Blores Hill 3/6 Hour Race

A week ago I committed to doing the 3 Hr race at Blores Hill, Heyfield.  I knew I didn't really have 6 hours of riding in my legs, and also it was just getting too difficult to get sorted for a night away with the dogs and riding for 6 hours.  

I hadn't raced or ridden at Blores Hill before but had heard it was fun, relatively flat, with some rocky stuff up the top end or the course.  My race plan consisted of:

1. Get to the event
2. Don't take it seriously - just have fun
3. Ride for 3 hours

And guess what?  I did all 3, and managed a 2nd place!!

It started well when a 10 mth old staffy-baby greeted me at registration.  I had to make a few gear adjustments while warming up, and I must have done something right because I had no problems throughout the day.  I lined up at the back of the pack for race start - chatting away to a familiar face who now has a name - Amber - and not checking out the competition AT ALL.  I was there for fun.

I passed a few riders in the first 5 mins then rounded a bend in the fire trail, only to find a former fire work colleague from Bendigo standing on the side of the track in Parks Victoria uniform.  I hadn't seen Cliff for 6 years since I'd left Bendigo, so of course I had to stop and chat.  Cliff commented that obviously I had backed it off a notch from when he knew me, seeing as I was stopping mid-race to chat for 5 mins.  The last rider passed me, so I thought I should probably get going again.

I thoroughly enjoyed the technical rock garden at the top end of the course - lots of rocks to climb on, to ride over, and to descend on.  I gave the 'A' line descent a shot on my 2nd lap and nailed it - so much smoother than the 'B' line, though you needed guts to do it.  The pump section was great fun, and the marshalls told me to stop laughing each time I came through working it.  After this section there was lots of easy pedalling with gently climbs.  

Transitioning for my 3rd lap I stopped to chat to my good friend Jane.  Yabba yabba and off I went.  It was at the 2 hour mark that my glutes began to burn - not just burning while pedalling, but REALLY burning while descending the technical stuff.  Obviously they haven't had to hold me upright in that position with that much demand for a very long time.  Too long.  Throughout the race I passed and was by old racing friends - many I hadn't seen for some time.  It was fantastic.  I came across Cliff again, stopped for another chat, then rolled on.  

Final lap and my glutes and triceps were burning worse than I have ever felt.  But I still rode the technical climb and descent, and had a huge smile at the top of the rocky climb.  During the race I had no thoughts on where I was placed - I actually thought I was 6th out of 8.  Amanda filled me in at the end that I had placed 2nd!!  Still can't believe it....all I could say was 'But I stopped and chatted all race!'.  Maybe that was the key....to have fun.

Thanks to all my racing friends (and Cliff) for a great day out.  And thanks to my Scalpel for never letting me down.

Daylesford, Smiths Gully & Lysterfield all in one week

I've had a great week of mtb-ing.  On the way to Daylesford it starting snowing, and ended up quite a depth the closer I got to Daylesford.  We were to ride out and meet 3 amazing chicks (Jane, Amanda and Beth) who were riding on the Dry Diggings Trail from Castlemaine to Daylesford.  The 3 of us procrastinated, made up excuses, dilly-dallied, then finally got out on the bike for a great ride.  Cold, but great.  I've committed myself to riding more of the Dry Diggings Trail when the weather is a bit warmer and dryer.  

Kira and Jo mid-ride (once we finally got out of the warm house)

The sun shone for my Smiths Gully ride, even though the temp only reached 9 degrees for the entire ride.  Still better than 4 degrees for the Daylesford ride!  The trails were good, the climbs were good but hard, and I finished the ride with not a whole lot left in the tank.

Kira and I decided on a night ride at Lysterfield.  We somehow picked up a lone rider in the car park named Damien, who rode with us.  He didn't seem to mind our slowness, and didn't laugh too hard when I fell off.  Overall, a great night ride mid-week.

Redesdale Race

What can I say?  It rained on the way there.  It rained during the briefing.  And it rained while I was racing.  But everyone else was in the rain too, so it was an even playing field.  

The 7km prologue was boring - lots of climbing, lots of fire trail.  But I was looking forward to the main course with lots of singletrack.  My bike had other ideas.  It started making a familiar grinding noise that reverberated through the carbon in the first few kms, and it was more than just grinding wet dirt on the gears and chain.  It wasn't doing it yesterday, but I'd had this problem with my other Scalpel late last year.  I thought it might ease so I continued on through the prologue.  My legs were feeling the climbs, but still feeling really good and I was enjoying myself, despite the rain.  

I'd ridden about 3km of the actual course (so 10km all up) when the grinding noise became worse.  It was a time to make a call - turn back while the start/finish was still within easy rolling distance, or continue to torture my poor bike and possibly cause more damage.  I couldn't do it to my lovely Scalpel so I turned back.  40 mins of riding in the rain - not much of a race.

BUT.....I got there, I got on the start line, I started racing, and my legs felt good.  I didn't feel so good standing in the increasingly heavy rain, attempting to clean my bike enough to put in the car, and then get changed into some clothes that started out dry but were very wet by the time I'd gotten changed.  

Hoping my bike will magically wash itself in the rain

Hoping my jersey will magically wash itself when I get home

Smiths Gully - Christmas Hills Girls MTB Ride

Jane's Liv/Giant girls mtb ride this month left from Smiths Gully through to the Christmas Hills trails that I had ridden last December (?) with Dave and Neil.  Lots of fun with 14 girls all up - a great choice of trails by Jane.  Some of the 'usual suspects', and a few that I had never met before.  No major incidents, and no major laughing episodes like the last one.  All finished off at the Smiths Gully cafe for some good food.

Saturday night was good fun with Dave and Kylie.  We went to see The Lone Ranger - a good laugh, entertaining, and long.  

Thanks all for a great Saturday.