With so much going on and a huge block of racing,
I haven't managed to do much blogging of late. My new job and new
house have kept me busy between racing the National Series, Champs
and Wildside, but now that I am on a little break I'll have a go at
catching up.
I haven't written a race report from
Wildside because I am writing a story for Enduro magazine for that
one, but shortly after that was the Canberra round of the National
Series All Mountain Cup. Racing the AMC at home was fun, I even
worked nearly a full day on the Friday which seemed to be appreciated
by my boss and kept the nerves down. The field was probably the best
we have seen all year with everyone there to test their legs before
the national championships. Chris Jongeward took out the Super-D in
a bit of an upset over Carlso, then was Pauly, Macca and me in 5th.
The course for the XCO was disappointingly easy and void of climbs
or technical challenges, but the pace was super fast. I got caught up
early and missed the split for the front bunch. Sid was caught out
too but did an amazing job to bridge the gap, while I was destined to
spend the whole race on my own :( Macca got the win and I was happy
enough with 5th. The point to point was only 1 hour long
but it took us on a magical mystery tour of some of the Stromlo
trails that we rarely race on. Macca once again dominated and I was
4th and moved up to 4th on GC. Not bad, but
room for improvement before nationals!
Subaru Australian National
Championship
As far as MTB racing in Australia
goes, the National Championships is the big one. All the best
riders in the country come together to battle it out for the right
the wear the converted green and gold jersey; a competition that
takes on even more meaning in an Olympic year as the hopefuls are
particularly focused on staking their claim on our single spot at the
games. The conditions that greeted us upon our arrival in
Adelaide were ridiculous: temperatures in the high 30’s and a
forecast for 38degC on race day. As the week went on the
forecast got worse and worse with the temperature eventually hitting
40degC for the Elite men’s race! This is bad news for a fair
& freckly guy like myself, but having had more than my fair share
of heat stroke, I have learnt a thing or two about avoiding it.
I would have to pull out all the stops in my efforts to keep cool and
hydrated if I was to get through this one; minimal warm-up, wet
jersey, ice packs, water to tip on my head each lap, and lots and
lots of Gu Brew electrolytes!
On the start line it was a
pleasantly familiar atmosphere with the event centre alive with
excitement and anticipation for the biggest race of the year.
Photographers, TV cameras, supporters and spectators were all buzzed
around the place under the shadows of the giant TV screen the
dominated the site. I didn't really feel nervous and was actually
quite calm on the start line; I knew I had done the hard work &
was in pretty good form and I was confident that I had the experience
to handle whatever this race would through at me .....all I had to do
was hurt for 1h30m and enjoy the experience. When the gun fired
I was a fraction slow to get clipped in and was soon boxed in, but in
a complete reversal in fortune from last year a gap miraculously
opened right in front of me and I rolled straight through up the
first steep ramp to be in 2nd wheel right next to my team
mate Nick Both who dutifully let me go ahead into the first corner.
Chris Jongeward lead the race and pushed hard on the front,
while I just kept him close and tried to limit my exertion. At
the end of the first lap Chris was a few seconds ahead of me with Dan
McConnell, Lachlan Norris and Paul VDP just behind. At that moment
Chris appeared to blow and found reverse gear and we were pretty much
all together, Macca went straight around us both and I followed.
Unfortunately I was got held up as I made my way around Chris and
ended up having to dab, loosing valuable seconds while Macca
disappeared up the trail. Pauly and I chased together for the
next 2 laps, but having been so focused on drinking and keeping cool
I soon found myself in a spot of bother and I realised that I had
forgotten to eat! Paul then got away from me and I took the
opportunity to eat a couple of GUs and regain my composure and
control. Lachy Norris caught me and disappeared out of site as
I waited for the effects of the GU to kick in, but it didn’t take
me long to get going again. I knew my slight easing of the pace
wouldn’t have cost me too dearly and I was focused on regaining
Lachy’s wheel. I caught a glimpse of him with just over one
lap to go and could see that the gap was diminishing on the downhill
sections. As we went through he start finish for the bell, I
could see him up ahead and I knew I could catch him, however with
very few opportunities to pass I had to be smart about how I timed
the catch. I took my time and tried not to burn all my matches,
gradually bridging the gap with half a lap to go. I knew I had
only one opportunity left to pass before the finishing straight so I
rode behind him patiently and waited for the short uphill fire road
crossing. Just as I knew exactly what I had to do, Lachy did
also; he accelerated as soon as the trail widened and did everything
he could to stop me coming around...he succeeded. Back on the
single track I could not pass and he could recover. I wanted to
be going faster, but he had the luxury of dictating the pace.
He also started to employ a few other tricks of the trade and as we
approached some rising switchback he would back me off to upset my
momentum and then accelerate away causing me to have to chase back
on. Knowing exactly what he was doing helped me to stay calm
and patient and I just gave him a bit of breathing space knowing that
I had only one chance left and I needed to make that one count. I
resisted the temptation to try anything dangerous to get around on
the loose descent of “Sunset Boulevard” and I knew that it was
now coming down to a sprint. I watched his body language
carefully and I knew he was tiring (at least that’s what I told
myself), up the final climb to the finish straight I tried to stay
close enough to pounce, and as soon as we hit the straight I made my
move. Neither of us are really renowned for our sprinting prowess,
and after 1:30 of racing in 40degrees I’m sure it looked like it
was in slow motion, but I had just enough to get around him and score
my best ever nationals result and realise my dream of winning a
national championship medal. Meanwhile, 2 minutes earlier Macca
had taken his 2nd national title and Paul VPD had claimed
the silver medal 1 minute back. The podium ceremony was a bit
of a highlight for me and a really buzz to share the champagne with
four athletes that are all gunning for the Olympics.
AMC National Series Finals, Awaba
On a high from the National Champs,
I tried to settle back to earth and focus on the 4th and
final round of the Real Insurance All Mountain Cup National Series
finals which was less than a week later. The All Mountain Cup
format sees riders competing in various discipline over course of a
weekend stage race with the cumulative time over the 3 stages forming
the final placings and the awarding of series points. I had led
the series from the beginning after taking out the first round in
Perth and then following that with consistent performances to finish
2nd and 4th and Mt Buller and Canberra
respectively, and the pressure was on me to hold off the challenge
from Athens Olympian Sid Taberlay who trailed be 33 points and was
coming off a disappointing 10th place at Nationals. I
was motivated by my strong race at Adelaide and when I hit the start
line for the 1st stage of the Newcastle AMC I had hopes of
finishing the series the way I started it...with a win!
Unfortunately my body had other ideas and I had nothing, I felt
really fatigued and struggled around the short 2km circuit in the
horrifically wet conditions to finish 4th on the stage.
On to the Cross Country event and I knew that it would be tough, the
conditions were still muddy and wet and despite trying my best to
rest up I knew that I didn’t have the same legs that had propelled
me to the podium a week earlier. Sid attacked early on and had
me under pressure, I followed for as long as I could but eventually
dropped back and was passed by Josh Carlson. The wet and muddy
conditions usually suit me, but I was struggling to put out enough
power to maintain a smooth speed. I just tried to focus on the
basics and use all my experience to grunt through a race that was
just as demanding on the bike as on the body with the sand and grit
cutting though brake pads quicker than I have ever seen. I
managed to hang on to 3rd place but it wasn’t pretty.
It was also enough for me to move up into 3rd on GC, which
would be just enough to retain the series lead if I could hold it for
one more stage. Sunday’s point to point was only 12kms so I
was relatively confident, but with such muddy conditions and tired
legs, anything could happen. I tried to go with Sid early, but
he was again too strong. I was forced to limit my losses and
focus on staying upright, eventually coming on 4th on the
stage and retaining 3rd for the round, but retaining the
series lead to become the 2011-12 Australian National Series
Champion! I'm pretty chuffed with that, it is such a relief after
leading from the beginning, I'm also glad that I was able to win a
round and have a great national champs on the way. Looking back it is
also interesting to note that I rode every round (and the champs) on
my dual suspension Felt Edict. For someone that is an old school
hardtail-lover from way back, that is amazing....the Edict is just
too much fun. Having said that though, I'm pretty keen to rip out the
Felt Nine for some of the marathons that are coming up. Also
note-worthy is that in 12 individual stages of the national series I
didn't have a single mechanical or flat tyre, which I have Sram and
Maxxis to thank for. Thanks also to all my other great sponsors that
have helped to make my national series so successful.
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| Finish at Nationals (photo by Mick Ross) |
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| Nationals Podium (photo by Mick Ross) |
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