Team Launch & Stromlo National Round

On the "berm track"

Cal above Hammerhead

Me rolling in towards Hammerhead

U23 National series podium: (L-R) Aaron Benson, Paul VDP, Cal Britten

Paul VDP ran straight to Rosie to share some of his champagne (what a gentleman)

National series final Elite men podium: (L-R) Hendo, Macca, Me

Elite mens national series podium: (L-R) Hendo, Norri, Me

Wow, what a great weekend at Mt Stromlo for the Swell-Redshift Mountain Bike Team. It started Thursday with our team launch, which attracted quite a lot of attention from TV, print and internet media (See the cyclingnews story here). As for the racing, the National Series Final was a great success. The juniors, Cameron and Trenton, got 2nd and 3rd, with Cameron taking out the series and Trenton back on the podium after a long recovery from breaking both wrists. I managed 3rd in the elite mens race, sneaking into 3rd in the series, and Cal was the 5th U23 and 3rd in the series.

The start of the race was fast with Norri lighting up the first fire road climb up Ramsey Street. I was happy to try and limit the speed (and the heart rate) and I went into the first single track in 6th wheel behind Macca, Norri, Hendo, Paul VDP and Peter Hatton. A mistake from Hatto at the bottom of the climb allowed me to moved up one spot, then VDP and I worked hard to stay in contact with Norri and Hendo. By the end of the first lap I was on my own in 4th, dangling off the back of Hendo, with a group of Carlso, VDP, Hatto and Aido chasing me down. That group bridged to me by the bottom of the big fire road but the chase must have cost them because no one actually came around me. The slight tailwind up Ramsey St was to my advantage and I tried to put the group under pressure as I didn't want any passengers. Carlso was the only one that stayed with me and we spent the rest of the race no more than about 5 seconds apart. Carlso (the flying ginger ball bag) is a good friend of mine, so racing so close to him was heaps of fun, but since he is probably the best bike handler in Aussie XC it came with the added pressure to get off the brakes on the D. At the start of the 4th lap, we were 60sec down on Macca, with Hendo in second and Norris was on the side of the track fixing a flat (unfortunately for him, very far away from the tech zone). Having seen at the world champs how hard it is to win a sprint from behind, I knew I had to try and unload "the Ginge", so on climb on the 4th lap I tightened the screws on him and manage to gain a tiny advantage of perhaps 5 seconds, but by the end of that lap he was right back on my wheel. I didn't want to risk making him mad, because if the "Red-mist" came out I would be a goner for sure, but I had no choice but to try and attack again up the climb on the 5th and final lap. This time it was less successful as I started to cramp and I had to get off and run the steepest section of the cardiac climb. All I had on the second half of the course was what is now known as a "Nino gap"* (see footnote). I was punching every single open section and limiting the use of my brakes to the absolute minimum. Coming into the last corner, he was still right there and I was a bit worried because Carslo is known to have a good sprint. I kicked hard out of the corner and hoping that was enough, I looked over my shoulder. The only problem was, I looked over the wrong one!! The ginge was coming up the other side! I kicked again and scraped cross the line 0.1 seconds up.

It is not so common to have a race where you are pushed so hard. In the process, Josh and I recorded our quickest lap of the race on the final lap. We took time out of Macca (1st) and Hendo (2nd) to close the gaps to 41 and 10 seconds respectively at the finish line. It was an exciting end the the National Series, which Norri took out despite his flat tyre, Hendo 2nd and me in 3rd. I feel like a bit of a dog because not only did I pip Josh for the 3rd podium spot, that result also snuck me into 3rd in the series, just ahead of Aido. Sorry boys ;)

Now we are all off to Dunedin NZ for the Oceania champs, which will be the last race for most before the annual pilgrimage to the Northern hemisphere.

*The oxford dictionary defines the "Nino gap" as: a very small advantage in a cycling race, which at first glance looks as if the riders are actually together. The trailing rider is not quite on the wheel and the time gap is never more than about 2 seconds. So called after the thrilling battle between Nino Schurter and Julien Absalon at the 2009 Mountian Bike World Championships.