Wollongong Mountain Bike Club

If your interested to see how an Elite rider sees their race, have a read of Joch Carlson's note below.  I asked him to write a few words about the Mt Stromlo All Mountain Cup last week.  Mixin' in up with the Jongewaards and co.  

(Actually I mixed it up with Josh at Scum Sunday.  Managed to stay on his rear wheel for 1/15th of a second....) 

From Josh:

The Stromlo All Mtn Cup round was a wicked weekend of racing! i was a bit disappointed to come 2nd in the super D but to lose to a rider like Chris Jongewaard aint so bad..  Come the XC race on Saturday the pace was on from the gun and with the course being kinda simple, it made for some real fast racing in the elite men. I tried to hold back a bit on the first few laps knowing that it would take its toll as the race wore on.

The top 4 guys are going SO hard and fast at the moment, I'm pretty stoked to be a part of some of the closest and hardest racing I think has ever been seen at the national series. I tried as hard as I could to catch canberras andrew blair but i couldnt quite bridge the gap. Then a last lap battle with my team mate Lachie Norris was SUPER hard and a great way to finish a tough race.

I was happy to come away with a 6th in the XC and happy about the fact that i am starting to feel really good again on the bike after such a long time off. The masive injury from last year has taken a bit more of a toll than expected and when thigns are so tight and fast at the pointy end, the 3 months off with injury suddenly becomes highly noticeable.

The point to point race on the Sunday was just as hot! Immediately the pace was on up the first climb and it didnt back off AT ALL!! Every decent I put a huge effort in to bridge the gap to the rider in front of me. i would make the pass and then I would see another 3 or 4 riders just up the road so I would then put another huge effort in to bridge that gap and so on and so on..this made for a furiously fast paced ride! the trails were awesome and it was actually a super fun/hard race and with it only takin us an hour there was no room to back off and rest..especially when we were all so close!

I again felt good about my race and although I was little off the leaders, I was happy with my final position of 8th. With nationals coming up next week, its a good time to be feeling good and happy with my form! It has been a massive few weekes with Wildside 2 weeks ago and the previous national round at mt buller. Fingers crossed it will all add up to a positive ride in Adelaide

Thanks must go to GIANT Bicycles, www.ftptraining.com , Adidas eyewear, SPEARMAN Cycles and SRAM.. without support from these guys, my racing wouldnt be possible! Thanks.