Well - firstly I must apologise for not posting this up sooner but I was so emotionally overcome by the ride on Sunday that I have only just stopped shaking and been able to put my thoughts into some sort of coherence.

Its been two years since my only Capital Punishment race so was happy to go back down to Canberra for another go.

What he said:
http://nobmob.com/node/41092

2 years off, did some training, still fat but managed to finish!

Awesome.

It went painfully like this:

The Capital Punishment is not one of my favourite races. Maybe it was the first years mud fest, or a combination of timed / untimed sections, or the logistical challenges involved with the event.

I had found myself entering this race again this year as it is important race as the first race in the XCM series. But with the XCM series being cancelled / put on hold this year I was lacking motivation for the event. Though after a good result last week at the Willo, I wanted to backup again and get some more race practice before the Marathon Champs next month.

The last race I did was way back in 2011. My friend Loz and I hadn't ridden much since so entering the Capital Punishment was an attempt at getting myself motivated to ride and train a bit more.

This was my first race where I got to the start and had bike issues. The bike was fine Friday morning but the morning of the race I had no back brake. I tried pumping it but nothing, decided to throw a new set of pads to see if it would help just a little and nothing. Kept pumping the lever and bang, it improved. There must be a bubble somewhere but for the rest of the race it was fine

Here's a short summary of my first Capital Punishment 100.

Friday:
Drove down from Sydney and stopped by Kowen to do a quick lap.
Got a little lost there, ended up going round in circles but finally found a way back to the carpark, thanks to my Garmin 800.
They've changed the signs around that screwed with my bad sense of direction. I knew that the trails were going to be dry so I let some air go on the tyres to give some myself better grip.

Race Day:
I arrived at the start venue at about 6.45am and got the bike and myself ready for the race.

BACKGROUND

After doing well above my expectations in Convict 100 (My first MTB marathon) last year, I decided to sign up for CP and C100 this year hoping to match or better my time.

No dramas there.

Several weeks later, I mentioned to my friend Tanian, a very promising all round MTBer in his early high school years who had given it up over the recent past in trade it for rugby, and without warning, he announced he would sign up with me; Canberra was a good halfway point from his university in Wagga Wagga.

Lined up in the first start wave at 6:50am, with about 65 other riders... sun wasn't up yet, and with plenty of nervous anticipation and high expectations for the new course, waited for the start. Off we went, with a bit of flat fire trail leading straight into a couple of small climbs. With plenty of dust flying around and a bit of fog about, I had very limited visibility through my dark-tinted glasses. Lesson learned - wear clear lenses next time!

Pleasant temps and a bit of misty drizzle for the start. Organisation at the new start was pretty good, with rider briefings in the car park followed by a short ride down to the start line. The initial fire trail hills in the Arboretum were a bit of a slog and left my legs feeling a bit dead. Should have warmed up properly eh?