Mighty Mike rebooted

Hello again and yes it's probably been too long since I last blogged, but here we are again and I guess this is the blog I had to write but have been avoiding for some time.  Not because of anything bad, but alot has been going on, some on the bike but mostly off, so for brevity, because you probably have more important things you should be doing, here is a quick re-cap of what has been happening.

A good day out

Some 6 weeks ago I had a very good day out on the bike at the RTE GP4 at Ourimbah.  Basically I had a blast and fulfilled my goal or riding this course for 4 hours hard.  The end reward was a podium finish in a respectable field, but that result aside, the course, the riders and the fellowship amongst said riders was pretty much close to Nirvana.  One tiny little highlight that comes to mind was late in the race grinding up the last little bit of hurt on "long Meadows".  I was taking it very gingerly in the granny gear just to keep balance and ensure the hints of a cramp didnt progress.  A young elite rider rolled up behind me and gave me a great little pep talk to get over the last pinch.  What a moment!

Ourimbah - still one of the best XC courses going

From a high to a ridiculous low

Yes you saw it on Facebook, a bit of stress and some poor preparation led to an unneccessary OTB on bitumin and it was into the ambulance for poor old Mike.  The number of times I've gone over this in my head in the last 5 weeks probably qualifies me for some kind of mental therapy, but I do prefer to see the glass half full, so.....

There was a  gorier one but you get the idea

During my recovery I saw.....

I most amazing bike race ever, Stg 5 of this years TDF, but even greater than that I saw an Aussie legend show an almost unheard amount of grace and forgiveness when he was brought down in the sprint in Stg 1 effectively sabotaging his tour.  Yes it was racing and yes sprinters ride on the ragged edge, but seriously Simon Gerrans, that was one class act.  No false humility, no gilded lillies, no veiled accusations, just a simple "Well that was tough luck, and I wish I hadnt crashed but there you go, play on"
I also saw the biggest self destruct in sporting history, Brazil v Germany.  I actually watched more of the World Cup than the TDF, sacrilege I know, but I'm also a Football tragic and that was some seriously sexy football we saw in that tournament...but Brazil? Oh my, we will be talking about that one for years to come.

Gerro, you legend!

Am I better yet?

So the last five weeks have been painful from the point of view of not riding and not racing my best mates and rivals, and I even tried to will my elbow to heal, by getting back on the bike just a tincy bit too soon, but I realised all is not lost....in fact

What have I gained?

Well it's actually been a time of reflection, a time to consider my priorities and the reasons I ride.  Yes I love riding, I am competitive and I push it hard.  but I love my health and I love my family more and the minute cycling starts to take away from those two things, it's time to take a breather, and so in closing, all things work out in the end and I do believe in a higher being who actually loves me more than I can ever hope to understand and He has a plan is is far greater than winning a bunch a of bike races.

I got to take my darling daughter to her dance Eistedford, that's gold!

Luckily for me I still think racing has a place in that plan so I look forward to coming back.

You'll notice I have a couple of new supporters in Curve Cycling and Rubena (well actually Rubena aren't so new but together with Curve they make a pretty good combo) so there will be more news on that to come once I'm allowed back on a real bike.  And there might be more exciting changes coming soon...

That's it for now, thanks for reading and also thanks to the many many friends who have sent their good wishes for a speedy recovery and given me kudos for riding a wind trainer :)

Keep Riding
Mighty Mike

Rolling the Dice

Tonight, four plucky mountain bikers rolled the dice and hit the trails in the hope we could squeeze in the regular ride before the deluge arrived.

While our timing was a little out and the Creator of the Universe decided Hornsby needed a good soaking at around 8 o'clock, it wasn't all bad.

It was a gorgeous sultry February evening.

The fading light took on an ominous feel reflecting off the many deep purple rain clouds gathering.

The lightening show on the return leg was awe inspiring. Seeing the trails light up for a second was exhilarating if not a little scary

Finally it came down just as we began the final climb out of the gorge and it was so heavy it was tough to make out the trail at times, we even got that lovely sensation of sipping the rainwater as it streams down your face. Guess you had to be there :)

The ride ended up being a lot of fun and restored the spring in my step sapped away by a working week that is best left behind.

Looking forward to a fun weekend and catching up with mates at the Awaba Rocky Trail GP on a trail that may be in perfect condition with a shower or two to raise the tackiness factor

Keep Riding

Mike

Milestone Reached on the Mount

Yes! My first solo victory, actually there's not too much to write here, but I couldn't let the occasion pass without so much as a blog post.
I got home at a very respectable hour, I even avoided the toll road. Getting home I quickly cracked open a celebratory beer and began preparing a mean butter chicken for dinner.

The race itself was really fun, well derrrr, I mean I know MTB is fun, but this time it was different. You have to take into account that I was only here because the previous weekend, things didnt quite go to plan and I felt a little...well..."ripped off" and as they say, what do you do if you fall off a horse? You get back on. So it was important for me to get back on the race bike and give it another shot. Martin and Juliane also run a great event and now that Football season is over and Saturday's are free I wanted to support these guys and get to at least one of their races.

The course at Mt Annan is really good. I had heard mixed reports of it being too rough, no flow, just another cookie cut MTBA course. But honestly, I really enjoyed riding this course. It has a little bit of everything and rewards those who ride smooth (that's code for someone who never get's out of the saddle and rolls into sharp corners!) There are a few nice little pinchy climbs, plenty of logs and stuff to roll over, a scary looking rocky drop off that isnt really that scary at all, some rock gardens, some berms, some bridges. It's a neat course and it rolls fast as it was really dry. The track is hard packed clay and you can see why the manager closes the track at the first sniff of rain. At about the half way point there is a downhill section with three big sweeping turns and every lap was a challenge to see how fast I could descend and how far I could lean the bike into these corners. I also love the fact that quite a bit of the course is open grassland so not only does it look cool, seeing a whole gang of riders steadily making their way around the snaking course, but you can sometimes check who's behind and the way RockyTrail do race numbers, it isnt too hard to work out if someone close to you is in your category.

The other fact worth mentioning was the whole vibe of the race was quite different to some others I've been to recently. Whilst everyone is riding at the best, noone was bothered by my wanting to pass and I didnt have to wait a single second all day. People were cool and encouraging as I rolled past after a friendly call of "rider back". I could say more but I wont harp about about this facet of racing, more than enough has been said already. I did have a chuckle near the end of the race when a keen bean from Ashfield Cycles team came rushing up behind Big Dog and I. I managed to time it so he got past me just before the big rocky descent and sure enough half way down as all three of us are leaping off rocks that seemed at an impossibly steep angle, he calls "track"! Dude, are you serious? Well maybe he just wanted to let Brian know he was there, but we did have a chuckle about it after the race.

Nutrition was good (Hammer gels and Heed did the trick again), the start was well..interesting as I found myself atleast 10 rows back and passed alot of riders in the first k of fireroad, I guess they were pacing themselves???

My Giant 29er Anthem is a pleasure to ride and every time I race it I fall in love with it a little bit more. It is just so reliable and easy to ride. The new Shimano XT groupset is absolutely a world apart from some other drivetrains I have had to contend with lately. The RockShox are a little hard for my liking, I'd love to go back to the oh so plush Fox RLC29 but there you go you cant have it all. The rear shock might seem like a luxury in a race like this, but I dont feel like it really slows me down and it suits my style of riding giving me just that little bit of travel in the middle setting all day. Racing Ralphs rolled fast on the clay and gave me the bite I needed on some of the loose corners.

So there you go, 6 years of racing and my first top step on the podium. Let's see if I can do it again?

Keep riding
Mike