Damien's blog

Brutal is all I can say.

The previous week I cruised around and did 4 laps in 2hrs 50mins with 32x19 and felt really good.

On Wednesday I decided to chuck 32x21 on the bike so I could really ride and enjoy the whole 8 1/4 hours of the race without any dramas.

Ok race day was here and I was up way before sparrows fart and on the road arrived nice and early and was setting up for the day at 5.30am and all organised by 6.00am with plenty of time to sit back and relax before the race.

I only did one lap but I feel like I raced all night after my first lap tumble oh well maybe next time I will get in more than one lap before smacking the ground.

Thanks Gav & V you guys took it pretty well.

John thanks for the wrist strap / support thingy I quite possibly may not of been able to finish the lap with out it.

Xrays came up clear no breaks no dislocations so will be back on the road bike on Thursday night and the mountain bike in a few weeks.

My 1 lap - 01:17:44

I had fun but am a little disappointed with a few things that went wrong to slow me down on the day.

The start was a little sluggish my legs felt like they were filled with cement and I just couldn’t get a good rhythm going after the 25km mark I started to get the bike moving and it started to feel like it had some flow and the race started to feel good I hit the 50k water station in 2hrs 48min filled up the camelback and continued on up the hill in good form with my legs and body finally warmed up.

Great weekend.

Finished 6th in age group (last still riding), 7th singlespeed (last still riding) and 38th overall from 57 finishers and 73 starters.

Its a good thing this race is only on once a year as it is a real battle just to keep riding and finish which this year I did.

What a great team effort by team Toasted despite the horrendous conditions you guys all kept a smile on your dial and soldiered on well done.

One lap more than round two but couldnt ride for the four hours I think the christmas pudding has made me soft.

Not a great day was feeling very flat for this race and had nothing in the legs not sure if it was hot but it felt bloody hot I pushed on for 3hrs and managed 7 laps running out of water (went through 3.5 litres) at transition was enough for me to finish the day so decided to pull the pin.

Scored a cheaky 3rd place out of 4 riders in SS solo category having only ridden for 75% of the race time but way down in the overall standings will have to do better at the next round.

A bit sore today but I am glad I signed up and did this one solo.

Having only ridden about 5 times since the Sott I wasn’t ready or able to go out very hard so my original plan was to just have a cruise around and a rest at half way and do a few more laps in the afternoon.

So I lined up right at the very back of the start pack and dawdled up the hill and into the back of multiple traffic jam’s on the first lap which really didn’t clear until about 3/4 of the way through the lap.

Fun fun fun ouch ouch ouch.

28 laps - 24:10:39
2nd place - Mixed 3 Musketeers.

Gavin 11 Laps
Damien 9 Laps
Vanina 8 Laps

What a great weekend thanks to Gavin and Vanina you guys are top teammates.

My preparation was not as consistent as it should of been and coming down with a fever and cold earlier in the week which hadn’t really cleared up by Saturday was going to make this a hard weekend and it was.

We had a very exciting race trading places between third and second and even down to fourth at one stage after a double flat in the middle of the night.

Wow and holy crap what a hard race.