Two stages in one day? It is pretty much the done thing in a lot of Australian Road Races, but not something I have ver experienced. But as I said this morning, it’s nice to do a Mountain Bike Stage race which isn’t essentially seven or eight Marathons pasted together by pasta parties. So in the end, it felt like an age waiting around for the afternoon stage.
300m would have to be one of the shortest stages out there. 300m, up a hill, on the road. Even so, it still shows who is creeping and who is flying.
After Stage Two this morning, I mostly faffed about and eventually pumped my tyres up to 40psi. That’s pretty high these days, and probably higher than the recommended maximum pressure for my rims. I didn’t plan on hitting anything substantial though. However as we rolled out along the Stuart Highway to get to the race location (Anzac Hill), I did a high speed leg warm up on the gravelly verge. The bike was all over the place. 40Psi felt like mountain biking in the 90’s.
A compact race like a Hill Climb TT makes for a good atmosphere. As stated, 300m on tar doesn’t sound like much, but it’s concentrated excitement. With Sam from Rapid Ascent on the microphone at the top of the hill, and John Jacoby and his excellent crew keeping an eye on things down the bottom, the whole event ran smoothly. Crowds at the top were helpfully vocal.
I felt pretty nervous about the TT. I don’t start fast, or go uphill very well, and I can’t think of a TT I have ever done well.
I watched Simon Fredrikson fly away infront of me.
And then post the fastest time so far.
I went off, went up through the gears, hit the steep section, and went down through most of them again. My time as I crossed the line wasn’t even announced, to save my pride. At least I got to watch the Pain Face on the Top 10 as they crossed afterwards. Local Hero Ryan Standish put in a huge effort to get up in 45 seconds, Freddo in 46. Race Leader Andy Blair (Swell-Redshift) maintained his lead with a 48 second effort. Previous leader Jasen English was back a bit, but Stage Three will have little bearing on the overall I expect.
Most competitors rolled around the corner for the days presentation and ‘roo burgers post race. Time to feed the machine before tomorrows long stage, 77km.