SHITS - 6 hrs in the Saddle

6 hours in the saddle - Beechworth

6th open mens, 10 laps 6 hrs :12 min

Last weekend (14th May) I decided to head down to the 6 hr at Beechworth.

The event is run by Finishline Events - who also ran Terra and Alpine Assault - and the course was in a mtb park we went through in Terra - so I thought this would be a good race to check out.

I got to the event early to get in a preview lap and it was cold!

The Beechworth mtb park is really good fun. Lots of granite roll overs and little rock gardens. It flows really well and rewards those who pick the right lines.

It was great to see a really strong turn out of riders - Jackson, Chancellor, Zagorski, Davies, Hayat ... and the list goes on.

For me, this race was just for fun and I went in with no expectations.

Not having any support for this race I had no idea where I was position wise in the race, so I just rode a solid tempo and tried to improve my lines each lap.

In the end, I came in 6th place - 12 minutes down on 3rd and a lap down on 1st.

Food wise I kept it real simple - 1/2 Torq bar or a Torq gel each lap, and a bottle of Torq energy (3 scoops) every 3 laps.

Equipment wise I ran a 2.1 Rocket Ron UST on the front and a 2.1 Racing Ralph UST on the rear. This combination worked pretty well, especially since there was a little moisture on the track. If the conditions were dry, I'd go a Ralph on the front too - and maybe go for a 2.2 width.

The Scott Spark performed really well - riding the whole day in the middle lock out.

Thanks to ACT Bike Superstore for keeping my bikes running, and to Robyn for letting me out for another weekend of racing!