B Grade WSMTB by Mick

After the club day with the WSMTB on the 12 of September, I now can reflect on the time since my less than satisfying outing at the Rocky Trail Entertainment/WSMTB 12hr in August. I had vowed to get back to the drawing board and work out what could be done to improve on the bike. The answer I came back with was, "time on the bike".
I had been diligently applying Mark Fenner's Training Principles during the week over the past 6 months, but neglecting the long, low intensity rides on the weekends. This was an error on my part. It resulted in good improvements in power output and strength but not so much in endurance, which is what is needed in endurance racing. So, I re-structured my training program to include some longer rides during the week and after a rest week post 12hr I was back on the blacktop smashing out hills and km's. Then, tragedy struck. There was a death in the family and I took it pretty bad. All in all I ended up taking about 3 weeks off the bike.
This now brings me to the club XC day on the 12th of September. Coming into this race, since the 12hr in August, I had spent the total of 10hrs on the bike. Not the best preparation for any race, but I decided to press on. Myself and Crummy met up and rode out to Yarramundi. This ended up being a bad decision. Just on the commute out to the race, I was sitting at about 85% intensity just staying on Crummy's wheel, way to hot for a commute to a race. We got to Yarramundi about 1 hr prior to race start and both agreed that we had over cooked the commute. In the mean time we registered, Crummy in A grade and myself in B grade. A grade was going to be a hotly contested affair with Gordo and Lumley charging at the front. So, we all lined up and took off, A grade first and then subsequent grades 2 mins apart there after.
The B graders took off like scolded cats and my hot commute out to the track came back to haunt me on this first and only lap of the race. My heart rate was sitting at 95-100% for most of the lap and I didn't feel as though I was working hard at all. An elevated heart rate at a moderate work rate, something wasn't right here. To add to this, I was still having issues with my bike setup and the forks just didn't feel right. In the interest of self preservation and being able to get home, I withdrew after just one lap. I was very disappointed. My race was finished at this stage but Crummy seemed to be steaming on nicely. He ended up coming a respectable 5th place and only 12 minutes behind the raging bulls of Gordo and Lumley, whom were separated by only 15secs. Each lap these two seemed to change the lead and at the end, Gordo took the win.
When Crummy finished, we jumped back on the black top and commenced our journey back home. The commute home seemed more like torture than fun. Once again the heart rate was unusually elevated and I was barely able to sit on Crummy's wheel whom decided it would be a good idea to TT along the driftway. We both got home safe and sound and went on to chat about the days events.
Racing is all about preparation. The better your preparation, the better your results will be. Get it wrong or neglect your prep and you will be in the hurt house all day and probably subsequent days following your event.

Mick Smith