The hurt box

First off can I just say, let this be a lesson to all those who think that only a handful of rides in a couple of months and 2 spin sessions the weekend prior is an adequate amount of training for this event. IT IS NOT! I did however think it would be a good day out training for the Fat Tyre in 2 weeks.

ok, with that out of the way...

With the 3 bikes loaded up on the roof our weekend away racing got off to a bang. Quite literally. It all started with the dreaded sound of something hitting the roof of the car at 110km/hr on the freeway somewhere past Campbelltown. We pull over horrified to find Jos's bike (originally facing rearwards) was now vertical with only the fork keeping the bike attached to the car. The rear wheel binding had come away and now the bars and stem had made a nice big dent in the roof. Turns out Niges spare carrier was really old with a velcro strap and clearly not up to the job of keeping a Blur XC tightly down. We're lucky the whole thing didn't come off the roof entirely else we'd have a horror story to tell and would probably on the evening news. Four cable ties later we arrived in Bundy and registered with no more drama.

I set the alarm for 5am and got to bed reasonably early, but had a rough nights sleep interrupted by other guests at the motel staggering in till the early hours. The next morning we all agreed it would be a good idea to drop a cool bag at Wingello which meant we could lose a lot of the stuff out of our packs. Admittedly we were pushing it for time, we had to get from Bowral to Wingello and back to Bundy in under an hour so we took the freeway down and took some dirtroad off down to Wingello. All good. We headed off back to Bundy only to find ourselves on the wrong side of the rail track as we now found ourselves in the middle of Penrose Forest. We turned back and found the right way out of the tracks. We were finally parked up at Ferndale Oval by 7.25 - with 5 mins to spare we were pushing it! After much dicking around getting the bikes off the roof, 6th toilet break and and Jos fixing his race number we made it to the start just as it started. In a panic we dashed across the road in front of the lead guys and managed to get to the timing mats and hooked up with the back of the pack. The three of us then screeeemed through the first road section trying to make up as much ground as possible. I stuck with Jos but somehow in the confusion we lost Nige. We did however make up I'm guessing around 300 places.

Jos and I stayed together for the first 10km. The pace was good, maybe even a little too quick, the sub 6 hour target was certainly well and truly on the table. Jos dropped me on a climb but I stayed in sight of him until I found him riding back towards me. He lost his bite valve on his camelback and was losing water fast. I told him to stick with me as I had plenty of water. He somehow managed to ride through to Wingello keeping the hose in his mouth so as to not lose anymore. I told him he could take my spare water bottle from the dropped bag. He pushed on ahead of me. About 5 kms later I went flying past Nige, I was convinced he was behind me after our chaotic start and was thinking about holding back to let him catch up. Glad I didn't. Nige and I arrived at Early Bath together to find Jos at the head of the massive queue. I never saw Jos again until the finish. First transition was a bit mad. Nige zigged for the water and I zagged for the dropped bag. I noticed Jos had taken his pack off and left it at the bag. I cruised to the 2nd timing mat hoping Nige would catch me back up but he didn't. With the clock reaching my 5 mins grace window I re-entered the race. Nige finally caught me some 3kms later just before the drop into the first singletrack. We rode the first half together and was still making reasonable time. The second half was a different story, my pace dropped off and I lost Nige somewhere in the 45km. I arrived into the 50km water station just shy off the 3hr mark to see Nige leaving. I didn't see him again till the finish. I did hook up with Lana, she arrived at the stop a minute or two after me and was looking as bad as I felt - I'm glad it wasn't just me. We headed off together towards Halfway Hill (which I completely forgot about from last year - doh!). We rode together for a while with Lana choosing to ride the climbs as I walked along side her. She got a second wind whilst I was still in the hurt box at around 60ish? and I was dropped.

The second stage was tough with a lot more climbing and much longer than I remembered from last year. The Outer Limits dragged on and on and on, and was so glad to see the road as I knew I could lay the power down and get my moving average back into a respectable shape. On the ride back into Wingello I hooked up with a bloke from Loch Lomond - a real Highlander! He was in a bad way with cramps lying at the side of the road. He quickly caught me back up though. In 2nd transition I saw Lana again but she was getting ready to leave. I got my first cramp whilst stretching out at the stop, nothing too bad and would've been fin if I hadn't stretched. More fool me. I left Wingello feeling quite strong on my second wind and 80-95 wasn't too bad for me. But then the climb up the reverse single track from last year sapped all my strength, reducing me to a weak small boy and then there was the stupid f%^$% paddocks and the final nail in my coffin was the paddock climb up to Brokeback Mountain. Who's sick joke was that putting that there? Huh c'mon own up! After then it was 'hurt box' all the way home. I saw some guy struggling to get air into his tyre with a pump. Turns out he was running tubeless. I offered him a CO2 cartridge. I've never seen a grown man so grateful (if this was you hope you made it back ok). Now I don't run tubeless but seriously, who runs tubeless and then uses a pump to get air back in during a race?

At Your Call I decided just to HTFU and take the shorter steeper route, I mean it couldn't get any worse now right? Halfway up I found a group of riders huddled around this other guy (Sorry I can't remember your name but if this was you hope you made a good recovery). He was in a bad way, shivering and convulsing on the side of the track. I phoned race central and stayed with the guy for 10 mins or so till the Ambo arrived. Back on my way the legs relieved for the short break and made the climb out ok. Got chatting to another rider who was with me whilst we were waiting for the Ambo. Turned out to be Brakeburner. I wasn't too sure about the new change at the finish. More b$#%#y paddock!

There is no fun riding paddocks I never want to see another one ever again

I had a FANTASTIC Fling last year coming in 06.20, oh what a difference a year can make. Even though my time should really be about 07:24 I was so over counting by that point I really couldn't care less about an extra 10mins off my time.

Bring on the Fat Tyre