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.

WA State XC Championships - Murray Valley

  I'd decided to enter Sport as they had 9am start time.  The other category I was eligible for, Masters, didn't kick off until almost midday and I had other commitments.
  Arriving at the venue, I had time to manage a sighting lap - pretty cool course, lots of up but all rideable.  I'd estimate 90%+ singletrack with just a few bits of joining fire trail.  Rather tacky too, none of the usual pea gravel!  I decided to put a little bit more air into the tires too.  I know I get a bit lazy when I'm tired and didn't want to pinch flat.
  Sport class was being combined with the U/17's due to there only being one punter in that category.  So I think there were about 12 punters all up.  Straight off the line there was a short and steep fire road climb and I settled in behind everybody else.  One keen customer managed to knock wheels and veered off the track before remounting and rocketing up the incline.  Turning off into the uphill singletrack I encountered a phenomenon that all cross country bike racers are familiar with... the 'get off and walk because some hubbard has stopped and not moved off the track'.  I was forced to stop and walk which sucked but at least it gave me a moment to get my breathing under control.   I was rather enjoying the rest of the rocky and rooty singletrack until I smacked my hip into a tree on one of the fast sections.  No damage but I was concerned I'd smashed my glasses that I'd put in my jersey pocket.  Shortly afterwards at the base of a steep bit of track I managed to drop my chain off the front chainring AND inside off the rear cogs.  A short bout of swearing, yanking and reefing ensued before I realised one junior rider who had stopped on the climb was watching me intently. Whoops.  Chain re-aligned, I checked my glasses - all good - and continued on.  Wasted about a minute and a half stopped.  The guy who I'd been chasing was gone.  Getting to the end of the first lap I could hear the leading sport female rider approaching and set about trying to reel in the guy I'd let get away.
  Second lap was uneventful.  Caught and passed Bruno (super Grandmaster old dude mountain biker character).
  Third lap was mostly uneventful too.  Caught a few dudes from other classes (think Veterans) and was lapped by three dudes (dunno what class they were in).  Managed a few Scott Specials (shoulder-to-tree interfaces) whilst flying about the singletrack but again, no damage.  Heard a couple of guys about 30m behind me and was getting ready to let them pass when I heard a fairly abrupt stack by one of them.  That was the last I saw of them.
  Didn't quite catch the guy I was just behind before my chain issues but he came in 6th so I reckon I must of got 7th or thereabouts.
  I enjoyed the track but I'm glad it wasn't a part of the Dwellingup 100 from the other week.  I don't think I would've appreciated the technical and steepness of it on top of the challenges of that event.
  Another great event from Tony Tucknott and the Perth MTB crew.

Course map and other boring details can be found here or here.
Results can be found here.

Start / Finish / Rego area

Dwellingup 100

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