Stage 3 is the highlight stage of the race. It starts and finishes at 2 local wineries and takes in the best single track in the area. The race started out of Xanadu Winery behind a quad runner for the first 2-3km to escort riders across some of the busier roads in the area before we hit single track.
It seemed strange but in the first 5km of the race we did a loop around and crossed over the track that we had been riding along. If you can imagine 750 riders out on a course that crosses over itself it got a little crazy. Once we crossed over marshals weren’t in place to direct us so the lead group of 5 riders including myself went straight past the turn that we were supposed to take. By the time we worked out we were heading in the wrong direction at least 30 riders made it into the track before us. It seemed like a pretty serious battle to get past everyone before we hit the main single track of the day. I managed to be first in which meant I could control the pace and ride at a level that I found comfortable. At around the 30km out of 50km mark into the race I hit my seat and the nose slid right down. This meant I wasn’t comfortable on the bike and I couldn’t really get into a position to get the power down. Maybe 1km after this Pete Hatton rode off. I wasn’t even thinking about chasing him down as I was more concerned about learning to ride with the seat in such a funny position.
I was behind Craig when Andy rode off the front and once again I was concerned to be putting the power down in an unfamiliar position and was happy to ride to the finish with Craig. I didn’t realise how close behind Pete was sitting and tomorrow will decide who gets 2nd and who gets 4th. There is no money in it but it’s always good to try and hit a top 3.
It seemed strange but in the first 5km of the race we did a loop around and crossed over the track that we had been riding along. If you can imagine 750 riders out on a course that crosses over itself it got a little crazy. Once we crossed over marshals weren’t in place to direct us so the lead group of 5 riders including myself went straight past the turn that we were supposed to take. By the time we worked out we were heading in the wrong direction at least 30 riders made it into the track before us. It seemed like a pretty serious battle to get past everyone before we hit the main single track of the day. I managed to be first in which meant I could control the pace and ride at a level that I found comfortable. At around the 30km out of 50km mark into the race I hit my seat and the nose slid right down. This meant I wasn’t comfortable on the bike and I couldn’t really get into a position to get the power down. Maybe 1km after this Pete Hatton rode off. I wasn’t even thinking about chasing him down as I was more concerned about learning to ride with the seat in such a funny position.
I was behind Craig when Andy rode off the front and once again I was concerned to be putting the power down in an unfamiliar position and was happy to ride to the finish with Craig. I didn’t realise how close behind Pete was sitting and tomorrow will decide who gets 2nd and who gets 4th. There is no money in it but it’s always good to try and hit a top 3.
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