Third dirt crit

  Third night in the six week dirt criterium series tonight.  General attendance was fairly similar to past weeks but the SPR contingent was down a few.  Just me, time-keeper extraordinaire Lozz, young gun Nick & enduro specialist Chris tonight.  The mozzies were out again too but I'd remembered to get some repellent this week!
  Same course as previous weeks but run in reverse this time around.  A quick warm up suggested that going in the reverse direction would make for slightly slower lap times, partly because at one of the mounds you couldn't ride up it and had to dismount and run up.
  B grade again for me this week.  The bunch took off at a great rate of knots (standard...) and I settled in towards the back end.  I found Chris's wheel and held it for most of the first lap.  I was sticking so close behind him in the tight singletrack that I was finding it difficult to stay on the track and was constantly smacking my bars into shrubs and over correcting.  Chris was laughing at me and my resulting profanity!
  Second lap and I was still glued to Chris's wheel. A small train of four had formed and was storming around the course.  The guy in front missed a turn and Chris followed him, allowing me and another rider to sneak past and tear on up the track.  Lots of Shimano Automatic Shifting™ going on at this point - about time I gave the dually a little bit of TLC...
  Third lap and I was going well, passing plenty of riders in other grades.  I was stuck behind some in the singletrack and was getting impatient when I hooked a shrub and came crashing down.  A bit of claret on both legs but no major damage and I was up and riding again momentarily.  I wasn't sure if Chris had gone past me whilst I was on the deck or not.
 Fourth lap I was with the organiser of the dirt crit series, Greg, for a bit before passing him and also passed Nick on this lap.  He was looking very comfortable and going great!  I think he is enjoying these races!
  I was heading out at the start of my fifth and final lap when the leading A grade duo powered past.  I was also catching plenty of back markers on this lap making it a bit tricky.  John, who was sitting in third place in A grade passed me before the mounds.  No other happenings and I came home strong.  Chris and Nick rolled in shortly afterwards.

  Another great night out Garvey Park, topped off with Lozz's brownies. Numbers might be a bit down week as there is a little horse race and associated frivolities on during the afternoon.

Details of my ride can be found here.

Second dirt crit

  Although it's a bit of a logistical effort to get to the dirt crits, I'm so glad I've been making the effort. So far I'm really enjoying the riding, the location, the people and just the buzz from having a crack during the week. All the Usual Supects were lurking about - Pete, Nigel, Cheryl and Chris (not racing) as well as some having their first go - Scott, Gregor and Lozz's son Nick. I took Nick out for a quick lap of the course before the racing started and he was doing it easy. I forgot the Aeroguard again this week and was getting eaten alive before the start...
  Tonight I entered B grade again and like last week it was the largest field. I was at the back of the pack from the start, maybe second last and overtook a guy about midway through the first lap. It seems that most of B grade was riding as a pack a bit ahead of me but I never caught them. I was tearing around the course mostly by myself but overtaking a number of people which I presume were in C and D grades. Unless they publish results I really wont know. I was putting up with a lot of automatic shifting - might be time to give the poor girl some TLC. Lap four was my most eventful lap. I passed Nick sucking down some water at the back of the course, almost fell off the second lot of mounds, went crashing through some bushes which almost ripped my helmet off in some tight singletrack and passed Scott coming towards the end of the lap. I sustained a fairly uniform pace over the five laps and never got passed by anyone - so I managed to hold off A grade despite them starting three minutes ahead. A much improved effort from last week where I was lapped and only completed four laps.
  Highlight of the night - refuelling with a Lozz Special Raspberry & White Chocolate Muffin.

First dirt criterium

  Tonight was a first for me. I've never participated in a 'dirt criterium' before and the experience was a good one. I wasn't sure what to expect and had brought the dually after briefly contemplating bringing the 'crosser. This proved to be a good decision. During the racing there was a guy on a 'crosser struggling on anything other than the open bits. IMNSHO the perfect steed for this racing would've been a 29er hardtail and there were several punters rding them tonight.
The course was a 3km loop consisting of grass, hardpack dirt paths, newly cut tight singletrack, obstacles resembling large mounds, a couple of sandy areas and some rutted doubletrack. My impression of the track was that it's not the sort of place you''d go to ride your mountain bike but as a course for racing it was excellent. The creators managed to come up with a track of decent length and enough challenges to make it enjoyable for mountain bikers and still have plenty of places for the fitter crew to power along.

A few familiar faces were amongst the 44 punters including Pete, Chris, Nigel and the effervescent Cheryl.

I'd entered in the largest grade (B) and we were keen to get going before the mozzies made a meal of us. 'A' grade came through to complete their first lap and then 'B' was released. Didn't take too long for the field to spread out. Highlights of my race included :-
- missing one turn and briefly going the wrong way
- couple of sketchy moments turning off dirt paths (still reluctant to ride with low pressures in my front tyre...)
- oversteering in the start/finish area and coming to a complete halt so I didn't bring down the pretty bunting.
- Missing a turn in the fast, tunnel like singletrack, ploughing through a bush and then realising I was still on the track!
- Being passed by the three eventual 'A' grade winners going Warp Factor 9 .

I was supposed to do five laps but after four they were pulling people off the course which was fine by me. Pete ended up finishing fourth in 'B' - not bad for an adventure racer!

I think the night was a great success. It was great to get out on the dirt and get the heart rate up on a school night. Much fun was had racing an interesting track and located within the metro area. In the past I have ridden through this area as part of my commute to/from work but I never thought it would suitable for mountain bike racing. How glad I am that some of the genius's at Perth MTB club have a better imagination than I. I'd like to get out there during daylight hours and get some pics of the course.  Top marks to the organisers (just don't run out of bunting next week!) I'd encourage anyone who doesn't mind a dose of mid-week dirt competition to get out there and give it a go. Only $5 if u already have a MTBA licence. Don't forget your Aeroguard (or mozzie repellent of choice).   Unfortunately I wont be able to attend next week but I'm looking forward to having another crack at this format of racing in the following weeks.
 
Details of my ride can be found here.
Pete's report is here.

NDCC Gnangara criterium

  Turned up expecting to be the only SPR rider there (there was a ride with phil Anderson organised by our club and I thought everyone would be going on that) but found Josh and Jason warming up at the start.
  Entered in C grade with us 3 SPR dudes, 4 BikeForece guys, a million NDCC riders and a few individuals and blow ins.
  Course was 1.7km and race was 30mins + 2 laps.
  Took it real easy up the front for the first few laps - no one wanting to push the pace. The usual antics by the NDCC guys launching off the front came to nothing. After about 5 mins there was a break of 3 riders (a Cyclemania guy, Jason from SPR and an NDCC kid) who took off and quickly gained a solid gap. With the other "teams" represented in the break it was up to the BikeForce guys along with the individual riders to chase and they didn't appear too happy about it.... Nor were they good at it.
  The break got out of site and I'm suprised they didn't lap us by the end. I did my turn up the front including chasing down the odd NDCC rider that wanted to launch. During one of my turns up the front i sensed the pace slowing down and so I put in some hard ones and went off up the road for a bit. One young NDCC guy had come for the ride but he was stronger. We swapped a few turns but then he had his turn and I couldn't hang on. He gapped me and eventually sat up for me. I felt bad - as I had nothing left and he was left in no mans between the bunch and the break.
  I started to drift back towards the bunch and was promptly spat out the back when they went past. The young guy held on for 4th (behind the break) and our other SPR team mate won the bunch gallop for 5th. Our guy in the break got outsprinted for 2nd. I rolled in 10 or 15 secs behind the group.
  Happy to have had a hand in how the race went but dissapointed with eventual outcome. My race idea changed when I realised there was some team mates at the race. Until then i was planning on sitting in and then having a dig at the end. But with mates it gave me something to work for and it was more interesting.
  Next 'race' is a 4hr solo mtb enduro on the 11th and the following week there is a road race on a 21km circuit (3 laps for c grade) which I'm looking fwd to. I've raced the circuit before and it's as rough as guts.
  1000+km for March. Motivation for cycling is on the rise. Weather is awesome over here atm. Finally the killer hot is over.

WA State Criterium Championships

I'll try and put a good spin on this. It wont be easy.

After more than 7 months I decided it was time to have a bash at some more bike racing. Next even up was