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LRB News ! - Issue #4

High Summer...


Hello race fans and LRB die-hards.  After a short summer break LRB News! is back with a small tempter for Issue #4.  


Last time, a little suspension tech/inspiration opened up ground for some conjecture, and there will be more on that topic in an upcoming feature .  This issue steps sideways for a moment to take a sneak look at a sector of the course, the feared North Esk Sector #1, and offers a tactical hint for the brave/foolhardy.


Only a couple of short weeks ago at the height of the local summer, a little reconnaissance ride set out to test sections of the Launceston Roubaix route.  Pictured is a stretch of Sector #1 which makes up approximately 2Km of the course, and the first chance to dip tyres into gravel.


While appearing smooth and dry, don't let this image lull you into a false sense of  "I won't get my lovely bike dirty on the day".  Sector #1 may prove to be the wettest and slipperiest sector on offer.  The pictured trail sits alongside the North Esk River, and is crossed by many drainage channels.  When the weather turns wet, the track tends to pond, transforming into lengthy muddy tracts of water-logged ground.  Perfect.


At risk of really giving too much away, the LRB News ! team note a tactical landmark for those brave souls contemplating an early breakaway on an unkown course.  The key moment leading into the wettests stretches of Sector #1 is over Pont Arbre Morte.  



This tricky little left-hander has a pea-gravel lead-in, a bridge deck that pods water, and guide rails that do not really consider the potential for disaster when combined with a group of blokes on bikes all trying to cross at once.  It is a terrific point at which to risk it all, to take a flyer and score any points on offer in this critical first sector...


With just over a month to go now, we'd have to admit that it is starting to get a little exciting for the LRB News ! team.  No meaningful progress has been made on the event bike.  The exulted trophy remains an obscure idea ( it will be finished ! ) and the race route is a little vague in places, with a few dots still to connect.  Somehow I'm sure that the team will bring home the bacon.


Next Issue LRB News ! is really excited to bring you a probing rider interview, to be followed by more reflections on suspension ...Stay tuned.  


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