2013 Ingkerreke Commercial Mountain Bike Enduro

 Stage One

It was going to be a long and hard week of racing ahead and everyone was keen to get off to a flying start on the 42km Subway Mt Gillen stage. After a few kilometres of neutral through the town, behind the Northern Territory highway pursuit car, the flag dropped and it was on! A $200 cash prize on the top of the first climb was motivating everyone to push the pass early. Andy Blair and Shaun Lewis from Swell Specialized were keeping tabs on the front of the race, splitting the field with all the top contenders riding off the front before the KOM. Andy Blair took out the climb and kept the pace on over the top. Kyle Ward crashed on a fast section of single track  resulting in a split in the front group. The Swell boys took advantage of this and rode away with 1^st and 2^nd on the stage. I crossed the line in 6^th position losing about 2 minutes to the leader of the tour, Andy. 

Stage Two

Stage two consisted of the Anzac Hill Climb which was only 300 metres long and would take under a minute to complete. It was a stage that would not change the overall GC standings but everyone wanted a fast time and a chance to get the 20 and 10 second time bonuses that could become handy later on in the week. With most competitors waiting around after their runs to watch the top riders go up the hill, it was pushing everyone to go even harder. Andy took out the win in 44.68 seconds, this was his second stage win of the tour, but first ever in the hill climb. I placed 8^th overall in stage with a time of 51.6.

Stage Three

Starting just out of Alice Springs at the Telegraph Station. This was a stage that I was looking to make time up on other riders and hopefully move up on GC. With a break going up the road early with Kyle making the move, it was time to sit back and conserve energy for later in the week. Andy had a rear flat about 15 km into the stage and this was the perfect time to get back some time on GC. With Kyle still up the road I did not want to do any of the pace setting. Ben Hogarth went to the front and pulled a huge turn for the next 5km with myself and Shaun sitting on. Just before the halfway point and the feed zone we came across Kyle on the side of the track with a snapped seat post. It was time for plan b and after the feed zone the race went into a section of fast but very rocky single track. Shaun and myself managed to get a break over Ben and rode the last 15km of the stage out front. Unfortunately for Shaun he had a rear wheel flat 3km from the finish of the stage. Once again I took full advantage of this, riding away to my first stage victory and 3^rd overall on GC while setting a new course record. Andy rode a solid race placing 3^rd on stage and holding onto 1^st on GC.

Stage Four

The stage started in Santa Teresa, a small community about 100km outside of Alice, with no single track and only 400 vertical over 88km it was going to be a very fast stage. The pace was on early and Andy and Shaun had a hard time chasing down attacks early on. I had a slight off, losing the front end of my bike in a deep hole of soft sand in the middle section of double track 10km in, leaving the Swell boys to take full advantage and set a fast tempo. Kyle and John Groves sat up and waited for me, helping me ride back across to the front group. This took about 10km but I did not want to spend too many cookies on the way across. At the first water point, 41kms in, the front bunch had 7 riders all

working well and about 4 minutes ahead of the chasing bunch. At 10kms to go we had our last fence jump, I took a little time to get over it and had too chase back on again. After the stage Andy took me aside and told me I need to be a little more prepared when approaching obstacles, because you can win and lose a race over such things. The stage was never awarded with a winner due to the course being demarked resulting in us missing the last bit of bunting to the finish line and riding towards the centre of Alice Springs. When we realized the mistake and found where the finish line was we all rolled across in a bunch of about 14 riders as the chasing group also went the wrong way. The race organizers awarded the front seven riders a four minute advantage over the chasing bunch.

Stage Five

Stage five was an individual time trial around Alice Springs Golf Course with riders setting off at 30 second intervals. Times were based on GC order and I was still sitting in 3^rd  which meant I was 3^rd last, meaning I was being chased by Lewis and Andy. I set a good time but was caught by both Swell riders. Andy reported after the stage I was the carrot out front motivating him to catch me and ride faster. I finished in 6^th position still in 3^rd overall but having a smaller lead to 4^th placed rider, Ben Hogarth.

Stage 6

The night stage was at the same course as the morning’s time trial and it was like an XCO start, the pace was on into the first corner and never let up. I could not believe how fast we rode the stage. The times being only a few seconds slower than the morning’s time trail. I crossed the line in 7^th position, with Shaun taking out the win followed by Andy in 2^nd and Kyle in 3^rd.

Stage 7

The last stage meant there was only 40km left of the IMCE left. I was still holding onto 3^rd overall but with Ben in 4^th and only 43 seconds down it was going to be a tough race. The pace was on early with Ben attacking and Kyle taking up the chase with me on his wheel. He shut Ben down a few kilometres later and I went straight to the front and took up the pace, keeping the tempo high and trying to stop Ben from making another move. Andy and Shaun sat on the back of us and watched the race for 3^rd unfold. I finally got a gap on Ben up the last climb of the day and managed to hold it to the finish line for a 3^rd place on the stage and 3^rd on GC for the tour. Andy took the win followed by Shaun, giving Specialized a clean sweep for taking out all 7 stages of the tour on there S-works 29er Epics.

I would like to say a huge thank you to all my sponsors for giving me the highest quality products that I had no trouble with all week. From my Schwalbe Racing Ralphs to the Sram XX1 that never missed a change and stayed in perfect tune all week in some of the toughest riding conditions I have ridden in. My S-works 29er Epic was the best bike for the tour. Gu Energy for keeping my energy levels up day after day. A massive thank you to Simon Coffin and the team down at Total Rush for putting a race bike together that did not miss a beat and is a pleasure to ride in all conditions. Thanks to Rapid Ascent for organising such a great race!