Sharon is still in VIC enjoying the trails so I did the Sprung 2HR mountain bike race at Hollybank today. This was my second 2HR event the first is here. I managed to do much better this time even with a 2 minute stop on lap 6 to change my top!

I followed a large pack of riders for the first couple of laps till they thinned out a bit and I could smash past a whole heap of them on the hill climb. Out on my own it was much easier to get in a rhythm and maintain a consistent lap time. On lap 6 I was overheating so bad I had to remove the thin under top I had put on as it was quite a cold start this morning. I changed as quick as I could but lost 2 minutes and quite a few places.

I put in a big effort for the next few laps and managed to latch onto the back of the ‘fastest guys’ as they lapped me about lap 8 or 9. I held them for most of the next lap but they were too strong for me and I dropped off them at the top of the last climb. It’s hard to keep up with 20 year olds when you are 47. I managed to get back all the places I lost and some in the final laps coming in in 8th place in my age group out of 22 of us. I was just starting to get into it and it finished! I would be keen to do a longer endurance race some time.

I was pretty pleased with 8th place, way better than the 18th I got last event so all that riding must be helping. I managed the 5th fastest time on the hill climb, 8th fastest on the back section and the 6th fastest lap time overall at the time of writing. These may fall back a bit as more people upload their races to Strava, we will see?

Results are here (see Masters Male) or check the LMBC site latter. My Strava log of the event below.