Saturday's XC race
Short course sufferingAfter the Tour of Bright last weekend and a few solid days training though the week, I was pretty tired when I woke up on Saturday morning for round 2 of the Jayco MTBA National Mountain Bike Series. I've done a far bit of travelling and racing during the past month and it took me a while to work out where I was; it was definitely a pleasant realisation to discover I was in Hobart and just about to smash out 7 laps of the fun XC track at Glenorchy.
Going into a race a little tired can be an advantage, I didn't have any nervous energy to waste or adrenaline that could potentially cloud my judgement, yet I was confident that I had done enough training to get me through 2 hours of racing.
With the return of Chris J to the start line, this race was always going to start fast, but with Blood starting from the back of the field, it was Carlso that got the hole shot and led up the first single track climb (Blood somehow got through most of the field to be 2nd!). Aido was up there too, then Norri, Paul VDP, AJ then me. I was pretty happy to sit there in 7th for the time being, and my (relatively) conservative start was looking like a good move when Carlso got spat backwards through the field before the top of the main climb on the first lap. (He had a tough day, but showed a lot of ticker to hang in there for 7th). I rode the first few laps with Pauly and AJ, but Blood, Lach and Aido rode away. I was happy to try and keep my lap times consistent and hope that some of the boys at the front might fade. About half way through the race, AJ had dropped off and before long Pauly and I could see Aido. Often gambling everything on a ridiculously fast start, Aiden has also been known to blow up on occasions, and I was hoping this would be the case today. Unfortunately, with the sudden presence of a carrot, Pauly stepped iup the pace and left me behind. I thought: "it's ok, he will smash past Aido, Aido will drop his head, then I'll pick him up easily". Wrong! Sneaky Aiden had saved a few beans for the final laps and promptly jumped on Paul's wheel and they cleared out together, leaving me in 5th and all alone. I had nothing else to do but keep chipping away and do my best to drag myself back to them but it wasn't to be. Blood ended up taking a narrow win over Lachy, and it was over 3 minutes before Paul came in for 3rd (1st in under 23) closely followed by Aiden, I was a further minute behind in 5th, AJ 6th and Carlso 7th.
Going into a race a little tired can be an advantage, I didn't have any nervous energy to waste or adrenaline that could potentially cloud my judgement, yet I was confident that I had done enough training to get me through 2 hours of racing.
With the return of Chris J to the start line, this race was always going to start fast, but with Blood starting from the back of the field, it was Carlso that got the hole shot and led up the first single track climb (Blood somehow got through most of the field to be 2nd!). Aido was up there too, then Norri, Paul VDP, AJ then me. I was pretty happy to sit there in 7th for the time being, and my (relatively) conservative start was looking like a good move when Carlso got spat backwards through the field before the top of the main climb on the first lap. (He had a tough day, but showed a lot of ticker to hang in there for 7th). I rode the first few laps with Pauly and AJ, but Blood, Lach and Aido rode away. I was happy to try and keep my lap times consistent and hope that some of the boys at the front might fade. About half way through the race, AJ had dropped off and before long Pauly and I could see Aido. Often gambling everything on a ridiculously fast start, Aiden has also been known to blow up on occasions, and I was hoping this would be the case today. Unfortunately, with the sudden presence of a carrot, Pauly stepped iup the pace and left me behind. I thought: "it's ok, he will smash past Aido, Aido will drop his head, then I'll pick him up easily". Wrong! Sneaky Aiden had saved a few beans for the final laps and promptly jumped on Paul's wheel and they cleared out together, leaving me in 5th and all alone. I had nothing else to do but keep chipping away and do my best to drag myself back to them but it wasn't to be. Blood ended up taking a narrow win over Lachy, and it was over 3 minutes before Paul came in for 3rd (1st in under 23) closely followed by Aiden, I was a further minute behind in 5th, AJ 6th and Carlso 7th.
A great comeback race for Chris, a solid effort for Norri to be the only one that could go with him, and some good old fashion jostling for the minor places between Pauly, Aiden, AJ, Carlso and myself.....good fun.
Chris did the job again on Sunday by taking out the short course ahead of Norri and Paul VDP. I managed to battle around for 6th place but it was a bit of a punish. The highlight of the day though, was a trail ride up Mt Wellington with teammate Nick and our marvellous Tasmanian host Sam. We rode the famous North-South Track and a bunch of other trails including the appropriately named "breakneck track". Prefect way to finish off the weekend before the flight back home!
Thanks to the Swell-Redshift team and all our sponsors, as well as Sam for being a great driver, feeder, hotelier and soigneur!
Chris did the job again on Sunday by taking out the short course ahead of Norri and Paul VDP. I managed to battle around for 6th place but it was a bit of a punish. The highlight of the day though, was a trail ride up Mt Wellington with teammate Nick and our marvellous Tasmanian host Sam. We rode the famous North-South Track and a bunch of other trails including the appropriately named "breakneck track". Prefect way to finish off the weekend before the flight back home!
Thanks to the Swell-Redshift team and all our sponsors, as well as Sam for being a great driver, feeder, hotelier and soigneur!
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