So my first proper Mtb race on a proper racing bike... Wow was it fun. Off the start i was a little slow, starting in A batch of the 40 km, without a warm-up and racing against the likes of James Reid and Brendon Davids. Brendon and Ryan Ellis attacked from the word go so i was dropped, but luckily, I wasn't the only one.
As the race progressed i found my legs and really started to give it horns, pushing hard up the hills and flying through the single track, having a few close encounters involving myself and the maze of trees guiding the single track. Unfortunately about 25km in a noticed i had a slow puncture. I jumped off the bike and bombed it, so that it was hard for the next 10km but i would have to stop and do it again.
I had a little dice with some of the other riders from my starting batch. I would stop, bomb the back tire, catch up and pass and then stop and bomb the wheel again. This cat and mouse game continued until the last water table where Grant Dinkel and his Adrenaline Team filled my bottles while i bombed my tire for the last time. Grant told me only 10km to go and i remember that Brendon told me that the last 10km is practically all single track. I'm not the best at single track, coming from road cycling but i can almost do everything with a certain amount of skill, I just lack a little speed.
I raced through the single track, winding through the trees. I pushed myself a little to hard, causing my left bar end to clip a tree, sending me into the ground with quiet a bit off speed. I got up, dusted myself off and continued, at the same dangerous speed as before, not giving up.
I pushed on hard to the finish. I knew i hadn't won or anything, but personally for me, i did great! Coming from road cycling and enjoying and personally performing so well in my first proper mountain bike race, is mind blowing.The new bicycle that we got through one of Johann's contacts was a great buy and handled like a dream.
All and all once i had cleaned up and chatted with other riders about their race, i think it was a huge success! Great route, good ride and awesome company made it worth it. Mountain biking is definitely the way forward for me.
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