Considering I've signed up to do a 6 hour enduro solo later in the year, I figured it was time to have a crack at something a little longer than I've done in a while.
For the last couple of years, a 3 hour race has been held at Tumut - about 200km north from here, and on the map directly west of Canberra - on the other side of the Brindabella Ranges. For the first 2 years CORC ran the event, and then this year MTB Wagga took it under their wing.
The course was a great deal of fun. About a 7.7km loop, predominantly singletrail, with 2 major fireroad climbs, and one heartbreaker of a singletrack climb.
About 100 people rolled up for the race - a mix of solo and pairs teams. I hitched a lift up with Grant (my boss) and Damo (solo rider extraordinare), and off we went for a country drive.
Keeping it brief, I finished with 7 laps, which put me in 30th out of 67 riders. I snuck out for my last lap with 2 1/2 minutes left on the clock. The winning solo riders ended up with 9 laps - which is just an insane effort in my book. I was flat out trying to keep 27 - 28 minute lap times all day, and these guys were dialling off 21 and 22 minute times.
One of our local riders (Danny) ended up with 1st place in the Mens Pairs, and locals took out the women's pairs as well. Damo finished 4th, missing out on a 9th lap by less than a minute, and Grant & Brad narrowly missed out on a podium in the Mens Pairs as well.
I was pretty darn happy with my effort. Rode all day without stopping, except to change bottles, grab a gel, and one stop to clean and relube chain. Back got a bit sore, but no drugs required, and just a decent back stretch on a few of the fireroad sections kept it at bay.
Thanks MTB Wagga for putting on the show, I'll certainly be back!
1 comment:
Hey Ant- congrats on a big effort. I have toyed with the idea of the local 8-hour but just can't find it in myself to commit.
And there is just "something" about the roadie and racing- the twitch, the response and just pure speed. It's a bit like malaria- you get bitten, get infected, get sick, think you're over it and it comes back again and again.
Post a Comment