Italia National Series round, Vermiglio 2013

The Yellow house, our home for 3 weeks

After the world cup race in Czech I knew the legs were getting used to racing finally and was getting pretty excited for this knowing that I just had to stay up right and get a good rhythm going in the race.
It had been sunny for nearly two weeks straight here in Val Di Sole and the glove tan lines are starting to come out from hiding, unfortunately come race day the clouds rolled down the valley and settled in for a lazy Sunday drizzle. The course was pretty basic starting off with a paved road section followed by a really short but steep climb then a really short steep down hill section, followed by two more small climbs and downhills and grassy paddocks, we had 7 laps of this awesomeness.
The rain was a bit on/off leading up to the start and we were able to start dry and warm fortunately. I was seeded in 40th not far from the front row this time and had a really good start, I moved up the pack on the road sections, still having to run when the course closed in I passed more riders and got up pretty easily.

 Not even feeling puffed at this point(I did get to stand around a little bit). But I think the excitement of being up closer to the front of the race than usual was bit too much and the legs felt a bit heavy for a a little while even though I felt I had not pushed very hard yet. So I sat in a bunch for the remainder of the first lap, it then started to rain and continued to for about ten minutes(luckily).

I couldn't ride any of the grass climbs on the course and was dropped by my bunch easily passed by about 3 riders and left to ride by myself for the next 4 laps. I kept a good pace and had the top 20 in my sights but could not quite close the gap. Heading into the last lap I was caught by a group of 3 riders and sat on them.

Planning to attack on the one steep climb in the course. I cracked under pressure a bit and slipped around on the climb losing sight of the riders but fortunately there were no other pursuers close by and I held on to come around in 25th, I am really happy with that I got in a solid race over here and got a result out of it.
Am amped for the world cup next week and am looking forward to see what I can do.

Have not written much about my 29er experience yet, I think Yeti have made a great bike out of their ARC C as I am still really enjoying the ride both up and down still after spending two years on a full sus. Each day It is getting smoother,safer and faster through single track and it keeps getting better!
Big thanks to my sponsors Yeti NZ, Black Seal Imports, Southstar Shuttles, Wildlands Consultants, Adidas Eyewear, Roam Industries, Bike Culture, and Outdoorsman Headquarters.

Apart from racing I have been checking out the sights and filling my belly.. view away

Thanks for reading

Cheers