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| 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!
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| 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!
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| 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!
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| 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!
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| 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.
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| 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!
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| 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.
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| 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).
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| ... 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!
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| 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.
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| 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!
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| 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!
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| 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!
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| 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)!
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| 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.
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| 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!
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