Perfect Conditions

The cloud cover stayed all day and the forecast 29 degrees never arrived.

Well done to everyone who raced. It was quite a pedally course and the promised dusty and loose conditions were accurately predicted.

Nevertheless, I thought the course was really good fun and something different from the usual, rewarding confident cornering in loose conditions, a skill which I didn't have in great supply thanks to spending a fair amount of time on the roadie over the last few weeks. I finally started getting my cornering happening properly by lap 5 (I'm a slow learner), and I managed to keep the bars off the trees and the rubber side down (albeit with a few front end "moments") - any day you can do that is a good day.

With so much singletrack my hydration strategy went out the window a bit, which I paid for with cramp twinges when we switched to consecutive laps for our second and third laps, and they threatened to bite again towards the end of lap four. Most of a bidon of High5 before the start of lap 5 stopped them being any kind of threat for the last lap and despite protesting legs at the start, this was the lap I enjoyed the most.

Despite being passed by sixth at one point we managed to pull it back and put a few minutes into them, eventually stretching it to a lap by the end.

The atmosphere was excellent and the communication between riders when passing was clear and friendly. The company was good too - thanks sikllama and ahein - and we all lapped consistently at a similar pace. Sikllama's pergola was a very welcome place to sit and hang out between bouts of frenetic activity

It was good to put faces to names (Pyrate, Two Tommos and Dave), as well as catch up with the crew from Taree Tip Riders. Didn't see much of Fatboy, as he was circulating consistently in the solo 4hr despite being deep in the pain cave from the pedally course when we caught up on my third lap.

One difference I noticed from the last round is that the 7 hour category is a lot more competitive - I'm assuming because the longer event attracts the more serious rider.

A great day of riding. Looking forward to the next one.

And for those wondering, yes I did have the dropper post fitted but didn't need it once!

Edit: add photo
From left: sikllama, ahein, hawkeye