Who let the cows out?

I didn’t expect to end up in the middle of a cattle muster at the Fling, but that’s how I spent part of my race on Sunday.

I went into this race not sure how I would go. Last year my training was very structured and consistently around 12 hours+ per week. That resulted in 11th place in a field of nearly 300. This year it was more like 7 hours a week, but did include some power-based training at Cycle Studio with James Lamb (highly recommended). Overall I knew I was reasonably fit, but not sure if I was as fit as last year.

So my plan was to pace myself in stage 1, then step it up in the second stage if I felt up to it. And hopefully avoid cramping.

Stage 1 went like clockwork. After the first few kms I settled into a nice little group of 5, and we rode together at a solid but comfortable pace to transition. We were chatting and enjoying ourselves, and I felt good.

I usually don’t stop at transition but this year I had stashed a bottle the night before. My transition went smoothly and I was back on the road in about 45 seconds. My group was just up the road, but with a bit of help from another rider we soon joined them. They welcomed me back. The pace was picking up a bit which was perfect for me. All going to plan.

Then came the cows. A few kms into this stage as we rode across a paddock, a marshall had stopped about 5 or 6 riders. We were stopped behind them and told to hold our positions. About 200m ahead there were cattle all over the place and three farm vehicles trying desperately to get them under control and out of our way. After a couple of minutes the marshall decided it was OK for a few riders to go through - but I didn’t make the cut. They went on and we stayed put. And there we stayed for another 4 or 5 mins, while 20 or 30 more riders joined the queue. Eventually the marshall let about 12 of us through, but 100m down the paddock we were forced to stop again, as the cattle took another wrong turn. And there we waited for another 5 mins until the path was cleared. By this time I reckon at least 30 more riders had joined the group waiting behind us. It occurred to me that I really was in the wrong place at the wrong time - riders who were just seconds ahead of me now had a 10 mins+ advantage, and riders who were 10 mins behind had now caught up.

So once we were back on course, my group were swamped by riders who we had worked to get away from. And we had no chance of catching anyone ahead. Psychologically for me the race was over - I just rode at a comfortable pace, and happily let people pass me if they wanted to.

I’m not complaining - there really is nothing the organisers could have done. And the marshall did an excellent job under the circumstances. Most riders took it in their stride and kept a positive attitude - there was plenty of friendly banter as we waited for the cattle to be moved on.

The rest of the race was pretty uneventful. My plan had been to push hard in the final 20km, but I knew the pointy end of the race was long gone, so there was nothing to be gained.

I picked up a few places through roller coaster, throughly enjoyed the singletrack, took the longer (easy) way at your call, and rolled over the line in 2:58.

Congrat’s to all who achieved their goals. A mate of mine who’s joined many of our regular Saturday rides improved his PB from 3:45 to 3:10!

See you on the trails.

JP