We hired two All Terrain Vehicles (read; hire cars) for the trip firstly to the Peacock's lovely abode out in the east. Stopping in Greensbrough we wrangled some free coffees from a delicious little cafe, only because we were unsure of quality and had been stung in the past. Onwards to the Peacock's for a race around their property on some good old fashioned home built trail. Only problem is it's all on the side on a hill. Lots of short, sharp climbs but plenty of fun. James "P-hen" taking line honours with some good insider track building knowledge.
After being stung in the morning by bad coffee and small food portions, we made trek cross city to visit a few of our sponsors. BBB sunglasses, Lazer helmets and Schwalbe tyre were all on the list and the guys and girls were more than happy to see us. Good to know the face behind the product(s).
Up up and away to the You Yangs for a happy lap. By this time it was raining and the journey involved some off roading which, if I had the money, i'd be doing more of. Remember, if it's not you car it goes faster, handles dirt better and might even be good in the air. Riding in the wet is fun and our practice lap proved this. The same couldn't be said about the rego tent where most of us had pre-entered for the short course, and paid only to be told we hadn't entered and that it would be $55. Good luck! And i'm still trying to get my money back from Geelong mountain bike club - Thanks guys.
Our rented accommodation consisted of a shack which turned into an island sometime around midnight with all the rain we had there. It had gone from dry as a bone to the lake district in one night. We could only imagine what the track would be like!
Wet, windy and cold. Really f$cking cold. After our team tent disintegrated, along with most others due the the wind, we were left to stand in the open, cheering on other team members who were already out there (the lucky saps) So by race time, even with a "warm up" it was no use. The muscles had completely seized and all that was happening, was slow. Oh so slow!
Lucky because with the wind there were alot of trees coming down on the course, so every lap was something new. First on a climb it was get off and run due to fallen trees, then on a descent it was blind corner BAM!! tree fallen across the track. Awesome. How the hell can you continue to run a race with this kind of thing going on? I know mountain biking isn't the safest sport anyway, but the risk of being crushed by something doesn't do it for me. After some consulting with various marshals (note; abusing various people) I decided enough was enough with a flat tyre on the third lap of five. Race over. I wasn't the only one either with the sand and mud taking it's toll, especially on brake pads.
Stress was relieved and the weekend made more palatable with the bogging of a hire car in deep water/mud. I won't name names but it redeemed the weekend for me.
So next up it's the National champs and I can't say i'm looking forward to it. These last two results have done nothing to help my start position and as i sit here typing instead of riding due to a ruptured ligament in my hand, I wonder, how can anything good come of this?
