HMBA round 1

What a race.

The weather was an against us from the start and the track was pretty slippery through the mid laps. It started out OK but with 105 sets of wheels across it after the first lap, it quickly turned into a slip and slide.

I got a jump on everyone into the single track and smashed myself through the first lap to try and open a gap. It seemed to work pretty well however I nearly slid right off the edge of a bridge and decided to slow up a little. I think everyone I spoke to after the race had a story of a near death experience in the greasy conditions.

For the last couple of laps, I just rolled around trying to keep the bike upright. Gingerly pottering through corners to try and stop the front from washing out. It was a funny sort of race, I only averaged 156 bpm and I think it was due to the conditions. You couldn’t push hard on the climbs or the rear wheel would slip, you couldn’t push hard through the corners or your front wheel would wash.

On the last lap, chain suck arrived wearing a party hat, although I still had some brake pads left unlike half of the riders. I spent the whole of the last lap looking over my shoulder – waiting for someone to catch me, but they never came. I dragged my sodden carcass across the finish line about 1-2 minutes ahead of the Danbot in second place.

So now I have a conundrum. Do I continue to sandbag in B grade or step up to A grade and have my arse handed to me as a hat? I certainly don’t have the pace to mix it with the fast guys in A grade however I don’t race for podiums – I race to do better than I did last time. So perhaps therein lies the answer.

I think the right decision was made to run the race and I am surely glad we got to play in the mud. I am glad we didn’t race the new section of track – it would have been absolute carnage!

Thanks to all the race volunteers and to the other competitors for a great day!