Pre-Race Tune-up

Man I’m tired, not physically but I’m really sleepy. With only one night in the last week or more where we’ve had less 3 or 4 disturbances during the night, I’m starting to fade into the fog of parenthood. The young fella is falling into and out of routines like the apocalypse is upon us, and the dog has decided that 3am and -4 degrees is the best time and place to be let out of the laundry to snap one off (oh I didn’t just make that joke did I). I haven’t quite needed a Grande Triple Shot Caramel Macchiato but I have been getting an extra shot of coffee in the afternoons. But not to worry I’ve still been getting out on the bike and have had some great interval sessions in the past week.

I have that little nervous tickle in my stomach, it sort of comes and goes in waves and sometimes wakes me up at night. There are times in my life when I don’t know why I’m getting it but that’s not the case at the moment. It’s all because this Sunday is RACE DAY! Oh yeah! I’ll be racing my first ever XC MTB race at Stromlo. I know I’ve been in a few other MTB racing events but the difference is this one is only about 1.5hrs long which means I’ll have to be running at close to my maximum threshold in order to get a decent result. The others have required more of a tractor pace to ensure that I make duration. This one will be intense and hard work.

Race Strategy

Last week I was feeling good about my preparation and was keen to enter B grade in order to get a taste of the competition and to see what it takes to get a result in A grade. But after speaking with older, wiser riders it seems that Canberra has some serious depth in the field. The course is about 7km’s long and the category’s available are:

A Grade – 5 laps (35km)
B Grade - 4 laps (28km)
C Grade – 3 laps (21km)
D Grade – 2 laps
Vets & Masters

I fancy myself as being a little older and wiser these days too so I’m going to play it safe and enter C grade. But I’m committing to 4 laps so I can compare times with the B graders to see where I would have ended up.

Race Prep – light ride on the day before, good eatin’ and drinkin’!!!

Race Start – being the popular class they normally get about 40 riders in C grade. So I’m going for the holeshot.  To be first into the first corner will mean that I’m not held up by slower riders and I’ll be able to gauge how fast the pointy end of the field are really going.

Groovy & Smooth – shortly after the start, maybe 10 to 20 minutes into it or near the end of the first lap. I’m going to try and find my pace, settle into a groove, and try and recover a little from the start sprint. I’m going to milk the track for as much free speed as I can and try to hold of faster riders for as long as I can without blowing up.

Last Lap – who knows, I’ll tell you in my next post. But I’ll be putting extra effort into picking good lines and just pushing out every last gram of strength.

Wish me luck.

Until next post.
Race Hard!!!