Oceania Championships - Dunedin NZ

Well, it has been a hectic past few weeks of racing, travelling and training, as well as getting all my affairs in order before the 6 trip to Europe. I hope i got everything done...too bad if i didn't because there is little i can do now from the Qantas Club in Melbourne apart from continue to smash through their entire supply of smoked salmon.

The Oceania Champs in Dunedin last weekend was a rather pleasant way to top up the UCI points before heading to Europe. I had a somewhat unwanted stress when trusty Qantas lost our luggage and my bike (i'd better get more salmon, they owe me). Luckily, Rosie had once again outdone herself with the accommodation so at least i had a lovely view of Otago Harbour to look at while i waited patiently for my bike to finally arrive. It eventually showed up the day before the race.

With some tough climbing and plenty of fast smooth pine forest single track, the course was heaps of fun and well suited to the euro-veterans Dan Mac and Lachy. As predicted, those two went out hard and no one could go with them up the first climb. VDP was in third and i was just back with AJ and Mike Northcot. With the 5 lap race including plenty of climbing, i was trying to save a little for the 2nd half, but with Northcot sliping into 4th and Aj right behind i was pushing pretty hard...then disaster....a flat tyre. I couldn't believe my luck, there were about 2 rocks on the entire track, how could this happen?!?!!? Anyway, after a disappointingly long pit stop i was back in the race, sitting in about 12th(?) and struggling to regain my rhythm. I no longer felt smooth and i was nursing the rear wheel which i had only managed to get up to about 20 psi. I battled back to 9th before the finish managing to salvage a valuable 75 uci points. I'm still really happy with my form, and i am glad i have got my annual flat tyre out of the way early this year.

I am feeling a bit better prepared heading to Europe this year with a few k's, a couple of stage races and a couple of strong races under my belt. Hopefully i can settle in over there and have a good ride in the first world cup at Darlby Forest in the UK. However, I'm not sure how i will be feeling this weekend at the UK national series opener in Sherwood Pines, wait and see i suppose.

Ciao.

P.S. i have now established that it is possible to eat too much smoked salmon.

Team Launch & Stromlo National Round

On the "berm track"

Cal above Hammerhead

Me rolling in towards Hammerhead

U23 National series podium: (L-R) Aaron Benson, Paul VDP, Cal Britten

Paul VDP ran straight to Rosie to share some of his champagne (what a gentleman)

National series final Elite men podium: (L-R) Hendo, Macca, Me

Elite mens national series podium: (L-R) Hendo, Norri, Me

Wow, what a great weekend at Mt Stromlo for the Swell-Redshift Mountain Bike Team. It started Thursday with our team launch, which attracted quite a lot of attention from TV, print and internet media (See the cyclingnews story here). As for the racing, the National Series Final was a great success. The juniors, Cameron and Trenton, got 2nd and 3rd, with Cameron taking out the series and Trenton back on the podium after a long recovery from breaking both wrists. I managed 3rd in the elite mens race, sneaking into 3rd in the series, and Cal was the 5th U23 and 3rd in the series.

The start of the race was fast with Norri lighting up the first fire road climb up Ramsey Street. I was happy to try and limit the speed (and the heart rate) and I went into the first single track in 6th wheel behind Macca, Norri, Hendo, Paul VDP and Peter Hatton. A mistake from Hatto at the bottom of the climb allowed me to moved up one spot, then VDP and I worked hard to stay in contact with Norri and Hendo. By the end of the first lap I was on my own in 4th, dangling off the back of Hendo, with a group of Carlso, VDP, Hatto and Aido chasing me down. That group bridged to me by the bottom of the big fire road but the chase must have cost them because no one actually came around me. The slight tailwind up Ramsey St was to my advantage and I tried to put the group under pressure as I didn't want any passengers. Carlso was the only one that stayed with me and we spent the rest of the race no more than about 5 seconds apart. Carlso (the flying ginger ball bag) is a good friend of mine, so racing so close to him was heaps of fun, but since he is probably the best bike handler in Aussie XC it came with the added pressure to get off the brakes on the D. At the start of the 4th lap, we were 60sec down on Macca, with Hendo in second and Norris was on the side of the track fixing a flat (unfortunately for him, very far away from the tech zone). Having seen at the world champs how hard it is to win a sprint from behind, I knew I had to try and unload "the Ginge", so on climb on the 4th lap I tightened the screws on him and manage to gain a tiny advantage of perhaps 5 seconds, but by the end of that lap he was right back on my wheel. I didn't want to risk making him mad, because if the "Red-mist" came out I would be a goner for sure, but I had no choice but to try and attack again up the climb on the 5th and final lap. This time it was less successful as I started to cramp and I had to get off and run the steepest section of the cardiac climb. All I had on the second half of the course was what is now known as a "Nino gap"* (see footnote). I was punching every single open section and limiting the use of my brakes to the absolute minimum. Coming into the last corner, he was still right there and I was a bit worried because Carslo is known to have a good sprint. I kicked hard out of the corner and hoping that was enough, I looked over my shoulder. The only problem was, I looked over the wrong one!! The ginge was coming up the other side! I kicked again and scraped cross the line 0.1 seconds up.

It is not so common to have a race where you are pushed so hard. In the process, Josh and I recorded our quickest lap of the race on the final lap. We took time out of Macca (1st) and Hendo (2nd) to close the gaps to 41 and 10 seconds respectively at the finish line. It was an exciting end the the National Series, which Norri took out despite his flat tyre, Hendo 2nd and me in 3rd. I feel like a bit of a dog because not only did I pip Josh for the 3rd podium spot, that result also snuck me into 3rd in the series, just ahead of Aido. Sorry boys ;)

Now we are all off to Dunedin NZ for the Oceania champs, which will be the last race for most before the annual pilgrimage to the Northern hemisphere.

*The oxford dictionary defines the "Nino gap" as: a very small advantage in a cycling race, which at first glance looks as if the riders are actually together. The trailing rider is not quite on the wheel and the time gap is never more than about 2 seconds. So called after the thrilling battle between Nino Schurter and Julien Absalon at the 2009 Mountian Bike World Championships.

DT Swiss Mountains to Beach

Nick & I at the top of Thredbo

Me heading of on the stage #1 ITT

It was an cold morning on tuesday that started with a ride on the ski tube to Perisher

Nick & I chasing in the final stage

The final beach section

Happy to arrive in Narooma

The DT Swiss Mountains to Beach is a 5 day stage race, held over 385km from the roof of Australia at Thredbo to the NSW Sapphire Coast. Representing Redshift Racing at the 2010 event was myself and my team mate Nick Both. Looking back at the 6 race stages, I am content that we did everything we could to take control of the race, but once again the overall win has eluded me and I will have to be happy with 2^nd place.

On day one, it was tough to extract myself from my cosy bed in the Thredbo Alpine Hotel for the freezing chairlift ride up to Eagle’s Nest. The race started with a 12km individual time trial from the top of Thredbo ski resort down to the village. This year’s longer course and addition of a large climb did not seem to suit me so well and I wasn’t able to repeat my stage win from last year as I came in 2^nd, giving Jason English an early lead in the general classification. In contrast, the afternoon stage at Lake Crackenback went exactly to plan with a group of about 6 riders still together going into the final kilometres. I knew that I wanted to be at the front in the last few kilometres, which is primarily single track, so with about 3km to go I launched an attack. From there, all I had to do was defend my position and I was able to cross the line ahead of Andy Fellows and Jason.

Day two was the 80km race stage from Perisher to Buckenderra on the shores of Lake Eucumbene. Over some iconic scenery of Blue Cow and down through Guthega and Island bend, the main group of 5 was all together and everyone seemed to be saving themselves for the big climbs. The day’s biggest climb - the 400m ascent up to the Snowy Plans soon whittled the group down to 3 with Nick Menager and Brad Morton dropping off leaving only Jason, Andy Fellows and I in the front. I was feeling like I didn’t have terrific legs on this day and it was all I could do to crest the hill on the wheel of Andy and Jason, and hope to recover on the flats. Unfortunately when we hit the next climb of Nimmo Hill, both Andy and I were unable to match Jason’s acceleration. Deciding that we were now teammates for the day, Andy and I pushed hard over the top and set off down the other side in hot pursuit. Nimmo Hill is a super fast and fun fire road descent, and Andy and I were hooting at each other all the way down. Unfortunately for Andy he blew out a corner right near the bottom. I hesitated about waiting for him for a while as we would be helpful to each other over the final 25km of open fire road, but I decided to push on as Jason was still down the road and I had to limit my losses. I eventually dragged myself into Buckenderra 6 minutes behind Jason, and Andy was further 4 minutes adrift.

Day three was the relatively short day with only 26km of racing, but it was made tough by the 5:15am race start! The course was 2 laps around a predominately fire road circuit with a few short climbs, and plenty of erosion gullies and sand traps to keep us all on our toes. Smashing around rutted trails in the dark can be daunting, but with my new Radical Lights strapped to my handlebars and helmet, I had more lumens than I knew what to do with, and I was having a ball. I made sure I was always well positioned on or near the front of the main group as there was a high chance that a crash could cause a split in the bunch. It was all going well until the climb at about 5 kilometres when Jason surged and the group exploded. Andy Fellows was the only one to stay with him and I was left on my own to chase. The two of them worked together until Andy attacked to take a well deserved win, Jason was 2^nd and I was 3^rd.

After a good nights sleep in my own bed I was ready for the “Verofit Big Day Out”; an 89km marathon from Cooma to Yowrie. Trailing Jason English by 7 minutes and sitting in 2^nd position on the general classification, this was my last big chance to make any major time gains, so I gambled everything on this stage. At the 29km mark we hit the steep 400m ascent of Numeralla Mountain and it was time for me to attack. I knew it was a very long way to the finish so I did just enough to get a small gap over the top and then worked very hard to build a lead through the following kilometres. This was always going to be tough as the next 25kms were primarily fast open fire road. Jason was behind in the main group chasing with Andy F, but thankfully they didn’t have too many allies that were keen to chase me with my team mate, Nick Both, as well as Nick Menager and Brad Morton getting dragged along for the ride. I was pushing hard as I approached the big descent down Conway’s Gap thinking I could recover on the 700m plunge from the escarpment down to the Wadbilliga River, but after the recent rain it was quite rough and I found it difficult to rest. With 10km of undulating terrain before the final 300m climb of the day, I started to ease the pace off a little; having smashed through nearly 3 litres of Verofit Electrolyte, it was starting to be a long day and I wanted to have something left for the final climb. Meanwhile Nick, who was in a perfect position on capitalise on Andy and Jason’s chase, flatted on the way down Conway’s Gap and was no longer in contention for the stage. This left English to escape from the front of the chase group and he bridged across to me at the base of the last climb. Feeling far from fresh I was unable to stay with him on the hill and I had to be content with 2^nd on the stage. I was happy that I had ridden a smart and aggressive race; any other tactic would have resigned me to 2^nd overall. The gamble didn’t pay off, but I didn’t leave any questions unanswered.

The final stage from Bermagui to Narooma was always going to be a big ask for me after a long solo breakaway the day before, but Nick was starting to find his legs as the week went on and we felt that we were a good chance at taking the stage. The first 15kms involved a couple of laps around the Bermagui mountain bike park and it was easy to pick who the XC racers were. Nick and I were able to gap the lead group on every descent and make them chase back up the climbs. We left the park with a small advantage and pushed on up the coast to Camel Rock. From here the race was neutralised for 30 minutes in order for us to negotiate the mouth of Wallaga Lake that had opened to the sea due to the recent rains. This was the worst possible timing for us as Jason had just flatted and he wasn’t carrying a tube. The 30 minutes of neutral riding allowed him enough time to borrow a tube off someone and fix the flat without losing any time. After the neutral section the bunch of Nick and I, Menager, Jason and Fellows regrouped and Nick and I took turns attacking off the front. When we hit the first beach section we were faced with a creek crossing that came up to our chests. The sand on the other side was super soft and difficult to ride. I would find a hard section for a bit and then suddenly hit a soft section and have to run. Once I got my head around the line choices, my huge 2.25” Maxxis tyres kept me floating on top of the sand, but English now had a gap and for Nick and I the chase was on. He managed to build a small lead which blew out in a moment of confusion when he apparently didn't hear the marshal telling him to walk across a bridge, so he was able to ride a 200m section that everyone else had to walk. From there we weren’t able to bridge the gap and ended up finishing a slightly disappointing 2^nd and 3^rd.

One stage win and 2^nd overall was not quite the result I was hoping for, but I finished the week strongly and the form should be good now going into the Oceania Championships in Dunedin, NZ. For Nick and I, it was our first race on the new Felt Six Team bikes and they worked perfectly. It is the kind of bike on which you can immediately feel comfortable and they were the perfect rig for such a tough stage race.

Special thanks to our soigneur Rosie, who drove for us and cooked our meals. Also a big thanks to Swell Design Group, as well as Thredbo Resort, Felt Bikes, 2XU clothing, KOM Cyclery, Verofit nutrition, Radical Lights and Maxxis tyres for making this week of racing affordable, comfortable, fast, fun, nutritious & illuminating. Of course thanks also to the entire Wildhorizons team for putting on such a wonderful event, it was an especially good effort to sort out a rideable course for the last day considering that mother nature had resulted in the Bega Valley Shire being officially declared a natural disaster zone only 2 weeks prior to the event. I am looking forward to next year’s event, it was great this year to catch up with many of the friendly faces that I met at last years event, as well as meeting plenty of new people. Hopefully they will all be back again next year for the 2011 Mountains to Beach.