our trouble with the gravity enduro races in ourimbah is mostly due to their schedule. actually, it’s only with the schedule: the race seems to be organised by and for early risers, and that causes a tiny bit of grief for us. the timing chips need to be picked up until 0745 and it generally takes us 90 minutes to get there from home, which means we can either get a decent sleep or have breakfast. tough choice.

did i mention i am talking sunday here? is it just me or does it sound wrong to get up earlier on a sunday to shred ourimbah than on weekdays to drive a desk?

it is infinitely more fun, that’s for sure. maybe a little pain for that sort of gain is in order? especially since today the weather in sydney was again a bit average, grey and rainy, not our preferred riding conditions. there was also fog on the motorway up the coast and we were seriously questioning whether we had made the right choice – until we got to ourimbah, which was cool and sunny: perfect enduro weather.

nat likes to complain about getting tired really quickly. well, the way she pedalled up (!) to the start of stage 2 and how she pushed hard through the rather flat stage 3 (the photo above shows #70 on the pedals) clearly shows she’s got more enduro in her than she wants to admit.

her times on those two stages in particular were actually really good, something she can be very proud of. the ourimbah trails are not super hard but not exactly easy either, and i saw adults pushing where nat rides without blinking an eye. not bad.

she does have a great partner in crime in kat (next to nat in the photo above), who is a bit younger but rides those trails with unbelievable confidence. i don’t think i could keep up with her … really.

so nat grabbed another podium. turns out there would have been worse ways to spend a sunday: sun, riding with mates, finishing up on the top step and collecting a heap of national cup points. there is not much wrong with that.

except this one thing: we really need to have nat’s tongue looked at, it keeps sticking out. weird.

oh and even though i was in full water boy mode (literally, all the kids kept drinking the water from my backpack) i got on the podium, too. ok the truth is i came last, but there was only five of us … how embarrassing.

a race with my daughter is a pretty good father’s day present. chocolate pancakes with strawberries and cream was literally the icing on the cake.