Beechworth - Six Hours in the Saddle aka S.H.I.T.S.

With this entry I'm celebrating a win! 

The trademark crisp, clear skies shone over Beechworth for the annual Six Hours in the Saddle. The field took off up the road climb toward the course, gradually sorting the chaos into an order as the road steepened before leading into the single track. After the initial road section the 10km course was essentially all single track, so it was straight down to business. Within 10 minutes or so I was coincidently back on the wheel of Jim Hsu whom I had shared the trails with at the recent Wombat race. Over the next three laps we passed a few comments and swapped the lead a couple of times. Once again Jim had a little more punch up the longer climbs so I was happy to let Jim lead the main climbs and he waved me through for the second half of the track's descents. By the fourth lap we had another guy riding with us and the tempo was feeling pretty consistent. We all kind of split apart soon after. The rocky course demanded full-time concentration and had limited places for eating on the go so I made a point of taking advantage of any less demanding sections to feed. The next couple of hours flew by as I chalked up the laps. 

Preparing the bike for the race I had a few issues getting the tubeless rear to seal and hold pressure, but by the morning of the race it was holding the same pressure I had left it at overnight so I was set to go. The thought occurred to me several times during the day that this course was better attacked with a reliable tubeless system. One confirmation was seeing Ash Thomas packing away the tools after putting a tube in. As always Ash was all smiles and fun, and had the job sorted. I kept on and wondered how long it would be before I was shadowed by the eternally rapid Ash. I got a few corners in.., then sure enough Ash was there chuckling that he was hunting me down. 

To share a typical moment anybody could expect to experience from Ash out on course, as we stamped out the lap and we levelled out at the bottom section of the course where another rider was by the wayside repairing a flat - sans pump. Within about 30 metres and what seemed to be all in the same manoeuvre of passing me, Ash had asked out if the other guy was OK and did he need anything, reached into his jersey and flung him a pump upon the rider's response that he needed a pump, and motored on to disappear out of sight… 

As the 4th hour ticked over I did a rough calculation that I should get another 4 laps down. I had another guy on my wheel and although it was nearly all single track there were still plenty of places for passing slower riders as we let them know there were two riders coming through. We had a great rhythm going for a couple of laps, I felt good and had started to raise the effort into the tail end of the day. Mid way though a lap one of the rocky drops into a rock-paved berm claimed the air from the other guy's rear tyre, so I was back on my own. With 2 laps to go I grabbed a fresh bottle on the way through transition and Becs quickly told me where I was placed, how far behind, and how far ahead of the next rider. I didn't absorb the information too effectively and continued on into the second last lap trying to solve the puzzle of words that had accumulated in my head space. One thing I had heard was that I was holding second place. As I climbed the trails away from the race village, and the track looped back and forth past itself, I noticed across several switchbacks away Brian John, holding first place. Not really sure how far behind I was I checked some reference points enroute to realise I was gaining. Apparently one of the points Becs had made was that I was 1min 30sec behind. By 2/3 of the way through to the end of some of the gnarly, downhill, technical stuff I was on his wheel. Getting to the bottom of the 1km climb back to the start/finish line I saw the chance to pass. Brian sat on for the climb, passing others when I passed others and stayed within reach. The climb jacked up just a little harder toward the transition and I managed to put 10 seconds into my lead as I charged on into the final lap.

Start of the course lined with team tents

The track still had some climbing to go so I worked to be sure to hold on to the lead. Cresting one of the climbs I fumbled and dropped my bottle as I was picking up pace approaching a series of berms. I left it as I still had half a bottle in the other cage to see out the 25 minutes riding that still remained. At the bottom of the final climb to the finish line for the last time i buried myself for the kilometre of switch back ascent and popped over the line, posting my second fastest lap of the day and with 1min 30 lead in the Solo Male 40+ category. 

Thanks to Finishline Events for once again hosting a great event. The trails of the Beechworth Mountain Bike Park held fantastic condition and never fail to bring a grin to the rider's face.

The timing of this video made me laugh. It is "as taken" and unedited - the song is what was playing on the Finishline Events PA as I rolled across the finish. B.Y.