The Mont 24 – Riding through the night

March 26, 2013 by dieselread

(The Mont is a 24 hour mountain bike race in the Kowan State Forrest just outside Canberra. You can only enter teams of 4 or 6, with riders racing in relay; a lap at a time depending on rider strength and endurance. Our team – Stoneage Romeos entered in Mixed fours – was made up of Deb Chambers [Wandiligong], Warren Appleby [Wandiligong], Brian John [Smiths Gully] and me [Box Hill... and Porepunkah whenever I can manage it]. The course was a 20km bush trail on about 90 percent winding single track. 1hr laps, at an average speed of 20kph were fast for the course. We raced a lap at a time with no doubles… completing 6 laps each in the 24hrs; Deb coming in on the last lap at about 25 minutes after gate close.)

Every once in a while you have one of those experiences you know will stay with you forever.

This 24 hour mountain bike race was one of those; not just for the racing and the results, but for the company, the weather, the camping and the pain. There’s definitely a package effect.

I remember lying in my warm tent, relatively comfortable but for strong DOMS, anticipating the more intense pain to come; guaranteed to arrive a very short distance into my next night lap. My alarm was set for 1:45am in order for me to transition with BJ at 2.

“Seriously?”, I ask myself, “You’re going to get up out of a warm tent, on a cold Canberra night, to jump on your mountain bike and ride through the bush on a winding dirt single track?!”

“Well… yes”, I tell myself. “And it’s gunna be grouse.”

And it was.

Three of my six laps were in the dark at 9.55pm, 2.00am, and 6:15am, It’s amazing how you can pin it with lights if you’re in the zone; hitting a trail on your third, fourth and fifth laps after already having good practice in full daylight. It’s the first time I’ve actually raced with lights and it was just unreal. The middle of the night; the middle of the bush; shredding on the Superfly – thanks to Cycleworks Box Hill.

Life is good.

It was so fantastic to spend the time with good friends from Bright – doing what we love doing. Thanks for inviting me onto your team Wazza and thanks everyone from Bright for the fantastic company and continuous encouragement.

Another great thing about this kind of racing is that everyone goes with their own goals in mind; to complete a certain number of laps (Wayne Hildred did 8! [160km]), to get around in a certain time, simply to get right around! To ride through the night, to get the most sleep or to have the most nervous wee’s (I think I won that one). There were some who rode it on unicycles and there was Team Amps, each member of which had only one leg. And whatever your goals, you’re welcome to try and will be congratulated when you achieve.

Just quietly, this shits all over road racing… sorry 6am-ers … or if you like, it’s just a lot different.

And it’s certainly no less competitive and this race had some of the fastest riders in Australia; champions from way-back as well as ones who are quite current.

My team went with one goal in mind and I was reminded of that – and the associated pressure – by many of my Bright mates on many occasions. Thanks guys!

We were there to win and nothing else would suffice. Despite that pressure, I was pretty confident of the podium in the mixed fours. With Deb Chambers as your girl-rider you’re starting in a pretty good place; and Wazza, Beej and I are not too shabby either! But when the results come out and you’re sitting on the front page in a race with 539 teams… you feel pretty damn good (above screenshot… at the bottom of the list… but we’re there).

First by three laps in mixed fours (smashed it!), 10th out of all teams of four (any gender any age) and 20th overall out of 539 teams. We were grinners.

Yep… it was one of those experiences.

I will never forget it and I’ll be scrambling to get there again… year after year for as long as I can ride a bike on single track… in the dark… in pain… with lights… what a package!

: 539 riders in the starting bunch heading into single track

: Team meeting – Wazza laying down the law

: Recharging

: Recharging

: Recharging

: Ready to rock and roll

: Night time village

: Typical cyclists car

: Poor Gordo – relegated to team manager due to injury

: On the road of anticipation

: Winning team!

Slowly working it out

April 20, 2012 by dieselread

OK… so it may be a nicer way of saying you’re full of crap…

… but instead of heading down to Anglesea today to defend my mountain bike title in the Emergency Services Games, I headed to the dunny to try and address the symptom of taking large amounts of codeine for a number of days!

Fun.

At least when my lovely wife (or other mother) expresses the view that I have no idea what pain is because I haven’t experienced child-birth, I can say – “Well, actually….”

Thanks God the accident pain is easing and I can get back off the codeine and onto the fruit!

Brakes?… In the Duael?… What for?

April 1, 2012 by dieselread

The face of pain began before the race today, and thereafter – nothing much changed. Ouch!

The prompt on the top tube of most Niner bikes came to mind frequently throughout the race… “Pedal damn it.” - it says, right under your nose. Well there was plenty of that, and I’ve never ridden a race with less requirement for brakes.

I remember many years ago I was given some valuable mountain biking advice by John Claxton (elite 24hr rider), “Smooth is fast. If you ride smoothly, you’ll always get more speed out of a course” he said. Never was it truer than for the 2012 Duael.

If you didn’t ride this course smooth you simply wasted time. That applied even to the absolutely bloody horrible bumpy section of single track early in the lap. Unfortunately smooth requires strength and good power-to-weight, a couple of things I don’t have so much of at the moment. (Good foresight by Matt, naming us Team Heavyweights!)

Celebrating on the podium with the boys

But Matt and I rode a pretty solid race; consistently lapping reasonable times and resulting in a second place in the Duael Mens Sport category – pretty happy with that. See full results here.

It was a great day and the race format – short snappy laps (7k) and no doubles – has you on your toes all day. Quick rest, quick warm-up and off you go again. Grouse.

And when you get home, dehydrated, smashed and still weighing in at 104 kilograms… you start to wonder how much faster you could have gone – or could go I should say. Bugger food!

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Try-athlons, solo trails and chillin’ in the bush

March 11, 2012 by dieselread

We hadn’t got half-way through the day today when Jack exclaimed, “Dad that was the best day I’ve ever had!”

There’s a very distinct feeling of satisfaction when you hear that from your 12 year old son. It gives you some comfort in the knowledge that you’re doing an okay job. He’s said it a few times now – and that too enforces the fact that he loves life… and those best days are just getting better and better. Grouse!

Our day started super early… infact, it started last night with the checklist above; there to ensure nothing was forgotten for Jack’s third St. Kilda Try-athlon. He’s super-organised this boy and we’ve been lucky that every year has been like this…

… a little chill in the air and a gorgeous sunny autumn morning on St. Kilda Beach. Lucky, because it would be mayhem if it rained with 2000+ kids trying to get around this course safely. They do a great job getting this many kids organised.

First time on his new road bike - and loving it!

There’s no doubt Jack absolutely loves this event. He gets a buzz out of the competition (even though there are absolutely no results and you wouldn’t have a clue where you come in the scheme of things) and gets to do three of his favourite things. “Top day dad” – and there was still the mountain biking and the chillin’ in the bush at the other Reads to come.

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For me there was 3 hours of solo at Smiths Gully today. An absolutely gorgeous ride… with only a porcupine for company.

http://app.strava.com/rides/5052442

A comedy of errors but a bloody brilliant Gravity 12 hour

February 6, 2012 by dieselread

(The Gravity 12 hour mountain bike race is an enduro event which runs around a set lap of 14 kilometres for a period of 12 hours. It can be raced solo or in teams of between 2 and 6 people. The most competitive category is the mens teams of 3, of which Team Cyclepath was one. The winner rides the most laps in the quickest overall time.)

This photo, taken on the way to Bright on Friday night, proved to be quite ironic considering the comedy of errors that was to greet me the following day.

Lucy and I were super-excited to be heading off on our adventure to Porepunkah together. It’s not often I spend time with any one child on my own so this was to be a precious weekend.

We arrived about 9pm and headed quickly to bed in order to be ready for a hot day of racing Saturday. My excitement around this race had arrived late due to my slow recovery from the Alpine Classic last week. I hadn’t turned a pedal since then but by Friday night I was pingin’ and ready to roll.

Mick and I arrived at the Bright Holiday Park transition at about 7.15 where we met my two Team Cyclepath team-mates, Brendon Dean and Mark McDougal. Mick – questioning his own sanity – had decided to ride the 12 hours solo. Gutsy.

Brendon, the owner of Cyclepath in Bright, had set up a brilliant transition for us. A gorgeous spot down by Morses Creek contained our headquarters for the day; marquee, esky, chairs, workstands, tools, food and drink. Even a warm-up bike ready to go on the trainer. Oh… and a spare bike – pffff… won’t need that! It’s not bad riding in the team with the local bike shop owner.

So off we all went to get ourselves sorted. I pulled my bike out of the car having collected it fresh from service, sat on it – and…

Oh no!

The rear shocker sank to the bottom of its travel and stayed there. I checked the air, increased the pressure, tried it in lock-out, tested the air again, rode it in lock-out… nothing. It remained sitting at the bottom of the travel no matter the pressure or lock-out position. Totally defunct.

Support crew members waiting for their running riders.

Luckily Doogs had agreed to start the race; even luckier when I realised it was a Le Mans start (*see below)! I have absolutely no desire to do one of those and have avoided it thus far… and now again. I was stuffing around and stressing over my bike so much that I nearly missed the start. I was so distracted by my own problems that I didn’t even offer to hold Mick’s bike for him in order to get him off for a good start before his 12 hours of torture.

Once the lap was underway I set about trying to decide what I was going to do. Did I mention the spare bike?

'Niner' 29er - great bike but too low and too short for me

This is a beautiful steed and one of Brendon’s favourite rides on his Bright trail cruises. But here are the differences from what I’m used to:

hard-tail (my enduro bike is a dually)
29er (I ride a 26″ MTB)
too low (no matter how hard we tried we couldn’t move the seat-post so I was sitting about 10cm lower than normal)
too short (not by much but hey…)
Shimano gears (I ride SRAM)
1 x 9 gearing (I ride 2 x 10 – but as it turned out the gearing was perfect for this trail)

Off I went anyway… appreciative of the fact that Brendon let me ride it knowing my bike destruction capabilities. I smashed out a lap as quick as I could but really struggled with the understeer of the big wheels and the cramped position. I stepped off at the end of my lap in agony but was confident I could manage the day on it if necessary (45 minutes for the lap – way too slow).

I was annoyed with this very first world problem but still… I was able to ride.

About 10 minutes later, Brendon mentioned he’d rung Joe back at the shop and asked him to get a bike ready for me. Did I mention it’s good to be in the team with the local bike shop owner? I whipped down the shop and had to double-take when I saw this…

Brand new Giant XTC carbon 29er hard-tail - SRAM X0

… infact I had to ring Brendon back at the course to make sure he meant for me to ride it! Shit… he did – so with a big smile on my face (and a little bit of worry in my gut) I headed back to the course on this rocket ship. A quick tweak of the gears, flip of the head-stem and a twist of the bars and I was off on my second lap.

It still took a bit of getting used to but wow – what a bike! 42.57 for the lap… that’s better. As I rolled in to the tent having pushed Doogs on his way, I couldn’t help but say to Brendon, “Mate – that was crap. Have you got another one?” ; )

By this point in the race we were settling into a pretty good rhythm. I was amazed at our consistency over the whole day as a team. We were riding extremely similar times on every lap; running very easily in the top 8 overall (4th in category) and working our way up during the day.

On my third lap I was just about back at transition when I hit a rock at speed, flicked it up into the gears and smashed the rear derailer to bits. That worry in my gut was justified. I limped the 500 metres back into transition and gave Brendon the bad news. If there was a wombat hole nearby I would have crawled into it. We butchered my bike, which happened to have the necessary bits, and I had the XTC back up and running in time for the next lap. Luckily the next two laps were without incident; I enjoyed every minute of them despite my growing weariness and managed to push out some pretty good lap times.

A tired but determined Mick

Mick appeared a couple of times throughout the day and I was reminded how nice it is to ride these races in a team. He was smashed. The middle of the day was a nice hot 34 degrees and there was plenty of sun out on that trail. Riding solo in these things is a different ball game altogether and I take my helmet off to them. Well done mate!

For me, the day went very quickly. It’s great to rest, eat and drink between laps – fresh and ready to go as hard as you like. We also had plenty of visitors througout the day and it was great to be encouraged by all the locals who dropped by to push us along with kind words.

We were pretty excited about our performance by the end; maintaining our position not too far behind the pros. In the end, we finished up 5th overall and 4th in our category of teams of 3. There was a brilliant tussle going on at the sharp end of the race with the Torq team of 4 finishing only 28 seconds behind the Felt team of 3. Not a bad margin after 12 hours; both riders within sight of each other near the finish line. Fantastic.

Full results can be seen here.

This race is a goer. The transition area was the best I’ve ever raced in and the trails, as you may know, are my very favourites. It was also a privilege to ride Roger’s Trail every lap and I’m sure I went just that little bit quicker through that couple of k each time.

I’m sure this race will be full next year and I’ll be back without a doubt… hopefully with my own bike.

Thanks again to Brendon a Doogs for making up such a great competitive team. And a very special thanks to Brendon for the use of your treasures. You’re a brave man!

(* Le Mans start – is a particular way of starting a bike race – or a car race – where the riders have to run some distance before they get to their bikes and commence to ride. Designed to spread the field out in order that riders aren’t jammed going into single track.)

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Where oh where has my 17 minutes gone?

January 30, 2012 by dieselread

Too much chocolate, too many Coopers, not enough training, hot and humid conditions and bugger-all group work were some of the reasons I couldn’t get my time down low enough this year.

My aims were clearly stated; to beat my 2009 time of 6:52 or, at the very least, to crack the 7 hour mark. Unfortunately I failed to do either… bugger. But what a wonderful day I had regardless.

The absolute highlight was seeing my 12 year old son Jack complete his first Alpine Classic event by finishing the 72 kilometre challenge from Bright to the top of Mt. Buffalo and back. Jack did it with ease and I was lucky enough to catch the big smile on his face with a loud “Hi Dad!” as he descended through his last kilometres; me traveling in the opposite direction just beginning the agony of my last climb at the 135k mark… no big smile on my face.

Apart from the other 1000 competitors, Jack completed his ride without the company of anyone he knew. He climbed strongly, descended safely and finished with a smile on his face. Hopefully this will be the first of many Alpine Classics for him and I can’t help wondering how many years it will be before he smashes me around the longer courses.

So – back to my ride. Click on this or the image (right) to view the details of my 2012 Alpine Classic 200km.

It’s the first time I’ve ever ridden this course slower than I have any other year. This was my 12th – and each year I’ve ridden faster and faster. I do concede that when I rode the 6:52 I said to myself and others that I didn’t think I could ever ride it quicker. I now suspect I was correct.

Yesterday was brutal. I’ve ridden the Alpine Classic 200k in 44 degrees but I have never ridden it in such humidity. Our trip out to the bottom of the first climb was slower than other years (due to bugger-all willing assistance) and I had absolutely no help on any of the flatter sections (which is always just a matter of chance).

I should mention one very willing assistant. Gus Gollings put himself in the hurt-box in the first 20ks to get a number of his mates (including me, Brenton and David Baker) to the base of the climb in best time. Thanks mate. You did a lot of work there on your own – knowing you would probably suffer for it later. As it turned out, it was probably a good move since you only had to do about 100k! ; ) (Gus had a fatal mechanical so to speak, at the base of Falls Creek on his return – cutting his day short).

On the first drop of the day chasing Brenton, David and about 10 others

Brenton, Dave and I found ourselves within the top ten in a stong climbing group up the initial sections of Falls Creek. Once the climbing stepped up a bit I couldn’t hold on to the others but still managed to get to the summit by about 8:55am. I was very happy with that, as it put us in good stead for a sub-7hr total. In hindsight it probably made me a little bit too subconsciously cocky. I possibly took the pressure off myself through some sections I otherwise wouldn’t have.

I had not seen Brenton since near the top of Falls and I rode nearly all the flat section from Tawonga to Buffalo on my own, not knowing Brenton was only a couple of minutes in front of me.

Me when I caught Brenton

The agony of my Buffalo climb was interspersed with two very special moments. The time I saw Jack screaming down the mountain with a smile on his face… and the time I caught Brenton!

As much as I didn’t state it as a goal.. infact I said it definitely wasn’t one – I lied.

It was very important for me to put the little young fella back in his box. I caught him at McKinnons Corner on Buffalo and rode with him to Devils Elbow (3k). Then I rode off his wheel. Since he’s now spruking about me only beating him by 4 minutes I now wish I’d whacked him on the arse and ridden on by!… not really mate ; )

I actually raised the possibily of riding together to the end but when I turned back to see him hundreds of metres behind me at The Gap (top of the main climb), I realised he was smashed so I went on alone.

I yelled at a lot of my mates on the descent as they still climbed (who could deny that’s fun?!) – Danny, Al, Ad, Ben, Nick, no Gus – and found myself once again, completely alone on the trip back to Bright.

At the finish

As I crossed the line I was delighted to be met by my son Jack who still had a big smile on his face – this time for me. He was the perfect soijneur; taking my photo, hanging my bike, looking after my shoes. Both of us very proud of the other. Love it.

7 hours, 9 minutes and 2 seconds for me. Third across the line following a couple of little whippets, one of them not far in front of me. [ Assumptions in this sentence; riders at the pointy end are using Strava, blokes pushing out an estimated 191 watts on average compared to my 315 are quite little ].

Importantly – the young (28yrs), little (75kg) Bighorn (Brenton) was just under 4 minutes (3 positions) behind me; now assigned to super-domestique and champagne serving duties on the 6am-er Hurt Box.

Yes, this is a big smile on my face – and you do look totally ^&^@#$$*ed…

Brenton and I at the finish

… but seriously mate, well done. See if you can beat the big old bloke next year.

Today I am tired. But I’m already thinking about the fact that I really need to prove that a 45 year old can still go under 7 hours. The goal may well be renewed.

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Predictions for the Alpine Classic 2012

January 26, 2012 by dieselread

Three days out from the 2012 Alpine Classic (200km) and it’s time for me to seriously think about how it will unfold. So… here are my predictions for my 2012 Alpine Classic – my most arrogant ride of the year.

Arrogance: overbearingly assuming; insolently proud; an attitude of superiority manifested in an overbearing manner or in presumptuous claims or assumptions; self-centered, tunnel visioned, ignorant of other’s opinions, know-it-all.

Sounds bad doesn’t it? But I admit it! I’m a bit like that for this particular ride. At least I can say I behave in this way with some level of experience (Alpine Classic history here) – and I believe I have a good formula for the way I go about things on this day.

(Note: I understand some will read this and exclaim that this is an apt description of me at all times. That is acknowledged; there is no need to point it out further!)

Hitting it out with the 6am-ers last Sunday

My return to Melbourne provided the opportunity to get back out for a good traditional 6am-er blast in the hills last Sunday. A smaller group of 7 (due to TDU for many others) headed out to Gembrook for a solid and fast 130k. I was happy with my climbs and the return back over The Wall was a good test of the legs where I even felt quite good on the steeper sections.

I’m so lucky to be part of such a great group. It was a fantastic day with great blokes and great riding.

Then a fully packed trip back to Porepunkah with the family late last night allowed me to join the local bunch this morning for a quick blast out to Harrietville and back. It felt like not enough, but as discussed with David Baker over coffee, it was exactly what we need in preparation for Sunday.

Australia Day Harrietville hit-out with the Bright crew

So back to the Alpine Classic predictions. I say this is an arrogant ride for me because it has to be. My strengths (and weaknesses) are so completely different to most other riders that it has to be a selfish ride. I climb slower than most; I descend quicker than most; I’m strong in the wind and on the flat but super slow when the road tips right up. Weighing in at 100kg certainly makes it quite a different challenge for me than it does for a bloke who’s even 80kg.

I ride it incredibly selfishly. I don’t particularly care what other people are doing around me. I go up at my pace and down at my pace. Generally if I find myself with company on the flatter sections or the slighter climbs I’m happy – and I love working with others when it turns out that way. I’ve had some great years where climbing Falls has been an absolute blast with small groups taking turns resulting in good times to that summit; other years where I’ve done every climb completely alone. It’s always a bit different.

Hmm... Intersting

But this year is going to be interesting. I’m looking forward to being joined by a number of mates, all of whom have the ability to go sub-7hours.

And before I go any further – let’s be clear that the time for this ride is from the gun to the finish line… none of this riding time crap. Like, “Oh yes – I’ve done the Alpine Classic in 8 hours and 5 minutes. I had an hour for morning tea and Falls and a two hour nana-nap at Dingo Dell… but 8 hours 5 mate. On fire!” The riding time figure to me is nothing more than a very slightly interesting statistic. But then… I’m arrogant.

Back to my mates… The battle between Brenton (Horny) and I has been well discussed in 6am-er circles. As much as the banter and battling is there, I hope he and I will be able to work together to gain a good result for both of us. David Baker will join us, and after posting a sub 1 hour time on Buffalo yesterday, he’s looking good and could be part of a small group on the final Buffalo climb or descent. Gus and Lumpy are both climbing and riding well and may be part of a 6am-er peleton up Falls. Adam, Chris and Al are all here and I have no idea of their form. The super-strong iron-man-bred Brendan Holland from Bright made his intentions clear this morning. He said he’s aiming for 7:05 or thereabouts but he really means sub-7. So he’ll be there as part of the group of riders on the road heading for that sort of time. But even with Brendan, who is arguably the most similar rider to me, our strengths and weaknesses are quite different. So actually riding together will probably not be possible. I expect all of these guys will ride away from me on the first climb up Tawonga. But I do expect to see them all again at some stage shortly thereafter. What goes down after that will remain a mystery until Sunday.

Hmmmm… interesting.

What I do know for sure is that I will be riding my own very arrogant and selfish race (oh sorry… that’s right – it’s not a race). It’s the only way I’ll manage to achieve my goals, albeit I look forward to the company of my mates and the assistance we will provide each other… if that’s the way it goes down.

My aim:

to beat my PB which was 6:52 in 2009.
if I can’t go 6:51 or better, I’ll be happy if I crack 7hrs but very disappointed if I don’t.
if it rains (which is looking likely) I’m out. The above is impossible on wet roads and I’ve done it enough for the ride itself not to be a challenge.

And finally… Sorry Brenton – as much as it may hurt, my goal is not to beat you. My goal is simply to beat my own time. This event has been a personal challenge for many years and it’s simply my big selfish ITT.

Having said that, I’ll enjoy seeing you curled up in massivie cramps in the foetal position on the side of the Great Alpine Road as I spin my way up Buffalo on the final climb. I’ll offer you my condolences sometime after 1.11pm Sunday afternoon.

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Can’t get too much of a good thing – 5/12/11

December 5, 2011 by dieselread

Despite the perfectly executed Mt. Hotham stage of the Tour of Bright… the highlight of my day was the ride up Mt. Buffalo with my son Jack (above).

Gus and me and Mackay's Lookout

Gus, Jack and I headed up the Buffalo Road at about 2pm intending, according to Jack, to go only as far as the mineral springs near Eurobin Point. Once there, I struck a deal with Jack for Gus and I to go up ahead to MacKay’s Lookout where we would turn around to descend, pick Jack up and return home. When we got back to Jack after allowing him to ride on his own for a while (without the adult 6am-er pressure!) his first words were, “I’m going to the top.” You ripper.

Jack and me at The Gap (top of climb)

On Jack’s wishes, Gus and I continued to climb and loop back down to him over and over again until we reached The Gap (top of the climb). For the second time this year (here’s the first), Jack has conquered this mountain and I’m proud as punch. A top effort by the little fella which puts him in good stead for the Alpine Classic in January.

Earlier in the day I had continued my moto duties with Glen on the back to film the Hotham stage of the Tour of Bright. Due to the atrocious conditions on top of the mountain, the race directors (Aaron and Dave) had made the call to bring the finish line back down the mountain. Many were disappointed but the same people also commented later in the day on what a good call it was. If they had kept the finish line at the top, the day would have been absolutely horrible for all.

Super Race Directors, Aaron and Dave. They (along with other key people and 70 or so volunteers) did an absolutely brilliant job pulling off the best Tour of Bright yet - top job!

Mt. Hotham stage finish line

Even though this photo (above) is pretty-as-a-picture, the temperature was below 5 degrees and the wind-chill made it even colder. It was positively freezing! All categories experienced hard racing and Mount Hotham, even without the hardest 10km of climbing to the top, is still a very challenging climb.

Tail of 'A' grade at the start of The Meg

The Meg - a 500m pinch of about 10 percent 5k from the bottom – had most riders clearly expressing the face of pain and Glen was able to get some great footage of the torture.

Kind of like this shot of Andy Schlek!…

A top effort by everyone racing and working on this race. I’m looking forward to seeing the results of Glen’s camera and editting artistry. I have a feeling he is very much the artist and I think he’s going to do wonderful things with the footage we were able to get.

But this will be my main memory of the day. My son Jack topping the Mt. Buffalo climb for the second time in his life… and no doubt, only the second of many.

Hitting the top.

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Tour of Bright Perfection- 3/12/11

December 3, 2011 by dieselread

A picture tells a thousand words but I’ll have a shot at ten or so… Bikes, sunshine, north-east Victoria, no wind, blue skies – perfect. Above is the Tour of Bright ‘A’ grade bunch heading up Happy Valley towards Rosewhite Gap.

I was on my motorbike today – with Glen shooting video for a short story on this years race. I spent much of the day wishing I was on the pushbike enjoying the pleasure of such perfect conditions.

Not that I’m complaining. I’ve had a wonderful day; enjoying the challenge of getting Glen in position to obtain the very best footage, watching the determination of hundreds of racers (including numerous 6am-ers), catching up with other 6am-ers and mates simply out enjoying the region on a casual ride to watch the race, powering up Mt. Buffalo on the FZ1 with Jack on the back getting as much of a thrill out of it as me!

I want this weekend to last forever.

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Oh how I wish it was like this last weekend!

Garmin 24hr, Ouch – 26/11/2011

November 27, 2011 by dieselread

The recommended retail price of my Garmin 24hr mountain bike race this year:

Chain (X9) – $100
Front chain rings (X9) – $180
Rear cassette (X9) – $150
Tyre (Nobby Nick) – $110
Sealant (Stan’s) – $75
Rear rim – $120
Free wheel hub – $100 plus
Brake pads – $90
Total – $925

The bike shop owners must rub their hands with glee when they see this kind of weather forecast for a mountain bike event. Thank God I have the benefit of Cycleworks in Box Hill to save me at least some of this grief.

But whichever way you look at it, races such as this take a huge toll on equipment and lots of people will be spending lots of money on their bikes after this weekend.

A reference to the short-cut offered in most single speed races to collect a beer per lap

Even as we collected our race numbers on Saturday morning, we all knew we were going to be in for it. After a solid night of rain in Redesdale, there was only a brief moment of relief before it began to pour down again for over an hour before race start.

We had a moment of relief from the rain to get us off and running, knowing all along it would not make much difference to the carnage. Still – I know enough about mountain bike racing to appreciate the importance of a quick start so I displayed all my arrogance and lined up on the front line next to all the guns – including my young mate from Bright, Cal Britten.

Despite my chest infection of the last week, I got off to a reasonable start considering the early climbing sections and my fast confrères. I found myself in a pretty good position in the company of riders of similar ability, the whole idea of getting away quickly.

Half-way through the lap we hit the rocky sections of the course. Sharp edges and slippery surfaces. It wasn’t long before my sealant was spurting out the side-wall of my rear tyre and a feeling of dread hit my heart. I stopped and grabbed the hole with my thumb – swished the sealant – turned my bike sideways – desperately trying to fill the hole with Stan’s (sealant). It would seal temporarily but as soon as I got moving again the spurting would recommence. I tried this about three times and then started a series of CO2 top-ups for the remainder of the lap.

Not a happy MTB rider

I know this is very much a first-world problem but it really did piss me off. I wasted many minutes trying to fix it and many more riding as best I could with super-low pressure in my tyre. Not good for a heffer like me and disappointing when I’m trying to get the team off to a good start. I rolled in to tap James on the shoulder at least ten minutes later than I should have.

This was me

After quickly fitting a new tyre (not as thoroughly as I normally would – ahhaah, karma! I should have questioned myself more thoroughly) I asked the guys if they’d mind if I followed up with another lap straight after James. I was pretty determined to do an angry lap (thanks Rod) and make up for time lost.

So off I went. About half-way through the lap when I hit the rocky sections of the course (do you feel like you’ve read this line before?) my rear tyre burped in a bend and lost half it’s air whilst at the same time sucking in a ship-load of mud. For the remainder of the lap I spent long frequent stops topping up my tyre with a mini-pump just so I could continue to roll along. At one stage I hit a hard bump and completely deflated the tyre, damaging my rim and forcing me to pull the wheel and the tyre off to get it fixed just to finish.

As you can imagine, I rolled in even less happy – having wasted more time and taken even longer than the first lap. At least Tim was there ready to go with a smile on his face as I rolled into transition.

Tim at the end of his lap - I wish I

Our plan to do our team lap after Tim’s quickly came to an end as we perused the carnage of riders returning to transition. Mick headed out for his lap after Tim and returned looking like this…

More and more of a quagmire as the day went on

Dave and Antony, having seen what the conditions were doing to bikes, decided to save their steads and not ride at all. James, Tim and Mick considered second laps but decided against it for the same reasons.

I love mountain biking because it’s basically a shit-load of fun and I’ll do it for as long as it is. But this race was not… and as much as I admire those who continued, some of whom rode through the night and into Sunday, I have no intentions of riding just to be a tough-nut. Slipping around in muddy, horrible and disagreeable conditions is not my thing – not to mention the cost of it.

Who would have thought that the next day I’d be at a party with my kids having water-fights in the sunshine? Go figure…