D-on's blog

I was fully pumped, had trained hard and was ready to smash out an angry 100km's for the Alpine Assault ... back on Dec 12th. So when the race was rescheduled for Jan 16th I thought I'd just pick up where I left off. As it turns out I had plenty of time to ponder a great deal of 'What if ... ' scenarios as I plodded along the 100km of steep, rocky alpine trail. What if I hadn't drunk so much fine wine and icy cold beer over the Xmas Xtravaganza ? What if I had got out of bed a few more times to train instead of sleeping in ?

Never ridden Awaba before and will definately be going back there. What a sweet sweet piece of track and a great venue for a long day of racing. This was my first solo event and I was a tad nervous as I clicked in and made my way down the fire road to the start of the single track. I started near the back of the pack and was happy to cruise the first lap following a long train of riders. No need to panic ... I've got 8 more hours of this ! I couldn't wipe the smile off my face as I made my way around the track.

That was tough. Perhaps it was the hills. Perhaps it was the heat. Or perhaps I was just simply unprepared. Regardless, it sure felt good to roll over the finish line ! After making my way through a herd of riders at the start I was able to settle into a nice pace and was feeling good at the first transition. Grabbed a couple of bananas, topped up the water and headed back onto the course only to wait for a rather large freight train to make it's way south. Into the forest at Wingello I got caught behind a line of riders and thankfully had an excuse to ride at a more enjoyable pace.

What a blast that was (soooo much more fun than the mud fest in Canberra). The weather was perfect with the sun gently piercing a deep blue sky and the early temperatures not warranting a full arm and leg covering. With all the rain over the past few weeks my training was limited to a few commutes to the city while dodging the showers (and the taxi's). Perhaps that's why the sunshine made the day all that better. With 4x weet-bix and half a cup of optimizer for breakie I trundled towards the start line.

Tough day on the bike last Saturday. My first 100 km race. The sickos who designed the course were sadists. Clearly they were 'hard core' lads who didn't share the same diet and exercise plan as me. I don't think they even knew what the phrase 'soft ripe brie' means. Perhaps I should have taken more note of the race name - The Alpine Assault. (I guess the word 'Alpine' should have been a giveaway for the geographic profile of the area). You were either climbing or descending. Make that grinding up or flat out down. And that was really the order of the day.