Sunday, April 27, 2008

State Championships – Upper Beaconsfield

Result – 2nd - Elite Women

Overall State Series Winner


The last round of the Summer State Series, was more like a mid winter race, cold and wet under ominous and threatening skies. The weather didn’t put any of us hardened mountain biker types off though, we were all out in force to contest the Title of State Champion!



In the end the weather was kind to us, we didn’t get any rain and the track actually dried up nicely throughout the race. Going out for my warm up lap, I was quite impressed with the tightness and techi-ness of the course. It looked to be a lot of fun, but also potentially very fatiguing with numerous logs to hop over and a very tight steep switchback climb to negotiate.



I led for the first 2 laps with Jenni King hot on my tail, as much as I tried to drop her, she was determined to stick on my wheel and watch for any signs of weakness. The third lap I started loosing speed on the climbs, and I was feeling the early onset of fatigue as a result of not getting great recovery after last weekends big ride at the BMC 100.



Jen put a decent gap on me and I found myself riding out the race in no man’s land, feeling like I was towing a bathtub and trying my best to ignore the screaming protest my legs were putting out!!



So Jenni deservedly took out the State Championship Title, and my second place secured the position of State Series leader. There is a first time for everything!!!!

Sunday, April 20, 2008

The BMC 100k

A couple of months ago myself, Rob Eva and a couple members of the Woodend mtb club, went for a super trail ride in the Wombat State Forest. As this was the first time I had ridden in the area  I was blown away by the super quality of the single track  in these parts. I had to come back,  and so here it was that I found my self on the start line for the inaugural BMC 100km!

Myself and a few eligible veterans from the Bendigo mtb club, decided to make a real weekend of it, and went down to camp  on the Saturday night, It was a great way to soak in the atmosphere of the event and beat the early morning drive from home.

The 7 am start was rough! The sun was barely popping it's head up and the air was icy, very hard to get out of my sleeping bag. I aimed for a fast start so as I could get myself a bit of a gap to work with early on. This I achieved by employing some roadie tactics on the fire road,  and hanging out with a few of the fellas!

I hit the first section of single track with lots of piece and quiet and a clear trail ahead, it was awesome, easily the best single track I have ridden here in Australia! As the day progressed my nearest rival Bec Locke made contact with me twice, buzzing my rear tire on the long sustained fire road sections, but getting lost in my dust as soon as we hit the single track. It made for an exciting race where I was literally on the each of my seat, and my limits, the whole day. I was constantly glancing over my shoulder in a paranoid state to check if Bec was gaining on me!

By the time I hit the 80 km checkpoint I was well over done; feeling like I was towing a bathtub and getting thrown around like a sack of spuds through the rough ball breaking pine forest section. A lot of the climbing was done in this section and I can tell you it was very sloth-like!

I was so glad to get onto the wombat trail, must have been about 5 km of sweet flowing single tack all the way home to cross the finish line in a well earned 1st place. It was a superb way to finish off a super cool fun 100 km mtb race!

Thanks to all those involved for getting this event up and running and big, huge thanks to the dedication and passion of the Woodend mtb Club who are behind the construction of the very, very nice single track in the area!

Sunday, April 13, 2008

A Wintery Weekend at Woodend!

I had to think twice about packing an undershirt for Sunday's race at Woodend, but commonsense and previous experience convinced me of the reality, of course it was going to be cold! 

The Rocky Riders club put on the 5th round of the State Series, and it went perfectly, they were so efficient that they conducted the presentations before we could all manage to get cleaned up! Thanks to all those involved in making the day happen, all went very well.

The sweet trails of the 'Wombat were not able to be used due to permit issues, but the replacement course was a blast. The track wound in and out of the pine forest with a good percentage of tight, fast, loamy,  single track, which made for great traction and exciting cornering. The fire road climbing was friendly and gave you a chance to see if your nearest challenger getting too close for comfort!

I started the race as I meant to finish, getting to the single track first and not handing the lead to any who would try and take it. I managed to put a decent gap on by the 4th lap and stretched this out a bit more in the 5th, rolling across the finish line in a clear first place. All in all it was a good old fashioned long race (2hrs) leaving me feeling like I had done some solid work for the day!

As I haven't managed to get some pictures of my self racing I recommend looking at the ones Stephen Rowe snapped on the day at www.rockyriders.com



Tuesday, April 1, 2008

The Big Hill Marathon

Well the morning was definitely crisp and clear for my first marathon MTB race, it even felt as though a light frost had crept in overnight, far too premature if you ask me!
The start was kind of novel lining up with all the punters, everyone trying to beat each other up the first climb without blowing each other up, very different to women's cross country races! 
It was nice to be able to work together, and chat to people throughout the day and interesting to read others signs of distress, hunger flats and fatigue! I was amazed by the amount of forest out there, at times it felt like I was riding through the middle of the Otways, it was lush and very beautiful!
So I just tapped away for the day, not having done a long race before I was conscious of eating, drinking and pacing myself to get through the day in a controlled and measured effort. I didn't see any of the other girls out there, except for Naomi whizzing past me on the first climb, so it was really just me and the many men!
I rolled across the line in second place and a quicker time than I had aimed for, so all in all it was a good day. I would have to say the hot shower at the end and the bananas and muffins at the food stations were definitely up there as highlights for the day!
Huge Thanks to Big Hill Events and everyone who was involved in making the day happen, and of course thank you to the team at Felt for getting me to my first long MTB race!

A Warm Welcome To The World of Felt!

As of March 2008, I have become one of the members of the 'Felt Family'! I would like to extend a huge thank you to the team for taking me on as one of their sponsored riders, exciting times ahead!