What I wouldn’t give to be this driver:

Check out this ‘chestburner’ (remember the Alien movies?) costume by this Tom dude, posted on plastimake.com

So it’s all home-made from plastic. Judging by some of their examples, this cheap, easy to use stuff is very cool. The sky’s the limit it seems. Wood is so 17th century!

Round 1 of the Real Insurance XCM Series for 2012 is done. Slightly muddy conditions after some overnight rain made the fun, fast Woodend track a good one. I was hoping for less climbing at the Wombat 100, since it seemed like the last 6 weeks of my training had been lake loops in Canberra totalling about 30 vertical metres each day. But in the end there were plenty of tough climbs.

I felt the pain come on after only a few minutes, showing my lack of form, but I pushed through it for over 4 hours to hold onto (and sometimes push) the lead group. Not knowing the track mainly cost me in terms of fuelling up. I didn’t know when single track sections were coming and kept missing the boat and only had a couple of gels in the first 2 hours, which cost me severely later on. Luckily there was a bit of let-up in the middle of the race and I could refuel.

For the whole race it was Jackson driving the pace on his home course, with Lewis and I watching him closely, not letting him get away. I was merely trying to be efficient and saving myself for the second half. But I could feel I had limited power anyway. The single tracks were where I felt I was making most ground (or energy savings). Lewis and I tried to get away from Jackson at feed zone 4, but to no avail. So we all swapped off together, working well to hold our lead.

I got the sense that Jackson and Lewis had more kick and drive than I did, but I was happy to be in amongst it and in with a chance for the win if I could hold on until the end. Traffic cost me a lot, including 3 falls from being knocked off by other riders. One of those was with 3km to go, resulting in the other two getting away from me while I pulled myself out of a bog hole with an injured wrist. But, as I grovelled to the finish line I had the feeling I would’ve been 3rd place anyway, just closer than I was in the end. And my team mate Lewis winning it made it all good.

Hopefully my fitness and form pick up in the coming days rather than dropping. Capital Punishment and the Convict 100 will definitely be tough. And mental toughness alone won’t win them.

I should mention how good this event was. Max Adventure put on a great show and it seems the guys at Cycle Nation (with support from Real Insurance) have stepped it up a couple of notches in event management, when they were already a league above other events in Aus.

Some photos from the day from cyclenation.com.au

I wish I had more Endura gels early on.

Catching up with Redenbach, who I raced Junior Worlds with back in the day.

Struggling to find my bottle at feed #1. It cost me valuable time and energy.

After not fuelling myself enough in the first half, I was pretty depleted afterwards.

I was knocked off into the mud three times.

Contemplating what I did wrong...

The three of us 'bonded' in the mud for about 4.25hrs

Rockstar featured heavily on the podium. Faye winning the women's race convincingly.

Getting ready for champers.

Against usual customs, I didn't spray the winner, since I had to drive home with him. The smell of champagne isn't that good.

This dog, who was hanging out at the race site, is a dude.

The organisers had a great setup for those who love camping out.

Lewie’s back on form and drove it all day to take the win at the Wombat 100 in Woodend, Vic. More photos and words to come, but check out Cycle Nation for their report on a great event held for the first round of the Real Insurance XCM Series.

Bright and shiny.

The new Pork Barrel track at Stromlo has been redone. And it’s no longer rocky or techo. It’s now fast and fun, with lumps and jumps to link up and clear. I got to check it out 7 times at the Rocky Trail MTB / Shimano Grand Prix race #1.

After weeks of struggling with health, plus horrible weather dampening things, I was amped to get out at Stromlo on a sunny day and get the legs and lugs pumping. Although I started off easy (through fear of bad form and ‘staleness’) it was great to be carving it up again and just being out there racing against some fast guys on a fun track.

It was a bit of a Rockstar show, with Flemmo leading it out until I took the lead from him on the second last lap, with Lewis third after a big training week.

Although it’s too late to pick up fitness now, it’s great to feel healthy and the Rocky Trail race really helped kick things along. The cobwebs are blown out and I got to test out a few bike position changes. Bring on the Wombat!

Check out some race footage from the 4hr on Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/40641694

Having lost track of which day it was, I forgot the CORC/OnyaBike dirt crits were on at Stromlo yesterday. Having done a hard ride around the newly fixed-up Stromlo trails, I finished down the usual tracks, only to see a bunch of riders congregating around a BBQ. Apart from the smell of meat luring me in, I was convinced to race. It was the last one of the year after all, and I’ve missed too many. I did regret after 100m though, when I realised I had no fuel in me, not having eating since breakfast. So I raced in a dizzy and weak state for 5 laps of the old school course, just holding off the even improving Downing and Morton. And Ben Corey decided to give it a miss, displaying his prowess on the hotplate instead.

It was a bit of a blur, but I remember it being fun. I’m keen to do more next season.

Some shots from the race on a nice evening by Russ Baker:

So Japanese CAN dance! The legend of Noguchi continues in Canberra, with a brief stopover to show us his latest moves.

Balloon Aloft were kind enough to take us out during the Canberra Balloon Festival, with gun pilot Dave Roberts at the helm, nailing the landing after a silky smooth ride the whole way. This was a great experience at the best way to see Canberra, seeing things you can’t see from the ground. Finishing off with champaign and a hot brekky was a bonus. I’ll go again for sure.