VSS XC Round 2 @ Beaconsfield

Day started ok, got out there early today to make sure I was properly prepared for the race, all was well, tyres pumped up, chain lubed, had all my gear, made my way down to the start to warm up the legs a bit before the race and just rolled around the first section of the track, chatted to the usual suspects and had my usual nervous toilet breaks before the race.

It was about 5 minutes to the start of the race and I realised I hadn't checked out how many laps we had to do in our sports class, just figured it would be 2 as I rode the track the day before and knew 3 laps would be way too much. So we are discussing it on the start line and Megan tells me it is in fact 3 laps, so I am not too happy with this as it is a XC race and I can expect to race pretty hard for 1 -1 & 1/2 hours maximum but knowing it would be easily 45 minute laps for a sports class rider was figuring it would be about 2 & 1/4 race for me at least! Turns out you could add another 15 minutes to my guess, in the end I clocked up 2 hours 31 minutes which is double what the MTBA states the average for Sports class should be.
Top was unzipped a little too far here, someone remind me of this next time please!
Jane Ollernshaw and I decided to speak up and voice our opinions/concerns on the matter to which the race organiser agreed it was a good idea to drop a lap, only to be told that their timing system couldn't handle it???? Anyway, nothing to do but to just get on with it and try and do the best I can, we take off for the the first lap and I am behind Sharon but in front of Megan, got to the first steep downhill bit and Megan rode down it where I was a bit nervous and decided to walk, this gave her the advantage and she got in front, I pushed hard to get back to her and luckily the practice I had done out there the day before as Megan mucked up over the rocky section and I got in front of her again when she stopped to go over a log, this was right before a killer climb, well first lap was not that bad but next 2 were almost unbearable for me, I knew this is where I could make my get away and just pushed up the hill, I caught a glimpse of her on the downhill section as I was climbing the next hill and that was the last I had seen of her for the rest of the race, I was sure she was right behind me all the time so was pushing as much as I could, before the end of the first lap I had gone through all my water, shit!!! what rider with as much experience as I have now goes in to a race on a 30 degree day with only one bottle of water??? IDIOT! I took off for my second lap and was really feeling it, I was going to pull out once I got through the first half that leads you back to the car park, although I knew I was still in front of Megan so didn't want to but knowing I had 2 laps left and no water I knew I would do more damage than was worth to be able to say I finally beat my arch nemesis, so resigned myself to the fact that I couldn't go on without water and the race was lost, I came through the first section of the track and was heading towards the part of the track that leads to my car, literally 200 metres from my car and ready for a DNF and Ed, Jenni King's partner was there cheering me on and I stated that I couldn't go on as I had no water to which he quickly filled my bottle with his water and sent me on my way, at this stage I was already pretty dehydrated but made me feel better after having a few gulps, I got through that lap ok and finished that bottle again before the end of the lap, luckily Ed was waiting again to fill my bottle for me on way past for my last lap, I honestly couldn't have got through the lap without it and if it wasn't for him I wouldn't have finished the race, I definitely learnt my lesson there and will be better prepared next time, although if I rock up to another XC race and it looks like being more of an Enduro I will probably think twice about doing it, I want to do XC racing and not Enduro's and I can say that putting myself through 2 and half hours of racing at that intensity was not enjoyable at all an lets face it, as much as I want to win, I am really in it for the fun as much as the competitive side and if that is taken away then what's the point?
At least one of us was doing the right thing

So apart from a couple of little stacks I managed to get through the race with no major off's and 26 minutes behind first place getter Sharon and 22 minutes ahead of my friendly rival Megan, now that Megan is off the radar it's time to hunt Sharon down! :)

Struggling up a pinch climb, made it!

I can say that this was the toughest race I have done as far as the conditions, I have raced in hotter weather before but was better prepared and was 1 hour shorter than this race with less climbing, I spoke to a lot of the riders after and we were all in the same boat and looking at the amount of DNF's on the results page it definitely reflects how tough the conditions were, granted some of them were mechanicals I am sure the majority of them were physical.

Brett Henderson in action

Well done to fellow Croydon Cycleworkers Jenni King and Brett Henderson for top spot on the podium in their classes.

Thank you's for today

Ed, Ed, Ed wouldnt have done it if not for him being there at that time, and to all the riders that kept telling me that Megan was not that far off to keep me going.

Until next time Happy Biking

Kat

Kona 24 hour

Saturday 29th of November was the start date of 24 hours of pain to be concluded on the 30th, luckily for me it actually didn't involve any pain, considering it is the longest enduro I have been involved in that was quite surprising.

So Saturday morning Andrew Liu comes to collect me and my bike and 24 hours of food supplies and we head off for the sleepy town known as Forrest, arrive there and it is all very relaxed, had a chat to a few people before getting ready to ride and make our decision as to who in our team of would go first, Andrew myself and Caleb all decided Brenton should go first and considering he was not there to defend the decision it was locked in and he was to do the first lap, adding another kilometer or so to the distance of the first lap, I was second in line, I took off up the short climb at the start line and made it about half way before having to get off to walk, it became the challenge of the weekend for everyone to try and get up it without having to walk it, so the second lap I took off hard at the start to gt a good run up and change gears as I got to the steep part, well I was in too high a gear and went to change gears and a bit of chain suck ruined my effort and came to an embarrassing end on the first corner of the climb, if front of all the riders lining up at transition and the small crowd that had gathered there to watch.

So anyway the day laps went smoothly and I was feeling good, time for the night laps, this was my first time really riding at night, the only other time was when Andrew and I did a short night ride along a bike trail, hardly the same as riding the tight singletrack at Forrest, so I took off for my lap and went ok for the first part of the track that I had previously ridden in my day laps but quickly started losing confidence as I was veering all over the track, the lap seemed to take me a long time, I had no idea how long I had been out there for but it seemed like hours, I made it out on to the fire trail and was going along for a little while and accidently took a wrong turn as only I could do, anyway luckily a few riders came past and I noticed their lights going in the opposite direction to me so I turned around and got back on track, I reallyy had the sooks at this stage, I didnt like riding in the dark and the lap seemed to be taking ages, I was going along again on my own for a while and thought I had taken another wrong turn so just stopped and waited, a minute or so later I saw a light heading towards me so knew I was on the right track still so took of for the home stretch and made it to the finish about 10 minutes later, pulled in to transition and was not a happy camper, Andrew Wade and Brenton were there to welcome me back, I didnt say too much, just that I didint like it and I took off back to the tent, turns out it was an hour twenty lap so not quite as long as I thought it had taken me but still a long time out there in the dark. Caleb had pulled out and I knew there would be a few more night laps ahead for me, got back to the tent and had already decided I didnt want to do any more night laps but was still going to go ahead with it, once Brenton came back in, he had told me that Andrew's knee was not feeling too good so thought I might be in with a chance that we might pull the pin on the night laps, once Andrew came in I said I was not too keen to do another night lap and he was the same, so off to bed for me, bed being the back of Andrew's car that is, froze my butt off just walking from the tent which actually had the luxury of a heater in it, grabbed my trackies and headed straight to the showers, usually I would be a bit shy about nuding up in front of other people but there was no room for modesty in these showers so had to walk out of the shower starkers and there was another chick in there who started up a casual convo with me about random stuff with me, had a bit of a chat then headed for the comfort of the 35 buck sleeping bag purchased in a mad rush the night before and the back seat of an Alfa Romeo, was laying there wide awake and wondering whether I should go back to the tent and enjoy the atmosphere that comes with 24 hour racing, mmmm nah, the sleeping bag is nice and warm and all clean now, I will just get up early I tell myself, so try to get some sleep, just not going to happen, break out the mobile to play some solitaire and hopefully that will get me tired enough to sleep, still no go, so just layed there until I eventually fell asleep, i reckon it was 4.55 am when I finally managed to fall asleep and it was 5.01 when I woke up again! I was pretty excited about the day laps today as Marriners run was among the tracks used for today so got out and put my gear on, went and grabbed a toasted sandwich and a coffee, (the best coffee ever by the way) not the best pre race food but filled the hole anyway. Got to the tent and unlocked my bike and took it upon myself to nominate myself for the first morning lap, no arguments there, Marriners run was awesome as to be expected seemed to be a long lap again, turned out it was, I was really taking my time on this lap, after the last climb I headed back in to transition one hour and 40 minutes after I took off, Brenton took off for his lap followed by Andrew, I was hoping Andrew would not get back in till after 11am then I wouldn't go out for another, still an hour before cut off but that was crazy mixed up rule I had, a few of the other riders around were hounding me to go out and I told them my cut off time and that if Andrew didn't come in before that I would not go out, I was waiting with nervous anticipation and staring at my watch every 2 seconds, well, 10.28, 2 minutes before my suggested 'cut off time' Andrew rolls in to transition, to delay it even more I rode via the toilets for a quick pit stop and to decide whether I really wanted to go out for one more lap, yep just go for it, so took off for my final lap and got back in with 2 minutes to spare so the annoucers were hounding me to go out for one more lap, no amount of convincing would get me out there again, had really had enough, ended up 20 minutes quicker than my first lap, passed a solo rider that had ridden right through, as if that is not tough enough he was on a singlespeed, he really looked like was doing it tough, pretty inspirational really, when you take my 5 laps for the whole 24 hours and look at what he had put his body through it certainly doesnt make you feel like you have acheived much that's for sure, ut for my first 24 hour race I was pretty happy with my performance and apart from the night lap I think I did ok.

So the question is now, will I do another and the answer, well I dont know that yet, ask me next year.

I did have a great weekend though and was actually pretty relaxing, the atmosphere there is fantastic and had great company for the weekend.

Thank yous for the weekend

Thanks to my race pals, Andrew, Caleb and Brenton, race competiton and tent buddies Marissa, Ben Andrew and Stephen, official photographer Sandy and all the race goers there that offered encouragement throughout the weekend.

As always Croydon Cycleworks for their continued support.

Until next time happy biking!

Kat

Rd 1 VSS State XC Bendigo

The first round of the State XC series was held out at Bendigo this past weekend, I went in to the race very excited for a few different reasons, firstly because I enjoyed the series so much last season and could hardly wait to get back in to it again, then just cos I really enjoyed that track last year and the fact that I could test out my new bike on a track I have raced on before and hopefully after a years riding under my belt I will have drastically improved my times from last year. It was not to be, I knew at least one rider that was to be me competition for the race before I got there so knew I would struggle to beat her, turns out Sharon was to be my only competition for the race, we were started at the back of the field which suited me, Sharon and I took off and I stayed close through the first bit of single track, Sharon was not too far away and I was pushing hard to stay with her, I ended up feeling pretty crook pushing too hard to keep with her so backed off and decided to just go at my pace , next I saw of Sharon she was a fair way off and any idea I had of perhaps beating her were out the window.

Went through the end of the first lap with 2 more to go and with some familiar faces at transition cheering me on this managed to spur me on a bit, at least within seeing distance of them anyway, I knew I had no chance of winning or even coming close to it and it was really getting me down, the fact that I knew my lap times were similar to last year was really getting me down too, yes the track was a bit different to last years race but pretty much the same, so I thought I should have done a lot better than that.

Brett Henderson in action

Jenni King, 2nd Elite female
Brett is so good he can do it with his eyes closed!
My lap times were pretty woefull, first lap was 33 mins, second and third both 39 minutes, the extra 6 minutes per lap being the time I wasted stopping to let riders past, I GOTTA STOP DOING THAT!!!!! Sharon finished with lap times of 27, 28 and 29 minutes, a total of 26 minutes faster than me over the entire race

To be continued............................

On second thoughts thats all I have to say about the race, have to do the write up for the Kona and honestly cant be bothered with this one anymore, you get the idea anyway, race was run and I came last, pretty simple really.

Happy biking

Kat

Officer 6 Hour

1st place for me and my mixed 4's team, unfortunately we were the only team of that kind so cant take any credit for 1st place there.

Awesome course except for the killer hill I now know is also known as heartbreak hill and for good reason, was a toughy, didn't make it up it once but I was not the only one doing the walk of shame so dont feel too bad about it. The course had some pretty tough downhill sections that I have no doubt that if I were still riding my shitty GT I would never had made it down or perhaps would have but would have done it by going over the bars that's for sure, the new bike handles so well, it's amazing the difference it has made, my times were 8 minutes slower than the riders I am usually 15 minutes slower than so I guess if I look at it that way I am 7 minutes faster based on the new bike and I guess the training on the roadie can take some credit for it too.

So the day started off with me rocking up to the race with the new bike to show off to anyone that wanted to see it or otherwise, nobody had any choice in the matter really, I was like a proud parent showing off a new bub, so anyway first pit stop was Duncan, Dave and Rowan, Duncan felt my tire and it was pretty much dead flat and in true Kat style I had no idea about it until he pointed it out, dropped the bike off to Mick and pointed out my flat tyre and pretty much left him to it, I am so spoilt, whenever Croydon Cycleworks have the tent there I don't have to worry about anything, just rock up and race, Mick always makes sure my bike is ready to go, I can do what I do best, socialise, but there was a race on and I was very serious today and wanted to do really well on the new bike, my team consisted of Nick, Jamie Tom and myself, the guys quickly decided that I should do the first lap, yeah thanks guys! this meant that I would probably end up doing the most laps, as it turned out lap times were pretty quick and we all managed 3 laps for the day, so we take off at the start line and head up the fire trail to the first little pinch climb and here we have a huge traffic jam, very slow going here, up the climb and in to a fast downhill section followed another climb back up past the car park and down to a very step downhill run, there are alot of people watching so didn't even hesitate and hit it as fast as I could, was a bit scary but was so stoked that I made it down, my other bike would have not got me down it or might have but would have not pulled me up on the end of it that's for sure, gotta love disk brakes! After here it was off in to some sweet singletrack and that killer climb, first lap here I nearly threw up, I had a conversation with a friend the night before and his voice was in my head the whole time just telling me to go hard, so I pushed as hard as I could until it was just too steep for my wimpy legs and my lungs were just about bursting, I jumped off and walked along with the 20 other riders that were just ahead of me nearly throwing up just trying to breathe, after this section it was on to a fire trail along the dam wall and on to a very sketchy downhill bit, no point trying to do this bit half arsed, just hit Iit and hung on managing to stay upright over the loose rocks down through some more sweet singletrack and over some tough pinch climbs on to another couple of killer hills and then to my favourite part of the track, not too sure if it is so good cos you know you just have to finish this downhill bit then have one last little climb to the finish or if it really is that enjoyable,anyway it is a really fast flowy downhill section with a few little jumps and a whole lotta fun! I completed my first lap in about 38 minutes, not very fast but great for me considering I would usually be about 45 minutes on a track like that, hard to compare as I have not ridden that exact course but just know from what I would usually do compared to the others.

I had a great day and not one crash for the day, would have to be a first for me, although I had a few close calls that really would have hurt had I not managed to keep it together, I loved the course and my teammates were alot of fun, we have a new member to the Croydon Cycleworks team, Jenni King raced in a mixed pair with the very fast Brett Henderson, together they came away with the top spot for today and an awesome effort on both the parts to do as many laps as they did on that course and as quick as they did it.

The day ended with me being roped in to being the trophy giver outer at presentations, not exactly my style but helped out none the less, relaxing at home now before my first day at my new job tomorrow, after having 2 weeks off I am not at all excited about my new job, would love another 2 off! 2 weeks of shopping too so there are some big decisions to be made tonight, what to wear, what to wear????

Well that's enough of my ramblings for one night.

Thankyou's for today

Croydon Cycleworks, Mick Jamison for all his help, my team mates Nick, Jamie and Tom oh and Steve Clausen for letting me take his brand spanking new titanium Baum bike for a spin, very nice bike indeed, although not as good as the Trek Elite 9.7 of course :)

Until next time Happy Biking

Kat

I am in love!

With the new bike that is, picked it up today and took it for a spin out at Lysterfield, ah, such a dream to ride, straight away I could notice the difference in speed getting up the climbs and being able to get out of the saddle and pedal over roots which was one thing I just couldnt do on the GT, with front forks that dont work and trying to get a heavy metal bike over roots just didnt work, the Trek just glides over the top of it all and I always thought that I couldnt lift my front wheel over rocks and logs just cos I didnt have the technical skills to do it, I guess having a bike that has front forks that actually work is all I needed, was easily lifting my front wheel and bunny hopping over everything, oh, the brakes on this thing are pretty touchy too, having gone from V brakes to the disk brakes is a huge difference, nearly went over the bars the first time I really had to use them, cant wait to race this thing and see how it goes, have the Katmandu Adventure race this Saturday then the Officer 6 hour Enduro Sunday so will get plenty of racing hours in on it before the first round of the State XC at Bendigo, can hardly wait for that one!

Just want to say thanks to everyone that has helped me along the way, especially the guys at Croydon Cycleworks, I am so lucky to have their support, I have made alot of friends from being involved in this sport, they know who they are and I really appreciate their support and interest in me and my racing.

Until next time Happy biking, I know I certainly will have plenty of it on the new bike!

Kat

Round 1 MTB Nationals Adelaide

Thursday saw me and travel partner Duncan Murray head off to Adelaide for the first round of the Nationals at Eagle Mountain Bike Park, finished up my last day of work at my current job on the Thursday so after a few goodbye's I headed off to Northcote to pick up Duncan and by about 6 pm we were on the road and on our way to our first pit stop Nhill, we rocked up at the motel at about 11.30pm, was as dodgy in the room as it was from what we could see from the outside, was pretty tired from the drive so all I wanted was a nice shower and to jump in to bed, Duncan bagged the double bed and had the single, jumped in the shower only to have a light mist of water to stand under, was the worst shower ever! The curtains had cob webs all ver them and it was not all that clean, it's ok I told myself, only have to sleep and get outta here early, jumped in bed and pretty much sunk in the middle of it and that's where I stayed, could barely roll over the bed was that saggy, time to get some sleep, or so I thought, we were on the main highway with trucks roaring past every minute and the odd freight train, I reckon I managed 10 minutes of deep sleep for the whole night, could not get out of there quick enough in the morning.

So we headed off for Adelaide first thing and made it to the track for a pre ride of the course by about 11.30am, got the bikes out and took off for a spin around the track, a quick loop around the Short Course XC track then straight up in to some switchbacks, this is where I had my first stack for the weekend, nothing major but put me in one of my moods first up, Duncan made his way to the top pretty quickly and kept waiting for me to catch up to offer help over any technical stuff along the way, made it to the top and then came to my first rocky step up, mucked up again going over that and started having negative thoughts about doing the race and was wondering why I was even there, started cracking it with myself which just made me muck even more, so I had a bit of a hissy fit and just wanted to be left alone so told Duncan to go ahead and I would catch him at the end of the track, I took a few minutes to myself on the side of the track to get it together and after a bit of a climb the track led to an awesome fast section with some nice jumps and down through some really nice singletrack, this was enough to make me snap out of my mood and I really started to enjoy it from here on in. The track would actually be one my fav's now, it was alot fun and mixed with smooth and rocky sections with no massive climbs and nice downhill sections to recover.

Saturday morning comes around and it is one hour away from my race start, I am as nervous as ever and trying to calm my nerves by just hanging around watching the first race for the day and keeping myself hydrated, Duncan suggests I should head off and get changed in to my gear and go for a warm up ride, head off to get changed and the announcer starts calling all the female competitiors to the start line to get transponders fixed to their bikes, so big rush to get changed and get ready to go, get on the start line and we have about 20 minutes before our race is due to start, this is making my nerves even worse, I checked out the opposition and they looked pretty fit for Sport class, started playing the race over in my head and had a plan to try and stick behind them for the whole race then overtake if I could. We finally get called to the official start line and the gun goes off, nerves are in overdrive now, gotta stick with the bunch at least for the part where the crowd can see, found it easy to stay with them through the Short Course track and was braking most of the way through as I was too close to them so felt I could stick with them for the race if they kept that pace, that was until we hit the switchbacks, I went in to it in front of one other rider and was struggling to stay close to the other girls, had my first stack here which was what I was most worried about as there were quite a few people watching, so let the other rider in front and tried to stay with her, she got away up the climb and I caught her back on the descent, I passed her here and then she managed to catch me again on the next climb where she got back in front again, I rode my butt off throught the next downhill section and caught her again and passed her only to crash in front of her and let her get past again, washed off the dirt and blood with my water jumper back on and caught her yet again, past her again and it remained that way for the rest of the lap, I went through that lap about 3 minutes in front and was confident I could keep that lead, she caught me again on the next climb and I had another little stack and that was the end for me, I didnt catch her again after that, then the Elite women started coming through so spent alot of time pulling over to let them through.

I ended up with 3rd in Womens Sport at my first Nationals event, shame there were only 3 of us entered in the race! I heard them calling me for presentations but was too embarrassed to go up and collect my trophy for 3rd and last place so went up to collect it after, it is a cool trophy after all.

The next round of the Nat's I will be doing will be at the You Yang's so will be spending the next 6 weeks out there training when I can, hopefully will give me the home track advantage.

Overall I had a great weekend and was awesome to see the Elite guys and girls at it out there and just motivates me more to do better next time.

Kat

New bike arrives on Friday!

Ok this is it, have changed my mind plenty of times over the last few months but having been told I would have to wait until mid January for the Top Fuel I have decided to get the Trek Elite 9.7 instead, a little dearer than the Top Fuel but carbon frame, heaps lighter and better components make it worth it, also Croydon Cycleworks and Trek have helped me out with it too so very excited to be getting a bike like this I otherwise would not have been able to get without their help. Was not too keen on the colour at first but we get our new gear in a few weeks and wont be the standard red I usually get around in so will match the new gear and we all know us girls are all about colour co-ordination

So here it is

So excited! Wont be doing any more races on the dodgy GT anymore, not too sure that it will make me any faster but will definitely make my ride alot more comfortable having a bike this light and forks that actually do what they are supposed to do, hopefully will get rid of the problems I have been having with my shoulder and being on the correct size bike will help a great deal too.

Many many thanks to Mick Jamison @ Croydon Cycleworks and Trek for helping me out with the bike.

Uuuuh, 4 more sleeps!

Will post on the Adelaide Nat's in the next few days just trying to organise photos from the photographers there.

Until next time happy biking!

Kat

Surfcoast 6 Hour

Headed out to the race with team mate Nick De Kam at 11am, with a couple of pit stops along the way to pick up last minute supplies we arrived at race HQ at about 2.30, said hello to the usual suspects then went for a quick spin to check out the course, first impression was not a great one, I was on the hardtail with frozen front forks and this was a very bumpy course, we were only 1klm in to it and the bumps were already annoying me, not a good sign, pulled off the track near where the rider brief was being held, went to use one of the 4 loos they had to accommodate the 450 riders which nearly made me sick (very weak stomach), again not a great start, so rider brief started which I didnt hear a word of as I was busy chatting as usual, its all the same anyway, so discussed with Nick the race plan, plan was I go first and take it from there pretty much, so head down to the start line and in true Kat style I usually forget something or have something wrong with my bike, this time my front tyre is on backwards, so I discuss with Andrew and James whether or not it is too embarrassing to change it on the start line in front of the other riders or just ride with it like that and change it after my first lap when nobody can see, decision was made to change it there,so we are waiting on the start line and finally we are set off, I am towards the back but knew I would have to make my way up the field so as not to get stuck way back at the first bit of single track, so overtake a bunch of riders, power up the hill and go flat out down the other side only to come to a complete stop for what felt like about 5 minutes waiting to get off in to the single track, riders in front going sooo slow and falling off in front and mucking everyone up behind so was very slow going for the first half of the lap, passed a few riders in the first half but they all caught me back on the first climb, man I suck at climbs! We ended up with 4th in the mixed pairs due to Nicks huge effort.

I have the Hitler mo happening here

Nick De Kam in action

First lap went ok, a bit of carnage along the way with riders getting caught out on the descents and sandy corners, I managed to get through it unscathed and pulled in to hand it over to my race partner Nick, its a wonder he recognised me coming through transition I was just black from head to toe, completely covered in dust which was well and truly stuck on from all the sweat, was a tough lap so didnt care too much about how I looked after the finish line, quickly went and got some food and more water and waited back at transition, i dont have official times yet but Nick came 2nd last year in this event on a singlespeed so knew he would be probably under 30minutes so not much time to muck around, headed out for my 2nd lap and hills, heat and sand were taking it out of me pretty quickly, those bumps just never let up either, only break is a few short fire trails, I was trying to go fast for Nick but hit the wall early and knew I had probably only 2 more laps left in me, again managed to get through the lap unscathed, well apart from copping a fly in the back of my throat and nearly throwing up on my bike, couldnt get it out so a swig on the water bottle and down it went, Nick went off again, super fast of course and I waited feeling pretty crappy about my poor performance so far, Nick cam in and I told him I thought I only had 2 more in me so decided I would do the next 2 laps and Nick would finish it off for the night laps, so went out for the 3rd lap, legs were gone going up the first climb, descending felt just as hard and was mucking up everywhere and had a few close calls, then stacked it on a corner, nothing major, lucky was nice soft sand to land in, took off again and struggled through the rest of the lap, back through transition and on to my final lap, usually knowing I am on the last one is enough to motivate me to go as hard as I can but I was really struggling at this stage, back, shoulders, butt, head, you name it, it was sore, not to mention all the dust I had swallowed throughout the race so far was making it hard to breathe, last lap was getting pretty dark and I didnt have lights so had to push hard to get back before it was too dark, so had a few more crashes towards the end, again nothing serious but just frustrating. Made it back and handed over to Nick to finish off, he did 4 laps straight in the dark, huge effort and he was really hurting by the end of it, I felt so bad not going out for another lap but knew it would be a waste of time, I was really hurting and just had nothing left.

The atmosphere at this race is great, everyone is friendly and the serious guys and gals take it seriously but its not full on race mode like some races, everyone has a chat on the way round and is pretty relaxed, I was in a daze pretty much after my first lap so didnt even realise there was a live band playing there until I had stopped racing, hung out with the usual boys in between being there for Nick on his pit stops and met him at the finish line on his final lap, we were both stuffed Nick more so than me so we didnt hang around for the presso.

I dont know that I would do this race again or not, if I do I will probably do it as a 3 hour solo, here are some words that were going through my head the whole race to give you an idea of what it is like, f****** bumps!, f****** flies!, f****** dust!, f******bumps!, f****** sand!, f****** bumps!, f****** heat!, f****** bumps!, f******climb!, oooh nice view, more f****** bugs, gotta keep my mouth closed, f****** bumps!!!!, aaaahh finish line. For a cleaner more positive outlook on the race I am sure Troy Bailey will have something nicer to say about it so read his blog.


Well I am back in to to the XC and that's what I love so should be hopefully getting some more exciting stories soon, off to Adelaide this weekend for the first round of the Nat's cant wait, also this Thursday is my last day at my crappy job and have 2 weeks off before I start my new one so can not wait for that!

Until next time happy biking!

Kat

Sandown Crits Are Hard!

That's all

Lysterfield Duathlon

Raced my first duathlon today, well only competed in one leg of the two so cant really take credit for having raced a duathlon but half of it, i did the ride leg, surprise surprise and my race partner Kate did the run. The race started with a 4 klm run then back to transition to hand it over to me for the 20klm bike ride, we started off heading across to the Red Gum trail and on to the Com games track then to the Blair Witch and back to the finish, I did the ride in 1 hour 22mins, 5 minutes faster than Jane Ollernshaw which I am pretty happy about as I have never been close to her before let alone that much faster than her, however she did it solo where as I didnt have to do the run so I would have been alot slower had I just run 4klms before the ride. We came in 67th overall out of 85 so not as good as I had first thought, seemed like we came in before alot more than that but anyway not a bad result for the first one. Had a good race as far as everything felt for me, didnt have any big stacks and knee felt great, I know I have alot of work to do on my climbing, I had a guy behind me for most of the race and I would get well ahead of him on the decents and flat areas of single track but he would almost catch me back on all the climbs, so definitely will be working on that. Overall it was alot of fun and look forward to doing the next one, well sorta, the next one is at the Youee's and considering half of the course is made up of climbling there I have alot of work to do before that one.

Some good news on the personal front for me, a couple of weeks ago I cracked the shits with my work and handed in my resignation without having another job, 2 days later I had an interview with a company close to home and they offered me the job, any normal person would have taken it but when she questioned my 'passion' for the company as we were negotiating dollars I pretty much told her to stick it, so back to square one for me, turns out it was a good decision as I didnt really like the company anyway and got a much better offer for a great company still close to home. I finish up at my current job on the 30th of October just in time to head over to SA for the first round of the nationals, worked out my resignation perfectly as I was not allowed to have any time off on that Friday so would not have been able to do that round and then I start at my new job on the 17th of November so I have 2 weeks off in between so guess what I will be doing??? Yep riding riding riding for 2 weeks, just to break it up a bit I will go away for a couple of days and do some riding elsewhere, so luckily I have a few riding buddies that are bums and dont have normal jobs so will have some riding partners during the week and plenty of racing coming up on the weekends to keep me busy, oh and the Dukemeister moseyed on home the other day too, dirty stopout must have been livin it up with the girls somewhere but glad to have him back, unfortunately nothing will bring Axel back and I am still missing him heaps but have plenty to keep me busy so not thinking about it too much now.

Anyway all seems well with the knee and riding pretty much every night now, doing the Crits at Sandown on Tuesday nights, Dirt crits at Wantirna Wednesday nights and then will do a few of the Westgate ones on a Thursday night then just some road riding and rides out at Lysterfield the other days, also have to start doing some running for the Katmandu Adventure Race next month, Andrew and I did about 3klms last week and that was about as much as I could handle for one night, not quite as much fun as going for a spin down Beach Road or around Lysty.

Thanks to Andrew at the Duo on the weekend for cheering me on near the end, had some guys not in the race annoying me and Andrew just happened to be there when it was happening so put me in a better mood after that.

That's all from me, until next time happy biking!

Kat

2nd Road Crit & Forrest ride

Well this morning's crit was not too good, the first 25 minutes was a fairly good steady pace then for the final 3 laps it was a sprint for the finish and I just couldnt keep with them so pulled out, didnt hang around to see how the other grades went, hung my head in shame and just took off straight away for my Mountain Bike ride out at Forrest which turned out to be pretty eventfull. So I meet my riding buddy for today and we head off on to the trails, about 2 kilometres in to the Marriners Run track I am riding along just lovin life and the good company trails etc. and next thing as I am exiting a bit of a berm and fair pace and right in front of me in the middle of the singletrack is a snake, so hit the skids which obviously startled it and was lucky to unclip and not end up on the ground, said a few choice words and just froze freaking out that I was about to get attacked by this snake, stood there for a minute then slowly rolled my bike back and it slithered off to the side of the track, rode off and every little stick that flew up and hit me in the legs made me paranoid thinking it was a snake biting me, so first snake since the warm weather started again, snake count last summer was 3 hopefully I can keep it at where it is at now, not the best thing to come across when you are miles from help.

I seem to be having alot of blonde moments lately, I cant really blame it on anything so might as well have fun with it and share with you. So maybe I might just have a little Confucius say thing happening rather than my usual famous quotes, so here is one for today

Kat say, (oh Kat just does not work like Confucius)

Do not press front brake while spinning back wheel and tell friend that back brake is not working, look like idiot!

Had a couple of these moments today, couldnt blame it on the trauma of seeing the snake, just one of my moments.

Still missing my little man heaps, house is just not the same without him.

Until next time Happy Biking.

Kat

Axel

Well unrelated report here but my best buddy Axel was put to sleep on Wednesday, anyone that knows me knows how much I love my animals and have spent thousands of dollars on both Axel previously when he had to get some tumors removed once before and then a shitload more on my horse when he got sick too, needless to say it was a very upsetting time for me and I am missing him heaps and heaps! Axel was always with me, even if I was just a drive to the Milk Bar he was always there, not to mention him having to be my patient subject for many photo assignments and coming along to keep me company on my Landscape photography shoots, many summer nights at the beach and kicking back together on a Saturday night before a race watching Funniest Home Videos, pretty strange that a dog could rule your life like that but I even gave up going to the World Cup because I couldnt bring myself to let someone I dont know look after him for the 3 days, he got sick very suddenly and was still happy and running around like a maniac the day before so at least he didnt have to go through any pain, so no more cuddles from my favourite little man anymore:(

Also the little Dukemeister (Duke is the cool cat) went walkabout so in one week I have gone from 3 pets to just one, Mr Attitude Oscar (the feral cat) has decided to stay with me, probably cos he is too fat & lazy to be bothered venturing off in to the neighbourhood.

Missing ya heaps

Kat :(

First Road Crit

No photos unfortunately, although if there was a photographer there I probably would not have had a photo taken of me anyway, started at the back and ended at the back. Was pretty nervous for the first lap and stayed a fair way back then the Specialized boys gave me some tips to make things easier for myself which was to stay on the person in fronts rear wheel which I was handling ok on the straight but would get nervous being so close to other riders anound the corners so would back off there and then have to catch back up after all the corners, had some help from one of the spunky specialzed guys pushing me along, and I mean literally pushing me, I was nearly thinking of pulling out and then heard the bell for the last lap, what a relief, still didnt have it my legs to stay close to the group as they sprinted for the finish, beat 1 rider! next week better make it 2. I have a 3 week licence so mught as well use it and if I am enjoying it then I will keep up with it, definitely alot harder than the Mountain Biking, well more in the regard that you need a great deal of strength in the legs to keep up with the other riders, will obviously be beneficial for the Cross Country races so will try and keep it up. Anyway sized up the competition there and decided there were a few easy beats there, one being one fairly young rider who was actually really quick and had calves twice the size of mine and then a few older riders and not so skinny riders all of which blitzed me, well all bar one, good to se heaps of girls there, big difference to the Mountain Biking.

After the race I went for a ride from Ringwood up the 1 in 20 then through Olinda and back again, didnt think I would make it up the 1 in 20 had heard a fair bit about it and thought it would be too tough, not a great time though, took 30 minutes to reach the top, will do it again during the week and hopefully knock a few minutes off that, definitely had more in me when I reached the top, the descent was a bit sketchy, getting up to 70 klms an hour with a tiny bit of rubber under you is not very comforting, had a great ride though and will be using that as my new training ride, so the Mountain Bike will be having a rest for a while and the legs will be getting a good workout, lost most of the weight I wanted to lose too so my first XC race back I should be back to where I want to be, first XC race will be a National round so nothing like jumping straight in the deep end first race back.

Now daylight savings last year I had an important Motocross job on that weekend as well a Presentation night on the Saturday so I will blame the heat and tiredness for screwing up the clock and putting it back last year but this year I have no excuse, I went to bed and for some reason put it back an hour instead of forward then woke up at 3 am wide awake and stressing about being a dud at the Crit and decided to get up,lucky! as it was really 5am and I was planning on getting up an hour later anyway so had I gone back to sleep I would have missed my race.

Thank you's for today

First off to a lovely lady by the name of Karen who so kindly lent me her bright blue and yellow socks as I had left my nice black ones at home, cant say it was a good look but better than riding with no socks at all and secondly to the A grade riders that helped me along the way.

Quote for today

"At least I didnt come last!"
Me

Couldnt be bothered surfing the net looking for anything today

Until next time Happy Biking

Kat

New Bike

Well it seems I couldnt wait till January to get a new bike so decided to get a road bike in the meantime. I just picked it up and took it for a little spin down the street and nearly went arse over turning in a tight circle doing a u-turn, cant quite throw them around like the Mountain Bike, might take a bit of getting used to, better make it quick though, I am doing my first Road Crit next weekend.

So here it is, just a cheapy of all the Trek models but will do me for what I want it for. So Beach Road here I come!

Well tomorrow will see me and Max Adventure partner Andrew Liu heading out to Lysterfield for some training in the Kayak, then a MTB ride after, Sunday will be out on the roadie, will be good to mix the training up a bit and get off the dirt for a few rides a week.

Knobby Sports Crits are back starting 15th October, cant wait, will be good to see how my times have changed from last year, although with the amount time I have had off with the injury I might come back slower.

Stuff up of the day goes to my idiot accountant, I spent an hour there today getting my tax sorted and after signing off on my $2000 return and feeling pretty happy with it all I get a phone call 2 hours later saying they had stuffed it and I had to come back to sign off on the ammended amout, which when I questioned was not quite the answer I wanted to hear, 2 bucks! yep 2 lousy dollars is all I will get back, fantastic!

I cant thank Mick and the guys at Croydon Cycleworks enough for all they do for me, I rocked up there today with the MTB for Mick to get me fitted properley and after mucking around with me, my shoes and MTB for ages we did it all again for the Road bike, Mick really looks after me with all my gear and bits and pieces and I am really lucky to have that, oh look out for the old school Croydon Cycleworks knicks Mick gave me today, I dont think I need to explain them you will know when you see them, will be saving these ones for the training rides, hehe.

Anyway that's it for me tonight, until next time, Happy Biking!

Kat

Bike wont be here till Jan 09 :(

Well after getting excited about my bike and being fairly happy to wait until November to get it I have found out that I will most likely have to wait until January now to get one, Croydon Cycleworks will do what they can to get it in earlier but probably wont be able to. Anyway I couldnt deal with a pink bike so I am getting the mens Top Fuel 8, still not keen on the colour of this one either but unless I want to fork a few extra thousand for the 9.8 or go for the Fuel X 8 I will just have to get over it.

Here is a very full on race schedule in the coming months

25th Oct - Surfcoast 6 Hour

1st Nov - MTB Nationals SA

8th Nov - Gravity 12 Hour?

15th Nov -Maximum Adventure Race Lysterfield

23rd Nov- Rd 1 VSS XC Bendigo

29th Nov- Kona 24 Hour Forrest

13th Dec- MTB Nationals You Yangs

21st Dec - Rd 2 VSS Upper Beacy

18th Jan- Rd 3 VSS XC Youees

31st Jan - MTB Nationals Mt Buller

8th Feb- Rd 4 VSS XC Castlemaine

15th Feb- HDATO 8 Hour Eildon?

21st Feb -Otway Odyssey

28th Feb -MTB Nationals Tassie?

8th March-Rd 5 VSS XC Albury

22nd March-Mt Beauty 6 Hour

29th March -Big Hill Marathon

1st April - Rd 6 VSS XC

Plenty of racing ahead, can hardly wait, hope all the work I have been doing on my knee will pay off and I can get through it all without any dramas.

Until next time

Happy Biking

Kat

Whacking on the weight

Well after nearly 6 weeks off riding I have started putting on a bit of beef, cant really blame the lack of riding too much as I was not riding much before the injury but in the last week I have only been home for dinner once so I think all the good meals I have been having out lately are catching up.

Anyway the knee is feeling good, just got back from an hour and half ride along Eastlink and also had a quick spin around Lysterfield yesterday so 2 rides in 2 days is a first for me, although I am only supposed to be riding every 2nd day at the moment.

I am pretty sure I will be right for the Surf Coast 6 hour (will only do the 3 hour) on 25th of October although there is a big Supercross on at Geelong so not sure if I will be at that yet, then after that there is 4 weekends in a row of racing in November so I hope I am going to be ok for that, definitely wont be missing the first round of the State XC 23rd November, have a big weekend before it though with the Max Adventure Race at Lysterfield the week before. Can hardly wait to get back in to the State XC Series and soooo happy to be out riding without my feet and face going numb from the cold, only crap part about this time of year is the magpies, hadnt started riding yet this time last year so have not had any probs but got swooped the other day on a main road just a bunch of guys drove past and obviuosly thought it pretty funny so were beeping at me and yelling stuff out the window, tried to look as cool as I could when you have a magpie swooping you, hopefully pulled it off, it actually chased me for ages but never actually hit me, came close but didnt.

That's all from me today, better go throw up now, just joking but will cut back on all the pub meals or at least order a couple of salads instead.

Quote for today

Food has replaced sex in my life; now, I can't even get into my own pants!

Happy Happy Biking!!

Kat

Another Update

Well I have been off the bike for a month now and had my first ride since the 3rd round of the Anaconda Enduro last Saturday, I am doing all the exercises the Physio has given me and doing all the right things so provided I continue to do so I should be back racing at the 3 hour in Mildura on the 20th September I have another appointment with the Physio next Wednesday and he should be able to give me an idea then of how everything is going.

For me my week is pretty much made up of doing exercises on a swiss ball every night as well stretching and doing some basic one legged squats, Monday night a little bit of skipping on a tramp, Tuesday night 45 minute swim (or paddle for me as I cant swim) Wednesday 40 minute slow ride on the road no hills, Thursday night skipping again and then I have one more day for another 40 minute ride and another swim, so considering I was not doing any of this including the riding before my injury I should actually come back fitter than I was before.

Also decision has been made on the new bike, I have decided on the Trek Top Fuel 8.

So for the next month at least I will have to be happy with photographing the races and not participating unfortunately.

Here is a little snippet from a Pearl Jam song just because

'I know that I was born and I know that I will die the in between is mine'

Until next time Happy Biking

Kat

Update on the knee

Just got back from the spunky physio and all will be fine, it is definitley the ITB Tendon and it has started to happen due to my lack of training and loss of strength in my thighs and glutes, so I am starting a strengthening program and am not going to be able to do any Enduro's for about 6 weeks. I should be right for the next FTF XC hopefully but for now plenty of stretching and a pilates class a week and make sure I stick to his program and I will be right.

Anaconda 7 Hour

Yet another depressing Enduro for me, the only 2 races I have not been able to complete since I started riding have been in the Anaconda series, mmm might think twice before entering the next one.

The first lap felt pretty good, just planned to stick with the riders at the back and cruise around to make sure I didn't burn myself out too early, so the first lap was going well just had some trouble on the wet roots and just in the wet in general not having had much experience in the wet so far.

I came in from the first lap and had a bit of pain in my knee and was told to stretch and I would be ok, so did some stretches had a power bar and headed out for my second lap, the pain in my knee was still there but bearable so kept on with it and hoped it would go away, by the time I got to about the 2klm mark it was really hurting especially going up hills but even on the flat fire trail it was hurting so planned on finishing that lap, having another good stretch and get a decent ride in, I pulled in after the second lap still in a fair amount of pain but didn't say anything just did my stretches and took off for the third lap, as soon as I took off I was still in alot pain but didn't want to stop so kept going, I couldn't even pedal down the fast downhill fire trail to try and make up lost time so just cruised down all the downhill stuff and tried to put all the pressure on right leg when pedalling up hills so I knew that this lap would be my last for the day and pulled in to the tent very disappointed, now have had 2 bad results at this series.

Anyone that knows me well enough knows that I am very competitive and even though I know I had no chance of coming close to the fast girls I just wanted to beat my longest enduro of 6 hours and complete the 7 even if I did come last at least I would have achieved a result in a 7 hour enduro, well actually still got a result and surprisingly I didn't come last, 2nd last for my effort today.

As for the course it was pretty good, (apart from the mud that is!) we started in the usual spot and headed in to the Blair Witch track and then down past the dam wall and over to the fire trail leading to Wellington Road turning off at about half way up this track and up in to the next very muddy section of single track through some muddy single track for a few k's and then out to fire trail then on to fast fun section of single track that was not as affected by the recent rain as the previous sections then up the last climb and downhill to the finish line, about halfway through the race they had to cut out a section of the track due to it getting destroyed by so many riders going through it so diverted us through some fire trail and back towards the finish, I was pretty happy to be finishing, but no, when we got to where we usually would go to the finish line they sent us down another few k's a different way.

I ended up finishing the lap in about 1hour 30 mins and knew that it was time to pull the pin, considering my knee was hurting so bad there was no point doing further damage and also not being able to enjoy the race, which is obviously half the reason most of us are out there.

Dont have any action shots yet will be coming though so check back tomorrow but for now check out the mud.



So Kieran that I mentioned in my last post has done a good job on getting my shoulder right for the Enduro's I guess now he can work on my knee. He is a bit of a hottie too so a good excuse to keep going to him now my shoulder is nearly right!

I am going to chuck a sickie tomorrow and get my knee checked out to make sure it is this tendon everyone has said it would be and hopefully get it sorted before the next Enduro.

Well done to all the riders this weekend and I think Jess Douglas managed to win the Womens solo race so well done to her and to Andy Bell for going hard the whole 7 hours to take out the win! And my god Paul Van Der Ploeg is a freak on the bike, I pulled over to let him pass on a really muddy section that had a ditch in the track that was not even a jump and he managed to launch himself a few feet in the air off that and ride at what is probably his normal speed in the dry! Oh and well done especially to Duncan Murray who rode the 7 hours on a fixed gear single speed, Maniac!

Was a nice relaxed Enduro today and had a few chats to different riders along the way which was good to break things up a bit.

Well unfortunately not a great result today and nothing too exciting to tell, I am sure I will be right for the next FTF XC Race at Harkaway and hopefully have some exciting news come out of that.

Well that's enough from me, hope whoever is reading this is entertained by my stories and unfortunately there are as many lows as there are highs and I just want to document what is going on in my racing life so hopefully I dont come across as being negative but no point masking a story to glorify it when it is not really like that, it is definitley not easy, even the elite riders go though the same thing with niggling injuries, mechanicals etc. I guess in this sport it is expected, I want to do well in this sport and hopefully be able to enjoy it for a long time coming, but for now as long as I am right for all the State Series rounds then I will be a very happy girl, I am definitley looking forward to it!

Good to see my former tutor Richard Jupe from On Track images out there snapping away, and at 7pm after the race the photos are already up and sorted in to category! Just ordered a disk of pics from him to brighten up the post, check out his photos here. http://www.ontrackimages.com.au/

Cant forget Steve Rowe either
http://mtb-images.ser.id.au/

Quote for today

Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.

Until next time Happy Biking!

Kat

New Race Gear

Just a quick post to show off the new gear from Croydon Cycleworks

Just received my new gear from Croydon Cycleworks, instead of the red gear we usually get around in it is now mainly black and some awesome glasses by Ryders Eyewear, you can check out the new gear at the Anaconda 7 hour this Sunday.

I have also decided on the new bike. I ended up going for the Dualy and this is it

Trek Fuel EX 8 might get it in a gold colour called Root Beer

I wont be able to get it until November but hopefully will get it before the first round of the State XC Series and the Kona 24. I am doing the 24 hour in a team of 4, sorta looking forward to it.

Many many thanks to Croydon Cycleworks for their continued support, they help me out alot and really look after me, without having that support it would definitely make things alot harder, if you have not been out to check out the store yet make sure you do, they have a great range of gear, all the good stuff, Fox, Sidi, Met etc. and some awesome bikes with Trek, Cervelo, Norco and more they even have the bike above you can take for a test ride not to mention the guys there have a great deal of experience and all of them race as well.

Well I just returned from an appointment with Keiran at Elite Myotherapy, they dont sponsor me or pay me to give them a plug but Kieran has been working on my shoulder which has been giving me a fair bit of pain in the Enduros, and after just 2 sessions he has made me feel alot better than the last therapist I was seeing weekly for 3 months straight so hopefully after tonights session I can make it through the 7 hours relatively pain free (in my shoulders at least) and be able to last the distance.

That's all from me, check back on Sunday night to get the low down on the 7 hour.

Kat

FTF XC Race at Officer

Finally beat my arch nemesis Megan Lawson! Phew what a relief it was to cross the finish line knowing I actually didnt come last, it's easy to say its not all about winning but as Jack Brabham said in an interview about an upcoming yacht race yesterday "Well it's all about winning really" and obviously I didnt win the race but I beat a few riders and my times were not as bad as I had expected so was fairly happy with my result, now for the finer details of the race.

The line up for the A grade looked more like the start line for a round of the nationals not a club race down in Officer, Dan McConnell made an appearance along with a bunch of other top elite riders and a bunch of great chicks there too in Tory Thomas, Jenni King and Niki Fisher, so I entered the D grade and all I wanted was to not come last, we took off and my plan was to go out hard on the first lap and try and stay with Megan, we took off up the fire trail and as we made it to the single track Megan was puffed as much as I was but I went through ahead of her and that was the best thing that could have happened, usually I stay behind her and try to stay with her but this has not been too successfull so I will try this tactic again next race and hopefully it works out.

Now I went out to pre ride the track yesterday with my trusty riding pals James McArdle and Andrew Liu and came across a bit of a drop off which honestly scared me a bit, it took a bit of convincing on their part to get me to do it but I eventually did and on the 2nd lap I did it again without hesitating and wondered what all the fuss was about earlier so when I came across it in my first lap I didnt think twice about doing it but unfortunately cleaned myself up going over the handle bars in front a photographer (hopefully those photos are coming soon) not only embarassed but feeling a bit sore, didnt want to show it so picked myself up and took off still ahead of Megan. I managed to get through the rest of the first lap unscathed, a few close calls in a few slippery spots but nothing major, as I crossed the finish line for the first time I had no idea how far in front I was but obviously wanted to maintain my lead but my legs just had nothing in them, I struggled up the fire trail and back in to the single track and up the first hard climb, I didnt make it near as far as I did the first lap so started pushing, at least I wasnt the only one, the 2nd lap was going good until I thought I had spotted my compettition catching me so I pushed hard on the fire trail but my chain managed to get twisted and stuck when I changed gears, I jumped off and went to get it out but it was well and truly stuck so me being the logical person that I am (not!) started to try and pull the chain out and just using all my strength and built up frustration to try and force the thing out to the point I was getting upset, figuring my race was over I started to walk back to the finish and my chain just fell out, ha better to be gentle next time! So I was over my little hissy fit and was focused back on the race, was not that far from the finish either so was feeling good but not too confident, didnt want to muck up so took it pretty easy but still looking over my shoulder the whole time. I made it to last little climb before the finish line and was content in knowing I had finally beaten Megan.
Taking off from the start in 3rd position, shame I couldnt hold that possie!


Looking good in the lead up but all went bad pretty quickly, unfortunately the photographer missed the actual crash shot but you can see in the last one it was not going well


Overall it was a great race, I like the club XC events, they have the same relaxed feeling as the Enduros but still pretty intense and great for me to get the experience up before the next State Series. Was fairly happy with how I went, I am still stopping alot to let riders through, it was hard not to do it on this course though as it was so tight and tecnical but in time I will get better with having riders passing me, its just a confidence thing for me.

Next up for me is the 7 hour Anaconda Enduro on the 27th, maybe the Dirt Riders XC on the 20th but might be away for that one, really need to get some training in between now and the 27th, I struggled with an hour today dont know how I will go adding another 6 to that.

Thanks to Peter for the sequense of photos above and to Andrew Liu for the one on top, he won my race and had enough time to freshen up, get changed pack away his bike and grab his camera to snap away at me on my to the finish line. Well done to Andrew too on his first win!

Quote for today
Whoever said, 'It's not whether you win or lose that counts,' probably lost.
Martina Navratilova, American Tennis Player

Well that's all from me today until next time

Happy Biking!

Kat

Dirty Dirt Riders XC Club Race

The first round of the Dirt Riders XC series was held today out at Upper Beaconsfield. A few of us went out there yesterday for a cruise around the track, well cruise is what they were doing it was race pace for me trying to keep up with them! I realised how quickly your fitness can drop off once you stop training. With uni finished for a while I have no excuses now so have to get back to training again especially with the next Anaconda Enduro a month away.

The race started off well with my mate Gary Morrow and myself battling for the hole shot, he got it no surprises there, stayed with him until the first gnarly decent followed by a killer climb. The climbs really hurt me today along with the majority of riders there too I am sure, they don't look that big but just a long gradual climb to the top.

Not too sure of my result today as results are not up yet, I raced in D grade with about 10 guys and only one other chick, I know she beat me but don't think I came last. Was a fun race and very relaxed for a XC, all the riders were pretty talkative on their way around giving words of encouragement as usual.

James Maebus lapped me 3 times throughout the race, he had 6 laps to my 3 and still finished before me, that guy is so quick and well done to fellow Croydon Cycleworks rider Brett Henderson for coming 2nd to James followed by Troy Bailey in 3rd in the A grade race.

Brett Henderson in action

Well I don't have much else to report on in the race, was pretty uneventful, which is always a good thing.

Now I always think I am doing it tough in the races and when I see the elite riders coming past me looking like they are not doing it quite so tough I will think of this quote

Quote of the day

"It never gets easier, you just go faster"

Greg LeMond

Which is absolutely true, just because I am not as fast as the Elite riders yet does not mean they are not hurting as much, we are all out there pushing ourselves to our limits, some just make it look easier than others.

Thanks to Steve Rowe for being at the races snapping away at us

http://mtb-images.ser.id.au/

Until next time Happy Trails!

Kat