Langkawi International MTB Challenge

This race has been in my calendar for ages. I had looked forward to it for months.
We had a big group of friends together and all agreed to go over and have some hard racing and good times.
Myself and Jenny, Gav and Vanina, Garry Millburn and Fiona (who was to be head bottle bitch), Andy Davidson and Naomi Hansen, as well as Kyle Ward, and our other good mate Jodie Willet.

Everything was set for a great trip.
I should have seen the signs inn advance though. First, Garry crashes badly on his Euro road trip, and rules himself out.
Poor Gav hurts his back with less than two weeks to go too - so he cant ride (relegating himself to lead bottle bitch in Fiona's absence). Then Naomi and Jodie have a huge 'public' fight on Facebook and declare that they wont be talking to each other in Malaysia.
Drama!

Still, I was going really well, as was Jenny and Vanina (despite a bunch of work travel getting in the way of her training) and the young charge Kyle was proving himself to be extremely fast.

We hit Langkawi and were all met at the airport by the very efficient organisers. Bikes transported, hotel was nice, and a huge dining room area that had been converted to 'bike prep' area. No bikes in the bedrooms.
Building the bikes, we looked around. All the other riders were there, and there was quite a range. Burry Stander and Natalie Schneitter (both ranked in the top 6 in the World for XC) right down to a dude who was riding a 'huffy' with rim brakes in trainers. To be honest though, there were more fast people than slow.

The day before the race, and we all rolled out to take a look at the XC course for Day 2's stage. It was awesome. A long, 9minute climb rutted, rooty rocky and very difficult to ride (nearly everyone 'dabbed') followed by one of the toughest, most technical descents I have come across in a XC race. Steep step-offs with dead turns at the bottom meaning you need to stop on a dime, narrow trees to grab your bars if you are anything other than perfect through them. There were a few worried faces after riding that - we realised we were in for a race.

Home, hotel dinner, and bed ready for Day 1 the Marathon.

Day 1 - Marathon (65k)
This race had UCI points attached, so riders were called up on the grid. From the highest ranked, down to the lowest. All in neat rows of 10 (max) on each line of the grid. I was gridded on the front line so was delighted. The former president of Malaysia was due to start the race, but was running late - meaning we were held in direct sunlight on the start line for 40mins. It was 35degrees. No water was provided, meaning we were drinking our bottles.
Eventually, the gun went, and the pace was like nothing I had ever experienced. 50kph on the tarmac strung out like a line into the single-track. Wow. The heat really got to me, and I faded. In fact, I got heatstroke, and collapsed. DNF for me and a nice little IV drip and a cool room.
Jenny went badly by her standards, and we both realised our Euro blood doesn’t like Equatorial Rain-forest conditions.
Trying to re-group, we got lunch, and lamented lost time. I ate something dodgy (hotel food still) and got food poisoning. Spewing up all afternoon. I felt like death. Heatstroke, food poisoning, and a marathon in 35degrees in my legs.
Kyle went well, as did Jodie and Vanina.

Day 2 - XCO
Ladies in the morning. Men in the arvo. I woke and felt shite, but knew I had to start the race. I went to support Jenny and feed her bottles each lap on the dreaded tough XC course. After 3 laps, it was all settling down, and the race was developing nicely. Then Jenny came round looking a mess. She stopped and screamed in pain. Earlier in the lap, she had crashed on a steep descent, had split her helmet on impact - directly on the top of her head, and had a suspected spinal injury. She couldn’t move her head or neck and lay down on the road and went into shock passing in and out of consciousness.
Ambulance. Hospital. X-Rays. Scans. All ok, but muscles had spasmed and locked down to protect the neck - hence the lack of mobility.
I should mention two things here - Kask helmets that Jenny wears - excellent. It did exactly the job it was meant to, and saved her. The other is the hospital in Langkawi. Super quick, clean, and very reassuring.

Jen was released from hospital 30mins before the Elite men start time. We race home in a cab, I get changed, get on my bike and ride the 15mins to the start line. No lunch, no fluid for the last few hours in hospital - on the back of the previous days disaster. Needless to say, I wasn’t in my best shape. Went out hard, followed another Aussie (Adrian Jackson) down the descent, only to watch him crash a few times - it was super techy.

After that day, and another bit of sickness, I pulled the pin. I was just too weakened by everything to make it worthwhile. Jenny carried on racing with a full concussion and was shite too. She was disappointed, as was I. The rest of the stages were varied and fun, and some of them really suited our style of riding.
We had both hoped for so much, but had come away with nothing.
We thought.

On reflection, we actually learnt a huge amount. We came away not with results but with focus. I wasn’t the only one to get sick - Paul Van de Ploeg, Dan McConnell, Ben Henderson, Adrian Jackson, and a number of the Americans all got the food poisoning too, so its not that I have a weak constitution - just bad luck.

We will certainly be going back next year. It was an amazing experience, and a great race. I would certainly encourage everyone to have a go. Its only $400 all in (other than airfares). It certainly wasn’t an elite only event. If you ever wanted to start a race, or mingle with, the World Cup stars, this is a great chance. The vibe in the hotel and the town was fantastic and everyone was really supportive of each other.
The organisation was fantastic, and the tracks were excellent - very varied (from super techo, through to complete tarmac on one day). Road closures, feed zones, pumping music at all the start / finishes - everything you want for a great event.

A special mention to Vanina, who really (as a 24hr racer predominantly) stepped up to the challenge of mostly short, sharp speed based events. She went really well, and also wasn’t (too) intimidated by the World Cup superstars on the start line. Great racing V.
Jodie Willet - superb riding all week.
Kyle Ward (video star) - at 19yrs old, mixing with the very best in the world - has really sent a few messages. Watch for him.

So - see you all at the Fling - where I will be racing the 1/2 (as will Jenny and Kyle) due to the first National Cross-Country being only 6days later in Perth.