The under 19 Cross Country race started early Sunday morning at the base of the new Mt Stromlo mountain bike park. The morning in the lead up to the race had been a long one, many thoughts and worries crossed my mind but at the forefront of all that was the that fact that I was about to race one of the most important races of my life. I'll admit, I was scared....not of the course, not of the competitors but of the fact that a simple wrong decision while racing could make all I had put so much into worthless. A rock slashing down the side of my tyre would end my day!

    There were 18 of us on the start line, all the top names that I had read about were there, Robbie Hucker the current series leader, David Johnston a strong rider who had come all the way from the Northern Territory, Peter Brawnsteins another top rider, not to mention the Narooma lad Brendan Johnston who was also climbing the ranks. With the sound of the gun on the line my thoughts had to be elsewhere, it was time to think and ride like I had practiced. There was a 400m fire trail climb to start the championships, it was a climb that made each rider rethink the reason why they were riding! After the climb a smooth, flowing downhill run made us think again; with jumps, hips, burms and rock gardens there was nothing better I would have wanted to be doing. Another climb to the peak of Mt Stromlo followed, it was a challenge mainly because of the fact that it was so steep, some of the hills had a gradient of up to 45° in some places making choosing the right line essential. With the climb beaten for the first lap another challenging descent back to the crowd lay ahead, bringing the race to an end for a number of riders after hitting rocks too hard causing their tyre to puncture.

    After 4 laps of intense competition I was able to lead the race home crossing the line 1^st,  2.15 minutes ahead of the second rider Luke Fetch. Brendan Johnston came through 3rd followed by Robbie Hucker and Peter Brawnsteins.

    Many thanks to all that helped me out during the day, especially Harry, John and Gill Herne as my pit crew.