The snow is melting and the MTB pre-season continues

 I got the hole-shot from Gracie at Dwellingup!

 The start line at Tathra,

R-L: Cameron Prosser (who lead the first lap), Paul Brody (old school pinner), Me, Ryan Gormly (snowboarder and backyard bike mechanic)

I've been flat out since the last post; I quit my job, had a little break, did some skiing, surfing, training and racing...and then started my new job, which is conveniently located at Mt Stromlo!

As far as training went, there was a couple of sessions on the Jindabyne trails, solo road missions around the Illawarra (with a few of the old favourites like Saddleback, Jamberoo pass and Glen Garry), road riding with the boys in Wollongong and a fair bit of Queanbeyan MTB gold. For the racing, there was the Tathra 3hr, Dwellingup 100 and the Rocky Trail Entertainment 4hr at Stromlo.  I managed to win the Tathra and Stromlo enduros, and got fairly smashed at Perth in the Dwellingup 100 to finish 4th, but overall I'm pretty happy with how the form is coming on. Looking back I suppose I have been doing a fair bit, which isn't bad considering I snuck in some spring skiing and and few waves. I certainly feel like Ive been busy and have the droopy eyes to back that up. 

With the Scott 24hr coming up and the warm weather and long days kicking in I get more and more motivated everyday.  It doesn't hurt that I just got a new F-series Felt road bike, and I am currently tinkering in the shed with a new Felt Nine (29er MTB).  I really liked the Nine that I road in Alice, but this one is on a strict diet and when it's finished it should be a rocket ship....my aim is for it to be lightest bike on the start line at the Highland Fling in November. We will have to wait and see.

Go riding....now!

NSW State XC Champs - Nowra

With the unseasonably warm August weather melting all the snow, it was a perfect weekend to go down to the coast for a mountain bike race. The NSW State Champs was a fairly laid back affair just South of Nowra and the track that they put on was great fun. Heaps of cool single track and some fairly fast fireroad climbing made the race quite exciting. Ben Hendo and Mitch Codner broke away toward the end of the first lap and Andrew Arthur and I tried in vane to chase for a while. We could see on the odd occasion throughout the first couple of laps but after that it became a race for the last podium spot. Hendo (the burglar from the ACT) eventually unloaded Mitch for a 2 minute win and Andrew and I came in for a sprint finish another 2 minutes later, which I narrowly won. Andrew had waited for me on the last lap to take a stick out of my wheel, what a gentleman...should I have let him have the sprint?

A good fun day out in the forest and with the fitness slowly starting to return I've definitely got the stoke back for mountain biking. What's next? Tathra?

Back from the wilderness

Good times in Alice

Me and AJ on a dirty weekend in Melbourne for my first cross race

The Sentinel and Watsons Crags

The Sentinel

My birthday party

Cross

Strezleki Creek, Sentinal and Carruthers

Cross

Watsons Creek from Tenison Wood Knoll

Having been racing a riding pretty solidly for the past 3 years, I felt that in 2011 I deserved a rest from structured training and racing bikes. It turns out that it was also a break from blogging!

Finishing the season with a win in the Red Centre Enduro stage race at Alice Springs was the perfect way to transition into my break and I did so with contentment, satisfaction and relief. Since then I have been catching up on my life. I did a fair bit of skiing, including a few back country trips and a brief jaunt over the the NZ club field of Craigieburn for a life changing long weekend of skiing steep narrow gullies. I have also got into racing cyclocross, something that has been on my list of things to do since I first my first taste of frites & mayonnaise. The trouble is that cross is quite an intense sport, so trying to do it on the break means that it is rather punishing. Still fun though, and the crew at Dirtydeeds in Melbourne certainly put on a good show.

The past month or more I have started rolling around again and getting into Anytime Fitness to build a bit of leg strength. I have a new bike too....the new Felt Edict Limited. Getting back on a dually again is a bit crazy after 3 years a hardtails. The Edict is like my bad conscience whispering in my ear, it encourages reckless abandon on descents and says: "get off the brakes you pussy, I want to go faster". The result was some fun riding, culminating with a big crash and the subsequent removal of a large portion of the skin from my face. Lucky I am a bit of a goldfish.

So I am now super motivated to get back on the bike properly. With the Dwellingup 100 in Perth only a few weeks away I am anticipating a bit of a shock to the system. But with a race calendar that includes the Highland Fling, Scott 24hr, Cape to Cape, the new look National Series, Oceanias in Rotorvegas and Wildside I have plenty to look forward to and don't feel any rush to regain my form too quickly.

Happy riding (and enjoying whatever snow is left!)

Marathon National Championships - Mt Joyce QLD

The 2011 Australian Marathon Championship was a bit of a magical mystery tour. There was a lot of concerned discussion between riders before the race; details of the track were pretty sketchy, no one had ridden the course, and we didn’t know what tyres to use(or bikes - 26” or 29er, HT or dually). We couldn’t even get access to the area the day before the race to have a look at the track. On the start line no one knew what to expect.

The race format was 3 laps of a 19km circuit and not knowing what we were in for meant that the pace on the first lap was fairly controlled. After smashing through about 5 kms of bumpy grass we hit the first single track section which must have gone for about 15kms! I was in 2nd wheel following AJ and there was a train of about a dozen of Australia’s best riders in toe. It felt like a training ride out with friends, we were hitting totally unseen drops, doubles & berms (including one massive timber one!)…bloody good fun. We emerged from the single track with smiles on our faces and hit a gravel fireroad which soon pitched up hill and reminded us that it was a race. It wasn’t too steep at first and then we turned a hairpin and saw the first ramp in front of us. It was probably 20% (?!?), anyway, steep enough for me to wish I had a 36T cassette instead of the 32. Peter Hatton showed his first card and hit the front, setting the pace up the hill. There were 3 or 4 more hairpins, each revealing yet another steep pinch and prompting me to wonder if I could continue Hatto’s tempo much longer. Hatto and I crested the hill together but Gordo, Mather, Cooper and Lewi weren’t far behind us, with the rest of the group not too far behind. After the day’s first little test, the pace eased off a bit and the group came back together again. 5kms of fast fireroad and some more bumpy grass later we return to the start/finish in a group of 11; all the favourites still there and everyone somewhat wiser after the reconnaissance lap. Back onto the bumpy grass and the race seemed to stall as no one wanted to sit on the front. I took the opportunity to eat and drink plenty in what was clearly going to be the “calm before the storm” and the last chance for my tummy to see some solid food. Approaching the singletrack AJ and I were at the front and then Trek team mates, Hatto and Cooper sprinted around us and it was game on! Hatto slipped clear and the pressure that he applied, right at the time we started catching the back markers of the ½ marathon, incited panic in the group and blew the race apart. When we emerged from the single track Hatto still had a slight lead over Mather and I, with the rest of the race seemingly in tatters. Knowing how strong Hatto is, and the form that he had at the Cape Epic, I decided to try and bridge across to him, so at the bottom of the big climb I stepped on it. I couldn’t close the gap on the climb but pushed over the top and joined him at the bottom of the descent. I told Hatto that the race was in pieces behind us and we agreed to work together. Despite this agreement, Hatto didn’t work so I rode on the front for about 10kms, but starting to worry that he would pump me on the next climb I gradually backed off the tempo. It wasn’t until Mather had bridged across to us and the pace lifted again that I realised Hatto was actually just getting tired, so with word getting to us that English was chasing, I went off the front on my own. By this stage I was getting pretty tired myself and starting to cramp. I just tried to keep a solid tempo and hoped that I could get the to big climb first. Unfortunately Jason caught me and attacked with about 15kms to go, and I had no response. All I could do was to maintain my tempo and hope that he had a problem. With the cramps getting worse, the main climb was a real punish. I struggled to turn over the 28-32, but with a bit of a grimace and a few audible grunts I eventually got over the top. I had been looking forward to the last descent, but my body was glad for it to be over and on to the relatively smooth fire road run-in to the finish. I crossed the line pretty smashed for 2nd place, happy with the result, pleased with the race that I rode, but having podiumed at a national champs there were the inevitable “what ifs” running around my head. The 6 weeks has been pretty tough with injury and illness, so most of all I am relieved that I was able to put together a good ride and get a bit of confidence back. I am looking forward to the Canberra tour in 2 weeks!

As always, thanks to all the sponsors. Your generous support is much appreciated.

GoPro Video

Recently I was luucky enough to test a GoPro for Enduro magazine. You will have to buy the next edition if you would like to read the review, but in the meantime you can have a look at the edit I put together from one afternoon session on my local trail.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WS3wEdXIvfM

Oceania Championships - Shepparton

The start fo the Elite Mens Oceania Championships

Me riding the waterfall (and getting in Josh's way)

Passing AJ down the waterfall

Cam at the Waterfall

With its generally physical nature, treacherous "waterfall" section and some pretty fine and fast off camber corners, the Shepparton XC track was a far from ideal re-introduction to mountain biking after my dislocated shoulder. But after a good strapping job from my buddy Anne-Marie on Thursday morning, I gingerly headed out on the course with my Swell-Redshift team mates, Nick and Cam, for a few practice laps. I was pretty timid to say the least, but managed to get around the course without major incident.....that was, until we got to the "waterfall". I had been dreading this moment. This is a pretty scary section at the best of times, but with my constant fear of crashing and dislocating my shoulder again I was very nervous. We stopped to check it out and it looked tough; no really easy way to get down it, even walking it looked bloody hard! I took a couple of run-ins to it and balked at the top, not good for the confidence. I had another go and cleared it, then to prove to myself that it wasn't a fluke I tried again. This time I lost my front wheel at the top and had to leap over my bike, landing on my feet at the bottom. Quick check of the shoulder...ok, quick check of the knicks.......probably should change into a fresh pair for the next lap. :(

Despite the disrupted preparation, race day came and it felt like business as usual. Pre-roll, toast & coffee, drive to the track, transponder pick-up, warm up, staging, 15 seconds....bang. With a short start straight it was relatively easy to defend a good position from the front row. I hit the first single track in 4th wheel with only Blood, Macca and Aido ahead of me, exactly where I wanted to be. Being slightly concerned about the imminent technical sections of the course, I was reluctant to drive over the top of the climb and I was passed by Mike Northcott from NZ. On the lead-in to the waterfall, I was getting bounced around a bit and struggling to hit all the good lines. I had a close call on a tricky little rock section and nearly fell off the side of the little goat track. Arriving at the waterfall I had no idea what was going to happen, but fortunately my instinct took over and I rode it ok. Sid motored past me later in the lap, but I held on to 6^th place for a couple more loops while being shadowed by Carlso. I was trying to relax but still felt quite tense and felt like a bit of a passenger on my bike. Then coming in to the finish of lap three, a lapse of concentration and I crashed hard on a fast right hand grassy corner. Luckily it was my good side and I wasn’t hurt, it was also fortunate that Josh didn’t run me over, but I was now back to 7^th. The rest of the race was a bit of a blur. I was suffering on the climbs trying to hold of AJ and Carl Jones (NZ national champ) and fighting to steer my bike around the technical and rocky course. AJ got me with 2 laps to go but I past him again at the waterfall. He hit me again with one lap to go and I tried my best to limit my losses but it wasn’t enough and I finished up 8^th.

In the end Blood got a well deserved win followed by Sid (who incidentally also competed with a recently dislocated shoulder) and Mike Northcott of NZ. Nick continued his solid form with a 12^th place and Cameron showed more improvement from illness with 6^th in the U23s.

Thanks to all the sponsors, especially Jason from 2XU who made the trip up from Melbourne to watch. the race. Cheers for all the support! And a big thanks to my physio Robyn Armstrong for helping to get me to the start line and to Anne-Marie for the massage and strapping that got me to the finish in one piece.

Nationals XCO Champs, Adelaide

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)

XCC

The 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.