3rd place for BMORC - Awaba 7hr

For some reason I can't link to the original calendar entry through BMORC but below relates to this race; http://nobmob.com/node/42470

Round 3 of the Singletrack Mind series was back at Awaba. Awaba is a really fun track to ride and pretty fun to race on too.
Craig and I headed up on Saturday and got in a couple of recce laps - luckily we did; Camel Back was bunted off, forcing you up Straw. There was also a new section of track not long after that was loose, off-camber and quite technical. Great for riding, not so good for racing with people of differing abilities around.
Unfortunately, Paul could not race this round after suffering a heap of bad luck. Luckily for us Big Steve stepped in (not that this type of racing is what he needs 2 weeks out from man-handling a SS around Stromlo for a whole day....... and night....... and some more day.......)
I wasn't too keen on starting this race, although I usually do OK I just hate starting races in teams - solo I don't mind. Big Steve was nominated and happily accepted.
My first lap was absolutely shocking in terms of traffic - no one was willing to pass and I was stuck about 10 back in a train. It took until the 2nd Camel Back hump to get some clean air.
After our 1st round of laps we were sitting easily in 3rd and not too far off 2nd.
On my second lap, although I hit a tree pretty hard with my shoulder, I managed my PB of 34min 20sec. This put us up to 2nd place. We managed to hold this until the last lap (more on that later).
On my third lap I was on a flyer and on course for another low 34min. Somehow I managed to have a pretty big stack going uphill in a straight line. I was pushing a big gear and moving fast and went down hard. As well as knocking the body and confidence around, I also managed to damage my front shifter, leaving me with only big ring - not a huge problem for me around Awaba to be honest (thanks to St Johns for patching me up!). Lap 3 was 35:01.
Going out on my 4th lap, 3rd place were closing in, with their 1st rider making up around a minute on Steve. I managed to take around 20 sec out of rider 2, with a 35:09, and give Craig around a minute buffer.
Here is where things got interesting - 3rd place ditched their last rider and sent out their 1st rider (their fastest, obviously) and managed to catch Craig and take 2nd place. Obviously, that is completely within the rules and we would have done the same if we were competing for 1st place but it still tastes a little bitter. 3rd place in category and 8th overall.
Anyway, we had a great race.
Thanks to Fi, Joe and the team and the Awaba vollies for keeping the track in such good nick.
I think this result should put BMORC in the lead in the series (open male 3's).
Ian