Tate Dogan has made steady progress in Marathon Mountain Bike Races throughout the 2011 season. MarathonMTB.com are excited to have him onboard for 2012, and flying our colours for the rest of 2011. He is currently preparing for the next round of the SRAM Singletrack Mind Series.
As the Australian Mountain Bike racing season draws to a close, there are fewer and fewer events left on the racing calendar for 2011, and possibly none more local than Round 6 of Chocolate Foot’s Single Track Mind Series.
The second last round of the series will be held at Lidsdale State Forest and hosted by Central Tablelands MTB Club. Located just over the other side of the Blue Mountains, it’s sure to attract a lot of attention from the Sydney crowd. Flynn and the great crew from CTMBC have been tweaking the Rydal trails in readiness for the onslaught of a few hundred riders. New sections have been added to keep things interesting for those regulars, however this will be a brand new track for many people including myself.
With the biggest hill out on course climbing a comfortable 33m and with a little over 100m across the entire 9km course, it’s the perfect place to dial in the singletrack skills. There will be less emphasis on climbing fitness here and so there should be some great battles throughout the field. The pre-race videos reveal a welcome absence of terrorising rock gardens and other rocky technical challenges. Smooth cornering, braking and fine handling skills will go a long way in keeping you at the pointy end – all something I need to work on! Mix that up with some inevitable spills and it’s sure to be a great day out.
I will be there making my debut as MarathonMTB.com’s latest recruit, racing in pairs with old-school MTB kid Rob Booker. I am not sure it would be reasonable to say I am directly slotting in the team for Maddog Morris who is starting a new professional road scene chapter, as they are some awfully large shoes to fill. Being able to draw on the experience of MTB aces Mike Blewitt and Graeme Arnott will be an enormous boost as I continue my exciting transition from the road to dirt into 2012. Events like the Singletrack Mind series are the reason you’ll find me swapping the crit circuit for the XC track!
You can enter online, and get more information at the Chocolate Foot website.
Course preview Video: