Stevens Husky 100

First attempt at a post race write up despite being on here for a while now and ridden a few enduro events, so far in 2012 the Convict and the Willo. This was my first go at the Husky (and possibly the last if this was a dry! year).
I was in two minds about entering this event but I saw a ticket become available and given the relative lack of rain the region had been subject to I thought I'd throw my hat in the ring, so ticket bought and tent booked. This was also probably my only chance of reaching three 2012 XCM events as I plan to ride the Fling.
All started off well as I met with Brian, Wayne and Gary for dinner on the Friday night and was kindly offered their sofa rather than the discomfort of the camp site. This felt like a big bonus as the thought of camping out didn't fill me with joy, so thanks guys it was much appreciated.
Saturday rolled around and we were out of the cabin for a short warm up prior to the race start. The plan was to set off in the first wave and go from there, both Wayne and Brian were thinking the same. So the gun went and there was the usual jostle for places, heart rate spiking as the body was shocked into action. The first few km's were relatively uneventful, turning off the golf course there was a bit of congestion but everyone seemed pretty courteous squeezing through the gap. Onto the trails knowing that Wayne was ahead and Brian likley to be a wheel or two behind. Reached the first bog and rode through, then came across Wayne who looked as though he'd had lie down already, he had and seemed to be struggling with the cold of the mud and getting warm again. I offered him my wheel and carried on up the hill - aware that my heart rate was higher than I would have liked. I rode on trying to settle into a rhythm and get the heart rate back to a manageable level, riding on and not following a wheel you need to be aware of the trail ahead howevr I missed one of the right turn signs, this meant that a group of 7-8 riders went through me, including Brian and Wayne and I tagged on the back. Steadily climbing again this was the point the chain suck started, I shifted gear a few times trying to find one that worked, the only position that did seemed to be in the big ring, not a great position as I'm more of a spinner than a grinder.
Aware that I'd lost the Wayne/Brian group and a few other riders that had passed I settled down again and focused on riding in the big ring. By the time I'd reached the power line climb at the KOM I could see riders strung out in the distance and set a goal of picking them off to try and focus. I rode on, not really enjoying the mud or the trail, trying to mitigate chain suck by walking pretty much every puddle or water hole.
Before the feed station i caught Brian and we chatted about mechanical issues and what not, I stopped briefly for a banana and some water and moved on. Shortly after I was aware of a lady shouting to me to 'mind the tree', I acknowledged this and rode on keeping an eye out, spotted a tree thinking this is what she meant then 'smack' pain in my left shin and my foot had been ejected from the cleat, ouch! Obviously she meant the invisible tree on the left! I rode on trying to ignore the pain wondering how much damage I'd done, a fairly big lump started to form but not a lot of blood so didn't think to stop.
Shortly after I rode up to Wayne on a series of switchbacks, at this point my only goal was to stay with him as long as I could manage, not long it turned out and he rode away from me quite quickly. Up until the 10km to go point was a bit of a blur, i was aware I stopped for a gel and then stopped again for more water, the marker however did turn out to be a bit of motivation and I tried to pick up the pace a bit. Seeing the golf course I was pretty relieved that there wan't far to go and a fairly lame sprint to the line ensued.
Stopping the clock at 5:13 I was pretty despondent initially. A bit of food and something to drink perked me up a bit and a look at the results lightened my mood further. In hindsight I've looked back and think that the slipperiness of the trail had me on edge for most of the ride, always thinking that I would be going over, I also think that I did't drink as much as I would normally as I wasn't comforatable taking my hands off the bars for fear of slipping out. In summary then, not happy with the ride, BUT happy with the result. Congratulations to Wayne, Brian and Gary on their times and the other nobmobbers. Will I be back to Callala? Unlikely at the moment but 12 months is a long time....