One Bicycles Australia press release (Written by Miekel Rose)

ONE BICYCLES AUSTRALIA Team at the 2013 UCI BMX World Championships in Auckland, New Zealand.

This year saw the World BMX Championships being held at the Vector Arena in Auckland, New Zealand. Mikayla was not originally planning on attending the event, but after the result she had at the National Championships it was agreed as a family she deserved the opportunity to be there and compete.

Mikayla trained extremely hard leading up to the event with other ACT riders going to the Worlds and with the ACT State Team. Her personal program was designed for leg strength and speed, knowing the track was indoors and short and technical. She was riding the best she had ever ridden and was looking fast heading to the event. One thing that is so difficult to train is the mental preparation for this type of event. A huge crowd, international riders and the fact you are on the gate at the World Championships weighs heavy on many riders. Mikayla was anxious and nervous which is a little uncommon for her, but she was ready to give it her all.

When the draw was released Mikayla had some tough competition with last year’s winner who was eventually relegated to 8th and W2. Mikayla knew there was no such thing as an easy run through and knew she needed to ride hard and make every lap count.

In her first heat she came from gate 5 and got a great start finishing in 3rd. In her second heat she had gate 1 and I was hoping for another good result. Mikayla missed the gate and fought hard to regain the lost momentum, but only finished with a 6th. In the third heat I knew she needed a great result to progress through to the quarters. She came out hard from gate 7 and gave it her all finishing 4th. It was now a nervous wait to see if she had done enough. I felt as though she had missed out due to the 6th placing and was gutted for her. When the quarter final list was posted she had made it through by a point. I thought I was going to be sick!

In the Quarter finals Mikayla had a great start from gate 5 and was sitting in third by the first corner, when fellow Australian rider Celeste Barr lost control and crashed. Mikayla went through to finish 3rd and moved on to the Semi-finals. In the Semi-finals she had her favourite gate 5 and was now do or die. She came out of the gate well, but didn’t pedal as much as she needed to and found herself in fourth at the first corner but out wide. As she came out of the first corner she powered down the second straight before getting closed out and slipped back to fifth by the second corner and was overtaken and back to sixth as she headed in to the third straight. She managed to hold down sixth but it wasn’t enough to make her first Worlds final.

Mikayla was happy with her riding and finished in the top 12 riders in the World in her age! She also finished as the second highest Australian rider in her class. She was so close and yet so far from achieving her first World plate. She did however fulfil her goal of not being motoed and getting to the semi-final. I am so very proud of her achievements this year so far.

On a sad note, she managed to dislocate her right knee again and this time badly, basically ending her 2013 season. Mikayla requires surgery to rectify an ongoing injury that has plagued her for the past 12 months. She was devastated and saddened that she can’t ride for the remainder of the season. Caroline Buchanan the new Elite Women’s World Champion has been amazing support for her since her return from winning in New Zealand and said Mikayla will come back better and stronger in 2014.

A big shout out to Caroline on winning the Elite Women’s class and so truly deserved for such an amazing rider and friend and inspiration for Mikayla. Also huge congratulations to Shelby Green for taking out the 13 girls class at the World Championships. You rock girl!

There are so many people to thank starting with Mikayla’s loving Grandparents who paid for her to get to the World Championships and remain her biggest fans! Massive thanks to Mikayla’s sponsors, ONE Bicycles, Snap and Lizard Skins. Without the support of Shane Jenkins, Gary and Paul from ECI, Craig Fisher from Bike Corp and Scotty Hand from A Team Distribution we would be lost. Thanks people you are amazing and we are truly grateful for the opportunity to represent you and your brands.

Now how do we get to the Netherlands, the home of ONE? Hard work and some fund raising! The job is not finished yet! I have ONE very determined little girl wanting to get to the top of her class!

Heal well my girl and come back stronger than ever!

How to buy One Bicycles products in Australia
If you would like to purchase a One Bicycles frame or accessories in Australia the best way to do so is to head down to your local bike store and place an order. If they don’t know what you are talking about tell them to call Elite Cycle Imports while you wait and place your order there and then. After doing some calculations ourselves we have found the cheapest way to get One Bicycles products in Australia is through a local reseller.

About One Bicycles
For over a decade ONE Bicycles (operating out of Holland), inducted into the European Hall of Fame, has solely focused all their efforts on the sport of BMX. Today they are at the forefront of BMX product design Worldwide. Utilizing advancements in the industry, some of which were conceived in ONE’s own engineering department, their products directly reflect the evolution and maturing of proven BMX design. Like a fine wine ONE Bicycles product line has come of age as a result of years of dedication to the sport of BMX.

One Bicycles are a major sponsor of the bmxultra.com team
Over the years One Bicycles have sponsored

• Khalen Young
• The Phirebird team which includes 2005 & 2006 World Championships finalist Jamie Gray and 2006 NBL Grands (A Pro) champion Glenn Codega

In 2008 Maris Strombergs rode his One Bicycle to victory in the Elite Men’s class at the UCI World Championships and followed that up by taking the first ever Men’s BMX Gold medal at the Olympics.

For more information about One Bicycles check out www.onebicycles.com

One Bicycles are distributed in Australia by Elite Cycle Imports (www.eciimports.com)