At three weeks out from the big race it was time
for my last big test, and what better way to gauge the form than one of
the most fun marathons in the country; the Act Belong Commit Dwellingup
100 in Western Australia. I first rode the
D100 last year and was very impressed by the course, as well as the
super friendly atmosphere. Although being the biggest state in
Australia, WA has what is probably one of the closest MTB communities in
the country. Perhaps it is the relatively small population
and its isolation, or maybe Western Australians are just friendly?
Either way, every time I have been over there I have been warmly
welcomed and had a great time; there’s never any shortage of riders keen
to take you on a loop of their local trails and they
definitely have a way of making you feel like one of the family. Being
hosted by the Tucknott family from start to finish, this latest trip was
no exception.
Reece & I at the start
Arriving in Dwellingup the day before the race, I
meet up with local gun Reece Tucknott for a reconnaissance ride on the
Turner Hill section of the course. If there is a trail that epitomises
WA mountain biking, it is Turner Hill. It
is pretty rocky and covered with the infamous pea gravel, which makes
it super slippery. It was a bit scary at first trying to follow Reece’s
pace around the first part loop, but after a while I started to feel a
bit my comfortable and relaxed as we drifted
around the corners on the loose surface. It was a fun ride and I
started to get very excited about the following day’s race.
Race day dawned and the 900 riders assembled at
the Dwellingup Oval for the civilised 8:30 start. I knew my main
competition would be Peter Hatton, Craig Cooke and John Gregg but it was
James Kennedy that lead the race out of town. When
we hit the single track a lead group of five formed which included
John, Hatto, Craig, David Hind and myself. I wanted to make the race as
hard as possible so I tried to push the pace on all of the single track
sections. At about the 25km mark we hit the
Marrinup section and I tried to put the group under pressure. I had bad
memories of Marinup from last year because it came at the end of the
race and I was in pieces but the time we got there, but this year the
course was a bit different and it came much earlier
on when I was still fresh and it was really fun! So much better than I
had remembered. When we exited the single track the group was down to
just myself and John Gregg so we pushed on together (I found out later
that Craig and Hatto had suffered mechanicals).
When we got to Turner Hill I thought I could attack John with the
knowledge I had gained from my recon ride with Reece, who was I
kidding?! John, who has probably ridden pea gravel his whole life, was
all over me and I was just wasting energy. I then made
a mistake and he came past....suddenly the hunter became the prey! I
was relieved to be still in touch when we left Turner Hill and then in
the next single track section I was finally able to get away. It was
still probably 25km to the finish but I hoped
that I had the legs to go on with it. It wasn’t long before I knew I
was in trouble, I noticed my heart rate dropping and my pace was
slowing. I was starting to blow. Soon I felt like I could barely point
my bike on the trail and I knew it was a matter of
time before John would catch me. He joined me at 5km to go and luckily
for me he was suffering a fair bit too. He hit me with one attack and I
knew I had to stay on his wheel which I did, JUST. After that he just
sat on the front all the way into town and
I was happy to follow. I knew the finish and I wanted to lead into the
final corner, I opened my sprint just before that and managed to get to
the corner first to take a narrow win.
Super close finish with John Gregg
I am very happy to have taken the win in WA’s
premier mountain bike marathon, and pleased with my form 3 weeks out
from the World Championships. The course was so much fun with a great
mix of fast & loose single track and fire road. Tony
Tucknott and his team did an awesome job of setting the 400-odd arrows
out on the course and everyone seemed to be finishing with a smile.
The after the race Reece snuck in a bit of
cross-training by taking the motorbikes out on a section of trail that
we had used the day before. It was really fun to blast around with an
engine on my bike for a while but it did take me awhile
to get the hang of braking with my foot. We were back in Perth in time
for a quick trip over to the Camel Farm MTB park for a blast on the
Perth trails with Jim Lobegeiger (the man behind to course for last
year’s AMC in Perth) plus Reece and Tony Tucknott....what
a way to finish the weekend.
Thanks a lot to everyone that made the Dwellingup
100 happen, and the Tucknott family for looking after me so well and
making me feel at home. Hopefully I’ll be back next year.
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