Her hands were shaking so badly, she could hardly get her new gear on. Her pants and jersey clung to her skin in the humidity and her feet had swollen in her boots. She couldn’t find her gloves, then forgot her goggles back at the truck, and only just made it to the start line as the other two girls on her minute were about to take off. Thousands of people, revving bikes, golf buggies, scampering children, loud music, camera flashes, blurred around Clover as she roared away from under the start-line archway to start day one on the bike, feeling totally out of her depth as her small four-stroke swapped around under her in the shifting sand. She did her best to steer between two palm trees and follow the arrows of the course into the thick bush. One thing’s for sure, Clover found herself thinking, this is going to be one very long day. ★ Clover and Kerry idled into the service area and parked their bikes under the shade. Clover hit her kill switch, reached for her goggles, grabbed the strap, and swung them off her helmet.
