Wollongong Mountain Bike Club

Below is a story from WMBC Club members Connor and Derek O'Dwyer's experience at the National Championships held at Mt Stromlo, Canberra over the Australia Day weekend in 2009.

We, Connor and myself (Dek) decided to go to the Nationals at Mt Stromlo to fly the flag for WMBC and to further Connors’ career of 7 months. We arrived on Thursday morning at the Stromlo Forrest complex to find the mountain devoid of people and trees, flies were not in the endangered category. We were finally told where we could camp and preceded to the hill. We had the best spot mainly because we were the only ones there. By this time the wind had picked up along with the temperature. Thoughts of base camp Everest flashed through my mind as the wind howled and attacked the tent. The only thing different was the 33 degree heat and the Aussie flies. Do shuttle mums and dads ever get mentioned in the Australia Day awards?

Let’s check out the course was the next move. About 7klm long, flat start, tight switchbacks, fire-trail to the top, single berm trail, the feed zone flat section, then the north ridge, single trail berms, a rock garden or two, the feed zone then downhill to home. Well that was enough for me after a 3am start that day and a 20kg Ironhorse. I retire to base-camp whilst Connor, refueled on a vegemite sandwich and went for two more laps, he’s keen.

The population of base-camp Stromlo increased by one when a car pulled up and asked if I’d mind if he setup next door. No problem’ glad for the company. Paul King from Blaxland, mad downhiller, been in the game since and before it was a game. I help him set up his igloo that sort of looked like a pizza oven, well the temperature was getting there.

Tea-time , the wind finally drops and the flies who couldn’t fly in it return, you can’t have everything. Strangely the flies quickly disappear and the cloud level drops to where we are camped. Rain, wind and lightening – all hell breaks instantly loose. The pizza oven is blown away and Hotel Stromlo has every available peg inserted plus the bike rack and the car secured to it. Boy did it rain! The river coming through the foyer was making the Murray look like a creek. It finally blew over after 40 minutes which meant that we could plan our assent of Everest as we watched the storm hammer Canberra as we sat in the mud.  Are all Nationals this exciting?

Friday is practice day. I’ve never seen a full-on World Cup down-hill track. I remember once having no family commitments, no debts or mortgage, no fear and no sense of pain. The wind was 25 knots plus when I rode up to the famous Triple jump and the temperature in the 30’s. The first jump is big and you can see where you have to land before hitting the second then a small dip/berm before you hit a blind jump where all you can see is blue sky, don’t forget the cross-wind. The First Aid teams are working hard.

Paul King returns to base-camp with more bandages than a Mummy- “I’m not happy.” I’m supposed to be working out Cross-country strategy but I find myself mesmerized by the number of pedal strokes you have to do in a certain gear whilst doing a certain speed between jump 2 and 3 on this Triple, not going the B line and allowing for the cross-wind, hoping to jump the last cliff in between gusts. I remember when I thought that mountain bike riding was riding through the bush, cruising , enjoying the quiet, the challenge of a tree-root or two, the coolness, the greenness. I break this thought line and take a photo of our night-time pee-tree that would look in place at Xmas in a Japanese sleep compartment. The bonsais’of Stromlo.

Tog up – race day. Trying to tell a 12 year old in the under 15 section what to do is, I don’t know what word fits in here. “Get to the single track first, everyone will get clogged up on the switchbacks, then push flat out for the climb.” This is where the race is won or lost. Communicating to a 12 year old bordering on puberty who has been riding for 7 months, whilst on the starting line, fits into this idea of climbing Everest. All I can up with is “try your best.”

We bump into Daniel McDonald who is in the 17’s and looking forward to the challenge, WMBC will have at least two flags on the mountain. Forgot to tell Connor that one Appin rule doesn’t sort of apply in the Nationals. Connor stopped to help a couple of kids who came unstuck in the switchbacks, he’s a fair sport type whose mongrel attitude didn’t click in until the feed station when he realized he was behind the 8 ball. He wasn’t slacking but he was burning too much energy before the second lap. Game over, experience gained.

Daniel and Connor both finished, not their best results but they both have current National rankings. Daniel was going great until the air in his rear wheel decided to get out of there, requiring a new tube. I thought I heard Josh at the start of his category, you sort of know his call to arms. Keiran who shows up at Appin now and again came unstuck in DH practice. He actually hit a tree which is not easy to do against a bonsai and snapped his front forks at the base of his steerer tube, clean break, no marks on the forks, front wheel as true as the day it was made, expensive to get back into the competition.

So remember, Stromlo Forrest has no trees, heaps of dust, flies, unbelievable weather, take a spade if you want to divert the Murray, an electric esky- a bag of ice only lasts a few hours, mosi coils, I forgot to mention them, don’t worry about the aeroguard because the flies aren’t normal, and don’t forget a philosophy regarding the amount of good things that can be found in near disasters. 

Note: Was also impressed with the Southern Highlands Club who took down 20 juniors (but they didn’t camp- the woosers)-we have got to more!

Connor and Derek O’Dwyer
Wollongong Mountain Bike Club Members