Highland Fling - so much fun :-)

cleeshoy

cleeshoy

Eats Squid
Just got home from the Fling and I gotta say it was SO much fun! It was the first race my wife and I entered and I reckon it won't be the last! The wet and mud probably wasn't that great for our bikes (or its components!) but hey you can't do much about the weather! Walking through waist deep water is certainly something I won't forget in a hurry - it literally took your breath away :)

One thing that did suprise us was we found the track alot less technical then say Manly Dam or Wisemans Ferry. The hills weren't very "rocky" but more just smooth the whole way - no complaints for us though! Makes the hill a bit easier to climb :)

For the record we did the Half Fling and finished together in a touch over 3.5 hours :) Wifey was pretty happy to finish 8th in her division.......A bit sore and tired but very satisifed!
 
DaGonz

DaGonz

Eats Squid
cleeshoy said:
Just got home from the Fling and I gotta say it was SO much fun!
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yeah... the single track in the NSW forest stage was so much fun, I had to go back and do it again ;)

...it was a lot more buff the 2nd time

Cheers
Gonz - sleep now
 
BureauMan

BureauMan

Likes Bikes
50ks here too

Yeah it was fun. The track coped with the recent rain pretty well I thought. The creek crossings added a bit of extra excitment. I managed to find a deep spot in one creek and went up to my chest, though not as bad as one guy I heard of who fell over in that same crossing and went completely under. I've done a few of these 100k events now but pulled back to the 50k version at the last minute due to a shitty cold in the last week. Have to say, I thought I'd feel a bit dissappointed only doing 50k's but it was actually alot of fun. For me the 100's are more a gruelling challenge, the 50 you could actually go a bit harder and enjoy. Not such a bad option. 2hrs55min.

The 100 mile guys deserve some admiration.

I wasn't there for the presentation, who won some of the categories?
 
DaGonz

DaGonz

Eats Squid
How Cool was that!

Ok, So I'm a bit more alive now...

How cool was that! the single track through wingello was just awesome and am really surprised as to the extent of the network out there now. by the time we'd come around for our 2nd loop it had really buffed up into some seriously prime sniggle. With no other traffic to contend with I was really having some fun, starting to hurt a lot but having fun! ;) Disapointingly I managed to pull off two of my best crosser dismount/remounts ever on a big log that had fallen across the track towards the end of that stage, and there was no one there to see it both times! :(

I passed through Wingello for the last time at 7:52 and in 4th place apparantly, meaning I had 1:38 to get home inside the 9:30 time limit. Going out with a bottle of coke and a pocket full of coffee Gu I floored it ( well relatively anyway ) in the hope I just didn't blow up. The final stage was a little different to last year so it was a little harder to figure out how far we had to go, but at the 10km's to sign, I had 30-35 mins left. On a Caffine and Coke high I was pinning it though, and to the cheers of some of the fireies and 100k stragglers as I passed, made it home with about 10 or so mins to spare and apparantly in third!

That was one tough race. I was just going hard the whole time in the hope of making the cutoffs. crossing wingello the first time at the 4:30 mark, I knew I was going to be in reasonable shape to make the 2nd (provided I didn't blow up) but knew I was going to be cutting it fine for the finish. A broken power link at the start cost me 5 mins, plus a bucket more while I fought back through the traffic (and I was still passing traffic at the end of the first loop ) A gash to the tread of my rear tire in the 2nd loop cost a couple more minutes while I got it to seal but thankfully held up for the rest of the race ( yay for stans!? )

A little sore today, but I'm just stoked I finished inside the time limits. I'll do a proper write up in the next day or two

phwoarr!! :)

Cheers
Gonz
 
cleeshoy

cleeshoy

Eats Squid
DaGonz said:
Ok, So I'm a bit more alive now...

A little sore today, but I'm just stoked I finished inside the time limits. I'll do a proper write up in the next day or two

phwoarr!! :)

Cheers
Gonz
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Dude - if I did 100 miles I wouldn't only be a little sore but my ass would be on fire! kudos to you for doing it and getting into 3rd! :)
 
O

Oxis

Squid
The Fling-What A Blast

My hat's off to Huw and his crowd! A top day, great weather, muddy trails that weren't bad and a great atmosphere. I'll be Back!!
 
M

mcray

Likes Bikes
alchemist said:
Mmm, chinese whispers perhaps, there were some close calls but I didn't see anyone go completely under.
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There was a fellow just ahead of me, in the 55km who seemed to catch his front wheel crossing the river and went OTB and obviously got drenched. We laughed a bit as he was upset his banana escaped and floated away.:)

Brings up the great attitude of everyone riding out there, I loved the chit chats I had with like minded riders throughout the day.
 
McBain

McBain

Likes Bikes and Dirt
mcray said:
There was a fellow just ahead of me, in the 55km who seemed to catch his front wheel crossing the river and went OTB and obviously got drenched. We laughed a bit as he was upset his banana escaped and floated away.:)
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Which river crossing? The first one after leaving Wingello on the way back to the finish? We had someone do something just like that, but I don't think the photographer caught it.
 
M

mcray

Likes Bikes
McBain said:
Which river crossing? The first one after leaving Wingello on the way back to the finish? We had someone do something just like that, but I don't think the photographer caught it.
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I think it was the first one, came upon it riding from the paddocks... I know it was wider than any of the others I rode. I managed to ride it successfully, eg. no OTB, however at the deepest point I was wondering if I too would get a second wash.
 
BureauMan

BureauMan

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alchemist said:
Mmm, chinese whispers perhaps, there were some close calls but I didn't see anyone go completely under.
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Maybe my mistake. I was sitting down having my vege pasta following the race and talking to a fellow competitor, he said he'd tripped or fallen in one of the deeper crossings and had been fully drenched. I assumed, from what we'd been talking about, that it was that chest height crossing he was talking about but it could have been another.
 
jmcavoy

jmcavoy

Likes Dirt
100 Miler

DaGonz said:
yeah... the single track in the NSW forest stage was so much fun, I had to go back and do it again ;)

...it was a lot more buff the 2nd time
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You bet, the Wingello stage was rocking on the 2nd lap, super tacky and that single track was great! I came into the finish at something like 4:59:29, so possibly 30 secs before the cutoff, until the results come out, I don't even know if they DNF'd me... fingers crossed.

Congrats to you DaGonz, you are a MACHINE! Well done!

That was one hell of a race, the hardest thing I've ever done, but sooooo rewarding, I'm still grinning to think I (hopefully) made it!

I did a write up for anyone interested in how that 100 miles felt, but I am thinking you can guess ;)

http://www.wickedrides.com.au/vaude/

Thanks to all those 100kers that cheered us crazy 100 milers on, I can't describe how much that helped when times were tough (basically the whole race :)), it was awesome!
 
Dug

Dug

Likes Dirt
Mate this was my first and by no means the last. The bloody Fling Thing was the best organised event I have been to anywhere. The track was great and it got progressivly eaiser the farther you got into it with the last stage a blast through some of the nicest singletrack pine forest I have seen. I was a bit worried that I had lost the plot when at about 98K I found a bloody great Yacht... Oh thats why they call it the yacht club....Its been a long day..... Those who opted for the 1/2 you missed a great run through the forest. The only problem I had all day was finding out I had lost my water bottle playing dowhill racer just after the GU watering hole in the forest and my camelback had a leak... Hmmmm No water until the transition. .......Great work great day and if ya do one long race a year make sure it's this one!!!! Fling flung
 
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agoer

agoer

Likes Dirt
Fling Ding

Yep i too was a virgin and have been converted into a tart.

I was happy with 3h46m considering i took a wrong turn, started up the back, helped a girl with her brakes and a bloke with cramps.

The course was just awesome there was nothing in it that made me think that it was bad. The mixture of single track to fire roads were great, the single tracks didnt leave you brain dead and the fire trails considering the rain were in great nick just to open it up and pin it.

I was so supprised at how well the event went and excpet for the start (which carnt be helped) there was bugger all waiting for anything.

Now the hunt is on for the next event.
 
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Dreggsy

Dreggsy

Likes Bikes and Dirt
jmcavoy said:
That was one hell of a race, the hardest thing I've ever done, but sooooo rewarding, I'm still grinning to think I (hopefully) made it!

it was awesome!
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Glad to see that you had made it.
I saw you come in and really really felt for you as you had looked like you had given it your all.
Good on you
I was tempted to do it but was recovering from injury.

My mate DaGonz would have come in approx 10mins before you.
He was in a world on pain.
 
jmcavoy

jmcavoy

Likes Dirt
Cheers

Dreggsy said:
Glad to see that you had made it.
I saw you come in and really really felt for you as you had looked like you had given it your all.
Good on you
.
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Thanx man, I sure had, I thought I had to make it in my 5pm, and I got there at 4:59:29, so suffice it say, I gave every last bit of my soul to get to the end of the final stage in time (later I found out I got 9 minutes credit back from the Train Station transitions, d'oh!), it was worth it though, a real honour to finish something like that! Most rewarding thing I have ever done!
 
tranceup

tranceup

Likes Dirt
It was great again, i loved that they made more of the good singletrack at the start this year, by the end last year i had bugger all energy to hit it hard. The only downside this year was the traffic in these sections meant most of the time you couldnt hit it hard anyway. Still frikin awesome trail though.
Only downside was my right shoe loosing cleat (unrepairable)at the last trans which meant effectively 30k`s of one foot pedalling and some very loose (riding) DH parts trying to keep foot over the small shimano SPD pedal. Needless to say my left leg is now stuffed from the over compensation but i loved it, great vibe again and ill be back those trails are sweet.
 
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