Well its been well over a week since the 24hr race and I feel good.
Except for my knee it is still in a world of its own pain.
I havent been able to do any training at all.
I have a 100km sprint race in 2 weeks which i wont be totally ready for.
Thank goodness for neurofen.
I went to a nutrition seminar hosted by the guys from hammer nutrition.
The speaker is a guy named Steve Born, he has won the Race Across America or RAAM for short.
I think I was the only endurance (athlete) guy in attendance. As the looks from some of the roadies when he mentioned he did 6 hour training rides were a bit strange.
A lot of it went over my head and I'm not sure if I learned that much but I'm sure I got something out of it somewhere along the line.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Well,
The 2007 Scott 24hr Mountain Bike race has been run and done.
I arrived on Friday afternoon to find our transition area already marked out surprisingly close to the transition area.
Marquees and tents were in place and just needed propping up come race day,
All I had to do was get my gear there, boy that trolley sure came in handy.
I setup tent now all I have to do is eat and eat and eat walk around and check out the event center.
Mount Stromlo is windy, really windy when its wants to, and cold, then the rain came,
I come to the realization that the only warm riding clothes I have are arm and leg warmers,
So I end up in the SIC (St Ives Cycles) tent and buy one of those nylon windproof outers. ( this ends up working a treat).
Sleep, well try to sleep any way, worst nights sleep ever, I get up at approx 7am and mill around getting coffee, pancakes and eating again, Rice cream, muesli bar, and slowly devour half a fruitcake and a packet of cashews.
I Fill my water bottles with Hammer nutritions HEED powder, I then prepare to do some final bike prep, new cleats.
Lights are attached to both bike and helmet and just need the batteries to be put on, ohhh CRAP, I'm missing a 3hr battery I run over to the AYUP tent www.ayup.com.au and talk to Andrew who then lends me a 3hr battery, woohoo saved. Battery is on charge and ready to go.
Ok I'm now ready for the race. www.ayup.com.au
Race time
I'm not quite sure how it happened but I'm standing there chatting away to folks only to discover that I am in the first row, This is good as I hate fighting my way up the front to get a good start. This is also bad as it means i have to get off to a good start and not knock anybody over.
3 minutes to go, I'm standing next to Craig Armour who mentions that he's a little nervous, is it nerves or excitement? I reassure him by telling him that its excitement and that I'm feeling the same,
10 seconds...... clip in make sure I'm in the right gear to start off the sprint with.
5 seconds..... look beside me to see who I have to out sprint for a good start
3...
2...
1...
Were off!!!.....
We are off, At a reasonably relaxed pace,
Except for that one guy who races off into the horizon,(he ends up finishing 3rd)
We wind our way up through the 4X track rubbing elbows on a few corners with a mate Ray Giddins and around the back of the event center.
I look ahead, theres a handful of guys in front, by a handful I mean 6 or 7 expected race winners, I'm keeping up with them and am not puffing or panting at the same time. What have I done did that training pay off or have I gone out to hard?
We hit the first piece of single track and try to stay focused and close to the guys ahead.
As soon as we hit the fire road they are off to catch the guy in front, the fire road goes for approx 2km and I don't want to blow up early so I back it off a notch and am actually by myself for a while,
I enter the next section of single track and am feeling as if iI am flying along the trail when I hear the sound of chain slap behind me,
Two of the fast guys in the 6 persons teams have caught us already, (they had an 800m running LeMans running style start behind us) I give them a bit of room so they can pass me, and I see them disappear into the single-track ahead.
I am still on my own while I hear another rider behind me, I give him some track to pass....
On the next corner there's a fire road crossing before hitting some rocks.
I crank down on the pedals only to hear a loud snapping sound and finding myself on the ground covered in dust with a sore forearm
WTF happened here?? I look at my bike to discover that I have broken my chain, guess what?!?!? The chain breaker is the only tool I don't have with me f@#k F@#K!!!!!
I wait.........
I wait for what seems to be forever...
I can hear other riders coming then I can see them coming down the switchbacks I had just ridden over before crashing.
I start asking out very loudly for a chain breaker to give who ever has on the change to think about stopping and lend me one
Ray comes to the rescue!!!! Yay Ray!!! I grab his multi tool out of his camel pack and he races off. I Fix my chain and watch as what seems to be every body on the planet pass me.
I start getting worried and remind myself that I'm only 20 mins into the first lap.
Not a a good start but there are 23hrs to go so anything could happen.
I finish my lap, enter transition to give the multi tool to our support crew and head off on the 2nd half of the course, climb climb climb, 300 meters of climbing never felt so fun. Although it was 7km long
Yep Fun with a capital F.
The view from up here is amazing, It feels like you can see forever.
What looks like an ant farm is actually the event center where you can only make out the large tents and camping city.
There is a new section of trail up here which is pretty much a downhill single track descent with a mountain on the right and a big long fall on the left.
This section makes that whole climb worth it, It is just a gut churning pedal as fast as humanly possible it is also to easy to look at the view rather than the track, luckily the trail fairies had spray painted the dangerous rocks green.
Down down down we go. then this trail merges partly onto the DH track and back into transition.
Back onto the blue lap,
Hey I recognize that KHS jersey it's Craig a friend of mine, hes not that far away,I'm doing well, very well actually to catch him.....then.......
I pinch flat on the front wheel in the second lap in on one of the faster sections,
Bloody rocks.
I lose him, oh well i'm sure i'll see him again.
I pinch flat again in the 4th lap in exactly the same spot this time I have no tube and had lost my puncture kit, multi tool and spare tube on the really really fun descent. I did have a pump though.
A very nice rider stopped and gave me on of his spares as he was running tubeless and had 2 spares in his camel back.
So number 6542?, Team Wobbly Wheels? If your out there contact and I'll sort you out, as I couldn't find you when I had finished.
I couldn't believe my luck or lack of it. Them's the breaks eh?
The rest of the race was going well I kept catching the people I wanted to beat or ride with until I got those flat tyre's dammit.
The top ten finish I was after was looking good
Night time came and it was funnerer then before.
I caught up to some people on the Blue lap where one rider was running out of battery power rapidly so thanks to the AYUP lights I was using, I let him sit on my wheel and I towed him for the last 2km to finish his lap. I'm pretty sure he is going out to buy a set of the AYup lights shortly.
I found a Defence force woman who had lighting issues ( lack of light being the Issue)
So I told her to slowly follow the fire road back and I will tell the marshals up ahead to notify her team so they could send another rider out. I eventually saw her again as i was finishing my blue lap still walking back to transition about 1km out.
And at the bottom of the red lap, all the fast descents and technical bits, I also found a guy who had basically crashed at 100km an hour, shattered his helmet, snapped his sunglasses and was a little delerious, I stopped and chatted with him until he was able enough to pedal back to the transition area where I told him to send out his teammate and go straight to first aid. Hope your alright buddy.
The next few laps is where I started hurting myself, I got caught behind some inexperienced riders while I was fairly fatigued on the a section of single track which was heavily eroded and very tight leaving the rocks more exposed than before. I manged to fall here and land on my knee, I managed to do this for the next 3 laps same rock same knee as I had put on new cleats and they were way to tight. So tight I couldn't un-clip in time. Then further down the same piece of trail I hit a very hard bit of air and landed in some brambles (after trying a couple of times to get up I decided that the brambles were actually comfortable so I ate a muesli bar).
Then with approx 5km to go on some very nice sweeping single track I just fell,
I had over steered on the corner and hit the hard square edge on the inside of the corner.
I took it very easy from then on so I could get back to transition.
Back at transition I ate some soup, some nuts had a can of V drink a neurofen tablet and 2 ginseng / Gurana tablets,
Lets just say the next 25km was some of the best riding I had ever done, no crashes no mechanicals no one to stop to help. I get back to Camp deciding I should stop eat and have a rest. That rest ended up being 7 hours long,
I woke up in my tent (I don't remember getting there) still fully clothed, ewww.....
I had a shower a couple cups of coffee and decided that was me done.
My calves were still my knee had swollen and didn't want to straighten out and my right hand was still in a handlebar grip position.
I walked around looking for the rider who had given me a tube earlier.
Drank a beer
Was just about to have a nap in the sun when i remembered the 3 little letters I hate seeing beside my name....D.N.F.
It was 10am I had 2 hours to kill, I ran back to my tent put on my bike gear, and headed out for a last run.
Back into transition at 24hrs and 9 mins.
Done.
Finished.
Tired.
Knees are killing. One is swollen beyond belief.
Big thanks to Ray for the chain breaker
DaGonz for that half a lap we rode together that headwind sucked didn't it??
N+1 for the other half a lap we rode at night.
And every body else involved in my foray
will I do it again???
Hell yeah!!!!
The 2007 Scott 24hr Mountain Bike race has been run and done.
I arrived on Friday afternoon to find our transition area already marked out surprisingly close to the transition area.
Marquees and tents were in place and just needed propping up come race day,
All I had to do was get my gear there, boy that trolley sure came in handy.
I setup tent now all I have to do is eat and eat and eat walk around and check out the event center.
Mount Stromlo is windy, really windy when its wants to, and cold, then the rain came,
I come to the realization that the only warm riding clothes I have are arm and leg warmers,
So I end up in the SIC (St Ives Cycles) tent and buy one of those nylon windproof outers. ( this ends up working a treat).
Sleep, well try to sleep any way, worst nights sleep ever, I get up at approx 7am and mill around getting coffee, pancakes and eating again, Rice cream, muesli bar, and slowly devour half a fruitcake and a packet of cashews.
I Fill my water bottles with Hammer nutritions HEED powder, I then prepare to do some final bike prep, new cleats.
Lights are attached to both bike and helmet and just need the batteries to be put on, ohhh CRAP, I'm missing a 3hr battery I run over to the AYUP tent www.ayup.com.au and talk to Andrew who then lends me a 3hr battery, woohoo saved. Battery is on charge and ready to go.
Ok I'm now ready for the race. www.ayup.com.au
Race time
I'm not quite sure how it happened but I'm standing there chatting away to folks only to discover that I am in the first row, This is good as I hate fighting my way up the front to get a good start. This is also bad as it means i have to get off to a good start and not knock anybody over.
3 minutes to go, I'm standing next to Craig Armour who mentions that he's a little nervous, is it nerves or excitement? I reassure him by telling him that its excitement and that I'm feeling the same,
10 seconds...... clip in make sure I'm in the right gear to start off the sprint with.
5 seconds..... look beside me to see who I have to out sprint for a good start
3...
2...
1...
Were off!!!.....
We are off, At a reasonably relaxed pace,
Except for that one guy who races off into the horizon,(he ends up finishing 3rd)
We wind our way up through the 4X track rubbing elbows on a few corners with a mate Ray Giddins and around the back of the event center.
I look ahead, theres a handful of guys in front, by a handful I mean 6 or 7 expected race winners, I'm keeping up with them and am not puffing or panting at the same time. What have I done did that training pay off or have I gone out to hard?
We hit the first piece of single track and try to stay focused and close to the guys ahead.
As soon as we hit the fire road they are off to catch the guy in front, the fire road goes for approx 2km and I don't want to blow up early so I back it off a notch and am actually by myself for a while,
I enter the next section of single track and am feeling as if iI am flying along the trail when I hear the sound of chain slap behind me,
Two of the fast guys in the 6 persons teams have caught us already, (they had an 800m running LeMans running style start behind us) I give them a bit of room so they can pass me, and I see them disappear into the single-track ahead.
I am still on my own while I hear another rider behind me, I give him some track to pass....
On the next corner there's a fire road crossing before hitting some rocks.
I crank down on the pedals only to hear a loud snapping sound and finding myself on the ground covered in dust with a sore forearm
WTF happened here?? I look at my bike to discover that I have broken my chain, guess what?!?!? The chain breaker is the only tool I don't have with me f@#k F@#K!!!!!
I wait.........
I wait for what seems to be forever...
I can hear other riders coming then I can see them coming down the switchbacks I had just ridden over before crashing.
I start asking out very loudly for a chain breaker to give who ever has on the change to think about stopping and lend me one
Ray comes to the rescue!!!! Yay Ray!!! I grab his multi tool out of his camel pack and he races off. I Fix my chain and watch as what seems to be every body on the planet pass me.
I start getting worried and remind myself that I'm only 20 mins into the first lap.
Not a a good start but there are 23hrs to go so anything could happen.
I finish my lap, enter transition to give the multi tool to our support crew and head off on the 2nd half of the course, climb climb climb, 300 meters of climbing never felt so fun. Although it was 7km long
Yep Fun with a capital F.
The view from up here is amazing, It feels like you can see forever.
What looks like an ant farm is actually the event center where you can only make out the large tents and camping city.
There is a new section of trail up here which is pretty much a downhill single track descent with a mountain on the right and a big long fall on the left.
This section makes that whole climb worth it, It is just a gut churning pedal as fast as humanly possible it is also to easy to look at the view rather than the track, luckily the trail fairies had spray painted the dangerous rocks green.
Down down down we go. then this trail merges partly onto the DH track and back into transition.
Back onto the blue lap,
Hey I recognize that KHS jersey it's Craig a friend of mine, hes not that far away,I'm doing well, very well actually to catch him.....then.......
I pinch flat on the front wheel in the second lap in on one of the faster sections,
Bloody rocks.
I lose him, oh well i'm sure i'll see him again.
I pinch flat again in the 4th lap in exactly the same spot this time I have no tube and had lost my puncture kit, multi tool and spare tube on the really really fun descent. I did have a pump though.
A very nice rider stopped and gave me on of his spares as he was running tubeless and had 2 spares in his camel back.
So number 6542?, Team Wobbly Wheels? If your out there contact and I'll sort you out, as I couldn't find you when I had finished.
I couldn't believe my luck or lack of it. Them's the breaks eh?
The rest of the race was going well I kept catching the people I wanted to beat or ride with until I got those flat tyre's dammit.
The top ten finish I was after was looking good
Night time came and it was funnerer then before.
I caught up to some people on the Blue lap where one rider was running out of battery power rapidly so thanks to the AYUP lights I was using, I let him sit on my wheel and I towed him for the last 2km to finish his lap. I'm pretty sure he is going out to buy a set of the AYup lights shortly.
I found a Defence force woman who had lighting issues ( lack of light being the Issue)
So I told her to slowly follow the fire road back and I will tell the marshals up ahead to notify her team so they could send another rider out. I eventually saw her again as i was finishing my blue lap still walking back to transition about 1km out.
And at the bottom of the red lap, all the fast descents and technical bits, I also found a guy who had basically crashed at 100km an hour, shattered his helmet, snapped his sunglasses and was a little delerious, I stopped and chatted with him until he was able enough to pedal back to the transition area where I told him to send out his teammate and go straight to first aid. Hope your alright buddy.
The next few laps is where I started hurting myself, I got caught behind some inexperienced riders while I was fairly fatigued on the a section of single track which was heavily eroded and very tight leaving the rocks more exposed than before. I manged to fall here and land on my knee, I managed to do this for the next 3 laps same rock same knee as I had put on new cleats and they were way to tight. So tight I couldn't un-clip in time. Then further down the same piece of trail I hit a very hard bit of air and landed in some brambles (after trying a couple of times to get up I decided that the brambles were actually comfortable so I ate a muesli bar).
Then with approx 5km to go on some very nice sweeping single track I just fell,
I had over steered on the corner and hit the hard square edge on the inside of the corner.
I took it very easy from then on so I could get back to transition.
Back at transition I ate some soup, some nuts had a can of V drink a neurofen tablet and 2 ginseng / Gurana tablets,
Lets just say the next 25km was some of the best riding I had ever done, no crashes no mechanicals no one to stop to help. I get back to Camp deciding I should stop eat and have a rest. That rest ended up being 7 hours long,
I woke up in my tent (I don't remember getting there) still fully clothed, ewww.....
I had a shower a couple cups of coffee and decided that was me done.
My calves were still my knee had swollen and didn't want to straighten out and my right hand was still in a handlebar grip position.
I walked around looking for the rider who had given me a tube earlier.
Drank a beer
Was just about to have a nap in the sun when i remembered the 3 little letters I hate seeing beside my name....D.N.F.
It was 10am I had 2 hours to kill, I ran back to my tent put on my bike gear, and headed out for a last run.
Back into transition at 24hrs and 9 mins.
Done.
Finished.
Tired.
Knees are killing. One is swollen beyond belief.
Big thanks to Ray for the chain breaker
DaGonz for that half a lap we rode together that headwind sucked didn't it??
N+1 for the other half a lap we rode at night.
And every body else involved in my foray
will I do it again???
Hell yeah!!!!
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Woo Hoo
So,
Coming out this week is the latest issue of
Mountain Bike Australia, Australias best mountain biking magazine
And guess who's on the cover?
Me, Moi, the good doctor himself in my colourful glory,
For some reason I cant get it to upload pics.
So the Scott 24hr race is less than 5 days away, I think im ready
I'm going to be packing my stuff up tonight,
I'd better start my car to make sure it still works.....
I have to go to the super market to get food and lots of it.
Fruit cake.
Pizza.
Muesli Bars (chewy).
Rice Cream...... mmmmmmm
Fruit.
I also have to make sure my bike is in a good working order.
anyway its home time,
More updates soon........
Coming out this week is the latest issue of
Mountain Bike Australia, Australias best mountain biking magazine
And guess who's on the cover?
Me, Moi, the good doctor himself in my colourful glory,
For some reason I cant get it to upload pics.
So the Scott 24hr race is less than 5 days away, I think im ready
I'm going to be packing my stuff up tonight,
I'd better start my car to make sure it still works.....
I have to go to the super market to get food and lots of it.
Fruit cake.
Pizza.
Muesli Bars (chewy).
Rice Cream...... mmmmmmm
Fruit.
I also have to make sure my bike is in a good working order.
anyway its home time,
More updates soon........
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Scott 24hr
So the Scott 24hr is coming up.
I will be riding it,
I will be riding it SOLO,
I am aiming to have alot of fun and actuallu ride for most of, not part of the 24hrs
Last year I broke my shoe not quite 12hrs into the race
Then 6 months later I was racing the 24hr solo cahmpionships.
Somehow I had quailified 10th for theis race, 10th!!!
I was stoked, I thought it was some cruel joke being played on me.
Anyway I was flying along and feeling good (for my pace anyway)
hit a tree stump and landed smack bang on my kidney, head and elbow.
that put me out of that race, dammit
So bring on Mt Stromlo.
Now the biggest decision i have to face is where are my race tyres?
Which shop do I have to go to to get new ones?
Also have some new AYuP bulbs for use. www.ayup.com
Will put up some kind of review tomorrow........
I will be riding it,
I will be riding it SOLO,
I am aiming to have alot of fun and actuallu ride for most of, not part of the 24hrs
Last year I broke my shoe not quite 12hrs into the race
Then 6 months later I was racing the 24hr solo cahmpionships.
Somehow I had quailified 10th for theis race, 10th!!!
I was stoked, I thought it was some cruel joke being played on me.
Anyway I was flying along and feeling good (for my pace anyway)
hit a tree stump and landed smack bang on my kidney, head and elbow.
that put me out of that race, dammit
So bring on Mt Stromlo.
Now the biggest decision i have to face is where are my race tyres?
Which shop do I have to go to to get new ones?
Also have some new AYuP bulbs for use. www.ayup.com
Will put up some kind of review tomorrow........
Day one
MySpace, FaceBook, whatever...........
Ive decided to create a blog about myself bike riding and random stuff.
we'll see how it goes.
Now i just have to work out how to set it up properly.
Ive decided to create a blog about myself bike riding and random stuff.
we'll see how it goes.
Now i just have to work out how to set it up properly.
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