27.02.07 - Muddy Mt Beauty:
Mt Beauty's always one of the favourite venues and tracks for all the downhillers and cross country riders. After a few hours in the car we arrived at a wet town, cursing that we didn't bring mud tyres. The sky was black and the wind was roaring. With the dark soil on the track's hill, it's normally pretty greasy with even a little rain.
With XC, DH, 4X and Trials all on the same weekend in such a small town, the vibe in Mt Beauty was cool. It was nice just hanging out and relaxing - no computer, no work, no stress... other than the race stuff of course. Being the last round of the MTBA National Series, and a few of us really close in the series standings, this race was critical. Just a few points seperated Sid T, Aiden L and I. And an old dog by the name of Paul Rowney would be sticking his mug in there to make it interesting.
The rain had stopped, but only just in time for the Men's race. The track from the worst it could be - muddy as hell, but with no rain to wash it off. The result being 30 kilo bikes and slipping drivetrains. But it was the same for all.
Everyone was fired up from the gun. I led it up the first climb, with Sid shadowing me. Rowney wasn't far behind. By the top it was the three of us together, with Sid leading the downhill run. With some skimpy tyres on he was all over the shop, with Rowney and I itching to get by. He 'blocked' us all the way down though, and we hit the second lap caked in mud. The track was already drying up at this stage, which meant clagier and slower mud. It was tough going, but I felt good. By the top of the second lap Sid was a few bike lengths ahead of me, with Rowney just behind me. Just before the downhill Rowney went past me and just after that I slipped off the edgy of the track while trying to sqeeze in a drink (dumb). I fell on the drive side and my rear mech and hanger took all the brunt, bending into my wheel and getting tangled in my spokes. When I looked at it I was sure it was all over. The angle of the derailleur was a joke. But I played around with it and managed to get it out. Then I bent it all out as much as I could and rolled along. It worked! I was thanking Shimano all the way down the singletrack. It was so muddy that our gears weren't working anway, so it wasn't that big a deal.
But I'd lost a couple of minutes to Paul and Sid already. Now was was worried about being caught by 4th. So I slipped around for the rest of the laps, keeping it steady and gentle on my gears, and tried to finish it off. Making time on Paul each lap I got within a minute of him, but it wasn't enough. I was happy with a podium, as it meant I wrapped up 2nd in the series. Sid 1st and Aiden (who had a bad day today) was 3rd, only 3 points behind me.
Results and photos on www.nationalseries.com.au and www.cyclingnews.com