Awaba = Awesome

Never ridden Awaba before and will definately be going back there. What a sweet sweet piece of track and a great venue for a long day of racing. This was my first solo event and I was a tad nervous as I clicked in and made my way down the fire road to the start of the single track. I started near the back of the pack and was happy to cruise the first lap following a long train of riders. No need to panic ... I've got 8 more hours of this ! I couldn't wipe the smile off my face as I made my way around the track. Freakish amounts of fast, flowing single track, bridges, switchbacks and only one nasty piece of hill (which I walked up every time). Really have to thank the HMBC and the trail faires who have clearly spent large chunks of their time grooming the forest paths into a top notch MTB venue. My race went to plan with no mechanicals and food stops after each lap. Munched my through peanut butter sandwiches, gels, oranges and muesli bars. The Yeti 5 gobbled up the bumpy stuff and made the climbing seem easier than it was. Brad at KOM gave me a great tip the week prior ... take a second jersey and keep it in the esky with the ice water ... after lap 8 I was really feeling the heat and slipped into my ice cold fresh riding jersey. It felt sooooooo goooooooooood and cooled me down considerably. I was stoked to finish the race in one piece (I hope the guy who crashed and went off the bridge is OK) and I look forward to getting back to Awaba to ride again. It was another memorable day in the saddle but the highlight for me was watching the elite riders rip past and make it look so easy. Inspirational stuff ...