National Series #1 - You Yangs

The weekend's opening National Series round was the first time I have ever raced at the You Yangs and I have to say it is definitely one of the best XC tracks in Oz. It had me a little worried after my first practice lap, and I was thinking: "how am I going to ride that fast without flatting or crashing!?" A couple more practice laps and my biggest problem was trying to tear myself away to go and rest up for race day. I could have ridden that D many more times, I was loving finding a new line on each lap and getting quicker and quicker. Heaps of fun.

Come race day I was feeling pretty good. I was a little concerned at how I would handle the high power rocky climbing sections since I have not had much intensity yet, but I was super keen to change around and get an idea for where I am at. First lap was pretty smooth really but I did have a few nervous moments on the start loop, the scariest when the big Paul VDP decided to lean on me (intimidating to say the least). In the end I got through clean and was happy to be sitting in 5th up the first climb. Norri and Aido had a small gap over the top and Carslo, Me, Hendo and Pauly followed at about 15sec. On lap 2 Carslo had unloaded Hendo and I, but we were happy to keep ticking over knowing that we hadn't given up much time and we were still within striking distance; a good plan in hind sight that worked for Hendo, but by lap 4 I was fading fast. As I had suspected, the steep pinches had taken there toll and I had to battle around to hang onto 6th by the finish. Hendo went on to take his first win - well done mate.

Overall I am very happy with my race. My quickest lap time was up there, and at the halfway mark I was still in contention. With a bit more training I reckon I should be able to squeeze a few more quick laps out. Looking forward to Tassie in a few weeks.

Highland Fling

Despite the ominous forecasts and showers over the weekend, the Southern Highlands provided hot and dry conditions for the 110km Highland Fling MTB marathon. Going in to the race with only 5 weeks of training under my belt I didn’t have any thoughts of a big result, rather just a regular part of the build up for the summer’s national MTB series. I had two goals: (i) get to the finish & (ii) make an impact on the race, i.e., the usual strategy of going hard on the front at some stage to help out my buddy “the wombat” (Shaun Lewis), then blow up and grovel home.

Early on in the race I was primarily focused on my first objective, so when Matt Fleming went off the front in the first sector I wasn’t very keen at all to chase him. At the first transition the main group of about 10 was still together (with me still in it!...so far so good) and Flemo was still away. When Pete Hatton attacked early in the 2^nd sector, things weren’t looking good for the main bunch with two of the strongest riders away (presumably working together). It was about then that I switched over to prioritise on objective #2 and went to the front to limit our losses to the leading duo. I lead the group up “the wall” and into the Wingello single track with Lewi on my wheel. By the time we re-emerged the group was whittled down to Lewi, English and I. This is the point of the race where you start to hit all the hard hills, and is usually the point where I crack, but with Lewi now without any real teammates and me with a bit left in the tank I continued to try and push the pace for a bit longer. As predicted, I was in trouble before long and was dangling off the back of English and the Wombat. English surged up a climb and I dropped my head, seemingly destined to ride the rest of the day on my own. But Lewi told me to “hang in there” and he eased up enough to allow me to stay with him, however unfortunately English was gone. On the run into Wingello I was very thankful for Lewi’s company and we swapped off turn. Soon enough I was able to do my fair share of the work, but not without some level of discomfort. At the transition we saw Hatto, Fleming and English (now together) leave about 2 minutes ahead of us. Not wanting to get caught out by the neutral 5 min transition, we resisted the temptation to chase early and instead, we took our full 5 minutes. It was hard to get going again and my tummy space was definitely cursing me for to abuse I’d dealt it (about 8 gels and a red bull!), but having a mate to work with soon saw us clipping along quite well once again. I was really enjoying this race, and it occurred to me at the time that I was loving just being out there swapping off with a mate and putting the bad form behind me that had plagued my overseas campaign this year. Once we started to hit the first hills, Wombat began to get leg cramps. I eased off a tiny bit to prolong our companionship, but after the next creek I looked around and he was gone…..and I was on my own L. Oh well, only one thing to do, so I put my head down and kept chasing. It hadn’t really occurred to me that I would catch Fleming and Hatto, but when I saw them at the top of the long grassy climb, I finally had a carrot. I lifted the pace and regained contact at about 6km to go. I wasn’t sure what I had left, but I had to attack straight away, this hurt, but it was enough to get rid of Fleming. From there Hatto and I tested each other once, either without any success, before we agreed to swap off to the finish. He popped my on the line, but once the time was adjusted for the transitions, I was given 2^nd place.

All in all it was a very fun day out and a very pleasing result. I had no idea that I could produce a ride like that at this time of year and I am just stoked to feel like I am starting to ride fast again after a very tough year. Thanks to everyone that believed in me! And thanks very much to all the sponsors of the Swell-Redshift team. Well done as well to Cameron Ivory who achieved a podium in both the Bundanoon Dash and the 50km Fling, a top effort for the youngster of the team and an exciting sign of things to come.