Blogs

Here's a short summary of my first Capital Punishment 100.

Friday:
Drove down from Sydney and stopped by Kowen to do a quick lap.
Got a little lost there, ended up going round in circles but finally found a way back to the carpark, thanks to my Garmin 800.
They've changed the signs around that screwed with my bad sense of direction. I knew that the trails were going to be dry so I let some air go on the tyres to give some myself better grip.

Race Day:
I arrived at the start venue at about 6.45am and got the bike and myself ready for the race.

BACKGROUND

After doing well above my expectations in Convict 100 (My first MTB marathon) last year, I decided to sign up for CP and C100 this year hoping to match or better my time.

No dramas there.

Several weeks later, I mentioned to my friend Tanian, a very promising all round MTBer in his early high school years who had given it up over the recent past in trade it for rugby, and without warning, he announced he would sign up with me; Canberra was a good halfway point from his university in Wagga Wagga.

Lined up in the first start wave at 6:50am, with about 65 other riders... sun wasn't up yet, and with plenty of nervous anticipation and high expectations for the new course, waited for the start. Off we went, with a bit of flat fire trail leading straight into a couple of small climbs. With plenty of dust flying around and a bit of fog about, I had very limited visibility through my dark-tinted glasses. Lesson learned - wear clear lenses next time!

Pleasant temps and a bit of misty drizzle for the start. Organisation at the new start was pretty good, with rider briefings in the car park followed by a short ride down to the start line. The initial fire trail hills in the Arboretum were a bit of a slog and left my legs feeling a bit dead. Should have warmed up properly eh?

After entering this event last year it was always going to get me back again. And what a stellar day it was on the Wingello trails with conditions about as good as it gets. The single track grip was awsome, the fire roads were mostly at a good tempo and plenty of good spirits shared by all the riders.

In memory of one of the great mountain bikers James Williamson the 3rd ‘Willo’ MTB race was held last weekend.

I have always wanted to ride this event, as it is for a great cause and in memory of a great rider, but have never managed to make it due to other commitments bad weather etc.

This was the last race in the 4hr Summer Series and was to be held at Mt Annan. I really like the twilight format and was looking forward to this one.
Coming into this race I was sitting in equal 3rd place overall in the series (mainly due to some riders only doing 1 or 2 races). I had hopes of an overall 3rd place but knew it would be a big ask.

So Saturday evening was the final round of the Camelbak WSMTB 4 hour, despite the rains the organisers were on the ball and communicating early to notify that the event was going ahead as planned.
Thanks again to all the volunteers, WSMTB really seem to have the organisation well oiled and ran perfectly.
I'd arrived early to have a practice lap based on advise from some riding friends. I'm glad that I did, just to know how to ride the rocky sections and get a feel for the high number of switchbacks.

Decided to bite the bullet on what could be the muddiest ride to date... Perimeter / long trail after 200mm of rain 2 days ago. The organised full moon ride was postponed to next week, but I was still keen. Dragged out the old Raven, not wanting to bugger up the gear on my premier ponies.

I decided that I would join an MTB Club and do some short xc riding this year. I'd joined WSMTB last week and signed up to ride the 2nd round of the CamelBak 4 hour as my opening race, this was a bit of a learning expereince as this was my first time riding Yellomundee and riding solo laps.
Have to say that the organisation was fantastic so it's great to see that WSMTB is a well run and organised club, clearly this is down to the people that volunteer and take the time to make the events the success they are, so well done to all.