On Saturday they had the 6hr/12hr race at McLeans Island, which meant it was nice and clean on Sunday, but also that the track was not full of psycho bikers going hell for leather, but instead was chocka block full of families enjoying the sunshine and the great (fantastic!) outdoors.
We were here to try and get some lap times on the track, see if we can set a good time for a tandem. Lap one was a little slow as we had company of the small kind for the first leg, but they were farmed off after a couple of k's and speed picked up. The corners are still way too sharp, the trees are still in the way, the track is still very narrow and windy and bumpy and full of rocks, but we knock the first lap off in good time.
Without delay, we're into lap two. Higher speeds this time, faster corners, tighter turns, bumpier bumps, and we finish the second lap a couple of minutes faster than the first. The tracks' bumps are quite different at higher speeds. It's like the difference between riding over a rough surface, and riding a horse at a gallop. The 'waves' seem to catch the tandem just right, synchronising the rise and fall of us both like some kind of insane merry-go-round.
Logan now has a new seat post, something that had been an issue for a while now, and he's discovered the joys of rigid mountain biking and it's effects on your rear end. Not being one to complain (well, actually, I'm not one to listen to the complaints of others) we start off on lap number three. Less than 10 seconds in, we are joined by a workmate of mine who has clicked off one lap already and tags along for another behind us. She's along for the comedy value alone. I want her to see just how close Logan gets to the trees as we go around the corners. (Turns out, heaps of room, I'm taking the corners so wide he has massive amounts of space, sometimes several inches between him and the trees.) This lap is our fastest, but most damaging, so is declared our last of the day.
Lap one was 35.5 mins. Lap two was just under 34 mins. Lap three was just over 32 mins. This puts our average speed for the last lap on this bendy windy course at just a tad under 20kph which is good. We can beat that as we have some areas where we can improve and get better and faster, and now I know we can take the corners sharper too! The trees we graze on the open area will be grazier (ooh, new word) and some of the other corners will be less slow and less wide (see: faster and sharper) and we'll knock this puppy off in less than 30 mins before long.
Next weekend, hills.
urgh.
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