The XxX was a chance to see where my fitness is at now that I have had a few solid weeks training. Jacks Ridge is always fun to ride, especially with the while track used in the one race. Also a lot of the track has undergone a face lift with some new jumps and added trails to ride.
My race started off with my gears playing silly buggers jumping all over the place & I knew there was something seriously wrong when I could not adjust the gears to line up, but I was not going to let it worry me till (touch wood) I was forced to stop riding.
The first half of the race was fast for a 100 km event on mostly single trail with my average speed over 21 kmh in the first 50 km while riding with Peter Marshall. Peter soon started to put on the pressure in the last 50 km & my energy was starting to decline as my heart rate remained high to try and keep up. It did not take long till I had to let Peter ride off the front with thoughts in my mind that maybe he to was going to start to feel tired and by that time I will still have enough energy to go around him if I backed off the pace now slightly to conserve my energy.
With one lap to go I was updated with the race positions and Peter was only 3 minutes in front of me and tiring. I still had enough in the tank for a 3 minute faster lap. so the plan was to chase Peter down for the win. Unfortunately as I headed out on my last lap, I went to change back gears and SNAP. I had broken my rear gear cable & was now stuck in the hardest gear in the rear (I now know the reason my gears where not working correctly). With my final plan out the window unless of some sort of miracle I had to adapt to a new style of riding by using as much momentum us possible around corners and down hills to carry my speed so I had less muscling my way through the last lap in a big gear at low speeds.
I lost a little time on Peter in the last lap placing me just off the podium in 4th spot in Opens behind some good riders. Stefan Merriman had the win by a big margin followed by Kerrod Parker then Peter Marshall.
A big thank you to the Nambucca Valley Cycle Club for holding a great event and Hammer Nutrition Australia for keeping me fueled for the race.