Blogs

On the back of a decent Capital Punishment result this year I was hopeful of a sub 3hr finish. I started in wave 4 towards the front and made progress through the traffic until my seat clamp failed leaving me with no choice but to jump off and fix it whilst loads of riders I'd worked hard to pass went by.

This would happen a total of 3 times and by such time I knew a sub 3hr was out the window. I also knew the energy I'd spent making ground up would cost me. Sure enough, the last 15km were hard with the last 7km really hard.

I haven't spent much time on the mtb in the last six months but thought I'd give this one a go. I had to take 4 panadeine (not all at once) the morning before the race as I wasn't feeling well but still lined up.

Once the kow bell went and we were off up the first hill and into the single track. I was going okay but my body wasn't happy so 10km in I made the decision to just ride the 50.

Once I backed off it actually became quite enjoyable. I ended up riding a lot of it with Michelle Ainsworth who won the 50 overall which was good.

Great tracks to ride no matter how slow you are on the climbs!

Well after 6 months of sitting on the sidelines due to a DVT and hitting a tree I was super eager to race again. I had my eye on this race for months out and was really excited to head down to Kowen/Sparrow and sample the delights on offer. And I had my fill and then some!

Started in wave 3c. Now I have to say that the congestion was ridiculous. I think I was in a conga line till 30km at least. I didn't let it bother me though and just enjoyed the endless flowing ribbon of singletrack. Some people around me were getting really up tight though.

Well that hurt.
We started with the best of intentions. 12 mates, weekend warriors, commuters and wannabe action heros. All hairy legged and well under prepared for the race. Sorry, I mean ride. The only way to convince the boys to step up, was to set the rules. We ride as a social group, at the slowest persons pace. But even that scared off 4 fellas before the start line arrived. So then there were 8.
As I said, we had the best of intentions, start as a group, cruise as a group, help each other through the difficulties and finish as a group. Simple. Well no. Not really.

As the title says, one of the hardest races I've done, probably second only to the 100 mile Fling. Bloody good fun though! Once I've forgotten the pain I'll be signing up for next year.
Missed the podium by 57 seconds!

A few days before the race I find out my race wheels have a cracked hub, meaning I was riding the race with wheels and tyres set up for goofing around in the bush. I also only recently picked up a Specialized epic and am still dialing it in.

The result was the bike was a pig to ride and I don't think I will every get used to the grip shift and 2 x 10 chainring.

Awesome race lots of single track and fun.
Started on wave 3c bad choice I think, in the first climb a lot of riders passing me but as soon as we entered to the single track I started to gain some places back. No mechanicals or any issue at all, I saw a couple of crashes but nothing serious, I managed to hit a tree due to the rider in front of me breaking too much. Last hill was a killer but ride it all the way up with my single ring 32 and 36 at the back.
Let's see next year if I can get a better time.

Wow. What an awesome day.

The Kowalski Classic was pencilled into my calendar very early on this year after sampling the lovely trails of kowen/sparrow hill last year. It didn't disappoint! Soundtrack for the morning was the new Slash album 'World on fire' which was turned up to eleven on the Kings hwy as a convoy of bike laden cars made their way to the event centre. Had a quick chat with @dicko in the carpark - nice to meet you mate.

Having raced the full Kowalski last year and barely made it in 6hours. I thought I'll take it easy this year and do the half. I haven't really train/ride enough this year to be in a condition to do the full. So a few weeks before the race I did some last minute training, the rain we've had the past few weeks didn't help in motivating me to ride, plus my training trail manly dam was closed for almost a month. So the past week I was riding up and down the pipeline, and mixing it up with a bit of road riding.

Now for the race itself, the 50KM track was great!!