Capital punishment 2015

This was my 3rd race in as many weeks with the Wylde 4hr and Husky 100km having been completed the the previous weeks. This meant I was either going to be on form or knackered.

On Friday afternoon I headed down to Canberra with Dave (doc), got to registration just after 4 then headed out to stromlo for a quick lap in the hope of spotting the shortcuts to use the next day. After that it was off to dinner to meet Michael and Brian and a long wait!

Saturday morning started early (3:55) thanks to some work sms messages. Up at 5, breakfast and get ready and head out to kowen with just enough time for a warm up.

I had put myself in start group 2 and found myself starting in the middle of the group. I decided to put some effort in to get close to the front before the ST, having achieved that it was all undone when the guy two bikes in front took a dive off the track which stalled the guy in front of me, I failed to unclip in time and wasted a good min getting back up and into the race. It wasn't long after this that I came across Dave sitting on the side of the track with Michael on the phone trying to get some medical assistance. I stopped for a few mins to see how Dave was and if there was anything I could do. Dave was keen for me to carry on and Michael was going to stay with him. I figured I'd see if I could find a marshal to make sure help was on its way. A few k's later I found one and they had help on the way. Once I knew that was sorted I decided to crack on but I was on my own for a while until a couple of the lead guys from group 3 came along. We raced along for a bit having the occasional chat and bit of banter as I was in the middle of two brothers.

Just after the 40km mark I missed an arrow into the ST and found myself enjoying a fire trail climb, all the while I was looking at the ground thinking I don't see any tyre marks. I eventually got to the top with a nice view and observation tower and decided this was completely wrong. I turned around and rolled down the hill where I eventually spotted the marker. After this I just wanted to get to the 65km untimed section and have some real food as opposed to gels. Once there I stopped for a few mins had some food and filled up my bottles. I headed off into the timed section hoping there would be a group to ride with but as I got there a few people just seemed to be hanging around so I decided to ride on. It was a fairly lonely ride as it had been for most of the day, I caught and passed one guy and then on the cycle path to stromlo I was caught and passed by someone else. Last year I struggled up stromlo and I was determined this year would be different. It wasn't till I was almost at the top when I could feel cramp starting to come on in my left leg but I carried on and was trying my best to manage it as I started the decent, I didn't want it to get in the way of the enjoyment of the decent. Home and over the line, the end result 2 mins slower than last year but I easily lost 10mins on my little detour so I'm happy with what could have been. Strava tells me I was 4 mins quicker up stromlo depending on which segment you look at so that is a good sign.

It's a shame that was the last Cap Pun as I really enjoyed it but there is no shortage of events out there now. Next up is the willo but I'm only doing the 50km so I can just go all out from the start.