All Mountain Cup Round 3

The weekend consisted of a Super D Friday afternoon followed by an XCO race on Saturday around a 5k loop with a 23k Point to Point race Sunday morning. This was my first super masters event so was not sure how I would go. It pissed down with rain and hail about 15 minutes before the start of the SuperD so they delayed it for a while until the rain cleared.
The Super D start was just near the downhill course followed by a flat traverse across to a trail that linked up with Skyline, Luge and Old Duffy's then to the finish using Rascals. Overall length was about 4.8k. To go quick down Skyline and Luge you need to know the track and I was lucky enough to be down in Canberra for the week for work. I did 4 practice runs and was able to bring my time for the Skyline-Luge-Old Duffy segment on Strava down from 7:46 to 6:20 without taking any more risks. Had a good race and kept it pretty tidy to record my fastest times in all the sectors to finish 4th.
Saturday afternoon ended up quite warm and we raced at 3pm. It was good to watch the Men's and Women's races beforehand. The course was not that hilly and had a light of tight corners. The plan was to try and avoid coming last. I settled into 5th position after the first fire road section and then got slower and slower about half way round the first lap. I was passed by the two guys behind me on the last fire road climb so tried concentrating on getting my act together and finding a rhythm I was comfortable with. Caught up a bit on the descents and then passed one of the guys when he had troubles with his gears so in 6th place after the first lap. Started to feel more comfortable and did the next lap on the wheel of the 5th place rider. Was trying to decide when to pass when the guy in 7th rode past both of us on a fire road climb. I was able to push on a bit harder and stayed in touch with the new 5th place rider on the remained of the 3rd lap and the beginning of the 4th. I was able to stay on his wheel up the last fire road climb so attacked just near the top of the hill and took the inside line into the last of the single track to cross the line in 5th place. Happy enough with the result in what I thought would be my weakest event out of the three.
Was looking forward to the Point to Point race as it was the one most like the marathons that I normally do. Did a better warmup than Saturday and was hoping I wouldn't struggle as much in the first 5 minutes. We ended up starting in one wave with the Expert and Sport classes so there was about 15 riders on the start line. I settled in near the back of the field and one of the Sport guys let a gap open during the first fire road climb. Wasn't that concerned as the two guys I had been racing in the XCO had dropped off the back of our group. When we hit the switchback climbs I thought I might have been able to go a bit faster but didn't really get the opportunity to pass. The guy who came 6th in the XCO ended up catching back up to my wheel towards the top of the climb so it seemed like I was in for another tight race. Once we go to the top of Stromlo I stayed with the sport rider for the next 5k and was able to open up a bit of a gap to 6th. Took it pretty easy down pork barrel and a few of the other rock gardens as I have only ever ridden those trails once before so wasn't sure where I was going. For me the pace was pretty similar to the first hour of a marathon race although with someone just behind it was easy to concentrate on keeping the pace high. Was by myself in the second half of the race so was able to just enjoy the trails. Got to a trail called heartbreaker on the last climb back up to skyline and changed down from the big ring for the first time all weekend. Hadn't been up this trail before however managed to clear the rock steps and get to skyline without stopping. Got held up on Skyline by some social riders and took to opportunity to rest a bit before I called track and went past. Another trip down Luge for another PB before a muddy trip across rascals to the finish. Got 5th again although was a bit closer to the pointy end of super masters than the XCO.
Appears that one of the guys who beat me wasn't in the SuperD so I ended up in 4th for the weekend. Got to be happy with that!