The first of the 4 race Enduro series run by Full Gas Promotions at Lysterfield was held on Sunday. In the lead up to the race, the long range forecast got worse each day. The day before predicted strong winds (including BOM wind warnings), rain showers and possible hail and thunder. This was going to be interesting, especially 8 hours solo.
On the Thursday prior, Jo, Ian, Tim and I did a lap of the course. It was a pretty good layout, using most of the main trails but in the reverse direction, and linked up with some fire trail sections so you can eat and drink.
Sunday morning was cold, windy and cloudy, but it was dry. We just got into the car park 1 hour before the start which showed it was a great turnout, even though the forecast was bleak. I hadn't done a lot of k's in the lead up due to the BMC last sunday, I think it was 2 MTB rides and a 50k roll on the saturday, but I was hoping, good knowledge of the trails and some form? from the BMC would help me get through. For this enduro, I had all the drink and food ready to roll, so I was better prepared than at Mt Beauty.
The start was a mass start, with a prologue lap before hitting the main course. I went hard early to keep ahead of the slower riders, and because of that, found lap 1 to be quite clear of riders. The guns were up the front, out of the way, and I had a nice comfortable spot probably about 10-20 back. I probably kept the initial speed a bit too high considering I had a long day ahead, but I also wanted to stay ahead of any riders whether they were solo or not!
Lap 2 saw a couple of fresh riders from the teams categories charge past, but that was cool, I tried to settle into a tempo, and to keep improving on the lines I was taking to be as smooth as possible. Towards the end of each lap, the course loops right back on itself and you can see the riders behind. I noticed one was a solo rider. He became my challenge. I knew I wasn't going to catch the gun solo guys up front, however many there were, but I was going to keep this guy at bay. Lap 3 was similar, with the solo guy still not far behind.
At the start of lap 4, down the first descent, someone came flying up behind me. At this point there is a tree in the middle of the trail with a tack either side. Stupidly, because of the pressure from behind, I took the dodgy, rooty trail to the left and tried to bunny hop the roots, I thought the other guy could go right. I ended up landing the rear wheel on a root and instantly felt the tyre deflate, with rim running on the ground. So while changing the tube, I kept looking up at the numbers riding past to see how many places I was going backwards. There was plenty of team riders going past, then the solo guy went past who I had been keeping an eye on. Damn. But by the time I was up and running again, he was the only solo rider to pass me, so it wasn't too bad really.
I took most of the lap pretty cautiously, as the mini pump did the job, but it still felt a bit soft in the rear. In the pits I put the proper pressure in with the track pump. At this pause I noticed the wind seemed stronger. Ian was out on his first lap, and Jo was getting ready for her first lap. I took the opportunity to grab a sandwich, then started lap 5.
The rain started falling at this point so things started getting a bit sketchy, when I came past our pits, Ian was there trying to hold together the crumpled marquee. I found out later Jo and the marquee were nearly blown away by some big gusts and Jo had other people grab her so she didn't fly off! The marquee was bent in a useless shape and was no good. Ian said to keep going, not much could have been done about it now. So lap 6 started.
Some trails had mini streams flowing down the middle of them now, the flat corners were very slippery, and the speed had to be knocked back a few k's to get through unscathed. I was wet through and was wavering in my resolve to continue, but approaching the end of the lap, the rain had stopped (the wind was still crazy strong though) and I was ready to keep on going. I stopped at the pits to check on the shelter and Ian and Jo. They said the organisers have called the race complete at 5 hours, so I rolled down to transition to complete my lap.
The reason given to call the race was to look after the trails and for safety with the wind. Running an enduro on wet trails soon destroys them, and for the future of the series at Lysterfield, it was probably a wise decision to do that. Reports of some fallen limbs, also would have swayed their decision.
I had no idea where I was placed on the day, but after we packed up, we went to the presentations and I was surprised to find I was 3rd in the Male Solo category! Cool. I scored some new tyres ($180), some museli and a medallion.
Jo, Ian and Tim's team came 10th. Tim had to leave early, so he did the first 3 laps before Ian and Jo took over for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, because of the shortened race, they only got to do 1 lap each. The good thing about Ian and Jo's lap was that even though they rode in the worst of the conditions, they want to come back for more!
2009 Chase the Sun Series Results
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