59:04 first time effort

With a really poor lead up after a back injury 3 months ago and being off the bike for most of that time I wasn't expecting much. Losing my bike 3 days before the ride with a leaking front brake lever also relegated me to the low speced hardtail that weighs in around 15kgs.
Excuses aside I was lucky to take off in the 20-29 wave, which left 3rd, giving me a really clear run. On the first down hill I managed to pass a number of people without drama, then the up hills I passed a few more. It was pretty clear sailing for a while but I was starting to struggle and was carrying a bad stitch and almost spewed a few times. The top riders from the next wave passed eventually and by the climb after dead mans I was almost ready to stop.
Luckily I stuck it out and by the helipad I came good. For the first 1/4 I was going solo then a few riders slowly passed so I tucked in with them in a train. We trained it all the way, swapping the lead around a few times and passed 7 or 8 other riders who just couldn't hold on to us. The last few corners everyone broke up and went solo. I managed to snag a few of them and get clear.
The grassy left hander coming down the hill in the clearing caught me by surprise - I passed about 4 people and was thinking why are they all slowing down? Then I hit the off camber corner and just hung on to the 2 wheel drift on the wet grass. Rolled over the line in 59:04 - happy with that all things considered.
Next year with some fitness back and a decent bike I recon I can knock a fair bit off that time.
Cheers.