Final day of the Cape to Cape today. Only two phrases needed to describe today's ride: road pedaling and forest singletrack. Two very different facets of mountain biking.
We started today at Colonial Brewery just east of Margaret River, and finished in Dunsborough. So we had quite a lot of ground to cover. The stage was 65km all up, by far the longest distance of the four days.
The weather today was relatively good. No rain, which was nice, and not too hot. There was a strong wind but luckily it was a south easterly so mostly it was a tailwind. However, it was very cold waiting at the start line for our start. Being in the last group on the road (Gold Class!), we don't start until about 8:30am as there are five minute time gaps between all the groups.
Eventually we headed off. The first 15km were road-based (tarmac and good gravel roads) before we got to the singletrack. Our plan was to ride at a good pace to warm up, then stop and eat something before the singletrack so that the more technically confident riders could get back in front of us. This plan worked well, we warmed up within about 5-10 min and we were passing pretty much everyone. We weren't going flat out but we sat at a good tempo pace.
After our little stop for a picnic (homemade muesli bars) and pit stop, we got into the singletrack at Middle Earth. I had been a bit nervous about this section, as I'd heard that Middle Earth was quite technical and had some challenging / scary obstacles. However, it was not as bad as I'd thought and just about all of it was rideable. The really tricky stuff had "B" lines around it. There were a couple of steep rocky drops that I walked down but otherwise I was brave enough to tackle most things.
The trail had lots of whoopdies, particularly sand ramps constructed over logs. Also quite a few berms and table tops. It was also quite twisty and narrow in places, weaving in between tight trees. Narrow bits of track are not my most favourite thing but I definitely got more confident at this today, just by doing it. Four days in a row out mountain biking has improved my confidence a long way, so I'm more willing to try stuff, and then I improve my skills and have more success at the things I try. Positive feedback loop.
My skill level is on par with riders in approximately the bottom third of the last group. There were definitely some riders who were slower and less skilled/confident than me through the technical stuff. Not many riders, but there are a few!
After almost 10km of fun at Middle Earth, it was back onto the roads. The next approximately 35km were pretty much on roads. Gravel roads, sandy roads, tarmac, bike paths, and a few short sections on grass. It was not much fun, and by the last 15km I was starting to get a bit tired. We stopped and had some more food, then continued to press on towards the promise of more singletrack near Dunsborough.
Well, there was more singletrack but it was only a few kilometres. The last 2-3km went through the mountain bike skills area at Dunsborough. This felt like the trickiest piece of singletrack in the whole four days - maybe cos I was pretty tired by this stage. It was quite twisty, and the trickiest bits for me were the rock gardens and the really narrow track between trees. I walked a few bits, but I also tackled some "A" lines that I wouldn't have done previously - a narrow bridge and a couple of small log overs and ramps. I also was really pleased with how I rode the narrow winding trail, I'm getting the hang of keeping my weight back and steering lightly. The downhill section was pretty fun too, although I was taking it at my sedate pace.
Finally, we reached the finish line. And none too soon as they were starting to collect some of the track signage. My hayfever kicked in straightaway after we finished in the grassy golf club, so we didn't hang around long and soak up the atmosphere and achievement of finishing.
I'm really happy to have completed this event, to finish safely, have no major mechanical issues, no concerns over fitness or nutrition, and to maintain a happy friendly attitude through the event. My preparation was good, and it was definitely ideal to ride with a buddy and stick together the whole way. As a bonus, my mountain bike skills have improved a lot and we got to experience some of the best trails in the south west of WA. This event looks like it will be on the calendar for next year!
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