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Was really hoping for better after last year's DNF... and was pleasantly surprised... in a cheeky sort of way

Unfortunately I've had almost two months off the bike earlier in the year (even though I actually said it was only one previously) and done basically no exercise in that time. Looking at my logs beginning of July was when I got back on the dirt which gave me a rather worrying two to get that fitness back.

took an unavoidable week off from snapping piccies and riding the bike
as the Bathurst Jog is only on once a year
and it's my bro's birthday month

so my recently active bike muscles went for an 8km 1hour stroll
and they damn well hurt like the billio still on Tues morning.
stupid jogging muscles
argh, not coping, need something, hnnnm rumm, stress pills, sleep, recovery time, a ride down Andersons

we'll start with rum and work our way up.

Guys,
HELP,
In the early hours of Tuesday 15th September morning my Specialized XC was stolen from my residence. The frame is black, and is medium size. To say the least i'm guttered, but if you see or hear anything with regards to my pride & joy please email [email protected] or on 0402016716.

My riding days are on hold.

Ben

The sun was not even up yet that the temperature was already around 20, we had breakfast with the amazing CBD crew and drove to the start which was 11km away. I felt not too bad, my legs were fine, I slept well, I had a beautiful dinner cooked by Damo the food magician the day prior so all was going good for me. I knew that this race will be a hard one, I never ridden the course and some really strong girls would be racing. I had a crazy goal of finishing the course under 6hr which I thought was hard but a manageable goal.

That was the one line from the rider briefing that kept going over and over and over in my head the whole way round... and it was true.

Registration
Was spun out and amazed I was allocated the same race number as my only other 100 (Dirtworks). I thought this was a good sign of things to come.

0-50km

"What the hell am I doing this for again?"

It all came back to me after 20 kays in... "Hang on, this is bloody terrible". There are plenty of excuses I could use for the way I was feeling, getting a flat, screwing up my food royally, running out of water, getting a virus the week before.. the bottom line is this is a mother of an event. I had just forgotten.

It was good to finally get out to Manly dam I was amazed at how many ppl were out there , will be trying to get back there soon to finish off the 2nd lap . Hope your knee gets better Craig so we might get another ride in soon , shame you can't make it next weekend , thanks for the company today & I will keep working on my hills

Was a great ride as the first mtb ride back for years! Great track and I can't believe how many people were on that track! I guess I was spoilt for choice last time I rode off-road - there was always only our group on any the tracks! Anyone say "small town"?

I goofed and managed to drop my bike top-bar onto my knee when I came off on the 2nd lap, so that put a stop to the trip. Since it's all just bruised and stiff, I'll be back out in a week or so rearing to go again.

It's GREAT to be back.

Thanks to Russ for the ride company and to Cam and Doug for showing us the track.

that was a lot more than expected.

I figured it might be long, it wasn't as long as thought, but plenty long enough.

9am to 5pm is a long day in the saddle.
28kms, two descents, two ascents.

Up Lockyers when you wanted to be up Lawsons was a tad bumma.
But down Lawsons was fun and it eased the hurt.

Sniggling a trail along Lockyers and being too close to see the trail made me go wide on a rock which put me in the loose stuff on the next corner which had me face down in the trail going hmmm.

Before the ride I made a last minute seat swap, stole the Fizik Gobi from my mountain bike and put it on my roadie. Pretty soon I think I'll have one on all my bikes, made the ride really comfortable.

I set off from home at 5:30am, my main aims were to average over 25km/h and keep my average heart rate below 170. I'm not sure how accurate the heart rate monitor is, it says my maximum heart rate was 237 bpm