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.

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.

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.

Photo from WWS