National Rounds 1 & 2; Mt Taylor, Stromlo

While I sit on board a plane to WA for Round’s 3 and 4 of the National Series, I thought it about time I write a blog post on the first couple of rounds! So far this season has been a successful one with 2 wins from 2 in the national series as well as an Alpine Enduro and Hellfire Cup Stage race win. I really need to thank the following sponsors for their huge amount of ongoing support:

CANYON BIKES, SRAM AUSTRALIA, YAKIMA, SHOTZ NUTRITION, ADIDAS EYEWAER, 4SHAW. STABLE BASE STUDIO, EIGHTYONESPICES

NATIONAL ROUND 1; MT TAYLOR

The 2015-16 National Series kicked off very early with Round 1 at Mt Taylor, held Mid-November. It was a little disappointing to have a relatively small women’s field racing; however it was understandable given a few of my key competitors had only just returned from racing internationally.  Saying this, the racing was still definitely going to be tough, with many of the younger girls getting stronger every year.

I haven’t spent a huge amount of time in East Gippsland, Victoria. Heading inland from Bairnsdale, the terrain became undulating and the bushland more rugged, making for great mtbiking territory. Perhaps the highlight of out weekend away for me was staying ‘out bush’ in a little log cabin with no phone/internet reception. Nothing like some forced peace and quiet J

I knew my race legs were not too bad, having competed in the Hellfire stage race a week prior. I also knew though, they could be a tad tired with only 6 days to recover in b/w events. I definitely struggled a little to match the speed of Young Em Parkes and Holly Harris at the start of the race and was happy enough to sit in 3^rd wheel for much of the first lap. Once the ‘old legs’ warmed up though I was able to make a move and gain a handy lead heading into lap 2. I kept a fairly consistent pace for the next couple of laps, slowly gaining more of a gap. At one point I looked back and caught glimpse of Karen Hill in 2^nd place. I have been coaching Karen for the last couple of years. She has definitely improved in leaps and bounds so it is awesome to now see her mixing it at the pointy end!

Lap 4’s feed proved a little clumsy with a dropped bottle. I decided it was worth losing a little time to stop and pick it up. Lucky for me, this race course played to my strengths with quite a bit of climbing each lap. I think my Garmin recorded 850m for the full race which is quite lot for 100min of racing. So, in the end I finished up a few minutes clear of 2^nd place which Karen claimed in her best ever result nationally! It was also great to see Eliza Kwan finish in 6^th place and young Mikayla Wolfe take silver in the U19’s category.

PedalLab performance of the day went to Steve Cusworth who placed 5^th in the elite men’s category. Steve rate of improvement has been huge over the last 6 months and I’m sure he will turn a few heads this summer!

NATIONAL ROUND 2; MT STROMLO

The nerves were definitely turned up a notch for Round 2 of the National series, due not only to the return of classy riders such as Peta Mullens and Bec Henderson, but also to the return of one of the most technically demanding XC courses on the circuit. I was a little unsure of how well I would tackle ‘cardiac climb’, the infamous ‘Hammer Head’ section and the ‘3 Sisters’ on my hard-tail. I was pleasantly surprised in practice though, of how well the Grand Canyon 29er climbed and descended over these technical sections and looked forward to the following day’s battle.

It was great to have 3 PedalLab riders on front row in the elite women’s field, with myself, Eliza Kwan and Karen Hill

Local favorite Bec Henderson pushed the pace from the gun and I knew she meant business. My legs definitely felt better than at Mt Taylor and I was able to sneak into 3^rd wheel heading up the first single track climb. The pace slowed and I was able to gain my breath back, if only briefly before the next open fire-road section where the pace was on again. Up cardiac and down Hammer-head for the first time, Bec, Peta and I were able to gain a gap over the rest of the field. Halfway into lap 2, I made a move on the other 2 girls and pushed the pace through the technical sections to gain an advantage. I was able to then settle into a manageable pace for the remaining 4 laps and just tried to stay focused on riding smooth. Stromlo is definitely a course you need to keep reminding yourself of staying focused on the track and obstacles ahead. I was happy to make it up cardiac each lap without having to waste too much energy. I did however have a silly crash at the bottom of hammer head when I lost concentration and perhaps looked at those sharp rocks a little too closely!  Luckily I didn’t lose too much time re-mounting and by race finish collected the victory over Peta Mullens only 45sec behind.

Hammerhead required full concentration; Scott Bowden is steadily improving form with his 5th place in elite men; Tony Tucknott had an awesome ride to win silver in Masters 5+

Again, I was proud of all the PedalLab riders on such a tough course. I reckon ride of the day went to Tony Tucknott who finished 2^nd in 5+ Masters. Tony is very well known in the mtb community having organized so many great events and provided great commentating on the mic. It is awesome that he is giving himself a chance to train and race this Season

I am very much looking forward to this weekend’s racing over in Pemberton WA. With 6 weeks of solid training since the last Round in Canberra, I’m sure my competitors will be that much fitter and I’m expecting the racing to be tight!