2014 Interwinter @ Redesdale

Round 4 of the Interwinter MTB series was held out at Redesdale by the Full Gas Pedallers club. Last years race was very wet & apparently there were a high number of DNFs associated with brake pads wearing out. The question this year was not so much about rain, but was more so on how cold it was going to be and whether we would get snow.

As it tuned out, we dodged a bullet as there was no snow, no rain and to be honest it was not really that cold.

The course included a 7km prologue along a set of fire trails circumnavigating the Mt Lofty Reserve which is then followed by 17km of  a series of tracks,  some very tight, twisty and rocky single track, through the interior. C Grade and the Women categories did a single loop, B grade 2 laps making it 41km with the A Graders completing 58km over 3 laps.

Numbers across all grades appeared to be down compared to the last race at the You Yangs. In my B Grade we had 31 riders including Brodie Gardner who rode strongly at the You Yangs where he won the Time Trail, got 2nd in the XCO and finished 3rd overall. Brodie’s back ground is Triathlon where he competed at the highest level in Europe and was recognised by the University of the Sunshine Coast in 2010 for his efforts. He has since switched focus to Adventure racing and has since been honing his MTB skills.

James Lefebvre started off like a rocket followed by Brodie, Paul Bryant & James Goodall. I sat in next and was more than happy to follow wheels. James’s surge off the front did not last long and it was then Brodie who took over and began to open up a sizeable gap.

I sensed the guys around me were not feeling comfortable and decided I needed to pick up the pace and take advantage of the fast fire trails as I knew I would be giving back time once we hit the technical sections.

Mark Jamesion, who has a road cycling back ground, doing his 4th MTB race, on a borrowed 26er, was also keen to exploit the fire trails and he soon made his way thru the pack and passed me on the first climb as if I was standing still. I managed to hold his wheel for a little while, however by the time we hit the 2nd climb, Mark was well and truly warmed up and ready to break free.

 

I could still see Mark in the distance as we approached the final of the 7km prologue, however I missed a turn and by the time I doubled back Mark was gone and Chris Gumley slipped by and moved up into 3rd place.

Chris was riding well and I felt pretty comfortable letting him pick the lines. This was going well and until Chris hit a sloppy section of track and his front wheel came out from under him. It was a soft landing & he was OK, however I now moved back into the bronze medal position.

I was half expecting Chris to catch me up during some of the single track, however out of no where I was joined by Paul Bryant. I called Paul thru, however he seemed happy with my lines and let me go about my business. We closed out the first lap together, however Paul soon dropped off the pace, and I can only assume he had a mechanical as the results have him listed as being a DNF.

The plan now was to bump it up a bit on the 2nd lap. I was going along nicely, however the sloppy section which took Chris out, claimed me as another victim. I got going again and the next obstacle I needed to avoid was a bouncing kangaroo who cut across my path as if he owned the joint. I later hear other riders also shared similar encounters with the natural habitat.

 

I was battling away on my own riding to defend 3rd spot when I spotted Mark up ahead. I managed to catch Mark on some of the rocky single track and was then able give him the slip. I had assumed Mark was paying the price for his all out effort on the first lap, however I soon found out that this was not the case as once we hit the fire tail, Mark quickly reeled me in and he left me in a trail of dust and was again out of sight.

With 5km I was starting to feel pretty shagged and it seemed like an eternity before I saw the 4km marker and then the 3km. I spotted Chris Gumley thru the trees and it looked like he was closing on me quickly. The finish line was taunting me & it was with a bit of relief that I managed to finally cross it and hold on for 3rd. Not many riders were able to ride the 2nd lap faster than the 1st, however Chris did defy the trend and was almost 2 minutes quicker & only just missed out on 3rd spot by 30 seconds.

My good buddy Sean Dixon was racing C grade and he too survived a stack and a couple of wrong turns to win C Grade from Mitch Noonan & Adam French. The win also gave Sean enough points to win the series to be the overall winner of the C Grade category and he is clearing some space on the mantle at home for when the trophy is delivered.

Sean’s favourite quote of the day came after passing one of the ladies and skidding thru a corner and she advised Sean that “skids are for kids”. Sean is a big kid, cause he love big skids.

Only 11 starters in A Grade. The King of the Mountain prize was won by Luke Aggett, however Luke good fortune ended mid way thru the 1st lap as a result of a puncture. He was a DNF and donated his KOM prize of the Fly6 camera to one of the juniors. 3 young blokes were in contention.. they all deserved to be the winner and worthy recipient was decided via a very competitive game of paper-sissors-rock.

Russell Nankervis went on to take a convincing win 15 minutes clear of the “GoPro” equipped Kevin Skidmore with Dyon Balding in 3rd.

16 ladies raced with Kira Dyer taking out the win with Kate Penglase in 2nd & Carrie Edney 3rd.

Carrie’s 3rd place helped get the Castelmaine Rocky Riders Club ahead on the complicated points scoring system to take out the Teams Trophy.

Thanks FGP for hosting the race & all the efforts from the participating clubs in supporting the Interwinter Series. This was my first year and definitely will not be my last.

See also:

• Results
• My pics
• Ballarat MTB Club Facebook Album by Paul Mathers