Second circus

My second 3 ring and unfortunately will also be my last as they are not putting on the event next year, this seems to be a common thread to my race blogs given my last race was capital punishment!!!!

It was another sunny day in wingello although was definitely colder and windier than last year, it also seemed like a lot less people had entered this year. I was lined up at the start with my mate Daniel who missed the race last year and a guy in a school dress (you get all types at 3 ring), I also knew that I was not as well prepared this year so was expecting a slower time than last year.

We kicked off and not to the sounds of that polka dot, afro, circus song from last year and quickly completed the lap. The good thing was this year I didn't see a rider down in the first 5 mins, in fact I didn't really see anyone suffer that badly from a fall this year which was good (last year there were 3 big falls near me).

The red loop always seems so much longer than you remember but also has some very cool single track, on this loop I got excited when I saw the first photographer and thought I can maybe get a good shot and show off a bit which resulted in me having an off in front of the camera which may result in a funny shot , it also brought me back down to earth to concentrate on what I was doing. By the end of this lap I was struggling a bit but was happy to see my wife and boys and they made me happier for the start of the yellow loop.

I started the yellow loop with my legs starting to feel sore, not good with all that climbing, and by 5ks in my quads started to cramp a bit which was strange as I had never had that before. I got through the big hills only to be confronted by that horrible wind which slowed progress to a crawl at some points and at other points was blowing me sideways across the trail and I couldn't control the bike, I think at one point I was swearing and screaming at the wind like a mad man!!! And then questioning whether to do convict in 2 weeks.

The last 5kms really hurt and my legs were really feeling bad, but I made it to the end but in a slower time than last year and was greeted by my wonderful wife, 2 boys and a mate from work who cracked his saddle on the red loop and had to ride the whole yellow loop without a saddle, ouch!!!!! After a short wait another mate from work finished and then Daniel came in.

In the end I was happy with the result given the wind and my own lack of training, it was a hard day. Hope everyone else enjoyed the day