HTFU. Easy to say. Hard to do ...

That was tough. Perhaps it was the hills. Perhaps it was the heat. Or perhaps I was just simply unprepared. Regardless, it sure felt good to roll over the finish line ! After making my way through a herd of riders at the start I was able to settle into a nice pace and was feeling good at the first transition. Grabbed a couple of bananas, topped up the water and headed back onto the course only to wait for a rather large freight train to make it's way south. Into the forest at Wingello I got caught behind a line of riders and thankfully had an excuse to ride at a more enjoyable pace. I have had the pleasure of riding there for the 3 Rings so I knew it was going to be fun ... and it was. Kept reminding myself I must ride down here more often. Into the water stop at 50k's I was beginning to feel fatigued. More water, more bananas and then it was back onto the bike for the dreaded 'half way hill'. It was here my race schedule fell apart as I had to get off and walk (as it turned out I ended up walking up a fair few of the hills towards the end of the race). Coming into the transition for the second time I was really starting to feel the heat and it was tough to remain focussed. Leaving the transition it was great to get back into the big ring, get the head down and feel the wind. After the creek crossing and into the single track I thought I was doing it tough when I came up to a bloke who was riding along with a flat rear tyre. I said 'do you know you have a flat tyre?' and he replied "nope, I've got two" ... he refused the offer of assistance and just kept plodding along. Now that, in my book, is hard core. At the 90km I was well and truly out of gas. I had nothing in the tank. Any serious incline had me walking. My back was aching. My thighs were burning. My hands hurt. At this point I was contemplating throwing my bike in the bush, never riding again and taking up knitting. I discovered it was a hella of alot easier telling someone else to HTFU than actually doing it yourself. At 'Your Call' I had had enough of those damn hills, so I piked it and took the long, flat, easy way. My mood swung from anger to joy when we hit the 2-3 km's of flat top before the Pony Club only for it to turn dark once again when we hit the grassy paddocks leading up to the finish line. After riding for 6:14 the task had been completed, the race was over. I sat down, stuffed my face with pasta and slurped on a well earned frosty lager. Pain is all relative tho ... I saw a single speed rider cross the line wearing bare feet. Turns out his shoes broke (WTF?) and he made his way over the last 8 km's sans footware. And then there were the marathoners coming in after 160km. And as for the nutcases on the unicycles ... the question really is .... why ? Seriously hard core. Hats off to Huw and the Fling Gang for putting on such a well organised event. It was evident that the entire community was in support of the MTB fraternity showing up in droves. It's nice to feel welcomed. Will I be back next year ? For farking sure. Such is the madness of mountain biking ...