A little better

The week leading up to the event wasn't ideal. I caught a cold off a friend the weekend before the race. It wasn't too severe so I went ahead with the 100. I wanted to get close to the 6hr mark but didn't quite get there in the end. Still it was better than last year so all good

Lozza and I lined up in the middle of the second wave of riders. We set off at a fairly fast pace down the road and drafted behind a few people. Eventually got to the Wright's Creek climb and we got straight off and started walking. This was hard work and I saw my HR up to 180bpm or around 90% at some stages during the push up! Got to the top and I rode along at a comfortable pace. Loz overtook me so I just rode by myself for the rest of the race.

Didn't stop at the 28km water point and turned up to the 50km stop in around 2hr 45min. I had a very quick stop here. I had a second bottle in my backpack which was already filled with sports drink powder. I filled that up and I was out of there in under 5 minutes. I had a chat to an AMB guy on a Remedy on the way up past the temple. Legs were getting slightly tired now. All the technical climbing didn't help. Stopped to stretch the quads out once. Eventually got to Shephard's Gully where I was unlucky enough to run into a big long train of riders stuck behind a slow rider. Not much I could do but slow down and follow.

Then onto the 70km bridge crossing. I saw Tien wading across so I thought I'd do a sneaky overtake on the bridge. The rider in front of me was about 1/3 of the way across when the marshall waved me on. All started well but then the guy in front started slowing down and weaving all over the bridge. This made it all very unstable and made me start to weave. As a result we both took a dive. As I emerged from the water I could instantly hear Tien laughing.....damn him The other thing that was annoying was that one of my quads cramped up as I hit the cold water.

Slowly down to the Womerah Range climb and I was feeling pretty out of energy now. Rode half and walked half of the big climb. The whole Womerah Range was no fun at all. Granny gear was used everywhere and when that failed I walked. Few more hints of cramps so I stopped a few times to stretch. I was really really tired now and you can see it on my HR graph. Finally got to the turn off for Jack's Track. I had done this track just two weeks prior so I knew exactly what was coming up. I pushed a little harder now......but not too hard as I knew it undulates for a while before getting to the steep downhill back down to the river. The final descent was crazy. I had a clear run with not a single rider in sight so I flew down hitting over 50kmh.........until I found the adhesion limit of the Maxxis Ardent front tyre. I was banking it hard into a corner and the front started to wash out. This was a serious heart in mouth moment at that speed. Fortunately it hooked up again and I took it a little bit slower to the end of Jack's track

Went as hard as my legs would go on the road. The little undulations now felt like hills. Got to the final creek crossing and walked across. When I tried to get back on the bike my calf cramped up. Had a minute standing there frozen trying to unlock the calf. Eventually got back on the bike for the final road stretch home. That last little hill on the road was just rude! Got up that and pedalled as hard as I could into town. Tien and Loz were there on the sidelines cheering me on. They had cracked the 6hr mark (well done guys!). Getting the tag off my ankle was a bit of a challenge. The legs started cramping up due to me getting off the bike. Hobbled over to get my beer and then finally sat down on the grass. What a relief!

Overall I was happy with the result. I paced myself a bit better than previous races where I totally blew up in the second half with debilitating cramps. I'll be back to give this 6hr mark a crack next year