12/2/12
See some SBS footage of the event here, and no there wasn’t a hurricane in Canberra?!!
I always knew I’d be in for some tough racing at the national Series round 3 in Canberra! Local young gun Bec Henderson was going to be hard to beat on her home trails and I was looking forward to some fast racing.
The heavens opened as we drove into the Capital on the Thursday arvo. I had the mud tyres packed so i wasn’t too concerned and was kind of looking forward to a more technical race if the conditions continued. Over the course of the weekend however, the weather cleared for some perfect racing conditions.
The Super D was super fun!! Using some awesome, tight single trail, the track started right up the top of Stromlo near the Observatory and wound its way down to the bottom car park and finish area. I wasn’t too concerned about this race as i wanted to keep the legs fresh for the all important XC the following morning. However once i got into the descent I couldn’t help but push a little harder than originally planned! Bec showed her technical prowess to win the stage and i was more than content with a 2nd place.
I have to say that I was quite disappointed in the choice of XC course. Stromlo has some of the best trails around, however the trails chosen lacked any sort of decent climbing or technical difficulty. The course however was a good one for spectators as they could see quite a bit of the racing. The start of the elite women’s race seemed to be awfully fast!! I struggled to hold wheels as we went through the start loop and I think just managed to get into the first single-track in 4th wheel. This was less than ideal as my main rival had got in first wheel and managed a sizable gap before I could get around into 2nd place.
‘Not to worry’, i told myself as i had planned to pace myself through for some even lap times. I have to say though that Bec was certainly looking the goods and had built a good lead before she unfortunately flatted. Bec actually continued to have problems with both rear and front flat tyres which allowed me to take the lead and push on to take the win. I guess you never want to win due to someone else’s misfortune and it would have been good to have a fair battle with Bec. However i was real happy in beating the other girls fair and square as i had thought I would struggle a whole lot more on this flatter style course.
So i think that in the Point to point race the following day, bec had a point to prove. She and I had a really good race. I really enjoyed the more technical trails in this stage and it was great to follow Bec’s lines for the majority of the way. She attacked me on the hill climb out of the feed zone when i think i had a real energy low. I jammed down a Torq gel at this point and my energy levels did lift 5min or so later, however Bec showed her great form to take the win by 30sec in the end.
All in all, I was content with my form at this round, particularly as I hadn’t really tapered properly and the course hadn’t really suited my riding style. So, I was certainly feeling ready to attack the National Champs in 2 weeks time!
