The 2014 National Mountain Bike Championships held at Bright was a great experience. I had never competed in an event at a national level until now, and it was good to see how I stacked up against the rest of Australia.
But first... I had to get over there. I decided to catch a plane from Hobart to Melbourne (since i'm not the best swimmer) and then get a lift to Bright with a friend who was also going. It was a long drive, especially since it took a longer time than from driving to the top of Tasmania from the bottom.. or pretty much anyway.
A friend from down my street also had this sweet bike transport bag that I was able to borrow, which was pretty cool since I didn't actually have anyway to get it the bike up and back on the plane without using a cardboard box. Thanks!
I caught an early flight too!
When we arrived at Bright, we found the dodgy caravan park we were staying at for the cheapest rates I've ever seen without slave labor... which was a good thing. In fact, the park was so dodgy it was apparently known to the locals as 'Camp Crusty'. Sounded real fun, I was ready to get stabbed.
The thing I was most stoked about was how I got a medallion key-ring thing just for turning up and entering. This pretty much made my week, and I'm claiming it as well-deserved trophy.
The cool thing about being at the National MTB Championships was that everyone was there, not just the Cross Country riders. I got to watch a lot of the trials riding and even got to watch the Downhill Qualifying that my friend Dan Booker was racing in, another Tasmanian Junior - we hung out a fair bit. The weird thing with Trials to watch was the practice. Since they weren't allowed to actually ride their bikes on the course, they had to pretend. This meant for an hour or so each day you'd see all of the riders standing on the obstacles holding an invisible bike, jumping around - it was actually pretty funny to watch.
While I was out at the event on the second day during the Open Women race, Rebecca Henderson even wanted to stop and get a photo with me. Of course I let her.
The U23 race was fast and furious. The dust was so bad I pretty much choked from spectating. More good results from the Tasmanian bunch of bandits, having Scott Bowden and Tom Goddard from Team 4Shaw come out alright.
The day had come and the racing was ready. I hopped on my bike for a warm-up, so steady. The bike was primed and the weather was hot, but not too much so that I felt shot... best attempt at rhyming there. Lyrical rap sensation James Goodsell.
Anyway, the race was fast and hard. There were a few casualties in the start sprint and I worked my way up to 20th (I had to start at the back since it was my first race in U19). I thought I did alright for just 2 years riding compared to the guys who had been on their bikes before they were on their feet! The track proved to be a bit like Tasmania in terms of climbing which was good, I liked the course that they had setup. The only thing I didn't like was the heat, but I suppose I couldn't do anything about that coming from down south..
In the end though, I was pretty happy with 20th for my first ever national race - especially being the Championships! Thanks again to Rowney Sports, Niner Oz and Cyclingo for helping me out here and there. I look forward to some day coming back, maybe even to whip all y'all behinds.
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