LIMBC Stage 2 - 4.7km/lap XCO

After my recce ride earlier in the week of this XCO course I knew today was going to be tough.

The 4.7km course which Elite Men had to ride 6 times was actually similar in some ways to riding at Mount Beauty in that it was a long climb followed by a long techy descent then repeat. In most other ways it couldn't have been more different.

The 160 or so blokes in the Elite Men category (notice how I didn't actually call us Elite Men!) started on a tarmac descent down which we hurtled at 45km/h only to get straight on the anchors and get our shifter fingers busy for a slimy, muddy, steep, rooty and rocky climb. I reckon this was walked by all but probably the first 10 riders to hit it. It was a shambolic mountain biker stampede. At one point I actually did lose my footing and go ass over!

Once we got a chance to get back on our bikes the climb had backed off from what felt like 45% to a more sedate 25% (possibly exaggerating) and I could keep some traction. We kept climbing for another couple of k's or so with one or two short descents for some minor relief. Once summited we dropped into the terraced rubber plantation downhill. More greasy terrain with a thick rubber tree canopy and sneaky slippery roots to catch you the second you dropped your guard.

If you made it down this descent alive you got shot onto a high pace fire road descent which, if you were brave enough, was a brakes-off roller coaster of speed. Then through a little more undulating rubber plantation and back onto the tarmac for the rise to the finish line to start all over again.

All in all, great fun. I loved the technical nature of the course and it certainly sorted some riders out. I was really disappointed with myself for not being able to ride the climb, I walked part of it every time. I could have easily made a couple of minutes by riding instead of walking here.

And those couple of minutes might have been all I needed to avoid being pulled on my last lap. I even pleaded with the UCI comissaire to let me go out for my last but of course he was having none of it. I really wanted to get all 6 laps in. Sure, I can say that the field was excellent and the course tough but the fact of the matter is that I just wasn't good enough.

The next stage which was originally a 6hr Enduro has been dramatically changed to another XCO which means I either have a chance at retribution.

Wish me luck.

Once again, Garmin data HERE

Results for yesterday are HERE

No GC results yet.

In our start pens, me and another Rocky Mountain rider (nice Vertex 90!)

The business end of the field on the start line. You'll notice Paul VDP and Lachy N up there.

Sweaty much? Mixed emotions immediately after being pulled from the race.

Livin' Large in Langkawi

I like Langkawi.

I like it when my flights are all on time.

I like it when the in-flight movies are good.

I like it when there's a race official greeting me at arrivals.

I like complimentary airport-hotel transfers.

I like it when the race organisers call me at my hotel room to make sure everything went well.

I really like it when my bike arrives in one piece.

Fortunately all this happened for me! The Vertex is built up and went for it's first very brief spin around the area this morning but I want to change the tyres so avoid wearing out my 'race' tyres early, they've already got some serious signs of wear from the Beaconsfield 6hr whose rocks tore them up a bit. I've identified a nice little bike shop which has a compressor if I need one to seat the spare tyres I have.

There is advertising everywhere about the race and lots of people in town know about it. It's certainly all over the hotel we're staying at. They know how to make the racers feel important!

Yesterday I familiarised myself with Kuah, the town where the hotel is in and stocked up on water and chocolate and not much else! I did smash heaps of local food, some of it totally unrecognisable and almost all of t delicious. No upset stomach. Yet. And I may have given into the temptation of a 60cent imported Stella...or two..hey, it was cheaper then Carlton Draught here! (they had CD and Coopers Pale Ale!).

Today I will change my tyres and go for a decent ride and also hire a scooter to check out the further reaches of the island.

Some pics below:

My airport transfer. Ooh la la!

The Rocky Mountain made it! Now to build her up in the bike storage area.

The official race hotel, Bayview Hotel Langkawi

Had a yummy chicken and rice dish here...then went around the back where they did the dishes....

It's Business Time! Langkawi here I come!

Like my Kiwi comedic-musical mates say, it’s business time everybody!

Ok, so they’re not my mates and I’m talking a different type of business but the fact remains that I have one week until I fly out to Langkawi, Malaysia to race in the Langkawi International Mountainbike Challenge and I have to start getting my shit together!

This will be my inaugural overseas race and I reckon I’ve picked a corker! I, undoubtedly like many others, was initially attracted to this race because of the game-changing prize purse of US$130,000! However as the entry list grew with riders of door-blowing awesomeness I took relief in the knowledge that they still pay to 15th place.

Why this and not Tour de Timor? Well, had I been thriftier over the last few months I may have indulged in both but this 5-day stage race includes a real variety of disciplines from XCO to a 7hr Enduro and a couple of half-marathon point-to-points, hopefully with much of it on singletrack. This interested me more than what I’d heard about Timor. I’m hoping that if I’ve got a chance to have a crack at any point during this race it will be in the 7hr (competitors reading this, please disregard last sentence). The 7hr Enduro being of a time, distance and format I’m certainly familiar with, hopefully more so than most. Only time will tell how it all pans out, the level of competition is high and there are a lot of unknowns, it’s a recipe for an exciting few days.
I’m certainly not doing this alone. I have to be one of the most fortunate racers around to have both my Sister and Father coming as my support crew. Both have supported me in races before and this will be a true test for all of us. I’m just so grateful of their interest in what I do, confidence in me and willingness to help.

I’m taking my Rocky Mountain Vertex 70 RSL which has lately proven to be an extremely capable machine by putting up with 6hrs of the infamously rough and tough tracks of Upper Beaconsfield to get me to 2nd place in the last round of the Vic Enduro Series. I wouldn’t have this bike if it weren’t for a similar confidence and generosity of both Ross Wilkinson from iRide and Simon Ross from Rocky Mountain/Adventure brands.

There are 4 important factors in this race I can control, me, my support crew (x2) and my bike. These all make me happy. There will be innumerable factors in this race I have zero control over. These make me anxious, nervous but also excited and pumped!
I hope you’ll check back here occasionally before the 17th of October and regularly for daily race updates thereafter, I look forward to sharing this race with y’all!

Zigga

Race information and live results from the 17/10 HERE

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