Cape to Cape 2012

30/10/12

Margaret River and the surrounding region would have to be one of my favourite destinations.  You are pretty much guaranteed perfect weather at this time of year and the spectacular coastlines, combined with rugged bushland and cute little country towns, make this a perfect race destination.  After having had so much fun at last year’s Cape to Cape event, I certainly wasn’t going to give up on the opportunity to once again take part…even if it did mean some added pain and suffering for the already weary legs.

Bike packed and ready to go for yet another race trip

This year’s event had attracted quite a few of the fastest riders in the Nation. From the Anytime Fitness / Trek team we had Olympians Bec Henderson and Dan McConnell as well as myself, Master’s rider John Henderson and young guns Harry Herne and Brendan Johnston.  The Giant, Rockstar racing and Torq teams were all well represented and many other talented riders made the trip to WA, including last year’s winner Andy Blair.  With a mixture of fast road-style sections, some pretty sweet single track and a few climbs thrown in, there was bound to be some tight racing.

For me, it was always going to be a tough ask trying to back-up 2 MTB stage races within a 2 week period.  I guess having only 3 days recovery following a taxing 6-day stage race, combined with 20hrs of travel, was not the most ideal preparation going into this year’s Cape to Cape event.  I did give myself the best possible chance of recovery using all the tricks of the trade such as compression, ice baths, massage and refuelling techniques.  However I knew within the first km of day 1, when the heavy legs would not respond and the accelerations were just not happening, that maybe I was asking a little much of the body!  Saying this, I was determined to give it 100%.  I knew that day one was always going to be the hardest, due to so many fresh legs, and if I could not lose too much time on the other female riders, then day 2 onward I could try to start to work my way up the field.  Stage racing can be good this way. If you have one bad day, it doesn’t necessarily mean than your race is over. I think that most riders will experience at least one ‘off day’ within a tour and if you can keep this in mind and limit your losses on these days then you can certainly change things around.  The trick is to remain positive and “never give in”.

I probably should have listened to my own advice going into day 2.  About an hour into this stage, my legs seemed to give out and my engine seemed to be running on empty.  I stopped for around 5-10min at the halfway point feed zone and drank a good 500ml of Torq energy while I weighed up the options in my head.  I could; 1), pull the pin now 2), continue to try and hammer through or 3), ride at a more leisurely pace and just enjoy the trails.  I made my decision fairly quickly once Mick Ross and Chris Southcott from ‘Flow’ magazine and my teammate Bec Henderson came along.  They seemed to be having a laugh and really enjoying the race so I tagged onto the back of them and rode through to the end of stage 2.  I think there are times when you know that you have pushed the body to the absolute limits and to continue on pushing these limits could prove to be the wrong decision in the long-run.  I certainly didn’t want to make the mistake I did while racing overseas earlier this year and wind-up suffering more long-term fatigue. So the remaining 2 stages of Cape to Cape for me were completed at a much more leisurely pace and I had an absolute blast riding the ever-improving trails and even getting more of a chance to take in the magnificent scenery of WA. I’m so glad I chose to ride on and treat the event not so much as a race, but rather a chance to really enjoy the event as a whole.

A few of the riders I coach had been training for this event for a while and for me it was a great chance to see them race so well and witness first-hand all the hard work paying off!  Nick Morgan and Harry Herne faced a hugely competitive field in the open men’s field, while Daniel Skerry also had his work cut-out in the master’s division.  I was very proud of the way all these guys rode throughout the event.  It was Harry’s first ever stage race and he learnt a great deal over the 4 days. He started off the Tour on a bit of a downer, having perhaps not the best pre-race nutrition.  However, after having a good chat to him and sorting through the issues, he turned things around over the next couple of days and rode quite competitively against guys with many more years’ experience.  Like-wise Nick Morgan had a few ups and downs over the course of the event, but overall put in a solid performance and put in a few gutsy attacks throughout.  I was particularly happy to see Daniel Skerry perform so well in this event as I know he has trained mighty hard over the last few months while juggling quite a stressful full-time job. The masters division was hugely competitive this year with first place getter, Jon Gregg, coming in 5^th overall!  Daniel rode a faultless race and should be very proud of his 4^th placing, only a few minutes down on 3^rd.  Fair to say, I gain just as much enjoyment from witnessing those I coach perform at their best as I do myself!

So for me the event turned into more of a solid training 4-day block than a race. I had particular fun on stages 3 and 4, when I rode with my great friend Niki Fisher.  Swapping turns over the road sections, and having a laugh through the single track, made the event all the more enjoyable and it brought back some fond memories of when we rode the Cape Epic in South Arica together a couple of years back.

To be honest, I think even if I had some ‘great legs’ for this event, I really don’t think I could have competed with the power Jenny Faye displayed over the 4 days!  I think a few of the strong male competitors in the field felt a little disheartened when Jen continued to sit on front of the group as gaps formed and many wheels were dropped behind her!  Jenny won all 4 stages and certainly showed why she is one of the leading female mtbikers in the country right now.

The men’s racing was quite a bit tighter.  Lachlan Norris had only a 1min lead on Any Blair on the start of day 4.  This last stage ended in a sprint finish with Andy Blair taking victory; however it was not quite enough to take the overall victory away from Lachie.

Tony Tucknott was awesome on the microphone throughout the event. Here he talks to the open men and women place getters

I can safely say these last 2 weeks have been some of the most strenuous racing I have ever completed and therefore it has proved to be a fantastic pre-season training period.  I’m looking forward to a much needed break this week and then it will be onto some high power training in preparation for the 2012-13 National XC Season.

Post-race with Jenny Fay. Relax time!