Weekend of Wet

The weekends riding included a tough afternoon in the heat through to dodging the rain. Friday afternoon was a casual blat out at Rouse Hill with a few new-ish guys. The temperature was easily in the mid 30's but we managed to get a couple of hours in before running out of water and calling it quits for the day. Rouse Hill's short but diverse sections of track had us all challenged in some way.
Saturday was a ride with the friendly tri-athletes, with the weather being fairly predictable, a chance of rain, they opted for a flat ride away from any major low points. There were quite a few of the group away and others tapering for this weeks Husky Tri. A small group ment lower speeds and hardly any time-trialing so I implemented a heap sprints into the almost two hour session. Some of the sprints were solo while others started with a group TT breaking into a very fast (for a MTB) sprint in top gear.
On Sunday I picked up on the Penrith bunch ride and we moseyed along at 32km/h before a puncture. From there I took a turn on the front, blowing out a good five k’s before my resistance caught up with me. From there, with me back in the bunch, we traveled through Penrith, the group splintering. A smaller group, just thee of us re-assembled for a couple of hill climbs. From there I was lead on a back route home which wasn’t overly flat. The Sunday morning ride went close to three hours and didn’t rain.

Pictures from the weekend

Show me your serious face.

The Rocky Trail MTB Grand Prix Series Potium

Rocky Trail Grand Prix

Last years GP series was won by the current 24 Solo World Champ, Jason English. This years series had played host to some of the best riders from NSW and the ACT, including the 24 Solo World Champ 2007, Craig Gordon. Chances were slim that I would be able to walk away with a series win after the great start I had in round one.

Getting a lesson from Mr English

It was a couple of laps in when the race settled down, the lead two riders had streaked away and that left a couple of us fighting it out for the minor placings. The steep dirt road climb began to tax and I watched with disbelief as a fellow GP rider muscled his way up the climb in the dog. I thought my choice of middle ring and spin may have been a bit soft. The soft soil of the single track had now turned to mud, a good line choice was essential and I took full advantage of the unusual but faster lines I found. If I had been overtaken in the recent dirt road section at the top of the course, I would make it up and then some on the first decent.
If it wasn’t bad enough with the wet weather, the grit of the track was playing havoc with the rear derailleur and cables. I was finding it harder to shift up and the cable was sticking on the way down. Things were getting bad, enough for me to fear a broken chain though bad shifting. I pushed on as long as I could past the half way point of the race. The chain skipping and phantom shifting.
Things weren’t all bad, I was lucky enough to be camping in with some serious 24hr riders who’s crew and an occasional spectator handed me my fuel for the race. We were setup so as you rode past before the U-turn you could give a shout for what you needed or other selfish and sometimes un-comprehendible demands. Be it electrolyte, peanut butter sandwich, gel and in my case, “the GT upside-down with the rear wheel off”. The crews of my fellow riders did a great job looking after the hydration, food and bikes.
So it was that I changed bikes. I had been deliberating all week about the weather, the forecast had not improved and in the final days before the event the second bike was readied. This was the definitive move. I went from mud hugging dually to slick hard-tail, the sort of bike I felt suited the conditions and course much better.
The course was being re-carved with the amount rain and the constant hammering from tyres. Each hour the sections were getting more pronounced. Tacking the first rocky section in the third hour, Rocky Trail had some of their people out maintaining the trail and putting up some safety mesh. It was this moment with people beside the trail and a rider not to far behind me I received the obligatory mud in the eye. This lead to an intimate moment between rocks and myself as I didn’t make the decent look easy.
Back on the bike and passing through transition the race commentator remarked about the claret I was showing, but rubbing is racing right? During these final stages of the race I hoped I wasn’t the only one paying the penalties. And in the final last laps the GT turned fully rigid as the remote lockout on the secondary fork gunked up. Mud splattered I crossed the line, to be told unofficially I was third (by the race commentator)! What ever it was, a top five result would see me easily win the 2009/10 Rocky Trail Grand Prix Series.
Thanks to the hard working support crews of our 24hr riders for putting up with me. The sustained energy from FRS. A sweet GT from Bikes at the Basin and Velvet fork that never lets down from DIY MTB.

Rocky Trail MTB Grand Prix and Sydney 24hr MTB Championships

There was everything to race for, some people this was their chance to qualify for Worlds. For others their first 24hr event, in a team or solo. At the pointy end of the 24hr solo race, this was pay day. This was the first of many events in Australia this year to hand out a large plastic cheque. Could this see the World Champion travel to all qualifying events for this guaranteed financial reward?
One track, one day, two races and a week of rain. This was the setup.
The last round of the Rocky Trail Grand Prix Series saw another good turn out but qualifying was not as well attended as previous rounds. The qualifier saw riders pump out a very quick lap of the mini BMX track located at the resort. There was up to a minute and a half head start on the rest of the GP and 24 riders on offer. It was this lead that helped seal win for me at the first round and I was up to the challenge.
A snappy 22 second lap was set early in qualifying and I placed second on the grid by fractions of a second.
Once out on the track I found it relatively easy, off the grass of the resort grounds onto a bitumen road. Follow the road for a couple of kilometers or so, turn left and up a dirt road. It was this dirt road that gained all the elevation in the track, approximately 120m in 2000m, some of it was fairly steep and saw a walker or ten. Riding off the top of the climb you followed the road over corrugated and gutter ruts to the start of the decent. The decent turned to single track and swept its way down the hill, it then followed a creek line with some small rock gardens and water crossings. Leaving the creek the track headed back onto the grounds of the resort with a concreted section up a small rise turning to a small section of single track twisting back along the river. From here you popped out on concrete again and made your way back towards the transition area. Off the concrete and around onto hard packed gravel then as you followed the river it was back onto grass. This grass section took you past the main area for a couple of hundred meters until you were allowed to make a u-turn onto gravel again for another pass of the main area and a couple of final turns into transition. At just over nine kilometers long the track could get a little dizzy for the 24hr riders.