The fling
Preparing for these events when you have a family and work commitments is always a balancing act. Last year I was able to follow a proper training plan for the first time in the weeks leading into this event and had a really enjoyable race as I cruised through in a bit under 6 hours.
I think the biggest downside of not training with power is that you don't know exactly how things are going. Sure you can use Strava and a few of your favourite tracks and hills to get an idea but there are so many variables to testing outdoors that there is always a bit of interpretation. This year I also got to follow a training plan for about 5 weeks leading into this race. After getting sick back in April and working interstate until a few weeks ago it was the first chance I'd actually had to do some solid training so it was great to notice the steady improvement as riding up hills got easier, my recovery between rides got faster and my hr for a given average speed dropped. I was also looking forward to riding a marathon on a 29er as this was where they are supposed to have an advantage.
After looking at the entry list the supermasters field for the fling was the strongest all year so I was hoping to get about 5th if I had a good day. The race went pretty smoothly for me. I was near the front at the start and on the right side of the course to miss the crash in the start shute. Also heard a touch of wheels and another crash just behind me in the first farm section so was glad to be near the lead group. After a while Brian and Steve01 came past and then things settled down a bit and the group I was in hovered about 30-40 seconds behind their group for a while. Got to transition and struggled to see where my brother in law had dropped my bottles. He had messed up his alarm and got there while it was still dark so wasn't exactly sure how to describe where he left them. Anyway after a few laps of the transition area I eventually found them and was on my way.
It seemed like I had dropped back into a less organised bunch so I decided to just sit on the back and conserve energy. Got blocked by someone on the wall and then held up though most of the singletrack so didn't get to enjoy the 29er as much as I was looking forward too. Rode the rest of the middle section at a fairly steady pace until Stu Adams caught me and asked where Wayne was. Followed Stu for a while until we got to another big hill and I decided to let him go as my legs were starting to complain. I think there must be something different in the bike setups as I couldn't ride any of the hills out of the saddle without my quads tightening up really quickly and threatening to cramp so it was low gears and seated most of the way. I did start to miss the familiarity of my 26er.
Started the last section with my main worry being to avoid cramping. Doc caught me in one of the paddocks and then cramped in the middle of the next creek. Caught up to Steve01 along the rollercoaster and he followed me until we got to the grassy hill.
Didn't really enjoy much of the rest of the last section and every time I got out of the saddle to ride a pinch climb my quads complained.
Ended up 4th in Supermasters so happy with that. I was expecting to go a bit quicker but it seems thats all the legs had in them yesterday so happy enough with my ride. Maybe next year I might do a few more weeks training and event use a power meter.
I did enjoy the 29er and thanks to the team at Jet Cycles for lending it to me again. Much appreciated.
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Well done Paul. I didn't actually see you yesterday besides when you were at the start still in your jeans and about 3 tops on
Congrats for being at the very pointy end - where does that leave you in the XCM series?
Interesting reading that nearly all of us had cramp issues....I blamed my nutrition, others hydration - seemed to be universal. It's a hard course.
well done Paul,good result
Well done Paul.
I thought it may be a case of deja vu chasing you on the fireroad at the start of stage 3 but you seemed to be cranking those big wheels along pretty quickly. Are you sure you are going to give it back
Doc, yes its going back today.
Brian, You would only have seen me if you looked back. Well done. And yes, warming up in jeans and a jumper was great. You sure you guys weren't cold.
GiantNut, no so sure about being at the pointy end. If your not coming first it feels pretty much the same for everyone else, you just go as fast as you can at the time and there are people in front and people behind. At the moment I am contemplating doing the half fling next year.
It was a very good ride Paul - well done. Good season.
I thought your result was the best out of the regular crew Paul massive improvement!!
Great ride mate - thats one of your best given you have had a busy year.
Next year is looking promising for us all.
I hope you told Stuey that I was 15mins up the road. I noticed he did a cracking time for stage 2 & 3
Isn't the thought of "I could do better than that?" What makes us enter these races again and again?
If we we're completely, infinately happy with our times then we probably would only do each Marathon once then retire from racing!
The convict is ONLY 6 months away so we best all get off our lazy Arses and get training hey?
Never bet beer prizes with an alcoholic Pommy.
Isn't that 2x 6packs now????
I was that confident on the bet that I bought 12 german beers on the way to the race. Not sure why you didn't track me down to pick them up afterwards?
I did have one of your fancy german beers last night with dinner. Lets just call that one a storage tax. Not sure it was the ideal hydration strategy pre recovery ride but it is fine beer.
Actually I was trying to slow Stuey down so he could tow me along for a while. I think I told him you went to a pissup instead of racing and probably wouldn't have beaten him anyway. Bit ashamed to admit it but there is no concept of team loyalty when your somewhere out the back of the second stage in the fling. It didnt work. He just rode off up another one of those bloddy hills.
I guess compared to recent form it was a big step forward over the last 5 weeks. In mountain biking power to weight ratio (W/KG) is probably the best indicator of your potential result in a marathon race. I think I went from a high 3 to a low 4 point something (the elite boys are in the 5.n range) in the past few weeks so as we got closer to the race I was pretty confident of a decent result.
The low point in the year for me was the Wollombi race. Getting dropped on the flat at the start, then dropped again on the first and second hills. Not a good day. Anyway I did a fitness test just after that knowing it would be pretty bad.
To set the scene I had an appointment later that evening so I started earlier than the rest of Ants training group. After suffering through 20 minutes of test I did my cool down and was about to leave when Ant who had just started his test asked if I was going to share the results. So I wandered over to Ant who was looking and talking normally while producing about as much power as I can for about 60 seconds and showed him the average reading for my test. The look on his face was priceless while he came up with a polite way to say he was expecting to see about 40 more watts. Anyway I did feel obliged to email him a few days later and explain my power level will get back to prior levels and probably a bit better once I started a proper training plan again.
Ant, At the start of the year if I had been offered 2nd in the CycleNation XCO series and what will probably be 2nd in the XCM I would have taken it. So yeah, its been a good year despite some logistical challenges.
Paul,
That time is a great ride!!! Just shows you how much of an improvement can be made in a 5 short weeks of getting out and doing the training. Nice to here you were on big wheels too, the thing is that any new bike takes a bit of getting used to and using a demo bike, no matter how "well" setup it is it will still be missing some of the parts etc that you have changed or grown to love on your old bike. This is part of the fun of getting a new bike though, try new stuff, go back to trusted parts if they dont work and get the newest technology and lightest/fastest/best bike for you needs .
Paul, looking at your pics I see you were wearing a vest for the first section. No wonder I missed seeing you.