An event that only took us 35 minutes to get to!!! For once we weren’t having to pack up the car, spend hours in the car and then camp the night, we were able to sleep in pack a few drink bottles and some food, load the bikes and get to the race 45 minutes before the start. It was rad.
Last weekend a few of us had spend a few hours clearing the tracks at Nowa Nowa as some recent windstorms had blown loads of trees all over the track. Awesome effort by Mick and Jac to get the tracks in tip top shape, with a few improvisations and additional log rollovers that made the course even more fun. With 50 or so riders it was a great local event that attracted riders from Melbourne and Mt Beauty, all finishing with massive smiles on their faces and praising how fun the course was.
We spend the first half of the lap climbing, with a steep fire road pinch at the top to really get the legs going, and the second half the lap was mostly downhill.
As excited as I was to be heading to a local race, I was a tad apprehensive as my cornering skills aren’t my strong point and this course has that many corners that I was started to feel dizzy towards the end! As much as I was out of my comfort zone with all the corners I knew it would be doing wonders for my skills and as they say practise makes perfect. By the end of the race I was much more confident and comfortable tearing down the descent. The weather was awesome at the beginning of the race and at the 2 hour mark I was feeling pretty cooked with the garmin reading 30 degrees, but 30 minutes later the clouds came over, the wind picked up and the temperature dropped considerably making the descent a tad chilly.
Managed to get in 7 laps for the win, was hoping for 8 and came in with enough time that I could have left for the eighth, but thought better of it as I had been fighting off a cold and exhaustion all week. (Week 10 Term 3 every year I fall into an exhausted state) And with holidays now upon me I have plenty of riding to do over the next 2 weeks!
A great day out, a big thanks to Jac, Mick and the Gippsland MTB Club you guys always put on awesome events. A big thanks to Liv/Giant for your support, I was most excited to be wearing a new kit that is uber comfortable and looks pretty schmicko too!! Thanks PureSport Nutrition, I would have been in trouble without the workout drinks during the race when it was heating up. A massive thanks also goes to HSR Seeds for their support, without which getting to so many races would be impossible. Great to be at a local Gippsland race.
