Gav and I made the early trek out to pick up Marty's gear and get a park in the car park. The day was a sunny, cold wind with a nice dry track and would prove to be a great day for riding. The plan of the day was simple ride as fast as you could. I was not that excited about trying to nail it up the comm games course hill as I have a bit of a mental problem with it, but I was up for the challenge.
Marty was the first out of the blocks for us and had us in a great position after the first lap, but suffered with some mechanical issues that required a bike change (luckily he lives 5 mins from the park). Gav had a solid hit out and was posting nice times on his single speed 29er. Me, I had a great first 5 mins of my lap until I suffered a minor mechanical which I sorted and still did a decent time. My 2nd lap was better and smashed it just missing out on a sub 40 min lap..... bloody hills and flat fire road! not a good combo for me. My final lap was a smash session and riding tempo in the middle of the course I over cooked myself and struggled up the final climb. I had Gav and Marty chasing me on the course for moral support which was fun ( always nice having someone cheering you on) but I was only slightly slower than my 2nd lap.
We wrapped up the race in 6th position after 9 laps which we were happy with. It was a nice day.
My two complaints from this event is the conditions of the trails and some of the new trail is less than impressive and needs some sorting out big time! The berms section still needs a lot of work, not to mention the fast sections of the comms games course is full of brake rut's and needs to be fixed. I am unsure why there was a berm on a uphill S given the majority of riders only ride the course in 1 direction. The crew maintaining the trails are a welcome addition only if they build trail that is ridable (red gums is a example of shit trail maintenance) and enjoyable to ride.
The second complaint is the lack of atmosphere as most people were dotted along the first section of trail and did their rotations from their setup areas. The notable lack of support from anything other than SRAM and Trailmix was noted by most. Not long ago there were less competitors and more support from the Melburn cycling outfitters. I do realise that Trailmix is now the main sponsor but there is always room for more support from the wider community. I would mention the MC if he was worth mentioning..... enough said.
I was lucky enough to get my hands on some Schwable Racing Ralphs and cannot recommend them enough. Those bad boys were fast and hooked up when I needed them too. Thanks to my brother from another mother for hooking me up with them. Rich can be found at BSC in the city and is a great easy bloke to deal with.... go check him out for anything you desire!
I walked away with a smile yesterday after I found that I could push myself that little more than I had before and found that I could climb in tempo at a 85 plus % HR and still have more to horsepower to offer. It has shown me that I am on the road to better performance since undertaking some cross train over the last 6 weeks, the running seems to have helped.
This week sees me head back to the north east for a crack at the Hotham to Dinner Plain race which will be fun and a good test. I will also be scoping out part of the Hoppet marathon course as well to build on my confidence for the race at the end of August.
Happy trails!
ps.... some photo's and footage will be posted soon!
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