How muddy can it be?
As you could see by the radar picture, the day dawned pretty ordinary... With gale force wind, hail and thunder and a top temp in the low teens in the city, it was a damm sight colder out at Ballan. But none the less, we geared up and got ready to race.
This was when we were clean and could smile without shaking.
Milling around for the start was a matter of keeping as warm as possible, whilst the start was sorted out.
And we were off. On the left gave Ash a great start, easily winning the start loop and extending the lead of Felt Racing thoughout the next few laps.
Our famous pit girls swing into action, giving the bikes an essential clean as otherwise they would grind to a halt in the terrible conditions. The pumper spray with truck wash were sensational, providing a gentle spray perfect for bikes. Not strong enough to force water and mud past the seals of the bearings, but enough spray to clean the bulk of the mud off.
Ash leading the eventual solo winner on the first lap. The giant rider showed great pace and guts to go out hard in the first lap, regardless of conditions and knowing fullwell that he would not get a rest for 6 more hours!
Felt Racing central, our home away from home with all the mod-cons. Like a roof. And walls.
For some reason, our photographer only managed to capture the flash known as Jack, just the once. Here he can be seen in the centre of the photo charging off to begin another lap.
Really what more to be said. It was muddy. It was hard. From a great start, we charged along for about 3-4 hours in the lead of the bike race, before we succumbed to the attacks from behind, and were relegated to 3rd place for the remainder of the race. The gap to 4th was around 20 mins, whilst the gap to the lead was a mere 5 mins. The conditions of the course were amazing, something I strive to forget each race like this. There will be a lot of rebuilt bikes after this race....!
More info and photos to follow - time to wash up....
This was when we were clean and could smile without shaking.
Milling around for the start was a matter of keeping as warm as possible, whilst the start was sorted out.
And we were off. On the left gave Ash a great start, easily winning the start loop and extending the lead of Felt Racing thoughout the next few laps.
Our famous pit girls swing into action, giving the bikes an essential clean as otherwise they would grind to a halt in the terrible conditions. The pumper spray with truck wash were sensational, providing a gentle spray perfect for bikes. Not strong enough to force water and mud past the seals of the bearings, but enough spray to clean the bulk of the mud off.
Ash leading the eventual solo winner on the first lap. The giant rider showed great pace and guts to go out hard in the first lap, regardless of conditions and knowing fullwell that he would not get a rest for 6 more hours!
Felt Racing central, our home away from home with all the mod-cons. Like a roof. And walls.
For some reason, our photographer only managed to capture the flash known as Jack, just the once. Here he can be seen in the centre of the photo charging off to begin another lap.
Really what more to be said. It was muddy. It was hard. From a great start, we charged along for about 3-4 hours in the lead of the bike race, before we succumbed to the attacks from behind, and were relegated to 3rd place for the remainder of the race. The gap to 4th was around 20 mins, whilst the gap to the lead was a mere 5 mins. The conditions of the course were amazing, something I strive to forget each race like this. There will be a lot of rebuilt bikes after this race....!
More info and photos to follow - time to wash up....
posted by Ash Thomas at 8:56 pm
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