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Husky.
I do like this race.
Last night it was raining. I was getting more and more nervous. I rode it last year, had mechanicals, cramped, bad day out, but still enjoyed it. I do remember that it was a really dry day / week preceeding, and yet it was muddy and wet.
This year, it was tipping it down the night before. To say I was apprehensive about the weather was an understatement.

Race day dawned, and it was not raining. I and Jenny set up our turbo trainers in the car park and did a good warm up anticipating a fast start.

Only did the 50 - but finished

As Fatboy said, it was a bit like Capital Punishment #1, without the rain and cold. Probably wouldn't have been too bad except for a reasonable amount of rain falling on Saturday night. The soft track / mud made a pretty flat course feel like it was uphill almost all the way. Even on the downhill fire trail bits the sticky brown clay made it feel like a skating rink in many places. Sniggle was generally sandy and not too bad, but you had to watch the wet roots and occasional puddle corners.

The only difference between last year's Capital Punishment and today's race was the sun was out and we didn't freeze our butts off. The track was horrendous!

I started in the second last group as I wanted to start slow then lift the pace as I still have my chest infection which doesn't affect me if I don't go too hard. The first 22km is mainly fire road but there weren't too many places you could ride side by side due to all of the puddles & erosion. I popped out where we cross the main road spot on the time I told Liz I'd be there. A quick "cubble" with my 2yo daughter and off I went.

My whole intention was just to have fun on this ride and I didnt go out that hard.

Starting out at the back of the pack i realized was a bit of a mistake after getting to the start of the singletrac on the red ring. Must have waited about 10-15 mins just to get riding free again but at least all the riders were in good spirts and passed the time talking with a few riders around us.

Got a problem with my lever on my Downhill Mountain bike.
First the lever for my front brake works fine so thats all good. But when using my back brake i have to pull on it harder to get the same effect? as soon as i have pulled it to a certain spot it works fine but it doesnt leave much room for my fingers?! is there a way i can make it so that i dont have to pull as far to brake? cause im being forced to use two fingers for the back brake due to the lack of space for my finger!
does that make any sense^ ? haha

First time I raced 50 k's. Hit the wall after 1 1/2 hrs, not enough liquid the day before I think. Got Husky 50 next week, gotta time to aim at now.
Good to catch up with other mountain men, all quicker too. Hopefully keep up with them soon

It was a great day out thanks to the weather and trail fairies. I can’t believe how well the trails were groomed! Perfect racing conditions.

I think I prefer the James Williamson course though… Two laps of the red loop and no wall.

Congrats to Fleming. I saw him attack about 3km in and he obviously never looked back. Not even Lewis and others could work together to bring him back. Awesome effort.

First 50km race so I wanted to get a feel for it. First mistake was starting too far back and not going fast enough in the opening circuit. On the second circuit I paid for being slack at the start and had at least a 5 minute wait at the start of the single track. I was happy to just follow the rider in front on the single track and not push it. Had one guy pass on the single track and then just stuck on his rear for a few k's expecting him to go faster. The third section was a pretty good effort bringing the last 19km home in an hour.

Went into this race not knowing what to expect as I had been suffering from a head cold during the week. Seemed to get better towards the end of the week so decided to do the race as I hadn't ridden much lately.
Ended up feeling OK and was able to push on in the second half of the race. Happy to finish with an average speed of around 20. The single track was perfectly groomed and as grippy as usual. More hills on the fire trails than I remember but when its only 50k its not that hard to push on as the climbs don't last that long.