Normally I'm very nervous come race day, for some reason I was relaxed, maybe to relaxed for this one, drawing number 17, I didn't think i was going to be seeded, from memory it was the top 15 who got a seeded place, then I get the call up, geez this is alright.
We line up and talk anxiously between us with a little bit of sledging with best wishes thrown in for good measure.
The countdown says 30 seconds, 15 seconds, bang goes the start gun, I take off in a valiant effort only to have the guy in front of me stall, meaning I come to a complete stop as the rest of the field passes me by. I try not to let it worry me as we are 10 seconds into a 24hour race I have all day to make up for lost time.
Being so used to other races and their mass starts, it pays to get a good start before the single track, especially when there's 400 people on track.
This time around however there are 120 of us and almost 10km of sweet flowing single track.
I didn't have a look at the track the day before the race, I didn't think I would really have to, then talking to some of the guys I normally ride with, it was the opposite way to the previous year so those long gruelling climbs were now fun bits of down.
The track, honestly I didn't like it, I didn't like it at all, And I don't know why.
Maybe I just had to get used to it. There were no pinch climbs, in fact I liked the fire road sections. Maybe I just wasn't used to it or I had spent too much time on the road.
How did I go?
Well, It took me 2 laps to warm up as I didn't want to push myself to hard to early,
I decided to put it into a gear I knew I could pedal comfortably and basically enjoy myself for the day, then push at night, then keep on turning the pedals over come dawn,
It didn't happen or I didn't happen. So casually riding around being overtaken by only the really fast guys I'm having fun, A mate of mine B-Rad on the rigid single-speed catches me so I decide to ride with him for a while, we talk and laugh to each other as we are actually having a-lot of fun out there, eventually we part ways as having gears sometimes has it advantages.
Come to the 6.5 hour mark I was feeling great,
I had just taken and lost 3rd place in my division (35-39),I had already been lapped by 1st and 2nd in my class, (these guys also came 4th and 5th over all.)
My achillies tendon on both legs were aching along with the balls of my foot, so the next time I come past transition I make the call for painkillers, I bust out another few laps and pull into the pits where Big Dog and Ray apply some neurofen gel and massage my achilles (many thanks guys)
OK, give that 5 minutes to sink in then get told by Big Dog that I cant have any more painkillers for another 8 hours.(or i will die!!!)
I set out to get my 3rd place back and put the hammer down just a little more,
I get halfway around the track and the pain comes back, hmmm this is no good, guess I'll have to harden up and deal with it.
One lap later I get to one of the choppy downhill sections and make the decision the continuing is probably going to do some long term damage, I get to the fast sweeping flat section of singletrack and it hurts, I back it off and tell the guys that im not doing any more.
18 laps and 10.5 hours of riding, IF, i had kept that up I could have finished really well, but I didn't and thats that,
What did I eat?
HAMMER GEL every 2nd lap and half a POWERBAR every 2nd lap, 1 750ml bidon of HEED every 2 laps.
I really really wanted to do so well, but unfortunately it just wasn't my day
now I'm sitting here washing clothes and making cakes out of all the bananas I didn't eat....mmmmm...banana cake.
next year I'll be back with a vengence, and hopefully a finish time.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
36 hours and counting.....to the 24hr
Righty-O then,
The Australian 24hr Championships are on this easter weekend.
The days are looking good and I'm feeling good, well good enough to finish anyway.
I'm aiming for a top ten finish if everything goes according to plan.
I don't have much of a plan but it will go something like
get a fresh bottle HEED every 2 laps,
eat half a power-bar every 2hours,
A Hammer Gel every lap on a bit of fire-road where it is long enough to reach into my jersey pocket.
Eat an Easter bun / banana / chocolate cake / fruit cake.
Bike prep is done I just have to wait for my brake pads to break in.
It's going to be a hard race but I'll have a lot of mates there racing as well,
This will keep it enjoyable as well can egg each other on.
Especially at the 2-3am laps these are the hardest and I haven't gotten past these due to Injury, Mechanicals, or just plain drunkenness.
Ive been in some kind of training regime since the new year.
which has involved up to 900km a week, with a few 4 - 7.5 hrs road rides on the weekend, 8 hour racing has also been good training.
I'm just deciding on which front tyre to use.
anyway i'll let you know
The Australian 24hr Championships are on this easter weekend.
The days are looking good and I'm feeling good, well good enough to finish anyway.
I'm aiming for a top ten finish if everything goes according to plan.
I don't have much of a plan but it will go something like
get a fresh bottle HEED every 2 laps,
eat half a power-bar every 2hours,
A Hammer Gel every lap on a bit of fire-road where it is long enough to reach into my jersey pocket.
Eat an Easter bun / banana / chocolate cake / fruit cake.
Bike prep is done I just have to wait for my brake pads to break in.
It's going to be a hard race but I'll have a lot of mates there racing as well,
This will keep it enjoyable as well can egg each other on.
Especially at the 2-3am laps these are the hardest and I haven't gotten past these due to Injury, Mechanicals, or just plain drunkenness.
Ive been in some kind of training regime since the new year.
which has involved up to 900km a week, with a few 4 - 7.5 hrs road rides on the weekend, 8 hour racing has also been good training.
I'm just deciding on which front tyre to use.
anyway i'll let you know
A minute is a long time WWS#2
Wow!!!, what a day out,
Probably one of the nicest trails I’ve ever ridden, lost of twisty turny single-track with a short climb thrown in for good measure.
Approx 440 teams turned up for this one, and while talking to people setting up they were saying this was a flat track, so I decided to see how long I could keep it in the big ring.
I had to keep my eye on Spoonboy in this one as I was hungry for the win, and I need the points after a disappointing 1st round.
So the typical start with everyone racing up the fire-road I had somehow managed to get to the not so pointy section of the field.
Just as we get to the first bit of fire trail I just miss out on getting into the singletrack up front, so the first 2km was spent sitting behind a slower rider holding up approx 20 of us who wanted to pass. He kindly pulled over when he had a chance and let us through. It was to be a little like this for the whole race as there is very little passing room on this course.
Up in the distance I could see 2 soloists one of the being spoonboy, I try to catch them but some of the newer riders slowed me down just that little bit
after 4 laps I am finally behind them and there is a big fire road section coming up which is full of people.
Slowly and quietly, I creep up behind them, put the hammer down and race past him and another soloist (Michael Crumb?)
Ha Ha, I laughes like a lunatic to myself quietly, I’ve got him ha ha ha….I keep the pressure on, looking behind me on the switchbacks next lap I can see he is still not that far behind me.
Hmmmm, I’d better keep the pressure down.
6 laps later I stop on the top of the hill to visit mother nature, thinking that Spoonboy is well behind.
I turn around to hop on my bike and Spoonboy in tow with Michael Crumb creep past,
I follow them to transition where I stop, Grab a fresh bottle spend what seems forever looking for my powerbars I eventually find one and hurry it down.
I see Spoonboy disappear into the distance again…….
Damn… he’s now got close to a minute on me.
Thats OK I’ve got 3 hours to catch and pass him,
"Yeah Yeah " Rob your not going to get me with you mind games I say to myself.
Next lap "He’s only 10 seconds in front " people are yelling at me
Yeah Yeah sure sure.
I put the hammer down,
What’s that up ahead?
Is it?
It cant be?
It is!!!
I get a second wind….
Up in the distance are the familiar KHS colours of Spoon boy, I slowly gain on him and ride behind him for a Km or so, pretending to be somebody else.
He looks hurt.
On one of the slower sections of single track I ask if I can pass he pulls over giving me enough track to pass, and wham i make a break pedalling as fast as possible trying to make time on my new found lead.
"Yes" I think to myself "I’ve done it" but I had better keep the pressure down,
One lap later I come back into transition and Rob says I have made 2 minutes on him,
We are at the final stages of the day, I have no idea of how much time we have left, but I’m thinking I have probably one more lap to go before they close the course for the day.
I get passed by BMC rider David Rome whom I chat to as we descend some of the fun parts and tells me this is last the lap.
OK keep my head straight don’t do anything stupid and pedal.
Up the hill for the last time and I cramp the right hand side of my body luckily there’s only 500m to go and Spoonboy is nowhere in sight.
I cross the line.
Finally I’ve done it.
By the time I put my bike down catch my breath, do some starjumps and 20 pushups,
Spoonboy crosses the line
3 minutes behind me, man what a race.
Best. Race. Ever.
1 all Spoonie.
Probably one of the nicest trails I’ve ever ridden, lost of twisty turny single-track with a short climb thrown in for good measure.
Approx 440 teams turned up for this one, and while talking to people setting up they were saying this was a flat track, so I decided to see how long I could keep it in the big ring.
I had to keep my eye on Spoonboy in this one as I was hungry for the win, and I need the points after a disappointing 1st round.
So the typical start with everyone racing up the fire-road I had somehow managed to get to the not so pointy section of the field.
Just as we get to the first bit of fire trail I just miss out on getting into the singletrack up front, so the first 2km was spent sitting behind a slower rider holding up approx 20 of us who wanted to pass. He kindly pulled over when he had a chance and let us through. It was to be a little like this for the whole race as there is very little passing room on this course.
Up in the distance I could see 2 soloists one of the being spoonboy, I try to catch them but some of the newer riders slowed me down just that little bit
after 4 laps I am finally behind them and there is a big fire road section coming up which is full of people.
Slowly and quietly, I creep up behind them, put the hammer down and race past him and another soloist (Michael Crumb?)
Ha Ha, I laughes like a lunatic to myself quietly, I’ve got him ha ha ha….I keep the pressure on, looking behind me on the switchbacks next lap I can see he is still not that far behind me.
Hmmmm, I’d better keep the pressure down.
6 laps later I stop on the top of the hill to visit mother nature, thinking that Spoonboy is well behind.
I turn around to hop on my bike and Spoonboy in tow with Michael Crumb creep past,
I follow them to transition where I stop, Grab a fresh bottle spend what seems forever looking for my powerbars I eventually find one and hurry it down.
I see Spoonboy disappear into the distance again…….
Damn… he’s now got close to a minute on me.
Thats OK I’ve got 3 hours to catch and pass him,
"Yeah Yeah " Rob your not going to get me with you mind games I say to myself.
Next lap "He’s only 10 seconds in front " people are yelling at me
Yeah Yeah sure sure.
I put the hammer down,
What’s that up ahead?
Is it?
It cant be?
It is!!!
I get a second wind….
Up in the distance are the familiar KHS colours of Spoon boy, I slowly gain on him and ride behind him for a Km or so, pretending to be somebody else.
He looks hurt.
On one of the slower sections of single track I ask if I can pass he pulls over giving me enough track to pass, and wham i make a break pedalling as fast as possible trying to make time on my new found lead.
"Yes" I think to myself "I’ve done it" but I had better keep the pressure down,
One lap later I come back into transition and Rob says I have made 2 minutes on him,
We are at the final stages of the day, I have no idea of how much time we have left, but I’m thinking I have probably one more lap to go before they close the course for the day.
I get passed by BMC rider David Rome whom I chat to as we descend some of the fun parts and tells me this is last the lap.
OK keep my head straight don’t do anything stupid and pedal.
Up the hill for the last time and I cramp the right hand side of my body luckily there’s only 500m to go and Spoonboy is nowhere in sight.
I cross the line.
Finally I’ve done it.
By the time I put my bike down catch my breath, do some starjumps and 20 pushups,
Spoonboy crosses the line
3 minutes behind me, man what a race.
Best. Race. Ever.
1 all Spoonie.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
bad home mechanics
I am my own worst mechanic.
After putting on a new swing-arm on the Ellsworth Truth.
I entered the Working Week Series with much anxiety.
I wont go into a lot of detail,
but lets just say I should have checked my bolts
Lap 1. hmm.....no rear brake
Lap 2. hmmm rear brake kind of works if i pull really hard
Lap 3. ok im stopping to have a really good look, ahh im missing a bolt holding on my caliper is lost, missing gone....
Righty'O then I pinch a bolt from a mates spare bike.....thanks Rob.
I'm off wheee this OK I have a brake new pads, now to try and catch up on all that time time ive lost.
Lap 8. I am buggered, its harder and harder to turn the pedals.
I stop half way around the track, Exhausted why is it so hard I wonder to myself...
My brakes have locked onto the rotor, as hard as i can i pedal to the finish
8 laps, 5-1/2 hours later, I stop.
game over.
After putting on a new swing-arm on the Ellsworth Truth.
I entered the Working Week Series with much anxiety.
I wont go into a lot of detail,
but lets just say I should have checked my bolts
Lap 1. hmm.....no rear brake
Lap 2. hmmm rear brake kind of works if i pull really hard
Lap 3. ok im stopping to have a really good look, ahh im missing a bolt holding on my caliper is lost, missing gone....
Righty'O then I pinch a bolt from a mates spare bike.....thanks Rob.
I'm off wheee this OK I have a brake new pads, now to try and catch up on all that time time ive lost.
Lap 8. I am buggered, its harder and harder to turn the pedals.
I stop half way around the track, Exhausted why is it so hard I wonder to myself...
My brakes have locked onto the rotor, as hard as i can i pedal to the finish
8 laps, 5-1/2 hours later, I stop.
game over.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Still sore
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.
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.
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........
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