A cuppa with Ellie Hulsebosch

The current wave of kiwi talent has well and truly made a name for itself this year. With a stack of breakthrough podiums, results and rides all over the globe and at the highest level of the sport the world is wondering what it is that we have in our water. Ellie has stamped her name into the line up of emerging kiwi talent to watch in coming seasons. She has just returned back to New Zealand from a trip to Europe where she tested the waters on the international racing scene, gaining valuable experience before she jumps back into racing here at home.

Hats off to Ellie and her family for pouring so much effort into keeping their wheels spinning. She's not only an incredible athlete but a great all round person. So you can get to know her a little better, we sat down with her over a cuppa. Read on below so you can hear what she has been up to for the last few months over in Europe and what goes on behind the scenes. 

Grab yourself a cuppa and join us…

For those of you who are yet to meet you, who is Ellie?

• I'm a 16 year old girl from NZ who loves being out in nature and racing. When riding I spend most of my time talking crap to my brother even though he is way faster than me.

Where do you live and what do you like to ride? 

• I live in Tauranga. Which depends if mum or dad is driving 45mins - an hour from the famous Rotorua. Which has basically become the local riding spot. I love riding really gnarly tracks. Anything with rock gardens or roots!

• So you've just been on a trip racing in Europe. Where did you go and what races did you tick off? 
• We were all over the place spending a week at a time in most places. After a week in France watching the Les Gets WC I ticked off a couple of IXS races. Starting with the Downhill Cup in Verbier and then we went to Schladming for the IXS Propain Rookies Cup and IXS International Champs. We finished up in Ballwald for another IXS Cup.   

What was your favourite venue and why?

• Probably Verbier! The track was really long and super gnarly with crazy rock gardens, big chunky holes everywhere and some big jumps. I'm not great at jumps so it was cool to tick those off. Huge corners, fast straights and heaps of roots. The view was also mental! 

What was the best part of traveling the world racing your bike?

• Being able to ride completely different tracks and see some amazing places. Not having school! (sorry mum). It was really cool being able to be free with no worries.

What's something you learned that you will apply to your race process going forward?

• I learned a lot! But having fun and not getting in your head too much. Learning not to doubt yourself or what you've done. Just race your bike because the outcome will be what it is and that's all good!

What are you most proud of from the trip? 

• Schladming! I didn't push myself on the first race because I was too focused on what I couldn't control and then the next day I just had fun, did my best and was really happy with what I did. It wasn't my best race but more like how I changed my thinking and approach. 

What's something that didn't go to plan? How did you wiggle around it? 

• We had a couple of mishaps haha. Starting with getting scammed by the rental car company. They gave us this tiny van when we had booked a massive transit. Ended up getting that sussed! Also in the final race at Ballwald in my last practice run I bent my derailleur and the hanger. We had not brought any spares with us. Mum the absolute legend was amazing and started asking everyone for parts we needed and everyone was really really great and wanted to help!

What advice would you give to someone thinking of travelling and racing overseas?

• I'd say bring an organised mum haha! Just talk to people and get to know everyone because when we got stuck we knew people who we could go to that would help us. You also make some cool friends which is a big bonus!  

What does the summer and future hold? 

• Back home and straight into the NZDH series kicking off this weekend and from there is basically a race every weekend which I'm really excited for. Hopefully next year i'll be back over in europe and race first year junior in the World Cup rounds which is a big goal and dream.  

Quick fire best and worst from the trip:

Food: 

• Best: I'm a huge foody! Fresh bread from the bakeries and Pizzas.
• Worst: I'm not too picky but I despise the cheese over there. It stained my nostrils with the smell. It's not good.  

Race:

• Best: All of them! 
• Worst: None were bad. I was able to take away heaps from the mistakes and was super rewarding when I did do good. 

Place you stayed:

• Best: Everywhere we stayed was amazing. In Morzine the place we stayed was really close to the bike parks which was a dream. Verbier was really cool. We had great neighbours who also raced and were super lovely. They also had a cool dog! In Schladming we have a lot of stories of the boys being boys. We got locked out of our apartment so they had to climb up three stories to the roof but they got stung by stinging nettles and were all screaming in the bath together which was really funny. Ballweld was really gorgeous, super quite and small which was a nice way to end the trip on a chill note  
• Worst: None!

Thanks Ellie! Be sure to follow along with her journey on insta and watch this space as we sit down for cuppa with more of our good mates. 

https://www.instagram.com/ellie_hulsebosch/