2007 Half Fling

Well this was my first solo race effort (the Mont being my first race). My Fling experience seems to reflect a lot of the other fellow Nobmobbers! Let's start from the top.

I lined up at the line right at the back of the pack along with the other Half Flingers. We were waved off and we spent a good two minutes walking the bike to the start line as the 600-700 riders slowly made their way onto the fire trail. Finally got onto the road and started leisurely riding. It was still very congested for the first kilometre or two as Tien, Lorrie and I weaved our way though the traffic. Soon enough I had lost sight of Lorrie and Tien up ahead. Couldn't see Caro, Gary or Paul behind me either so I just kept pedalling at my own pace.

The first stage felt really good. I was just going at a nice easy pace. There was plenty of traffic to contend with especially at creek crossings and up some narrow singletrack hills. Riding with shoes full of water and sand was sure a new experience after the first few creeks! The paddocks were deceptively bumpy on my hardtail (can't wait for my dually to arrive). But overall it was easy going. I took it very easy on the hills and just put it in a low gear and spinned it up rather than powering up. I got to the transition without a single stop in something like 1hr 45min.

At transition I saw Peter and Paul who had arrived approximately 5 minutes before me. I didn't stay here for long. I just refilled my water bladder and had one gel. In hindsight I probably should have eaten something more substantial and rested longer but I felt really good at this stage. I left the transition area approximately 5 minutes after I got there.

Off again down the firetrail and stomach wasn't feeling too great. I think it was the gel. I had a few big sips of water and that seemed to settle things down soon. Got back into the rhythm and was cruising along comfortably. Then at around the 40km mark my legs started to feel fatigued. I was feeling my thighs on the verge of cramps so I slowed down a fair bit. It was around this point that Gary caught and overtook me. Then finally my thighs gave in up a climb. I stopped at the top and stretched and had another gel as I rested for a few minutes. I had another stop at the Yacht Club as my legs were really hurting now. Definitely not a happy camper with around 10km to go! Struggled on and ended up walking up some hills. I took the long option at the end as there was no way I could ride anything steep now. Boy was I relieved when the trail then pointed downhill. But to my disappointment there was road climb near the end! Grinded up in much pain and rolled down the tarmac towards the finish. Was very relieved when I saw the campsite and powered on up the trail and onto the finish line.

Was great to be greeted by the other Half Flingers and to sit down and drink and eat. I think I crossed the line at around 12:05pm so a touch over 4hrs. I was happy enough with that time as I was aiming for somewhere around the 4hr mark. I'm a bit annoyed at my legs though as I was feeling very good up until the 40km mark. I got cramps at the Mont too on my 5th lap. I'm not sure whether it is a nutrition thing or whether it is just training. Up until I had my cramps at around the 40-45km mark I had only had one gel and stopped for 5 minutes. Maybe that was my downfall maybe it wasn't.

Either way doesn't matter now, time to get training over longer distances to get fitter.