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.

Golden Spokes 2010

Thursday before the race... phone call....
Dave : "So how you feeling about the weekend?"
Toby (deadpan): "Yeah, I'm gunna win C grade at Golden Spokes"
Dave : "Oh ok then!  I'll come second shall I?"

  This race had been on the calendar for a while but it only really morphed into a 'must do' race for me once it became clear that it would be the first race that the South Perth Rouleurs were hosting.  It was important that the host club presented well for their inaugural official race event.

  As was my usual way, I was running late and rocked up to Champion Lakes a little behind schedule.  No time for a proper warm up, just register and make sure the bike was functioning before a short roll around before the start.  C grade was a sea of green with something like 14 of the 21 starters SPR members.  Talk about stacking the deck!  The general race plan was to get Toby to the finish so he could do his thing.

  When we were released the pace wasn't anything special and the pack was cruising along. Everyone seemed to be settling in and finding themselves in the first five kilometres or so. Approaching the hairpin for the first time, I made a bit of a meal of it and I was on the tight inside line. Accelerating back up to speed it seemed the peleton was a bit sluggish resulting in myself, a guy with a red jersey and a moustache, Mark H and Zac getting a bit of a gap. I was bang up for a bit of this action and kept it going. Had no plans on staying away for the entire race but it'd be fun to ride in a break for a bit. These plans needed a slight re-assessment when I looked about after a turn and discovered Mark and Zac had gone back to the bunch. Moustache and I persisted for another lap but I had to ease up about four times and wait for him to tack on. No point pushing on with five more laps to go so we just pedalled on until the bunch caught us just after the hairpin again.

  Completing lap two the peleton was stretched out through the start area in kind of a venturi effect, but once the turn onto the back straight was done nobody wanted to apply any pace. There was a crosswind but it wasn't exactly raging, yet people seemed content to amble about. Being the patient soul I am, and having had enough time to recover from my earlier effort, I upped the tempo and moved off the front. Once again, not hoping to stay away but figured the longer I stay out in front then the better off any SPR team mates in the bunch would be. This move probably also contributed further to the slower pace as nobody would've bothered chasing hard. My time in the sun came to an end shortly after negotiating the hairpin for the third time and a bit before Scott's and Lorraine's vantage point.

Strung out down the back straight.

  The third lap and nothing much was doing. Down the back straight the crosswind dictated that everyone was hard right on the bitumen, ducking the occasional bush and shrub that was jutting out. Irish Nick in particular stood out for me doing some strong work on this lap.

  Fourth lap and I was starting to pay for my earlier adventures. Took in a gel at the end of the back straight, which was right when some guy wanted to try it on. Zac covered the move easily, and I could go back to trying to refuel. There seemed to be a lot of green hanging about at the back of the pack which concerned me at the time. Looking back, with the number of club riders it was inevitable that this would happen - there were just so many of us!

Jordan, Toby & Nick pushing it.

  The usual speed up occurred at the end of the lap and Jordan was upping the speed across the top.  I wasn't aware of it at the time but it was the little general himself, Toby, calling the shots here and he wanted the pace up. Down the back straight he was ended up well off the front by himself. I can safely say that I don't think I was the only one thinking that he'd had a brain explosion! How the bloody hell was he planning on hanging on for two laps? I even heard a few of the non-SPR riders mentioning that he was our sprinter. Toby built up a decent gap and by the end of the lap it was a few hundred metres.

Toby showing how it's done.

  Sixth and final lap revealed Toby to still be off the front. A few of the independent riders were trying to organise a chase down the back straight but a couple of crafty SPR riders were constantly inserting themselves and disrupting the effort. It was almost heart-breaking to see the moment when the non-SPR riders realised they were screwed and had to bite the bullet and chase. There was a guy in Cyclemania kit that wasn't helping at all much to their consternation. Despite Toby's mammoth effort, we approached the hairpin for the final time and it was clear that he would be reeled in. Jen tried to bridge across (and may have done, I was too far back to confirm) and a couple of other riders had a go too. No joy. All together with a few kilometres to go. Only one dodgy moment was when the speed was going up and somebody had a wobble in the gutter.



Zac in the lead - daylight second.

   The death. Just before the final turns Zac had a dash. More than one of us thought this a race winning move. Clearly some had other ideas! This point of the race had kind of snuck up on me and I found myself in a less than desirable position down the back. Ian and myself had caught the Jordan Express and moved up a bit but was still nowhere going into the turns.


Out of position... far from ideal.

 The group snaked it's way around the final turns and then we were in the finishing straight.  Not quite sure how, but I'd gone ok through the turns and now there was a more manageable number of riders in front of me.  Zac was still out there, Toby had somehow dug deep and was stuck to Mark H's wheel, as well as a few others.  A flat out, dead straight drag to the end.  I don't recall finding a suitable wheel so just went up a few gears and powered on.  Pulled in a few punters, Zac and Toby still ahead.  I didn't think I could reach our captain on the road, but had just enough to steal second place on the line.   SPR taking the first four places!

Winner winner chicken dinner!

  A video of the finish can be found here courtesy of El Prez.

Placings inversely proportional to height?

  It was a fun day out racing and the SPR team spirit was in full effect.  A massive thankyou to those volunteers that helped setup and packup, take photos, manned rego desks, marshaling the course, counted laps, supplied support and all the other things that made it a successful day on all levels.

Results can be found here, and my ride details can be found here or here.

Toby's awesome writeup is also well worth reading and more photos, courtesy of Mark de Castro, can be viewed here.

All pictures used in this report credited to Mark de Castro and Richard Smith.  Many thanks.

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.

State Team Time Trial Championships

Another first for me today - Western Australian State Team Time Trial Championships in Pinjarra. Never participated in a team time trial before and was quite looking forward to this.  A fairly flat course awaited us.

SPR had entered five teams, three in Masters and two in Open. We were 'SPR Masters C' and our band of merry men consisted of myself, Mark, Snuggles (John) and Jordan. I thought we were a pretty well matched team and I was keen to get on our way. A short warm up on the trainers and a brief discussion about what was to follow. Shortish turns between thirty and sixty seconds would be the order of the day and letting each other know if the lead person was flagging. Jordan and myself had clip-on aerobars for the event, he had never used them before and I couldn't remember the last time I'd used them in a race. Advised the others that because of this they might want to give us some room instead of sitting an inch off our wheels. Better to be be marginally slower and not stack me thinks. Everyone was to stay together for the first 10km and no stopping for punctures or mechanicals - unless there was only three of us left of course (need to finish with at least three). Not much thought was given to the order of riders on the road but once we got underway and settled down it was Jordan, Snuggles, Mark then me.

I thought the pace was on for the first 10km and was acutely aware of not letting myself stay too long on the front. Jordan was pulling strongly, Mark had ants in his pants and was putting in great efforts and Snuggles was powering away too. I was getting my usual feeling of "Oh shit,... not sure I can keep this up..." The second 10km I came good and felt quite comfortable. We were passed by the 'SPR Masters A' team who started two minutes behind us somewhere here.... A small hiccough at the second turn (..go *around* the witch's hats Dave!!!) was overcome without further drama. I managed a big turn shortly after that and despite a moment where we thought we might splinter, we all rolled around the turn-around together.

A quick decision was made to stick together, dropping no one, for the time being. It was more of a headwind on the way back and having the team together would be handy.  The Eddy Hollands team had popped one their contingent but still sailed past us with ease.  We could see about 400m ahead of us one of the guys that had dropped off from 'SPR Masters A' which turned out to be Jason, but we never caught him!  In fact I think he pulled away further in the last 10km!

The final turn for the last 10km seemed to give us new life. I was chomping at the bit and was coming through early on Mark (sorry!), Snuggles was having a second wind and Jordan was as solid as ever. A small disorganised moment came at an unfortunate time, right when 'SPR Masters B' passed us with a few kilometres to go, but no harm done. We powered on to the finish, Mark was breathing down my neck and so I just kept going. Crossed the line together, 42km down at 37.7kph average. Not bad - SPR Thursday ride pace with only four of us. I was content with that, we all rode well, sensibly and hard.
  Results indicate we finished 8th from nine masters teams. 
Team time trialling is not unlike any other skill - it takes practice to excel.  When to go hard, when to skip a turn, when to encourage, when to ease up.  A lot of it is familiarity with your team mates, knowing their strengths and weaknesses.  I had a good time riding with the guys and I'd hope to be considered for a team in a future event.
 
My ride details can be found here, Jordan's here & John's write-up here.

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.

Kalamunda Loop - Return of the MTB Jedi

  Went out and did the Kalamunda mtb loop again today.  Joined by Ainsy and Kat, we were going along nicely but there was rain threatening.  Kat bailed near Pickering Brook so we wished her a safe ride home and continued on.  The rain came but it was more drizzling showers than a solid downpour.
  Lots of fun had.  Whore No More is still a tough climb but no longer seems the massive obstacle it was the first time.  Before we knew it we were at Gungin and doing that cool bit of track back down.  Still didn't ride over the car.  But one day :)  Scorpion Track, The Dell and the long slog up the powerlines before the Kalamunda circuit and descending into Piesse Brook valley.  Saw plenty of kangaroos and colourful birds.  No problems except I thought I may have pinch flatted my front wheel on one fast rocky section, however it remained inflated enough and I was just a bit more carfeul after that.  Ainsy apparently managed to head-on a blackboy on the way down but no damge done.  Manged to ride most of the Elevator except for the usual right hander and made it back to the carpark soggy, dirty and content.  And a little bit tired :)
  Incidently it turns out we'd ridden the course within 13 seconds of the time that I rode it the other week!

Joondalup

  I decided to ride to my fitness course course today in Joondalup.  The weather was a balmy 12 degrees and the trains were out north of Edgewater station.  I took the 'crosser as I haven't spent much time on it recently and the cycle path north of the river is so much more comfortable on the 'crosser compared to the roadie.
  My ride was progressing well, I'd warmed up quite well and was humming along at Canning Bridge.  It was here that I came across a couple of other riders who latched on whiled I pulled them at 35kph.  I was fine with that and kept it up till just before the Narrows.  I slowly rode up the hill past Parliament House and navigated my way across the city to Leederville and the path heading north.  No drama and had plenty of time for a shower, coffee and banana bread before class started.

  Today we were learning about lower body muscles and had fun drawing them on Sam with a thick texta.  Some practical sessions in the gym were quite informative too.  I learned some stuff about Bosu boards and fit balls, squatting and discovered (well it was more like confirmed) that I am shithouse at chin-ups.  The only way is up with regards to that simple exercise.

  Ride home was warm and generally uneventful.  One bored magpie had a half hearted swoop before leaving me alone and also the usual fuckwits pissing about on motos near Cockburn.  Was pretty stuffed by the time I got home though - long way from Joondalup.  Devoured a big bit lasagne and heaps of liquid before starting on the chores.