Sunday the 11th of September Sharon and myself competed in the Pickles Hill mountain bike race on private property behind the Craigbourne dam near Colebrook. The event is run by the Avanti shop in Hobart and traditionally is not advertised or promoted till a couple of weeks before the event and this year was no different so it was pleasing to see around 80 riders turn up as such short notice.

We both rode the first Pickles Hill event in 2014 and it was a bit “agricultural” in places but it was very pleasing to see the amount of new track and upgrades since then. The track was great fun with only some short fire road sections and the paddock area near transition. Plenty of climbing to keep the legs tired and a few tight techy sections to keep you on your toes.

Sharon had been crook as a dog all week with a bad cold and I was surprised she raced but soldiered on for the 45km with pure determination to just to finish it, top effort but she suffered for a few days after. Sharon had a whole new suite of bits on her bike and her new dropper post and 1 by 11 drive train helped her to ride every section of the track with confidence so she was very happy about that.

I had a steady start probably in the first 1/3 of riders heading up the first climb. I could see the front guys going over the top as I was about half way up but tried to keep to my own rhythm. I ended up in the middle of a group of 6 on the first lap and I was happy to sit there and learn the new track. They were going a little slow and I probably sat there to long and eventually passed them all on the short fire road section. The rest of the race was by myself except for people I came up on and passed. A lonely 3.5HRs trying to keep motivated with nobody around. I was pleased to find I was 4th overall crossing the finish line and the first Super Master rider across the line by 25mins A good hit out for some upcoming events in the next few weeks.

Full results available by clicking here. Next event for both of us is the Green Belt 3hr Sunday the 25th then the big one for me on 8th October.

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