Wartburg had a good turnout of over a thousand entries, and a good Jeep presence on the start line, with Ryan, Matt Craig and I. The pace was furious from the line, with Matt demonstrating some of his residual road racing speed and power, heading up the pack. A group of about 7 of us stayed together for the first rolling 10kms or so, before Craig got serious. I had obviously gone far too far over redline on one of the short steep hills when the group split up, and found myself off the back – breathing blood. I was left in an unexceptional 6th, behind CP, David Lieman, Carl Calverly, Matt and Ryan respectively, and slightly worried that my Sani partner was setting the pace!
Over the next few kms I managed to get into a rhythm and reeled back Ryan, and then Matt on the only notable hill on the course. I could see Dave and Carl about a minute ahead with 5kms to go, and took a few risks on the epic final dual singletracks. I managed to bridge the gap to Carl by the line, but was spent from the chase, and had to resign to 4th in the dice to the line. Dave was about 20 seconds ahead in second, and CP about 1.30 up the road, taking the win.
Getting out of bed on Sunday morning at 5.30 was a bit of a mission after the long day on Saturday, but managed to pull myself out and get on the way down the coast to Blythdale. The event was a first timer on the calendar, but looks like it will be a regular feature in years to come with a special and diverse course, and Max and the A-Team in control of organisation.
Craig, Ryan and I were the only ones who had made it to the start line from the day before. Andrew Warr, Roan Exelby, Shaun Merridew, and juniors Brendon Davids and Luke Roberts shored up the compo. The pace was hot from the start, with Brendon making the rest of us slow starters hate him. After the first 10kms Andrew and Brendon were off the front, with CP a bit back – in Shaun and my sights. Shaun is always is always a good guy to be around in fast rolling classics with his huge power on the flats, an unselfish work ethic. We combined well together and reeled in Craig with 15kms to go. Quite surprisingly, Luke and Roan also popped into the group out of nowhere with 10kms to go. With their inclusion, the racing started in earnest, with attack after attack launched off the front.
Craig and I managed to forge a small gap off the front of the group in the hill last 5kms, which we held to the line. I finished 3rd, with CP 5 ticks back in 4th, and Shaun just behind in 5th. The high paced ending had brought Brendon into our sights, and he was 10 seconds ahead in 2nd on the line after a solid performance. Andrew Warr was the well deserved victor by about 2 minutes.
I was quite encouraged by my form on the second race of the weekend after a bit of a lacklustre performance at Wartburg, and a little less scared (stress on a little!) of the prospect of CP burning me at Sani2C. Next up is Sabie Ultra-Marathon Champs after a free weekend, which should be the next big test.
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