Buller National Round 1, 2013

25/1/13

Mount Buller played host to the first round of 2013 National Series over the weekend.  I have been happy with my preparation for the series this year and was certainly looking for a solid result.  I was also extra excited to be racing under the new race colours of Target/Trek.  Team owner, Richard Peil, has put in a huge effort to bring together some of the most talented young riders from around Australia as well as some of us older riders already riding at the elite level.  Both Target and Trek will be putting in some massive support for our team throughout this next year, with the aim of getting our younger riders to that next level of competition. As a coach, I am particularly excited to be acting as mentor with such upcoming talent!

Unfortunately for me, the racing didn’t pan out the way I had wanted as a slit side-wall of my rear tyre has ended my chance of defending the XC series.  I guess I can’t complain too loudly after having experienced a whole year of racing without any bike issues.  Unfortunately mechanical issues can play a big part in our sport and I was probably a little complacent going into this race not taking any spares.  However, had I had a spare tube, I’m not sure that it would have stayed up anyway given the reasonable size hole in the tyre.

The race had started well for me, as I slipped into the first single track in 3^rd wheel just behind Swiss star Nathalie Schneiter.  Nat has decided to spend much of her off-Season training in Oz. This gives us Australian girls an awesome opportunity to race one of the best in the World.  Nathalie finished an incredible 6^th place in the First World Cup of the Season last year, so she sure knows how to ride a bike!

Nathalie Schneitter limbering up before race start. The trails were dusty out at Buller. Holly Harris blitzed in the U19’s

Teammate, Peta Mullens, had her usual fast start and led Nathalie and I down the first hill, then the down turned into a steady hill climb and the 3 of us opened up a gap back to Kat O’Shea and Tory Thomas.  I felt quite comfortable at this stage, but didn’t want to push the pace too early on, given the long race ahead on a physically demanding course.  At this stage I was just content to sit with the leaders and probably look at trying to get away on the next lap.  The flat tyre happened at the start of lap 2 and I never got to really test out the legs.  My teammate Peta, managed to drop Nathalie soon after and continued on to secure the win.  Nathalie hung on to 2^nd place just ahead of a fast finishing Tory Thomas.

So in frustration, I threw another wheel on the bike and took myself off to Cornhill to let some anger out on the trailsJ

The following day all of us competed in the point to point race, which was to include the well-known stone-fly loop out to Mt Stirling.  I had probably one of the worst night’s sleeps, having gone to bed with feelings of disappointment after the XC race.  I knew as soon as the gun fired for the start of the P2P that the body was tired and I would have to give it everything to shake off the in-form Peta Mullens.  As it turned out, she was climbing a lot quicker than me and I was descending a lot quicker.  The lead therefore swapped a few times throughout the race, but as is generally the case, the climber came out on top and I had to settle for 2^nd just under a minute behind.  Tory rode a consistent race to come in 3^rd.

So a DNF in my first XC National Round was certainly not what I was after, however my main goal races for the Domestic Season are the National XC Champs in mid Feb and the Oceania Champs in mid-March.  I do feel that the form is building and I am on track to give my best possible performance in these 2 races.

My disappointing weekend of racing was made up for with all the awesome results those I coach achieved.  Young Holly Harris took out the U19’s category, Karlee Gibson finished 4th in this category in her first ever National Round, Brett Kellett won the masters, Nick Bird won the Ultra Masters, Mel Anset finished 5^th in elite women, Luke Fetch 5^th in Elite men and Nick Morgan rode impressively in the eliminator to take 2^nd place elite men.  So all up it was a very successful weekend of racing by Pedallab riders which sure made the coach proud!

On a side-note, I am still marked by the Buller experience with march-fly bites scattered all the way up my legs and arms.

Karlee Gibson had traveled with family all the way from Townsville. Nick Morgan showed some awesome power in the eliminator. Podium of the P2P race