The final round of the Vic Summer Series was held out at Beaconsfield, they obviously saved the best for last, well perhaps not the best the but definitely the hardest for me, with some tight single track sections and plenty of logs and rocks to get over it was a challenge enough in itself without adding heavy rain overnight into the equasion. I pre rode the track the day before when it was dry, just as we were leaving it started pouring so I was nervous as to how the track would be in the wet and having only ever ridden a wet track once before this made me even more nervous.So we are lining up on the start line freezing our butts off and the nerves are really kicking in now, again it is just me and Megan in contention for 1st place and I didnt think I had any chance at all of beating her on this track. We took off into the Pines section and I got through this bit OK, I was right behind Megan as we headed over the bridge and into the first climb, this was a struggle for me to try and get up and Megan and I both ended up walking up the hill, we both got to the top at the same time and took off into a bit of a downhill, I was focused on staying with her as much as I could until unexpectedly I slid out and hit a tree, my thigh taking the impact, with a corky that reminded me of when my brother and I used to have punching competitions to see who could give the best dead leg I jumped back on my bike and took off again, with Megan in my sights I pushed harder to catch her and again we were pushing our bikes up the next hill climb, at this stage the Elite guys had caught up to us and as usual I was trying my best to stay off the track and out of their way all the while Megan was getting away from me, so with the advice of many of the riders I decided to see how I would go with trying to keep riding while the riders pass me instead of stopping to let them pass, seems it is not that much of a drama after all and they all seemed to get around me fairly easily while still giving me some kind words of encouragement along the way. That is until a wider section of the track and Murray Spink and Adrian Jackson were battling for 1st place, they came up behind me and I heard Murray call Track so I went to move left but Adrian had started passing on that side and Murray was passing on the right, Adrian caught him here and passed him on the corner so didnt feel too good about that one. Murray went on to be the eventual winner of the race and the Series.
I came up to a section of the track and young Trent Bucknell had a branch stuck through his chain and derailleur so I figured I had no chance of catching Megan and it didnt really matter if I did anyway so I stopped to help, away I go again and almost at the end of the first lap I was about to go in between 2 trees when I saw some fast riders coming up behind me, I unclipped and went to pull to the left, slipped on my pedals and made and absolute dick of myself, hit the tree and nearly blocked the track for them, anyway we all got away unscathed and I went in to my next lap, was going along OK until I mucked up going over a few rocks and had a bit of a tumlbe, one of the Elite girls had just passed me and was around the corner when it happened and I heard hell yell out 'Are you OK?' yeah I am fine keep going I yelled out, 'Are you sure?' was her reply , 'Yeah yeah keep going i'm right' I yelled back, then I got around the corner and realised I had made a dick of myself for the 2nd time, she was actually asking Mary if she was alright and I was answering as if she was yelling out to me, Mary had crashed into a rock and was crouched on the side of the track so I stopped with her for a sec and then we walked off together and had a bit of chat along the way, was nice to relax a bit during a race rather than just trying to catch Megan the whole time.
I was nearing the finish line and was going through a nice fast section and perhaps got a bit carried away and nearly cleaned myself up again, so just reminded myself to ride within my ability (my ability? mmm..havent worked that one out yet but working on it) so I pulled up a bit and just finished safely, no good crashing out a few hundred metres from the finish line. Megan ended up beating me by 9 minutes in a well deserved win on a tough track. I actually found the track better in the wet than it was when it was dry the day before, just a bit dodgy going over some of the logs and rocks.
I definitely need to work on the cardio side of things, I was sounding like an asthmatic going up some of the hills and while my legs felt good I just could not catch my breath so that held me back a fair bit, back to doing the 1000 steps for me.
So overall my first season of racing with all the good and bad bits thrown in has been an awesome experience for me and after getting down on it after the bad rounds I am so glad I persisted with it and finished the series. When I look back to where I was 5 months ago to where I am now it gives me great sense of acheivement and inspires me to work harder to get better at this sport.
Next up for me is the Chase the Sun Series at Lysterfield on the 11th of May which I am competing in as my first solo race. The first round is 5 hours and depending on how I go there I will decide whether I continue the series Solo or do it in a team. After that is the Rock Hop at Beaconsfield the following week and then on to the Winter series which consists of 4 rounds at Beaconsfield. So it looks like I will be spending some time out at Beaconsfield training over the next couple of months.
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog, I have had alot people comment on it and it is great to get your feedback, I hope you enjoy reading about my experiences and hopefully it paints a picture for you of what it is like for me as new comer to this sport in my conquest for that elusive win.
Thank You's
As always Croydon Cycleworks, was good to have Mick Jamison there on Sunday to cheer on myself and Jim http://www.croydoncycleworks.com/shop/
Rob Faull for convincing me to come and race after I had found a dog on the side of the road tangled in Blackberry bushes on my way to the race and was torn between taking him to hte RSPCA and going to race, worked out OK, the pound came and picked him up just before the start of the race, poor little fella, I hope they were able to track down his owners.
Also to James for helping me out on the Saturday, I would not have been able to get through the technical stuff without his help.
I have decided to add a quote the end of each of my blog entries so here goes
Quote for today
Vincent Lombardi NFL CoachIf winning isn't everything, why do they keep score?
Kat
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