Learning from Mistakes

The start chute seemed to fill up very quickly... by the time I got there, I was probably 60-70 people back from the front, but I didn't worry too much - I figured we'd all sort ourselves out by the end of the first loop. This was my first mistake - a lot of people go flat out on the first loop, only to slow down at the first hill or first sign of singletrack. Anyway, I started in about 70th place and slowly worked my way past a few people on that loop. Through the first transition I was on the back of a group 6 or so. The second member of a "team of three" started her race and slotted in front of me in the group - that's OK I thought. Then 100 metres down the track I realised she had let a gap form... I quickly passed her but the group was gone. Second mistake. Never mind, still a long way to go I thought.

I settled into a rhythm and entered the first singletrack right behind Rachel Blakers, who ended up winning the women's category. She was very smooth on the singletrack, and I was happy to follow. As we exited back onto the firetrail I offered some words of encouragement, had some nutrition and continued riding with her for a while..

As we climbed towards the new singletrack, I looked up and saw the group I had become unhooked from. I had almost caught them, and was concerned that I might get caught up behind them on the singletrack, but decided not to waste the energy trying to catch up pass them. As it turns out the last 2 in that group were a bit slow, so I patiently followed them down and part way up the other side, with Rachel not too far behind. About halfway up the climb I asked to be let through - they quickly obliged, and with rested legs I took off up the climb. Rachel started following me but I soon dropped her, and I didn't see her again. Now I was alone, and I stayed that way for the rest of the Red loop, only catching the rest of the "group" around transition.This was actually a really fun part of the race - I felt fine, and just thoroughly enjoyed being on the trails. I was pushing reasonably hard, but maybe got a bit complacent with no other riders around me.

I caught a few riders as we went through transition, then felt a few twinges, as if my quads were about to cramp. I used to suffer badly from cramps in races, but haven't really had them for a while, so I was a bit worried about the Yellow loop to come, and all that climbing...

A rider called John Wurtz caught me just as I was starting the Yellow loop, and asked if I wanted to work with him. I warned him that I was cramping a bit but said I'd do my best. We picked up a third rider and off we went. John did a lot of the work at first but I started to feel better. Then the group fell apart and John took off down one of the descents. But I started to feel really good. As I hit the big climb I felt fantastic and was passing people all the way up, catching John at the top. "I thought you were Cramping?" he said. "I got better". And off we went, working together. We caught 2 more guys and worked as 4 for a while, before John and I moved on. We were really motoring, I felt great, and we passed a few more riders. A few tried to join us but seemed to drop off pretty quickly. John was in Super Masters category and I suspected he was probably in the top three, so I felt like I was riding for him as much as for myself. We crossed the line together - he got 3rd in his category.

My first thought after I crossed the line was how good I felt. Now I must confess, I was using a new energy product that contains a LOT of caffeine, but I really felt like I could go out and do another loop. Oh well, room for improvement next time I guess. I was about 7 minutes faster than last year, and improved from 26th to 20th in Masters. Interestingly, this year I was ranked 26th in the first loop, 23rd in the 2nd loop and 16th in the 3rd loop, so I got faster as the race went on.

A great race in a beautiful location, and great catching up with NobMobbers afterwards. Fantastic to see @Antsonline on the podium - a well-deserved 2nd place overall.