Scott 24 2010

My brother qualified for the solo worlds in February and suggested we enter a team in the Scott to keep us busy while supporting him in the pits. By the time the entries opened there were a few people putting up their hand to come down so we entered a mixed team of 6.
First time at Stromlo for me, most of the other team except Cathy, my wife had done past Scotts or been there before so we settled on me doing the opening lap.
Enjoyed the mass start and didn't have any trouble finding the bike. When I got back the feedback was unanimous that my run was good, I guess that's better than sucking at both riding and running. Don't remember much of the first lap, when the track was clear spent most of the time in the middle ring and bumped the guy in front about as many times as the guy behind hit me when it wasn't, gotta love those single track traffic jams. I had used my old commuting shoes as they are flexible and much easier to run in. Guess the wear in the 12 year old spd fittings on the shoes was enough to mean they kept pulling out of the clips. Made for some interesting moments as I was never sure if they were in, out or about to come out and it felt like there was a lot more of the second two.
The rest of the race went pretty smoothly for our team with only a couple of punctures and some minor falls. It was Cathy's first race and she came back with a few scratches and bruises from the rock gardens and switchbacks. Wasn't game to tell her to HTFU so we stayed positive and commended her on a solid 1:36.
Started to get a bit complicated in the afternoon remembering the time we expected the riders to arrive when I was swapping between the solo pits and our pits so after my double stint at night I had a shower around midnight and stayed in the solo pits until and the finish. Nothing like starting a 12 hour shift with a few hours riding under your belt so I was into the coke and food trying to stay awake during the night.
One thing about the night laps was that I could see the rock gardens this time. Maybe it was going back to a hardtail after a month on a dual suspension bike but by the second lap I was starting to hate rock gardens and was convinced I had seen more on each lap than I had previously ridden over in the past 10 years of riding fire trails. Anyway I did start to feel sorry for my wife as I don't think she had seen a rock garden before so I will suggest that she practices a bit more before her next race at Stromlo.
The rest of the race went well for our team, only 2 punctures, a couple of minor falls and one messed up transition. Everyone had fun though and were not concerned when we ran out of riders in the morning.
Many thanks to Andre and Lincoln for joining us for the event and running the team when the rest of us were occupied elsewhere.

Still not sure I like all those rocks at Stromlo, guess I will have to go back at some stage on a dually. Anyway John ended up running in the top ten all race and finished up 7th out of the 60+ field entered for the 40-44 solo's. An excellent result as he hadn't done more than 14 hours riding in his previous 2 attempts at 24hr races so to ride for 23 hours mainly on a bike he first rode on the Monday of that week was sensational. Guess his Anthem 29er is run in now.