Le Matelot
Canberra Off-Road Cyclists
Dan Mackay was snapping away out there and has a facebook album.
Mum doesn't want to spend a week on the Italian Riviera?
ACT 2012 Australian 24hr Solo MTB Championships
- Thread starter .stu.
- Start date
Rambler
Likes Dirt
Didn't see any squirrels although I swear I was seeing a gorilla. Turned out to be those big gu bins on course. Got me every time. My updated blog.
http://www.mattnash.com.au/blog/2012/04/2012-australian-24hr-solo-mtb-championships/
Moon Man Race Report
Sit back, relax, I hope you enjoy the read.
Last year I was going nuts, working too much and no sporting goals to achieve, so I told my wife that I was going to go and do the Easter Solo 24 which I had done twice before with varying degrees of success. As her sister lives at Breadalbane (outside Goulburn), she was very receptive to the idea, knowing that she could come and see me for a couple of laps, go home and then come back out to retrieve the pieces and give a shoulder to cry on. As mention previously, I have “completed” this race twice before and loved the Majura setting (at that stage I thought it would be at Stromolo) so I began training in earnest with the help of a coach – PCS, Donna Dall. All my training was basically heart rate, so every time I went out on the bike I was going to hurt myself, I actually enjoyed it. My max HR at the beginning was the calculated 220 – age = 171. My first Crit surprised me and my coach with a new max of 191. Three weeks before the race I maxed at 198. I was confident that I could do something special. It was at this stage that it began raining in Brisbane and the motivation dropped to a new low – the wheels were beginning to fall off my preparation. At one stage I considered pulling the pin but the thought of riding Majura one more time was too much so we loaded up the work truck with bike and luggage and headed to Canberra on the Sunday before the race. The trip was very uneventful. Got to Canberra on the Tuesday and decided to do a lap of Majura. Being in a car for 2 days is not very conducive for riding let alone a 24 hr race. I thought that I might just go back to Brisbane then and there – my legs and body were shot. Did another lap on the Thursday – a little better and then another on the Friday, bugger it, I’m here now, just do the race and try and keep moving forward.
I set my tent up of the Friday morning knowing that my support person could organise the rest with military precision later that day. Saturday dawned and I headed out to Majura at about 9 thinking that support crew would be there, bugger no support person. My wife at this stage was enroute with a few bits and pieces to drop off. I phoned my support person at 9.30 to see if he was OK – no answer, 9.45 message on phone from support person “sorry mate, coming out both ends will try and get out as soon as possible”. Stay calm! Ring wife – your it I explain. Spent next 45 minutes setting up table, food, bottles etc. Get kit on at 11.30, go for warm up then head to race start.
Race starts, think of Cliffy Young I think, so I go into Cliffy Young mode. That was me, dead last coming up the hill and past the timing hut at the start, about 20 metres behind everyone. I had to convince my wife that I was actually fitter than what I looked at that stage. I got around the first lap and it actually felt OK but the back was telling me something was wrong. My wife and my son were crewing me for the first time and they had no idea what to do but they were as calm as you would want a crew to be. They did a fantastic job with help from the support person beside them, Thanks Ben from the Navy. It was great to be able to share something I love so much with the two most important people in my life. My wife now knows why I get up at the crazy hrs and is gone for many hrs on a Saturday and a Sunday. To see the smile on my sons face every lap was enough motivation to get over the pain and head out on another lap. The enthusiasm that he showed when handing me a new bottle was amazing.
When I knew the course was set for Majura, I thought that it would be fairly straight forward as I had spent 3 years in Canberra and rode it most weekends. However I have never ridden Auto Alley until race day. After riding Auto Alley on my first lap I was sh#t scared for my night time laps. I then made my way over to Boy Wonder and I managed to climb the whole thing without unclipping on the switchbacks, piece of cake I thought. Night time was a different storey, plenty of Hike-a-Bike. On the first lap I managed to catch another person in my age group – Steve, we leap frogged each other for hours and had some interesting chats, thanks mate for the company.
I continued to lap throughout the afternoon and into the night with only one thing in mind – I tell my son’s under 10 rugby team “courage and determination”, I could not go home and face them if I had DNF’ed. My support team kept me amused with my progress updates throughout the race, “Hey dad your coming 56th you were coming last”, “hey dad your 48th”. My wife was really excited when I went onto page 2 of the results from page 3. I kept moving forward, all night. I would come into transition after each lap and see my wife sitting rugged up in the comfy chair with a big smile and a “how ya goin”. At this stage I was counting down the hours until I could take my next Voltarin. I was dreading the 2 am to 4 am window when the body wants so desperately to go to sleep. But it came and went, I was expecting to be in pain and I didn’t disappoint myself. At 3 am I sent my wife to bed for 2 hrs. I promised her I would keep lapping and funnily enough I did and they were actually OK laps. I was waiting for dawn as everyone has told me you get a second wind, what a load of crap. I rolled into transition at about 6am – it felt like a truck had run over me. I have had better hangovers. I decided that I needed a shower and slowly wobbled my way to the results tent to greeted by “hey old man” by a smiling Russ Baker, thanks Russ. My wife pointed out that I was now in 33rd place overall. I was surprised at the amount of people that had gone to bed or DNFed
I stepped into the shower and almost went through the roof when the water hit the chaffing on my under carriage. After surviving the shower I headed to the shop for a bacon and egg roll. That was the best bacon and egg roll I had ever eaten and washed down with a chateau Red Bull. I went back up to my bike and contemplated life for a while. Whilst I was away my sparring partner got a lap in on me, bugger. I remounted, to my wife’s surprise and headed off for another lap. They were actually good laps, well for me they were. I actually rode all of Auto Alley and Boy Wonder in my day time laps. 11.45 and I make it to “the corner”. Can I do another, No, I give in, I’m done. We all wait for the countdown and make our way upto the finish line. I have succeeded. I have done what I went there to do – keep going forward no matter how and don’t sleep.
I love racing (doing) 24 hr races, you just don’t find the pretenders and the wannabes that you find in cycling and triathlons. You come across the finish line with no fanfare just the thought that you have survived
The highlights for me were:
1. Being given encouragement by everyone from the world champ to the last person – it is an amazing feeling being on the same track and having the world champ tell you to keep going you are looking good. The top guys and girls were always giving encouragement and always said thanks when you gave them room to pass
2. The guy at the top of Boy Wonder at 4 am, what a legend, he was pissed as but he was having a great time
3. My wife, Rose and my son, Lachlan for such a great job as support crew, one of the highlights of my life
4. Seeing the top guys and girls give it to each other, I cannot comprehend the speed with which you go around for 24 hrs
5. Majura single track – good by old friend
6. Always moving forward no matter what
A big thank you to the CORC people for making this happen
Cheers, Moon Man
Sit back, relax, I hope you enjoy the read.
Last year I was going nuts, working too much and no sporting goals to achieve, so I told my wife that I was going to go and do the Easter Solo 24 which I had done twice before with varying degrees of success. As her sister lives at Breadalbane (outside Goulburn), she was very receptive to the idea, knowing that she could come and see me for a couple of laps, go home and then come back out to retrieve the pieces and give a shoulder to cry on. As mention previously, I have “completed” this race twice before and loved the Majura setting (at that stage I thought it would be at Stromolo) so I began training in earnest with the help of a coach – PCS, Donna Dall. All my training was basically heart rate, so every time I went out on the bike I was going to hurt myself, I actually enjoyed it. My max HR at the beginning was the calculated 220 – age = 171. My first Crit surprised me and my coach with a new max of 191. Three weeks before the race I maxed at 198. I was confident that I could do something special. It was at this stage that it began raining in Brisbane and the motivation dropped to a new low – the wheels were beginning to fall off my preparation. At one stage I considered pulling the pin but the thought of riding Majura one more time was too much so we loaded up the work truck with bike and luggage and headed to Canberra on the Sunday before the race. The trip was very uneventful. Got to Canberra on the Tuesday and decided to do a lap of Majura. Being in a car for 2 days is not very conducive for riding let alone a 24 hr race. I thought that I might just go back to Brisbane then and there – my legs and body were shot. Did another lap on the Thursday – a little better and then another on the Friday, bugger it, I’m here now, just do the race and try and keep moving forward.
I set my tent up of the Friday morning knowing that my support person could organise the rest with military precision later that day. Saturday dawned and I headed out to Majura at about 9 thinking that support crew would be there, bugger no support person. My wife at this stage was enroute with a few bits and pieces to drop off. I phoned my support person at 9.30 to see if he was OK – no answer, 9.45 message on phone from support person “sorry mate, coming out both ends will try and get out as soon as possible”. Stay calm! Ring wife – your it I explain. Spent next 45 minutes setting up table, food, bottles etc. Get kit on at 11.30, go for warm up then head to race start.
Race starts, think of Cliffy Young I think, so I go into Cliffy Young mode. That was me, dead last coming up the hill and past the timing hut at the start, about 20 metres behind everyone. I had to convince my wife that I was actually fitter than what I looked at that stage. I got around the first lap and it actually felt OK but the back was telling me something was wrong. My wife and my son were crewing me for the first time and they had no idea what to do but they were as calm as you would want a crew to be. They did a fantastic job with help from the support person beside them, Thanks Ben from the Navy. It was great to be able to share something I love so much with the two most important people in my life. My wife now knows why I get up at the crazy hrs and is gone for many hrs on a Saturday and a Sunday. To see the smile on my sons face every lap was enough motivation to get over the pain and head out on another lap. The enthusiasm that he showed when handing me a new bottle was amazing.
When I knew the course was set for Majura, I thought that it would be fairly straight forward as I had spent 3 years in Canberra and rode it most weekends. However I have never ridden Auto Alley until race day. After riding Auto Alley on my first lap I was sh#t scared for my night time laps. I then made my way over to Boy Wonder and I managed to climb the whole thing without unclipping on the switchbacks, piece of cake I thought. Night time was a different storey, plenty of Hike-a-Bike. On the first lap I managed to catch another person in my age group – Steve, we leap frogged each other for hours and had some interesting chats, thanks mate for the company.
I continued to lap throughout the afternoon and into the night with only one thing in mind – I tell my son’s under 10 rugby team “courage and determination”, I could not go home and face them if I had DNF’ed. My support team kept me amused with my progress updates throughout the race, “Hey dad your coming 56th you were coming last”, “hey dad your 48th”. My wife was really excited when I went onto page 2 of the results from page 3. I kept moving forward, all night. I would come into transition after each lap and see my wife sitting rugged up in the comfy chair with a big smile and a “how ya goin”. At this stage I was counting down the hours until I could take my next Voltarin. I was dreading the 2 am to 4 am window when the body wants so desperately to go to sleep. But it came and went, I was expecting to be in pain and I didn’t disappoint myself. At 3 am I sent my wife to bed for 2 hrs. I promised her I would keep lapping and funnily enough I did and they were actually OK laps. I was waiting for dawn as everyone has told me you get a second wind, what a load of crap. I rolled into transition at about 6am – it felt like a truck had run over me. I have had better hangovers. I decided that I needed a shower and slowly wobbled my way to the results tent to greeted by “hey old man” by a smiling Russ Baker, thanks Russ. My wife pointed out that I was now in 33rd place overall. I was surprised at the amount of people that had gone to bed or DNFed
I stepped into the shower and almost went through the roof when the water hit the chaffing on my under carriage. After surviving the shower I headed to the shop for a bacon and egg roll. That was the best bacon and egg roll I had ever eaten and washed down with a chateau Red Bull. I went back up to my bike and contemplated life for a while. Whilst I was away my sparring partner got a lap in on me, bugger. I remounted, to my wife’s surprise and headed off for another lap. They were actually good laps, well for me they were. I actually rode all of Auto Alley and Boy Wonder in my day time laps. 11.45 and I make it to “the corner”. Can I do another, No, I give in, I’m done. We all wait for the countdown and make our way upto the finish line. I have succeeded. I have done what I went there to do – keep going forward no matter how and don’t sleep.
I love racing (doing) 24 hr races, you just don’t find the pretenders and the wannabes that you find in cycling and triathlons. You come across the finish line with no fanfare just the thought that you have survived
The highlights for me were:
1. Being given encouragement by everyone from the world champ to the last person – it is an amazing feeling being on the same track and having the world champ tell you to keep going you are looking good. The top guys and girls were always giving encouragement and always said thanks when you gave them room to pass
2. The guy at the top of Boy Wonder at 4 am, what a legend, he was pissed as but he was having a great time
3. My wife, Rose and my son, Lachlan for such a great job as support crew, one of the highlights of my life
4. Seeing the top guys and girls give it to each other, I cannot comprehend the speed with which you go around for 24 hrs
5. Majura single track – good by old friend
6. Always moving forward no matter what
A big thank you to the CORC people for making this happen
Cheers, Moon Man
National Solo 24 Hour: Post Race Blog Report
My Post Solo 24 Hr Race Debrief Blog Entry
flick30.blogspot.com
Cheers
Flick
My Post Solo 24 Hr Race Debrief Blog Entry
flick30.blogspot.com
Cheers
Flick
Minlak
custom titis
Well done
Great read thanks .....Le Matelot
Canberra Off-Road Cyclists
Lists attached - one is by Country so you can see the Aussie contingent. Still some work to do sorting out some duplicates and the categories - as it looks like some people have entered age-group instead of Elite (I've changed a couple) - and entries are still open if you've suddenly got the ping after Easter.
View attachment WEMBO Italy Entries 13Apr12 by Name.pdf
View attachment WEMBO Italy Entries 13Apr12 by Country.pdf
Last edited:
MATTY R
Likes Dirt
X2. Great story moon man!!Well done
I'm only just starting to do some longer races, and it's story's like yours that make me want to do it even more!
Australia
Likes Bikes and Dirt
Hey Russ,
Can the mtba provide any guidance re insurance to race overseas?
Who has booked flights already and can provide advice there?
Who from team Aus is keen to make the trip as a group and organise minimise luggage etc?
Also, Russ, i imagine you are super busy atm prepping for worlds, but id be keen to hear your thoughts re u23/25 when you have some time.
Cheers,
Andrew
Can the mtba provide any guidance re insurance to race overseas?
Who has booked flights already and can provide advice there?
Who from team Aus is keen to make the trip as a group and organise minimise luggage etc?
Also, Russ, i imagine you are super busy atm prepping for worlds, but id be keen to hear your thoughts re u23/25 when you have some time.
Cheers,
Andrew
Le Matelot
Canberra Off-Road Cyclists
You can email MTBA about this. They can provide international insurance to cover the race. Cost depends on number of applicants, which normally means it isn't finalised until close to the event.
While not the closest airport, Milan (Malpensa) seems to be the best from Australia. It is then about a 2.5 to 3 hour drive to Finale Ligure. Trains in Italy are also very good. While Nice, and even Genoa, airports are closer, the flight schedules mean it is longer travel time by the time you actually get to Finale Ligure.
You original comment on this was correct. The U23 decision was made to fit in with the normal UCI categories. We also found that it provided a more level playing field for the younger riders, because those 23/24 yo riders were really there in the "Elite" end of the field in a lot of cases, so better to put them with the higher age group.
RED_RACER
Likes Dirt
Suddenly my race reports seem so basic. I need a theme for my next race report after the Dungog 8hr. Any ideas!
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2
