2015 Hellfire Cup

The Hellfire Cup Stage Race is definitely one of my favorite events of the year. This time round I was lining up alongside Karen Hill, whom I coach and who is fast developing into one of Australia’s top female mtbikers. Karen and I train quite a bit together and I was looking forward to smashing out the trails with her and giving the female pair’s category a red hot go.

The event village was set-up in Kellevie within the Wielangta State Forest, around 40min drive south of Hobart. This really is a beautiful part of the world, with plenty of natural bushland and a short ride/drive to beautiful coastal views. Duncan Giblin and the Hellfire Crew have done a wonderful job in creating an awesome event. If you are wanting to experience some of Tasmania’s awesome trails and race in a friendly atmosphere, I can highly recommend planning this event into your 2017 calendar!

DAY 1.

Stage 1 of any multi-day event is always one of the toughest due to so many fresh legs and teams eager to get some initial time on their competitors. For me it was a matter of keeping up with my partner Karen, who set off at a blistering pace! My legs came good around 10-15min in and I was able to pace Karen up the first of many climbs. The course included some new sections of flowy single-track along with some of the ‘old-school’ more natural terrain. Karen and I had some great fun on the longer switch-back descent toward the end and we pushed hard to the finish. We had managed to build a handy 3min gap back to 2^nd place Eliza Kwan and Brooke Rowlands with Naomi Williams and Bec Locke not far behind.

In the arvo, we had to back up with a 4 lap relay race, using the single track set-up around the race village. I love this format of racing, as there is always some close racing with plenty of tactics coming into play. Karen and I had a close battle with Bec and Naomi. We managed to come out on top, but not by much. We were certainly in for a tough battle over the coming days!

Good fun single track surrounded the race village

DAY 2.

Day 2 greeted us with more Tasmanian sunshine. This was to be the longest stage of the 4-day event and a day when much time can be gained or lost. Karen and I had sufficiently carb-loaded the night before and were looking forward to a hard 2.5hr+/- race ahead. I had worded Karen up prior to the start on how tough the 50km loop is and to save the legs a little for that mid-way point where some nasty climbs would greet us. We paced well through the first half and rode alongside Bec and Naomi. From the md-way point we were able to gradually edge ahead up the long climbs and then really pushed our descending skills to try and gain as much time as possible. The last 10km or so of this stage was one of the highlights for me, with a mixture of tight, technical trail with some fast flowy sections and just a few short sharp hills to remind the legs to keep pushing. Karen and I rode very well as a team and managed to gain another 2min gap on Bec and Naomi.

A few of the awesome PedalLab girls I have pleasure of coaching 

DAY 3.

The Team Time Trial is probably my least favorite stage, given my lack of power on the flats! In terms of scenery though, this stage has some stunning views over Marion Bay. I didn’t get much of a chance to take a look while ‘chewing the stem’, but the post-race cruise back allowed us to enjoy the scenery a little more. Karen and I were happy enough to only concede 30sec on Power-house duo Bec and Naomi.

In the arvo, we were able to get our own back in another relay-style format race around the village trails. We were neck and neck for much of the race, and I had to dig pretty deep on my lap to take the win. We hit the sack pretty early that night with some weary legs, but looking forward to the last day’s racing.

Not much time to take on the view during the TTT

DAY 4.

The last day’s racing included 2 shorter style events with a 3km hill/descent and then a 3km flat sprint race. While the racing was short and we were unlikely to lose our 7min time gap back to 2^nd, we were also wary of mechanicals. Last year I had been in similar position, only to lose the event with a broken chain! With quick-link, chain breaker and just about any other tool on-board Karen and I weren’t going to take any chances. We ended up taking the win in the hill climb and finished 2^nd place in the flat sprint race.

Overall Karen and I were stoked to take out the elite women’s pairs category, with Bec and Naomi in 2^nd and Brooke and Eliza in 3^rd. It was also so great to see many of the PedalLab mtbikers ride so strong in all the different categories. Congrats to all! I had a truly wonderful time and will certainly be looking to make a return to TAS and take part in Hellfire 2017!

 Podium shots. Karen did a great job of spraying the champagne!