Buller National Round - Dan McConnell Report
Not to be outdone by his team mate, Dan McConnell has sent us his race report from the Mt Buller National round. You can read it below.
You can also keep up to date with the Anytime Fitness-Trek MTB team on their Facebook page.
Dans report:
First Win of the Season!
After a few months of little mountain bike racing it was time to hit up the second round of the All Mountain Cup in Mount Buller, With the new three race format it was going to be a full on weekend of racing.
We arrived at Mount Buller on the Thursday with gave us plenty of time to learn the tracks and to enjoy the picturesque view that the mountains have to offer. It was also our first race as the new Anytime Fitness Trek team so it was great to spend some time both on and off the bike with the team.
Friday was the Super D, Saturday the Cross Country and Sunday the point to point.
The Super D was fast and purely made up of 100% fire road that consisted of water bars, loose corners and a lot of bridges. With the high risk element that came with the super D I decided to take it conservatively, pushing the pace when it flattened out or headed up hill but making 100% sure I kept it rubber side down. I had a smooth, worry free run and recorded the 5th fastest time which I was very surprised with.
The Cross Country is still the main event of the weekend and I was really looking forward to pushing myself in a race and seeing where my form is in the early part of the season.
Photo: Russ Baker
Having not competed in the first round of the All Mountain Cup my start position was 24 which wasn't too bad but with the start heading straight up a rough fire road before a long section of single track it was going to make the start pretty important.
After a solid warm up I hit the line warm and feeling good, I jumped off the start and after the first 100m was in the top 5 but I was off the race line in the rough which saw me loose a few positions as we headed in to the single track. I was in 11th position and it didn’t take long until the lead group of Van Der Ploeg and Taberley were out of sight. So only 5 minutes into the race I had to change my race plan from a starting fast and testing the legs of my competitors to a more conservative race which would hopefully see me ride my way towards the front in the later laps.
I kept with that plan and spent the first 3 laps conserving as much energy as possible (which I found quite a hard thing to as I basically watched the leaders pull away from me) making sure I was not punching over the top of any hills or pushing a bigger gear than necessary.
Photo: Russ Baker
With 3 laps to go I started to wind it up, I was feeling as though I had not even started racing yet and was doing it pretty easy. It also helped that the early leaders had only opened up a 45 second gap. On the fourth lap I worked my way into 3rd position and cut the gap in half. By halfway through the 5th lap I had the two leaders of Van Der Ploeg and Taberlay in reach. I made contact and straight away Taberlay attacked to see how my legs were, I was able to respond and we came though the finish line with 2 to go as a trio but this didn’t last long as Van Der Ploeg attacked through the rough rocky fire road. Then there were two. I sat on his wheel and let him set the pace early into the lap, on the last climb of the lap I put in a surge and opened up a bit of a gap, I took it smooth and easy on the final descent and by the bottom we were back together again.
On the last lap I gave it everything, still feeling strong I tried to exert every last bit of energy from my body and recording the fastest lap of the race I crossed the line in 1st, 30 seconds in front of Paul with Blair jumping Taberlay late in the race to finish 3rd.
Photo: Russ Baker
I was very happy with the days racing, with no Mountain Bike intensity I still have a lot to improve on!
Sunday was the point to point on the well renowned Stonefly track. I was leading the General Classification for the weekend so today was pretty straight forward. I had to mark Andy Blair who was the only real threat to the overall lead.
I had not ridden Stonefly before but it certainly lived up to its reputation. Flowy single track that just keeps on going, it was a great trail, although this did make racing difficult as passing on the tight single track was an issue. Paul went off the front early in the stage and we never got him back in sight, I sat in the chasing bunch and tried to enjoy the tracks although this was made harder by the fast pace at the front of the bunch.
I rolled across the line in 5th and held onto the win for the Weekend.
It was a really great to start the year and a good sign of what is to come!
A big thanks to the Anytime Fitness Trek team for a great weekend, my coach Donna for getting me to this form so early on in the year and my family for their ongoing support!
Photo: Russ Baker
