Sometimes racing is stressful. The packing, traveling, puffing, panting…it’s not something I can do every weekend. But sometimes, once you’ve been doing it for a while, it becomes one of the things you do to relax.
For me, the Brownie Points Burner, held up near Taree, was this second type of weekend away. A mental health weekend. One that makes you sit back, take stock, and appreciate the life you have. Which is lucky, as a big face plant the day before the race meant I spent Sunday hanging out with my camera instead of my bike.
You can read the full story I wrote on the event at Flow Mountain Bike. I thought it was going to be a fairly challenging one to write given I hadn’t seen much of the course, but stolen course markings meant there were much bigger things to say.
Despite not actually racing, I still had an excellent time away from the rush of the city and hit Monday feeling energized and refreshed. Road trips, group dinners, endless chatter, seeing new places, meeting different people, catching up with friends from multiple cities all in one place; a good weekend away for an event has a lot more to it than a stop watch and a finish line.
Thanks so much to the extended Subaru-MarathonMTB.com team for help with transport, accommodation, fine dining and making the trip such a nice one to be part of as well. I hope that more races are held somewhere as pretty and relaxing as this.
Photos: Kath Bicknell
Kath Bicknell 