it was a massive learning curve… and the in’s and outs of riding 100km races on a SS. you need to know when to push and what makes for better consumption of energy. i’m learning more every race/ride but still have much to understand.

the drive up was a bit hairy. the weather had been super wet all week and on the saturday the boys soccer was cancelled so i was able to leave reasonably early. i made it to churchy’s but ludenia was having bike issues so i ended up setting off solo to secure us all a spot. en route there were lots of sketchy rain patches.

crossing the punt there was little traffic but as we took off again the clouds came over and dumped another bucket or two of water. i was feeling pretty concerned about the weather at this point and expected the worst for sunday.

i ended up securing us a big enough plot in a spot in the front straight camping area and sprawled out with enough space for brad and I, glenn and brent + churchy and ludenia. by the time churchy and dave made it up brad and myself + glenn and brent had a fully set up spot but they had decided to camp by the river so it ended up just the four of us. brad and i made a pasta and chicken for dinner then ate a fair bit more then went to bed reasonably early.

we woke to a perfect day, crisp air with no sign of rain which was a great relief. i slept reasonably well, ate breakfast double checked everything and pretty much rolled up onto the line without to many nerves playing with me. i met up with churchy and the plan was to try and stick together. lol… shortly after we were off.

we took off on the gravel road and i sat in a great position for about 3-4km then up front a “car up” was called. that was it… an end to of any chance i had of sticking out front of the first group. i had to tap the brakes, and so i watched in complete disappointment as 90% of the first group screamed pass me. sad moment really but it made me realise how much i need a 29er SS for rolling capacity.

i pretty much walked the entire first climb and by the time i made it to the start of it, i was totally spent from spinning so much on the road in. that, i think, is what killed my left knee. its fine now but was bloody sore monday after the race. probably needed to warm it up a bit more i reckon when your cadence is so incredibly high due to SS-ing.

i felt good after the walk up, jumped back on and started the real race. i had made a decision to try and conserve a little bit and so i could then at around the 80km mark start to really put 110% effort in and kill myself on the road home.

across the top it was unreal, i was flying and felt really strong. i turned at the 30km feed station but ended up returning back to it just to make sure i had enough water [stupid in hindsight]. after spinning back around i headed off up the the technical section. i was totally warmed up and in my element. i was passing riders left right and centre. technically i am in a great place with complete confidence in carbo and my ability to smash it out over, around and through any sections. it was so much fun but i did find myself stuck behind a few riders on occasions. with all the murky puddles it was difficult to get through.

i only stopped on track twice. once across this top section where i had a mud wheel suck with a complete stop in a pool of what could only be described as cake mix that almost ended up in a OTB finish.

the other was on shepard’s descent. i caught up to a guy and i just lost the front slightly as i missed a line i couldn’t see because i was too close to the guy in front. i pulled up fine and jumped back on thankfully i hadn’t hit the deck at all.

i made it to the canoe bridge and did have a few tense moments on arrival. having not ridden it before i really didn’t know what to expect but as it turned out the quicker you rode the easier it was so i just gassed it across and made it without any real worries.

the corning into the 70km mark climb i stopped because i thought my freewheel was kaput. it was just a lack of lube on the chain and all the mud had dried out and caused it to make some very average noises. i cleaned it off with my water bottle and this seemed to fix the problem. this 13km in total climb i walked then rode, walked then rode… it hurt. 90% all other pinches in the top section of this long climb i walked. but once flat and across the top i smashed it and picked up speed.

i caught yarson rarmond at around the 80km mark and he was paining. we took the final decent together but i dropped on him on the short flat just before the second half of the descent.

i hit the road for home and totally demolished myself. yarson had cramped and couldn’t get back up to me even on his high tech 21 geared machine. i passed a lot of people on the road home and surprisingly no one passed me. i had saved a fair bit for that flat run in to the finish and used up anything i had left. i just died after crossing the line and laid down for a good 5-10 minutes totally spent.

i crossed the line in 5:37minutes which was a really respectable time. i did aim for 5:30 and i was close enough to that goal to be happy. but i’m never happy… unless i have won.

i just need a true SS frame now so i can play with gear ratio’s and some hill work and sub 5 is possible for sure. i have to sort out stopping i lost 10min stopping and starting and thats way too much i reckon 5min max is acceptable. i carried a 750ml bottle full of water for 75-80km without touching it. there’s almost a kilo of bullshit weight for no reason.

so now i can boast i have completed the DW100km at last even though i still have unfinished business with the 50km

yep, thats right. 3rd place in Foursomes Singles Club Male. i’m still on a major high and will be for some time. churchy sent me a text + email which totally blew me away. we also finished 7th place in the Foursomes Male table – that’s against all the geared male 4 man teams like rockstars racing, gu elite etc.

the roll-in to the mont 24 hour i was super pumped but it wasn’t till the last couple of days i felt a sense of nerves. an email from churchward explaining how hard the 3 o’clock lap would be struck some goose bumps. i was ok fitness wise but still haven’t really kicked in this year back riding the grind. i need that shit to happen A.S.A.P

my intention to leave work at 3:30 – 4:00 was always going to be difficult but not impossible. work was pretty frantic all day but i ended up ditching the place at about 4:05 which was pretty good. i really just wanted to beat that peak hour traffic. the car was packed and carbo was just resting on the top for the trip down.

with the timing i was expecting to make it the site at around 7:30 but i didn’t end up arriving till some time around 8:00. i spoke to ludenia, he rode up and found me, drove around to the site then set up for what would be our place for the next 36+ hours. michael and andrea were in town eating dinner but a fair few of the BMU boys were there next to us, as well as a couple of ludenia’s mates.

i set up the gazebo and all the rest of my gear but when it came to my tent i failed once again like when i was at the dirtworks. no third pole so my tent was a no go. luckily dave’s mate tom had an 11 person tent with only 3 sleeping in it. ludenia and i ended up using one wing. later that evening matt pellow arrived, our fourth and final rider. that was it. the whole team was ready, camp mont was set up we just needed to eat some food, set up the inverter [giving us 240 power] then get to bed.

we woke to an amazing day with full sun and not too cold at all. we had decided the night previous to do at least a one lap reccy [matt pellow and myself] just to get the feel of the course. we set out around 8:30ish and did the entire course. it was great, felt super flowy with very little big climbs. this shit was all getting real very soon.

daves leg was still bad from an off he had in the wet during the week so it was official, i was going to run to the bike then ride the first lap. i felt pretty good about it and had only the one plan to pace myself for the run then get as much time on the trail as i can, it was always going to be congested. unfortunately i didn’t really time everything right and i ended up going to the loo’s just before lining up for the start. this meant i was was about 10-15 people deep with trieu, timmy and nelson. tom met up with us just before the start but still i was way to far back for the run.

it was an edgy start with no gun and before i knew it we were all running. more like a stampede people were pushing and barging there way through the crowd but i think it was more just to try and get enough space to run. i didn’t go out hard at all – kept to a pace and made up a fair few spots in the run.

when i made it into the transition human tunnel it was just chaos. i had no idea what was going on but luckily i had organised with matt for him to be on the right side. we also had the BikeMinded jersey on a pole so i was pretty much just looking for it. i had a guy drop his bike in front of me, another guy cross over – i saw a guy almost hit the fence and a dude who pulled up and off as though he was about to vomit. by now… THIS SHIT WAS REAL.

matt did an amazing job spotting me and passing me carbo and i had another short run up to the GU flags which was where you could then mount and ride the bike.

i rode off into the bunch able to take a few before hitting the first single track. from there it was difficult to pass. i am a little timid still and riding SS makes it even more difficult. it takes a bit to get your speed up and you have to mash the pedals to kick in enough pace to pass.

the kids made me run out on the weekend [lo-res quick edit]

@ 00:53 sec guy on the right almost smashes into the fence
@ 01:26 tom fehon passes
@ 01:45 guy looks totally spent on the right
@ 02:38 scott ardron has a go at me for not wearing pink
@ 02:58 guy drops his bike and almost takes me out

after the clubby round i have learnt so much about how to ride a SS bike. you need to punch the climbs and hit a solid pace and hold it. it hurts but its worth it and if you get it right you just fly past people. when on the single track you just don’t use the brakes at all. any speed you wash off isn’t good at all.

the single track was perfect for the SS at kowen. you could hit a pace and just hold it pinning around corners and making sure you mash it out of them to hold that speed.

Lap 2 - after the run was a good lap but like the first lead out lap i had lots of issues with slower riders. trying to pass was difficult and i still need to be more assertive when approaching. it wasn’t a fast lap but still heaps of fun

Lap 3 - around 9pm was so much fun. having only ridden three times before at night it took a little bit to get my rhythm. i forgot you had to use the helmet lights to see ahead of the track but once i had this all down pat i was in the zone and loving it. SO MUCH FUN!

Lap 4 - middnight ish was good as well. i was tiring but i still really enjoyed the lap. i was a little bit slower which i guess was to be expected.

Lap 5 - around 3:00am hurt. i didn’t recover that well from the lap and this was our 1 – 2 – 1 – 2 sequence. i did still enjoy the lap but i just didn’t have the speed i had been holding for most of the other laps.

i rested… or at least tried to after the 3:30 lap but i just couldn’t sleep. back to back laps with churchy inbetween had me in a full on hypo mode and i just wasn’t able to relax enough to crash. i rose with about 1 hour to go till my lap and ate some food. i was really hungry and new if i didn’t eat before the lap i would bonk badly.

Lap 6 - this was up there with the best laps of the day. i had so much fun on the track. it started to rain about 1/3 of the way around which meant the track actually became a bit faster than before. some places it was loose with mud but that was the best thing, sliding and two wheel drifting on some corners. i was loving this lap so much.

by this stage the track was pretty rutted out on corners but i was still gliding through most without using the brakes. i didn’t feel tired and the rest + food really helped. as i rode down and into the table top i tried to get as much air as possible for the camera…. it kinda worked… kinda [pic above]

ludenia completed our 25th and final lap. i was too spent to go out even though it was my turn. i couldn’t thank him enough for completing that last lap considering how difficult the conditions had become with the mud and rain.

so with the final lap we had taken 3rd place and finished on the podium. pretty blood amazing results.

during the night we were having a ding dong battle with the CBD boys which was just awesome. sadly they pulled the plug in the early hours of the morning for reasons i am unsure about. we weren’t that far behind the guys in second place so that was really encouraging as well.

in all it was an amazing experience, i rode with a great team, had so much fun out on course and it totally solidified how much i want to keep carbo a SS for now or until such time as i can buy/build a true dedicated SS rig. i also learnt that one set of bib nicks doesn’t really cut it for a 24hr event. i would love to have changed into a full clean kit for my final night lap.

below is a video i found from the start. cheeky buggas running then handing over to a fresh rider. not fair… i was so smashed from the run. i run past at around the 1:13 mark

i am a little overwhelmed by the results still even the day after. i woke this morning in a fair bit of pain – which indicates i put in a large effort for the day. it was a shocking lead in but an awesome final results never-the-less.

with back to back 12 hour work days then throw a 14 hour in as well [and thats not including the 4 hour commute daily] to say i was tired before the race was a bit if an understatement. some how i did manage to attend both PT training session that week but it just wasn’t enough and i would love to have ridden a recovery ride to work on the wednesday.

i’m realising more & more how important sleep is for a successful race and the friday night i was really controlled at the soap birthday bowling and dinner outing. i drank two sprites, one OJ, four to five glasses of water and had just half a glass of red wine with dinner and of course ate as much as possible.

i left the restaurant in randwick right on 9:30, caught a cab then train which had me in the door at home right on 12:00am saturday morning [race day].

i just wanted to go to bed but couldn’t because i had to pack most of the car for a 5:15am rise. once up ate, pack some more and drove the 1 hour to the race at mt annan.

the whole way down i was yawning and it took over 50 minutes for me to fully wake up. i was really concerned how tired i was before the race. once there, i set up camp almost solo before – glen, brent, trieu, and chris all eventually turned up.

chris and i signed on then i drove off up the road to vote at the local school. i then rushed back, kitted up and we decided to go for a roll around to warm up and check out the track.

we stopped by ludenia who suggested we ride the track. it was a great to do because by the end we knew the course but it was an epic fail because it took way too long. as we rounded one of the last sections of the track we heard in the distance the event centre PA calling ” 3 – 2 – 1 – GOOOOO, and were off in the 2011 rockytrailllllll” … SHITTTTTTTTT..

i knew martin was letting the 4 hr race off first and thankfully this was just that, the first wave. chris and i raced as fast as we could back but had to wait as all the 4hr riders made their way around the shortened first stretch to filter the field down a little. they all rode past us as we were held back by a marshal then i sprinted up to the start finish for the 8 hr race. with 5 minutes till the gun i only had enough time to down a GU. my HR was racing and i just didn’t really get time to recover from our reccy lap. straight after the start i hustled my way through the pack as best possible but it was very congested and it meant i lost a fair bit of time on that first lap.
for that first lap my HR was way too high with an avg 91% and maxing at 96%.

LAPS 2 -3
lap 2 i started to settle but i just wasn’t enjoying the race at all. i was yawning constantly out on course which isn’t good sign. there was still a fair bit of congestion and with a track that is very single track dominated it became challenging to overtake the slower riders. lucky i did manage to push out my fastest lap of the day on lap 3.

LAPS 4 – 5
for some reason i was really starting to dislike the race on lap 4. i wasn’t happy with my physical state at all. i was handling the bike really well but i just didn’t feel good at all. i was really concerned i was going to fade a lot faster than i though i would. i checked the times and it was showing by lap 5 being my slowest blowing out over a 28 min lap [thankfully only by 1 second!]. chris’s laps at this point were bang on par with mine so i had to lift it up or i was going to let him down! + at transition chris was looking strong.

LAPS 6 – 8
the next three laps things really improved. i started to feel good again and had really started to hit a consistent pace. on track i was picking specific lines and knew when & where i could rest & where to put in a big effort. the track was pretty brutal with true rest sections. it didn’t have a lot of climbing which i liked and the length of it was really starting to work well for me. as i was entering transition i was feeling spent so having a rest at that point was perfect.

LAP 9
when i left for my 9th and final lap i had a mission. it was to enter the hurt box and smash out a sub 26 to finish the day. ludenia had not long gone through transition and i had this vague thought i may catch him. i did see him, twice, but that was as good as it got with that mission. the kids just on another level. i pushed really hard and really concentrated on all my lines. i asked to pass every rider on approach rather than waiting back. by the time i rode up to the short climb into transition i was on my limit. i just made it in time for chris to complete our 18th and final lap but sadly my time was 6 seconds over 27 minutes but i was blow away as it was my 3rd fastest lap of the day. i rolled over to our gazebo and just laid down on the ground for about 10 minutes totally spent.

chris brought it home with a total of 18 laps in 8:26:05.

for the day it was more than an amazing effort from both of us. chris and i are the same pace now & what’s even more promising is he is riding a bike that must be 2kg + heavier than mine. he also hadn’t ridden the MTB since our stromlo race! he worked out that over the day [from the only laps worthy of comparing] we were just 2 minutes apart on speed from a total of 7 hours which is pretty freaky when you weigh it all up. looking over the final lap times we were so consistent – almost identical, sitting in the 27′s for the majority of the day.

we finish 14th out of 256 teams/riders etc.
in our category Male Team 2 Elite we finished 7th and only 0:01:13 down of 6th place. completing 18 laps was pretty amazing and such a great feeling. chris and i have a solid 2 man team going now and it can only improve from here. it’s just a shit that i don’t really get to see/speak to him all day, but thankfully he had bought two beers so after the race we just chilled in our seats and drank them. good times

its just under 4 months till round 2 at awaba. i can’t wait now

Ludenia the winner

yellomundee is my local. it’s where i race & its where i occasionally go for roll around. i haven’t ridden that many other tracks, stromlo is probably the only other course that comes to mind. i need to get out to more tracks even so, i know the difficulty level of yellomundee can be pretty high especially when your trying to get through both the rock garden [and lumbley's climb - not featured in the video].

the rock garden had eluded me for many years but on the right day, in the right mood, with the right fitness level it can be a pretty awesome experience to make it from max’s bridge – to the top in one run, without unclipping… even the logs at the top are a challenge on the best of days.

this was from the final round in 2010 – WSMTB club championships. it also indicates why upper body + core strength are vitally important in XC racing. it was a really humid day and you can tell by the amount of glow/edging on any of the white items in the images. love that goPro.