Dealing with the Steely Dagger of Disappointment
An icy dawn at Kowen Forest
I clambered from my polyester cocoon and into the icy morning air of Canberra's East Kowen Forest. The sun gradually managed to wrestle the ice from the open fields and was beginning to prise the crisp, white veil from my nocturnal sanctuary. The previous day had brought frustration, as I struggled to finalize my preparations for the rapidly approaching World 24 hour Solo and Crocodile Trophy; but I approached this race with renewed vigour and optimism. I had eased back my training during the week and surely this would have left me fresher and less fatigued than in some of my previous forays.
 Mike Israel, Phil Welch & Pete Selkrig Without doubt, the Kowalski Classic is a brilliant event. It is almost exclusively raced on singletrack, which has been expertly crafted and designed by the Kowalski Brothers. The race incorporates most of the best trails Kowen and Sparrow have to offer and is ingeniously linked by short sections of fire trail. With highlights being almost too numerous to mention, this race is one all self-respecting mountain bikers should experience. The inaugural event last year was great - this course was even better. At times, the rider is zooming through the trees at high speed which is clearly reminiscent of the 'Speeder Bike Chase' in Return of the Jedi. | My training regime this year has been geared exclusively towards success in the World 24 hour solo event in October and, therefore, has taken the form of long rides covering great distances. Many of my rides have been undertaken alone; perhaps it is no surprise that few of my friends relish the thought of the majority of the daylight hours being spent sitting on a narrow saddle with few comforts, riding with lycra clad bikers, and not spending quality time with warm, cuddly loved ones or doting kids. My wife is in the UK and I have no children to care for but I do have a lot of bikes and plenty of lycra and a lot of spare time. This has meant that I have regularly been able to ride for over 500 km in a week. Recently, I have teamed up with the likes of Pete Selkrig and Mike Israel, both crazy enough to ride as long, and as far, as I do, resulting in a recent ride of 313 km with an average speed of 29 km/h. Pete is even worse than me, actually much worse, and last week I found myself riding with him for 261 km on Saturday, then riding 70km to a 3 hour mountain bike race, with the intention of riding back 70 km afterwards. Mercifully, my seatpost cracked 2 hours into the race and the return trip home was cancelled. My average distance for each of the last 6 months is well over 2000 km and I have almost ridden more in those 6 months than I had ridden in either of the last two years.  The Speeder Bike Chase |
The start of the race was greatly helped by the fact that riders seeded themselves prior to the event and were assigned a starting wave appropriate to their abilities - so simple but, by gosh, it's effective. This was further helped by the tough climb dished out at the beginning, which helped sort riders out according to ability. Unfortunately for me, I saw my major Masters rivals disappear from sight, not long after we crested the hill and hit the singletrack. Mike Israel, Jason McAvoy, Dave Langley and Trent Moore all powered away never to be seen again. I desperately fought my machine throughout the 85 km and managed to hold the wheel of Robin Mules in the last 30 km which helped me maintain a reasonable time and move up through the lower places. Little did I know, Robin had started 5 minutes behind me, and so he was to finish in 10th, and I finished a disappointing 13th and 51st overall. Mark Fenner comfortably won the Masters with Mike Israel finishing on the podium in a commendable 3rd, while Dave pipped Trent to fifth. Jason was seventh, but he had ridden 200 km the previous day.
Every race provides a lesson which necessitates reflection and self-evaluation. It's easy to look back at a race which was successful and to draw conclusions on what went well whilst providing positive feelings, contentment and vindication for the previous week's routine. It is far more difficult to analyse a poor performance. Indeed, it has taken me until Wednesday night to write this post - usually I avidly complete it on a Sunday. Perhaps I had tried to bury my head deep in the surrounding sand of Manly Beach. With my WEMBO rivals looking stronger than ever, I need to look at my profile only, and how I can improve, and not worry about them. There is no doubt that I need to back right off my training. Unlike some of my rivals, who have been riding for years, I am still only in my third year of racing and putting my body through stresses it has never, ever experienced. My bike fitness level is at an all-time high but so is my fatigue level, resulting in a drop in form, hence the poor result. The warning signs were there, I simply chose to ignore them. The last race before the World 24 hour is this Sunday. I intend to reduce the fatigue and hope for a better result and a return to form in the Chocolate Foot STM Series 7 hour at Awaba.
Sunrise at Kowen Forest
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