photo by Adam MacLeod:
photos by Russ Baker:
XCC
Riding the hammerhead A-line
The podium of the Club Team RelayWell, it was a big weekend at Mt Stromlo. It started off really well with a convincing win for the CORC team (Michael Baker, Rosie Barnes, Nathan Haas, and I) in the club team relay. We lead from start to finish from Perth MTB club and Tablelands Cycle Club and even managed to clock the 3 fastest laps of the race.
Sunday’s XCO was not such a success. I had spent a lot of time thinking about this race over the past 2 months and it hadn’t occurred to me how crucial the start could be. When I pulled my foot on the start and got swamped by the 60-strong field, it was clear that I had my work cut out for me. I had to use a lot of energy to move up to about 25th by the start of the single track climb, from then it was a matter of being patient through the narrow sections and wait for the fire roads to open it up and make places. By the middle of lap 3 I had made it up to 8th position, but the effort was starting to take its toll and the temperature was rising. The last 2 laps were a bit of a struggle but I hung on to 11th (7th Elite). I’m not super happy with the result, but a few good things came out of it. Working back up after a bad start is probably a good skill to have as I’m not expecting to be off the front when I go overseas to race the World Cups this year! i'm also glad i didnt panic, i nearly did it well, but just misjudged slightly how hard i could go.
XCC was very fast and very hot. My start was ok but I missed the split to the main bunch early on. I lapped around consistently on my limit with Paul Vandy for most of the race (thanks for dragging me Paul), and ended up finishing in 11th.
It’s off to Mt Buller now. Not too much down time at this time of year.
Sunday’s XCO was not such a success. I had spent a lot of time thinking about this race over the past 2 months and it hadn’t occurred to me how crucial the start could be. When I pulled my foot on the start and got swamped by the 60-strong field, it was clear that I had my work cut out for me. I had to use a lot of energy to move up to about 25th by the start of the single track climb, from then it was a matter of being patient through the narrow sections and wait for the fire roads to open it up and make places. By the middle of lap 3 I had made it up to 8th position, but the effort was starting to take its toll and the temperature was rising. The last 2 laps were a bit of a struggle but I hung on to 11th (7th Elite). I’m not super happy with the result, but a few good things came out of it. Working back up after a bad start is probably a good skill to have as I’m not expecting to be off the front when I go overseas to race the World Cups this year! i'm also glad i didnt panic, i nearly did it well, but just misjudged slightly how hard i could go.
XCC was very fast and very hot. My start was ok but I missed the split to the main bunch early on. I lapped around consistently on my limit with Paul Vandy for most of the race (thanks for dragging me Paul), and ended up finishing in 11th.
It’s off to Mt Buller now. Not too much down time at this time of year.
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