Controlling nerves on race day

Controlling nerves on race day – Where your mind goes, everything follows.

At the start of a race your heart is pounding, the feel of nervous energy surrounds you and finally all those hours of training you have logged are being put to the test.  Athletes live for this rush of excitement and feeling of being fully alive; recognizing this feeling and channelling it into your performance can be the difference in your race.

 

The best way to turn your nerves into confidence it’s by firstly recognizing what physical and emotional aspects of you are nervous. On race day nerves can get the better of you and make you feel out of control. However, by recognizing what exactly these feelings are it will becomes easier to control them. A physical response to nervousness is normally a heavy heart beat. When you feel this heavy heart come on respond to it by thinking ‘this is the adrenaline in my body telling me I’m ready to race.’ An emotional response can be thinking “I’m so nervous, I don’t know what to do I’m going to come last.” A counter response to this could be “I’m ready to race, I have spent hours training for this, I’m going to give it everything. Let’s go!”


By creating a performance focus plan for racing you will be able to keep your focus where you want it and where it will work for you. If you focus on your strengths you will be strong. The more you can focus on why you’re capable and how you’re capable your confidence will grow. During your race relax your breathing and absolutely live in the moment. Think about the exact step in front of you; don’t let your mind slip into negative thoughts.  Visualize your success and success will follow.

Before your next race write down what negative thoughts may come into your head. Next to every negative thought write down a positive counter thought. You will ALWAYS do better with a positive mind frame than a negative one. Practice this during your training and even during your everyday life. By doing this you will continue to improve, grow, live, and excel in positive ways in your racing and life.



What I love about cycling and triathlon is at some point during our many hours of training we have visualised winning or having the perfect race. Sometimes that is enough, that is your moment…that is living

Endurance Sports Nutrition: Frequently Asked Questions

Consuming variety of carbohydrates during exercise and eating balanced training and recovery diet improve performance

By Nancy Clark, MS, RD, CSSD

What should athletes participating in endurance and ultra-endurance exercise eat before, during and after sports? Here the answers to these and other questions about endurance sports nutrition:

Carbohydrates

Q.  What should an endurance sports athlete eat during a long run, bike ride or other exercise that lasts more than 60 to 90 minutes?
A.   It depends. Some athletes like the convenience of engineered sports foods. Others prefer the taste (and price) of standard supermarket foods, such as fig bars, dried pineapple, and gummy candy.  The bottom line: all are equally effective.
And because we're talking more about "survival" rather than  "good nutrition" during endurance exercise, you don't have to feel guilty if you use candy as fuel. Sugar (e.g. simple carbohydrates) is what your body wants!  Remember, too, that sports gels and sports drinks are also "just sugar."

Q.  Does it matter if you get your energy from an energy bar or a sports drink?

A.  The short answer is no. Both solid and liquid energy foods get burned at the same rate when exercising for more than half an hour. So, again, what an athlete eats depends on what his intestinal tract tolerates and what tastes best.

Consuming enough calories is more important than the form of the calories because research suggests that endurance athletes who consume more calories do better than athletes who consume fewer calories. (For example, Ironman Triathlon champ, Chrissie Wellington, consumed about 335 calories/hour when she won in Hawaii.) 
The challenge is to train the intestinal tract to digest that much fuel and convert it to energy for the body to use. In other words, the training program for an endurance athlete actually needs to include training of the intestinal tract as well as the heart, lungs and muscles.

Q.  How much should an athlete eat to maintain good energy during exercise lasting longer than 60 to 90 minutes?

A.  The rule of thumb for fueling during endurance exercise used to be to consume 1 gram of carbohydrate per minute of exercise (e.g. 60 grams of carb per hour or the equivalent of 240 calories).  The research, originally done with just glucose, suggested that consuming more than 60 grams of glucose per hour offered no extra benefits because the body has a limited number of glucose transporters and can carry only 60 grams out of the intestines into the blood and to the muscles.


Recent research, however, shows that consuming a variety of sugars (e.g., more than just glucose) makes more fuel available to the muscles per hour. That's because different types of sugars (carbs) use different transporters.

Most endurance athletes are already consuming more than just glucose:  Sports drinks, for example, contain glucose and fructose. while a banana is made up of many different types of sugars and uses many different transporters. An athlete's muscles will be able to access more fuel (up to 90 g carb/hour or 360 calories per hour) if he consumes more than just one kind of sugar.

The new research has resulted in new recommendations on the optimal number of grams of carbohydrates to consume during endurance exercise:

Fueling During Exercise

Exercise Duration	Grams of Carbohydrates Per Hour
Less than 45 minutes	No fueling during exercise required (other than pre-exercise snack)
1 to 2 hours	30 g. carbohydrates (120 calories) per hour
2 to 3 hours	60 g. to 80 g. carbohydrates (240 to 320 calories) per hour1
More than 2.5 hours	90 g. mixed carbohydrates (360 calories) per hour (sports drink, candy, dried fruit, pretzel)

Some serious athletes train first thing in the morning without eating before/during exercise. While doing this may teach the body to burn more fat (hence spare limited glycogen stores), it's grueling and the verdict is unclear if it enhances competitive performance. Stay tuned!

Q.  What happens if fueling during exercise creates intestinal distress?
A.  Consider a  "swish and spit" approach.  Research shows that athletes who just swished and then spat out a sports drink performed better than athletes swishing and spitting just plain water. How could that be? It's because receptors in the mouth are linked to the brain so that when an athlete's mouth gets a swish of sports drink, it sends a signal to the brain - which then sends a signal to the body -  that energy is on the way, so it's okay  to work harder.

Protein

Protein requirements are hard to define because the amount of protein your body needs depends on how many calories you consume. That is, if you are restricting calories, you require more protein than when you eat adequate calories because the protein gets burned for fuel. Dieting athletes should target at least 1 g protein/lb (2 g pro/kg).

Note: If an athlete is dieting to reduce body fat, it is hard to build muscle mass at the same time because building muscle takes energy, while dieting restricts energy.

The protein recommendations for non-dieters who consume adequate calories are:

• Healthy adults: 0.4 g Protein/pound 0.8 gm Protein/kg

• Strength athletes: 0.5 to 0.8 g Protein/pound 1.2 to 1.7 g Protein/kg

• Endurance athletes: 0.5 to 0.6 g Protein/pound 1.2 to 1.4 g Protein/kg.

Q.  Does an athlete need to take protein supplements (such as by consuming protein shakes)?
A.  No.  Because the typical athlete's diet contains more than enough protein, most athletes do not need protein supplements. A protein-rich food with each meal and snack will do the job.

Q.  During endurance exercise, should you choose a sports drink with protein?
A.   Not unless you prefer the taste; it does not offer performance advantages over a standard sports drink. The better time to consume protein is after exercise because consuming carbs plus protein (such as in a specially formulated recovery sports drink containing protein and carbohydrates, or chocolate milk, fruit yogurt, or spaghetti & meatballs) helps the body recover from exercise by enhancing muscle repair and by replenishing glycogen stores in muscles, which are a source of fuel during prolonged exercise.²

Balancing carbs plus protein

Consuming some carbs+protein before a workout, as a part of a pre-exercise meal (cereal+milk, fruit+yogurt) is another option to bolster the supply of protein available both during and after exercise for recovery.
Note: Athletes generally don't burn much protein for fuel during exercise unless their glycogen (carb) stores are depleted. The bottom line: Meals/snacks with carbs as the foundation, protein on the side offer the right balance for endurance performance.

Sports Nutrition News - From The American College of Sports Medicine

At the American College of Sports Medicine's 2012 annual meeting, over 6,000 exercise scientists, sports dietitians, physicians and other health professionals gathered to share their research.

Here are a few of the nutrition highlights:

• Bananas fuel as well as sports drinks: During a 46-mile (75-km) race, cyclists performed just as well when they fueled with banana as compared to sports drink. They drank about 8 ounces of sports drink or ate half a medium banana + water every 15 minutes during the 2.3-hour event. Time to start taping bananas to your helmet? 

• Pomegranate juice helps repair muscles:  Pomegranate juice is a rich source of bioactive compounds that reduce muscle soreness. Healthy men who drank PomWonderful juice for eight days before muscle-damaging exercise experienced less muscle soreness. 

•  Popeye was right: Nitrates in foods such as spinach (and beets) reduce the oxygen cost of exercise and enhance efficiency. Healthy young men who consumed half a liter of spinach juice for 6 days were able to perform better anaerobically. Maybe this is why Popeye was strong to the finish? 

• Borscht belt: Dietary nitrates in the form of beet juice (called beetroot juice in the UK) have been shown to improve 2.5 mile (4 km) and 9.5 mile (16 km) time trial performance by almost 3% in racing cyclists. During a longer, 50-mile time trial, cyclists who consumed a half-liter of beet juice 2.5 hours pre-ride rode almost 1% faster. This small improvement was not statistically significant, but to a cyclist, the improvement would likely be meaningful.  Elite rowers who consumed beet juice for 6 days performed better on an erg test. This was particularly noticeable in the later stages of exercise. Pre-exercise beets or borscht anyone?

•  Reducing lactic acid: Both beta-alanine and sodium bicarbonate can reduce the negative effects of lactic acid in athletes who do very high intensity exercise. In an intense five-minute cycling test, beta-alanine enhanced performance. When combined with sodium bicarbonate, the improvements were even better.  

• Pure caffeine versus coffee: Most research with caffeine is done with pure caffeine supplements. Does coffee offer the same ergogenic effect? Yes. In research with cyclists and triathletes, the time trial results were very similar with pure caffeine (39.4 minutes) and coffee (39.5 minutes). Instant decaffeinated coffee (41.4 minutes) gave the slowest time. The researchers suggest the small improvement was related to caffeine's ability to stimulate the central nervous system. This makes exercise seem easier so the athlete can work harder. 

•  A cup of Joe okay in the heat: An extensive review of the literature indicates caffeine does not have a dehydrating effect nor impair heat tolerance. Hence, a 150-lb (68 kg) athlete need not worry about consuming about 200 to 600 mg caffeine (3-9 mg caffeine/kg body weight) when exercising in the heat. That's 1 to 3 large cups of Joe. 

• Coffee: no short- or long-term diuretic effect: While commonly consumed intakes of caffeine do not have a diuretic effect over the course of the 24-hour day, what happens in the short term? In three hours, habitual coffee drinkers who consumed 7 ounces (200 mL) coffee (with 250 mg caffeine) voided 11.3 ounces (316 mL) urine, very similar to the group that consumed plain water and voided 10.4 ounces (290 mL) urine. 

•  Performance-enhancing effect of coffee is in the genes: When cyclists were given 1.5 or 3 mg caffeine/lb body weight (3-6 mg/kg) one hour prior to a 24-mile (40-km) time trial, they performed equally well, regardless of the dose. However, the athletes who responded best to pre-exercise caffeine had a specific gene that was missing in the non-responders. That is, when compared according to genotypes, the AA homozygote group was 4.6% faster at 6 mg caffeine/kg as compared to 2.6% improvement in the C allele carriers. Genetic differences influence caffeine's ability to enhance exercise performance.  

• Red Bull doesn't improve performance versus caffeine: Is Red Bull better than coffee? Doubtful. In a cycling time trial, Red Bull enhanced performance similarly to caffeine. Red Bull's added ingredients offered no additional benefits.

•  Cross-training for better bone health: Female cyclists who trained about 10 hours a week had low spine bone density in the osteopenic range-even though they were only 26 years old! Whether you are male or female, if you spend most of your exercise-time cycling, think about cross training with weight bearing exercise to improve your bone health.  

• Body fat test results skewed by exercise: When getting your body fat measured with a Bod Pod, be sure to follow the instructions to not eat, drink, or exercise for two hours before the measurement. Athletes who did 30 minutes of treadmill exercise prior to Bod Pod testing were 21.3% body fat pre-exercise and 19.6% post-exercise. That 2% drop was not due to a loss of body fat, but rather to inaccuracy related to having an elevated body-temperature! 

•  Body fat results vary by test: When getting your body fat measured, take note: Different methods of body fat measurement give different results. In collegiate gymnasts, the body fat results were: 

• • Omron HBF-510W 26.1% fat ($55 on amazon.com)
  • Tanita BF-350 21.7% ($899 at Walmart)
  • Tanita BF-522 21.7% ($366 at amazon.com)
  • DXA 21.06% (research-based; the "gold standard")
  • Calipers 19.5% 
  • Omron HBF-306C 18.4% ($30 on amazon.com)
  
  
• Higher sweat rates: Trained runners lost twice as much sweat during a one-hour summer race than they had predicted. As a group, they predicted losing about 750 mL sweat in hot, humid conditions but they actually lost about 1,500 ml. Weigh yourself pre/post exercise to learn your sweat rate! 

Andy Blair hopes Port to Port win leads to Games selection

PORT to Port mountain bike race winner Andy Blair is hopeful he will be celebrating Glasgow Commonwealth Games selection later this week.

Yesterday the 34-year-old from Canberra became the inaugural winner of four-day Port to Port by an overall time of 29 seconds from Bendigo teenager Chris Hamilton.

Blair won the 45-kilometre stage four from Swansea to Nobby’s, which journeyed through Blacksmiths Beach and Glenrock reserve, in a time of one hour, 44 minutes and 48 seconds.

There was a seven-man sprint to the finish line with also included the Hunter’s top cyclist, Wangi Wangi’s Chris Aitken. Aitken was fourth in stage four and finished fifth overall, 14 minutes behind Blair.

While the Port to Port is not part of the Commonwealth Games selection criteria, Blair said the victory was invaluable practice. ‘‘I don’t know if I’m going to get a call up yet, but this has formed part of my preparation,’’ Blair said.

‘‘It’s really good training, this sort of event, where you’re racing day in day out. It’s really good intensity.’’

Blair’s victory was set up on day one when won the first stage at Nelson Bay by almost three minutes from Hamilton.

On day two Hamilton beat Blair by a second in a sprint to the line. Blair’s lead was then shaved to just 28 seconds following the third stage where he finished seventh and 2.22 minutes behind Hamilton.

That meant it was vital Blair finished in the lead group on stage four.

‘‘It was a relief,’’ he said yesterday. ‘‘Yesterday really ate up my margin for safety. Any little problem could have been really bad with just a small lead of 28 seconds.’’

Blair’s partner Jenny Fay won all four stages in the women’s to be the overall series champion by almost 40 minutes.

Workshop: Fixing noisy disc brakes

Over the past few months, we’ve been vigorously riding a Whyte 29 C test bike for review in our latest issue of Enduro Magazine. Whilst the lightweight carbon 29er hardtail is incredibly quick and has impressed us with its sure-footed stability, throughout the testing period it hasn’t quite been all apples and roses. The 29 C is the base model of the 3-tier lineup, and as such features the basic Elixir 3 hydraulic disc brakes that sit near the lower end of the Avid range. Despite their no-frills appearance however, these are actually a great performing brake when setup properly, with heaps of power and a level of modulation that avoids the ‘bitey’ sensation that some other brakes can be guilty of.

Although we have plenty of experience with the Elixir range, on our Whyte test bike the brakes began to develop quite a bit of audible vibration from both wheels after the first few rides. Despite the squeaky noises going on, the brakes still performed well enough, but there was also an ever-so-slight pulsing sensation through the levers that was pretty dam annoying. The issue we experienced with the brakes on the Whyte was almost exactly the same that we had with the Formula R1 brakes we tested in the previous issue. Although we had some idea of what was going on, we decided to speak to a handful of different bike shop mechanics and riders to hear their thoughts on the issue and whether they had experienced anything similar on their own bikes. On top of that, we got in touch with both SRAM and Formula to hear their thoughts on brake noise, what causes it and how best to fix it.

It has to be said firstly that there are quite a few factors that can cause a noisy disc brake, and that one persons ‘sure-fire fix’ will not necessarily address the issue that your brakes are experiencing. Here are some examples of what might be going on:

Contamination: Commonly caused by a wayward squirt of chain lube or an accidental grab of the rotor with greasy hands, contamination of your brakes will result in noise of varying levels and deterioration of overall braking power. In most cases, once the pads and rotors are contaminated, you’ll likely have to throw them into the bin and start afresh. A clear indication of contamination is if your front and rear brakes are providing different levels of stopping force (i.e. the one with less force is contaminated). However, it is possible for both to be contaminated at the one time.

Glazed Pads: Caused by excessive heat from sustained downhill braking, glazing involves your brake pads heating up to a point where the surface becomes shiny and smooth. This smoothness can cause a high-pitch whining noise, a lack of overall power and can also affect the rotor surface too, which will show discolouration like the pads. This is symptomatic of a setup that is under-gunned for your weight and/or riding style.

Poor Bed-In: If your new brakes are not correctly ‘bedded-in’ from the start, they can cause noise, poor power and a ‘shuddering’ sensation at the levers. Bedding-in brakes involves applying a consistent layer of pad material to the rotor surface. It is the interaction between this layer and the brake pads themselves that provides you with the friction that slows you down.

Improper Application: Having experienced our fair share of bike shop time during previous lives, we have found this issue is a particularly common complaint amongst riders who are using their MTB for commuting or for lighter duties on bike paths and rail trails. Disc brakes are designed to operate in some pretty full-on conditions, and their principle design is to work on friction. Sometimes that friction results in noise and there’s not a lot you can do about it. However, the lighter you are, and/or the more ‘gentile’ your riding is, the less you will be working your disc brakes to their full potential and the more chance there is for noise to occur.

After some discussion with Dylan Coulson at SRAM’s technical service centre, DSD, it appeared that our brakes were experiencing the 3rd issue, caused by improper bed-in. The vibration and shuddering we were experiencing was due to an inconsistent braking surface on the rotor, caused by dragging of the brakes during their first few outings. These microscopic ‘ripples’ along the brake rotor are magnified during hard braking, resulting in a bloody awful noise and vibration at the levers.


The steps that we will take you through today are part of a process that essentially ‘resets’ the rotor and pad surface so that you can begin bedding-in the pads as if the brakes were new again. What needs to be said here is that depending on how badly the brakes have been bedded-in in the first place, you may actually have to replace both the rotors and pads, which is what both Avid and Formula recommend. We would also recommend this if you’re guilty of a short temper or are not renowned for amazing mechanical abilities amongst your mates. Of course, if your brakes are contaminated, this process has limited effectiveness depending on how bad the contamination is. Unless you are 100% sure on the issue you’re experiencing, this may be the point where your local qualified bicycle mechanic will be better equipped to fix the issue and get you back out on the trails. We shouldn’t need to note how important brakes are whilst riding off road, but if you’re not sure – hand your steed over to the experts!

In order to carry out this procedure, you’ll need some bicycle/automotive disc brake cleaner, some clean lint-free rags, gloves, Wet ‘n’ Dry sandpaper, and the necessary Torx/Hex keys to remove your rotors and pads. A clean work surface is essential, along with ventilation.

Step 1. Remove the Disc Rotors from the wheels.

Step 2. Remove the brake pads.

 Step 3. Clean both brake rotors by blasting with disc brake cleaner

Step 4. Using a small wooden block, wrap around the sandpaper so that 

you have a flat surface to work with.

Step 5. Begin rubbing the brake track of the rotor with the sandpaper, making 
a circular pattern and applying a medium-firm pressure. You should be able 
to see a visible change in the surface (below). After sanding, give the rotor 
surface a blast with disc brake cleaner to ensure all contaminants are removed.

 Note the difference in the rotor surface on the left (after) and the right (before).

Step 6. Now to clean the pads. Blast the brake pads with disc brake cleaner, 
then rub the pad surface along a clean rag to remove any contaminants off the surface.


Step 7. Using a clean piece of sandpaper, rub each pad in a circular motion 
in order to remove any microscopic patterns on the surface. After this step, 
give each pad another blast with disc brake cleaner, wipe along a clean rag 
and allow to dry.


Step 8. Mount the rotors back onto the hubs and fit the pads back into the brake callipers. Ensure all hardware and mounting bolts are torqued and tight.

Step 9. Bedding In.

Depending on the brake manufacturer, this process can vary from brand to brand. If you speak to mechanics, there will likely be a range of techniques to accomplish this task properly, but the fundamental thing to remember is that you want to apply an even and smooth layer of brake pad material to the rotor surface. Here is a fairly standard step-by-step procedure that you can carry out with your freshly reset brake rotors/pads. This process is also the same if you have brand new brakes.

1. Find yourself a long stretch of road, and better yet a nice long downhill road.
2. Ride up to a moderate speed of around 20km/h
3. Apply both brakes firmly till you are at a walking pace, but DO NOT COME TO A STOP
4. Continue riding up to speed and repeat steps (2) and (3) approximately 20 times
5. Continue riding, but this time at a quicker pace of around 30km/h
6. Apply both brakes firmly till you are at a walking pace, but DO NOT COME TO A STOP
7. Continue riding up to speed and repeat steps (5) and (6) approximately 10 times

This procedure should allow for the brakes to heat up sufficiently to ensure that pad material is evenly displaced onto the rotor surface. During the process, you should feel a notable increase in braking power by the end. In addition to the above, here are some further tips:
- Do not overcook the brakes in the bed-in process (by going too fast), otherwise you’ll simply glaze the pads.
- Do not ‘drag’ the brakes or be overly gentle about it, as that is another way to develop an overly smooth pad surface that will create noise.
- Avoid trying to bed-in brakes on your very first ride off-road.
- If the noise or vibration begins to return during the bed-in process, then unfortunately your brake rotors & pads will likely need replacing, though you can attempt the entire rotor/pad reset process again if you have the patience.
For the most part, we’ve found the above process to be very effective. You should note that if you bed-in brakes properly from day one, you should have quiet, smooth and strong braking with minimal issues. Reseting the pad/rotor surface should only be necessary if you haven’t managed the bed-in process correctly.
For the full details on the process that SRAM recommends, check it out here: Avid Brake Bed-in Theory-3.  And for Formula brakes, head on to their website here.

Taree Trails in Tip Top shape for Finish Line Singletrack Mind opener

The opening round of the Finish Line Singletrack Mind Series has been widely heralded as a fantastic success. The planets aligned with perfect weather, a sublime course and a high quality field including the current Solo 24 Hour MTB World Champion Jason English.

Round 1 would also unveil plenty of new initiatives for the 2014 season with Finish Line now the headline sponsor of the series, 4 Hour solo racing categories added, and the launch of the Chocolate Foot Women’s development team.

Since the last Finish Line Singletrack Mind Series event at Taree in 2013, the word has spread about the brilliantly built and magnificently maintained trails of the Manning-Great Lakes Tip Riders Club. Competitors arrived back to the transition zone with massive smiles after each and every lap, many saying that this was the finest track they’d ever raced on.

  Jason English was made to work hard for the victory against 2012 series champion Ed McDonald. Photo: Dave Bateman

The buffed and flowing course would also make the perfect backdrop for an epic battle in the Solo Open Men category between Solo 24 Hour World Champion Jason English, 2012 series Champion Ed McDonald and 2013 series champion Andrew Lloyd. With an impressive leadout off the start from team mate Jack Lavis, McDonald was 2nd into the singletrack with Lloyd and English needing to bridge across to the Trek Racing duo. By the 2nd lap Lloyd and McDonald were riding together but nervously checking over their shoulders for the almost inevitable sight of English, who would then join them on lap 3. Up until lap 12, McDonald would try to shake English but without sucess, while Lloyd backed off the pace hoping the others would crack. When English’s customary late race surge came on there was little McDonald could do to match him. Jack Lavis went on to win the 4hr Solo Men category while Melissa Nuttall took the 4hr Solo Women’s title.

In the Women’s Solo category, dual round winner in 2013, Eliza Kwan continued her winning ways as she led from start to finish over 2013 series champion Liz Smith. While Sydney’s Wendy Stevenson could have been racing Super Masters category, she’s decided to challenge herself for the 2014 season, racing in Open and she rounded out the podium against a quality field.

                         Canberra’s Eliza Kwan sizes up another of Taree’s fast and flowing corners. Photo: Dave Bateman

The fastest lap times of the day were recorded by riders of the winning teams in the 3′s categories. John Odams and his POC/Bikeculture crew won the Male 3′s while Odams grabbed bragging rights with a lap of 24.51 and Australian Under 23 XCO Champion Holly Harris recorded a string of great laps including a 27.29 to drive her team to victory in the Mixed Threes.

Chocolate Foot’s new women’s development team didn’t disappoint on debut with every member achieving a top of the podium result with wins in the Female Threes, Female Pairs and the 4 Hour solo category. The women selected for the team have come from a wide variety of sporting backgrounds and for some it was their first ever MTB race making their results and lap times all the more remarkable.

Full results are available online: Results

Trek Racing’s Jack Lavis leads out team mate Ed McDonald though the frenetic opening moments of the race. 

Photo: Dave Bateman

The Finish Line Singletrack Mind Series moves to an entirely different style of course at Mogo on the NSW South Coast for the 15th of June. Some liken the course to that of a Gravity Enduro, with relatively mild climbs followed by two fast and epic descents per lap including the legendary Snake Track! This will be a must do event for any mountain biker!

Chocolate Foot would like to thank their incredibly generous sponsors, Finish Line, Serfas, Deuter, Bellwether, SRAM, Rock Shox, Avid, Truvativ, Hammer Nutrition, Rockpool Graphics, James Estate, Cycology, Ventou, Aussie Butt Cream, Cycle Studio, Kobie International, Mountain Biking Australia magazine, Ritchey and Grimm-Hewitt art.