I can’t say that I was too enthusiastic about competing in this year’s MTB National Marathon Champs.  This had a lot to do with having just completed the Cape Epic, an 8-day MTB stage race in South Africa.  I guess 8 days of MTB racing takes it’s toll on both the mind and body.  Reluctantly I booked the flights, telling myself that surely I will be recovered by race day.

In the week lead up, I was lucky enough to receive a brand new 2011 Cube frame.  The new frame certainly looks super cool with internal cabling and a wider bottom bracket making it both lighter and stiffer.  So, I was very excited to try this new frame on the trails up north.

The race was to be held on a brand new course at Mt Joyce Recreation Park in South East Qld.  No one had ridden the trails previously so we didn’t know what to expect.  I don’t think anyone thought the course would be quite as tough as it was. On paper an 87km marathon didn’t look to be anything too crazy, but little did we know just how rough the terrain and how steep some of the climbs would be! 

In the women’s race we all went out quite hard, eager to hit the single-track in good position.  I momentarily went to the lead early on only to make a wrong turn.  I then thought it best to slip back into 3^rd wheel so as not to lead everyone astray!  It was clear from the start that Jenny Faye and Naomi Hansen were in super climbing form and I was going to have to use the descents to my advantage.  So I kept the top girls in sight for the first 10km and then got my way to the front for the long switchback descent.  This proved to be a good tactic as I was able to make quite sizable gap.  Halfway up the long fire-road climb however, I found out just how well Jenny Faye was climbing as she stormed past me.  Jenny proved over the day, that mtb races are won on the climbs, as she finished 3 min ahead.  After crossing the line I learned that I had in fact won the national jersey as Jenny is from Ireland and not Australian.  So, I guess a good day at the office and well worth the trip to sunny Qld!