Stage Racing is probably my preferred discipline of mountain biking. Not because I find it easy, and not because I’m good at it. But it’s a constant challenge, making you dig deeper physically, mentally and emotionally. Stage Racing gives as well, you meet new friends, renew friendships with other international mountain bikers, and hopefully you can achieve some personal goals.
With this in mind, there are certain things that are guaranteed at a mountain bike stage race. One of these is the ebb and flow of form. Basically the difference between good days and bad.
Will experienced his bad day yesterday, and today it was my turn. Thankfully, it wasn’t just a case of waking up and thinking “You know, I feel a bit shit today”. I actually felt pretty good at the start, as did Will. The climb was brutal, but I managed. I even had the joyous moment of riding past Roberto Heras, on a climb.
Once up on the plateau, and in the Witzenberg valley, Will lit up the afterburners. We had agreed that the next rolling 60km were essentially our terrain. Any group we were in, Will had his nose in the wind, and I did what I could to stay on his wheel, or in the group that was strung out behind.
Having a strong team mate to coach and coax you through such hard times is essential. After doing what I could to help Will yesterday, he did a stunning job to get me through today. In fact, he proved why you should pack a Cat 1 roadie with you when you travel to a mountain bike stage race.
So today was physically very demanding, and mentally even more so. You shouldn’t do so, but you end up asking yourself so many questions. Why do I feel so bad? Am I sick? Was my preparation really that poor?
However, I maintain that mountain bike stage racing is like a compact version of life. There are good times and bad, friends and foes. Today was not so good on a personal level, but great on a mateship level.
Let’s see what tomorrow will bring.
Read Will’s blog on the MarathonMTB.com Race Team website