Blogs

First entered Dirtworks 100 in 2008. started to cramp up before 28klm water stop pushed on in pain made the cutoff time at the bridge ( road the bridge first try) then halfway up the hill to the last water stop (78klm) had to pull out the saftey bikes had allready left.

Entered again in 2009. only to go thru the front window of a BMW of all cars ($4,ooo damage to BMW lots off soft tisue damage to me ) While out on a training ride 2 weeks before the race. not enough time to recover, mate thinks I am jinxed.

Well I finally got away on holidays! It took a few days to unwind and get into holiday mode but once I did it was nice and relaxing with some fun riding.
Unfortunately the weather before and at the start was not the best, resulting in some very wet tracks and severely limiting my riding options

The plan was to head up the coast from Sydney, stopping at selected riding spots along the way, making my way as far as about Coffs Harbour.

fantastic day at awaba, our race ran like clockwork from start to finish ,enjoyed meeting some nob mobers and others,
overall a great weekend

Had a fair start to the race and the hills were a welcome opportunity to get the blood thawed out and flowing. Unfortunately when it can time for the fast stuff I had lost the lead group of riders in my category and so had to ride on my lonesome for the final 15k. Then had a stack 1 k from the finish line. Overall a couple of mins slower than last year. I know I know keeping my bike upright might help. Other than that had a great time. It's good to do a different kind of race with a more casual feel to it.

Knocked 3 mins off last years time!

A bit disappointed with my time this year. I felt I went way harder and rode a lot faster than last year yet I was 3 minutes slower.
I hear the 'dead track' may have had something to do with it.

Was hard work riding without glasses. I had to squint 80% of the time to avoid a million pieces of firetrail entering my eyes. That in turn mad it hard to see the contours in the track in some places. I think that probably slowed me down a bit on the high speed decents which would've contributed to my time.

All in all though I had fun (apart from the FREEZING start) and that's the main thing.

Did a lazy lap around Manly Dam very late this arvo.

The good news is the bike commuting to Sydney Olympic Park from the Northern Beaches is starting to pay off well with fitness gains.
The climb up Hart Break Hill, while still a test, didn't max out the ticker. Now I'm looking for speed and power gains.

What a blast that was (soooo much more fun than the mud fest in Canberra). The weather was perfect with the sun gently piercing a deep blue sky and the early temperatures not warranting a full arm and leg covering. With all the rain over the past few weeks my training was limited to a few commutes to the city while dodging the showers (and the taxi's). Perhaps that's why the sunshine made the day all that better. With 4x weet-bix and half a cup of optimizer for breakie I trundled towards the start line.

Twas a lovely day for a ride in the forest, the skies were clear, the temperature was perfect, and it was dry. The track was fairly easy, as i remember that bush, and i took off in the right bunch for my skill level.Some people were selectively deaf when i'd yell track...! and some were not able to say track before passing, namely the lycra clad serious lookin dudes,i nearly got knocked off my bike twice, and the track was wide enough for three wide.

Stayed with the in-laws in Kiama the night before and left a bit late to get to the start on time. Was still getting dressed during the rider briefing and got to the briefing area just as a group went down to the start line so did my warmup in the 100 meters across the car park to the start line.