National CX - Mud Day 2

Mr Carl

Sunday dawned bright and clear, also notably warmer than Saturday and soon we were on our way to Zombie Park to race in Round 5 of the National Series. Actually, I had been bribed with beer to race with the Elite Women in the national series, whereas Mr Carl, wisely, decided to race in the support events. That meant that Mr Carl would be up first and I would actually get a decent chance to take photos of him!

CX makes you happy

  

I managed to sneak in a practice lap and had sussed out some good photo points. Alarmingly my heart rate seemed unusually high for the mellow pace of my practice lap, and combined with a stuffy nose I had a sneaking suspicion that I was coming down with a cold. Still, nothing a little cycling couldn't fix!

Last ride of the Mountain Bike!

After finishing my practice lap, I grabbed my camera and headed out to the hill, a steep, grassy knoll that we zigzagged across, up and down shortly after the race start. I think I missed the start of C grade and Open, which was a shame as I wanted to capture a picture of Kara, who probably deserved an award for most enthusiastic on the day, racing both C grade and Elites! 

Which way?

However I managed to get pictures of Nutella Bob, on his last CX ride with his mountain bike and Tim Loft, who is usually one of the course photographers. Tim is definitely in the running for honorary Bob membership after he apparently decided to stop after a couple of laps to photograph the race he was in! He also was a very skilled on course heckler, a clear indicator of having fun and not taking anything too seriously!

Right way!

With C grade and open completed it was now time for the packed out B grade race, including Mr Carl! Unfortunately a serious crash marred the start of the race, with PACC club president, Marky G managing to get out of all clean up duties by heading to the hospital. Thankfully, it wasn't quite as serious as well all imagined and he is currently on the mend.

Millo - pain face expert!

All of this was unknown to me as I waited, camera in hand, to capture the grimacing faces of the riders as they passed. First to come round was David Miller, who always has a wonderfully expressive pain face, particularly evident as he slogged up the hill. After a few more riders cam past I caught a glimpse of Mr Carl, still riding strongly in the pack! I think I was so busy cheering I forgot to take a photo!

Dan in the lead!

I captured many riders expressions as they slogged up the hill, and was pleased to see an awesome race unfolding between Carl, Ben (the guy who sold us our mountain bikes) and Dan. 

Pushing hard ...

The three of them were slugging it out and I cheered for all of them! I was so pleased to see Mr Carl in front, especially as he had been feeling a bit off the day before. However, I'll let him finish telling this story as it was time for me to transition from photographer into racer (or bike riding race participant).

... the Catch!

We had some time for a practice lap before the national series events started and I used this time to check how the course had changed. Not much had actually changed (unlike the day before where conditions had become significantly drier as the day went on) so I took it easy and tried to relax. There were about 20 or so girls in our race, with a certain dominance of the black and white of PACC! We may not always be the fastest but we like to have a go!

Chasing hard!

The race started and I took off, actually took off unlike the day before, still at the back but at least I could see people! I was a bit nervous approaching the hill, not wanting to get caught up with a whole bunch of people, which of course is exactly what happened. 

Concentration

The notoriously tough Gemma Kerich decided to investigate the grass at the base of the first descent which meant, due to some bike handling skills I didn't know I possessed, that I managed to pass her! I was in front of Gemma! Ok, it was for all of 10 seconds as she passed me on the uphill section, but it's probably not something I'm ever going to be able to say again!

Glee!

Actually being around other people in a technical section (the hill) kind of threw me, but by the end of the obstacle I was at my accustomed place at the back. This actually didn't worry me, racing with the elites, it was kind of expected! 
 

Effort

I was very impressed with Kara, who, though protesting about her lack of bike fitness and having raced in the morning, proceeded to stay strong and well in front of me the entire race! Possibly all that bush walking she's been doing has made her the super endurance woman!

Caught on camera!

My position at the back of the race was actually temporarily revoked as I passed one of the faster riders who had had an unfortunate encounter with a bee and a pothole. Full credit to her, she passed me about half a lap later, riding strong despite being in serious pain. I also stopped to remove a water bottle off the course, figuring if I'm at the back I might as well make sure everyone has a safe race! One day I'll actually develop a racing instinct, but I'll have to subdue my natural inclination for politeness (thanks Mum)!

This is how I got up the hill too!

Surprisingly, I didn't get lapped until two and a half laps in, which is a lot better than I expected. I had a lot of fun on this course and used the race to practice some of the technical skills I'd been trying to work on. My mantras for the race were "Look up" and "Don't touch the brakes" and I was getting the hang of it towards the end of the race. I even had enough left to have a sprint finish against another PACC rider (who was lapping me). All in all, it was a lot of fun and I was happy to be out racing with my mates. 

In the zone!

The day finished up with a beer with my CX bros as we watched the mens race unfold. I also met the new smudglet, Ruby and it was great to see the Smudge Monkees (who have recently become parents) out enjoying all things bike related!

A big thanks to the Port Adelaide Cycling Club crew who put this weekend together as well as everybody else who made it such an awesome event!

CX Bros and Beer! (photo courtesy of Kelly Robinson)

National CX - Mud Day 1

CX Happy Face

Mud, glorious mud! Mud can turn an already awesome cyclocross race into a grinning like a maniac, having fun like a ten year old kid event! And mud is what Adelaide brought to the National Cyclocross Championships! There was even a bit left over for the Round 5 of the National Cyclocross Race Series the next day! How could we not be grinning like idiots?

Mud!

If you haven't worked it out, last weekend Mr Carl and I decided to attend the awesome CX festival that was the National Cyclocross Championships on the Saturday and Round 5 of the National Cyclocross Race Series of the Sunday. We were racing both days, which is always an interesting proposition, as well as bringing out the cameras to capture people playing in the mud.


 

Clear and Cold

The weather leading up to the event had been wet and cold, Adelaide seems to be enjoying a fairly wet winter and the ground has not had much of a chance to dry out. The day before the race the temperature only reached 12.6°C, with the day of the race reaching a maximum of 14.1°C. To sum up, it was freezing!

PACC Crew Boss

As usual the Port Adelaide Crew had been out early setting up the course. The same couldn't be said for Carl and I, I think the freezing temperatures made getting out of bed difficult and by the time we arrived I barely had time for a warm up lap! Admittedly I think I would have needed many more warm up laps than I could have done in the warm up period to actually get warm, but at least I got a look at the course. As it was I was a bit late to the start line (but not last) to join the Masters 30+ Women, but in the end everybody made it to the start and then we took off. 

Concentration is key

Well at least I tried to, the cold really doesn't agree with me and my legs felt like concrete. Still, I kept making them go round long after the other riders in my group were out of sight. On the plus side, the way this race was structured meant that the 40+ and 50+ riders started in waves about 30 seconds behind the 30+ group, so I had company for a while. 
  

Another cheerful face - Kel! 
(not at the back)

Actually for much of the race, the effervescent Abbey-Leigh was just behind me and the way that the course twisted and turned meant that we were often able to cheer each other on! We're a cheerful mob at the back.

Up Mulch Hill - the hard way!

There were two muddy highlights within the race that kept all of us on our toes, firstly Mulch Hill and secondly the Forest of Doom. I think Mulch Hill was the more difficult of the two, with the approach to the hill consisting of a slushy mud puddle that would be perfect for mud wrestling toddlers. This was followed by a slippery, organic surface that we had to climb somehow. 

The other hard way

On my practice lap I had almost fallen numerous times trying to climb the left hand side so in the race I tried the right hand side and managed to get up, just. The Forest of Doom on the other hand, was more of a deep, loamy mud, the kind that developed it's own sense of direction which usually resulted in me narrowly missing trees!

Forest of DOOM!

Where do I go from here?

Two and a half laps and about 20 minutes into the so called 35 minute race, my legs finally decided that they didn't mind this whole bike riding business so why was I going so slow? I'm actually not kidding, my slowest lap time was my first and my fastest was my last. Anyway, this was kinda convenient as one of the 50+ riders, who is an awesome mountain biker, was closing fast. She managed to pass me, but I held on and passed her back, completing my third lap just in front of the riders coming in to finish. 

Racing in the mud!

Unfortunately, this meant I had to do another lap, which, while it may have been my fastest, wasn't fast enough to hold her off as she passed me once more. I tried to hold on, but my legs had decided they weren't talking to me again, so I was happy just to roll to the finish upright! On the plus side, I hadn't been lapped!

Smile - it's over!

Mr Carl's race started shortly after they got the last rider (me) of the course, but I had enough time to ride to the start line and wish him well. Then it was off to grab the camera! I still haven't worked out if it's more fun to be suffering in the race or taking photos of people suffering, either way it wasn't a bad way to spend the afternoon. 
 

Playing in the mud!

I got a few good shots of people, cheered my friends on, and generally enjoyed the carnival like atmosphere of the day. As the sun fell lower in the sky and it started to get colder, the final race came to a close and Carl and I headed out to help the crew bring the course in. After everything was neat and tidy (well as good as we could get it) we headed home for some serious bike cleaning and a shower!

Just a little bit of cleaning, right?

Hello Stem, how you doing?

One thing I did notice, after getting home and looking at the photos, was that a lot of people were looking pretty much at their bike stems (me included) when they were riding. I had been practising trying to look where I was going in recent mountain biking adventures and realised that I ought to be doing the same for CX. This was doubly confirmed in conversation with some of the more skilled (Aimee) CX women, who told me the same thing. This sounded like a goal for the next day! 

I've added a few extra photos from the day, enjoy!