Mt Stromlo is usually where Andrew Blair comes to work but this weekend the mountain will be his playground.
Blair works as a mechanical engineer at the ActewAGL water treatment plant on Mt Stromlo but from today, he won't just working be on the mountain but competing in the Mountain Bike Australia All Mountain Cup cross-country event.
It's quite the home advantage.
He is so comfortable on his home track that he is likely to skip this morning's practice session and quietly knock off from work early for this afternoon's race.
He won't need to worry about any Friday afternoon traffic with the start of the race just a stone's throw away.
''I work halfway up the hill so it will be a pretty short duck up to the top,'' Blair said.
''I know the course so I might not even do a practice run, my race will be at about four o'clock so I will just sneak out at three, get warmed up and race.''
It may seem like a casual approach but the 32-year-old can see an advantage.
''That way I don't have to think about it all day and won't get nervous.''
It has been a long road for Blair since first picking up mountain biking as a 14-year-old in Queanbeyan.
After being spotted early by the ACTAS talent identification program, Blair competed at two world junior championships before illness forced him off his bike.
Blair gave away the sport, instead turning his focus to getting his engineering degree but it was only after learning that his illness was caused by an allergic reaction to gluten and cutting that from his diet that he got back on his bike in his late twenties.
''I got back into mountain biking as I just love doing it, I never thought about taking it too seriously,'' he said.
''But it just gradually snowballed and my results just fuelled the motivation to train, it just ramped up without me really noticing.''
Blair decided to focus on mountain biking, putting his engineering career on hold to compete with the best on the World Cup circuit.
After two and a half seasons on the World Cup circuit from 2008 to 2010, including representing Australia at the world championship held at Mt Stromlo in 2009, Blair decided to return to Canberra and race only domestically, something that has paid off as he leads the cross-country standings in the national series.
However, his decision to return to work has put paid to his chance of Olympic selection, something that Blair has had to come to terms with.
''It is really your results overseas that ultimately result in selection as there is only one spot, so I would have to quit my job again and go back over to Europe to even have a go at going to the Olympics.
''I'm 32 and I've just got back into work and I'm getting to the point in my career where I was at four years ago before I quit to go racing in Europe. To throw that away again for a shot at the Olympics is something that I didn't really want to do,'' he said.
The third round of the cross-country All Mountain Cup starts today at Mt Stromlo.
TODAY
All Mountain Cup at Mt Stromlo from 9am. Action runs daily until Sunday, entry is free.
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