Tumut 3hr Enduro - 1st May 2011

By pure coincidence, the birth of my MTB racing year has begun at the same place that I was born into this world. Tumut, NSW, is a sleepy little town in the hills of about 6000 people. Our family spent some years there while my Dad spent most of his time setting charges to blow cliff faces out, building new fire trails, fighting fires and generally looking after the local forestry areas. Tumut also has a large sawmilling and logging industry that keep the town running but the Tumut shire is probably best known for its apple orchards as Batlow is only a few minutes up the road.

The day began as most day trips do, up nice and early and on the road by about 6:30am. My cousin Dan and good friend Josh were in good form and with a quick rendezvous at Yass Maccas we were back on the road a and heading for the hills.

The Race

I was surprised at first at how early everyone gears up for the race. I mean we drove in with nearly two hours to spare and there were already keenos in full lycra chomping at the bit to get it underway.  I think for me I’d waste more energy on nerves if I was in my race getup for any longer than required. Registration was smooth sailing, I zip tied on my number plate and instantly transformed my steed from a practice bike to a full race machine.

I reckon a packed start line is as good for people watching as an international airport. Watching people handle the excitement and nerves is always interesting. Caught one guy checking out my gloves and realized he was wearing exactly the same, instant brothers of the dirt! My cousin and I are chatting, making observations and joking around but generally in denial about the pain that was about to unfold.

I think in terms of pace I executed the race poorly, I spent way too much time above 175bpm in the first two laps. It must be a good thing to get as many places as possible while everyone is bunched up but I think it probably cost me a lap and possibly a top 15 finish in the end. At the end of the day I was more than happy with my first solo 3hr, I gave it my all, handled the trails pretty well and generally had a great time. Success.

The track was tough, started with some solid climbing, had a nice downhill section at the half way point, a long undulating climb and ended with some great single trails and fast decent’s down to the start/finish. The track had an awesome big ring sprint, rutted out 4x4 trail just after the start finish that had multiple lines to choose from with multiple opps to put on a little style. Oh yeah the view from the skyline trail made the climbing worthwhile, well at least for the first few laps.

I finished 19th out of 53 riders.

113 David Roberts 6 laps 02:52:24
1 00:24:37 00:24:37
2 00:26:09 00:50:46
3 00:26:36 01:17:22
4 00:27:55 01:45:17
5 00:36:34 02:21:51
6 00:30:33 02:52:24

The Body

Considering I spent the day before building a deck, my lower back held up quite well as the track was fairly smooth. Upper body got a good work out because there was a lot of fast single trail that meant you were standing up for long periods. I spent the last two laps riding the cramps in my legs so I’ve still got a long way to go with my training.

The Bike - Scott Scale 30

Bike went well on most of the course. CrossMark tyres were solid performers. There were some steep rocky climbs where a 29er would have been good but I challenge anyone on 29er to smash the downhill like I was doing on my stiff, agile and trusty 26er. Obviously the debate continues for me.

Broken Bits
- Rear cluster worked loose
- Fork lock out doesn’t work anymore
- Fork small bump action has gone
- Front derailleur cable needs replacing

I’ll try and post once or twice a week.
So until next post.

Keep ridin!!!