Jacks Ridge XXX

Photo: Forestry Corporation NSW

We don't get to Jacks Ridge often enough. Growing up on the Mid North Coast of NSW the Macksville/Nambucca area is pretty familiar even some twenty years later and we always find it a bonus when we can get back to the area for a ride. Previous visits have included social rides with the NVCC crew (Youtube) and some night racing with the Dusk till Dawn (2015).

This time we returned to Jacks Ridge with team mates Nathan (from Port Macquarie) and Browny (from Sydney), who where teaming up to race pairs for this event.  The Nambucca Cycling crew had a great little hub going with a BBQ, coffee van and a loose horse creating the atmosphere. Riders from across NSW had come to ride these delightful trails, crews included those from Taree and Armidale.

Photo: Forestry Corporation NSW

Browny lead off the start line but had to submit his hole-shot onto the single track after attempting to turn down the incorrect trail. Both Browny and Nathan had a good race and never looked back, gradually extending their time gap from us. 

Our race was steady off the start as we got comfortable with the trail conditions and new tyres from Mitas. Once we were warmed up we spotted our main competitor for the day, not the speedy Mick Harris who was already way up the trail but local roady Greg who dabbles in the dirt art. We put in a consistent effort to bridge the gap to Greg on the second lap and stuck with him for the remainder.

We swapped turns in leading around the lap with Greg a number of times taking up the bulk of the race. Greg would show his strength on the climbs but we would catch him quickly the more narrow and tight the trail got, this seemingly balanced out by the time we returned to transition for the next lap.

Photo: Forestry Corporation NSW

In a moment of distraction Greg made an error and got a taste of the dirt leaving me to inflict a solo lap on my unprepared legs. A lap later Greg came screaming past on the tail of a Taree teams rider but on the remaining portion of the lap we clawed our way back onto his wheel. We headed out on our final lap and there didn't seem like there was much in the tank, Greg still lead but we were pausing longer to pass riders and there didn't seem like the earlier spring out of corners to get back on-pace.

On the returning trails to transition Greg motioned he wouldn't contest this final lap and we passed him, putting 100% into the final sections to take second place in the 5hr.

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Nambucca Valley CC The Tulk #2

Nambucca Valley Cycling Club have been running a number of twilight races over summer and we were able to get along to one over the weekend. Held on private "MTB lifestyle" property near Kempsey the trail is continually being developed and the 8km of marked trail we rode was fairly flat, fast and flowing. 

While it was fast and flat, there were a number of man-made features, themed sections, natural obstacles and corners to keep the mind busy. Aptly named by some as "The Jellyfish" after it's gently meandering shape as viewed from space, the mostly 1m wide trail cut through bush and farm-scape.

All up the weather was hot, but some wind kept the temperature reasonable and the dust fairly low. We had received a good amount of rain the night before which helped settle the dry conditions. It was still dry and hard packed in most sections, the others just being dry/loose.

Our host, head trail master, landowner and all-round-nice-guy lead us out on the first lap, it was fast for a social race. We hadn't gotten out for a sighting lap, so the perfect person to show us round was the exact person on the front of our little group.

The first short open fire-trail section on the second lap we switched to race tactics to see who I was riding with. We slid to the front and put some higher effort in, pushing to the edge of grip through corners and getting up speed early on the way out.

At first the gap opened little by little, with all the corners it was hard to tell how far big gap was. But after a while and a couple of laps later it seemed we had control of the proceedings. As it went from dusk to night we tried not to drop the pace, keeping the pressure on ourselves to maintain our heart rate and general speed.

In the end we lapped just about everyone and it felt like we had kept a constant pace throughout the three plus hours. It was a small but dedicated crew in attendance, nothing quite like the normal events we go to. A massive shoutout to NVCC for putting it all together and giving me a chance to have fun at a unique location.

NVCC Results are here: https://www.webscorer.com/racedetails?raceid=92811&did=99836&cid=528640

Our first outing in the new JetBlack MTB Racing kit with The Odd Spoke, Natural Balance and Rocky Trail Entertainment as partners.

We rode our Pivot 429 Alloy with custom wheels by Ascent Cycling Enterprises and X-Fusion fork from DIYMTB.