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