category to get a better feel for going up against the top riders ahead of this year's EWS. He said his performance against them was a good confidence boost.

"Especially when it's outside of your home turf as well. [The trails in Australia] were quite physical, they were quite pedally [sic] stages which was interesting because I hadn't been doing a lot of training going into that, it was a bit of a wake-up.

"It was quite dry and dusty but we got a bit of a freak thunderstorm, which might've played into my favour a bit - there were a lot of grumbling Aussies and I was pretty happy really."

Daniel Self at full speed during round five on an enduro race at Mount Buller, Australia. Photo / Matt Rousu

Self said "keeping it smooth" was the key to performing well in enduro races.

"Racing on new terrain and on a new bike for one of them, I just dialled things back a notch and didn't take too many silly risks, just played it safe to get through the races and get a bit of experience under my belt coming into the season."

This weekend Self, along with several other Rotorua riders, is in Marlborough racing in the NZ Enduro. He will then return to Rotorua and start preparing for the first round of the 2019 EWS, the Giant Toa Enduro in the Whakarewarewa Forest.

Recently, he has found he races better when he does not put himself under too much pressure - something he wants to take into the EWS.

"Especially this first one in Rotorua because it's quite easy to know you're on your home ground and put a whole lot of pressure on yourself. I definitely want to stay relaxed about that.

"Working on that mental side is something I'm working on, just being a young rider you don't have the same experience as the older guys and it is easy sometimes to let your emotions get the better of you during races.

"I'm making progress, every race you do that things go well is another tick in the book. You're always learning what works well for you and how to focus on what's going right."

The Giant Toa Enduro on March 24 is one of many events included in Crankworx Rotorua which runs from March 19-24 and has attracted international superstars from all over the world in a range of different mountain biking disciplines.

For the full schedule go to crankworx.com/festival/rotorua/