“I’ll be right, I haven’t ridden for about 3 weeks but I can smash out 6 hours of riding no probs!” – WRONG!
After getting up way too early for a Sunday morning I packed the remainder of what I thought I might need for the race then hit the road. I was surprised at how little time it took on the Eastlink freeway and got to the race in less time than expected. I bumped into Rik and Anna from ORCA while I was at registration and decided to set up camp with them at about the halfway point.
This was the first time I had ridden at Upper Beaconsfield and I was fairly impressed by the course and how technical it was in sections. The track terrain was varied due to the fact that it dipped in and out of gully’s then up to the tops of the surrounding hills. One moment you were in a rain forest style gully with moss on every rock, ferns, soft soil under your wheels and small creeks trickling quietly underneath the log bridges, then once you climbed out you were faced with sand, granite boulders of various shapes and sizes which were pretty tricky to negotiate if you didn’t have your eye in (I left my eye at home). Some sections of the course looked as though it had only recently been cut in but whoever is building the trails out there is doing an awesome job!
I wouldn’t say the course was too hard but the lack of training leading up to this race made it hard enough for me. I started to feel the all too familiar aches in the lower back and knee and I just didn’t feel like pushing through the pain barrier today. When I got back to camp after a lap and a half I stopped, thought about continuing for a split second then thought better of it. I had a rest and some food then grabbed my camera bag and went for a leisurely ride.
The weather was overcast today making capturing the action a bit harder. I also used my wireless flash trigger for the first time with limited success. You can see a few of the images I managed to snap HERE
I didn’t end up staying for the whole day but congrats to all those who slogged it out and managed to finish and thanks to Anna and Rik for support! Big-ups to the Dirt Riders club for putting on a well run event in a great location – Awesome course!
Shane Ford 