JIM80B
Likes Bikes
Stiffed on Marathon photos. Rode 160km and only one photo
I'm not THAT ugly?
Search again PDogg...they're uploading as we speak, I now have a thousand on there.
Highland Fling
- Thread starter DaGonz
- Start date
Search again PDogg...they're uploading as we speak, I now have a thousand on there.
PDogg
Manly Warringah MTB Club
If there aren't any more of me then I'll take that as a 'yes, you are THAT ugly'
Cool, thanks Jim!
im no doc, but I've read alot about cramps having suffered from them in pretty much every race over 3 hrs...
the thing is, (from what Ive read)your body cannot process more than about 500 ml of fluid an hour anyway, even in the hottest condition...drinking more than that excercises your kidneys, bloats you and thats about it...better to drink less volume, but with a replacement formula (I use staminade as endura makes me puke)...but sounds like it works for you so its all good...I know that drinking that much water for me makes me cramp more (excess water diluting salts already present??) and feel ill...
i use Hammer Endurolytes and drink about 300 ml /hour of standard strength Staminade and about 200ml/hr plain water...This has reduced my cramps significantly...As goatman also suggests, the fitter and better stretched I am, the less I cramp...
jmcavoy
Likes Dirt
That links fails for me, are you sure it works?
JIM80B
Likes Bikes
Looks like they've taken it back down. It was working this arvo and I just went to look again and its not working. Bum
My take on the Fling, my first 100km enduro... (sorry for the length, but I don't have a blog to put this)
I've been aiming towards this event since I started recovering from a broken bone in my hand that I sustained in June. So I've been doing a bit of training, a few road rides and some other XC riding, instead of my normal DH and 4X. I did the 6Hr Gran Prix at Yarramundi and even the WSMTB club XC champs! (What was happening to me?!)
With 2 weeks to the event I thought I'd better make sure I knew what 6 hours in the saddle felt like, as that was the time I was aiming on beating. So I went for a 160km road ride around northern Sydney, including a few good hills. That went well so I was looking forward to the race.
Then with one week to go a cough and sore throat that I thought I had got over came back with a vengence, along with a head cold. Oh no! So, I took it easy that week: didn't ride to work, which I normally do every day, and made sure I went to bed at a reasonable hour. Saw the Dr and got some antibiotics as well. That seemed to work and I headed down to Bundanoon on Saturday feeling much better, but thinking that a time closer to 7 hours was pretty likely.
Leading up to the event I had been seeking advice from as many people as possible for things like hydration and nutrition. I had decided on a mixture of Gu, Endura energy bars, bananas and museli bars for a bit of variety, and water in a bottle and eload in my hydration pack. I was relieved to hear that I could leave some food and drink at the Wingello oval so I didn't have to worry about having to use the water supplied anywhere else and having to mix up more eload from the powder while I was out there. I also made sure that I drank plenty of eload and water on the Saturday too. I had to go to the toilet a few more times than normal, but at least I knew that I was good and hydrated before the event.
Also based on advice from others, with more experience, I had decided that I needed to take it easy during the first stage to Wingello oval, then ramp up the effort a bit during the Forest NSW stage and either struggle or power home through the final stage. Having been sick all week I was aware that I might not be at the peak of my fitness and so resolved to listen to my body and take it easy the whole way if necessary.
So Sunday morning dawned bright and clear (phew!) and, having read the briefing document that was emailed out, I was confident of knowing my start time and that my RFID tag was secured around my left ankle. Probably could have got to the start line a little earlier, but found a few friends in the crowd and waited for the start, not feeling too nervous. Maybe I was a bit too relaxed though as I forgot to eat the Gu I had planned to have before the start.
The gun went off...and I didn't move. I guess I didn't realise how far from the front I was. So it took a minute to actually cross the start line, which was a little frustrating, but as I kept telling myself, "Just take it easy". One of the friends I was with at the start was PDogg and he had also said that he would 'take it easy' in the first few kms. Then on the first road section he starts pulling away up the little hills, already starting to pass more than a few people! So that's 'taking it easy' is it? Oh well, I let him go, knowing that we had different goals for the day (Great job PDogg!). Having said that though, I still passed a lot of people before we eventually got into the farm fields and onto the dirt.
At the first steepish hill I found myself standing up and starting to punch up the hill, refusing to drop into the granny ring. "Hang on!", I told myself, "You're supposed to be taking it easy", so I dropped into the granny and span up the rest of the hill, passing a few people and going over the top feeling good. That gave me a good reality check for the race, as well as some confidence!
So for the remainder of the first stage I took it easy, spinning on the up hills, conserving my energy on the downhills (passing people while just coasting down fire trails is fun!) and setting a steady pace on the flats. Also made sure I was drinking a fair bit from my hydration pack.
I also just enjoyed the day. The sunshine was brilliant, the tracks were new (to me) and quite fun, my bike (Gary Fisher Paragon 29r) was performing perfectly. I also made sure I said G'day to almost everyone else out on the trail, and found most other people to also be very friendly.
Rolled into the first transition feeling good and found my fantastic wife who pointed me in the direction of my food and drink. Refilled my hydration pack, got down most of a banana and another half a bidon of water, used the loo and headed off down the road.
Wingello State Forest was brilliant! Loved the single track and even the fire trails were good too. Again, made sure that I span up the longer hills, walked the Wall (but rode everything else), but also started to put a bit more effort in on the smaller hills, and single track. Made sure I kept drinking, but had some trouble getting the Gu out of my jersey pocket, and so probably didn't have as much as I should have, and didn't even get around to getting out the Endura bar. By the time I got to the Virgin Blue lounge I was ready for something more, so I had a banana, a cup of Gu20 and kept going. Small mistake. Should’ve had more to eat. Made it up the next hill, (was that The Kick?) even though it seemed quite long and steep, but the one after that, through the 'meadows' and in the sun, was tough, even though I passed my collegue liamo having a short relief break! The next few parts are a bit of a blur, but I think it was in Wild West that I started to feel a bit empty. Got to a not very big hill and ended up walking up it. Stopped at the top for a few minutes and had my Endura bar, half my bidon of water and a bit of eload too. liamo caught back up to me here too. He left a little bit in front of me, but I rolled on from there feeling much better. Up the next climb and on through the rest I felt pretty good, but still just spinning up the climbs. Out onto the dirt road to head for home and I caught back up to liamo. I think he had been stretching out a cramp, but we rode together for a bit and then he got on my wheel and I drove it back to Wingello. It was good to have someone else riding with you.
I realised that I still felt good. Tired, but not falling apart. Kept drinking eload.
Got back to the oval and dug into my bag of goodies. Had another banana, realised I didn't want a museli bar, had half an endura bar instead and some water, a bit of a honey bread roll. I had seen another colleague, Simon, who I thought would beat me easily, just heading out of transition as I came in, so that gave me some confidence as well. Saw another friend in transition who also headed out in front, but that was fine. Filled my hydration pack again, took off my undershirt and got going with the rest of the bread roll in my hand. That sounds like it was quick, but it was actually 15 minutes (!) from end of Forest stage to start of last stage.
Heading down the road I had another bite of the roll and almost gagged, so I threw it away and got my head down. Was a bit annoyed that I could see a group of 3 people 100 metres up the road working together, but that I was by myself, but that was fine. The sun was still shining and I wasn't falling apart so it was all good. I check my watch and realised that I needed to average 20km/h to the finish to get under 6 hours. I had a goal!
Caught those three people going through the field before the river crossing and then left them behind once we got into the forest. The last stage was a bit of a blur. There were a lot of fire trails, the sun felt really hot, some of the hills were hard, but I kept spinning up them and then getting the head back down once I got over them. An Elite rider caught up to me at one point, just after the Yacht Club, and I sat on his wheel for a while and passed a few more people. Had a great time down the down hill and into the single track before the river crossing. Started to feel very tired after that though.
Through Great Sandy Desert (hated all the sand) and my computer was saying 108kms down, and I thought I would make it in under 6 hours. Then I saw the 5kms to go sign. D'oh! Got to Your Call and followed the few people in front of me in to the 'steep, short' option. That was hard! I was tired, it was rough and loose and the people in front of me were going slower than me and kept stopping! But made it through without dabbing and caught Simon at the top!
Now it was a race to the line! I got my head down, got into the big ring and pushed it. Simon sat on my wheel, insisting that he was too tired to take a turn at the front. The little hill on that road was hard, but pushed over it and headed to the finish. Rounded the last right hander and stood up to sprint up the hill to the line. My calves just started to twinge a bit, hinting at the possibility of cramps. I pushed on but then relaxed as we rolled on to the gravel and then the grass. Coasted across the line and was spent! I looked at the clock and it said 13.33. I figured I must have been just over the 6 hour mark. Oh well, I was happy to have got so close with the week that I had had.
I was exhausted but had had a great time. It was fun with a great track, friendly people to ride with, a hard but achievable challenge and perfect weather. My legs had worked, my lungs had worked...enough, my bike was perfect (29ers rock!) and my food and drink had worked. The race organisation was faultless from what I could see, and now the results are up I see I finished in 5.53! Even better! When's the next one! I want to go quicker! I just hope the BMC and Dirt Works 'Classics' don't clash with any DH races this year. See you there.
Thanks for reading.
I've been aiming towards this event since I started recovering from a broken bone in my hand that I sustained in June. So I've been doing a bit of training, a few road rides and some other XC riding, instead of my normal DH and 4X. I did the 6Hr Gran Prix at Yarramundi and even the WSMTB club XC champs! (What was happening to me?!)
With 2 weeks to the event I thought I'd better make sure I knew what 6 hours in the saddle felt like, as that was the time I was aiming on beating. So I went for a 160km road ride around northern Sydney, including a few good hills. That went well so I was looking forward to the race.
Then with one week to go a cough and sore throat that I thought I had got over came back with a vengence, along with a head cold. Oh no! So, I took it easy that week: didn't ride to work, which I normally do every day, and made sure I went to bed at a reasonable hour. Saw the Dr and got some antibiotics as well. That seemed to work and I headed down to Bundanoon on Saturday feeling much better, but thinking that a time closer to 7 hours was pretty likely.
Leading up to the event I had been seeking advice from as many people as possible for things like hydration and nutrition. I had decided on a mixture of Gu, Endura energy bars, bananas and museli bars for a bit of variety, and water in a bottle and eload in my hydration pack. I was relieved to hear that I could leave some food and drink at the Wingello oval so I didn't have to worry about having to use the water supplied anywhere else and having to mix up more eload from the powder while I was out there. I also made sure that I drank plenty of eload and water on the Saturday too. I had to go to the toilet a few more times than normal, but at least I knew that I was good and hydrated before the event.
Also based on advice from others, with more experience, I had decided that I needed to take it easy during the first stage to Wingello oval, then ramp up the effort a bit during the Forest NSW stage and either struggle or power home through the final stage. Having been sick all week I was aware that I might not be at the peak of my fitness and so resolved to listen to my body and take it easy the whole way if necessary.
So Sunday morning dawned bright and clear (phew!) and, having read the briefing document that was emailed out, I was confident of knowing my start time and that my RFID tag was secured around my left ankle. Probably could have got to the start line a little earlier, but found a few friends in the crowd and waited for the start, not feeling too nervous. Maybe I was a bit too relaxed though as I forgot to eat the Gu I had planned to have before the start.
The gun went off...and I didn't move. I guess I didn't realise how far from the front I was. So it took a minute to actually cross the start line, which was a little frustrating, but as I kept telling myself, "Just take it easy". One of the friends I was with at the start was PDogg and he had also said that he would 'take it easy' in the first few kms. Then on the first road section he starts pulling away up the little hills, already starting to pass more than a few people! So that's 'taking it easy' is it? Oh well, I let him go, knowing that we had different goals for the day (Great job PDogg!). Having said that though, I still passed a lot of people before we eventually got into the farm fields and onto the dirt.
At the first steepish hill I found myself standing up and starting to punch up the hill, refusing to drop into the granny ring. "Hang on!", I told myself, "You're supposed to be taking it easy", so I dropped into the granny and span up the rest of the hill, passing a few people and going over the top feeling good. That gave me a good reality check for the race, as well as some confidence!
So for the remainder of the first stage I took it easy, spinning on the up hills, conserving my energy on the downhills (passing people while just coasting down fire trails is fun!) and setting a steady pace on the flats. Also made sure I was drinking a fair bit from my hydration pack.
I also just enjoyed the day. The sunshine was brilliant, the tracks were new (to me) and quite fun, my bike (Gary Fisher Paragon 29r) was performing perfectly. I also made sure I said G'day to almost everyone else out on the trail, and found most other people to also be very friendly.
Rolled into the first transition feeling good and found my fantastic wife who pointed me in the direction of my food and drink. Refilled my hydration pack, got down most of a banana and another half a bidon of water, used the loo and headed off down the road.
Wingello State Forest was brilliant! Loved the single track and even the fire trails were good too. Again, made sure that I span up the longer hills, walked the Wall (but rode everything else), but also started to put a bit more effort in on the smaller hills, and single track. Made sure I kept drinking, but had some trouble getting the Gu out of my jersey pocket, and so probably didn't have as much as I should have, and didn't even get around to getting out the Endura bar. By the time I got to the Virgin Blue lounge I was ready for something more, so I had a banana, a cup of Gu20 and kept going. Small mistake. Should’ve had more to eat. Made it up the next hill, (was that The Kick?) even though it seemed quite long and steep, but the one after that, through the 'meadows' and in the sun, was tough, even though I passed my collegue liamo having a short relief break! The next few parts are a bit of a blur, but I think it was in Wild West that I started to feel a bit empty. Got to a not very big hill and ended up walking up it. Stopped at the top for a few minutes and had my Endura bar, half my bidon of water and a bit of eload too. liamo caught back up to me here too. He left a little bit in front of me, but I rolled on from there feeling much better. Up the next climb and on through the rest I felt pretty good, but still just spinning up the climbs. Out onto the dirt road to head for home and I caught back up to liamo. I think he had been stretching out a cramp, but we rode together for a bit and then he got on my wheel and I drove it back to Wingello. It was good to have someone else riding with you.
I realised that I still felt good. Tired, but not falling apart. Kept drinking eload.
Got back to the oval and dug into my bag of goodies. Had another banana, realised I didn't want a museli bar, had half an endura bar instead and some water, a bit of a honey bread roll. I had seen another colleague, Simon, who I thought would beat me easily, just heading out of transition as I came in, so that gave me some confidence as well. Saw another friend in transition who also headed out in front, but that was fine. Filled my hydration pack again, took off my undershirt and got going with the rest of the bread roll in my hand. That sounds like it was quick, but it was actually 15 minutes (!) from end of Forest stage to start of last stage.
Heading down the road I had another bite of the roll and almost gagged, so I threw it away and got my head down. Was a bit annoyed that I could see a group of 3 people 100 metres up the road working together, but that I was by myself, but that was fine. The sun was still shining and I wasn't falling apart so it was all good. I check my watch and realised that I needed to average 20km/h to the finish to get under 6 hours. I had a goal!
Caught those three people going through the field before the river crossing and then left them behind once we got into the forest. The last stage was a bit of a blur. There were a lot of fire trails, the sun felt really hot, some of the hills were hard, but I kept spinning up them and then getting the head back down once I got over them. An Elite rider caught up to me at one point, just after the Yacht Club, and I sat on his wheel for a while and passed a few more people. Had a great time down the down hill and into the single track before the river crossing. Started to feel very tired after that though.
Through Great Sandy Desert (hated all the sand) and my computer was saying 108kms down, and I thought I would make it in under 6 hours. Then I saw the 5kms to go sign. D'oh! Got to Your Call and followed the few people in front of me in to the 'steep, short' option. That was hard! I was tired, it was rough and loose and the people in front of me were going slower than me and kept stopping! But made it through without dabbing and caught Simon at the top!
Now it was a race to the line! I got my head down, got into the big ring and pushed it. Simon sat on my wheel, insisting that he was too tired to take a turn at the front. The little hill on that road was hard, but pushed over it and headed to the finish. Rounded the last right hander and stood up to sprint up the hill to the line. My calves just started to twinge a bit, hinting at the possibility of cramps. I pushed on but then relaxed as we rolled on to the gravel and then the grass. Coasted across the line and was spent! I looked at the clock and it said 13.33. I figured I must have been just over the 6 hour mark. Oh well, I was happy to have got so close with the week that I had had.
I was exhausted but had had a great time. It was fun with a great track, friendly people to ride with, a hard but achievable challenge and perfect weather. My legs had worked, my lungs had worked...enough, my bike was perfect (29ers rock!) and my food and drink had worked. The race organisation was faultless from what I could see, and now the results are up I see I finished in 5.53! Even better! When's the next one! I want to go quicker! I just hope the BMC and Dirt Works 'Classics' don't clash with any DH races this year. See you there.
Thanks for reading.
Last edited:
Graunched
Likes Dirt
Last edited:
PDogg
Manly Warringah MTB Club
Ok, had to top Oldbean for word count. If you've the attention span of a standard human this might loose you, so scroll on
Coming into the Fling I was in a bit of a spot. I’d turned up for the Scott 24 ready to do some hot laps with some mates and get some miles in the legs ahead of the main event, the Highland Fling. I returned home from the Scott dejected and down, I’d ridden for about 4 hours and been totally disinterested. I called it early to eat pancakes and hang around the pavilion and talk crap. Hmm, this was an odd state of affairs indeed, and certainly not something I was used to. My head was telling me to ride slow, eat pancakes and drink coffee and beer. A recipe for a good time, but not successful racing.
A few weeks on and the world was looking up. I’d gotten over my funk with some fun rides, and some good kms rather than some volumous kms. The legs were feeling ok, and the regular Iron Granny™ Thursday morning before work ride was seeming far less challenging than it once was, becoming more of an opportunity to see how fast I could go rather than something to be endured in the hope of some cardiovascular reward. Still, there was a lot of work to be done in preparing and even fronting up to the start line for the Fling. The usual 1x9 drivetrain was replaced by a conventional 3x9, new Pacentti 650b tires to be fitted, and lots of planning for how I was going to approach the race. I’d never done the Fling before, and the unique transition point for the 100 mile riders needed to be used to the best effect.
On the Friday before the race I was soooo super keen for Sunday, which was a welcome relief. I did crazy things like make little course profile cards for my pocket, and even installed a cycle computer so I could keep an eye on the distance/time splits that I had to make. Anyone that knows how I race would realise this was uncharacteristic behaviour. BikeFreak had the balls to tell me he’d lost all respect for me. Clearly I was up for it. Saturday was a blur with lots of last minute prep. Given my rush I managed to cut the cord on my computer when installing it, as well as somehow managing to loose both my chainbreakers and my regular race multi tool. I was starting to get a bit worried that in my enthusiasm I was starting to actually loose it a bit. A stop off at the LBS and a lesson teaching $50 later I was all ready to race on Sunday.
Sunday was a long day, and started for me at 12.01 in the car in the darkness somewhere on the Hume… driving from Jen and Jamies wedding on Sat night to stay at Bundannon, check in time on the lounge room floor of a good mates place was 1.30am. Sweet. Footsteps started through the lounge room about 5.30 with 4 hours of sleep in the bank. Lock that in Eddie. Being in a house full of riders was great, lots of pre-race banter and prep, lots of unusual breakfast rituals, and the saving grace.. Dreggsy’s on the go espresso device (thanks mate). After taking the longest out of everyone to get prepped and ready, I was finally ready to leave the house and roll down to the start line, with the others already gone. This is when I accepted that I had in fact lost the plot a bit. I’d put ALL my bottles in my race box as well as my mini pump, so no pump or bottle for the first stage (thanks to Rob and Fi for the lends!), and my favourite mistake was grabbing two right hand gloves when I left home, hahahha. My only hope was that people would think I was a trendsetter, riding with one glove upside down all race. It was certainly a distinctive look!
After all my fluffing around, I squeezed into the start corral with Oldbean and some other likely suspects, and before we knew it we were off. The legs felt light and the bike felt like it had a tailwind, so happy days at the handlebar heading off into the unknown. The first stage was pretty uneventful, which is always a good thing. It was a good chance to warm the legs and get a feel for how the day was going to go. I got to ride with Tim and a few others with was nice, and I must say the terrain is amazing down in the highlands. We soon popped into Wingello and out the other side to the 100 miler transition. I followed my plan to take two bottles, a Danish to munch, and restrained myself enough to lube my chain too which was something that had cost me dearly in the Angry Doctor!
I got a great tow down the road with two 100km riders which let me eat and drink while soft pedalling at 40Km. The Forests stage was brilliant through varied forest and a mix of firetrail and singletrack that was just right for a marathon race. I rode the wall (but made a decision to NOT do this the next time) and loved the Great Wall, Tangles, and all the other ST. The descent into Halfway Hill was brutal, but far more fun than riding UP Halfway Hill and The Kick J At the top of the kick I caught Crosser and we rode together for a while before he fell off the back at the Wild West. By now I was aware that I’d been doing some work, I’d passed jmcavoy and DaGonz pretty quickly which had made me take a quick pacing assessment, but the legs said it was all good, so onward we went into the Wingello transition after another splendid tow behind two Eilte 100km riders at a bit below 40kmph. Good work guys, sorry I didn’t do my turn J
The second forest stage was a juggling act. Started off well, but by now I knew I’d been in the saddle a while. About a third of the way in my legs were telling me things I didn’t want to hear. I can’t remember the last time I cramped, so I know something was not quite right. After thinking back thru the day I’d done all the right things and not gone into lactic territory, so I concluded it must have been not enough water. I quickly downed both my bottles and these didn’t even hit the side, bingo! I filled up at the halfway point with another two bottles of Gu20 (good stuff!), and downed these too, making it 4 bottles in the 54km stage. I crept up the Halfway Hill in granny (shhhh!), and once up The Kick my brain told me all the hard work was done, and hey, be happy. So I was.. the ride into Wingello was fine, and from Halfway Hill I was constantly passing people, which is a great mental boost.
I got into the Wingello transition for the last time and got my two reward bottles out of my box, the ones filled with Coke and Red Bull. Leaving the transition Joe calls over the PA that I’m in third, which was a great surprise. At this point I had to keep telling myself to just keep the bike going, don’t pinch flat etc, and keep the legs turning. I’m sure it was different at the time, but upon recollection the last stage was like a freeway, was it big ring the whole way, were there any hills in that thing?? After the slog of the Forests stage, the wide open final stage was a flyer, weaving past the 100km finishers polishing off their last kms. Took the hard option at You Choose, and cleaned it all with a grin, and on the road into the finish, when a marshal yelled out to me ‘well done, fourth place’ . Doh! Oh well, I’d exceeded my expectations and had a great fun day. Fourth is pretty ok with me.
After crossing the line and a brief interview with Huw on the mic, and a jolly handshake with Crawford (third place, just in front of me) the day was over. I actually felt great, and besides heavy legs the world was magnificent. The post ride food was awesome and everyone at the finish seemed to be having a relaxed time in the sun. It really doesn’t get much better than that, so thanks to Wild Horizons and all the volunteers for a great event! Seeing Liamo finish the 100 mile on his SS was inspiring, and Tim finishing seconds within the time limit was icing on the cake... or so I thought. At the presentation i won the lucky random draw for $3000 of Specialized gear (how good is that???!)... and on Tuesday I find out I actuallt came third too Crawford, good ride mate. How close can we we have been. Next time!
How long till we do it again?
Coming into the Fling I was in a bit of a spot. I’d turned up for the Scott 24 ready to do some hot laps with some mates and get some miles in the legs ahead of the main event, the Highland Fling. I returned home from the Scott dejected and down, I’d ridden for about 4 hours and been totally disinterested. I called it early to eat pancakes and hang around the pavilion and talk crap. Hmm, this was an odd state of affairs indeed, and certainly not something I was used to. My head was telling me to ride slow, eat pancakes and drink coffee and beer. A recipe for a good time, but not successful racing.
A few weeks on and the world was looking up. I’d gotten over my funk with some fun rides, and some good kms rather than some volumous kms. The legs were feeling ok, and the regular Iron Granny™ Thursday morning before work ride was seeming far less challenging than it once was, becoming more of an opportunity to see how fast I could go rather than something to be endured in the hope of some cardiovascular reward. Still, there was a lot of work to be done in preparing and even fronting up to the start line for the Fling. The usual 1x9 drivetrain was replaced by a conventional 3x9, new Pacentti 650b tires to be fitted, and lots of planning for how I was going to approach the race. I’d never done the Fling before, and the unique transition point for the 100 mile riders needed to be used to the best effect.
On the Friday before the race I was soooo super keen for Sunday, which was a welcome relief. I did crazy things like make little course profile cards for my pocket, and even installed a cycle computer so I could keep an eye on the distance/time splits that I had to make. Anyone that knows how I race would realise this was uncharacteristic behaviour. BikeFreak had the balls to tell me he’d lost all respect for me. Clearly I was up for it. Saturday was a blur with lots of last minute prep. Given my rush I managed to cut the cord on my computer when installing it, as well as somehow managing to loose both my chainbreakers and my regular race multi tool. I was starting to get a bit worried that in my enthusiasm I was starting to actually loose it a bit. A stop off at the LBS and a lesson teaching $50 later I was all ready to race on Sunday.
Sunday was a long day, and started for me at 12.01 in the car in the darkness somewhere on the Hume… driving from Jen and Jamies wedding on Sat night to stay at Bundannon, check in time on the lounge room floor of a good mates place was 1.30am. Sweet. Footsteps started through the lounge room about 5.30 with 4 hours of sleep in the bank. Lock that in Eddie. Being in a house full of riders was great, lots of pre-race banter and prep, lots of unusual breakfast rituals, and the saving grace.. Dreggsy’s on the go espresso device (thanks mate). After taking the longest out of everyone to get prepped and ready, I was finally ready to leave the house and roll down to the start line, with the others already gone. This is when I accepted that I had in fact lost the plot a bit. I’d put ALL my bottles in my race box as well as my mini pump, so no pump or bottle for the first stage (thanks to Rob and Fi for the lends!), and my favourite mistake was grabbing two right hand gloves when I left home, hahahha. My only hope was that people would think I was a trendsetter, riding with one glove upside down all race. It was certainly a distinctive look!
After all my fluffing around, I squeezed into the start corral with Oldbean and some other likely suspects, and before we knew it we were off. The legs felt light and the bike felt like it had a tailwind, so happy days at the handlebar heading off into the unknown. The first stage was pretty uneventful, which is always a good thing. It was a good chance to warm the legs and get a feel for how the day was going to go. I got to ride with Tim and a few others with was nice, and I must say the terrain is amazing down in the highlands. We soon popped into Wingello and out the other side to the 100 miler transition. I followed my plan to take two bottles, a Danish to munch, and restrained myself enough to lube my chain too which was something that had cost me dearly in the Angry Doctor!
I got a great tow down the road with two 100km riders which let me eat and drink while soft pedalling at 40Km. The Forests stage was brilliant through varied forest and a mix of firetrail and singletrack that was just right for a marathon race. I rode the wall (but made a decision to NOT do this the next time) and loved the Great Wall, Tangles, and all the other ST. The descent into Halfway Hill was brutal, but far more fun than riding UP Halfway Hill and The Kick J At the top of the kick I caught Crosser and we rode together for a while before he fell off the back at the Wild West. By now I was aware that I’d been doing some work, I’d passed jmcavoy and DaGonz pretty quickly which had made me take a quick pacing assessment, but the legs said it was all good, so onward we went into the Wingello transition after another splendid tow behind two Eilte 100km riders at a bit below 40kmph. Good work guys, sorry I didn’t do my turn J
The second forest stage was a juggling act. Started off well, but by now I knew I’d been in the saddle a while. About a third of the way in my legs were telling me things I didn’t want to hear. I can’t remember the last time I cramped, so I know something was not quite right. After thinking back thru the day I’d done all the right things and not gone into lactic territory, so I concluded it must have been not enough water. I quickly downed both my bottles and these didn’t even hit the side, bingo! I filled up at the halfway point with another two bottles of Gu20 (good stuff!), and downed these too, making it 4 bottles in the 54km stage. I crept up the Halfway Hill in granny (shhhh!), and once up The Kick my brain told me all the hard work was done, and hey, be happy. So I was.. the ride into Wingello was fine, and from Halfway Hill I was constantly passing people, which is a great mental boost.
I got into the Wingello transition for the last time and got my two reward bottles out of my box, the ones filled with Coke and Red Bull. Leaving the transition Joe calls over the PA that I’m in third, which was a great surprise. At this point I had to keep telling myself to just keep the bike going, don’t pinch flat etc, and keep the legs turning. I’m sure it was different at the time, but upon recollection the last stage was like a freeway, was it big ring the whole way, were there any hills in that thing?? After the slog of the Forests stage, the wide open final stage was a flyer, weaving past the 100km finishers polishing off their last kms. Took the hard option at You Choose, and cleaned it all with a grin, and on the road into the finish, when a marshal yelled out to me ‘well done, fourth place’ . Doh! Oh well, I’d exceeded my expectations and had a great fun day. Fourth is pretty ok with me.
After crossing the line and a brief interview with Huw on the mic, and a jolly handshake with Crawford (third place, just in front of me) the day was over. I actually felt great, and besides heavy legs the world was magnificent. The post ride food was awesome and everyone at the finish seemed to be having a relaxed time in the sun. It really doesn’t get much better than that, so thanks to Wild Horizons and all the volunteers for a great event! Seeing Liamo finish the 100 mile on his SS was inspiring, and Tim finishing seconds within the time limit was icing on the cake... or so I thought. At the presentation i won the lucky random draw for $3000 of Specialized gear (how good is that???!)... and on Tuesday I find out I actuallt came third too
Crawford, good ride mate. How close can we we have been. Next time!How long till we do it again?
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beatlloydy
Likes Bikes
I did the full fling and had a few mechanicals. I was running a fairly new Shimano HG chain and new cluster. I snapped the chain 3 times...I had a SRAM link in there but must have lost it in a previous raid on the toolkit.
To top it off the chain breaker spat the link breaker into the bushes so I was without this from the 2nd snapping...I guess it was breaking on the link I was replacing. Someone (Jeff ? ) lent me a chaintool and I returned it to him at T2.
About 15 km from home it did it again. A very helpful bikeshop mechanic rider gave me a SRAM link and no further problems. I am now down 6 links...I have just purchased 2 spare SRAM powerchains as backup..will prob ride the shimano for a few weeks just to get some value out of it before replacing.
Bummer of a race mechanically but ended it feeling o.k tho hit the wall around 95 km but no cramps and the back is fine (had an op on it in July)...Was 3hrs flat at 60km mark...then below out to 7:48 due to the mechanicals...oh well, always next year
I would like to thank the hundreds of riders who asked if I was o.k and the ones who stopped to render assistance. It's guys like you who make me proud to be a MTB'er...it wouldnt happen in road or tri.
To top it off the chain breaker spat the link breaker into the bushes so I was without this from the 2nd snapping...I guess it was breaking on the link I was replacing. Someone (Jeff ? ) lent me a chaintool and I returned it to him at T2.
About 15 km from home it did it again. A very helpful bikeshop mechanic rider gave me a SRAM link and no further problems. I am now down 6 links...I have just purchased 2 spare SRAM powerchains as backup..will prob ride the shimano for a few weeks just to get some value out of it before replacing.
Bummer of a race mechanically but ended it feeling o.k tho hit the wall around 95 km but no cramps and the back is fine (had an op on it in July)...Was 3hrs flat at 60km mark...then below out to 7:48 due to the mechanicals...oh well, always next year
I would like to thank the hundreds of riders who asked if I was o.k and the ones who stopped to render assistance. It's guys like you who make me proud to be a MTB'er...it wouldnt happen in road or tri.
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Oddjob
Merry fucking Xmas to you assholes
That's a bummer. Have you had problems with Shimano chains in the past? If so, get a Wipperman 908 or a KMC X9.
Slowman
Likes Dirt
Everywhere I go I hear about this guy snapping his chain 3 times, this is the 3rd time!
Ah well I bet I can beat you at lawn bowls! I am hoping to be fit enough to do the full fling next year and not come last again!
Mr Pants
skanky media ho
See I was right... eventually!Leaving the transition Joe calls over the PA that I’m in third, which was a great surprise.
... and on Tuesday I find out I actuallt came third too
Well done that man!And did the 650b setup rock your world?
DW-1
Dirt Works
I hate to be the one to ask... but...
what does a Scotsman wear under his kilt?
Elvis.
