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2015 Interwinter #4 @ Redesdale
The Mt Lofty Marathon hosted by the Full Gas Pedallers MTB Club was the final race of the four race Interwinter MTB series. The race consisted of a 7km prologue along a set of fire trails circumnavigating the Mt Lofty Reserve which is then followed by 17km circuit involving some very tight, twisty, slippery and rocky single track, through the interior.
A Graders were doing 3 laps, B Grade 2 and C Grade and the Women categories a single loop.. Making it 58k, 41k and 24km for respectively.
I raced here last year in B grade and it was one of my favourite races.. and indeed one of my best results. I recall there was enough fire trails and climbing to help me keep in touch with the true MTBers & I was lucky enough to have finished 3rd. Racing in A Grade though would be a different story, with the extra distance and arguably fitter riders.. I would be happy just to complete the race without coming last.
Photo Credit: Rohan Richardson
While I remembered the fire trails from last year, I somehow conveniently had forgotten how hard the single track was. It was difficult to hold pace through some of the rocky sections and there were traction issues thru muddy corners and countless logs to hop over. In the end, my race lasted 3hours 20 minutes. I was tired. My arms, shoulders and whole upper body felt as though it has been put thru the wringer. And although I was not the last person over the line, I was disqualified from taking a wrong turn and short cutting the track.
This short cut though did put me just ahead of my training buddy Josef Corkery who was racing head to head with David Grant. These two guys are very closely matched and have been inseparable for the entire series.
While I demise my blunder, spare a thought for Tasman Nankervis, who most likely would have won the A Grade race if he had not cracked his frame on the prologue.
Nick Morgan took full advantage, blasted out the fatest lap of the day (and apparently of all time) and ended up taking the win with a 2 minute margin over Tom Ovens. Just over a minute behind them was Jack Lamshed. There was a bit of a gap back to Andrew Patterson who finished 4th.
David and Josef fought all the way to the end with David attacking late to hold a 2 second advantage over Joseph from them to be 5th and 6th respectively.
The front of B Grade were flying with John Davis completing the course in 2:04 with an average a tick under 20km/h. 15 year old Max Heizer was only 4 seconds behind in 2nd with Gary Freudigmann rounding out the podium in 3rd.
Photo Credit: Rohan Richardson
Margaret Clark’s day did not start well as she was knocked off her bike by a bounding kangaroo. Both Margaret and the roo hit the deck and lucky for both, they were able to get up and go about their day.
While there is not photographic evidence of the kangaroo, there is a excellent photo above by Rohan Richardson showing Margaret was moving along very stylishly.
Mararget ended up coming in 2nd in her race 2 minutes behind Jo Wall and around a minute ahead of Sarah Bath. Definitely a gutsy effort & very well done.
Mitchell Noonan won C Grade convincingly with a 6 minute margin to Oliver Beaumont and Mitchell Moloney who was a further 4 minutes behind.
The coveted team prize for the 2015 series was awarded to The Castlemaine Rocky riders club. Great effort and well done to them.
I certainly learnt a lot of things during the series.. I am not exactly sure if I have improved my MTB skills, fitness or racing. I have certainly enjoyed racing the longer distances that A Grade afforded, however the existing grading system does need to be reviewed.
I am used to racing where winners are promoted to the next grade and losers are demoted. Sandbagging, be it intentional or unintentional, was rife through out the series, especially where those riders bypassing the first grading race were able to self nominate grades and then go on to dominate them.
However saying that, I will most likely back to have another crack in 2016. Well done to the 4 MTB clubs involved through out the series, all the riders, helpers, organisers & volunteers.. A great little series and a ton of fun.
See also:
2015 Interwinter #3 @ You Yangs
After a couple days of rain and with the predicted low temps, I was kinda hoping Round 3 of the Interwinter series was going to be called off. However the folks at the Geelong MTB Club are made of sterner stuff and in fact one got the impression that there were just as many volunteers braving the arctic conditions as there were riders..
All up 104 riders contested round 3 of the Interwinter series.
There were 17 starters in A grade with the race schedule starting off with a 4 lap XCO, followed by a one on on Time trial and finishing off with an Eliminator.
Over the last couple of weeks I have been putting in on the MTB and was looking forward to see how it transfers to race day. Realistically though I knew I was playing in the wrong league and consequently my goal was to not finish last.
In the XCO, the front of the bunch stormed away while I found the going pretty tough ploughing thru the slushy sandy surface. The plan was to take the first lap conservatively and get a good look at the course & then try to build it up after that.
The single track proper was in very good condition however extreme care was required over the slippery rocks and wooden bridges. The fast flowing down hill sections were sensational and the views at the top of the Rockwell track were breath taking (literally and figuratively).
Photo Credit: Trip Advisor
We then head down Lactic, which is the most technical part of the course with a couple of rocky sections which was made that little bit tougher as I was caught and passed by the front of B grade.
More flow at the end of Lactic and then it was put the hammer down and aquaplane over a section of wet slushy sand before the tight twisting turns of the quarry pit trail . So much variety. It has something for everyone.
OK.. lap 1 done.. it was time to bump it up.. I passed a couple of riders including Ash Goldstraw but really the legs and lungs were not really responding. I would build a little gap on Ash on the up hill sections only for him to catch me on the going down & twisty bits.
Ash and I would continue to swap places for the remaining 3 laps and effectively we crossed the finish line together to share 11th place.
Up the front of the race it was James Blight who held a narrow lead after the first lap, however Kian Lerch-Mackinnon responded with the fastest lap of the day to take the lead on the 2nd lap and go on to take the XCO win with a 25 second buffer to James. Ben May was a close for 3rd and the 15 year old James Goodall also very close in 4th.
Photo Credit: Geelong MTB Club
Josef Corkery & David Grant have been going head to head in each of the races through out the series and today was no exception. While Josef has held the slight advantage to date, it was David who turned the tables to just nudge ahead of Josef to take 5th place..
I missed my start of the time trail as I was occupied with swapping into some dry clean kit and giving the bike some TLC. Mentally I was finished for the day and was somewhat relieved that the Eliminator was cancelled.
Ben May won the time trial however Kian’s 2nd place was enough for him to hold on to the overall win. A count back gave 3rd place to James Blight relegating James Goodall to 4th.
Josef had a good TT which gave him 5th place overall just ahead of David Grant.
The B Grade race was won by Max Heizer with John Davis 2nd and Brenton Kaitler rounding out the podium. Not sure why these blokes are not racing A Grade.
Damian Flatz had an emphatic win in C Grade taking out the XCO and the TT. Dominic Burton has a great TT and jumped into 3rd place overall just behind Richard Eisner.
Kate Penglese was unchallenged in the Womens category. Margaret Clark raced very well for 2nd with Kate Maffet slotting into 3rd place overall.
Next and final round of the Interwinter is at Redesdale on the 2nd of August. Helpfully it is a bit dryer and a bit warmer.
Thanks to GMBC.. a well run event in very testing conditions.
See also:
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
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