Cedara Super Classic 30 March 2008

A cold, wet and misty morning greeted us to the Cedara College, for my 2nd Super Classic of the year. On the line a big bunch of Jeep riders sat together, waiting for the race to begin. The lead car pulled of at 8:30 and we followed it through the neutral zone across the grass and down the tar road. After about 1.5km the neutral zone ended, and the racing commenced and the chaps in the front group put down the hammer in an effort to spread out the field and settle down into the race.

The start loop separated the race into bunches, onto the first climb I managed to hook on to Mike Smith’s wheel, we pushed the pace up the climb and into the single track where at the stage we were sitting in about 9th and 10th place overall but about 2km later we managed to catch and pass Daniel Paul and another rider which put us up into 7th and 8th before dropping into the next single track. The support we had from the “Jeep Crew” made up of parents and siblings was tremendous and before we knew it we were closing in on Carl Calvarly and Andrew Hill. At the exit of this section of single track we had closed up and were now riding in a bunch made up by Carl, Andrew, Mike and myself.

Then came the first real long climb and going into the climb I was sitting on the front of the bunch in 5th place and decided that I would need to work with these older and much more experienced riders. By the time we had conquered the hill and had descended back down into the valley I was still sitting in the bunch and we were all doing our bit to keep it together. Pushing the pace, through out the remainder of the race we rode like this, constantly working together.

As we began to approach the finish, with about 4 or 5km to go, the chaps began to attack and although I knew the guys would start putting the hammer down, I was hoping I would be able to hang in with them. The first attack came as Mike Smith sprinted away down the road but I was able to react quickly and I managed to latch on. A couple of hundred meters or so down the road Andrew Hill and Carl Calverly caught up to us again and the bunch continued at a faster pace as the finish got closer.. With about 3km to go I tried a couple of attacks, but only managed to stay away for 30 seconds. My plan at this stage was to avoid a sprint finish with these guys as they are all Under 23 riders and are a lot stronger than me, so I was trying to break a little earlier in an effort to put some clean air between us.
The final stretch to the finish finally loomed and, had Carl put in a long gradual attack which saw the pace gain some serious intensity and as expected it was just too much for me to close again. Mike Smith followed and I tried again to hang in there but was just not able to close that gap.

I eventually managed to sprint into 7th place overall, some eight minutes behind the overall winner but with 32 seconds eventually separating 5th to seventh place and Andrew Hill just 45 seconds behind me.

I must thank Carl, Mike and Andrew for a most awesome racing experience. I learnt so much from these guys during the race. Thanks a million guys.

Well done to the Jowett’s team for an awesome event. A great course with great single track and some muscle burning climbs.

4th XC Provincial-Cascades - 09 March 2008

My 2nd 5 lap provincial, and what a tough course to have it on. The brand new world cup course, scheduled for S.A. champs on the 16th of March, and the same course we hope to have a world cup event at, later on next year.

The course was extremely tough, with the first climb being a very steep on. The race was scheduled to take off at10:30 and it was off on time and it was going to be a tough one with the heat of the day approaching.
I managed to get to the front from the start but lost out badly as I lost my rhythm on the first climb and had to push the remainder of the hill resulting in me dropping down to third place at this early stage. By the time we had reached the second climb I had worked my way up to second place but lost touch with the leader as we ran into some back markers from the previous batch of racers as I got caught behind them in the singe track. When the leader saw his chance he put down the hammer and worked on opening the gap from an early stage.

Lap after lap I tried to close down the gap, but the gap just didn’t seem to close. In fact it grew bigger on the 4th lap, when I came into a single track section extremely fast and was caught out by a slower rider. We connected and I went down very hard, but was able to recover reasonably quickly, but just could not regain my rhythm.
To add injury to insult, I also started cramping in my upper arms, but I still pushed as hard as I could despite this new found and unfamiliar pain.

I managed to pull off a 2nd overall in the batch and a 2nd overall in my age group and I can only hope to have a better race at S.A. champs.

The organization was fantastic, a great course. It is evident that a lot more work has gone into the building of the course than one realizes at first glance. Well done Kim Phillips and his team of helpers.
The organizers deserve all the credit that is due!
A great day of racing and I look forward to the next one next weekend.