Team EP Blog - Choc Foot Stromlo Rd 3

Chocolate Foot - SRAM Singletrack Mind Series Round 3, Mt Stromlo 26th June 2011.

I rocked up to meet my team mates for the Stromlo round of Chocolate Foot’s NSW/ACT state enduro series and was a little confused.

I pulled my bike off the roof and could have sworn I should have been at one of the Cyclocross races I’ve been checking out on the Youtube recently.

It was foggy, freezing and in the drive from my house to Stromlo my bike had developed a decent layer of ice. I gave my number plate a bit of a tap and a sheet of ice fell off and smashed on the ground next to my front wheel, which prompted me to get the pliers out of my tool box to break apart the ice that was covering my grips.

Ok, so it was cold! But that certainly didn’t dampen the enthusiasm.

If anything it actually added to the pace on the first lap as everyone rocketed away from the start line to warm up a bit. The organisers had us do a quick lap of the Stromlo criterium track which sorted the order out a bit before we all funneled into the first stretch of single track.

The track was identical to the one used at the Easter Solo 24 Nationals, and was great fun. It had everything that you expect of a race track at Stromlo, rock gardens, nice flow, plenty of jumps and of course the trademark loose gravel over hardpack to keep you on your toes as you tip into the corners.

This was my first experience of the Willo link and I was mightily impressed by it, aside from being well built and plenty of fun it’s nice to have an option to ride some of the lower trails around the back of the mountain with out having to ride over the top of it.

A noticeable omition from the course was the usual climb up what is known locally as the ‘trunk trail’ to the top of the hill, which was a nice change for those of us who hadn’t ridden at the Easter Solo’s.

I didn’t take too much notice of results or where anyone was sitting in the respective categories, instead enjoying the nice day that developed by sitting around talking with mates between laps, but it was pretty hard to miss Dylan Cooper’s stand out performance in the solo.

He lead from the start and never looked back, finishing well in front. Team Enduro Pulse rider Michael Crummy rode solidly to finish twelfth and tuck a good solid 7 hours of riding under his belt in his return from a recent break.

In all it was a great day out, with another well run and relaxed event from the team at Chocolate Foot. Keep an eye out on Cycling Central for a story and footage of all the action over the next couple of weeks.

For results on the race check out Chocolate Foot's website here.