stephen's blog

Having done this race for the last 4 years I felt I had a pretty good understanding of the course and for the first time I had a proper race strategy to counter all the mistakes I have made in the past.

Eating was the first and biggest issue I have, easy fixed I thought so I set the Garmin to let me know to eat every 20 minutes. A Gel every 20 worked well even though it's a little lean for my 95kg frame my energy levels didn't fluctuate.

Being 6'5, 95kg riding a SS I struggle with keeping myself cool, hydrated and fed in nearly all the races I do, it was nice to have no problems during this race with the cool weather. Both transitions I headed to the portaloo for a piddle which meant Hydration was fine with less than 3 bottles consumed, still a bit much fluid for the conditions but I'd rather over hydrate than suffer.

Had a great ride yesterday and did way better than I expected. Spent most of the first part riding with an ADF guy and eventually 1 other pulled in with us. Just before the Helipad Gavin and another bloke caught up and the 5 of us trained it till the end. I wen't out front on the last bit of bennetts and cooked, dropped off the pack by 20m and didn't get them back till the last decents as the pack was all over the shop on those last few turns.
It was good to meet up with so many people at the end that I have met over the last 12 months through BMORC, Dirty Tri's and other events.