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Decided to do the 50km option to limit pre event training and to go out and have a bit of fun.

The game plan was to stick with the front runners for as long as I could, then settle into something more manageable. It was after the first bit of new single track where I found two guys who were riding well and more to my pace and so stuck with them, for the time being. Punched out the first lap in 1h02 which had me just inside top ten, but only a couple of minutes behind the leaders. With a quick bottle change I was off for the final 25km.

First up, what a fitting event for the memory of 'Willo'. Back when I was getting into mtb, his editorials and race stories in Enduro mag, and others before that were really inspiring, particularly considering his humble approach and writing style. A great guy who deserves to be remembered for all the right reasons. Now, onto the race....

So the first marathon of the 2011 season, the Friday before the race my apprehension grew as to whether I had done enough training to be competitive and with Capital Punishment literally 6 days away it was going to be a good test to work out where my fitness was.

A few extra's turned up this afternoon, which was good. 5 of us set out with a nice run through the sniggle. A quick chat with the Vicar of WInmalee, then down the Grotto for some brake burning action. A nice flowy run through the swamp, then the challenge. Up Bee's Nest. Jason makes it look easy, but noone else cleared it in one hit. A quick breather at the top, on to the lookout for another breather, then an easy cruise back along S/wood ridge. Another run through the sniggle, then it was all over. Beat the storm by about 10 minutes.
Nice way to finish the week. Thanks guys.
Ian

Another race coming up ! Bike Buller.. will pack more guus

A better race result for me, given that I crashed badly last time. CCOMTB had slightly different course this time round for Round 2, big crash at the start as Dylan mentioned and then a hold up at the first rock step up meant we were walking, lost some time on that unfortunatly and then cause I had not pre ridden the course I didnt know exactly where I was going.

I felt pretty good on the climbs, however I know my technical skills are letting me down some what, so I need to improve on them.

Round 2. They made us do the red loop today adding 6km from last round and including Camelback Climb.

I started mid pack and didn't smash myself at the start this time. I was happy just sitting back as it felt like we were doing a decent pace without totally smashing myself which I find is a very fine line for me. I averaged 175bpm for the whole race which is 89% of my max HR.

I can't remember being passed this round which was good. It will be interesting where I came and how many riders there were as it looked like a decent turn out (108 riders)

Position after Lap 1 - 17

Well, what an event, what a turnout! The quality of the steeds presented certainly made up for the lack of quantity. These old machines had already paid their dues in spades on the trails but that didn't stop us brave, but more likely stupid riders asking them for one last chance to relive the glory days of mountain biking.

Now that has to be one of my most fun days out on a bike, With all of the talk of hills and rain/weather leading up to the race I really had no idea what to expect.

In the end I stopped worrying about what the conditions were going to be like and just decided to ride my bike in its current setup. Single speed and geax saguaro on the front and Racing Ralph out the back.

Wow how much mud was there and not just any old household variety it was the anti gravity stick to anything sort.

Headed down with Gav on Thursday night picked up a frame in Melburne on Friday morning arrived in Forest early afternoon built a bike in a couple of hours rode to event central to test bike build registered rode back a few tweeks to the bike had dinner went to bed up bloody early hoped on a bus for an hour or so trip to Apollo Bay had a cup of tea and started the race.