BMBS – Newnham Park, Plymouth

Posted on Monday 26th September 2011 by Cait

I love mountain biking.

After last weekend I was almost ready to quit cycling and had no interest whatsoever in going the final race of the year at the BMBS in Plymouth. I only made the effort because everything was booked and paid for but I went into it with very low expectations, only hoping that I could at least rediscover an enjoyment of racing.

elite women's start


Newnham is usually a good race venue and pre-riding the day before we discovered the course was better than ever before. 3 main fairly steep climbs which were all rewarded with long sections of slippery, rooty singletrack. I managed to crash on a new descent that wasn’t fully bedded in yet, taking the top off an old scar of my knee. Pouring blood and some over enthusiastic first aiders resulted in butterfly stitches and a bandage the length of my leg! muppet.

Photo credit: Bob Bogdan Williams

Race day. I didn’t get the best start but after the first singletrack I managed to move up to 5th and before long we had a gap on the rest of the field behind. Maddie Horton was just in front of me and I had to dig in to make sure she didn’t pull away on the longer climbs, and then fly down the descents to close the gap. Having barely trained for the last month I was surprised to be feeling pretty good and able to push hard. The trails were very much like Irish mountain biking, lots of off-camber rooty, fairly steep technical descents and greasy but fast muddy sections. The faster you rode the more fun they were!

photo credit: Bob Bogdan Williams

On the second lap Maddie didn’t seem to be any quicker on the climbs and coming to the top of the last steep one I put in an effort to get onto her wheel but couldn’t quite do enough to get in front before we hit a long, fast singletrack descent. Halfway down the trail split and I took a different line to sneak past and attack down the hill. Back being able to race, riding totally flat out, amazing!

Photo credit: Bob Bogdan Williams

Maddie and I came through the start area together and realised we had begun to close the gap towards Mel Spath and Lee Craigee ahead. We agreed to work together to get up to them and I let Maddie ahead to take a turn on the front. Into the next climb and suddenly my legs switched off! My calves still don’t seem capable of going race pace for the whole race and I had to watch Maddie ride away. Frustrating as it was, I was expecting this to happen at some point so rather than letting my head go down as with last week I pushed on as hard as I could for the rest of the race, enjoying myself on the descents and hoping that I had already done enough to hold off people behind.

Photo credit: Bob Bogdan Williams

The climbs were hurting a bit by the last lap but the thought of not having to ride hard like that until next year made it easier. I hung on to come in 5th and finish 4th in the series overall (results here). It was good to finish the season enjoying racing but I’m looking forward to party season now!

photo credit: Bob Bogdan Williams

Thanks to all the organisers, its been a great series and definitely the best course was saved until last. A big thanks to WXC for all the support and assistance both today and throughout the season. Thanks to Bob Bogdan Williams for the cool photos

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Irish Marathon National Championships

Posted on Monday 19th September 2011 by Cait

I don’t want to write this blog post.

The Irish marathon champs were on Sunday run by MBCC at the Ballyhoura trail centre. I really enjoyed this race last year and the course was similar again, a mixture of man-made trail centre and muddy, rocky natural riding (though slightly less natural stuff this time). I didn’t specifically prepare for the race and not having done many long spins recently I was hoping a good winter base might drag me. I was wrong.

We started into a longish climb and I set a good but comfortable pace with Ciara McManus on my wheel. We were mixed in with the guys and for the first half hour or so it was incredibly frustrating getting stuck behind slow riders every time we turned into a singletrack, the trails are very narrow with no chance to pass people and I lost any descending advantage I had. Eventually I put in an effort to get ahead of a few people on a climb so that the descents could be ridden properly. Although not particularly technical some of the manmade stuff was actually great fun and I was feeling quick when I did get a clear run at it, lots of pumping sections, little jumps and bermed corners to skid around.

photo credit: Cieran Maunsell


Ciara was looking pretty strong on the climbs, making up the time I gained on the descents, so we were riding together much of the time. Initially I wasn’t too concerned, thinking I’d be better off keeping steady early on and attacking towards the end. Around two hours in she put in an attack on one of the climbs and got a decent gap, I was starting to suffer. At the top was a long, very muddy and slippery downhill section which was definitely my favourite part of the course – I pinned it all the way down, scaring the life out of myself totally off the brakes to make up 500m in a few seconds, awesome! The then next hill came and I was gone. I’d already started to get twinges of cramp and now my legs just gave in. My head soon followed and the final 25km of the race was one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had on a bike both physically and mentally. I felt like I’d lost my racing personality, I had no fight in me, I wasn’t even enjoying the descents never mind the climbs. I got dropped by Ciara and the group of guys we’d been around until then, and passed by others from behind. Stuck out on my own crawling along like a snail, it started to drizzle, there were some horrible strong headwinds, it was wet and muddy and I just didn’t want to be there. Not great.

Congratulations to Ciara, great ride. Thanks to MBCC for a very well run and event on a good course. Thanks to Think Bike for the bike service and lift down.

I’ll be back.

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A week in Zurich

Posted on Monday 12th September 2011 by Cait

My plan to escape Ireland in October using the cunning method of applying for jobs according to google maps terrain setting finally paid off, resulting in a spontaneous last minute trip to Zurich last week for a work trial. Switzerland is the home of über-cool concrete architecture, a functioning economy and most importantly of course, the Alps!

lunchtime at work


I got the job and Zurich passed the test as a suitable city to live in as a mountain biker. Its surrounded by small, steep mountains that are riddled with awesome technical singletrack, including some semi-manmade downhill courses, jump parks, and a pump track. I got a lot of funny looks from people on downhill bikes as I hammered down on my carbon hardtail, it was fun but I’m buying a freeride bike asap!

Alpine backdrop


The Alps are a short train ride away and make an amazing backdrop to the city. Even better there are 5 UCI races within an hour of Zurich (Swiss Cup), 4 World Cups can be accessed without going near an airport, German and Italian races are close by. 2012 race schedule sorted.

Now I have 2 weeks to learn German, learn that rules are there to be followed, learn to turn up early for things not late and attend to some unfinished business with the 2011 race season…

view on an evening ride


Lake Zurich


lake zurich & the alps


Zurich city centre


River


Stedelhofen Station by Calvatrava

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World Cup Val di Sole, Italy

Posted on Wednesday 24th August 2011 by Cait

The adventure continued after Czech when Mel and I flew from Brno to Milan for the final round of the World Cup series. We had a week to recover, acclimatise to some extreme heat and get to grips with another new course set in the spectacular alpine area of Val di Sole.

xc - downhill - 4x

The most noticeable feature of the course was the hills. They managed to fit in more incredibly steep climbs into than you would ever think possible, making it one of the toughest courses I’ve ever ridden (230m vertical climb over a 4.2km lap!). There was a mixture of fireroad, grassy meadows and greasy, rocky singletrack climbs, all of which were steep and hard. On top of this temperatures were in the mid 30s making doing anything fast feel like a chore never mind riding your bike. Luckily the climbs were interspersed with flowing alpine singltrack, fast rocky trails and rooty switchback descents so there was still a lot of fun to be had.

Jose Hermida picks his line

With 4 days to train on the course and since most people had also travelled straight there from Czech, there were opportunities to follow and learn from some of the best riders in the world, making sure we knew the best lines on the technical sections. A race pace lap on Wednesday left me wondering how a full race could be possible with the heat nearly killing me, but natural ice baths in Alpine rivers were perfect to cool off afterwards.

recovery ice bath

Race morning was slightly more stressful than I’d have liked, we somehow managed to miss the fact that the race was starting half an hour earlier than originally advertised meaning we spent a frantic 20 minutes running round sorting new feed zone support, finding timing chips and arriving on the start line having had no warmup at all (luckily less important in the ridiculous heat). In comparison the pros sat spinning on their turbos shaded by umbrellas, wearing cooling ice vests and able to focus on the actual race ahead. Some day.

Bang, off again. Within seconds I was caught at the back of a crash leaving me chasing the back of the pack as we hurtled around a flat start loop. Before long we were into a long climb and I was able to get up to a group of the same riders I was around last week. There was the usual first lap queueing and aggression with riders scrabbling to try and make up places where ever possible. Eventually things spread out a bit but the combination of heat and steep climbs was killing me. It felt like all the trail sessioning earlier in the week was going to waste, the climbs took so much energy that I was left wrecked for the first half of every descent, all over the place struggling to recover and gain some composure.

As time went on I was going backwards, loosing contact with the group I was with and eventually getting passed from behind. It was like racing in an oven and I just couldn’t push hard. The shorter laps this year are making it increasingly difficult to stay in the race and I got pulled due to the 80% rule with 2 laps to go, much sooner than I’d have liked.

Racing the world cups this year has been an amazing experience and I’ve learnt a lot. Next year I’ll know what to expect and have a huge list of things to do differently which will make racing easier. Travel arrangements will be far easier doing it for the 2nd time, I’ll know to train on the steepest climbs I can find, to train in a sauna, to go to the manager’s meeting before a race, to allow more time than you can ever imagine to get to an Italian airport, that you can’t fit 2 bike bags in a Fiat Panda, to rob a bank so I can fund some more races….

Racing aside we had a great week camping and enjoying an outdoor lifestyle, catching up with other riders from all over the world and giving the bronzed Italian posers something to stare at by revealing our cycling tan lines at the swimming pool. It took a lot of dedication not to waste energy exploring the local singletrack, or to overdose on pizza and icecream before the race but off course everything is ok in moderation!
More photos of the trip here.

world cup course


sessioning the course

team village

downhill


skillz

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World Cup – Nove Mesto na Morave, Czech Republic

Posted on Monday 22nd August 2011 by Cait

The latest racing adventure was the 6th round of the World Cup Series, taking place in Nove Mesto na Morave in the Czech Republic. Mel Spath and I flew over from Ireland a couple of days before with time to check out the course, acclimatise to a new country and adapt to the incomprehensible language and strange money.

Set in a forested area of pretty rolling hills, the race was based around a biathlon stadium which created a great arena and starting area. The course was very similar to racing in Ireland, lots of natural forest singletrack with plenty of roots, twisty corners, kickers and a couple of rocky technical features to keep the cameras happy. It was a lot of fun and real mountain biking so I was looking forward to racing. There did seem to be more climbing than anything else though with a lot of it up very steep rooty trails, which kept things interesting but also made it a really tough course.

The Czechs know how to put on a show and the crowds were out if force on race day with over 20,000 spectators and an electric atmosphere. It was into the increasingly familiar routine of riding round in circles around a tiny start area waiting to be called up, pedalling backwards in the pens to keep the legs moving, onto the grid heart starting to thump, 15 seconds to go-focused, bang we’re off. We had a 10 minute start loop straight into 2 long steep climbs which I was hoping might split things up and avoid the usual first lap queues in the singletrack for those starting at the back of the grid, but it didn’t work and we were all together at the top. I spent a frustrating amount of time stuck behind slow people on the descents but as we went into the 1st full lap I’d managed to move up into the 50s riding in a group with a lot of riders I was targeting.

The killer climbs were made easier by the noise of the enthusiastic crowds, with the deafening noise helping to ignore the pain and push hard. As things began to string out there was more chance to ride hard on the singletrack but just as I was starting to really enjoy myself disaster struck. I took an awkward line trying to overtake someone over a rocky section and caught my wheel on a sharp rock. Bang, psssstttt…! Slashed the tyre and it wouldn’t seal with a CO2. I started to run but realised I was miles from the feed zone and didn’t have spare wheels there anyway. Panic. There was nothing for it but to pull out. I stood at the edge of the course for ages trying to put off the inevitable. Stepping under the tape was the worst feeling ever, a walk of shame feeling all the spectators watching me, looking from the side of the track as the race went on without me. It was the first time I’ve ever not finished a race and not something I ever was to experience again.

The organisation, course and atmosphere were impressive, probably the best I’ve been to so far and I’m already looking forward to going back next year to do it justice. Thanks to WXC for the tech zone support. Also thanks to Czech based team sponsor Sportique who provide us with some great products, enjoyed meeting them after the race.






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Ballinrobe 2 Day road race

Posted on Monday 8th August 2011 by Cait

I was selected to ride for the Irish Road Development Team at the weekend in the Ballinrobe 2 day in Galway – a race I did last year and really enjoyed.

Saturday Stage 1 – 82km, 5 KOH primes
This was the most hilly part of the race so my best chance to do well. The race was a mixture of categories A1-A3 with a handicapped start so the women were off first. How much of an advantage this was I’m not sure since it meant a small group of us working fairly hard until we were caught by the larger men’s bunch after 25km. We were caught on a dodgy narrow lane descent and with the guys coming screaming past at breakneck speed it was hard to jump in. We soon hit the 3rd KOH of the day (the first that I would class as a hill!) and by the top I’d worked my way clear of most of the girls. The next climb was bigger again, still short enough to hammer fast but fairly steep, and at the top I realised the bunch had split and I was in the second half. As the climb eased off before the descent the guys around me stopped pushing with only one person keen to go on, shouting at people to work since the gap was only a few seconds and could still be closed. Nobody seemed to react so I squeezed up the inside and joined the guy to push the pace at the front – also thinking it would put me at the front for the descent which is where I usually struggle to keep up! My descending must have improved as I led down the hill and since the gap was still tantalisingly close to the main bunch we continued to ride hard trying to catch on. Eventually our group was whittled down to 5 of us and we worked well together to minimise time loss from from the group ahead. From the few glimpses I caught I think we rode through some pretty spectacular Conemmara mountain scenery but I was too busy to notice much.

photo credit: Conor Mckeown


Just as I thought I’d succeeded in gaining time on the other girls, a bigger group caught us from behind, one of whom was Sandra Fitzgerald also riding for the Irish dev team. Dammit, advantage lost. We were both pushing the pace at the front and approaching the finish sprinted for the line with Sandra getting half a wheel on me as I went far too early. Our group lost about 4 minutes to the leaders but Sandra and I shared the award for the most combative riders of the stage!

Sunday Stage 2a – 7km Time Trial
A lovely way to wake up with 10 minutes of pain. I lost time starting in the wrong gear and felt half asleep for the first half, when I saw the 1km to go sign I suddenly though shit I better start riding and got into the zone but it was a bit late. Finished in 10.49, losing 51 seconds to Sandra who was first of the women – of the faster ones I was the only one not on a TT bike though. Half a minute faster than last year at least.

photo credit: Paddy Doran


Sunday Stage 2b – 4 laps of 20km, 2 KOH
Another handicapped stage but this time the course was much flatter, you needed a spirit level to find where the King of the Hill primes were! We got in a lap before getting caught by the A3 bunch who were really drilling the pace. I spent a good bit of time near the front as we worked doing up and overs to hold off the chasing A1/2 bunch (which we succeeded in doing) but averaging over 40kmph for the day meant it was fairly hard at times. I would have needed to get into a break to make up the 50 seconds I lost in the TT but it wasn’t going to happen, the course was too flat. 10km from the end it started pissing down to the extent where we had axle deep river crossings on the road, water spraying everywhere, sketchy corners – I was in my element! With a few km to go I got up at the front with 4 or 5 of us pushing the pace on but somehow in the last km 100s of riders appeared from nowhere and I was swallowed up as everyone sprinted for the line. More mountains please! Finished 19th on the stage, 45th overall and 2nd female.

Cash prizes make road racing tempting, pro weekend – enjoyable too, if only I could have a parallel life I would do more of them (report on IrishCycling here). Thanks to Western lakes CC for a very well run race and the Irish Development Team for the support over the weekend.

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Olympic Test Event – Hadleigh Farm

Posted on Wednesday 3rd August 2011 by Cait

Photo credit: Alan Donnelly

On Sunday I had the privilege of wearing the Ireland colours to compete in a test race for the Olympic mountain biking on the 2012 Olympic course in Essex. An amazing opportunity to line up with such a small number of competitors at the invitation only race, the majority of whom will be racing in the real event next summer. Mel and I travelled over on Friday and spent 2 days getting to know the course.

photo credit: PaulStewart

Initially we weren’t impressed, the course ticked all the boxes with technical climbs, rock gardens, jumps, switchbacks, and steep drops, but it all felt too manmade and clinical, and to me seemed to suck the soul out of mountain biking. I can’t compare it to anything I’ve ever ridden before, when you’re not riding a carefully constructed technical rock section, you’re on incredibly wide but very loose hardpacked tracks that are like riding on marbles at times, but there is no natural singletrack, woodland or roots that would be characteristic of the area. Some of the techncial sections were good fun though and took a look of concentration to get down cleanly, pre-race claims that you could ride it on a cyclocross bike are certainly not true. I concluded that it was best to reserve full judgement until after the race since that can often change things. I was right.

photo credit: James Milnes

Race day and things started to get nerve racking. Protocol was followed to the letter and it was a real taste of what riders will experience next summer. 15 minutes before the start we were called out of the high security private riders area (protected by Ghurkhas!) to ride round and round the start loop with 5000 spectators lining the hill above and commentators introducing each rider. Called to the start line, counting down the seconds it was just me and 33 of the top riders in the world, very high calibre but at least fewer people to try and pass than in a World Cup. Bang, we charged off sprinting around the start loop at a blistering pace. The first part of the lap was chaos, getting stuck behind people dabbing, stopping or running every time we hit a technical section so a combination of sharpened elbows and careful timing was needed to avoid losing time. Eventually things strung out a bit and I could get into a rhythm.

photo credit: Danny Elliott


The scorching sun and 30°C temperatures (yes in England), combined with the relentless nature of the course made for some really tough racing. A lot of the climbs included carefully placed rocks to make you attack out of the saddle or loose switchbacks that require some strength, and at the top with lungs burning and legs full of lactic it was hard to stay composed as we went straight into physical rocky descents. UK races are normally not the best for atmosphere but the crowds were amazing, the Ireland kit was useful and it was great motivation to have loads of people shouting my name or ‘go on Ireland’. The course is very well designed for spectators with plenty of chances to get close to the technical spots and an amphitheatre like area that gives views across the course so you can follow the race as it progresses.

photo credit: James Milnes

The laps were very short with the winners completing one in around 15 minutes so I was battling to stay in the race as long as possible. I was pushing on the limits for a lot of the race and by lap 3 the effort started to take its toll with a Dutch girl I had been chasing starting to get a gap. Frustratingly I suspect my calves are not recovered enough to survive top pace for the full length of a race yet, since slowing down and feeling them tighten up seems to correspond and has been a problem a few times recently. At the end of my 4th lap I was pulled due to the 80% rule, finishing 25th and quickly ushered over to the press to give interviews and sign some autographs – how pro. An annoying end but the experience was amazing and I want more of it! Too late for Ireland to qualify for 2012 but I now know exactly how fast I have to be in 5 years time, watch this space.

Thanks to WXC for the tech zone support, Alan, James & my Dad for the photos and CI for the loan of the kit.
Lots more photos from the weekend in the gallery section

photo credit: Danny Elliott


official stuff


photo credit: Danny Elliott


Sabine Spitz


Elite men's race


Julien Absalon


Robin Seymour


Absalon


Absalon wins the Men's race


Photo credit: Alan Donnelly

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appreciate your back yard

Posted on Thursday 28th July 2011 by Cait

Proper big mountains, hot weather that lasts all summer and not having to get on a plane every weekend to get a decent amount of competition in a race can make living in Europe look attractive but I haven’t left Ireland for a whole month and sometimes its good to appreciate what you have.


There are not many places you can live in walking distance of a big city centre but ride from your front door to mountains like these, which are rideable for 95% of the year. The variety of trails is amazing from woodland singletrack, to manmade trails, to big rocky open mountain tracks and with the bonus of plenty of other elite riders to go training with.


Its not just the mountains though, I have an increasing appreciation for the sea. You can swim in the sea without leaving the city, the water is even warm at the moment (17 degrees according to one of the enthusiastic locals!) and there is a whole Dublin subculture to be discovered down there with hardened old guys who swim everyday even when temperatures are below freezing in winter.

If only we had a bridge to Europe Dublin would be perfect.
Ok and a better economy too.

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Irish xc National Championships – Kilruddery

Posted on Tuesday 19th July 2011 by Cait

photo credit: Andrew Lowry

This year’s National Championships run by Robin Seymour and Team Worc really showed Ireland’s potential as a world class mountain biking venue. The race took place at Killrudery Estate in Wicklow, a place that is normally off limits to bikes, with the Little Sugarloaf mountain forming a spectacular backdrop. The course was incredible, full of tight twisty singletrack through the woods, wall rides, technical rocky sections, and since we managed to escape the worst of the rain it was almost bone dry and even dusty. The atmosphere, familiar friendly faces and hassle free travelling makes racing in Ireland one of the most enjoyable experiences ever.

To win the National Champion title you have to be Irish, but this year’s race was made more interesting as we acquired a stray German (Mel Spath!) who was able to compete but not eligible to win the Irish jersey. Winning the jersey was my main priority but I was also looking forward to the additional task of trying to win the race overall.

photo credit: Cieran Maunsell


As we set off across the start field Junior Claire Oakely (WXC UK) shot off like a bullet and led for the first part of the course. I jumped into second before we hit the singletrack, concentrating on riding smoothly on the tight corners rather than getting sucked into chasing Claire. I eventually got ahead on a climb and saw Mel (Cycleways) not far behind. Despite the course having very little climbing, there were several short but steep power climbs which are normally not too my liking at all, but I was feeling strangely strong on them – the feeling of good power in your legs as you jump out of the saddle to attack a steep section is hard to beat! In fact the first lap was amazing, everything was so smooth and I felt like I was only cruising but seemed to be flying pulling a bit of a gap on Mel, great. The last part of the lap was flat and fast though and I knew that was where I was in danger of losing time to Mel and sure enough she wasn’t far behind. I lost a few seconds stopping at the feedzone to straighten my saddle which had been driving me crazy since I knocked it into a funny angle early in the lap, but stayed in the lead.

photo credit: VC Glendale

Although on first look the course didn’t seem hugely technical it took a lot of skill to ride smoothly and carry speed through the corners to save wasting effort. There were however a few tricky rocky sections mostly positioned at the top of the steep climbs to catch you at your tiredest. On one of these I dabbed and somehow spun my bike 360 degrees (luckily jumping off in time!) giving Mel a bit more chance to close the gap. Back on and re-composed I was having a great time, flying down the bomb hole at full pelt, skidding around dusty corners and hammering the little kickers. Then on the final wooded singletrack of the lap I dropped my chain and when I hopped off to put it back on Mel jumped in front. Bad timing too as it was just before the flat fast section. She had 20 seconds on me but I held on so that it wasn’t increased as we went into lap 3, though I lost another few seconds with more seat straightening at the tech zone.

photo credit: St John Walsh


For most of the next lap she was just in front and the cheers of encouragement from spectators telling me there was only 30 seconds gap helped to keep fighting. The gap increased a bit more on the flat section towards the end of the lap so that although not far ahead Mel was mostly out of sight. I went into the final lap hoping to give it one last shot at closing the gap but looking back I’m not sure how committed I was to this idea – I was riding hard but I should have been utterly burying myself and didn’t for some reason. In the end I was a minute back and felt like the race was too short and there should have been another lap – frustrating, maybe I could have gone harder on the last lap (easier said with hindsight) and without all my faff stops it could have been different.

photo credit: VC Glendale


Fantastic race, great course, great atmosphere and organisation. 2nd in the race but a consolation prize of my 4th National Champion jersey makes things a little bit better (results here). A get out of jail free card but I’ll have to get my finger out and step up a gear if I want it again next year since Mel will fully turned Irish by then and eligible for the jersey! training started this morning.

photo credit: Cieran Maunsell


A huge thank you to Team Worc and everyone involved in course building and race organisiation. Kilruddery is one of the best race venues in the world and it was a super professional event. Thanks to the Think Bike support crew for the pro tech zone assistance and pre-race bike tuning. Thanks to Stewart Carr and Carrie for miracle massages over the last few weeks, nearly there! Also thanks to all the spectators out on the course, most of the time I had no idea who it was shouting my name but the cheers of encouragement make so much difference.

photo credit Martin Grimley

Next up: Lining up with the world’s best at theOlympic Test event at Hadleigh Farm in 2 weeks!

photo credit: Chainreaction cycles


photo credit: MikeArmstrong


photo credit: Cieran Maunsell

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Leinster Road Championships, Bunclody, Co. Wexford

Posted on Tuesday 5th July 2011 by Cait

The Leinster road championships was held in Bunclody on Sunday and with 3 laps of a rolling 26km circuit, it seemed like a good opportunity for some training and speed work. There was no separate women’s race and Mel and I were the only females lining up in A3.

For the first lap I played it sensibly, reminding myself what bunch riding was like and tucking in for most of the time. It was a nice course with some small draggy climbs and a pretty quick descents, but there didn’t seem much chance for anyone to break away – there were guys trying all the time but never looking too threatening.

photo credit: Liam Ruth, Slaney CC


On lap 2 I got up towards the front, left my brain on the side of the road and when a load of attacks started I jumped in on the action. One second pedalling along comfortably and then someone suddenly puts the hammer down and its all go at full gas. They kept piling on one after another with barely chance to recover from the burning legs at the end of each effort. I was happy to feel well able to stick to the guys in the attacks but it was a shame that they were reeled in each time – probably an obvious waste of effort to go with them in the first place but I was there for training and it would have been boring otherwise!

Into lap 3 I got swallowed up by the bunch and questioning the logic behind my earlier efforts I tucked in a bit to conserve energy, hoping I had enough left for some more hard efforts towards the finish. The race winner somehow snuck away out the front but coming up towards the finish it was clearly going to be an uphill sprint for the final positions. I was positioned way too far back in the bunch with Mel just beside me. As the speed increased I was on the inside and totally boxed in but with 7-800m to go half a gap opened in front of me so I got my elbows out and went hard to get as far up as I could. 200m full gas, uh oh can I keep this up? 100m? shit it can’t be that far! Had to turn off the pain-feeling part of my brain and managed to keep going to cross the line. An enjoyable race, even pretty exciting at times. Thanks to Think Bike for the fast race machine. A hot and dusty spin up 3 rock when I got home reminded me where my loyalties are!

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