Karen Lahestorfer and Sylvia Dansie travelled to Bundaleer Forest near Jamestown (60km East of Port Pirie) to compete. Support crew, Phil Dansie, helped at the event with reinflating punctured tyres, Cross Country race support vehicle and Dirt Crit lap counting & timing – much appreciated!
On the way, the Mawson Trail between Quorn and Melrose was explored, with a view to riding in the Blinman to Melrose Trail Ride in June. Interest still remains and the Flinders landscape certainly inspires.
We stayed in a Jamestown cabin Saturday night, only a short drive from Bundaleer Forest where you could camp. It was very refreshing to visit and ride in a different location.
A small group prepared for this inaugural event and soon discovered Three Corner Jacks were plentiful around the assembly area!
The 8 competitors (5 men & 3 women) suffered multiple punctures before the Cross Country Race! Those with self sealing Slimed tubes (Karen & most others) weren't too concerned as little beads of green slime bubbled out of their tyres but those without (certainly Sylvia) were, as tyres softened! The Start was delayed while tubes were changed & tyres pumped!
The excellent 18 km Cross Country race took Karen (W50-54) 1 hour 7 minutes with Sylvia (W55-59) 3 minutes later. Apart from deflating tyres, Sylvia was also a little concerned about her damaged, partially ‘mended’ front suspension. It was granny gear work up the first climb just after the start, with a single track zig zagging up and up. (The support vehicle had to find alternative routes when the going got tough.) Then undulating fire trails through pine & eucalypt forest, tracks through sheep country to another high point then back via the forest. Tyres stayed up for the duration fortunately and suspension coped.
Coffee & BBQ lunch preceded the afternoon Dirt Crit, a 1 km circuit around features including a dry creek, house ruin, trees, mesh ramp and sheep trough. Sylvia & Karen had serious doubts about starting, after struggling around a practice lap, but with medals on offer went for it! Final medal tally was 2 Gold each.
The Dirt Crit was a 20 minute ride plus 1 lap and skills mostly improved each lap. You had to stay between a roped course that wasn’t always easily seen. It amazes what can be done on a MTB! Rough drop into narrow, leaf littered creek bed section, sharp turn & between twin trunks of a gum with a steep creek bank behind, back across the creek and up bank, to the ruin and through the back door, no flooring so over steel mesh, out front door, avoid steep front steps by sharp turn after door sill onto narrow veranda and down a steep mesh ramp. Next a double creek crossing where you can use descent speed to carry you up the other side with a little practice, then turn to renegotiate the steep banks. Sylvia got a little cocky on her 3rd lap and with too much speed up stacked it spectacularly on the first up bank, alarming watchers. Back on bike to squeeze past the sheep trough and down a step, down, around , along and steady to conquer a steep mesh bridge, then along the creek, out of, then turn back in, down and up banks and through to the start for the next lap.
It was definitely a steep learning curve and looking forward to the next time!
This masters competition is on again in 2012 and it’s a great day but make sure your tubes are slimed! Sylvia has 2 very flat tyres now!
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