Highland Fling

Before (R-L Jenny Fay, Ronan, Me)

During

A close finish

After

Photos courtesy of Cyclenation

Swell Redshift at "the dash" - Nick was absent because he had to "take care of business" ;)

The Fling is over for another year and it was a typically fun weekend for myself and the Swell-Redshift team at NSW's biggest marathon.  The weekend started with the Bundanoon Dash and Swell-Redshift went into it with the goal of getting 2 men on the podium, but looking around on the start line and seeing Macca, Hendo, Codner and many other fast finishers I wondered if we had aimed too high. We had concocted a HTC-style plan to line the race out in the last few kilometres with a aim to deliver myself and Cam to the bottom of the hill at the front and force the others to come around. With about 3km to go the guys in the bunch started getting twitchy so Nick (playing the role of Tony Martin) went to the front and set a solid pace. His move was was a little earlier than we had planned, but he kept it hard enough to stop any attacks, and not so hard that he blew too early. Things were looking good with all four Swell riders at the front, although Cam was getting hustled pretty hard for my wheel. When we hit the tar it was over to Ronan Magaharan (Bernhard Eisel in the lead out train). Ronan is better known as a XC skier and has limited experience on the mountain bike, but he did his job perfectly.  I had told him that for him the finish line was the bottom of the hill, and he dug very deep to keep everyone strung out up to that point. I had heard some rubbing of tyres behind and hoped that Cam was still there in position to take advantage of my lead out. As we hit the hill it was over to me (aka Mark Renshaw).  I kicked at about 80% intensity and soon took an opportunity to look over my shoulder....but there was no Cam (aka "The Dish"). There was however a decent gap back to the 2nd rider! Having done a few of these Dashes before, I knew it was way too early to make the winning move, but I had a gap and was therefore committed so I put my head down. Right on queue I blew my doors just when the road started to level out and was soon passed by Macca. "Oh well, 2nd to an Olympian isn't bad" I thought, but as the longest 100m in the world dragged on I found reverse gear and was also passed by Mitch. 3rd isn't bad....is it?  Anyway, the race was a so much fun. Riding it like a team with a bunch of mates was awesome fun and it was great to see Nick and Ronan do their jobs perfectly. Especially Ronan, I was so stoked for him and his first pay day!  The beers we buy with our 4-way split of the 100 bucks is going to taste so good! Rosie also took out third in the women’s category.

On to the main race, the 110km Highland Fling.  The additional cash up for grabs from the Real Insurance XCM series and the presence of team mates doing the 50km certainly made an impact on the first of the three stages. Ben Mather was the first to stamp his authority on the race and took every opportunity to apply the pressure. His pace making soon paid dividends with the XCM series leader Matt Fleming becoming the first significant casualty and losing contact with the lead group. Dylan also tried a few attacks and the group was gradually getting smaller. When we got to "halfway hill" the lead group consisted of Mather, Macca, Lewi, Cooper and Marc Williams. Before the race I had thought that this was the point at which I would want to start to take control of the race, but I was suffering more than I had hoped from the earlier pace. It was once again Mather that tightened the screws and I was soon in trouble.  Macca and Mather started to roll off the front and I made the decision to ease up and just limit my losses. Marc and I crested the KOM 100m behind the two leaders but had a decent gap back to the rest of the chasers. Fortunately the two leaders eased the pace over the top and Marc and I soon got back on.  I thought that that was the critical selection as the four of us continued through "outer limits" and "wild west", but with Macca riding for Cooper and no one else in the group really happy to ride in the wind, Mather found himself with very little support on the front. Before long Cooper and Lewi were back on and we continued the easiest roll into Wingello I have ever experienced in 7 Flings.  In the final transition Marc Williams decided to take his chances solo and he left before his 5 minutes was up. The rest of us were unwilling to concede any valuable seconds and waited around looking at each other, eventually all taking over 5 minutes and rolling out together except for Cooper (not sure what he was doing?).  Once again Mather didn't have much help, but with Cooper absent he was motivated to continue his domination on the front of the group. After a few small climbs, a courageous Lewi was finally dropped. Still no sign of Cooper from behind, and Marc was still somewhere off the front.  It was a real gamble. I was starting to get tired and didn't want to expose myself too much, but I didn't want to leave it too late to get Marc or let Dylan back on. With about 15km to go we hit the undulating single track and Macca attacked us. He had been sitting on all day (riding the perfect race for Dylan, a fellow Trek rider) and it seemed inevitable that he would ride away with the win. He got a gap but before long he suffered from cramps and we passed him on the side of the track holding his legs....we were still in with a chance. I took over the pace making and continued the chase for Marc and the front of the race. He was back in sight just before the big grassy climb (~10km to go) and we backed off the pace knowing that he had left transition early and was therefore at a disadvantage compared to those of us that took the full 5 minutes. Over the top we caught Marc, and he, Mather and I threaded our way through the rocks of the final main single track.  Before we emerged on the other side Marc had been dropped and Mather and I hit the fire road thinking that the winner would be decided from the two of us.  Both of use were tired and suffering cramps. Neither of us wanted to show any sign of weakness or to throw the race away by pushing too hard, so we dawdled along, unwilling to drive the pace. In hindsight, this might have been a bad idea because it gave Dylan the chance to finish off his gutsy solo chase that had started 25km earlier in Wingello....And then we were three. The final climb up "your call" was nothing short of ridiculous.  I went to the front because I knew that I was suffering from cramps and at least wanted to control the speed to a pace  I could sustain.  I was riding straight legged, too scared to bend my seizing legs and just managed something that resembled a pedalling action by rocking my hips...very ugly.  We rolled the last fire road and I hit the final paddock and single track on the front happy to lead out a sprint that I knew was short.  Unfortunately I didn't have enough to hold of Dylan, but I crossed the line 2^nd, with Ben a few lengths back in third.  I had given it everything and knowing that I hadn't stuffed up transitions (ie, I was confident that I had taken either my full 5 minutes both times, or at least more than my rivals, meaning the maximum time would be deducted from my final time) I thought that I wouldn't be disadvantaged in the final result calculation.  However in additional to the usual Wingello transitions, this year the organisers gave each rider a slightly different start time, based on when each rider passed the timing mat on the start line. Since I started on the front row and Mather had passed it a second or so later, his overall time was calculated less than mine, so I was relegated to 3rd. Yep it's the rules and I accept that, but it is still disappointing.  Dylan and Mather both had super strong rides; Mather did more work than anyone, and Dylan showed his determination to chase back like he did and they both deserve their results.  It'll be interesting next year though if the start mat timing is used again for the elite category. I reckon there will be a Mexican stand off on the front row, as no one will want to have their time start before the others! 

In other categories there were some great results from the rest of the Swell-Redshift team. In the Half Fling Adam Cooper was 1st in singlespeed, Rosie 4th in open female and Cam 2nd in open male. Nick was 12th in the Elite full fling and Ronan "the powerhouse" Magaharan was 16th...shit yeah buddy!

Overall the 2011 Highland Fling was the hardest I have ever done and by far the most tactical. It has left me pretty drained but motivated to recover and I'm hungry to make amends with a good result this weekend at the National Series opener in Perth. It was also a success for my 8kg fully rigid Sram XX Felt Nine with no arm pump, blisters or pain due to the rigid fork - I reckon I'll run that set up again soon.  Having said that, due to the stage race format of the All Mountain Cup in Perth and the presence of a super-D stage, I will be taking my Felt Edict Limited dually over there this weekend. I can't wait! Thanks to Swell Design Group and all my other awesome sponsors.