Super Series: Race 3 - 24hrs of Brutal.

After the first  2 races were mudfests it was a delight to see some fine weather leading in to the Merida 24hr..  Race 3 was back at Spicers Old Hidden Vale and roughly using the same trails as last years Merida 24hr.  Last year I loved this track, and having assisted with some trail care the weekend before, I had a fair idea of what to expect and what gearing to use.  Accompanying me, my wife Ali and friends Andy, Lee and Jason who would be racing in the 4 person mixed category, while I raced in Solo Single Speed.


I expected there to be the usual suspects from the earlier races, however, only series leader and part man, part machine, Matt 'Dog' Powell was there and one other John Warren, making a total of 3 competitors in SS.  A little disappointing after last years field of about 10, but I guess that was due to the fact that the event was a qualifier for 24hr World Solo Championships held in Canberra last October.

For once I started towards the front of the pack, but nearly crashed before we got out of the transition area in the loose sandy conditions at the first turn.  After we rolled down Happy Gilmore, the the faster team riders disappeared into the distance, while I settled in behind Matt.  The climb up "Old Man's...' is a great climb with the right SS gearing and flattish area across to 007 would be a great place to eat and drink later in the race.  007 was a blast, and Matt made it look effortless as he pulled away.  I was back behind Matt as we hit the fire road, and there were no other riders in sight.  I felt comfortable sitting behind Matt, but though I might be annoying him by sucking his wheel and decided to push on up the fire road and along Aeroplane. I dropped in to Rockbottom with no riders ahead or behind, however it was not long before Matt was back with me.  We had a clear run all the way until Escalator when we caught another rider and paced ourselves up the climb.  The final run along the dirt road to transition, with its corrugations was both a blessing and a curse, but that was lap 1.  As it turned out, it was sub 44mins.  I only realised our pace, when part way through the second lap I expected to see that we were well in to the 2nd hour only to see only 1 hour had passed.

The next couple of laps Matt and I passed each other a few times, not racing as such, just riding our own race.    At one point(lap 2 or 3) I had a gumby stack at transition, in the soft sand as my shoe did not unclip, falling on my already injured left wrist.  The track was mega fast, bumpy, but a pleasure compared to the mud last time we raced there.    I don't think my forks were taking up the bumps as well as it might, and my fingers were starting to hurt. I made some random setting changes to the rebound and suddenly heard the suspension starting to work and if felt like an improvement. There were still a few patches of mud to keep things interesting and to catch out the inattentive.  I was lapping consistently, eating and drinking well and feeling great.  I was ahead of Matt, and had not seen him for quite a while.  If I had any complaints, it was that my music was stuck on some random, hour long playlist that repeated over and over and over. Quite maddening, but if that was the biggest issue I faced all day I would have happily put up with it.  

I started to think about the night laps and stopped to mount my lights and batteries.  I think in future I will start with these mounted.  As darkness fell, it became time to test the new 40% brighter AyUp light I was running as a bar light...the verdict, they are awesome bright.  I’ll be looking to do the upgrade on my helmet lights next.  I love night riding, following that beam of light through single trail, forcing that extra bit of concentration.   It was on the 1st full night lap, about to lap John, that I heard that dreaded hissing sound that denotes a puncture.   I’d managed to slice a sidewall on my rear tyre in a little mud patch at very start of Escalator.   At first I decided to see if the Stan’s Sealant could do its thing, but it didn’t.  So I thought I’d run the nearly 2k back to camp and fix it there, with better light and a track pump, but as I thought about the long flat haul along the dirt road, I decided to try fix it on track with a tube.  I quickly discovered that the brand new tube had managed to get a hole worn in it over the preceding 7.5  laps.  So I tried a sticky patch, but that didn’t work.  At some point Matt passed me and I had lost me lead.  With no other option, I legged it back to transition, somewhat dejected.  In the meantime Matt had let my crew know to expect me with a flat tyre.  The guys readied my 2nd bike and were waiting at the start line, and off I went with a new energy.  The bikes are setup quite similarly, but the major difference was the tyres, with the tyres on my 2nd bike more suited to loose or even muddy conditions.  I never gave this much thought until making a turn on some hard packed dirt on the Billabong track, I lost the rear and slid into a tree.  The impact was not overly hard, but I managed to take a strip of  the top layer of skin from my wrist to my elbow.  The other difference on the 2nd bike was the higher gearing, which on the most part was not a problem but combined with some tiredness caused me to fall heavily on a large square edged rock on Escalator bruising my thigh.  All up I recall about 4 little crashes on that lap, and was happy to see a new tyre on the Superfly when I returned to the pits.  I stopped for some of Ali's wonderful risotto and put on some warmer layers.

I went out for a couple more laps, but let the pain from my injured wrist and thigh get to me. After lap 11 I decided it was time for a coffee. I hopped off the bike while the kettle boiled, and there I stayed. My thigh was hurting, and I really couldn't care if I lost my 2nd place. I was off the bike for nearly 8 hours, but only slept for a couple of hours at most. I rested as Ali, Andy, Jason and Lee kept rotating laps, and I recovered my desire to get back on the bike and go out with Ali on her next lap and just cruise around and let my leg warm up. While we waited for Lee to return Andy looked up the results on Facebook(what a revolution that was) to discover that I was last, but only 30mins behind John in 2nd. I headed back out and felt pretty good, and smashed out a 50min lap, and early on the 2nd morning lap I was back in to 2nd. I kept pumping out laps around the hour mark and was enjoying myself until I got another puncture. Another disastrous lap on bike two, dropping the chain a number of times. Again the guys did a tyre change and I returned to the Superfly. I managed to do 6 laps in 6hrs Sunday morning, totalling 84km. All up I did 17laps for a grand total of 240km.

Highlights

The biggest highlight of the race was seeing my wife smashing out quick laps and looking awesome doing it. Also the support from everyone, spectators, the stars in the timing tent and fellow riders was fantastic. The camels, even though I have seen them nearly every time I ride at OHV, they are just so surreal. The bridges on Rock Bottom at night were super cool, branching across the black void below.

There were a number of firsts for me in this race. It was the first time I got away at the front of the pack instead of losing minutes to the leaders. This was the first time I slept and went out to ride again and it was the first time I finished a 24hr out on track, both of which gave me a credible result.

From L to R: Me, Matt, John

This was only my 3rd 24hr solo, and there was much learned, and still much to be learned. I consider myself to be mentally strong, but I capitulated in the face of quire minor adversity.  After a flawless and mechanical fee ride last year, I let a few unplanned things weaken me mentally, but I can learn from that. I think a plan for the things that can be controlled is necessary. Having goals outside of placings is important to provide motivation and having someone to remind you of those goals in the dark times that inevitably come. All things considered, with the injuries I took in to this race on top of the ones I picked up during the race, the overall result was not a disaster. With nearly 8 hours off the bike I still managed about 14th overall. Really 2nd in SS was good for my points in the series, but nothing more. But then as Peter Creagh said at the presentations,"You have to be in it to win it." In any case if guess if someone wants an easy podium, they are giving them away in the Solo SS category :) This was far from my best ride. I am most annoyed that my legs could have powered through easily.

There were super rides by, overall solo winner Clint Pearce, womens winner Jodie Willett, SS winner Matt Powell, Graham Menzies, the young AyUp team and last but not least the whole "People that know Ali" who managed to keep someone on track for 24hrs and place 3rd in 4 person mixed category, all while keeping me going.


Tailwind Promotions again turned on a fantastic event, great venue and organisation.

The final race in the series is an 8hour race in 4 weeks. Hopefully we will see a few more single speeders and it will be a fun race. In the meantime, some work to understand my suspension, review some other types of grips and find some tyres with tougher side walls. I also plan to avoid being hit by cars and having silly training stacks that mean I start races injured.

Super Series: Race 2 - 6hrs of Mud

I don't think I could not have had a worse race prep and still been able to race.  The critical moment for this race really started 6:45 Friday morning on my regular commute to work.  Enter large 4WD from stage right, straight in front of me.  With no time to stop I was able to shape up and take the brunt of the collision on my right shoulder.  After recovering my breath and exchanging details with the driver, I felt OK...for about half an hour until the adrenaline wore off.  Then I was in a world of hurt.  My wife drove me to the hospital and as soon as I mentioned bike vs car accident it was action stations, neck brace, ECG, team of a least 5 people checking me over and X-Rays.

The eventual prognosis Grade 1 AC joint dislocation.  Not too bad I thought a week or 2 off the bike, then some road and MTB.  However when the entrants list was posted with only 4 entries in SS, I started to think maybe I could go do a lap or 2 for series points.  I mean, the race had been paid for and I had to be there because my lovely wife and a heap of friends were all racing and at worst, I could just walk the lap.  If I felt OK after 1 lap I could do another.

Ali smashing out laps in the mud.

Race day; I arrive at Murrenbong with Andy and bump into Al Cook, OK that makes 5 in SS and may be 1 or 2  more with on the line entries.  Andy and the guys set up...I am injured after all :)  I was allocated the super cool race number 99 and mounted it on the Superfly.  I planned to ride it with the same gearing as LunarC, and since  its only going to be a lap or 2  I don't worry too much about my other bike.  I go for a quick test ride and felt good, but a quick roll is quite different from muscling the bike on downhill descents and uphill single trail.  With this in mind, I don't try to start right up the front.  In fact after being delayed checking Ali's tyre pressures I am as deep in the pack as I have ever been for a race start.  We roll off slowly in a stop start fashion, while the leaders blast away.  It is not long before we are in deep mud, much worse than we were lead to expect and even worse than my worst expectations.  There is about 1k of horrible, sticky mud, finished with a pinch climb that I never rode all race.  To make it worse I feel some pain in a glute muscle after a rapid dismount when someone stopped suddenly in front of me. Out of the mud, it is time to actually pedal, the fire road was a chance to pass some riders, but the single track did not allow any passing, but at least the casual pace took the strain off my upper body on the bumpy descents. From the half way checkpoint, the course was fast and quite fun.  One lap down and I felt pretty good.  The second lap and I was able to clear a lot more riders, but it was not until lap 3 that I was able to run my own pace and really test the shoulder.  There was some slight discomfort, and not wishing to come off, I rode conservatively.  In fact, it was pushing the bike through the mud that hurt the shoulder more than riding.

Race number is on the Superfly.

On the 4th or 5th lap the bottom bracket on the Superfly locks up firm.  One of the BB cups had come unscrewed, but I worked out that if I pedalled backwards every few strokes I could keep going.  I finished the lap and changed bikes....the unprepared bike, that had had a flat rear the night before.  Then about halfway around that lap I heard a strange noise and the rear felt dead flat.  I decided to ride on keeping my weight over the front and see how it felt.  I managed to limp home taking it easy on the bumpy stuff only dropping a minute or 2.  I exchanged wheels with the Superfly which had a more mud oriented tyre, but I wanted to keep the gearing the same and had to change cogs between wheels, and I had so much trouble.   I couldn't find the preferred tool for the job and as I try to unscrew the track nut I see all the riders I'd passed on the last lap pass me back.  Eventually, with help of the kids, I got the job done, and I headed off again....into the mud.  While some parts of the mud were developing a dryish line, some parts were totally unridable.  Then there was the poly pipe which runs under the track, surfacing every now and then and super slippery.  I accidentally managed to put a wheel on a section of pipe running parallel to the track and find my bike face back the way I had just come, while I still faced in the correct direction. Yes, this is as painful as it sounds.  The drying mud became more claggy and the minimal clearance on the Reba fork meant that on most laps I had to stop after the pinch climb to stop clear the mud.  It was a tough choice between looking for bumps to shake the mud off and smooth lines for the shoulder.

Did I mention the Mud? 

Unfortunately at about the 3hr mark I pass Sean Bekkers walking back in the other direction having broken his second derailleur, his race was over, and he was not alone in that regard.   The mud is brutal on gear.  The second half of the race went by pretty quickly.  I did have one small off, just before I was due to take my next dose of Ibuprofen and it hurt a little.  Through out the race, I actually felt pretty good with some slight pain in the ribs, shoulder and back, all on the right side.  It was tolerable, but it did play a little on the mind.  

Me, Matt Dog, Al Cook

At about the 4.5 hr mark, I wasn't really sure of my lap times, but I started to figure that I was going to finish a lap just before or just after the 6hr mark.  My last lap was fairly leisurely, and I am even more casual than normal passing riders, and I almost came to a stop on the last climb to make sure I didn't have to do another lap.  I only missed by seconds, and find out a little later that Al Cook was waiting at the finish line to do one more lap if necessary.  Imagine a lap like that, wheel to wheel after 6hrs.  The final wrap was 3rd place in SS an 9th overall, only 2 mins behind Al in 2nd, while Matt Dog rode strongly to put a lap on us both.

The next race in the series is the 24hr in 5 weeks.  Hopefully I can recover and train well leading in to it....Oh, and no mud please.

Dirtfest 2011 - The Longest Short Race Ever

Dirtfest 2011 was at a new track, after being relocated from Slickers at the property owners request.  The new location was Ewen Maddock Dam, Landsborough....or as I noticed when leaving, the aptly named Ewen Maddock Wetlands.  As is nature of MTB riding in South East Queensland of late, it was another muddy race. Possibly my wettest race ever. Certainly on par with Karingal 4hr 2010, and worse than the Super Series 4hr of a few weeks ago. 

With a the expectation of such conditions, I'd put a Continental Mountain King on the rear and was thankful that I did. Up front was a Continental Race King, which at times left me pretty much a passenger at the will of the mud gods.  I was thankful for my long fingered gloves, because I must have smashed my hands on trees a dozen times because I drifted off to the left or right.

The format for this race was 50K or 7 laps.  Race start was at 8:30, with the Elites off first, then the single speeders and then the rest of the field.  Across all categories there were nearly 100 riders start the race.  For once I started up the front, and settled in to 3rd or 4th for the first quarter of the lap, then we started having to pass the slower of the elite riders, which made it difficult to maintain the rhythm and Freddo broke away.  For a while, I was riding with Peter Winfield and just sitting on his wheel.  I made the move past Peter at exactly the wrong time. Since I was in the lead of a small bunch when we came to a branch in the course and the marshal who was supposed to be directing us was daydreaming and I rode past the turn, but I woke the marshal enough for him to point the riders behind me in the right direction, leaving me to back track and tag on the back of the bunch.  This was also where the real mud started, with some fairly steep downhill single track and 20-30cm deep mud that developed in to wheel guiding grooves as the race progressed.

The course would have been great in the dry, and I would have been well under geared if it was.  I did not much like the fire roads with 2 way traffic, although it did provide opportunity to see friends and opponents heading in the opposite direction.  Passing in this section was tricky as you needed to pass riders by crossing in to the other lane when there were no riders heading toward you(much like overtaking in a car on the highway).  There were some quite technical parts, with some ramps, a particularly technical climb and a very tricky narrow bridge that must have been chaos on the first lap with the bigger groups.

By lap 4 my front brake pads were gone, but I had to just push on.  Eating and drinking were tough due to the mud, and I definitely neglected my nutrition and hydration, but that had little to no effect when compared to my lack of steering ability and lack of brakes.  On lap 5 there was a heavy downpour of rain, and the course was transformed .  In many ways it was for the better.  The mud was softer and easier to ride and steer through, but conversely there was more mud in the face and with my glasses off, it did cause me some problems.  I put my glasses back on, but they were so muddy, I couldn't see.  I got some new glasses next time through transition and it was a lot better until the glasses fogged up.  I then had a stick flick up and derail my chain, causing me a significant stop to get it back on.  Other than that, the Superfly was perfect.

Race finish was less than perfect, with once again messing up the alternate ending.  This time mostly because I thought I had 1 more lap to do.  My GPS was only reading 42K, exactly 6 laps I thought.  Especially since when I asked on my previous lap I was told 2 to go.  As I headed out to do another lap I was told I was finished.  Then not realising I still had to do the extra loop around to the real finish I got tangled in the bunting trying to make my way back to my gear, fell over and looked a right gumby I am sure.  Needless to say that whole episode cost me close to a minute, but thankfully no positions.

In the end I came home 4th in SS category and 8th overall.  Congrats to Andy Fellows who smashed the 50k 1st in 2 1/2 hours and Simon "Freddo" Fredericksen who was crowned "Qld Single Speed Champion" and 3rd overall only 20 minutes behind Andy. All up the single speeders filled 5 of the first 9 spots. The full results  can be viewed here.

For me the low light was losing front brakes, but it was a lesson learned.  The highlight was the support through transition, and call out from MC Coach Jeff each lap, and I tried to oblige him with the requested wave.

With the next race only a week away, Sunday afternoon was spent demuding the Superfly and giving it some much needed TLC.  With rain forecast for the week, it might be more of the same, but I have a feeling Murenbong will hold up somewhat better in the wet.

Super Series: Race 1 - 4hrs of Mud

The Super Series is a series of 4, 6, 24 and 8 hour races. Race 1, 4hrs at Old Hidden Vale was a short race as far as enduro races go and should have been relatively straight forward. Enter some heavy rain early in the week and it suddenly becomes a whole lot harder.

The weather fined up at the end of the week, and the drive out was showing all the signs of a beautiful day, with not a cloud in the sky. The rumour on Friday was that there were some patches of mud, but it was not too bad. Entering the property looked promising, the dirt road looked hard packed with no dust. A bit further in though, there were puddles. Decision time...Which bike, which tyres? Usually the tyre choice for OHV is all about puncture avoidance, but the potential for mud threw some more variables in to the mix. I decided to stick with the SuperFly as it was my "Race Bike" after all, and this was a race. I also went with the Hutichson Pythons, that have got me through many races. Their tougher Tubeless Ready sidewalls gave me some puncture protection, and I was convinced that there might be some small sections of mud, but on the whole the track would be hard packed and fast...as it turned out, I could not have been more wrong. I decided to stick with the gearing I used at LunarC which was 32/19 which should have been OK for a 4hr race. Decisions made, the rest of pre-race was fairly casual catching up with friends, puting on races numbers etc.

Race start was at 8:30 with the teams heading off with a 3 min headstart. I made my usual mid pack start, when I really I should be getting myself in to a position further towards the front to avoid time costing traffic on that first lap. The fast descent down Happy Gilmore was a vast contrast to what awaited us at the bottom down by the billabong. There was some 2km of barely ridable quagmire...it was going to be a long 4 hours. Surprisingly the Pythons and Small Block 8s felt OK(it was really only when I changed bikes I realised how poor they were). The section at the start of the fire trail known as Old Man's Schlong was tough, sapping so much energy for the climb itself, but this is where an SS 29er excels although passing was tough with a couple of sections where bunting reduced it to single track. Then at the little pinch climb in the single track after Old Man's Schlong I dropped my chain as I pushed to pass a slower rider. As I put the chain back on I watched most of the riders I had just passed, pass me back. The descent through 007 also provided very little in the way of passing opportunities. The climb up Gully allowed for a lot more passing. Down Ladder and up Snake again saw me managing the challenges of riding SS in traffic, especially up Snake. It was then back on to firetrail with a chance to put the power down and back to transition and time to do it all over again.

It was easy on the roller coaster that is Happy Gilmore, to forget the mud waiting at the bottom,. At least much of the muddy section was wide, allowing for some more passing. About half way through the second lap I was had found some clear track and was able to run my own pace, only having to pass the occasional single rider rather than groups of 3 and 4. 007 was a heap of fun, except for the little pinch climb in the middle, which was tough with 32/19 gearing. On one of the muddier sections during the 3rd lap, a massive amount of mud managed to splash up inside my glasses and I had difficulty for a while trying to remove the grit from my eyes while riding one handed. It was also on the 3rd lap that my rear brakes really started to feel spongy, but I had decided to persevere rather than have to wash 2 bikes. Then my chain came off again right at the end of the 3rd lap, and since I was returning to transition to get some bottles, I decided to change bikes.

The Continental Race King tyres front and back, were awesome by comparison to the Pythons and combined with the slight improvement in track conditions, I was able to get a bit more traction around the billabong. On the other hand the track conditions seemed to have deteriorated at the start of Old Man's Schlong. It was this 4th lap that I started to catch riders I thought long gone after my terrible start, and I got renewed motivation. By the 5th and 6th laps things were starting to warm up and all thoughts were towards the finish. I was trying to figure out how many more laps were possible. On the 6th lap I realised I was going to fit in one more lap, and I crossed the line with 10minutes to go. One last stop for a bottle and out to smash that last lap. Part way down 007 on the last lap I noticed my front tyre was feeling a little soft, but with my pump on the SuperFly and not wanting to waste a CO2 canister, I decided to just take it easy for the last 4k to home. So concentrating on picking smooth lines, and keeping my weight over the rear wheel I was able to get home, although some of the corners on Ladder and Snake caused the tyre to really roll. I was still feeling pretty good at the end, and even had a little race to the finish line with a geared bike along the fire trail for fun.

The final result, was 2nd in SS.(Well done Matt Dog) and 6th Overall Solo. I did push fairly hard but had an absolute ball despite the mud(or maybe because of it?). The next race in the series is the 6hr at Murenbong. Thanks again to the BA&A crew for putting up Gazebos, pulling them down and generally helping me during and at the end of the race to pack up.

Photo Gallery

8hrs of LunarC II

This event marks the 1 year anniversary of single speed racing for me. It was a different venue from last year due to heavy rain over the New Year. So I had no real idea of what the track was like and what gearing to select. I ended up going with, what is for me a very racey 32 x 19, and I think I lucked on the perfect ratio.

Training for me this year has been almost entirely

on road due to weather and commuting. So I was really expecting this to hurt. Race week prep was not ideal either due to out of town work commitments and only arriving back home at 6pm. I did have the bikes ready on the weekend, and my lovely wife did some food shopping for me, so after some quick packing, I was good to go. I managed to lie down for about 1.5hrs, but only slept for about 30mins. With the thermometer sitting on about 25C, I arrived at the track at about 10pm and prepared my race numbers, food and hydration. My weapon of choice was my recently aquired Trek Superfly SS which was debuting at the event where I last rode a 26" MTB.

Finally it was midnight, and with some eerie music playing the race started. I tried to get away towards the front, and the slightly up hill fire road suited SS quite nicely. Heading in to the single track I was just holding station, as it is a long race and there are few passing opportunities in any case. On one of the climbs, I dropped my chain and by the time I managed to get it back on 20 or so riders had passed. I joined the procession, but riding SS so deep in the pack

is not much fun and I looked for an opportunity to pass. When one finally came, I accelerated and dropped the chain again, letting some riders past. Thankfully this was the last time the chain came off, and in hindsight I think I had too much tension in an attempt to compensate for issues with losing tension with the Superfly.

Completing the first lap, I realised this was going to be a tough race on SS. There were a couple of tough climbs early in the lap, followed by a couple of bumpy descents, a few gnarly log rolls interspersed with some nice single track. It was not until about lap 4 that I was able to set my own pace and it was happy days for quite a few laps. Someone had a MASSIVE stack behind me on one of the fast fire trail descents, but the rider insisted he was OK and to go on.

As the morning continued, the humidity was stifling and there were a couple of spits of rain which never fulfilled their promise. Some of the climbs were becoming really hard and the bumpy descents were killing my hands. My rear brake was spongey, and I was considering swapping bikes. I was told I was in 3rd, and even with the promise of lower gearing, I didn't want to waste time swapping my race from one bike to the other. Around this time I finally caught back up to "Matt Dog" who I had been following when I dropped my chain the first time. He was doing it tough on his sweet looking Ti rigid as I passed, and I was now in 2nd in SS.

Day broke, and with about 4 laps to go, I caught

Sean Bekkers and Al Cook, putting me in 1st SS and 2nd Solo. I rode the next lap with Al hot on my heels. With 2 laps to go, I could see Bekkers not too far behind and riding strong. I struggled on the 2nd last lap and was passed by Bekkers and I dropped one spot overall, but was still in 1st SS. Crossing the line with 20mins still on the clock, it was out for one last lap. On the final lap I went all out, and manage a sub 30min lap.

The final wrap was 1st single speed and 2rd overall solo. Exceeded my expectations by a long way. It felt like my hydration and meal plan was OK, but I now think I was significantly under hydrated. Apart from the dropped chains, "The Fly" was great, but not noticeable superior to the Ti Inbread I raced at the worlds. Tubeless tyres are awesome, but me decision to leave the Conti Race Kings on was not great as traction was a problem at times and I think these tyre are better for sandy conditions.

As always at top event by I2A. It was awesome seeing so many familiar faces and the friendly/positive vibe out on the track. Big props too, to the guys and girls that just get out there and ride all night just enjoying the fun of MTB. Big thanks to Ben and Lee who regularly get lumped with packing my stuff and I recover. Thanks guys.

I'm not sure what my next dirt event will be. Possibly Del XC on ANZAC weekend.

The stats and GPS can be view here http://connect.garmin.com/activity/66635880 but in summary,

Distance: 121k (although based on quoted lap distance and number of laps was 134k)

Climbing: 2406m

Av/Mx HR: 159/188 bpm

Calories: 4491

Av/Mx Spd: 14.8/45.4

9/24 = Disappointment

Its with mixed emotions that I close the chapter of the World 24hr Solo Championships. I'll try take to heart the notion that its the journey that matters and the result is just that...a result. So starting with the journey, I did my first single speed race less than a year ago and have slowly been ramping up the distance since then. My first 24hr race was only about 9 weeks ago, and perhaps went a little too smoothly and my half baked training plan went pretty much to plan. There was even a tapering period :).

The WSC24 was like no other event I have done before. For starters there was qualification required(of sorts), a mandatory Pit Manager, lots of rules and no music players! This was 12th WSC24 which was to be held at Mt Stromlo, Canberra, the first time outside of North America. It was also my first interstate event, and a huge one at that. I drove down with Ben my Pit Manager on Thursday, with an overnight stay in Sydney, and short drive to Canberra on Friday morning for rider sign in. From there it was off to the mountain, to find our pit and see the course.

Riding this bridge was cool, having seen it on TV at various UCI events at Stromlo.

The course was AWESOME, especially for single speed, but it would be taxing after 24 hours and puncture potential. I did my test lap with 32/21 gearing and found it easy, but decided that it would be perfect in the long run. Tyres on the other hand was something I was unsure of. Light and fast, but possible punctures or heavy and tough but less chance of punctures.

"The Luge" was the highlight of each lap, and something to look forward to.

Friday afternoon was race briefing, hotel check-in and grocery shopping for race food. Friday night was pasta and then the airport to pick up Pit Manager 2, Andy.

Click on the image to see the Hi-Res image(It has an awesome level of detail)

I woke at 7am after a good nights sleep. As we approached Mt Stromlo, we could see the huge "Tent City" that had sprung up, and we arrived about 8:30 and started lugging the remaining gear to the pit which was a distance of some 500m. Note: Next time take a trolley. I decided on a change of tyres and Ben put a Race King on one front, and a Small Block 8 on the other. After comparing the bag on these tyres I decide the Small Block 8 would be less likely to get a side wall cut. With they tyres sorted and race numbers on, I was ready to race.

As is traditional, there was a Le Mans start, which is not fun in stiff shoes on bitumen. I got away mid pack, and pushed forward on the first fire trails. The single track was a bit of a stop start affair, but I passed a bunch of riders by taking the A Line on Western Wedgetail and had a free run through the Pork Barrel and then passed more riders on the fire trail sections to the top of the mountain and hit fun parts feeling fresh. I finished my bottle on the crit track as planned and the boys were ready in transition with another one and some food. With less traffic, the next lap was slightly faster and I passed a couple of SS riders. Nutrition and hydration were on target, and the next couple of laps were quite consistent up until it was time for lights.

I almost look like I know what I am doing.

The bike itself was OK, but I didn't really like the feel of my brakes and contemplated changing bikes. My forks too didn't quite feel right and we made some pressure adjustments to soften the ride, and I think we had just got the settings right. Tyres, pressures and gearing all felt perfect

It was on the 1st full night lap, that I hooked a bar-end while trying to squeeze past a rider walking the Pork Barrel. I went over the bars and landed heavily on my left side scraping my hip and bruising my calf. I guess that is the reason I don't usually run bar-ends, and probably will never run them again. I thought I would be able to ride it off, and felt OK on the ascent. The most pain came on the Skyline and the Luge, and by the time I was finishing the lap on the crit track, my left leg was almost useless. So after 9hr20min, 143km and 2960m climbing my WSC24 was over. It is the not finishing that annoys me more than where I finished or would have finished. Really the hard stuff was just begging, and apart from my bruised calf, I didn't feel like I had ridden for over 9hrs on Sunday. I was looking forward to pushing myself in to the dark places a 24hr race takes you.

To take some positives out of the event, I learned a lot about logistics and I also realised how important it is to try get the bike dialled in to the circuit and to understand my forks work and how to tune them. Brake pads too, should be bedded in prior to the event and even some spares in case a change is required. The speed differences of riders was also a surprise and while riders of the calibre of English and Fellows were always going to disappear in to the dusty distance, I was happy to hold my own against most others, so need to back myself more and get to the front at the start line. I was also still riding SS when even many of the geared bikes had resigned to walking the steep bits.

At least my injury was minor compared to some and I was able to ride the rest of the course, not like some. We saw one one guy with 2 broken arms and a busted AC joint.

My next event was to be the 6hr at Canungra, but with the amount of rain we have had this week, it is almost certain to be cancelled.

Click the image below to go to my set of rider photos.

The final results are available here

4hrs of Filthy Fun

With the worlds next weekend, my plan for this race was a nice 4hr cruise around a fun circuit in the dry, but you know what they say about plans....This was my first race on what will be my race bike for next weekend. When I left my house, it was overcast, but not raining, but as I got closer the race track, it was raining hard, and somewhat cooler than I may have expected. Thankfully I threw in a long sleeved jersey with my gear and it was quickly put to use. The conditions were muddy. The kind of conditions that got me into SS riding in the first place.

The race started under light rain conditions, and I started towards the front at quite a frantic pace. The Karingal circuit would be awesome in the dry, but in the wet, there are a number of tricky obstacles, especially the three wooden bridges. The conditions changed every lap, and was even worse as it dried a little and mud really tended to cake the tyres. I was looking for puddles just to wash my tyres. By the 5th lap, a couple of hills were unrideable for me because I had no grip. On the second last lap, my chain dropped of, but I managed to get it back on even-though I could not adjust the chain tensioner.

The last lap was a hoot as I realised I was not going to squeeze in another one and I pushed hard. I crossed the line 4hrs4mins having done 7 laps and no idea of position. I though I was 4th or 5th and was surprised when I was called as 3rd at the presentations. So all in all a top day out, no injuries.