TRIUMPHS AND TRAGEDIES: Racing Practice to the Max!

(I don't normally write blog entries for such small events, but this one was so spectacular that I'm making an exception.)

When I was in Year 12, a motivational speaker named Glen Gerryn came to my school, who's favourite line was, "Pick yourself up, dust yourself off. AND TRY IT AGAIN!" I think he'd be proud of me for this effort, because this is LITERALLY what I did*

As a bit of a background, a single lap was 1300m which was almost all singletrack except for about 150m across a sort of paddock (between points A and B, marked on the below map) and a 100m firetrail climb between D and E, so this was the only place one could "easily" overtake. The black line from C to D had a couple of A and B lines and was littered with pumps, as did Turkey Royale, so care needed to be taken in descending this at speed. The A-grade male consisted of doing laps of the course for 25 minutes, followed by a single lap at which point the first person over the line wins. There were about 10 competitors in the race, after about the same number in the C and B-grades, and 6 or so in the ladies.

After being informed that you REALLY want to get a good start in order to hold a place, I make no nonsense about being in the front line for the start of the race. "Gun" goes and we're off. A massive sprint is made before the track turns into single file but things aren't as good as I'd hoped. I'm battling it out for FOURTH place - not first - but the guy I'm fighting against gets a firmer hold of the lane so here I am in fifth place, seeing the guys in front flying ahead. I'm obviously faster than him, but there's nowhere to overtake until the firetrail at D. I hammer ahead of him before it turns back to ST at E. Now I'm fourth, and close behind second and third. At F, the track has a big bermed hairpin with a rocky A-line cutting straight up. To my surprise, Mr. Third takes the B-line; I ride up the rocks and now I'm Mr. Third.

Great, the two riders in front of me are just metres ahead as I finish the first lap. Lap 2 descents begin, and after hanging on, I reach the firetrail at D again. The guy in second is 5m ahead of me, and this isn't much for only 100m of firetrail. So I pound up the climb and JUST manage to swing in ahead of him with only metres to spare, bumping me into second! WHEW! By the time we're back in spectator view at G, I've caught up to Tom Green, the current leader, who ran up the A-line at F, and am holding his wheel. This I do throughout the third lap, by which time none of the other competitors are anywhere close behind up. Good. Now if all goes to plan, I can hopefully stay right there for most of the rest of the race before making a break for it in the final lap. IF all went to plan. Suddenly, throughout the fourth lap, Mike Blewitt turned up like a ghost out of nowhere and got ahead of me between D and E. I realized it was paramont that I still hold either his or Tom's wheel before seeing who had the most energy left in the final lap.

So I frantically sprint just behind them as we cross the paddock before disaster strikes. Now the corner at B is visibly sharp bend, and has the lovely surface of... MULCH! In my mad pursuit to stay with them, I overturn and crash land (of COURSE, this has to be RIGHT in front of all the spectators!)**. I jump back up, but in the process, my chain has also come off. After about 10 seconds of panic-stricken attempting to get the chain back on, I'm finally back moving again, but now Tom and Mike are gone, and who knows how many other riders had gotten in front of me.

I keep going, but now with motivation factor dwindling. But a glimmer of hope comes as I finish my 5th lap and see that Tom is not that far ahead with only two riders in between him. I'm holding the guy in front of me at this point as I commence my sixth and final lap, we overtake Alan who has obviously reached his limits as he grinds up the firetrail climb on his cyclocross singlespeed (!). Now just holding the wheel of the guy in third, I realize that a podium is actually in my sights, despite the earlier mishap.

The only place I can overtake is the 150m paddock, so obviously timing this just right is crucial. Due to my muscular strength, I have confidence that I'd be able to win a sprint, but if I misjudge anything, I won't do it. I try to relax as much as I can (not much!) as I hold him on the ST from G to A. He knows what I'm doing, and immediately as we turn the corner, he turns the pace up. No surprises there.

AND I POUND DOWN ON THE PEDALS! Times seems to stand still as we fly down the final 150m, but slowly, slowly, I'm gaining on him - not by much - but here a centimetre is as much as a kilometre, and as we're halfway along, I'm slightly, slightly, ahead with him on the right and me on the left. I'm going to do this. I've got him. Until...

DAMNATION!!! In making the fastest line from the right side of the slightly curved track, it involves going very close to the left hand side, and in his pursuit forces me off the side into tall weeds. I don't fall off, but I may as well have - only metres from the end he gets ahead of me - and I roll in FOURTH one bike length behind him. AAARGH!! If only I'd taken the right line!!!

And THAT is the fast-paced drama of a short course race. All the pain and action of a marathon compressed into 25 minutes - a real bargain. And great fun to watch as well, so hats off to SNORC for getting this rolling. A great example of a well-run community event and I recommend getting along to the next one if you're in the area. For me, a race that's a 15 minute ride away is a real bonus!

*All right, maybe not the "dust yourself off" part. Getting the dirt and blood off my leg was about the last thing on my mind at the time!
**This episode, of course, was well noted by the numerous spectators metres away from me, and in the organizer's report noted that "The bend in front of the BBQ was perfect for spectators but not so good for Tristan" and that he explained to his son that the "lovely" language I used was a prayer ritual I was carrying out to ask God to get my chain back on. I suppose that was sort of it...