Having had the 2008 Team Jeep experience at Cumberland,and having ridden some of the track, I was really looking forward to the race. With nearly 1400 entrants on the day, the start was delayed by 15min,as people were still flowing through the gates of the reserve at 08:50
After a really good warm up we took our places on the start line. The vibe was really chilled on the start, and I noticed that we had an international rider on the front row. Adam Craig, the American National champ,had decided to stay after the world cup for a couple of weeks before heading off to Europe to race the World Cup Circuit.
The field was off at 09:15 and for once it was really chilled for the first couple of kilometres. But as soon as we turned off the district road the pace really heated up. Craig Paul ( Team Jeep)came to the front and really layed down the gauntlet. I managed to latch onto Pete Smith also from Team Jeep, but was soon dropped as the pace really became relentless. I pushed really hard to close the gap on the first climb of the day, a 3km gravel road climb which peaked onto a flat district road.
I pushed the pace harder and eventually caught back up to Pete Smith, 200m from the top. We were now sitting in 3rd and 4th overall, with Andrew Hill(Subaru) just ahead of us. The gap eventually closed and Pete and I closed up to Andrew Hill.
Andrew and Pete really began to push the pace and I was forced to drop off. I rode comfortably for 2min or so and suddenly found some legs again, But then came the dreaded sound of air leaking out of rubber. I looked down and discovered I had nailed a thorn through my rear tyre. I stopped to bomb it and luckily it sealed straight away and I was off again. The puncture had cost me some valuable time and I knew I really had to push it to the max in an effort to catch the two other riders to get back into contention and achieving the goal I had set for myself for the day since I had put in a couple of hours training with Craig Paul the day before, so I really needed to ride tactically.
I slowly began to claw back some time on Pete and Andrew, but they were still 2minutes ahead of me according to the spectators that were along the route encouraging us. Adam Craig and Andrew Warr had narrowed the gap and had started closing down on me and they were soon hot on my heals. Adam had also punctured earlier in the race and was riding like a wild man! I tried to jump on his wheel when he passed me but I couldn't hold it for very long and realised very quickly why he is the American National Champ.
Unluckily for me disaster struck again. As I tried to get out of the saddle and push the tempo up a rocky climb about 10 kilo's out, my back wheel slipped on a rock and opened up the seal from the previous puncture. I was really frustrated but I knew I needed to keep my cool and try stay as calm as possible. Unfortunately having had the second puncture where I had, it was the fastest part of the course,which would allow any chasing riders to close the gap in a very short space of time. Suddenly I found my self fighting it out for 7th overall with only 5km to go. David Louw and Luke Roberts were riding well together again.
I opened up the sprint 3 or 4km out with Dave ahead and Luke in very hot pursuit but Unfortunately Luke overcooked it into one corner,going down and I seized the chance to break, but he was soon up and back in the chase.
I still now don't even know how we got through all the slower riders from the 20km route, it was some really dodgy stuff! with David Louw Luke and I charging through the wall of riders constantly shouting for track in an effort not to loose any momentum in getting to the finish.
I finished in 7th place overall overall, but was still the first youth in with Luke in hot pursuit.
Well done to Craig and Pete, who claimed 1st and 4th overall. You guys are machines!!!!
After a hard days racing
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