WSMTB XC

"We are racing the track in reverse." Your what, have you had a brain explosion, sure a little bit of track here and there, but the whole track? Sure there are many tracks out there that can be run both ways but after years of racing at Yarramundi it had a certain feel, with its rutted out descents and smooth winding climbs. Could it be run against the grain? This is how I found it.

Nothing was unusual as the A Graders lined up for the start, Lumley was mentioning how little he had been on the mountain bike, we where just preparing to desperately chase him around for five laps. Gordo had turned up, possibly to check out the track for the next round of the Single Track Mind Series. We were off and I got a good start, a short sprint to the first single tack section and I was on Gordo’s wheel. He entered one of the first few corners to hot and slid out mid bend, I was covering what I thought was the good line and made my only pass of Gordo ever. I held him till the track opened up, he didn’t have to call track and he overtook me via a massive wash-out and loose gravel climb. Lumley was first into the single track at the start of the race and now had a good couple of hundred meters head start on Gordo.

Many corners had a wide entry then narrow at the exit and often there were loose rocks and gravel before them. We now had to contend with breaking ruts when climbing out of corners towards the moto track, it was more like tackling a small staircase. There were plenty of challenges throughout the track, the rocky descent to Ben’s Bridge claimed a rider and would have been tricky for many, let alone the soft soil pinch climb off the bridge. I saw a few riders walking the tight bit of single track from the main fire-trail which in the normal direction had a sweet little log step-down. The step-down was now a tough step-up in an single-track climb full of old breaking ruts. But still, there were plenty of fast and fun sections for everyone.

Back with my race and the sandbagging B Graders caught a group of us A’s on the first lap. Ouch. My remaining laps went well as I got use to the track and I managed drop some of the A Graders I was riding with. Things went much better this race than the previous WSMTB XC round. I rode from home out to both races but this time I brought more food as the previous race I had run out of energy at the end of the fourth lap. This time it wasn’t till most of the way home I felt that sinking feeling, once again I hadn’t eaten anything on the ride home. Thanks to Mick Smith for joining me for the ride out to Yarramundi, Mick rode strongly in B Grade and even had enough in the tank to mix in some team TT efforts on the way home. Watch out for this guy if he ever goes from his old Reign and gets a XC bike.

Good things can happen if you change it up a little, WSMTB didn't have a brain explosion but they offered their usual XC racing with a twist this month. The people I spoke with all had fun with the track in reverse, keep an eye out for their next round at Blue Gum Lodge.
My support included real food from Carman's check out their range of muesli products, X-Fusion Velvet fork and Enduro Bearings through DIY MTB and Mongoose Canaan from Bikes at the Basin.