National XC Champs 2009

The defining part of this event for me was the course – I’d seen others ride the technical sections but had never ridden them myself. To be honest, I was a bit scared. We arrived at Canberra a few days before to check it out. Riding on the course for the first time, leading into the most technical downhill ‘hammerhead’ section, my arms were like jelly. I was bloody scared and rode it terribly –so badly that I crashed pretty hard.

That was a tough moment for me, before I’d been scared of it, now I was petrified. I rode around for the next lap, still scared and deciding to take the longer ‘b-line’ section when I came to it again. I was so angry at myself, others could ride it but I couldn’t. I felt useless. But then I put it all out of my head, turned my bike around, and rode it. That was a great moment, my confidence tripled.

I haven’t really had much structure in my training since the Solo World 24hr Champ’s in July ’08. It’s been a frustrating few months of trying to train, getting tired and resting again. As a result I wasn’t confident of my form. I had modest goals for the race – basically I just wanted to have a good race and get the most out of myself.

So the days rolled around and race-day was upon me. The race started at a less ballistic pace than I’d imagined. We came to the ‘hammerhead’ section and I was excited, I rode it pretty roughly but the huge crowd made me amped and excited to smash it as hard as I could. I had a decent position for that lap and felt like I was digging pretty deep to stick with the riders around me, but I just wanted to go my hardest and see how long I’d last. It wasn’t long. Into the 2^nd lap I was already fading and had to knock it back a few notches in the interest of finishing the five lap race.

So the next few laps went by pretty quickly and, despite a crash on the climb that had me lying in the ground with a throbbing shoulder, it wasn’t too long until I was crossing the finish line about mid-field, having dug really deep in the last two laps. The result wasn’t anything special for me but, after struggling really hard in the last few months with my energy on the bike, I was happy to have had been able to race the whole race at a decent, if not ballistic, pace. Best of all, the most fun I had all day was on the ‘hammerhead’!

Thanks to Giant Bikes, the new XTC Advanced hardtail is a sweet bike and makes riding heaps of fun. Thanks also to Shimano, Ritchey tyres and accessories, Crank Brothers Eggbeater pedals, Bell Helmets, Jet Black Products, Adidas Eyewear and PowerBar nutrition.