Tall tales
2011 - Cromer 6hr |
| Posted by Badmin (badmin) on Apr 04 2011 |
| Tall tales >> ENDURO |
3rd April, 2011 – “Smart Casual”
Team: Canned Veg
Members: Joe, Mark
Author: Mark
Degree of Difficulty – Low – 2.5.
Daylight savings ended the night before. As confusion settled in, team members who’d set their alarm clocks for all sorts of mad times were waking up, resetting and oversleeping. Joe was confident windows mobile would deliver the goods. He was wrong. Mark, on the other hand, got up way too early and was getting pretty edgy from 3 coffees he managed to fit in waiting for joe to hurry up.
Nevertheless, Joe got us there on time and as the first rider, he lined up for the start – clearly relishing the challenge. (refer photo below).
Conditions and External Factors – mild
Track 12km. Dry-tacky. No big climbs, not technically challenging. Flowy and fun.
Weather – warm everywhere else in Adelaide. Very cold at the race venue.[Joe: Very cold]
Lap one Joe. (from Mark’s perspective)
Having disappeared soon as we arrived to get warmed up, Joe started with the others and was gone. I was still edgy from the coffee so had a few nervous wees while I waited. I figured that as soon as I saw the elites coming back through start/finish, I’d need to be ready. They’d be a good few minutes ahead of the pack which would be plenty of time to go up to the change over zone. I got myself another coffee and settled down in the warmth of the car with the newspaper. So when the elites started coming through in just half an hour later, I wasn’t at all ready and hadn’t really even got through the front section of the paper. I was rushing to find my shoes when Joe appeared beside me waxing on about how we really needed to work on the interchanges a little harder.
Lap two Mark . (from Mark’s perspective)
I threw on my gear, jumped on the bike and raced up to the change over zone where, by now, Joe was rested and chatting with someone. Past I went.
The first few Kms of the track were fantastic. Flat or downhill, flowing, few log rollovers, rock gardens and the odd hazard to keep you interested, all while moving pretty fast – great fun. The first quarter of the track was all pretty much just pinning the ears back.
At the end of the fast section, the main obstacle was a couple of metres drop down through a big rock garden. Although there was a fairly obvious line, it still required a bit of care. Getting it wrong would have nasty all over it. The rest of the track was, by comparison, a doddle.
After this, it was a turn and back up again – a mild climb up a fire road before another long and fun, gentle downhill weaving through the pine forest – this one a bit tighter and a bit more undulating.
After that, it was out onto some fire roads and a long flat stretch between pine forests to get over to the next section. Then a nice little switching, winding ride up through very dense and dark pine trees. First few seconds were almost black as your eyes adjusted.
Then it was back over the road into the main, more open forest, and undulating between gentle switching climbs, and little sweeping downhills that gradually took you back up towards the event village.
After passing the event village you went back out the other side of the main forest and from the top side, were presented with a lovely few kilometres of gentle, undulating (mostly down) sweeping trail with nicely banked corners. This meant you could pretty much wind up and go through it fast, and by staying fast, it become a fun pretty flowing section all the way back to base and the start finish line.
I arrived back at transition to find Joe still sitting in the car, [Joe: about to not finish his recently purchased Coffee]. Our revised transition strategy was not working any better.
Lap three Joe. (from Mark’s perspective)
I sat up in the transition area for a while, and after a few minutes, Joe moseyed up still putting his helmet on. Then he went out for a ride.
Track description. Roughly the same as lap 2, albeit applied in context of Joe not Mark. This would involve accounting for factors such as:
- 29er vs 26er [Joe: It rolled over everything. As did the 26er I imagine]
- Race experience vs limited race experience [ Joe: pays off in spades when negotiating transitions]
- Irish Australian vs Not Irish Australian
- other
Lap four Joe. (from Mark’s perspective)
** As per lap 3**
Observation:
He looked a bit tireder at the finish.
Lap five Mark. (from Mark’s perspective)
**As per lap 2**
Lap six mark. (from Mark’s perspective)
**As per lap 5**
Statement:
Mark was a bit tireder.
Lap seven Joe. (from Mark’s perspective)
**As per lap 4**
Lap eight Mark (from Mark’s perspective)
**As per lap 6**
The Finish (from Mark’s perspective)
I’d arrived back at HQ at 5hrs and 50 minutes, so assumed I’d cross the line before 6hrs was up and be able to head out and get in one more lap. As I went through HQ, Joe, I noticed, had packed up his bike, was changed and sitting happily drinking beer. This, I interpreted as a snakey strategy to force me to do the last lap. Cursing Joe, I set off on the last lap.
As I rode off up the first hill I checked my phone to see what my time was looking like. Then at the top, I rolled off down the long straight towards the start of the first (and fastest) bit of single track, taking the opportunity to have a bit of a rest.
A good kilometre or two or three along, not far from the entry to the downhill run where I’d was planning to wind up again, Joe managed to catch me. Apparently I didn’t need to ride another lap. We could just finish like that?
Anyhow, much kudos to Joe for realising what I was doing, borrowing someone’s bike, and legging it after me wearing smart-casual clothes and with a belly full of beer. I’m glad I didn’t need to do that lap, and I’m glad I didn’t put the pedal down from the start. Would he have got me? I wonder how far Joe would have chased me….? Would he have done the downhill run since he was there anyway? I’d like to think positively on all three counts. I’d certainly have liked to watch him descend in smart-casual.
Summary (from Mark’s perspective)
- A 6hr race is actually a 5hr 50minute race.
- It was cold. [Joe: It was cold]
- The track was great.
- The 2nd lap was the most fun.
- My bike needs a significant amount of maintenance, now, if not before.
- Our change over strategy is not effective.
- Our revised change over strategy is also not effective.
- There are people out there who can ride very fast.
- Joe can out-ride Mark if:
- He is on someone else’s bike,
- He is wearing smart casual clothing,
- He is wearing nice shoes,
- He is drinking beer,
- (and, I do believe) he is concerned that Mark will ride off on another lap. (Or conversely, is worried he’ll have to wait for Mark for another hour before he can go the pub.) [Joe: The latter]
- All of the above
- The beer after a race is, by definition, tastier.
- Bearded Gypsies do not necessarily wear beards.
- I’d do this race again.
Last changed: Apr 04 2011 at 1:13 PM
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