ROUND 2 - CURRAMBENE

We can’t speak for Round 1, but Round 2 was a beauty for MJ, being their first crack at an 8 hour.  Basically, the conditions were perfect, what more can you say?  The track had everything that Currambene is reknown for, thanks heaps to SCUM for preparing a challenging circuit that required endurance and technical skill.  Thanks to the organisers and volunteers.  It was also great to see so many women racing next to the blokes, and even on this paradise of single track, we found riders of all levels to be considerate and allow faster riders through with a minimum of delay. 

The day started well with Mike getting a good position behind the first few rows.  As always there was a massive rush up the first section, then a traffic jam at the first log, but we quickly settled into a steady pace for the long day ahead.  The only mishap was swiping a rough barked tree at the bottom of the course (which I repeated on the next 3 laps!).  I soon realised I was not the only one giving it a nudge.  First lap down and Jay took off to hold our position.  After the first hour we were in 21st position, not to bad, but we can do better.

My turn again and when I got round the first time, Jay was still resting so off I went for a 2nd, following Simon as best I could.  Wow! he has really picked up some pace on the downhill sections.  And so it went on, Jay and I taking two lap turns and each pulling 26 min laps all day.  The nutrition was working well! At the 4 hour mark we have climbed to 17th and still feeling strong. 

Towards the end, the legs weren’t quite as dynamic as earlier in the day, but the track knowledge was starting to really pay dividends as you started to flow through the course rather than ricochet through it like a pinball.  It was then the inspiration (which may later be labelled insanity) kicked in, we might even give our younger TORC brothers a run for their money.  Kurt and Tom had run a respectable result in Lithgow but an argument between Kurt and a bollard on the spit bridge during training ruled them out for Nowra.  So the TORC grudge was born and may the oldest hmmm I mean best team win.  It is game on in Appin.

You wouldnt believe how quickly 8 hours can slip by and at 3:40 it was Jay who had the challenge to get his two laps in before the cutoff at 4:36 and send Mike on one final lap to score 19.  And he makes it!  Well done Jay, I really wanted just one more lap (RIGHT!).  It felt great to speed around the course once more, and even better when I caught an inside line on the final climb and left a tailgater in my dust.

Finally, it was an awesome day and the formalities were kept to as short as possible which was much appreciated.  Next time I am bringing the family, the whole event had a great atmosphere.  Thanks to all the TORC riders there too, it was great sharing the tent with a terrific bunch of riders.

ROUND 3 - APPIN 

Round 3 and I can’t really claim we were fully prepared, but we decided to give it a go anyway.  You know how sometimes you think "Let’s not go too hard, we’ll just circulate and enjoy the day".  But once you are on the bike and the heart rate is at 89% something clicks in, you just have to give it everything you’ve got, so it was for Jay and I.  We managed to hold our position in the Top 20 and after 6 laps each we’d had enough. 

Highlights were seeing the same crowd again, catching up with friends we made last round and making new ones, testing your skill against a track that certainly lived up to it’s reputation (TOUGH!), and just the general organisation of the race…oh and the 2 laps I ran on the test BMC TrailFox, thankyou BMC, what an awesome bike!

I also have an apology to make, I bumped handlebars sneaking up on a rider to overtake him on the left on the approach to the start finish.  Sorry about that, I think your mate was more upset than you were, anyway next time I will make a bit more noise when passing.

So it starts and after the first lap I was wondering if it might better to pack up and go home after gear trouble and a couple of spills, but the next lap was better after adjusting my gears and Jay (my partner) even decided to turn up!  Two laps down and we were going pretty good, so I sent Jay off to make up for sleeping in.

So how about this track, I really liked the first long section on single track, the bit that slopes gently down hill with the tight twisting turns.  By the middle of the day, those corners were starting to get some great berms on them and I wasnt falling off them quite as much.  The first downhill firetrail was also a beauty, not too many big hills and the final stretch of single track was good too.  But it is on the really technical sections where we lose time.  With a little more courage and a lot more skill we might climb a few more places.

The other thing I really like about this series is the catering!  The steak sandwich at the end of the day is something I am already looking forward to after Rd 4.  Thanks guys!

So where art thou TORC Dog? Hope to see you in Killingworth for a TORC showdown

PS.  Lot’s of photographers out there, if you took some shots, please post them somewhere so we can all see them