Final climb in the team relay
Team relay podium
Cam on Sunset Boulevard again - nice line bud
Cam on Sunset Boulevard
Nick on sunset Boulevard
Me on Sunset Boulevard
Elite XCO Podium (L-R: Me, Norri, Blood, Aido, Lewi)
XCCThe dust has well and truly settled at Eagle Mountain Bike park in Adelaide after the National Championships, but it is only now that I have got a chance to sit down and write my race report.
The National Mountain Bike Champs started with the club team relay. This competition is based on the team relay at the World Champs, with clubs putting forward a junior, a woman, a veteran and an elite to battle it over a 4 lap relay, for the title of Australia ’s quickest mtb club. It is not the most serious event of the championships, more just a great opportunity to drum up a bit of club pride and have fun. CORC has typically been very successful in the team relay, but going into this year’s race against a very strong Adelaide team, we weren’t sure if we could do the job. Trekky got us off to a good start to put us into the lead against Ben Hogarth from Adealide. Hesther Logie was next out but she could quite hold off Adealides gun Junior, James “Shorty” Hanus. Shorty passed Heather late in the lap only to puncture and surrender the lead back to us. Our little man, Hamish Prosser went out closely followed by ever-speedy “Stink” Rhodes and he managed to stretch the lead to about 3 minutes; a great effort for a first year U/17 rider. When it came down to me to finish it off, I knew the race was ours to lose; 3 minutes is a big advantage, but knowing what Chris Jongeward is capable of I was looking in the rear view mirror all the way to the finish line. So in the end it was CORC followed by Adealide MTB Club, with Perth MTB in 3rd. Congrats to everyone that raced the relay and to everyone else....start planning your team for next year!
For me, Friday was the big day with the running of the Elite Men XCO. I crashed pretty hard the day before and had a corked thigh; I told myself at the time was that it was actually a good thing as it would force me to rest up and spend the day on the couch, something I typically struggle to do. As it turned out it didn’t feel like it slowed me down so I might have been right!? The start was hectic, more so than usual. I got boxed in off the line and lost some places when most of the second row came past. Then 50m in, I got caught in a big pile up and was back to about 20th position...not the start I wanted. With very few passing opportunities I had to really dig deep to make up positions whenever I could and by the end of the first lap I was up to 9th. I think I burnt a few too many matches though because for the next few laps I was really struggling. Fortunately I started to come good in the second half of the race and managed to make up some places. With Chris and Norri riding away from the rest of the field, I was never going to see the front of the race again, but I was very happy to eventually finish 4th.
As you might know the event was marred by the controversy between Chris J and Hendo. I don’t think it is really my place to comment on that, but I will offer my opinion on something that seems to have been overshadowed by the drama: that is Norri’s terrific ride! He got caught in the same crashes as me in the start (I even put my foot trough his wheel at one stage), and he managed to get back into the lead, only to be pipped by Blood in the finish. Well done mate. Equally worth a mention was the welcome return to form of my team mates Nick and Cam. Nick has been struggling after having a big crash nearly 12 months ago and his 11th place is hopefully an indication that he is on his way back to the kind of racing that I know he has in him. As for Cam, he has been battling with glandular fever and has barely been able to train. He has much bigger fish to fry this year and was not even sure that he would start, just getting through the race is a good sign that he is on the mend and is a good chance of getting back on track for the European season. Good work boys.
From the high of my best ever elite national champs result, I headed over to NZ for my buddy Ronan’s wedding. The first stop was the “buck’s do” at Rotorua and on day one, Ronan, Mocky, Malcs and I smashed out “be rude not to”, hot-X bun”, “billy T”, “rollor coaster”, plus more.....gold! Then, after 4 hours of riding I managed to drop my chain and have a bit of a moment that resulted in my shoulder dislocating. 3 hours, a cylinder of happy gas, an ambo ride and a couple of viles of morphine later, it was finally back in place. At least it was me and not Ronan! This of course ended my further participation in any activity that involved mountain biking or bombing 7m waterfalls in a raft, but it did allow me to get reacquainted with my favourite coffee shop, Zippy’s. And other than limiting my choice of which hand to use, I was still able to join the boys at the pub. That’s something at least. Then it was off to the island of Waiheke for the actual wedding and what a beautiful place. I definitely recommend a visit if you find yourself in the area. New Zealand is a great place and the frustration of my “clipped wing” has only got me more motivated to get back over there soon.
Unfortunately I have had to shelve any immediate plans to race the mountain bike so I won’t be racing in Wingello this weekend. Oceania’s is also up in the air, but hopefully with a lot of physio and some good strapping, I will be good to go.
Thanks to Swell Design Group, Felt bikes, SRAM, Thredbo, FRM wheels and Maxxis tyres.
The National Mountain Bike Champs started with the club team relay. This competition is based on the team relay at the World Champs, with clubs putting forward a junior, a woman, a veteran and an elite to battle it over a 4 lap relay, for the title of Australia ’s quickest mtb club. It is not the most serious event of the championships, more just a great opportunity to drum up a bit of club pride and have fun. CORC has typically been very successful in the team relay, but going into this year’s race against a very strong Adelaide team, we weren’t sure if we could do the job. Trekky got us off to a good start to put us into the lead against Ben Hogarth from Adealide. Hesther Logie was next out but she could quite hold off Adealides gun Junior, James “Shorty” Hanus. Shorty passed Heather late in the lap only to puncture and surrender the lead back to us. Our little man, Hamish Prosser went out closely followed by ever-speedy “Stink” Rhodes and he managed to stretch the lead to about 3 minutes; a great effort for a first year U/17 rider. When it came down to me to finish it off, I knew the race was ours to lose; 3 minutes is a big advantage, but knowing what Chris Jongeward is capable of I was looking in the rear view mirror all the way to the finish line. So in the end it was CORC followed by Adealide MTB Club, with Perth MTB in 3rd. Congrats to everyone that raced the relay and to everyone else....start planning your team for next year!
For me, Friday was the big day with the running of the Elite Men XCO. I crashed pretty hard the day before and had a corked thigh; I told myself at the time was that it was actually a good thing as it would force me to rest up and spend the day on the couch, something I typically struggle to do. As it turned out it didn’t feel like it slowed me down so I might have been right!? The start was hectic, more so than usual. I got boxed in off the line and lost some places when most of the second row came past. Then 50m in, I got caught in a big pile up and was back to about 20th position...not the start I wanted. With very few passing opportunities I had to really dig deep to make up positions whenever I could and by the end of the first lap I was up to 9th. I think I burnt a few too many matches though because for the next few laps I was really struggling. Fortunately I started to come good in the second half of the race and managed to make up some places. With Chris and Norri riding away from the rest of the field, I was never going to see the front of the race again, but I was very happy to eventually finish 4th.
As you might know the event was marred by the controversy between Chris J and Hendo. I don’t think it is really my place to comment on that, but I will offer my opinion on something that seems to have been overshadowed by the drama: that is Norri’s terrific ride! He got caught in the same crashes as me in the start (I even put my foot trough his wheel at one stage), and he managed to get back into the lead, only to be pipped by Blood in the finish. Well done mate. Equally worth a mention was the welcome return to form of my team mates Nick and Cam. Nick has been struggling after having a big crash nearly 12 months ago and his 11th place is hopefully an indication that he is on his way back to the kind of racing that I know he has in him. As for Cam, he has been battling with glandular fever and has barely been able to train. He has much bigger fish to fry this year and was not even sure that he would start, just getting through the race is a good sign that he is on the mend and is a good chance of getting back on track for the European season. Good work boys.
From the high of my best ever elite national champs result, I headed over to NZ for my buddy Ronan’s wedding. The first stop was the “buck’s do” at Rotorua and on day one, Ronan, Mocky, Malcs and I smashed out “be rude not to”, hot-X bun”, “billy T”, “rollor coaster”, plus more.....gold! Then, after 4 hours of riding I managed to drop my chain and have a bit of a moment that resulted in my shoulder dislocating. 3 hours, a cylinder of happy gas, an ambo ride and a couple of viles of morphine later, it was finally back in place. At least it was me and not Ronan! This of course ended my further participation in any activity that involved mountain biking or bombing 7m waterfalls in a raft, but it did allow me to get reacquainted with my favourite coffee shop, Zippy’s. And other than limiting my choice of which hand to use, I was still able to join the boys at the pub. That’s something at least. Then it was off to the island of Waiheke for the actual wedding and what a beautiful place. I definitely recommend a visit if you find yourself in the area. New Zealand is a great place and the frustration of my “clipped wing” has only got me more motivated to get back over there soon.
Unfortunately I have had to shelve any immediate plans to race the mountain bike so I won’t be racing in Wingello this weekend. Oceania’s is also up in the air, but hopefully with a lot of physio and some good strapping, I will be good to go.
Thanks to Swell Design Group, Felt bikes, SRAM, Thredbo, FRM wheels and Maxxis tyres.
1 comment:
here i like to share thatt Once the bike is clean you can pamper the tyres if you desire. Give some oil treatment to the chain with the recommended oil.Bikes Adelaide
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