Tuesday, March 31, 2009

WSMTB and MWMTB Combined XC Series



Round 1 was held at the well used Yarramundi track in Western Sydney. The series is popular with heaps of competitors in every categories. There was a mid morning start or so, I guess to let coastal riders a bit of time to get out west.
The racing in the A Grade field was extremely fast. It was good to ride with the top Elite State XC riders. The track incorporated new sections from the recent 8hr series but was limited to about 6km in length. This cut out the most northern an southern sections of Yarramundi.
I had a good ride, feeling strong from start to finish. I would have been quite happy to punch out a couple more laps and didn’t drop to the granny ring for the tough technical climbs like I did during the 8hr. FRS helps to maintain a good energy level through out the entire race from 2hr XC to 24hr enduro. I maintain mental focus all day and recover faster. I placed 8th in A Grade and had a fun morning out.
A bit of good coverage by one of the main MTB magazines lately. There was a short excerpt on the Dusk to Dawn 12hr held in QLD. This is good for Bozz as it was mentioned he was able to keep Andy Bell honest. Bozz was only a lap behind Andy, the eventual winner and title defender. Well done Bozz.



Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Warming to 24

With National 24 Solo just around the corner it is time to revisit some night riding. Or just some quality time on the bike. The view from last nights ride was similar to the following picture from Canberra. I believe I reached Karrajong Heights, hopefully a 50km round trip.



Shane Wood has been a great mentor and fine adversary when it comes to training for and competitive MTB racing. This is Shane riding for Norco at a NSW XC State round. He lead the Expert category then blew us away in the last two laps. I fought it out with another rider for the remaining podium spots.




WSMTB XC is the next race.

Monday, March 16, 2009

SCUM Elite - Round 3



Finally got to a SCUM event after a washout last month. The third round featured the dust of the Superbowl. Unusually there were not as many Elite riders but well over eighty competitors turned up for what some fear, the bowl. Like many others I had a lot of fun shredding up the single track. It was really
good to get out and enjoy riding after what seemed to be a hard eight hours last weekend. Everything seemed to work well, my Canaan from Bikes at the Basin was a joy to hammer in the bowl, the bike descends faultlessly. The challenge became two of the Expert riders who managed to slip away in front of me after two laps. Smashing out six laps I placed first for Elite.

Bozz and the World 24hr MTB Championships

My main man Bozz, Sean Bekkers, has booked his ticket to the Solo 24hr MTB World Championships. The Worlds will be held at Canmore, Canada. Bozz qualified to represent Australia after a massive effort at the Australian 24hr Championships, placing as I did the year before, SIXTH. Get in contact with Bozz by visiting his blog, check my links.


Australians are the top four men at World 24hr MTBing in 2008. The last chance to qualify in Australia will be at the National 24hr Solo Championships. The National 24s will be held again in Canberra over the Easter period. Bozz and I intend to make another mark amongst the best in endurance MTBing at this event.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Photo from WWS


Working Week Series Round Two

Held at Yarramundie the track was a combination of tried and regular, then there was the new bits. These new bits included loose rocky gardens and some technical pinch climbs. The way I gauge climbs is by the gear it takes to ride. I had to drop back to granny gear as the sections were at the extreme end of my middle ring ability. This put the sections on the hard side for a eight hour course. The thing that highlighted these sections and abilities was when Mr English showed me how to tackle it. It was made to look smooth and almost effortless. It had to be the toughest version of Yarramundie I have ridden.
The competition was hot with many of NSW and ACT's best enduro riders turning up. These are just some of the blokes, Mr English direct from his MTNs to beach holiday in southern NSW and young Mark Tupalski from the ACT. Saul Britton, who I have not raced against recently or at this level turned up, as did local Shane Taylor who placed top three last round.
Fifty two solo males, seven solo females and heaps of teams turned up to he start. In the crowd was Diane Perry with the Fenz's power hub. Duncan Miller and the DIYMTB team were there as well as the Rockstar team featuring the late arrival of Gordo. Tony and the FRS team were on a high after their 2nd place at the wet Jetblack 24hs Sydney.
With such a big field of riders and so many "competitive" racers the starts are probably my down fall. Getting caught in the conga line for the first lap can put you back a solid five minutes off the front runners. But I did get to ride with Duncan and Diane. The first surprise was the log jump I had to do at the bottom of the section after transition. Thankfully it was after a corner and had reasonable speed, I noted to myself "ride around next time". Once the track had cleared up a bit my lap times were much faster and consistent. The vibe on the tack was really good and there where plenty of passing opportunities. Gordo was on my tail heading out for my third lap, I went around the log jump and he over it, elbows out I held him to the fire trail.
Things didn't go well for everyone, Mr Dreggs who I was happily trailing around the three to four hour mark pulled up short with a back or neck pain. Shane Taylor, who I had tipped to make another big impression on the top of the field, failed to make the eight hours due to gastritis complications. I trialed a new carb gel, which didn't seem to hit the spot. There just didn't seem to be any energy lift after consuming the gel. Check my reviews for more information.
I hit a snag around the halfway mark with my right cleat finding it's self loose. Being unable to dab with the right foot in a couple of situations and being virtually locked to the bike wasn't a good feeling. I managed to make the first loop back to transition section and took an allan key to my shoes. It was my slowest lap with the time off the track, a couple of falls as I couldn't unclip and some breathing time after the falls to gather myself.
Around the six hour mark I was making my way through the burmed moto track section when I came across a young rider beside the track. She was in a state of distress when I asked her if she was alright. I didn't have any spares for what looked like her problem, a flat tyre, but I couldn't just ride on. Luckily there is always plenty of help at hand on the track and a guy slung me his hydration pack which contained a spare tube and pump. I believe his number was 169, thanks champ! I replaced the tube in the juniors tyre and pumped it up to a reasonable level in a couple of minutes. Both the juniors team and the tube donors team placed fourth in their respective categories.
The racing was starting to get to me, a couple of falls, a loose cleat and gels that didn't seem to be working. I was tiring and my laps were blowing out by five minutes. The front runners were lapping me, Mr English was on his third go, normally it is only twice.
I soldered on and pushed out the final laps, my final lap, lap twelve had a time similar to my fifth lap. I feel this was the best performance I could do after a week of flu symptoms. The training I may be lacking is time on two wheels. I have been spending two to three days doing gym based and Fenz inspired (power based) workouts.
The results are as follows, Crummy 8th, Duncan 12th one lap down from me , Shane Taylor and Mr Dreggs 33rd and 34th respectively after four hours of riding. Not last or least Diane did four laps in 3:26. It was a tough eight hour course, when is SCUM hosting a round? It will be log-rollovers instead of rocks, bring it on!

Sunday, March 8, 2009

8hr Series Round 2

Full report to follow but here is the short word. Had to be the toughest version of Yarramundie I have ever ridden. The competition was hot with many of NSW and ACT's best enduro riders turning up. Tried a new carb gel. Things didn't go well for everyone, including the gel. Good things happened, helped one of the juniors with a flat, rode with quite a few good competitors after starting at the back of the field. Didn't have any mechanicals and rode to what may be 8th place.