After a 2016 season full of “pretty extreme highs and lows”, Canberra’s Bec Henderson is gunning for consistency this year and that all starts in the opening two rounds of the Mountain Bike Australia (MTBA) Cross Country Olympic (XCO) National Series at Kinross State Forest this weekend.
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The double-header will be Henderson’s first races of the new year and as an Olympian and a Commonwealth Games medallist there’s little doubt she’s entering the event as a short-priced favourite in the women’s Elite division.
Even so, she’s just hoping to be among the front-runners.
“I’ll definitely be rusty and slow off the mark, my training has been solid with plenty of time on the bike over the last two months but my speed and intensity has been neglected since last season,” Henderson said.
“I’ll be happy with a solid race and I just hope it’s close to the front.
“The off season was fun, lots of adventures off the bike - it’s always great to do things that we can’t do when we are racing and training.
“We had over 40 days off the bike, it’s a great feeling to miss going training but it also throws you in the deep end when it’s time to get started again.”
Henderson, a member of the Trek Factory Racing team, labelled her 2016 Olympic and World Championship campaigns “awful”, and said she’s desperate to put the lessons she learned into practice in Orange.
Still, she also called last year “by far my best season” – remember those highs and lows she was talking about?
“My World Cup races were consistent and I was really happy with my ninth overall and a third place on home soil in Cairns,” the 25-year-old said.
VIDEO: Get a more intimate look at some Kinross Forest’s singletrack, courtesy of Youtube user explodinglamas.
“World Championships and Olympics were awful, and Olympics is something I still find difficult to talk about.
“There is always so much to learn each season, for me it’s all about consistency and making sure I am still mentally fresh for the last races in the season.”
The Kinross singletrack, on both loops to be used this weekend, is in pristine condition and is expected to be speedy at worst, and Henderson said she’s looking forward to testing it out.
“It’s great to have a new venue for the National Series and it’s great there are still clubs motivated to put on cross country events,” she enthused.
“I have never been to Orange so I’m excited to have some new trails to race on. If there is excitement from the hosts that will really make for a fun and positive event, I’m looking forward to it.”
Racing kicks off at 8.30am on Saturday and then again on Sunday.