Woo hoo - no technical problems

After little training and illness I wasn't sure what to expect. The day seemed pretty warm when Chitts and I lined up for the start and I wasnt feeling 100% so I thought that the best strategy was to try to keep my heart rate at around 160bpm which I know seems to be about the right level for a race situation.

For the first hour my heart rate was hovering at around 170 but everyone was passing me so I thought that this cant be a good sign so I backed off and tried to relax. Pretty uneventful until the singletrack in Wingello when a passing rider flicked up a large stick into my face at high speed - nose started bleeding but I kept on. Felt pretty good when I hit the road back into Wingello and for the first 5kms after Wingello then started to feel ordinary and thought I was going to throw up a few times even though I wasnt going hard. Started counting down the kms to the end - just trying to hang on until the end.

Finished 6.15 total time or 6.10 net. Average heart rate was 163 and a crazy 6,998 calories burnt according to the Garmin:

I think I found this harder than this years Angry Doctor, but at the end of the day was pretty happy with the result - especially now that I am in the "Masters" category this year so a top 30 spot makes me feel pretty good. Also great not to have tyre problems given last year's Fling http://nobmob.com/node/6848

Thought that the Penrose part of the course was pretty ordinary this year - no Yachtclub, not much singletrack, badly signposted causing leaders to take wrong turn. Wingello was great except for "the Kick" section which I always hate.