Training Log Archive: MTBjen

Today it all came together- I feel like i'm ready now to start the WOC. Apart from a 1-2min wobble on the first control and a backtrack near the end to correct a near mispunch, had a smooth ride and even pushed hard for most of it. Great fun, and my best result of the week! Thor and Mel rode well too, except Mel mispunched so we didn't finish, but would have come in 9th if we had. Excellent end to the week, i'm all keen for next year now.

C • Great stuff 1

Much better ride today- apart from 3x3min errors (one was a poor route choice and 2 were unwisely executed cuts) had a smooth race. Didn't ride all that fast but tried to ride solidly. Only place i got really confused was on the last control, which was in the same place as the one in the qualification race!

Low stress race today (except for extreme self-imposed pressure) so i rode at 80% pace (just above happy speed) and tried to navigate smoothly. Wasn't superfast and i made a few overshoots and suboptimal route choices but in general had a good ride. Feeling much more positive about the final on friday now! Nice to have a couple of beers tonight and a rest day tomorrow- the racing isn't physically that tiring but the stress is exhausting after a while!
Also the bike fixing guys from Olsh spent all afternoon on my bike- i pointed at my rear derailleur (because i was almost a single-speed today, but they dismantled my back wheel, derailleur, cassette, brakes, and anything else they could find. Cleaned and greased it all, replaced the bearings and cables, fixed the gears, fixed a broken spoke which i didn't even know about. all for free! Because i rode for team Olsh in the XC race last week. Turns out the new cassette was put on wrong, and the rear hub was stuffed. Something the stupid shop in perth could have worked out if they had tried.

C • Pro team now eh? 8

Another awful, awful race. Rode the 1st two controls well, slower on the third, then made a 15min error on the 4th. Got all stressed thinking, oh no, i'm doing well, any minute now i will mess it up, and then i did. Got properly lost and wandered around for far too long. Once i worked it out, my race was obviously over and i had a reasonably fast, smooth ride for the rest of it. So, so annoyed. Had a cry afterwards and then talked to john who against all the odds made me feel better! Who'd have thought it.
Mel had a fantastic race, and AJ won his, so we had a great celebration later on. It is so frustrating to know that i can do so much better if i could only pull it together. Such a stupid sport!

C • World Class 3

Event: MTBO WOC 2008
 

Great ride except for a 4min error on one control, due to trying to navigate from 6-7 when i was actually at 4. Stupid, stupid, stupid. But good to get the first race jitters out of the way.
The opening ceremony was good fun, and so cheesy. Lots of weird polish frog dancing and some judo people smashing bricks.
The map was excellent, it was at Olstyn University- tricky urban map with a lump of forest in the middle. Start, finish and map change in the middle were all in a stadium. Good fun.