'Cippolini' Sharp Wins Snr Men In Vegas NI Cup!
>> Friday, January 9, 2009
Round 1 of the NI Cup XC, Vegas. This is where the shit talking and sandbagging comes to a head. Luckily I have been in the sandbaggers camp, to offset Slackshanks’ and Angry Features talking it up.
After spending a week or so sifting in Vegas after Christmas I was looking forward to getting out on the race course. I had managed to squeeze in a couple of training sessions that Cabin had set out, and leading up to the race I was feeling OK. Come race day I managed to enter, find the PNP team manager, and even went to the riders briefing. Good start. Although it had rained a wee bit the day before I didn’t think the trails would be too bad. Stiff shit, as the Stans tyres were the only ones I had brought up to Vegas with me. I got out for a warm up lap, and was pretty happy with the condition of the track. I think I missed being called up for the start, but as Senior Men was on the front row I just barged my way through and lined up next to Big Gay Al. After an eternity of sitting on the line the starters gun went and we moseyed off.
I wanted to be near the front for the start of the singletrack to make sure I didn’t get held up by anyone. I got a decent start and led into Sweet & Sour, with Hiskey on my tail and Ricky and Garth close behind (I know it was Garth cos I could hear the bike 20m away). Down Bunny Jugs and out onto Direct Road for the first time. At this point Hiskey slipped past and promptly showed me how to get up a hill. I dropped 15 seconds on him from the bottom of Direct Road to the bottom of Hot Cross. I kept him in sight through Dragon’s and Mad If U Don’t before slipping back past heading into Ball & Chain. At the start of the second lap we had a quick look around and a bit of a gasbag on the 4wd to the singletrack. We decided we’d put a wee gap on and to sit tight.
Hiskey led into the singletrack, and put 15 seconds on me by the bottom of Direct Road. This time I must have had a shit ride up Direct and Hot Cross, cos by the time I reached the intersection I was 1:15 down. Damn. I managed to hold it together through Dragon’s and Mad, before having Cam Durno get onto my wheel. I didn’t know which class he was in, so let him into the singletrack first. I stuck to him, fairly well, but made a wee mistake and he ended up with a 20 second advantage for the final assault on Direct Road. Some of this training stuff must be paying off, cos not only did I manage to close the gap down, but I ended up with a 10 second lead heading into HXB for the final time. Cool.
Down thurr, and into Dragon’s I could hear Cam on my tail, and with the rain falling the trails started to get a little more exciting for me. Cam got through about halfway down Dragon’s, and tried to gap me. I stuck to him like shit on a blanket. Out of Dragon’s and into Mad, there would have been about 3 seconds between us. He pulled a wee gap at the start of Mad where the trail is quite rough, but I managed to peg him and slowly get back on his wheel. As we exited Mad I very nearly passed him, but thought I’d sit in and wait a bit. Through Ball & Chain for the last time I sat there, patiently waiting.
As we approached the finish straight we caught a slower rider, which halted our progress for a few seconds. As soon as we made the left turn into the straight I saw Cam get out of the saddle and get his sprint on. I’ll have none of that thankyouverymush. All this fashion biking must be paying off, cos I jumped up and smashed it. I ended up winning by about 1 wheel length according to a few spectators, although the results say 2 seconds.
Lots of smiles after the finish all round – I was really stoked to have had such a tough and close race. High points for me were leading after the first lap, the catch and pass on the third lap on Direct Road, and the awesome sprint finish.Low points were my Direct Road/HXB section on the second lap.
Biggie ups to Slacky for his 2nd in Old Maings, Whacko Jacko for 4th in his first ever race in Seniors(!), and solid stuff (lol) from AC and Tiger.
After spending a week or so sifting in Vegas after Christmas I was looking forward to getting out on the race course. I had managed to squeeze in a couple of training sessions that Cabin had set out, and leading up to the race I was feeling OK. Come race day I managed to enter, find the PNP team manager, and even went to the riders briefing. Good start. Although it had rained a wee bit the day before I didn’t think the trails would be too bad. Stiff shit, as the Stans tyres were the only ones I had brought up to Vegas with me. I got out for a warm up lap, and was pretty happy with the condition of the track. I think I missed being called up for the start, but as Senior Men was on the front row I just barged my way through and lined up next to Big Gay Al. After an eternity of sitting on the line the starters gun went and we moseyed off.
I wanted to be near the front for the start of the singletrack to make sure I didn’t get held up by anyone. I got a decent start and led into Sweet & Sour, with Hiskey on my tail and Ricky and Garth close behind (I know it was Garth cos I could hear the bike 20m away). Down Bunny Jugs and out onto Direct Road for the first time. At this point Hiskey slipped past and promptly showed me how to get up a hill. I dropped 15 seconds on him from the bottom of Direct Road to the bottom of Hot Cross. I kept him in sight through Dragon’s and Mad If U Don’t before slipping back past heading into Ball & Chain. At the start of the second lap we had a quick look around and a bit of a gasbag on the 4wd to the singletrack. We decided we’d put a wee gap on and to sit tight.Hiskey led into the singletrack, and put 15 seconds on me by the bottom of Direct Road. This time I must have had a shit ride up Direct and Hot Cross, cos by the time I reached the intersection I was 1:15 down. Damn. I managed to hold it together through Dragon’s and Mad, before having Cam Durno get onto my wheel. I didn’t know which class he was in, so let him into the singletrack first. I stuck to him, fairly well, but made a wee mistake and he ended up with a 20 second advantage for the final assault on Direct Road. Some of this training stuff must be paying off, cos not only did I manage to close the gap down, but I ended up with a 10 second lead heading into HXB for the final time. Cool.
Down thurr, and into Dragon’s I could hear Cam on my tail, and with the rain falling the trails started to get a little more exciting for me. Cam got through about halfway down Dragon’s, and tried to gap me. I stuck to him like shit on a blanket. Out of Dragon’s and into Mad, there would have been about 3 seconds between us. He pulled a wee gap at the start of Mad where the trail is quite rough, but I managed to peg him and slowly get back on his wheel. As we exited Mad I very nearly passed him, but thought I’d sit in and wait a bit. Through Ball & Chain for the last time I sat there, patiently waiting.
As we approached the finish straight we caught a slower rider, which halted our progress for a few seconds. As soon as we made the left turn into the straight I saw Cam get out of the saddle and get his sprint on. I’ll have none of that thankyouverymush. All this fashion biking must be paying off, cos I jumped up and smashed it. I ended up winning by about 1 wheel length according to a few spectators, although the results say 2 seconds.
Lots of smiles after the finish all round – I was really stoked to have had such a tough and close race. High points for me were leading after the first lap, the catch and pass on the third lap on Direct Road, and the awesome sprint finish.Low points were my Direct Road/HXB section on the second lap.
Biggie ups to Slacky for his 2nd in Old Maings, Whacko Jacko for 4th in his first ever race in Seniors(!), and solid stuff (lol) from AC and Tiger.
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