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Found this pretty hard this year, which seems to be not an uncommon experience. The changes to the first stage didn't add anything to the race except for lots of ups and downs and sandy fire road corners. Changes to the final stage added a bit of interest with the new sections leading down to the creek crossing, but I found it hard to enjoy the rocky single track towards the end after struggling through Roller Coaster and up Brokeback Mountain. Be nice to have it closer to the start if they could find some way to do that without turning it into a conga line of walkers.....

Gee whiskers! That was hard. I've done heaps of endurance events (mostly running) and that was one of the worst I've felt after a race! but I digress...

Woke up nice and early (3:30) to drive down to the race. Unlike a weekday though when I have to go to work I pretty much lept out of bed, excited for the day ahead.
Driving down and arriving in Bundanoon I could see conditions were perfect but I knew it was going to be reasonably warm later on too. Registered and drove to the start - can anyone explain why they don't just do rego at the start??

IT DON'T MEAN A THING...
... if I ain't got that Fling (finished)

It's Sunday night. My wheel will need replacing. I have a massive bruise on my knee, and I'm physically and mentally exhausted, and finished far further down than I'd hoped. But hopefully I can make up for that with a really good write up of what led to all this.

Last month, I was lucky enough to take a few friends on a trip to the the Flinders Ranges in SA. A mate and I took our mtb's and rode most of the Flinders Ranges By Bike (FRBB) loop. Here's how it went....

Registration

After convincing the better half that a road trip to Orange was a good idea I entered the Choccie Foot 7hr as a solo rider. I had a pretty decent training the weeks before the race including riding the Canberra Centenary Trail.

The race started up a nice fire trail hill but I just settled in at the back and cruised up. There was no congestion to speak of and everyone was really good at passing and being passed. Good vibes all round!

It was a bit of a late decision to enter as I was speaking with @dicko and mentioned I have been riding heaps but have done bugger all racing this year and he mentioned how damn good the track is at Orange. I entered the 4hr solo then checked interest levels of the family. Liz was keen, Qualia was keen but Lach gave me the "dad I'd love to come but my cold isn't too good..." speech. Oh well, 3 out of 4 is good so on Friday I did a quick search of accomm and found Turners Vineyard met our needs.

As promised, I thought I'd link up my blog for those outdoor fans to show what I do off the bike (and how I get motivated to attempt the challenge of a 24H MTB race), this time of the Australasian Rogaining Championships in Castlemaine, VIC, last weekend, and what it was and why I recommend it for those adventure fans out there:

A SPUR OF THE MOMENT DECISION

I have been meaning to get out and do some bike packing for a number of years, I even went as far as seeking appropriate approvals/justifying and buying a Salsa Fargo, bike bags, light weight camping stuff and a small hiking tent.. that has spent the last couple of years gathering dust and taking up valuable N+1 space.

What's this?!?!? A post not about MTB!?!? Am I spamming the site?

I hope not. I hope to give some insight on something else I get up to and share my passion for it with others who love outdoor adventure sports and show how it complements my cycling.

I have entered the Australasian Rogaining Championships which are set to take place in Castlemaine on Oct 11-12, despite my heavy workload and wanting to focus on my cycling for the Highland Fling.

Some dark moments intertwined with some fun. A tale of two halfs where the second was a struggle. Followed another rider up a hill that turned out to be a wrong turn early on the second loop, that cost a few minutes. Need to work on eating and drinking whilst on ST as I didn't consume enough. Glad to have completed it, maybe next time I'll do the 50km....

Well done to all on riding what was a tough course.