Prologue. Langkawi International MTB

15/10/12

Today started at 3.30am for me, with the body-clock obviously still wired for Melbourne time.  Although, for those that don’t know me, such an early start isn’t totally out of character. Around 3hrs later I dug into some rice porridge and then a few rounds of toast, from the breakfast buffet.  With all you can eat style meals during this event, I’m sure I will be going home a few kg’s heavier!

The prologue wasn’t due to start until 3pm in the arvo, so I decided on a morning spin to keep the legs ticking over.  This proved to be a wet one, with a downpour starting just as I rolled out and of course clearing up around 5min after getting back…I seem to have a knack for timing. I then had a restful few hours before heading out at around 2.30pm to get a good 45min w/up

I had decided on a ‘comfortably hard’ approach to the prologue.  With around 10 world class XC riders in the race, 3 of which placed top 15 at the recent World Championships, I wasn’t expecting a podium finish and I certainly didn’t want to totally smash myself before even really starting the event. I got down to the race start in time to do a couple of laps of the course. It was quite a technical one with plenty of corners, a few deep mud patches and some slippery roots. The locals were out lining the course and there was plenty of cheering going on.  Speaking of cheering, I felt at an advantage here, with a bunch of Ozzie physio’s out around the course supporting me and the other Australians.  These physio students are from Charles Sturt Uni in Albury Victoria, and are providing a fantastic massage and injury prevention service for the entire race.

The fantastic crew of physio students and their highly regarded teacher Tim

My turn came around soon enough and so the pain began. Even though not going all-out, the heat and humidity certainly made breathing more difficult than usual. The course took around 6-7min riding at near max pace, suiting those with the highest Vo2 powers.  I had a clean run and was fairly happy with how I rode.  Italian, Eva Lechner claimed top spot, with Lea Davidson from America in 2^nd and the Swiss rider Nathalie Schneitter in 3^rd. I finished up in 8^th, 13 seconds behind Slovenian Blaza Klemencic who recently placed 10^th at World Championships.

Looking pretty smashed!                                                                                     Nathalie Schneitter and Lea Davidson warming up

So again it’s time to rest and take in some more carbs in preparation for Stage 1 tomorrow when we tackle 65km in the muddy rainforest.