Thredbo, National Round 2, 2013

13/2/13

The week leading into National Round 2 was just a tad more eventful than I would have liked. A snake bite and consequent 10hr stay in Dandenong Hospital was certainly not my intention when I headed out to the trails of Lysterfield last Tuesday!  After a cruizy w/up and a couple of tempo paced efforts I was halfway into a solid threshold stint, when I came around a corner and went to bunny hop what looked like a stick lying length ways across the track.  Next thing I knew a snake was rearing up and I felt a sharp sting on the right shin bone.  Fearing the worst, I braked to a stop and peeled down the sock to reveal 2 tiny blood spots. Needless to say, my legs turned to jelly and admittedly I panicked just a little!  Luckily the ambulance seemed to arrive in no time, as I’m not quite sure about my bandage-wrapping technique…although the 4Shaw socks did serve the purpose very well. Over the next 12hrs my vital signs were monitored and 2-3 vials of blood were taken every few hrs. Each time the test results proved negative and it looked as though the snake had not bitten deep enough for venom to reach the system. So thank goodness no anti-venom was required and I live to tell the tail.

My bandaging techniques need a little improvement!

It has been a few years since I’d been to Thredbo and I was very much looking forward to visiting Australia’s highest slopes once more.  We stopped off for a quick dip in the Hume weir, to break up the 7hr journey and to freshen the legs up a little.

A quick dunk in the Hume Weir

The eliminator race was held on the Friday afternoon. This sprint style racing offers those with high power outputs a time to shine.  I generally struggle with the aggression and pure speed of the eliminator race; however I was determined to give it my all. My goal was to get into the final. Unfortunately I bowed out in the semi-final as I was unable to match the power of teammates Bec Henderson and Peta Mullens.  These girls went on to finish first and 2^nd in the final, so a great start to the weekend for team Target Trek.

‘Arm pump’ down the stairs in the eliminator

Thredbo Village sits at 1500m altitude and the thin air is certainly noticed. When racing in Thredbo it is always quite important to pace yourself well, as heart rate generally sits 2 or 3 beats higher for the same perceived exertion.  Saying this, I decided to stick to young Bec Henderson’s wheel as she attacked up the first major climb on lap one of the XC race.  I felt fairly comfortable, and I knew she would be the one to beat. So we dropped into the rock garden together and then onto a rather gnarly gravel fire-road descent.  The next rocky climb caused me some trouble when I tried changing from the big chain ring to the small.  This caused some severe chain-suck and I was forced to jump off the bike and manually place the chain back on.  The next few laps I battled with a chain that seemingly didn’t want to position correctly and I slipped back to 4^th position.  Luckily the course wasn’t one that required too many severe gear changes and I was able to nurse the bike through and make my way back up into 3^rd position after passing Tory Thomas who has made a strong come-back into the race scene this year! I don’t know that I would have been able to stick to the fast pace of Bec Henderson anyway, as she had a convincing 3min gap by race finish.  Overall I was quite happy with my race result and the way I rode. It was an awesome day for team Target Trek with a clean sweep of the podium.  My other teammate, and current series leader, Peta Mullens rode a strong consistent race to claim 2^nd position. So it was smiles all round

It’s always hard to ‘amp’ yourself up for racing the day after the main XC race.  However, the point to point race was sounding like a fun, generally flatter-style course with many sections of flowy single track intersected with flat fire-roads.  This race started from Lake Crackenback about 16km North of Thredbo.  With the pristine lake surrounded by typical Australian bush, I can see why many chose to get married here!

At 9.30am we were set off in out categories for the 3^rd and final race of the weekend.  Kath O’Shea from Team Torq set a fast pace through the first half a lap. Peta, Bec and I followed closely behind and then there was a small gap back to Tory Thomas.  On one of the small uphill pinches, Bec stalled just a little and I accidently bumped into her rear wheel causing me to topple over.  Although it only took me 10sec or so to get back on, this caused a small gap that I was unable to close, particularly as the course opened up into a fire-road section.  I settled into my own rhythm in the hope that the 3 out front may tire over the next couple of laps and I could regain contact.  By the end of lap 1, I had caught back up to Kath and got passed her, however my 2 teammates out front had a sizeable lead and I had to settle for 3^rd place once again.

Once again Pedllab riders impressed the coach over the weekend!  Nick Morgan has stepped up into the elite category this Season and is mixing it with the best.  His pure power showed in the eliminator event where he placed 5^th. He then went on to finish a respectable 7^th in the XC and 9^th in the P2P.   Young Holly Harris continued her dominance in the U19’s, placing 2^nd in the eliminator and then 1^st in both XC and P2P races. She is currently leading the U19’s National Series. Mel Anset is placing 4^th in the elite women’s overall series after another consistent weekend’s racing. Harry Herne finished his first ever National XC event in the competitive U23 division and in doing so placed 14^th.

Pedallab Riders Harry Herne, Holly Harris, Mel Anset and Nick Morgan

So after a busy week of near death experiences and the racing at altitude, it is now time to freshen up and sharpen the legs for the National Champs in 2 weeks’ time.