JARROD Bell is more accustomed to pedalling away for hours but in Sunday’s second round of the 2017 XCO National Mountain Bike Series at Orange he was testing his sprint capabilities.
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The Bathurst Masters 3 rider deviated from his usual endurance mountain bike racing to test himself over just three laps of the brutal 6.8-kilometre Kinross State Forest course.
In a tough day out he managed to finish 24th of the 40 riders in his Masters 1-4 & Expert division. Bell recorded a time of one hour, 18 minutes and eight seconds.
Although Bell would liked to have produced a slightly better result he still enjoyed the experience over an unfamiliar format.
“I was a little disappointed. I felt like going into it I might have been able to give it a better go,” he said.
“At the start I was a lot more aggressive than usual and the course was very hard, with a lot climbing.
“Kinross is always pretty challenging … and when you’ve got two climbs it makes for a very tough course.
“By the third lap I’d started to get my rhythm but then the race was over. There’s no holding back and you can’t think about reserving energy.”
The XCO (Cross-Country Olympic) round brought out the nation’s best riders to Orange, including current Australian reigning champion Dan McConnell.
McConnell claimed victory in the five-lap Elite Men’s category by just 14 seconds over Ben Bradley.
“It’s not everyday you get to see the national champion racing in your backyard,” Bell said.
“I learned a bit from it. I’m more used to people being a bit quiet going into the singletrack, saying ‘you can go first’, and I’m used to spending three to five hours on the bike. This was all about positioning … and trying to get towards the front quickly.”
Bell will link back up with fellow Bathurst rider Dan Watson in his return to Orange for the final round of the 2016-17 EvoCities Mountain Bike Series next month.