The female start list heralded a strong women’s field with a rematch between 2012 winner Jenny Fay and her nemesis Peta Mullens the main attraction. Lurking in the shadows we have Rowena Fry, Tory Thomas and Melissa Ansett, all three strong technical riders and well suited to the Wombat 100 course. What was not anticipated was the strong rate of attrition amongst the women on this particular day.
My race was brief with the early morning Victorian fog reeking havoc on my prescription lenses, I was a liability to myself and any rider that dare sit behind me. I checked out following the first feed and found the widest, most open and most direct fire trail back to Cammeray Waters. Apologies to any rider stuck behind me as I zimmer-framed through the amazing Woodend single trails. Aborting the race did place me in the perfect position to follow the second half of the women’s race as they battled for podium positions.
Peta Mullens – surprised to win the Wombat 100?
Jenny Fay was the next victim, falling prey to a disrespectful cleat at around the 45km mark. Rumor has it, Fay was sporting new cleats and pedals for the event and part of one cleat ‘broke’ off. I am not exactly sure of the details but I did hijack a Twitter photo that seems more apt at explaining the problem. Needless to say at the time Fay was well on her way to defend her title as the Wombat 100 Queen. The moral to the story is never to break in new gear at a thousand dollar event! I am sure it will not happen again.
I didn’t catch up with Rowena Fry until post race, expecting her to be lighting up the finish chute, I went hunting when she was nowhere to be seen. Rowena is a very strong technical rider and she journeyed across the Tasman to experience the Woodend trails, of which she had heard so much. Sadly, one flat tyre followed shortly by a second flat tyre curtailed her rip through single-track wonderland. A 15-minute trackside sit down, pleading passing riders for a 29er tube, finished her race. That’s racing! No doubt she will be commiserating with fiancé Ben Mather en route back to Tasmania as he too succumbed to misadventure during the race and completed only 50km of the course. Unlike Rowena it was his body that let him down, gastrointestinal tract to be more precise, no further details necessary.
Rowena Fry – a double flat slowed her progress at the Wombat 100.
With filly numbers dwindling we saw a battle brewing between Peta Mullens and Tory Thomas, teammates on the Target-Trek team. Peta is an amazing all rounder, winning the XCO Nationals at Stromlo in February before jetting off to South Africa to race the infamous ABSA Cape Epic on a mixed team with the love of her life Jarrod Moroni. No only did they survive the race a couple but they tore the legs of the other mixed teams finishing second in the mixed category and top 50 on GC. For anyone who has not raced the ACE it is a teams event that really tests the ‘friendship’ between team mates and has been known to make or break relationships. Less than a month back from ACE one would expect some element of fatigue but today Peta dominated the Wombat 100 finishing in a time some 10-15 minutes faster than Fays time in 2012.
Tory Thomas finished second, and has recently joined the Target Trek MTB Team
Tory Thomas finished strongly in second with Melissa Ansett in third. I am not sure where Tory has been hiding but her secret training regimen is definitely working. I noticed her for the first time in a few years alighting the podium at the XCO National rounds and then again she popped up last month at Oceanias in Tasmania. I spoke briefly with her husband, Tim, following the children’s race where their son had just displayed a very familiar competitive trait. Word is that Tory was not really planning on racing but their son is so keen to do the kids event that she daren’t not come. I am thinking we may be seeing Tory a bit more in the future, especially in events that have a kids department. Great riding today Tory and congratulations on becoming a member of the Target-Trek team.
So that was the womens race at the 2013 Wombat 100, now’s looking to Atherton Sunday and the Australian XCM national championships. I believe there will be a strong and relentless rematch between Fay and Mullens but being a climbing race Fay might just have the advantage. I will be heading up the Masters womens category with Subaru-MarathonMTB.com team mates Nienka Oostra (recently turned pro XTERRA), Roeland Suys (the Belgium import), Graham Arnott (reliable/team dad) and Mike Blewitt (boss) taking on the elite.