Only Cam, Ross, Mel and Will made the trip to Mt Beauty for
round 2 of the Victorian 6 hour series. Quigley was instead clocking up 100 miles
at the Golden Triangle Epic in Bendigo (he came 2nd), Ben was racing Downhill in
Myrtleford (2nd in vets) Aleisha was at a wedding and Jade was spending her
time recovering from shin splints by going shopping for runner’s and wetsuits.
Going to Mt Beauty would also give us a chance to catch up
with teammate and former XC hardman turned All Mountain destroyer Matt Zagorski
(Zigga). For those not in the know Zigga is the home town hero of Mt Beauty,
sure you have the Van de Ploegs but they are only there for Summer whereas
Zigga is there day in day out ripping up trails and setting hearts alight. Rumour
had it that Zigga would be DJ’ing the after party.
The drive to Mt Beauty was long and only broken up with Cam
mooning Ross & Mel then Cam & Ross once again proving they don’t care
what shit they put in their bodies by eating McDonalds.
Friday afternoon was the eliminator race, everyone was
racing except Will who is still haunted by memories of breaking his arm at
Lysterfield the day before a race. Will spent most of the afternoon telling
anyone who would listen that he was here for the big show the next day in order
to make himself feel better.
Mel, Cam and Ross smashed their way through the qualifying
rounds to make the finals. Mel easily took home the win in the women’s whilst smiling
the whole time. The men’s final was a little different, Cam got the holeshot
but then had Jack Lambshed overtake him with a dodgy passing move in the first
corner. Cam decided to live up to the reputation of his hippy beard and simply
let Jack past him. He would later keep Will up all night talking about what
could have been. Coming into the last corner Ross was in 3rd with 4th
right on his tail. Figuring that team iRide Rocky Mountain was owed some karma
Ross intentionally stalled in the last corner causing 4th place to
stop allowing him to take him 3rd while Cam got 2nd.
The 6 hour the next day was a little different, the course
had a lot of climbing, it was pretty much straight up then straight down. The
ground was rough and hard, legs and arms were going to be copping a beating
today. The course was genuinely hard.
On lap 1 Will was questioning what Zigga was smoking when he
told him to bring his hardtail by lap 3 he was trying to find a mirror so he
could take a good hard look at himself by lap 4 he was ready to pull the pin
but a few words from Ross got him back on track. At the 3 hour 30 mark Will’s
legs turned up and he picked up the pace. In the end he finished in 4th,
3 minutes off 3rd. Cam was a
little further back in 7th.
Ross & Mel battled all day in mixed pairs with the
Fitzroy revolution teams. A puncture in the last hour of the race meant Ross
had to look deep inside for his inner hardman and do a double lap to which Mel
then brought the team home to first place.
Thanks to Rocky Mountain bikes which performed flawlessly
all weekend. Both Ross & Mel rode their Element 999’s and were able to
destroy the descents all weekend yet weren’t paying a weight penalty on the
climbs. Will & Cam rode their Vertex hardtails and due to the complaint
nature of the frame had few complaints at the finish. The lightweight vertex
frames certainly made the climbs easier. As always Schwable Racing Ralphs were the tyre
of choice for their ample grip yet little rolling resistance. Will has been running a set of Racing Ralph
Snakeskins recently and is pretty stoked with the tires strong sidewall’s yet
light weight.
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| A Fitzroy Revolution Sandwhich with the best kind of filling. |
