Team Monkey Farm - First Timers

Crikey. That was tough. 8 hours on the bike becomes a bit of a chore!

Our teams rough plan was to just finish. Which we did. Nearly half of us did not even get to start though which was a shame. The initial team of 7 dropped to 4 with mainly broken bones the order of the day for a few of us in the lead up to the race. (Hope all are recovering well) An approx 7.30 time was a target and we missed that by a bit but all came in safe so we have to be happy with that. We just keeping ourselves moving all day with a bit of banter that goes a long way to helping you get across the line.

I managed to break my arm around 11 weeks ago (Thredbo DH) so was 50/50 for a while and ignored qualified peoples advice and decided to have a go. Training was definitely light on although we managed to get a few decent training rides in and even got around the course over two days a few weeks prior so knew what we were up against. I was a bit concerned about being able to make it with arm & knee issues that have come up recently.

Teamwork was the order of the day as there was 4 of us in total as first 100k timers all at varying degrees of fitness and skill levels. We hit out off the last group and cruised to blue hill, then had a nice long walk up with lots of banter with other riders about what was ahead. The roll to the 28k mark went quite smoothly and after a quick fuel we headed to Ten mile hollow in a small train of riders and could have pushed on more in certain sections but it’s pretty difficult to pass along the trail. It was along this section that i got my first twinge of a cramp that would hinder efforts for the rest of the ride. At Ten mile we had a good break then pushed on. Shepherds gully went by in a sketchy flash and we then met up with a few of our partners at the canoe bridge. They had watched lots of the chaos including (I assume Gary) crashing and splitting his head open. (Glad to hear you are ok) It was intimated that I should not ride it although I thought I best to not listen to the missus (for once!) and ride across. The info I read here about looking ahead and middle gear was very useful and it was over in no time.

From then I really struggled, I could not push without cramping and was pretty much out of juice which made the long climbs until Jacks a real test of physical and mental strength. With one team member generally close by and others waiting up ahead we regrouped and finally headed down Jacks decent to the road. I was not happy that we were now heading away from town! We made it to the river and pushed my bike through without thinking really as I did not really have the energy to carry it the short distance. The final cruise in was a relief and we all crossed the line to the cheers of our partners and strangers. (Thanks)

A hot shower then few fine beers (and wine, port, sherry etc ha ha) at the finish and a big BBQ helped bring me back to semi normal. We probably should have wandered to the pub to chat with others that stayed the night! Got up Sunday pretty tender in the knees but overall pretty happy.

That we finished all together was a great effort by all. Next year the team will be bigger stronger and faster for sure. Looking forward to it.