Subaru National Series Round 3: Eliminating Echuca

I found out at the final round of the MTBA National Series, the admittance of defeat may lead to the discovery of success.

 The Defeat

The final National Series round for 2014 had crept up on us like a Bugatti doing 250km/h. It seemed like it was only yesterday we were lining up on the start line in sunny Adelaide. For the final round, we were lining up on the start line, still bathed in sunlight, but this time in the riverside town of Moama, on the shores of the Murray River. Echuca/Moama is a very popular destination for boat people and fishing folk. But not very well known for mountain biking. Probably because it lacks any sort of hill let alone mountains! But Australia isn’t exactly a place you travel to, to find an abundance of fresh mountain air. So like many other Australian towns, the Echuca peoples made do with what elevation they had to create a flowing track up and down the banks of the Murray River.

Oozing with confidence may be a slight exaggeration towards my feelings about this race. After two bad races, I was just hoping for a good race to do my best at. As with any XC race, the start was frantic and very important, with riders hustling each other to gain positions leading into the first single track. The start was vital, as the speeds were so high on the course, passing and closing gaps was very difficult. Not that they are usually a walk in the park! I had a reasonable start and spent the first lap trying to ride smooth and fast. A few gaps had already formed from riders leaving gaps, and were proving difficult to close. Most of the second lap went much the same way. That is until disaster struck and a stick got caught in my chain and lifted it off the chainring. As I’m running a one by ten system, I had nothing to save the chain with, and it fell in a small gap between my frame and crank arms. This has happened in training once before and took me a while to fix! But eventually, along with most of the paint from my bottom bracket area, the chain was free, and I was rolling once again.

By this stage most of the field had past me and I was just off the back of the final group. Then just after the start of the 3rd lap, disaster struck again; to release my chain on the previous lap I had disengaged the clutch system on my XTR derailleur, but had failed to re-engage it when I got going. As I got out of the seat to climb up a small rise, the chain bounced over my foot and wrapped itself around my crank arm. It wasn’t a hard fix, and after untangling myself and re-engaging the clutch, I was back up and going but this time I couldn’t even see the last group. But I kept pushing on for the rest of the third lap. I could see the last group ahead of me and was closing the gap, albeit very slowly. On the 4th lap, I thought to myself that even if I continued at this pace I might only catch up a few places, but would use a lot of energy doing so. Then I thought about the national champs in a few weeks and thought doing the rest of the race would be good for race fitness

But then I thought about the Eliminator race the next day. With it’s all-important UCI points and the podium for the series overall up for grabs.

I knew if I pulled out now that I would be a lot fresher come tomorrow and hopefully feeling better. So I admitted defeat for the day, and looked ahead to the prospect of success. It wasn’t the easiest decision of my life, as it was my first race I would pull out of, and hopefully the last!

The Success

I knew I was fresher than my competitors coming into Sunday’s eliminator races, but as is the case with most XCE races, victory isn’t certain until you cross the finish line. The course was fairly straightforward. With a sharp climb to get things underway, it was onto a mix of high-speed single track and dirt roads. It was all over and done with in about 1:30 min. This meant a good start was vital. As the speeds for the rest of the track were high, passing would most likely be a result of those in front making a mistake. As with other rounds, a seeding run took place to work out the heats. My lap was smooth and good enough to put me in equal 3rd with Ben Forbes. My first couple of heats went well with me taking the lead early and holding the position with not too much effort. In the next heat, Giant rider Nick Morgan, got the jump on me and was first over the rise. The first corner was wide and provided those behind with a good opportunity to move up a position if they could get in on the inside. Third position tried a move on me, but I closed the door in time and held 2nd through to the finish. I’m a bit confused about which heat was which but I do know Nick got ahead of me on another round and I had to again defend into the first corner. That must have been the semi-finals, because the next thing I knew we were lining up for the finals! I wasn’t really thinking of it as a final though; I just tried to focus on racing another race. I was up against the fastest qualifier Cam Ivory, Nick Morgan and Ben Forbes.

Nick and I both got the jump of the start line, with Cam missing his pedal and I think Ben might have slipped on the loose gravel, but I’m not sure. Nick took the lead over the rise, with me in 2nd. My eyes were on the inside of the first corner thinking either Ben or Cam was going to try to make a move up the inside. The move came from Cam but it was on the outside! He powered around me and I was relegated to 3rd. There was a left and a right coming up that I knew a pass could be made but it would be tough to stick. To make it work I needed to go outside to inside. On the first corner, when I went off the racing line to get on the outside, my tyres let go on the loose gravel and I had to unclip. I still held my position and I knew the only way to move up would be if those in front made a mistake. Coming into the final corner Cam tried an inside move on Nick. He couldn’t make it stick but I thought for a second that I might be able to move up. But Cam re-gathered quickly and went after first. As I started the second last sprint, I unclipped my left foot, and then got it back in just for it to come back out again! Luckily the track was relatively narrow and I could hold off Ben. Coming into the final sprint, Cam managed to get around Nick to take the win and I managed to just hold off Ben for 3rd. Surprisingly this wasn’t the only 3rd I’d get today as I also got 3rd Elite for the series! It almost made up for Saturday’s disappointing XCO.

With the series over and done with for this year, it is onto the National Champs in Bright. It should be exciting racing in all the categories. A week later it will be over to New Zealand to race Oceanias!