The GNaTPACK Series introduced a new race format this year with 2 & 3 hour races making it possible to race in teams or solo. The longer format made it more reveling for me to make the races in the series around Northern NSW but Nambucca 3 hour was going to be a challenge after racing the day before for 7.5 hours in the Upper Hunter Valley. I am always up for a challenge but would have preferred if all the other riders had tired legs like myself from racing the day before. A three hour race is a bit short for me to race at my best but its always fun to go that little bit faster pushing the limit a little more over the shorter distance. To keep the competition fierce throughout the series I entered Elite but knew I would struggle in this race with the faster paced race & tired legs.
It was hard to get up the morning of the race after arriving home from a 4 hour drive late the night before but I was woken early by the family eager to travel up to Nambucca for the day where my wife Cindy was going to be racing in the two person open teams.
The race start took us down a usual fire road where we were set out on the line in our categories before the final count down. The pace started off at a much more reasonable pace than I had expected & I took the lead into the first single track where the famous Jacks Ridge roller coasters sent you at break neck speeds down & up large gullies on the side of a mountain several times before the only major climb in the 10km track up serpentine where my legs immediately started to feel the hurt before tackling the fun & fast slowing single trail over log drops & smooth berms. I had been racing all day the day before in wet sandy soil & cool weather & found myself sliding all over the place on the humid weather & dry pebbly ground while negotiating all the turns in & out of trees.
Near an hour had gone by being followed closely by a local Nambucca rider on a lightweight hardtail so I tried to slow the pace down a little hopping he would stay behind me for a bit longer, but after the end of the second lap I had to stop & change over drink bottles & he took the advantage leaving me in the dust putting the power down on the open fire trail where I was never to see him again. toward the end of the race my back started to ache from trying to push big gears from the lack of energy I had & I realised I was never going to catch first again & slowed the pace up even more just to hang on to second place till the end after being overtaken by a few riders in the age group categories.
You never stop learning, & the lesson I got from this weekend is I need to work on sprints during races & strengthen my back muscles. I think I will have to go pay a visit to the awesome staff at www.enrichedhealth.com.au & work on my weak points before my next race.
The race start took us down a usual fire road where we were set out on the line in our categories before the final count down. The pace started off at a much more reasonable pace than I had expected & I took the lead into the first single track where the famous Jacks Ridge roller coasters sent you at break neck speeds down & up large gullies on the side of a mountain several times before the only major climb in the 10km track up serpentine where my legs immediately started to feel the hurt before tackling the fun & fast slowing single trail over log drops & smooth berms. I had been racing all day the day before in wet sandy soil & cool weather & found myself sliding all over the place on the humid weather & dry pebbly ground while negotiating all the turns in & out of trees.
Near an hour had gone by being followed closely by a local Nambucca rider on a lightweight hardtail so I tried to slow the pace down a little hopping he would stay behind me for a bit longer, but after the end of the second lap I had to stop & change over drink bottles & he took the advantage leaving me in the dust putting the power down on the open fire trail where I was never to see him again. toward the end of the race my back started to ache from trying to push big gears from the lack of energy I had & I realised I was never going to catch first again & slowed the pace up even more just to hang on to second place till the end after being overtaken by a few riders in the age group categories.
You never stop learning, & the lesson I got from this weekend is I need to work on sprints during races & strengthen my back muscles. I think I will have to go pay a visit to the awesome staff at www.enrichedhealth.com.au & work on my weak points before my next race.
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