Back on the MTB

A longed for return to idillic Mt Beauty, North East Victoria
Riding the water race at Castlemaine, Central Victoria
Evan & I enjoyed 2 weeks travelling south, and all of it pretty much involved bikes. Canberra for Alex (read below); Castlemaine for some awesome water race riding with friends, and to catch up with my in-laws; then on to Mt Beauty for a weekend of technical single track and climbs, and catching up with friends.

This holiday coincided with me getting the go-ahead from physio and surgeon to get back on the bike. I was very tentative initially, not wanting to push the knee too hard, but after a couple of hours I was feeling more confident and back to enjoying the technical single track. I don't have any lateral movement yet, so I was stuck pretty much upright on the bike - this made tight cornering pretty much non-existent, and the Mt Beauty switchbacks a definate challenge - I think I found the straight line on a few occasions!

Australian 24 Hour Solo Championships

Alex enjoying a well deserved beer at the end of 24 hours of racing

Alex Kiendl rode a hard race, placing 2nd behind Katrin Van der Spiegel.

With my racing put on hold, supporting Alex Kiendl at the solo champs was an experience that I would not have passed up. Andy (Alex's very dedicated boyfriend) was the main man, with evan on mechanics and myself as emotional support (apparently being a girl made me more qualified for this role!!).

Alex rode like a demon even though she'd been sick for the weeks prior to the event. The first 7 or 8 hours was really exciting, with 1st - 4th within minutes of each other. Night time saw the placings begin to set in, and Alex kept pushing Katrin with her strong night riding.

Congratulations both Alex and Katrin - and thanks Alex for the learning experience of being on a support crew. I must admit that I came away from the event motivated, but also a little deflated - seeing what level I need to get back to came as a real shock.