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.
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