As I sat on the plane flying out of Sydney
Airport, I could scarcely believe my luck.
I was heading to Pemberton WA to race rounds 2 and 3 of the MTBA
National XCO series. I had a full carbon
racing steed packed in a rather fetching red bike bag, I felt I was in my best
form for a long time and I had the blessing of my wonderful family. It seemed that Cycling had pre-prepared an adventure
made just for me and I was excited.
THE PIZZA
As planned, I rendezvoused with Peter Lister at a rather budget hotel near Perth Airport sometime around Thursday midnight and in the morning we picked up the hire car and took a leisurely 4 hour drive south through the gorgeous south west of WA. Bridgetown, Donnybrook and Manjimup are just a few of the pretty towns we drove through on our way to the Karri capital, Pemberton. Practice was perfect, and we fine-tuned our skills sessions some of the trickier sections including those huge wooden berms.
For dinner we hit the Pemberton pub and in
hindsight my eyes were bigger than my stomach.
The pizza was delicious and I ate the whole thing bar one piece, that I
donated to Pete who was ready to eat the leg of a chair waiting for his
spaghetti.
It was here that we met our amazing support
crew Geoff Rowe and Kim Ranson and young gun Zac with Grandad Merv. We absolutely loved these guys, but more on
that later.
The night was spent in fitful sleep as my
stomach attempted to digest the world’s largest pizza and needless to say I
wasn’t feeling top of my game in the morning.
The race took off at a solid pace and Peter
Lister jumped on the front to take us into the single track. On return to timing, I jumped past to take a
turn and lead a train of five riders through traffic to “That Hill”, a 1km
steady fireroad climb.
 |
| Photo credit; Mark of Pemberton MTB Park |
At this point I
was starting to get that feeling that it wouldn’t be my day. The legs weren’t feeling good, and over the
course of the next 4 laps I was relegated to 5th place. That being said, I stayed with Peter for a
lot longer than in Round 1 and finished just 90 seconds behind the winner, Nick
Algie. Not too bad for a 1 hour 20
minute race, I took the positive view and focused on the race the next day. Briony won the prize for the most inspirational
Facebook comment “I'm envisioning great success in the next one”
In the afternoon, we were enjoyed watching
the Elite men’s race and it was an enthralling to witness the many twists and
turns in the race. My recovery consisted of hopping
around the mountain taking photos and watching their skill, style and power.
 |
| Luke Brame styling it up on on of the many double jumps |
COMING SECOND
Saturday night dinner was a who’s who
affair in Mountain Biking and Pete and I sat starry eyed as we listened to
luminaires like Paul Van Der Ploeg and Sarah Riley talk cycling. Seeing Paul pleading with the waitress for
some real ice cream with his apple crumble was surreal. Dinner was great and having learnt my lesson
from last night, I took it easy on the buffet. Finally sleep came and I got a solid 8
hours to awake feeling refreshed and quietly confident that today would be a
better day. I followed the same morning
prep with remarkably less visits to the toilet, and was back on the start line
ready to give it another thrash.
The
start was different today, having seen each other race, and now knowing each
other a little better, the first fireroad sprint was a series of jockeying moves
for position and swapping turns.
Strategy it seemed had kicked in well and truly. As we raced back through timing, yesterday’s
winner Nick Algie sprinted away, with Pete Lister 2nd and giving
chase. Pete put the hammer down to hunt
down Nick, whilst a race for 3rd developed between Dave, Damon and
I. At the fireroad climb I passed Dave and had a good gap at the start of the descent. OK, this is good, I was feeling much more
comfortable than yesterday and thought 3rd was definitely within my
reach.
Having set about making sure that 3rd
place was safe, on the 3rd lap, I saw Nick up ahead walking his bike with a
deformed drivetrain. “Back luck Nick” was
all I could say, as I saw the heartbreak written on his face. His race was over.
In the final two laps my legs were strong
and I was really enjoying the trail. The
climb suited me perfectly, but even more exciting were the descents, I almost
felt like a BMX racer as my confidence grew and I started to hit the berms and
jumps just that little bit faster. One
of the ladies staying with us commented that I looked too clean as I fought for
control through one of the most challenging tracks I have ever ridden, called
“Bloody Mary”. Sure enough I binned it
in the dust just 5 seconds later, surely a Freudian slip to prove I was
serious, but no harm done as I quickly remounted and half rolled, half slid the
remainder of the segment.
Crossing the line in 2nd was one of the best results ever, after all the hard work to achieve this goal was incredibly satisfying. It's funny how a little piece of shiny metal in the form of a medallion can mean so much, but this form of racing is so raw and intense, I may just never do 24 solo again! It takes every bit as much focus and energy and crams it into 90 minutes.
 |
| Sunday's podium with Pete 1st, Mike 2nd and Dave 3rd |
THE THREE LEGGED DOG
One the main reasons for entering this
series was to meet new people and to ride new tracks and that mission was well
and truly accomplished. Added to that I
have gotten to rub shoulders with some truly legendary riders and learn from
them. I have found it enlightening to
hear them speak of racing and the lifestyle such talent and hard work affords. Two of our favourite new friends this weekend
were Geoff and Kim. These two knock
about sandgropers had us in stitches all weekend; and Geoff owned one of the
sweetest dogs I’ve ever seen, with three legs.
These guys, stayed the whole weekend mainly to support young gun Zac
Larrson from Pete’s hometown, but they gladly handed us bottles too and we
couldn’t have achieved our great results without them. Thanks so much guys for all your good humour
and expert support, you made the weekend ever more memorable. Incidentally, Zac came away with two silver
medals in the U/15’s so there is another up and coming talent. He also learnt an important lesson regarding
chamois hygiene #chaffedbutchuffed
I have used the royal “we” in this post as
Pete and I travelled together and shared accommodation. Not only that, we were in direct competition
as the only two east coast masters to make the trip west. Pete is a step above me and had a stellar
weekend of results, taking 3rd and 1st in the two races
and cementing the series leader’s jersey.
We had a terrific weekend together spurring and encouraging each other
on despite our competitive relationship.
Not only do we share a love of cycling but a common view on the claims
Jesus Christ makes in the Bible so to share the podium with him on Sunday was
one of the proudest moments in my cycling journey.
There were so many characters we met over
the weekend. The Tucknotts, the pregnant
lady at the top Marshall Point, Mark and Paul (head of Pemberton MTB Park and
Trail builder extraordinaire respectively), not to mention the many elite
riders who cheerfully gave up some of their precious time for a natter. There are so many stories of others who give
their lives to this sport, like the commissaires and volunteers who give up a
whole weekend to run the event. Darryl
from CORC is just one who comes to mind.
Peta Mullens was another inspiration on Sunday, beating the seemingly
unbreakable Bec Henderson and adding MTB XCO series leader to her recent
National Road champion title. What a
talent!
 |
| Peta Mullens taking the win on Sunday in the Elite Women on Sunday |
Finally thankyou to my friends at Cyclery
Northside for your support, and most important to Sarah and kids, thankyou for
giving me the time and resources to pursue this passion and to see just how
good I can get at this crazy sport. It
keeps me sane, just! It’s now 3:27am and
I’m on the red eye, looking forward to reuniting with my family for Australia
Day
Keep riding
Mike
 |
| Pemberton MTB Park |
 |
| Bicentennial Tree Pemberton - Pete and I climbed it before heading back to Perth for our flights home |
No comments:
Post a Comment