A lesson in preparation.

As I ran out the door at 8am, I grabbed my gear & threw it in the car. I'd never been to Singleton before, but I was guessing it was 90 min away. As I put my bike on the roof, I noticed that the back tyre was flat. I'd ridden it just yesterday for 20 min and it was fine... No time to fix the tubeless system now.

As I arrived at Singleton, I quickly registered, and upacked my gear. As I put on my sunglasses, the frame broke. (Thanks to Andy for the loan of his 2nd pair) I quickly threw a tube into the rear tyre & raced back to the start.

After a disappointing 2nd round at Awaba I'd spent 2 weeks preparing for this event and it made a real difference. Last time finished 28th from 33 this time 15th from 31 (C grade). This was my first ever time at Singleton.

Track was awesome, super dry and quick. Although there are no real climbs I was always on the gas so no chance for a breather. My heart rate average was 87%... Hopefully more time on the bike will help bring this number down.

Super happy

http://www.hmba.asn.au/files/Results/2012/Race%203%20XC%20Results.pdf

I hadn't prepared very well for this event having not ridden my bike or done any form of fitness for the 4 weeks prior to the event (partly due to the rain and partly due to a neck injury after an OTBs earlier in the year). With this in mind I deliberately started at only 80% work rate knowing that I’d struggle towards the end. In true form, I lost nearly 2 minutes on the final lap as I hit the ‘wall’

This was my first local club race - & a great learning experience. Having come out of a recent cold & minor ankle surgery, I signed up for D grade. I found it easier than I thought... I'll be in C grade next time.

My ankle held up fine. I'm getting the stitches out today. The new parts of the track look great! I'm really looking forward to seeing the pros power around in a few weeks.

I did find it a little hard to figure out who was racing who... maybe there should be a coloured arm band system? Red = A Grade, Blue = B Grade etc.

HMBA XC Round 2

With Round 1 washed out everybody was pretty keen for the first XC club race for the season.
Getting ready for pre race briefing, it was evident there was going to be some changes to some of the standard XC course for the race. All the rain in recent weeks had left some of the course a little boggy, plus a few new sections had been recently cut, in readiness for the National XC round in early March.

The 3 Ring Circus, held in the Wingello State Forest (Southern Highlands), was a 50km enduro that had riders covering a course made up of 3 different loops or "rings" (Get it? "3 Ring Circus"). Anyway, the trails in the area were amazing, particularly the single track that was on offer. The 3 loops were 6km, 25km, and 19km respectively for the total 50km. I rode the first and last loop with my wife covering the 25km of the middle loop. As relative newbies to MTB events, we were again impressed with the friendly, welcoming atmosphere from both the organisers and fellow competitors.

This was our first 24 hour race as a pair and what a brilliant event! The course at Mt Annan, west of Sydney, was awesome. We hadn't ridden there before and were really impressed with the variety in the trails. At approx 9.5km each lap, the course had plenty to offer all riders with a mix of technical, flowing, and flat out fast sections. The whole event was great fun with a relaxed atmosphere, cool music, brilliant catering service, and it was all very family friendly. Our daughter had a blast getting involved in all the kids activities!

This year for the 8 ¼ hour I signed up with Craig (craked) and Wayne (Dicko) for the Male Threes as “The good, the bad and the ugly"

Phil, Jos and Michael were signed up as the “Iron Horse Pony Club”

We all put in $20 and the fastest lap between the two teams would take the pot. Our first goal was to beat the Ponies and second was to take home the cash. We achieved the first as the Ponies claimed the fastest lap with Michael doing a 37:30 on his second lap. Well done mate.

Great fun. Great intro to meeting the wider mtb community. Mark & I tried to find a 3rd team member, but only started with 2. Had a little spill on the 4th lap due to finger strength giving way. Yes- you read that correctly. Changing gears & braking became quite hard during the 4th lap. Will definitely sign up for more future events.

has anyone been to awaba track this week to check it out to see what the track is like for the 8 1/4 hour this weekend