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

I'm Back!

It's amazing what a long hard ride can do for you! (Stay on track here) After getting down on the riding especially after my embarrassing end to the last Anaconda Enduro, also just really having the shits with the world, everything has been getting to me lately with all the work I have been doing both with my full time job and the freelance photography stuff and to add to that I have my folio presentation for uni tomorrow night so the lead up to that has been very stressfull trying to get everything done before the big deadline but now it is all done and I finally had a weekend off so what better way to enjoy it by doing a heap of riding.

Yesterday saw me head out to the You Yang's with my trusty trainer for the day Duncan Murray, (in the photo above)we started off doing the same downhill section that was in the previous State XC round that I had alot of trouble with so was relieved to get through that without any probs, then we did a section from the 6 hour and managed to get through that one once again unscathed, with only one dramatic crash for the day resulting in little cut on my chin and elbow I was extremely happy as the You Yangs have caused me a great deal of greif each time I have ridden there, came away from it feeling alot more confident riding the rocks and downhill sections.

Today was out to Ringwood to fellow photographer and all round good guy; Gary Morrow's for a ride from his place in Ringwood along some bike paths (wouldnt have a clue which ones I am not that observant) to the Yarra trails and back again, ended up being a 70klm ride which is not much for you elite guys but was a big one for me, actualy felt fairly good at the end of it too.

So I have revived my motivation to get better at this sport and hope to get some half decent training in over the next few weeks whilst on my break from uni, and also to hopefully redeem myself at the next Anaconda Enduro after my crappy effort at the last one! Phew, 7 hours, dont know if i will be able to stay on the bike for that long but will have a good crack at it.

Well that is all from me, just feeling good after my weekends riding and thought I would share my thoughts.

Many Thanks to Duncan for helping me out with the riding, I am sure it must have been very boring for him having to slow down to my pace.

No quotes for this one but a recent coversation with a friend about how much men suck and how we could dedicate a whole site to it made me stumble over this http://www.mensuck.com/ turns out someone already came up with our idea, (it's amazing the crap you can find on the net!) as most of the people that read my blog are male I am sure you wont appreciate it but any chicks out there should check it out, has some funny stuff on it, disclaimer: if you do check it out and the love calculator tells you that you and Romeo are not 100% compatible I will not be held responsible.

Kat

Anaconda Enduro Lysterfield Round 2

Not a great round, one that I was looking forward to and just hoping to be able to last 6 hours, well race was ended at the 1 and a half hour mark, was going up a little climb really slow and chatting to another chick that had stopped at the top of the climb to let riders pass, I looked back to see if I would be holding anyone up and before I knew it I was on the ground.

Instantly my thumb was sore I looked at it and it had swelled up straight away and I couldnt bend it, I got up and pushed my bike to the side of the track and just let some riders through before attempting to ride back to the finish, I couldnt put any pressure on it and was struggling to hold on to the handle bars so sarted walking, my first thought was not about the race being over but about my upcoming photo shoot in Alice Springs for the Finke Desert Race, with 8 kilos worth of camera and lens to hold on to if anything was broken there would not be much chance I would be right for it in the next 4 days.

Nic Eagle from the Felt team walked my bike back for me and I saw the St Johns guys who told me to get xrays, so off I went and basically I was being a bit of a sook as nothing was broken and naturally if something is swollen generally you wont be able to bend it so does not nessacerally mean it is broken.

Would rather just forget about this round and now look forward to the next.

Got back from my trip to Alice Springs for the Finke Desert Race on Tuesday, had a great time except for the weather at prologue which was pouring rain the whole time and as I was expecting sunny skies I had not taken a rain jacket so after 6 hours of standing in the rain I was absolutely freezing and had to go back to my motel for a couple of hot showers before I actually thawed out.

A few photos from Finke

A very wet Alice Springs

No front tyre Well it has been a very busy few months for me and hopefully with my last class next Monday for this semester (studying photography) I will have some spare time to do some riding, the only riding I have been doing lately has been in a race so if I thought I was unfit before now I am definitley lacking in the fitness stakes.

Will get some rides in this weekend as it is my first weekend off in a long time so looking forward to a bit of a sleep in (7.30am for me) and finishing off last minute preparations for my folio to hopefully score myself a HD!

Thinking of doing the FTF XC at Chum Creek this Sunday but might do a big ride instead will decide tomorrow night so if I do I will give you the update on that one otherwise check back after the Dirt Riders XC on the 29th.


Until then Happy Biking!

Oh and no quote for today but Kat's words of wisdom; Dont go out drinking until 5am when you have to get a flight home a few hours later!

Bad move!


Kat

Rock Hop 6 Hour Enduro at Beaconsfield

This would have to have been the hardest race I have been involved in to date. The rain didnt stop all day on Saturday and driving out there Sunday morning was hard to see out the windscreen for all the rain, was sort of hoping I would get there and they would have cancelled it, but nope I got there about 8.30 and it was all happening.

So I rock up to the Croydon Cycleworks tent and ask if my 2 other teammates had dragged their butts out of bed to compete in our mixed triples team, I had spoken to Mick about one of my teammates the day before and found out he was pretty crook and most likely would not ride, this was confirmed in our conversation this morning and that I would be doing a mixed double team but about 20 minutes later we found out the he was no show too, so the discussion was made to combine the 2 other Croydon Cycleworks teams and put me in a mixed 4 which I quickly knocked back and suggested I do it solo, seemed like a good idea at the time, race didnt start off on a good note with my chain coming off twice going up the hill on the start line and passing my sponsor Mick at the Croydon Cyleworks tent about 30 seconds after the slowest riders so looked like the biggest hack 1 minute in to the race and then headed straight into a big mud bath, with my logic before the race that the rain was good thing as in my crazy mixed up mind I thought it would slow me down allowing me to pace myself for the race and conserve energy. Conserve energy???? Yeah right, What was I thinking, must have been having one of my moments I seem to be having alot of at the moment. Riding in the mud really takes it out of you, and added extra kilos to my already heavy big metal thing I am getting around on at the moment, not only that but my forks siezed up quite a while ago now and the ruts and rocks on the course were really taking their toll on my wrists and shoulders. Anyway enough whinging from me, on to the good stuff, uuuummmmmmm, ok I finished and didnt crash.

The course was made up by 9klms of mainly single track with rocky sections and 'the rock' that the race name comes from, which I had no chance of getting over and just stood there in amazement when I watched Paul Randell go over it so smoothly. Was a pretty technical course made even harder by the heavy rain, luckilly the rain held off for most of the race, with a fairly heavy downpour heading in to my second lap not far from the comfort of the tent I definitely let out a couple of swear words and got the sooks up big time and just wanted to ride back to the tent but it was short lived and the rain eased off and I was happy again, well perhaps not happy but settled down a bit anyway.

The course really did my head in and yet again had me doubting myself and whether I should or shouldnt be having a crack at the racing and just sticking to riding the trails at Lysterfield, I could do that but that would take out the best bits of Mountain Biking, the challenge of racing a course like this is one thing, riding it for 6 hours is another and as much I was getting down on myself for not being able to do what I wanted to do out there the great sense of acheivement I felt when I crossed the finish line for the last time was plenty of reward for what I had just put myself through and when I think about it I was one of only 3 girls to attempt it solo and managed to be the 2nd best solo girl on the day so that has to stand for something and is motivation enough to become the 1st best female in the years to come. I certainly have realised that it is going to take me a long time to get to where I want to be with my racing so for now the aim is just to relax and have fun with it until that time comes.

So I am struggling up a climb and one of the riders posed the question to me as to whether I would do another solo enduro, a quick No from me was the response as was the same response given after the Anaconda Enduro last week but I figure if I can do 6 hours on this track in those conditions then for sure I can do the next Anaconda Enduro solo, so decision made, my next race will be at Lysterfield on the 1st of June as a 6 hour solo compettior.

Overall was a good race and was great to have the Croydon Cycleworks guys there, they made sure I did the right thing with my eating and drinking this race, I was a bit of a mess after Lysterfield and felt heaps better at the end of this race today no doubt by doing the right thing by keeping hydrated and fed.

Thank You's

Croydon Cycleworks, Mick made sure my bike was good to go before the race and all the guys kept me motivated to keep riding.

All the riders that gave me encouragement when I just wanted to sit on the side of the track and throw a tantrum.

And Thanks to my photographer mate Gary Trounson for coming out in the cold to snap away at us and thanks for the photo above. Check out http://www.gteephotography.com/ to see if he got any of you.

Quote for today

"That's the beauty of mountain-bike racing - there isn't a f-ing pill available out there that helps you ride down a mountain faster."--Adam Craig

Until next time Happy biking

Kat

Anaconda Enduro Series @ Lysterfield

My first solo enduro, the idea was to do this one solo to see if I could handle doing the whole series solo, well that wont be happening, I ended up doing 5 laps of a 10klm course in 5 hours, the last lap was a big struggle for me, about half way through I really didnt think I would make the rest of the lap and just basically had the shits with the world, was getting angry with myself and just stuffing things up which made me worse and started getting a bit emotional and feeling like I really should not be doing it, everything I made it up or over in the first lap I just could not do and really had nothing left in me to get up the hills, it was very slow going and alot of stops to get me through.
I knew my laps would be 45-60mins and was given the advice to eat every hour and also have a gel, after the first lap I was feeling pretty good and the laps actually didnt seem to take that long so figured I would be ok for another lap before stopping to have a gel and food, as I passed the finish line to go on to my third lap I still felt pretty good so decided again to push on for another lap and then stop, about half way through this lap I started to feel a bit crap, was hungry and legs were not feeling good at all, I knew I was not drinking enough water but didnt feel thirsty so just kept riding, I pulled in after my third lap and had a power bar and a gel and went on to to my 4th, I felt ok for a while but as soon as I got to a climb my legs just had nothing in them and I was very slow going up.
I finished my last lap just after the 5 hour mark, feeling pretty sore and sorry for myself, I guess you can expect to feel sore after 5 hours of riding but to feel like you have just had a big night out is not right, was not feeling good at all, and as the guys said I obviously did not have enough water through the race and also should have been eating too, very valuable lesson learnt and I will know for the next one.
I think I will pass on the solo entry for the next 3 rounds of the series and team up with another rider. I have alot work to do on my fitness and skills before I attempt another solo enduro.
Overall I enjoyed the race, the course was alot of fun and everyone could obviously see that I was struggling up the hills so were very encouraging which definitely helped especially on the last couple of laps. I also made it through the day crash free which is always a good thing.
I am riding in the 6 hour at Beaconsfield next week in a team of 3 with 2 Croydon Cycleworks riders so should be alot fun. No excuse to not eat and drink there as I will have plenty of time between laps.

Quote for the day

Eat, drink and be Merry

Quoted by some dude in the bible but more importantly a verse out of a song by Dave Matthews Band, this quote would have come in handy for me today brother taped across my handle bars.

Until next time happy riding

Kat

6th and Final Round of the VSS XC at Beaconsfield

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

Round 5 VSS XC Wombat

The penultimate round of the VSS was held out at Wombat track today. I headed out there yesterday to pre ride the track hoping to get one up on my competition, not the greatest idea as I decided I didnt like the track and had it in my head that I couldnt ride it. I called Rob Faull to tell him of my dillema, turns out it was not much of a dillema at all, pretty much the respone I got was to quit whinging about it just ride it. And fair enough too, I cant just pick and choose which courses I am going to ride and if it is too tough for me then I really have to question whether or not I should be having a go at this.

Turns out the course was not as hard as I made out to be on Saturday, I was in a crappy mood on Saturday and perhaps a bit emotional so was probably not in the right frame of mind to be riding out there on my own in the first place so was being a bit dramatic I think, anyway its Sunday morning and as soon as race mode kicked in all the obstacles I didnt attempt the day before soon seemed like no big deal at all.

With 3 girls in my class I was always assured of a podium but not really a legitimate one when you come third and there are only three of you in it! I was up against my nemesis Megan Lawson and a new chick Lisa, I was sizing her up and decided she was not much to worry about and that Megan would be my main concern, with only 1 and 2 minutes seperating us in previous races I was fairly confident I could keep with her on the first lap and hopefully get away from her on the hills, well we took off from the start and I let Megan go ahead on the single track planning to stick behind her and had Lisa behind me not worried about her at all, about half way in the elite guys started passing and I started stopping to let them get past, I could see Megan and Lisa getting away from me but am so worried about getting in the way of the fast riders I didnt want to continue on the single track and hold up riders, this is something I need to overcome, dont know how but I need to.

By the second lap I was pretty sure they would have been a fair way ahead of me and had given up any hope of a legitimate podium so decided to just try and enjoy it, which I did, as soon as I stopped worrying about where they were and trying to catch them everything actually went fairly smoothly and was definitely able to enjoy it more.

I ended up with 3rd and last place for the day and was beaten by 8 minutes so not quite as I had hoped but really was the best I could do on the day. Megan came second losing to Lisa by 21 seconds.

I was pretty down on it all after the race and really was wondering whether I should continue or not. I guess I have 2 choices, I can give up and go along and photograph the events to try and make some money or I can stop sooking and try to up my training which is pretty much non existent at the moment (due to work and uni commitments). I think a 6am jog tomorrow is looking to be the go for me rather than the 4 times I hit the snooze button. I am yet to win a race and cant give up until that happens and then when it does I will just have to keep winning to win the series and then I will start racing in the Expert class and this business of coming last will all start again and on it all goes, so giving up is just not an option.

I love riding and the atmosphere at the races and regardless of whether I win or lose (well lose or lose) I have mostly had alot of fun at all of the races, even at the Youee's race with my constant crashing and very bad result I still enjoyed it. I have also met some great people through it and some great riding partners.

One more round to go, hosted by my club Dirt Riders http://www.dirtridersmtb.com/ and then bring on the Vic Winter Series!

Thanks You's

Thanks again to Rob Faull, although we have not been able to train lately he is still a big motivator to me and I know if I do call him when I am doubting myself he will sort me out pretty quickly. http://www.mtbfit.com/

Croydon Cyclworks http://www.croydoncycleworks.com/shop/

And to Dave Blair for teaching me how to change a tyre!

Until next time Happy Biking!

Kat