Wildside MTB 2010

The race started and it was game on! With a short descent, riders flew everywhere — some even hit the dirt — trying to secure a strong position for the upcoming rough and rocky fireroad. Within 15 minutes our lead group had dwindled to about eight of us and the pace on! As we smashed through creek crossings, wrestled our bikes down unknown rocky descents and climbed loose and rocky fireroad climbs I could hardly keep the smile from my face (although it probably looked like a grimace). Racing over new countryside, with every section offering new and un-seen challenges, it was exhilarating. The Cradle Mountain air helped keep things fresh too.

Our lead group fragmented over the final sections of the first stage with Sid Taberlay and Dan McConnell going off the front and the rest of us trying to hold on. With lactic-filled legs and plenty of bumpy terrain, the final few kilometres were tough but with the stage done in under an hour, there thankfully wasn’t too much time to think about the pain.

Wildside takes riders from the heights of Tasmania’s Cradle Mountain to the seaside town of Strahan over four days. The race is made up of competitive stages, linked by cruise stages allowing you to spin out the legs and take in the scenery between sucking up the hard work over the race stages. Each day was broken into two stages, generally about an hour in length while the final day saw just one race stage in the morning and a BBQ, some beers and overall presentation held in the afternoon.

But back to the first day. After that lung-blasting first stage we hit up the cruise stage over the tarmac — which was an effort in itself with one sizeable climb — and then pulled in for some much-needed lunch.

The support at Wildside is incredible. Each lunch stop offered a huge selection of salad rolls, a range of fruit (grapes, apples, nectarines, peaches, apricots), chocolate bars, bags of lollies, electrolyte drink, pastries, tea, coffee and to my absolute delight, Milo. All this was set up and ready to go when we rolled in so we simply had to walk up, fill our arms (and pockets) and start eating!

In not too much time at all it was time for stage two. This started with some singletrack which immediately spread the bunch out. With me about 8th into the singletrack, I had my work cut out for me over those first sections to maintain contact with the front but after a good ten minutes of leg-pain the roads opened up and I was able to sit in the bunch relatively comfortably. Again our lead group had dwindled to about eight of us (setting the trend for the week) and it was over the last few nasty and steep pinch climbs that Sid and Dan managed to get away from the rest, but not before we all had to tackle a waist-deep creek-crossing complete with guide rope to keep us above water!

I was struggling in the later sections as the hills and day’s effort started to add up. Andy Blair and I worked together to try to bring back a group of four ahead of us and managed to almost catch them by the finish line. It was another great stage, very tough with a bunch of steep climbs, but rewarding and a great day on the bike for me.

From there it was a downhill cruise to Tullah, our stop-over town for the night, a swim in the lake and a buffet dinner.

Stage 3 was simply up, then down. Sid Taberlay got a flat tyre within the first 5km and with that the pace was on with contenders trying to maximise the time over Sid.  Whether it was because I didn’t warm up very well, or because the pace was just too high for me, I’m not sure but stage three was a forgettable one for me from a performance perspective. I lost contact with the front group on the climb, struggled down the technical descent, and lost chunks of time to the leaders. From a scenic perspective though, the stage was amazing. Riders climbed through the rainforest on singletrack, hopping the odd log and negotiating creek crossings and rocky sections, to arrive at the summit and hit the descent almost immediately. The descent started with a rocky fireroad but soon riders ducked into very technical singetrack with boulders everywhere, a very deep mud bog which saw plenty of riders come unstuck, and yet more creek crossings. It was a short stage, about 40 minutes, but what it lacked in length, it made up for in quality.

We had a good few hours to chill out in Rosebery, eat our lunches and lie on the grass on a day that was uncharacteristically hot for this part of Tassie. The second stage of the day — the Montezuma Falls stage — is the longest of the event at 38km and is also lauded by Wildside regulars as one of the most memorable. The stage started with about a 4km climb up tarmac before hitting the dirt.

I was nervous before this stage, I wanted to make up for my disappointing stage in the morning but was also aware that if the pace started too ‘hot’ I might struggle to recover and maintain contact with the front guys. The initial tarmac climb proved not too taxing and soon enough we were hitting up the dirt and I was in a good position in the top 5. Sid Taberlay, having lost close to 15 minutes in the morning stage with mechanical problems, decided to make a move on this next section — a gentle climb up to the suspension bridge of Montezuma Falls. The bunch strung out and I hung tight. It was tough but I was feeling good.

At the bridge crossing I was told to wait because only a few riders are allowed on the bridge at one time. I waited patiently, hoping the guys ahead would abide by the ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ and wait on the other side. They didn’t! There was daylight ahead of me as I pedalled up the gradual climb and hoped they would soon be in sight. Dan McConnell came around me, also in chase of the leaders and I managed to hold his wheel for a while before my legs told me enough was enough. I cursed, thinking my stage was over, but then Mark Fenner came around me and set a fast but steady tempo. Gradually, and with much grimacing, he dragged me back up to the leaders.

Just as we were about to make contact, Fenner’s legs told him enough was enough too and it was left to me to make the final move to the group. With the consistent climb, it was more a case of measuring your effort, then sprinting all-out, but gradually I got back to the leaders (with Sid still off the front) and managed to hang on the back for the descent. This was awesome! It was fast, gradual and long, very long. Some sections required you to think quick as we dodged mud bogs, puddles and logs. It was a hoot though, I was completely loving it.

We hit some rough singeltrack after this for the final main climb of the day. I started feeling good in the legs here and gradually worked my way through the dwindling group. Paul van der Ploeg and myself managed to get a gap on the bunch in the final descent and, with Paul trying to make up time on his U/23 challenger Steele van Hoff, he pushed the pace hard on the final fireroad section. I  helped out where I could but it was Paul who was the motor in our duo. Coming into the last 500m Paul punctured which gave me 2nd place for the stage behind Sid, I was stoked! It was super-fun stage and to finish it off strong was the icing on the cake.

The final cruise stage of the day took us to Zeehan, a very quiet town feeling the effects of reduced mining in the area. After discovering our booking had not been taken at the local pub (complete with a dirt-floor office), we caught the bus to Strahan for a night’s sleep.

The morning’s stage was the shortest of the tour, followed immediately by the longest cruise stage of the event. The 6km time trial was basically all up hill with a motorcross tack thrown in, some tight singletrack and a long and dark tunnel. We were paired off for this event and I was with Ben Mather, only about a 1min30sec behind me on overall time. If I wanted to secure a top three in Open Men I had to keep him behind me. So we started together and got about half way before Ben put down some serious hammer time and I could do nothing but puff hard and grimace ever-harder in response. I got dropped but kept calm and maintained a solid tempo to only lose about 20sec to him over the 6km.

From there it was about five minutes of ‘rolling out’ with some serious leg-pain and gasping lungs before a cruise and some lunch!

Trial Harbour was our lunch venue and offered balmy seaside air — in contrast to fresh and chilly Cradle Mountain air a few days earlier — and a lush grass to lounge around on. I was happy to have a lie-down after the morning’s intensity and almost fell asleep under the shade of the lunch tent!

But there was no time to sleep, we had a stage to race. Heralded as one of the toughest of the race, the stage to Granville Harbour started with a solid climb out of Trial Harbour before heading along the coastline, with barely a flat piece of road and plenty of rough and technical descents.

Sid Taberlay was again on the attack on this stage and he soon forced a gap on the rest with Paul and Steele in hot pursuit. Adrian Jackson, Andy and myself were a bit further back and maintained a steady tempo. After about 10 minutes Andy’s ‘steady’ tempo got to the point of being a bit too much for myself and AJ, especially me, and I clung to AJ’s wheel as Andy rode away from us. The trails were wild with some super-steep and techo climbs matched to equally steep but more techo descents. It was fun but sometimes hairy as we descended fast without really knowing what was over the next rock.

With about 3km remaining in the stage, Ben and Dan joined our little duo and AJ and I had a collision at the base of a big descent, giving Ben and Dan a gap ahead of us. Wanting to maintain my lead over Ben, I rode my heart out over the last stages and lost only about 20 seconds again to him. It was a tough stage with no real chance for rest with steep climbs and attention-grabbing descents but again, Wildside impressed with its awesome variety.

From there it was a long bus trip to Strahan. Strahan is a great place to base a race in. It’s quiet enough to be accommodating to 450+ smelly and dirty mountain bikers, offers a relaxed and cruisy seaside vibe and some great pubs and eateries.

It was very easy to relax that night as we threw down some pizza and pasta and enjoyed the outside dining with the water only a stone’s throw away.

The final stage is one of the longest at 36km but is also one of the flattest and hence, one of the fastest. About 10km of the stage is raced on the open beach — with the sand about as hard as concrete — while the rest of the stage is held on fast fireroad or soft and slow desert dune trails. With only about a minute between Ben and myself, and with the top three riders on GC separated by about 30 seconds, it was going to be a fast stage!

I help a good position in the early sections and managed to get onto the beach on Ben’s wheel in 2nd place. From there it was like a road race with riders attacking and other chasing. Nothing managed to stick until Ben put in a strong attack, gaining a gap on the bunch and riding off into the distance. With still over half the stage to go though, I was confident we could bring him back.

After exiting the beach the stage got hard with about 20 minutes of sand dune trails. This section offered no momentum and plenty of mental resolve to keep punishing tired legs. I almost lost contact with the group but managed to grovel my way back up to them and firmly position myself just in time for the open fire road.

By the time I made it back to the group, Sid had again taken off up the road and Dan and Ben were working together between our group and the lone leader. Paul, AJ, Andy, Ross Farell and I swapped off hard to catch Ben and Dan. Steele was also in the bunch but with his team mate up the road, refused to work with us. Paul put in a strong attack to try to dislodge Steele, which had me well and truly on the ropes, but in the end we all finished together with Ben only slightly up the road, meaning I was able to maintain my lead margin over him. Luke Fetch was also only 2sec ahead of me at the start of the stage but lost some time in the sand so I managed to get ahead of him overall and Josh Carlson experienced some mechanical problems, meaning I jumped him also.

So after four days and seven stages of hard racing I finished up 2nd in Open Men and 5th outright. I was stoked.

Wildside is truly an amazing event. It combines a very strong social side with some great racing, awesome variety of trails and stunning scenery. Throw in slick organization and support and you have an unforgettable four days away.

Thanks to my generous sponsors for another awesome time on the bike and thanks to Mick Ross and Rick Eaves the pics. You can check out all the images from the race at www.rickeaves.com