XC? How about XXC.

WSMTB held round 4 at the delightful track at Blue Gum Lodge. The track is short at just 4-5km long and features many sections of natural sandstone, both climbing and descending. The track winds its self around the slopes of the property and there is a fair amount of parking and room around the transition area for all your racing needs. With the convenience of the facilities at the lodge, Blue Gum is a great location for XC racing.
What is even better about Blue Gum is that it is further away from home than Yarramundi. Yarramundi is a nice 50 minute leisurely ride before a race, but Blue Gum is in the mountains, a fair bit further away. I gave myself two hours to get there as the M4 is about an hours ride then it was all up hill to Springwood. I didn't want to blow myself up just on the climb out of the flats before the race so I took it easy along the Great Western Highway.
The racing in A Grade was the usual, fast and mostly furious. Gav had plenty of power after a short stint on the bike last weekend and lead from the start of the single-track. He went on to hold that lead on his big wheeled machine as the remained of the A graders struggled to maintain contact. Further back there was the battle for fourth place between Sebastian, Brad and myself. Brad and I were gaining on the fast starting Sebastian when I was caught out by a slippery pallet and found myself in the dark soft dirt. Brad passed me and I didn't recover, loosing 30 seconds. It wasn't long and Brad was on Sebastian's wheel, then passed him. I was only 30 seconds from Sebastian and would catch sight of him regularly as we wound our way around the course. He held on to the slim gap over the final laps as we had to contend with the lower grade crowd starting out on the track for their race.
A great job was done by WSMTB crew to see that everyone raced by lunch. The hot sausage sambo was just what I need after a hard two hour race. All that was left to do was to make my way down off the mountain and back home, without finding myself in the hurt locker, in the middle of nowhere. How many effective training k’s did I do? The only way to find out is to join me, next time.
A big thanks to my supporters for their real food, real advice and keeping me riding. Thanks to Team Enduro Pulse and our team partners who keep us on the trails. Craig from Enduro Pulse competed in the super fun 3 Ring Circus, on the weekend too, keep an eye on Enduro Pulse for that report.