An early start on Sunday with Dave (Doc) to get a quick look at the new ST, we got there around 8 and so it seemed did a lot of other people. After a quick chat with the other SXC boys (Graham and Wayne) Dave and I headed out for a quick look, 10km later we were back at the Event Center and ready to go.
After some arm twisting by Sloany, I picked up my entry for the Circus. I love the Wingello trails, but have yet to do this event - something about the cold Southern Highlands in the middle of winter.
Anyway I find myself of the start line, with probably the biggest Jet Racing contingent we have seen to date, the front row dominated by the red Jet uniform. The difference with this race, was that the vibe was alot more relaxed, everyone looking for a good day out, on some of the best trails in the State. Hugh's pre event startline banter also adds to the relaxed nature.
I'll start with a brief story of what happened in the previous nights 20km race.
During a cold night race with a blistering pace, I'd managed to get in the second group with Dicko,another Mate from Manly, Myself and another Rider. We all stuck together for the whole 20km loop, just near the end the bloke that had been sucking our wheels for the whole time made a sprint for the lead
This was my first attempt in the 3 Ring Circus and was not sure what to expect. Previous years I had been soft with the prospect of mid winter conditions and having my mindset biased towards the full marathon events. But 2013 was time to have a crack and set a target time of 2:20. There was plenty of fast competition so the plan was to try and hold on to the early pace and not to blow up in the process.
I actually didn’t know what to expect for this race because July is when I started to get back into training after a break from my last race being The Convict 100 in early May. I think the last time I raced a 50km marathon was the last time I did the 3 Ring Circus. This was in 2010 and my time was 3:01:36 so I thought that was a fair enough goal time to beat ;-)
The 3 Ring was my first mtb race back in 2011 when i scraped in under 3hrs after a leisurely blue lap. With that in mind I was determined to be closer to the front this time and straight away that disappeared. (Clearly another one who's too polite to push in).
