There were times that I actually thought I would be better off sat at my desk at work……luckily hindsight is a wonderful thing and I can now say that the time I spent in New Zealand’s South Island, racing the inaugural Pioneer stage race, with friends and newly made friends, in an amazing environment, and enjoying the hospitality and culture was full of unforgettable moments and enjoyment.
Well today was the final round of the Maverick Series and my last race for the year. Having already wrapped up the Maverick Series in the vets age group at the Epic, the aim for today was to try and get the overall series win. The only rider that could beat me was not on the entry list but I was suspicious of a late entry so just assumed he was there. I was leading the overall series but the series was based on 'best of 3' and I had already done 3 races where he had only done 2.
Super race at the Kowalski Classic yesterday. A huge mental effort to take on so much single trail and pretty happy to finish 2nd in Grand Masters.
I was really looking forward to this event after having possibly my best ride to date at the race last year only to have a ripped sidewall near the finish and also to follow up from victory at the Convict last month. Lead up was good but also a little unsettled after a bump on my dodgy arm during the week.
The aim for today was to secure a maverick series win with one round still to go (they take best of three)
Leading up I have had quite a few months break since my last race and relocated to Brisbane in the process so hadn't had a lot of time on the bike. I had only got back into training for around 5 weeks but even then only 2-3 hours a week so wasn't expecting miracles today.
Hard to believe that this was my 6th time racing the Convict, where does the time go!
Just prior to the original date of this race I spent 2 weeks in Europe, snowboarding and belatedly celebrating my 40th birthday. That 2 weeks, as enjoyable as it was, had set me back in terms of training and readiness for the original date and so I wasn’t unhappy when the event was cancelled due to the storms that we had at the time.
The family and friends of James Williamson, who sadly passed away whilst competing in the Cape Epic, have been the driving force behind this event since it’s inception, and they must be given credit for doing a wonderful job. I have race the Willo nearly every year since it was first organised, sadly missing out last year as my car didn't make it to Wingello so had to turn for home before making the start line. I had an added incentive this year as it was the day I turned 40, and was racing in the highly competitive Masters category.
Sadly the last Capital Punishment didn't go to plan at ALL! And even though this isn't really a race report as it was a DNF there is a story behind it.
After a less than ideal January and February and being well behind the 8 ball when It comes to training for a 100k, I made the call to drop back to the 50km events for this year. I have always wanted to do cap p but this was the first year I have actually done it. I didn't really know what to expect going in but assumed there would be a fair bit of climbing (bad assumption).
We made the most of the trip to Canberra and took the family down for the weekend, picking up some accommodation 8km from the start to give me easy access and a warm up.
This being my second MTB Marathon since March 2014 I really had no idea how I would go.
I have been riding a bit so I knew I was going into this with some fitness. I’ve also been paying attention to what I eat and have managed to drop a couple of kilograms which is always nice.
After heading down Friday afternoon with Michael, checking in, picking up a race number we headed out for dinner with Dave and Gary. Besides the restaurant forgetting about our meals everything was going like clockwork.
