1st place BMORC, Welby 7hr

Round 4 of the SRAM Singletrack mind series was held at Welby in the Southern Highlands.

Having raced at Welby last year, I knew what I was in for; not huge amounts of climbing but technical pinchy climbs that really sap the legs. Getting flow and holding momentum is really hard at Welby. In saying that, it is a really fun track to ride around - perfect place for a social ride to take on your mates.

On Saturday afternoon Craig and myself headed out for a couple of recce laps. The course was dry, dusty and loose. It was fun to ride around but would prove to be a tough racetrack.

Come race day, I found myself lining up toward the front of the pack. We took off along the first fireroad at a fairly sedate pace and I had to head through the scrub to make up a few places and try to get onto the main bunch. Fairly early into the lap a few guys ahead dropped the wheel of the bunch and kind of left us in no-mans land. I could hear Dicko a few spots back giving a bit of encouragement to ramp the pace up. Once we hit a bit of clear fireroad I moved around a few guys and managed to lift the pace a bit. We came though the opening lap 1st in male 3's and 7th overall.

Big Steve took off next on his SS HT and smashed out what would be the fastest of our laps all day. He moved us up to 4th overall - a position we would hold for the remainder of the race.

Craig went out on his 6" AM dually in his singlet and flat pedals and maintained our position.

The laps ticked over and we were holding onto 1st place in 3's and 4th overall. STEVENS bikes were lapping faster than us but suffered a couple of mechanicals, which kept them to 2nd place.

My 2nd and 3rd laps were pretty consistent. By my 4th lap I was really starting to feel the pace and had to back off a bit, knowing I would be heading out for another lap. The final lap was fairly clear and I just enjoyed riding around as fast as I could.

This was our maiden 1st position and hopefully secures the series overall for BMORC.

Thanks to the Southern Highlands club for maintain the track, all the vollies on the day and the Chocolate Foot crew.

The final round is to be held in the Kinross State forest at Orange.