WEMBO - 2013 World Solo 24Hr Championships Canberra

cleeshoy

Eats Squid
Interesting, Kelly Magelky announced on his blog has pulled out of the WEMBO race. The elite field is one man smaller now.
 

cleeshoy

Eats Squid
wonder if the Ukranian girl ended up getting some support? I am guessing anyone volunteering would have been male :)
 

caad9

Likes Bikes and Dirt
23-29

I know there is a few Victorians up and racing, but show your support for Bret Murray aka 'the hunter'.
Keeping it real in 4th around 10 hours in.

Ps. English is amazing, as is Brett Bellchambers!
 

tex72

Likes Dirt
wonder if the Ukranian girl ended up getting some support? I am guessing anyone volunteering would have been male :)
Must be doing ok, looks to be running 6th at the moment.

Looks like a slugfest for the lead in the women's elite. Only 1 sec. in it after 12 laps.:rockon:
 

Stevob

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Ah nice one Stevo, was looking for updates ! Got em !
Cheers Ozzy!

A couple of updates. Jeebus still in first SS a lap and a half in front of a mate of mine Geoff Kelly in second, who is about 30mins ahead of third place. Brett Murray is in 3rd in 23-29 (we train mtb in the same park - tough area). Jason English is still leading overall by about 35 mins, and Jess Douglas is leading Eliza Kwan by approx 15-20 mins.

I've never done a 24hr solo, but I've done a couple in teams and can I just say that I'm jealous of these guys just having ridden through dawn, the most magical and uplifting time to be on a mountain bike.
 

telemike4

Likes Bikes
Great Race

That was a great race CORC and WEMBO. Well done. Thanks to the midnight singers atop the hill (hopefuly ASADA didn't come up and test you), the lady in the yellow bikini (wasn't quite sure in this day and age what to say, but there should be more of that), the bongo drummer and other supporters. A big medal to somebody's parents who stayed awake all night atop the mountain - they must sure be fond of you.
 

guyc

Squid
That was a great race CORC and WEMBO. Well done. Thanks to the midnight singers atop the hill (hopefuly ASADA didn't come up and test you), the lady in the yellow bikini (wasn't quite sure in this day and age what to say, but there should be more of that), the bongo drummer and other supporters. A big medal to somebody's parents who stayed awake all night atop the mountain - they must sure be fond of you.
100% agreed. Had the same thoughts about those hardcore parents (they would have been freezing) and the bikini lady!
 

jmcavoy

Likes Dirt
100% agreed. Had the same thoughts about those hardcore parents (they would have been freezing) and the bikini lady!
My mum was one if the two mum's at the top of the mountain for the whole race, she did it in 2010 too, that year she sat on a log up there, fairly keen for a lady of her age (sorry mum ;)), at least she bought a chair this time.
I think insanity runs in my family ;)

And +1 for bikini girl, that was awesome.
 

Art Vanderlay

Hourly daily
What a great event. As others have mentioned, the support out on the track at odd hours was great! Plus the fellas blowing the horns. Could hear them pretty much through a whole lap.
Did anyone else have their rock n roll lube go solid through the cold night? Luckily I had some other lube I could use! Also, didn't see one snake despite the warnings.
 

Australia

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Hi everyone,

I thought I'd take to the forum to jot down some post race feelings and general musings about life.

As some of the NSW Endurance racing crew may have noticed I fell off the face of the earth for a while. Actually, until this weekend, I hadn't done an endurance race since this one: a little jaunt in Italy

Unfortunately, I've been a pretty sick little boy for much of the past 17 months - I had recurrent tonsillitis that left me so buggered I was puffed after walking up stairs - no amount of anitbiotics fixed it. About 5 months ago, I was told by a surgeon that I may as well go home and throw my bike in the bin, because I'd never ride again. She fefused surgical removal because there was a very good chance I'd bleed out on the operating table [but removing tonsils is a simple operation you say - unfortunately I had endocarditis leading to a mechanical aeortic valve replacement and life long warfarin therapy in 2007 {i.e. open heart surgery and blood thinners}: i.e. I don't stop bleeding, so slicing out my tonsils - one of the most bleed prone things in the body is something akin to Russian roulette]

Fortunately, I found a surgeon who took pity on me and believed me when I said whats the point in living if you can't race a bike with your mates, so we took the chance and had the operation. I wound up spending 16 days in hospital (fortunately during the tour de france). I survived (yay).

Finally, on 28 July 2013 I did my first bike ride since some time in Feb (I rode around the block a few times). Doing a 24 hour race on two and a half months of preparation (exactly 93 hours of riding prior to race day - not exactly the mega hours one needs to be competitive) was a pretty dicy proposition - I wasn't convinced I'd be able to finish. In case you were wondering how long you can hold a decent pace for in a 24 hour race on just 2 and a half months training; I can tell you, it lasts exactly 20.5 hours... then you go POP! in a big way. Much to my surprise I was able to hold 3rd place in the Mens 23-29 all through the night until about 9:30am, when i wasn't able to match the rest of the leading groups jacking up of the pace. The last two laps were pretty miserable, but I was relieved just to be back on a bike and pedaling. I was sad not to sneak my way onto a podium on home soil (so close!) - but can't complain about coming 4th in my age cat at 24hr worlds in my first ride longer than 5 hours since 20 May last year (literally).

This ride was made bearable by the fact I knew that I was sharing the track with about 241 of the kindest, most encouraging and most inspiring people on the face of the planet. Thank you to the 24hr community for inspiring to regain my health once again. Thanks to Russ, Sarah and Co for giving us somewhere to race it!

I'd love to give a quick shout out to Macquarie University that supports me in this crazy endeavor of mine. I couldn't balance law and bikes without their understanding. A shout out to the constant support of my parents. My girlfriend (who spent our 1st anniversary in the pit area - yep 12 october) and best mate Carl who also formed part of the pit crew.

I guess this is technically a sponsor plug: University admissions period is fast approaching - if any of the U23s/23-29s want to put a sport based application in (to hedge against missing UAI/ATAR cut offs) I can put a good word in at MQU for you

Finally (and on a more humorous note) I was devo that I didn't get the chance to meet my successor to the U23 title Jake Whitton. I can offer you precisely zero advice about honoring the jersey during races because I didn't do any (hopefully life risking surgery and setting a distance in 24 hours PB as part of the come back suffice to satisfy the cycling gods) But, I hope you have plenty of fun abusing your new found pick up line :p Have your wingmen casually mention it at every opportunity and apply jokes about how you can 'ride all night' liberally :p (P.S. Results may vary)

See you all at Solo Nats next year! (and hopefully before, I've just chalked up 3 months since my last infection so am pretty stoked about life and hope to actually make it to the odd race in between :p)

-Andrew Clark #336
-that super large social networking site starting with f and ending with acebook .com/sasamat
 

nescius

Squid
My partner raced in the Elite Female category, it was her first solo 24 and after leading for something like 10 hours she managed to pick up 3rd place, she has penned a few words about her experience here.
 
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