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2012 Battle on the Border Photos – Elite B criterium

We’ve finally made time to upload photos from the Criterium. Congratulations again to all who participated and organised the event. Our general feeling was that the standard went up another level this year, along with the number of entrants.

As a famous cyclist once said,

It doesn’t get any easier, you just keep riding faster

The photos

Continued…

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Battle on the Border 2012 Wrap Up

Scottish chewing it

It’s over for another year.  The annual Battle of the Border was run and won and Cobra9 gave a good account of ourselves in Elite B.  9th overall to Scottish (25 seconds down) and some good efforts for stage wins demonstrated the we were certainly amongst it.  Not bad for a group of lads average age of 37 with 8 children between us.  It’s always nice to get a tast of your mortality by the young guys in the field.  Plenty of pain dished out throughout the event and the criterium was no different.

Continued…

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2012 battle on the border – the crit

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Last day. Nervous tension is always palpable before a tight tough crit. So close to being taste a cool beer!

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Battle on the border 2012

Frantic finish into a headwind with a race to last corner. Some near misses in the bunch but still a good sized group at the end.

The hallmarks of this stage are the harrowing pot holed bottle loosening descents and the leg sapping little climb with 15 to go.

A few fell off after the first ascent then entering the 2nd time over we were well positioned to hit the hill hard. Unfortunately I was unable to put down the pace as a lead out as a hamstring cramp stopped me in my tracks. I was a victim of the lost bottle factor on the 1st lap and rationing my water backfired.

The boys finished in the bunch and Scottish moves up to 10th.

Tomorrow sees the crit wrap it up. If it’s anything like last year, it will be another sufferfest.

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Battle on the border day 2

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Backing up is always hard to do. The pain from yesterday (heart rate 195bpm) is too fresh in the mind to convince yourself that anything other more of same is in order.

It’s do or die today. Any time gaps will be very hard to make up tomorrow

The boys are keen and hope to go on the attack again today. Another day in paradise.

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Road race day 1 battle on the border 2012

Stage 1 road race proved a less beastly version then last years version. The climbs peaked 30 km before the finish allowing a bunch gallop to the line. Unfortunately I cramped and missed the final selection but the other boys animated the finish with repeated attacks.

Each attach was met by a closing effort by helpers for the leaders jersey. Eventually fossa had a go at the sprint finishing a credible 10th.

Tomorrows stage will be a more attacking affair with no real time gaps opening up today. Hopefully I’ll be able to be of assistance.

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Time trial Battle on the border 2012

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mental preparation

Blink and you’ll miss it. 10 minutes of 100% intensity then it’s over. It’s amazing how soon after you cross the line you think you could have gone harder. Defiantly a course that needed some recon.

The boys were a little disappointed with their times. I think not knowing the course didn’t help but no one lost too much time overall.

Scottish leads the way with a 10:20. Not too much time to make up. 100km road race this afternoon. That will be some real suffering.

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And it begins. Battle on the border 2012

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Regular updates of 2012 and some musings as well. Watch this space!

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Airport delays, website hiccups….

The busy nature of Cobra9 incorporates vast tracks of time spent in airports and on planes. Today was one of those days where it just doesn’t work out. Yesterdays stress sorting out a few kinks in the website was compounded by a day spent in Sydney airport cooling my heels. Sorry to all those clients who where effected by my travel dilemmas.

Now, what we really need is a few indoor trainers in the lounge to kill those wasted hours……

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1 week till battle

Only a week to go and it’s now officially to late to get some form. The best one can hope for is a good week of rest, no flus and a massage or two. The Cobra9 team is feeling good but realistic. At least we scheduled our crashes for a few weeks ago.

Whilst we will be taking our racing semi seriously, feel free to approach us during the battle if you would like to discuss or arrange Cobra9 carbon insoles. Just don’t expect me to respond if I’m redlining over a small rise!

Some more big news about Cobra9 to follow later in May. Keep your eyes in the site for updates.

Enjoy your riding and racing!

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Posted in Racing.