On Wednesday (27/02/08) I had the day off work, so I figured I could fit in a ride over the other side of the city at the Bushy Park Dirt Crits @ Croydon.
http://www.knobbysports.org/
I expected a similar set up to the FGP Westgate dirt crits , but I understood that this week was a ‘championship final’ round where there may be a problem for a newbie like me, so I dropped an email to the organizer & it came back with an all clear.
I fronted with the Specialized Stumpjumper in place of the Anthem as I wanted to spend more training kms on the hardtail & leave the Anthem dually for the big races. Besides I wasn’t expecting a too heavy going as the races seem to go for 30mins & the hardtail is great for those short fast events like this.
http://www.knobbysports.org/
I expected a similar set up to the FGP Westgate dirt crits , but I understood that this week was a ‘championship final’ round where there may be a problem for a newbie like me, so I dropped an email to the organizer & it came back with an all clear.
I fronted with the Specialized Stumpjumper in place of the Anthem as I wanted to spend more training kms on the hardtail & leave the Anthem dually for the big races. Besides I wasn’t expecting a too heavy going as the races seem to go for 30mins & the hardtail is great for those short fast events like this.
Held in an open field with cow patties to boot, it wasn’t a very technical track. Most of the course was fast hardpacked dirt surface that criss-crossed the field between what trees there are there & various obstacles. I signed up, well paid my $6 & strapped the number they gave me to the front of the bike, then set off for a sighting lap with maybe the only other person I knew there Tim R. The layout of the course started at the top of the hill & wound it’s way to the bottom of the paddock then climbed straight up to the top of the paddock along a fence line. Most of all the climbing was done on this last bit. There was a little drop off near the start/finish off a dam wall which was fun, but I only cleared it once racing on the first lap.
That evening there were 2x races, first one, which I was in was the kids & over 40’s, 30mins plus a lap. The following race was everyone else - 16 to 39yr olds.
It true Oz MTB fashion the off was a casual send off which conveyed nothing of the tension some riders in the field were feeling. I slotted into a nice spot 4th along & everyone was really behaving themselves, no elbowing or rough stuff. Through the course of the first couple of laps I settled into the groove & found the corners fun, grippy surface, lots of time to set yourself up & great visibility out of them, so I was all out of the saddle & elbows out, true 4cross form. Although I did find the climb a problem & got caught there a few times.
Mindful of the other racers, the regulars that, for them, this race was going towards some end of season points tally so I didn’t want to foul, or slow them up. There were really only 2x riders that came up to pass me & I swung off the track & coasted to let them by.
Was having a ball & smiling for the camera (a MTB race-face sneer actually).
6 laps later I passed through the start-finish to the sounds of a cow bell, suppose that’s one lap to go then.
It wasn’t a very big finish I was pretty pooped by the end. It was cool that they had pizza there, but after watching the 2nd race & having a bit of hawaian I couldn’t hang around too long because it was getting real cold & with only my sweat soaked Goombah jersey to keep me warm I racked the Stumpy onto the car & headed for home. Finished 7th in over 40s, even though I’m technically not really….
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