No
snakes or wallabies, but loads of pinches made for a tough outing on a 7hr
format. Sydney’s own XC track is a
breath of fresh air for those of us who are accustomed to travelling further
afield for XC fun. Whist the track is
good, it's quite unlike any of the other courses around.
“What
are all those lumps in there for?”, queried an exhausted Cory at the
finish. I find myself in agreement. Whilst the designers have got a lot of stuff
right, perhaps their worst offence was overpopulating the track with rollers
that interrupted flow, detracting a little from lumps that gravity allows one
to have fun with. There is already a
deceptive amount of climbing in the 12 km loop, and the additional lumps just
exacerbate the pinch-climbiness of what is otherwise good singletrack. So much singletrack, in fact, that eating and
passing (even post haircut) were sometimes challenging. Eating especially.
On
a personal note I didn’t have the best of outings (5th in Masters,
and approx. 15th solo outright), so far from the pointy end that for
the first time in a 7hr race I got lapped by the top two Masters category place
getters (hats off Jason and Jamie) in what was a pretty stacked field. I
think the 3peaks form has finally waned.
My
saddlebag slipped to the back wheel early in the affair, and then I burnt a
little too hot (on a warm morning) working my way back through the field. Drinking was restricted to the short but
lumpy fenceline section, and the horrible paddock stretch of pit lane itself. During the race I consumed half a banana and
some slices of watermelon, but had absolutely no appetite for gels, so ended up
consuming none. I was still getting
through a small bottle a lap, but in hindsight not taking on enough in the carb
department.
But
the bike of choice for the day was terrific – first race outing for the 26er
Anthem in 2 years. So much easier to
pilot than the 29er hardtail on the twist and pump segments. It was a nice day, the vibe was friendly, and
there were other Soggies out on course to rub shoulders with. At various kiss points I could see Anita and
Ham gradually running me down, and by half distance Anita passed easy as you
like. She and Ham just missed the podium
in the Mixed Pairs. And Mikey had
his first 7hr solo experience, which unfortunately coincided with battling a
leaky tire for a couple of laps. 7hr
events are tough enough without having to deal with mechanical issues,
something I’ve luckily avoided thus far.
Well done Mikey, Ham and Mudge!
On
the whole a pleasant day in the woods (creak, groan), so much so that I suspect
that we’ll all front up again for the next 7hr Choc Foot outing at Wingello come the end of June.
No comments:
Post a Comment