Circus Afro, Circus Afro, Polka Dot Polka Dot, Circus Afro!

When I sat down late last year and thought about which races I wanted to enter in 2014, the 3 Ring wasn't on the list. Then I rode Wingello in December and it changed my mind, the flowing singletrack was just too hard to ignore. Unfortunately yesterday I left my climbing legs back in Sydney.

Reached the event centre just after 8am to be met by a beautiful cool sunny morning and a chilled out vibe. Rego was over in less than a minute and then race prep began by a quick spin of the legs and in no time we were lined up in the start chute. My transition to full MAMIL is officially complete (at least for races) as I donned the lycra outfit top and bottom and damn if it wasn't the most comfortable I've ever felt whilst riding The loop nature of the course also allowed me to leave a bottle at the 31km water station and ditch the camelback - a good choice.

The blue loop flew by quickly as expected, I wanted to start at a pace that was sustainable but a bit faster than a typical sunday morning session and I think I did that pretty well, coming in at just on 18 mins. About 3kms in there was a guy sprawled out in the middle of the track after crashing on a fast descent - he looked very pale but had 3 or 4 riders already with him so I pushed on after slowing down.

Onto the red loop - the main attraction to the race for me, was keen to ride the new section of ST. First there was the firetrail climb and I felt good here, passing a few and joining up with a group of 5 or 6 riders. Into the first lot of ST and I kept reminding myself of the tip to limit the amount of pedalling and try and pump the contours of the trail and by golly it worked wonders. I dropped the group of 5 or 6 I was with and was really feeling the flow and having a great time. @Dicko passed me (after suffering a puncture in the blue loop I believe) at some point in the 2nd section of ST - you were very polite thx mate.

After some more firetrail and another climb we came into the new section of ST and a congo line. It wasn't too bad to be honest but it definitely slowed me down and spent half the descent unclipped on one side. The switchback climb was actually a chance to breathe and relax a bit due to the low speed. Would love to do this section on a non race day with no one around. I need to get better at eating gels on the bike - at the top of the switchback climb I had one and fumbled around a bit and lost contact with the group I was with and spent the rest of the loop trying to get back on their wheel.

Looking back on that decision (to push to catch the group again) it probably was the cause for what happened in the yellow loop. The first sign of danger was the last red loop climb up to transition - I got off and walked the steepest bit. I had used up quite a bit of energy to get myself back with the group. Rolled into transition, exchanged water bottles, had another gel and continued on. The good news was that the minimal time spent in transition meant that I was now back in the group I'd been chasing for the last 30 minutes.

We continued along together up and down the undulations of the early part of the yellow loop. I took it relatively easy on the sketchy descents - the legs feeling more fatigued with each climb. Halfway hill beckoned and on the descent to the creek we were told to slow down as a rider had crashed. We passed the guy as he was being wrapped in a space blanket and about to be loaded into an ambulance - a sobering vision. The slog up the hill was ugly - only made it 1/3rd of the way up before hopping off - I could hear Phil Liggetts voice in my head saying 'He's cracked!' and I had.

Round the left hand turn 2/3rds up the hill and got back on the bike and spun in granny gear the rest of the way up. I knew the worst was over by that stage which lifted the spirits but I didnt see the guys I had been riding with for 90 minutes again. I was joined by another rider and we had a bit of a chat until I found a second wind and pushed ahead in the last 4kms, crossing the line to end the pain!

Another well organised event, loved the challenge and was good to catch up with a few nobmobbers, next year I must remember to pack the climbing legs. The big positive I took away was technique in riding singletrack which I'll put to good use for my next event - the Kowalski Classic.