Rocky trail 4hr, James estate winery.

Race preparation delivers results, if its training, or nutrition, the amount of sleep one can get and the levels of stress all have an affect on the outcome, you can have these effect your day or you have the choice to overcome adversity and prove to your body that your mind is the game changer on game day!

My Friday began with a biomechanics class at uni (Olympic park) and after Adam Scott winning the masters I was keen to film and analyse my golf swing. The afternoon was spent at the Australian health and fitness expo, exciting on so many levels, being my 6-7th visit now it still gets the blood pumping, but getting to take mates from uni who had never been was just like when you introduce someone to mountainbiking or a friend to the biggest descent you know and seeing them smiling so hard it hurts their cheeks, mix that with all the free pre-workout and protein samples you can handle and your drunk on exercise!

I make it back to the central coast for dinner, a feast of vegies, chicken and quinoa from memory and load up my friend charli's (who is part of the Rockytrail timing crew) car, grabbing a carton of milk and loaf of bread on he way out for the journey.
Charli had the route sorted out as we drove in darkness the whole way, neither of us had been out this way before. There wasn't much to see, apart the well lit what look like coal mines.

We arrive very tired and ready for bed, and that was very well sorted by caretakers of the winery inside the homestead two comfy beds awaited us. Zzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Race day:
I lumber out of bed feeling very drained, unfortunately this has been a regular occurrence this year and for a couple of months, I'm not sure why, hoping its nothing to serious, I take my time to find first gear and put down some muesli. And jump on my bike and pedal the few Kms over to the event centre. Riding around event centre learning the course through the pits and the first couple of Kms into the vineyards to warm the muscles up, or the while hiding under a jacket and in a new race kit for 2013. This year I'm riding for MAGELLAN, A company that is making a huge impact in the mountain bike industry with their range of GPS units. Already well known in adventure racing, I was very happy and proud to be wearing their kit to represent them in the endurance side of mountain bike racing.

Vineyards, natural bush, dirt roads and a distillery is where our 9km battle will take place. It's the first race on this home built course out in the hunter. I loved all of it, I can't wait to go and race at James Estate Winery again.
We roll down to the massive shimano start banner, I look across the start line, and see a mix of Euro faces, but the guess of who was in a team or running solo had me baffled. I didn't even know where my own fitness was, I have bottles in pit lane, gels in my pockets and bike attached to me and 4hrs of racing, I was frothing just to get riding!
The gun goes off and in Euro fashion (or at the croc trophy) riders take off like Usain bolt running for gold. I do my best to hold on but they blow me to pieces. I had a sense that the 'flat road' was far from flat, and in the 500m before the single track I pick off at least 10riders who went to deep.

Into the single track we go, and few early casualties as people try to ride the course like where they are from, and hit the ground fast into the loamy dirt. Never seen this track before I take the fastest cautious approach possible, keeping myself upright is my number one priority(I don't have the time or funds to be injured) when I came up for air after 4-5kms of cool single track a lead group had formed, making lots of dust in the distant with about 7riders, one of them being stu Adams, who I knew would be doing solo, and is on fire at the moment, but if he is being pulled along by the Euro guns, it will be a miracle for me to close the gap(I will try though)
We pop out of the bush into the vineyards and up a long grassy climb for which I would attack out of the saddle on every lap of the race. The legs just preferred it that way, who's to argue with your legs?.
Through the massive tanks of the distillery and through timing, before you knew it, life was back on the 'flat road' that would make you explode when you reached the singletrack. I was never to have a riding buddy on that road, I did get to chase troy glennan through the vines and up the dirt road on one lap, trying to hold is back wheel was not a good idea. So I was cranking the pace for at least 90mins before cramping pains in my glutes would start to affect my day(a regular pain in the arse occurrence) it's all about management and just blocking out the pain for the rest of the day, at times it will really zap power from the pedal stroke, stretching when I can and just battling on is all I know how to deal with this problem (that I hate).

I keep cranking out the laps, trying not to explode on the dirt road, so I'm quicker through the now very chopped up single track, I thought it was mad fun riding through the powdery soil. Conti X-Kings where loving it. I kept it strong on the grass climb that everyone grew to hate. Doing some maths in my head when I was looking at the number of laps I would complete, 9 or 10 was going to be the finishing amount I really started to eat more. With the pain in my glutes/hip flexors I was just out there to finish what I had started at 9am.

I was on my bike under blue sky's riding unseen mountain bike trails pedal eat drink repeat, life s grand when life is simple.
"Chops your 2nd" is screamed from timing. I ask how long to go.. it was like an hour, i screw up my face.... i hear the laughter of a lady as she was amused by my reaction.. well i was just having fun riding around, now its a race again, where i have an hour to catch first and an hour for third not to catch me.. sooo... Pedal faster eat faster drink faster live faster, knowing there was at least 3laps to do and possibly 4, I started eating like I had another 40km to race. 2laps later I come through timing I'm now informed I'm in first place. And it's my last lap. Hooooraaaa!
I catch up to some coasties on the flat road, after some exchange of banter I get the jump into the singletrack to rip it one last time.
I cross the finishline just over the 4hr mark to see stu Adams being interviewed, lucky for me he was in the older gents category, he still smoked me! I then had my I interview with martin, proceeding that I took the reins or the microphone rather to be the MC for the remainder of the event.
The return trip home was much like the journey to the race, carton of milk and bread for the trip home, as Sunday was to be an even bigger day, with a fitness course in the city till 4pm and a mad dash to was the central coast mariners kick some arse!
BEST WEEKEND EVER!!!!!!!!


So begins a day in mountain bike folklore where we rode through vineyards with passion driving our legs and smiles leading the way to another happy Rockytrail day.

The myth of did the MC present first place to himself, well that story would only be in the minds of who was there on the day.

Huge thanks again to MAGELLAN & SCV IMPORTS.


JustCHOPS.