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Andrew Arthur is a member of SSCC and has been selected this year for the 2005 Australian Junior Mountain Bike Cross Country Squad.
 Mont 24 Hr Oct 8+9 2005
NSW XC State Championships - Penrose Forest
World XC MTB Championships Livigno Sep 2005
SnowShoe Mtn (WV) Norba Short Course August 21 2005
Keystone (Colorado, USA) state champs August 14th 2005
Mont 24 Hr Oct 8+9 2005
Ahh the MONT 24 is there any bigger event in the Southern Hemisphere. Well no there isn’t. It attracts over 2000 riders from all over Australia for competition and for socialising. Held in the Kowen forest, Canberra which is a National class Cross country track and also a great 24 hour race venue.
I arrived in the morning of the race, feeling like jelly, and with a constant prickling reminder of what was in store for me. I was part of the Trek Australia\Clarence Street 4 man team , which consisted of Matt Fleming (All round Driver) Shaun Lewis (U23 National Champion) Nash Kent (Clarence street road team, but secretly a mtb gun). For anyone who does not want to pound themselves senseless, I recommend doing 6!!
I was saved the trouble of having to do the run, with an extremely keen Matt Fleming ready to rip off the first lap and get us a good lead.
Our team got off to a fantastic start coming through in 1st place and a hundred and fifty dollars to put into the piggy bank, one and a half minutes up on Yeti, a 6 man mega combo, consisting of Sutherland shires very own Perren Delacour.
And a fellow 4 man group, team Cannondale.
I was third on the block meaning that I was going to hit peak hour traffic. This made me a little nervous, because I wanted to pull off something relatively fast for my first lap and not disappoint my team, even though I just had two weeks off. The first lap was Chaos. With most single track sections blocked by groups of riders who thought it fun to ride in groups larger than 5. So, it was left to open the lungs on the short intermittent fire road, which wasn’t good for the jelly in my legs. With a goal of trying to catch Team Kona which were about 3 minutes ahead of us on the start of my lap, I was happy to come in only 10 seconds behind Joel Healy, from team Kona.
Coming onto my first night lap, I was excited! Yes, apparently it was close to freezing, the sky was looking ominously dark, and we were in 3rd position. But as a team we all got a set of Nightrider MOAB HID`s which powered out a massive 40W of pure Nightriding bliss. The night lap was like nothing I had ever experienced before. No more heavy batteries and a failing yellow beam after 1 hour burn time. Just pure crisp white light, which penetrated surprisingly far considering the wide angle of light it was producing. And all for 4 hours straight.
After my 3rd lap I hit the hay, and within seconds the rain started to hit the tent, making the track an absolute bog fest, where even the smooth firetrails were getting slick with energy sapping mud.
Coming into dawn the rain had stopped and I was seriously fatigued, just getting up to suit up took some serious willpower and determination. At this stage Team Trek Australia\Clarence street were trailing a comfortable 2nd behind the (6 MAN) Yeti super combination.
With no change to the standings we came in around 20 minutes behind team yeti and second overall! An awesome performance for a 4 man team. With Kona 6 man team behind us and Cannondale, who came 2nd in the 4 mans.
Overall this was an awesome weekend, with many memorable occasions, its funny at 2am that morning I swore to myself I would never do another 24 hour, but coming into dawn and knowing that we have competed in one of the largest events in the world as far as Enduro racing goes and come out with a 2nd spot, has made me all the more excited to hit Kowen forest next year, and better our position by one!
Many thanks to the team and team captain Matt Fleming, who kept me going even though there was no gas in the tank, and Niterider who gave us a clear advantage over the night!
Last but Certainly not least I would like to thank Geoff Nash for allowing me to be part of the team in the first place!!
Thanks for reading!
Cheerio
Andrew.
NSW XC State Championships - Penrose Forest - Sep 2005
I’m Back!! and my body feels like it needed a break about 4 weeks ago...nevertheless, i decided to keep it going ‘till the state champs and mix it up with the big boys of the sport!
Arriving late, i got a loveley 2nd row start, which wasn’t that bad, because I knew that my legs weren’t feeling too good, and my chances of matching it today were slim. knowing Sean (Yeti), Pez (Yeti), Gordo (Cannondale) Matty Flemming (Clarence street) and Josh Flemming (Felt) were on smoking form I was a little nervous, but knowing nothing was really on the line it was all good!
As per usual the start was a mess for me, almost crashing twice on the first single track and with already a gap between me and the front 3 riders it was going to be a long race! With a feeble attempt at bridging the gap, and losing spots already on the first lap I knew my heart was not in it and obviously my legs. Going into one of the last little bits of single track I hit a rock pretty hard which stopped me completely and lost me about 4 spots right there. Getting quitely frustrated with how things were going and seeing the top 5 edge away ever so slowly and with every lap getting slower and more painfull I knew that my chances of finishing a respectable place had long since gone down the drain!
By the last lap my heart rate WOULD NOT! go above 155 which was testament to how tired my body had become. The final placings were Sean Lewis 1st, fellow Clarence street rider Matt Flemming in 2nd place and Olympian Josh Flemming in 3rd. I think my final placing was 10th !!
Now its time to hang up my bike for a week and enjoy life as a normal teenager!!!!...ohh and prepare for the HSC!
Cheers!
Andrew.
Report for World XC MTB Championships Livigno Sep 2005
I awoke to an awesome day!! perfect day to race the hardest and biggest race of my life, I think I even rode in a jersey and knicks.
With about 20 mins to go we were all ushered into the starting tent, which was if possible even hotter than outside. Due to this being my first international race and my bad performance at the National Champs I had been given Second last starting position, which meant that I would be starting last row with 110 riders in front of me, and all as good!
Waiting in the starting tent was nerve-racking, with all the kids talking in different languages, were they talking tactics? or just having a joke or two?! The first 3 rows were ushered up rider by rider as they were called out over to the main area, then it was up to the last two rows to make it to the startline themselves with only some of the riders being called up, as it turned out I got called up feeling excited I walked up and to my horror I could not even see the front row riders and what was worse I could count all the riders behind me on two hands, there were about 8.
Feeling nervous, but quietly determined I focused on the task at hand, with only minor distractions from the crowd I was gazing up at the tissot timer thinking’ to myself I still had a comfortable 5 min wait, I looked at my heart rate it was sitting on 110 ehh? I thought no big deal its only a club round. Then over the loudspeaker the 1 min call comes through, it was all happening too fast.... my heart rate immediately jumped to about 135 and the nerves were pounding now knowing that the start was going to be an absolute mess lined up on the outside.
When the gun went off everything just became a blur, I stood on my pedals waiting for a full 1 second for the field to get moving, and boy did we get moving. it was a short start loop and then into one of the longest climbs of the course, about 8 mins of middle ring bashing.
I got a relatively good start and was sitting about 70th out of 120 odd into the first climb, through the first climb I was picking them off in groups taking the outside line and trying to stay out of trouble. This was not to be avoided with about 3 bottlenecks in the first loop I just knew I was losing time to the front guys and I could do nothing about it on the most technical section everyone was walking which made the job of riding it very difficult, I made an executive decision and got off to run down.
I remember looking behind me and seeing a guys face contoured with horror or maybe rage as he flung himself past me as he went over the handlebars and into the gully, swearing in a language I could not understand. I remember looking up the first climb holding my bike infront of me practically standing and waiting for guys to get on top so I could push trough the throng of people to get back on my bike. I could see the front pack and they already had about a 3 min gap on me, and this was about 5 mins into the race!
Coming through the 1st loop of two I was feeling good sitting in about 46th position, I was coming down the last switch back descent which led onto the unforgiving grassy double track, which was littered with sharp rocks and bumps. I saw team-mate Lachlan Norris our top started rider running down the switchback descent, seeing his dislodged chain I got myself prepared to make a quick stop at the bottom for a quick exchange of tools, as it turned out he had fixed his chain but FORGOT!! to give it a quick pull to snap the links into place, which mean they just fell out again, once I gave him my tool I was off minus a tool and a tube, which I lost in the process.
I stopped at the tech area, cursing myself at the amount of time I was wasting and picked up a tube and a toolkit, and tried to follow the first wheel I saw onto the worst climb of the course.
The track consists of a figure 8 loop with the second loop being slightly longer at around 22-23 mins and the first being about 20 odd. The second loop featured a gorgeous (note the sarcasm) little climb, which zig zagged trough some ski runs, and with a sharp and long pinch at the end.
Feeling good I was starting to make up the places I had lost in my two stops and going into the single track descent which followed the massive climb I let loose trying to put as much time into the wheel in front of me as I could, actually enjoying the race for the first time I felt things were going good.
On the end of the second lap I started to cramp chronically, a first for me since the use of Endura. I started crawling uphill just trying to keep my calves working, I could also feel my quads starting to give in, so the pace had to be dropped dramatically. I started to feel myself losing spots, and not making much ground on the climbs as I had hoped.
Our race length consisted of two and a half laps, on the last half loop I was just surviving, sitting on everyone’s wheel that overtook me, and just trying to enjoy the ride\race. I could look on the side of the track and without fail every km or so there was one guy who had stopped and was on the ground in pain due to cramps. Knowing that this was not going to be my day, I gave it everything I had but stayed cautious in the descents not wanting to wipe out and do serious damage to my bike or to myself.
It was amazing to see how on the hardest and most painful sections the sides would be littered with people shouting and screaming for you to go go go!! no matter what country you are from and random aussies calling out and speaking in fluent Aussie tongues telling you to keep it going.
With a final placing of 50th, out of 120, I am happy, considering my start position, but I also know that if I had a better race I would have still done much better. As my first of hopefully countless international races it has been a thrilling experience from start to finish, and I am just glad to have had the opportunity of sharing this with you.
Now onto the State Champs a week and a half into my time off to see how I will go, then off to have a crack at 2006 World Championships which is being held in NZ Rotorua!
Thanks
Andrew.
SnowShoe Mtn (WV) Norba Short Course August 21 2005
Sorry for the delay in this message, i have been trying to find a place to connect to the internet in livigno its hard! here is the race report from the NORBA short track
I just came back from a chronic flu which kept me off my bike for about 3 days, on the day of the short track I was feeling much better but still with a lingering cough that would not go away.
It was a good day, perfect for some lung busting Norba style short track, we were called up to the start line and were given a starting line up near the front.
With one minute to go ‘till the start the music was pumping and the apparently smaller than average crowd were banging on the banners trying to get us exited for the start.
Once the gun whent off it was into a short sharp pinch and then straight into about 400m of grass, with loose and rocky corners to navigate. I got a shocking start and using my fri night crit racing! I was desperately trying to move myself up the ranks to try and get a decent position, about three laps into the race I connected with the front pack consisting of all the Aussies and 3 or 4 Americans, feeling good on the climbs I put pressure on the Americans and tried to bring some Aussies along for the ride, 4 laps into the race it was an Australian train of juniors leading the American national series. I was feeling good, when Lachlan Norris (Aus National champ) made unwittingly an attack towards the bunch which broke the bunch up the climb, being at the back my reaction was too late and I was left to try and bridge the gap with 2 Aussies and 2 Americans coming back strong.
The short track was around 25 minutes plus 3 laps at around the 23 minute mark I was starting to hurt up the climb and the cough was catching up with me. Lachlan already had a 13 second gap on the leading pack of 40 riders, and it was’nt comming down fast enough, sitting in 3rd place. I felt myself start to fade, trying to hang on to every wheel that passed me in the last 3 laps I finished 6th, which was’nt too bad considering my illness only 3 to 5 days ago, and with only 2 Americans beating me I was very happy and content , feeling that i would be much stronger in a couple of weeks, once I became healthy again.
Now onto the world championships in Livigno Italy!! cant wait, the course is apparently very hilly so it’s gonna be awesome!!
Keystone (Colorado, USA) state champs August 14th 2005.
It was a unusually hot day, with temperatures reaching mid to high 20`s.
We had about a 40 min ride to the local race, wich gave my legs a good deal to warm up. especially after the hammering we had been getting training. with already 18 hours under the belt for that week, i knew the race was going to be a tough one and only the best climbers would prevail on a course, which featured a 45 - 50 min warmup climb and then 3 laps of another 40 - 45 min climb.
The race was very well organised, with the cross country race being a small part of the whole Nissan X - Terra race event (a multisport event for those who dont know)
The time reached 10:30 and it was time to suit up, with a mass start ahead, I was sure plenty of junior riders wanted some elite men action.
The start was a rolling one behind a quad bike at about 30km a hour, my team mate Joel Healy, immediatly made a move to the front of the race and I quickly followed knowing that getting a good position early on was going to be critical for a good performance.
We hit the first climb and had to contend with a very steep gradient, which leveled off before getting more intense, and all on loose rock.
Many riders had to already walk up this semi berg and the hill was taking its toll on everyone.
I used this opportunity to move up in the race, and took the lead from Joel, giving him a breather and a chance to follow someones wheel.
We hit the first single track looking back at the mass of riders still trying to climb this first climb and could see checkers of aussie jerseys moving up the feild.
The rough single track climb lasted for about 30 minutes, with intermittent fire road breaks, where the power could really be put down.
Joel and me reached the start of our laps first and were currently about 14th place overall and feeling good.
The single track loops were easier on the legs, but harder to maintain a good cadence due to the rough nature of the climb, which was going to become critical later on in the race when we started to cramp. Near the top of the first loop team-mate Lachlan Norris (Austraian National Champ), was crawling back from a consistent start. Lahlan just latched on to our wheel only to lose it again up the gradual gradient of the last fireroad, with Joel being the best decender in the team it was critical not to lose too much time on the fire road, so i accelerated, and felt Lachlan lose us again.
The descent was honestly one of the best i have ever been on, it started of quite rough and rooty, where good lines were critical for maintaining speed trough the section and not losing too much time on Joel.
I came out only about 10 seconds after Joel and ready to start another 40 mintues of torture, this time Lachlan came back quicker and started to lead the race up the last section. and increased the pace almost to breaking point, I had a gel, and drank plenty of water to try and keep the cramps at bay.
Again I reached the top of the climb in second spot, in about 7th place overall. Joel this time gained some ground on the descent, only to lose it when he flatted, knowing that on this day I was probably climbing better than most of the team I made the most of the downhill, railing everycorner as fast as my generally poor descending skills would let me.
I reached the last lap fresh and ready to open up the lungs and see what 18 hours of "Damian`s training" had done to my body, this was a race between Lachlan and me. Wwhenever Lachlan came close I would up the pace slightly through some of the single track and disrupt his rythym. After the last 40 min climb, my legs were starting to hurt, and I could feel my calves starting to cramp, Lachlan came within about 10 meters before the last fireroad accent, and I punched it as hard as I could gaining about a minute over 100 meters.
Knowing now that only 15 mintues of descending, stood between me and victory I started to get excited, too excited, a close call with a tree, on the last part of the lap, made me slow down and realise there are bigger races to win.
I came within about 3km when Lachlan, caught up by now by my haphazard decent, made the most of it and sprinted me to the last bit of singletrack. I knew that I would eventually lose his wheel through the tight sweeping singletrack. I came out of the last little single track about 35 meters away from Lachlan`s wheel, I smashed the last fire road descent, feeling my legs cramping up on me, I was catching him. We came back to the road which led to the start\fnish banner, and Lachlan got behind an elite men’s wheel and left me to try and chase alone. Lachlan won the race by 5 seconds to me knowing that my climbing was right up with the best of them and my descending only really needed work in tight loose single track.
I was very happy with my performance and hope that this race was a sign of good things to come, the final standings from the Aussies were Lachlan Norris first, Me second, Garry Millburn 3rd Joel Healy 5th and Cal Britten 6th.
Thanks For Reading
Cheers!
Andrew.
Palmares
- 4th in the 2nd round of the National MTBA series, Killingworth (Hunter Valley, NSW) Nov 22nd 2004
- 2nd Canberra Tour de Dirt, Kowen Forest, Canberra, January 14-16 2005
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