Single track mind round 1 Lithgow

This one being 2 weeks after the Nationals was always going to be one for fun and trying some new things. Since the Nationals I really have been in down time I have been unmotivated for the early rides and really catching up on sleep and some mental rest. I think with daylight savings coming to an end and the drop in temperature removed the last enthusiasm I had, but I think it was what I have needed before the next training block. I have been looking at improvements and made some good steps as to where I need to go in preparation to Worlds.

Saturday morning I was meeting Grantley for the road trip, pretty simple overnighter 2 tents, gazebo, box full of food, clothes, and tools and away we go, with a nice little Bakery stop on the way….yum yum. Then we were there and a quick little lap, setup, dinner, bed, and it was race day.

The track at Lithgow was a good one if you could ride it fast, and being very rooty, with some steep short climbs it was going to be a tough little 8 hours. We headed down towards the start and with a little confusion and not much time to get ready the word go was said as I was removing a big stick from in front of my wheel. So a frantic throw and clip in and we were away.

It was a good first lap and it was not long sorting positions and feeling comfortable and easing into a nice pace. I was feeling great trying my best to using some good skills to maintain my speed and conserve some power and energy. Half way through the second lap I could feel some hand pain and numbness in my hands come back from the Nationals. My back was tight and sore from a little muscle strain 1.5 weeks ago. So really it was not long till I was in the hurt box. I just kept at my usual things and plugged away at a sensible pace not to make things worse. This was really tough I must admit and every lap I felt like I should come in and stretch the back and have a little break. I did push on as much as it tempted me to come in and on lap 5 coming in seeing Grantley sitting there after being sick made me question why. By lap 7 Grantley came back out to play and did a nice easy lap with me before he was off. By the end of lap 8, I took my first real 5 min break to stretch my back to try to feel normal again, and lap 9 I did the same. I decided 2 more was the go, I knew I would finish before the 8 hours but really ! thought that would do me so just went out to finish it off. As I came in I looked at the results and was in 10th place, and later with only 1 other rider going through to do another I was in 11th. Happy for that considering and really did not care, I was there for the fun and even though I was in the box I did enjoy it and the riders around were great.

Great weekend really; bring on round 2 this time I have 4 weeks to recover. Congrat’s to all for riding the mentally tough course. I must admit it was awesome to see Josh smash out some super quick and consistent laps.

Australian Solo Nationals 2010

Done and dusted for another year. I definitely felt like I was beaten with a big stick, but a really solid effort and some really good lessons learned for Worlds.

It was a great start to the race with black arm bands for Willo, and a nice easy first lap in his memory it really set the mood for a nice one. I had my powerbar drink bottles there too just for a constant reminder.

So the second lap and the race was on, settled into a nice rhythm, looping in circles counting the laps go by. It was pretty uneventful really (the way I like it), I was chatting to a few riders generally having a bit of fun without going too hard. The track was pretty much the same as last year with a few little changes, but seemed a little rougher than normal but the rain beforehand was definitely a bonus. Laps were going quickly stomach was a little tight so a little change in the fluid plan was the go and kept just pushing them out at a comfortable pace.

Night time came and the lights were on. It was the first time I had properly used the Radical lights and really I was impressed. These things made the night day and I think if I tried and had the energy of when I started I could have punched out similar lap times. Things were starting to go well stomach settled down, Kendra was running next to the track with me chatting and passing food, and it was all go again. Fenner was in my ear making me eat again (what I needed after my stomach settled) and it was all good again. The night went really well from midnight onwards I was pushing strong and having some fun. Whilst it was all going smashingly I did come a touch too close to a tree and clipped my pinky and over I went straight on my knee. I really thought I was out when I landed but got back up think whoa what happened and it was all good, then it was back to smashing it again ;). But generally this time is usually the hardest time but it was good to feel good and feel as though I could push that bit more.

Then the sun was coming up and it was killing me. My eyes were clouding over, as with previous experience I know that if I stop for too long during the sunrise it goes real bad so I tried to keep my heart rate up which is really hard when you can’t see where the front wheel is going ;). The early morning strobe from trees and the low sun go me bad, so if you heard me abusing something sorry I was wishing the sun would go back down ;). So hitting stumps riding off the track was becoming normal. I plugged away like this for hours it was hard, had no momentum and really was doing some silly things. Sometime after 10am I thought this is getting stupid my head was not in the game of riding into things and the concentration of the extra effort got to me. So I rolled for a break, so I could go out for an easy roll around for the last one. I knew positions and my opportunity were lost, but really felt it was getting unsafe. I went out and rolled the last one with Grantley and Clayton who had also been suffering and my eyes were a bit better, and came in for the finish.

Overall it was a really fun race and another good one I needed to get some confidence up for Worlds. I have some great mates out there who came to help me out, put helmets on me, put lights on, yell at me, and chat’s on the course, so a real thanks goes out to everyone for making it what it was. Kendra was awesome again, always there, never missing me had everything I needed each pit and I reckon she worked harder than me in this one with the short laps ;).

Also Adam McGrath awesome picture's mate, Radical lights your support is amazing, and Club Lime, thanks again.