Harkaway Winter Slippery Dip
10 August 2008, where's the memory erase button? Today's race isn't one to remember.
Today's race was part of the Fat Tire Flyers winter series which was held at a new venue at the Harkaway Scout Camp, just past Lysterfield and next door to Upper Beaconsfield, so it's smack bang in the middle of MTB territory.
The race today was to be a short crit style race instead of a normal XC race. Being a new venue the track was freshly cut single track, but mixed with a week of rain leading up to the race today conditions were always going to be tough. Just how tough was the big question. The answer was extremely tough. Racing for the day was split into 4 grades, A to D, with C and D racing first followed by A and B. This allowed everyone a chance to watch the racing which was a nice change. 5 laps were on the cards for A grade of an approximately 2km course.
A cold and rainy morning turned most people off doing a practice lap so the first look at the course was the first lap for most. By the time my race started the course was, soup like. The mud in some places was almost ankle deep, and accurately measured as almost every incline on the course was unrideable and had to be run up because traction in such conditions was only something you could dream of. Descending was also a challenge and was almost a case of close your eyes and hope to get to the bottom rubber side down. To put it briefly, it was up there with the worst conditions I've ever raced in!
My race started ok, a good start put me into the lead into the single track. After a short grassy section we all got to see the condition of the new single track. It was soon obvious that the first climb was not going to be ridden so we were all of the bikes and running, not something I'm particularly good at. The condition of the course meant that big sections of each lap had to be run. The running soon took it's toll on my legs and I dropped back to 4th on the 3rd lap. I stayed here for the rest of the race, trying to stay upright and on the track.
I don't have any photos from the day, just think of lots of mud and you should get the picture.
See you all at Lysterfield next week for the final round of the Chase the Sun series.
Today's race was part of the Fat Tire Flyers winter series which was held at a new venue at the Harkaway Scout Camp, just past Lysterfield and next door to Upper Beaconsfield, so it's smack bang in the middle of MTB territory.
The race today was to be a short crit style race instead of a normal XC race. Being a new venue the track was freshly cut single track, but mixed with a week of rain leading up to the race today conditions were always going to be tough. Just how tough was the big question. The answer was extremely tough. Racing for the day was split into 4 grades, A to D, with C and D racing first followed by A and B. This allowed everyone a chance to watch the racing which was a nice change. 5 laps were on the cards for A grade of an approximately 2km course.
A cold and rainy morning turned most people off doing a practice lap so the first look at the course was the first lap for most. By the time my race started the course was, soup like. The mud in some places was almost ankle deep, and accurately measured as almost every incline on the course was unrideable and had to be run up because traction in such conditions was only something you could dream of. Descending was also a challenge and was almost a case of close your eyes and hope to get to the bottom rubber side down. To put it briefly, it was up there with the worst conditions I've ever raced in!
My race started ok, a good start put me into the lead into the single track. After a short grassy section we all got to see the condition of the new single track. It was soon obvious that the first climb was not going to be ridden so we were all of the bikes and running, not something I'm particularly good at. The condition of the course meant that big sections of each lap had to be run. The running soon took it's toll on my legs and I dropped back to 4th on the 3rd lap. I stayed here for the rest of the race, trying to stay upright and on the track.
I don't have any photos from the day, just think of lots of mud and you should get the picture.
See you all at Lysterfield next week for the final round of the Chase the Sun series.
posted by Jack Lamshed at 9:42 pm
1 Comments:
hey jack I've found a picture!
http://mtb-images.ser.id.au/20080810/content/IMG_7041_large.html
no need to thank me, it's what friends are for :-)
btw i think your new helmet may be making you top-heavy
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