Ian_A's blog

Just a few quick points from the weekends race;
- Team BMORC re-grouped for the first time in 12 months, around the anniversary of one member nearly dying in a car accident.
- I got sick on the Thursday before the race and struggled all weekend but still managed some OK times. I popped a Sudafed each day so I guess I'm a drug cheat according to the new banned list.
- The solo 24 riders were sent off first which made our opening lap interesting to say the least - at least I got to chat to Gazza most of the way around.

I wasn't going to write up after this event because I was a bit disappointed but thought I would, just for my own future reference; looking back, I'm glad I kept going and didn't pull the pin.

This would be my first 100km race. I've done plenty of 50km's, 4hr's, a solo 6+6 and a heap of team enduro's but I'd never stepped up to the 100km. I go OK over short races, like club rounds and 50km's, but I don't have the endurance to go the full distance.

Hi all,
I thought I'd give a quick write up about the Centenary Trail around Canberra for those thinking about riding it.

From what I'd read, the Centenary Trail was opened late last year, it was a 135km loop around Canberra giving views of the layout of town from different vantage points.

It is recommended that the course be ridden over 3 days, averaging about 45km per day or hiked over 6 days. Of course I thought it was a good idea to attempt the whole course in one day.....

http://nobmob.com/node/42807#new
My regular riding buddy Craig was meant to be racing pairs in the 6x6 with me at the Rocky Trail 24hr this year at Mt Annan. We were riding under the 05 banner for Mark from 05 custom sportswear.
Unfortunately Craig was involved in a bad car accident on the Monday before the race and was actually still in hospital up until the following Monday.
I had the choice of either pulling out, or riding solo.

Round 4 of the SRAM Singletrack mind series was held at Welby in the Southern Highlands.

Having raced at Welby last year, I knew what I was in for; not huge amounts of climbing but technical pinchy climbs that really sap the legs. Getting flow and holding momentum is really hard at Welby. In saying that, it is a really fun track to ride around - perfect place for a social ride to take on your mates.

On Saturday afternoon Craig and myself headed out for a couple of recce laps. The course was dry, dusty and loose. It was fun to ride around but would prove to be a tough racetrack.

For some reason I can't link to the original calendar entry through BMORC but below relates to this race; http://nobmob.com/node/42470

Round 3 of the Singletrack Mind series was back at Awaba. Awaba is a really fun track to ride and pretty fun to race on too.
Craig and I headed up on Saturday and got in a couple of recce laps - luckily we did; Camel Back was bunted off, forcing you up Straw. There was also a new section of track not long after that was loose, off-camber and quite technical. Great for riding, not so good for racing with people of differing abilities around.

Thanks to Ray and the crew for a good race.
Managed my 1st ever win in B-grade!
Also 1st race on the new 29er dually (superfly 100), bike went well.
Ian

Round 2 of the WSMTB 4hr summer series was gearing up to be a good one with probably 3-4x more riders than the 1st round.
Last round I went out too hard and suffered towards the end.
The plan for this race was to get a good start then ease off through the middle and hopefully finish strong. The plan fell to pieces in the first 50m getting stuck in the bottle neck and riding the 1st section below walking pace. It took 2 full laps to actually get any clear air and be able to ride at my own pace. I definitely need to get further up the front for the start I think.

The goal going into this race was to simply finish on the bike, still peddling.
Once at the race I secretly had the goal to beat Vinno and his mate in the pairs.

This was the 2nd year of the Kanangra Classic and my 2nd attempt at the 50km.
My goal was to stick with Stephen for his 1st lap which I was hoping would be around the 2:20 mark.
About 1-2km in I found Steve's wheel in the 2nd group (maybe 3rd?) and stuck in his group for maybe another 6-7km but just didn't have the legs to stay with them. I dropped off the back and was in no-mans land by myself until almost the 1st turn off (11km mark). Just before the turn a chain caught me but they quickly fell apart on the 1st double track climb.