Stromlo Eats tyres

We had a great race but suffered from 2 slashed tyres. Steve01 on the second lap, and myself (Whisperer) on my first night lap.
Both cost us time, and knocked us back from second place in the race. Tyre problems and punctures seemed to pull up a lot of people, and on every lap there were a dozen or so riders fixing flats. as well as the puncture, I got a surprise on my second lap when the cable stop for my front derailleur sheared off the frame just into the lap. (The stop on the seat tube above the derailleur). The chain dropped into the little ring, and was stuck there for the whole lap. In spite of that I still did a 1:06, spinning like crazy on the flats and downhills - kind of like riding my single speed When I got back to the pits, there was nothing I could do to fix it, so adjusted the derailleur screws to put it in the middle ring, and rode it as a 9 speed for the rest of the race.

Tyre and gear problems aside, it was a great weekend and race. The course was excellent, with different sections used on the day and night laps, both being excellent with a good flow. I really enjoyed Stromlo this time, in the past I've struggled to get the flow on the sketchy surface, but this time was able to get my confidence and actually 'carve' the corners. Having Steve01 and Gazza on the team really sets a high bar with bike handling skills and maintaining corner speed!

As it turned out, Gazza anchored the team (riding his new Cannondale), Steve01, in spite of hardly riding since Mogo turned out consistent fast laps, and Martine did amazingly on her rather heavy KHS, and was only 5 minutes down on our lap times. I'd like to see her on a light bike somtime and see what she is really capable of! I was happy turning laps varying just under and just over the hour mark.

We had an excellent trackside position for the camp, and watched the race go by, and it made transitions really easy, especially at night. It makes such a difference not having to hang around in the transition area.

The only real downside to the race weas the number of riders on the course. It was a 19km loop, with a 6km climb at the beginning, and probably 500 riders on the course at any one time. As we were riding for a place, our speed was higher than the average, and on the climb we had to pass processions of slower riders. I think the most I had to pass on a single climb was around 40 riders, and another 20 or so out on the rest of the course. Fortunately 99% of the riders were supportive of the 'faster riders', and we were able to thread our way around ok.

So, we managed to take 3rd place, and the 3rd podium result for our 'Mixed Nuts' team for the year.

Whisperer