Today saw us tackle the first ‘proper’ Crocodile Trophy stage after yesterdays short XC stage at Smithfield. On paper the 102km from Cairns to Lake Tinaroo had me wondering what I have gotten myself into especially after looking at the profile which include 2500m of climbing. After yesterday’s stage which included a loose seat I was looking forward to a stage free of any technicals. Also I told myself to make sure I have passed over the finish line before tucking into the great watermelons the organisers provide. (The refreshment table was placed before the finish line so I got so excited about the food I didn’t realise I haven’t passed over the finish line till Nadene came running up to me telling me to get back on my bike and cycle the last 10 meters.)
The pace on the first 10km neutralised section out of Cairns was quite social and I was thinking I could get used to this. No such luck because as soon as we set off after the official start Mike decided to set a hard pace up the first climb towards Copperlode Dam. I really had to work hard to keep up Justin and Mike – I partly blame the extra weight I picked up since we left London.
The first gravel climb was classed as ‘steep climb’ in the race book. This was bit of an understatement as I would have called it bloody steep. I was so thankful that Mike convinced me to put a triple crankset on the new Bianchi Methanol 29er as I was in my granny ring all of the climb and a lot more the rest of the day.
By now the midday sun was starting to get me as living in the UK is not the best for warm weather training. Felt like I couldn’t drink fast enough to replace all the fluids I was loosing through sweating so I was really glad to see the sign for the first feeding stop. The organisation was super efficient and I was out of the feeding stop within 15 seconds with my replacement bottles.
What followed was some rolling terrain on gravel roads so a group of four of us started to work together to keep the pace up. This worked quite well till [Ivan] came through (he suffered 2 punctures) and the guys in my group tried to keep up but he did manage to blow us up after a while.
The last ‘steep climb’ had me battling mentally whether I wanted to get off the bike but halfway up some supporters where so enthusiastic that I decided I just had to push on. Glad I did this as all the hard work was rewarded with a gentle decent down to lake Tinaroo.
We are waiting for official results but I think I was 9th today, and maybe first M1 Master. Ondrej Fojtik took the win.
Unfortunately, Jason English hit a car 12km out from the finish, when he was racing in with Cory Wallace. The car was on the wrong side of the road around a bend, and Jason was thrown over the car. He was unable to finish. Cory waited with him, and Ivan Rybarik came around to take second, Cory third. Wolfgang Krenn was 4th, and Ondrej Slezjak 5th. Kate Major won the women’s race.
Jason is out of the race, as he has a fractured collarbone. This is an unfortunate end to such a strong start.
Tomorrow, we race to Irvinebank after a neutral start to Atherton. And again, we head into the hills.