Fatboy's blog

Having competed in 12 of the 13 runnings of this event since its inception in 2005 it is always a highlight for me. That first year was by far the toughest with 3 big climbs starting with Jacks Track then climb up 8 Mile Track (the descent the 68km riders do now) then the climb up Blue Hill (the descent the 100km riders do now).

I’m going to indulge in this write up because it turned out to be significant!

On the way home from the race Liz told me she had something pop up on Facebook saying today was exactly 12 months since my first ride after my big accident – I was off the bike for 95 days. Today was also my first podium result in a race.

So back up a few days, I was training ok and knew if I finished top 6 today I’d secure 3rd for the series with 1 round to go. Then I came down with a cold… The last 3 days I’ve struggled to get out of bed.

Last year was the first Convict I missed in its 11yr history due to injury so this year was my first attempt in the reverse direction – we did climb Jacks Track in the first year of the event but it was a different course then (harder!). I estimated this direction would be 20-25mins slower so my aim was sub 5:30.

The weather forecast was for 10-20mm rain so I added some weatherproofing to the bike and decided to carry more weight in the Camelbak rather than on the bike but when I arrived it was light rain and warm so I didn’t wear any of the wet gear I brought along.

This was my big comeback event following my crash back in March. I’ve been doing lots of base km over the last 2 months but no specific training yet so came to the event knowing I’m underdone but desperate to have a go.

I also built a new bike during the week and only tested it on the road over few short km.

We arrived half hour before the start, checked in then arrived at the event centre to be surprised at how few cars were parked compared to previous years. Another shrinking event? Not sure what’s happening to our sport but events are getting smaller.

It’s not often that I or anyone else here writes about a DNF but I have had plenty of time to reflect on mine at the Willo last weekend at Wingello and have learned some lessons I’ll bank away for the future that I thought I’d share.

It was freezing at the start. I accidently found myself on front row of the 2nd wave which didn’t last long… At 4km in I saw @doc with an SXC mate on the inside of an uphill corner looking all grazed and holding himself like he had a busted collar bone. I hope I’m wrong Dave! I stopped almost 1km later and relayed what I saw to a marshall.

The Fling is my favourite event of the year and was the reason I kept getting out of bed early each morning over Winter. 3 weeks ago, as I was building my last pyramid of training for this race those familiar razor blades in the throat hit me. Doh! My chest cleared a couple of days before the race so I decided to have a go despite my throat & sinuses feeling crap.

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.

I've come a long way since that first event where 7 of my weekend warrior mates entered with some sort of notion it would take 3-4hrs so off we went in our baggies and heavy huck bikes, me with about 4 gels and a muesli bar. That year the course was a lot more difficult. It was a clover leaf, each with a big climb. The first was Jacks Track - going up what we all know as our fast descent not far from the finish. We did Blue Hill and another similar climb not far from there. After the first loop most of our team gave up and left so 3 of us persisted finishing 9:51!

This event was an opportunity for us to leave the kids behind after spending 2 full weeks of school holidays with them and spend a weekend away with some friends. After entering the race we booked our Hunter Valley accommodation in the vineyards. On the way up on Friday I get a text from Gordo "mate, we are staying 2 hours from the event". WTF! A quick check of the event details and duh! James Estate is a loooong way from the wine region we are used to visiting...