CamelBak - WSMTB Summer Series 2012-13 4hr
This was my first race after the Croc and whilst I knew the
legs were full of power, I’m not sure where my head was at. I had my back Rocktaped up by Hana our
team masseuse in preparation the night before and had finally put my Epic 29er back
together after the Croc.
After overnight rain, I headed off to the race for the 6pm
start. Lights would be required
after around 8pm, so there was at least 2 hours in the dark. Numbers at the start line seemed to be down but it
was still competitive with a couple of solo guys racing off into the distance with
the team guys when Big Dog started proceedings.
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| Steve (Quantum Racing) blurs by during the 4hr |
The track was in super nick. The last time I had rode it around a year ago after the
floods it was destroyed, but some extensive work by the WSMTB guys has made it
all good and I was having great fun on the singletrack 6.7km course. I was smashing the climbs with the croc
legs, but initially had some trouble with the loose sand on the descents. A few laps in and the sand had been
compacted and my Rubena Scylla tyres really came into their own. I could rail those corners like nothing
else and I never lost traction on the climbs – awesome!! I was running low pressures (25psi
Front and 28psi Back) as I knew the course was technical and I needed the grip,
not the rolling speed. I was
trying to set a steady pace not knowing how far ahead the couple of leading
solo guys were.
I knew I had a chance of reeling those solo guys in, I just had to
keep plugging away with consistent lap times. I turned the lights on just after 8pm and dropped about 1+min
per lap as I backed off a little on the descents. The track was starting to dry out as well and come 9pm, my
mind was starting to wander and I had some ‘oh crap’ moments where the front
end let go or I almost endo’d.
This race had an extra edge for me as I had broken my hand and knocked
myself out in the exact same race 3 years ago on the last lap, so I was
determined to not loose concentration.
Well past the 3 hour mark I felt I was reeling in a lot of guys and
I decided to lift my pace, I might be a chance to catch the leading guys. As you can appreciate at night, you
have no idea where you are coming and whether the light ahead of you is a
competitor or a back marker.
On the last lap, I caught sight of a set of lights that was
refusing to come in as quickly as all the others, so I put the sprint on. As luck would have it, on my MP3
player, Mews – Invincible queued up so I had no excuse. I couldn’t catch whoever it was in the
time remaining and dammit; it was 1st place in solo. He beat me by 30secs after 4hrs and 11
laps.
I placed 2nd in Solo, 5th overall. A great result, but
having a crew callout splits for me would have been a great assistance in a
race like this.
PS - Best thing I have discovered in a long time –
Rocktape. If you have lower back
pain from mtbing, get some of this stuff, amazing how good it is. You will need someone who knows what
they are doing to put it on.
Previously after these 4hr races, I could hardly move for the pain, but
now it is just an ache at the end – way better.
