2015 Tathra MTB Enduro

What an awesome place. A group of us went down for the long weekend. I got down there on Saturday so I had enough time to test some of the trails before the race on Sunday.

The trails in Tathra are magic. I wouldn't say they are technical but some of the dippers really test you. Especially towards the end of the race when you're totally shattered. They flow really well and there's rarely a section that is straight.

The race morning was cold. I was shivering so much on the start line that my back and legs were sore just standing there. The start involves an extra loop, so there isn't any congestion in the single track, and then and then 2 laps. Once the gun went it was clear that this section wasn't going to be a cruise to warm up. It wasn't long and the fast guys were off the front and I felt like I was struggling big time. I could see Michael up the road but there was no way I was closing that gap before we hit the single track.

We hit the single track and my hands are frozen so I feel like such a numpty. The trails are so tight and I'm trying to make sure I make no mistakes. A couple of times I nearly crash as I can't feel my brakes properly and hit them too hard. It's not long and Garry James catches me and another guy I was with. Gary tells me Wayne isn't far back. With this course you would see other riders but you would have no idea how far away in time they were.

The three of us were pushing on but slowly Garry and I were pulling away from the other guy. About 30km in we caught Michael and then Michael and I pushed on. 10km from transition and starting the second lap Michael gets to cross the road and I get stopped to wait for the cars to pass. Michael got stopped earlier so it just evened it out. I caught Michael at transition but as I run a camelbak I was about 1 minute longer. I wouldn't see Mike until the finish line.

The second loop was good and it felt like it went by a lot quicker. I did see Mike at one point but he was on a different section. I caught some riders that passed on me at transition so I felt like I was going well. I dropped my chain on one section so I had to stop and sort that out. Excluding the start loop, my second lap was 5 minutes slower.

Overall I'm happy with my race. It's a must do race as the atmosphere is awesome. They had 10 lots of musicians around the course and you voted for the one you liked and they won a prize.

I'll be back for sure. Attached are the masters results and you'll see a few familiar names there

My race profile
http://app.strava.com/activities/320903771

Full Results
http://www.mountainbiking.com.au/Event%20documen...