Return to racing

The last race I did was way back in 2011. My friend Loz and I hadn't ridden much since so entering the Capital Punishment was an attempt at getting myself motivated to ride and train a bit more.

I started in to 50-60% group so the start was comfortable. I was a bit worried I was going too hard in Kowen and Sparrow Hill though as my average HR was over 170 at that point. Loz was a bit faster on the flats and I would then catch him in the uphill firetrail sections and this would continue pretty much the whole race! The single track in the first 30km sure was a lot of fun and brought back some good memories of Mont races from a few years back.

Now onto the long slog over to Majura and eventually Stromlo. Some poor guy must have been pretty tired and taken his eye off the road for a second on the ride over to the Defence property. He rode straight into a traffic cone and had a spectacular spill on the road. Loz and I stopped but he said he was OK apart from a grazed elbow. Hope you're OK mate. On the Defence crossing Loz and I took turns at the front to get through the firetrail stuff quicker. It worked as we passed many riders in this section. Then straight through Majura pines and into the untimed section.

The untimed section was a nice breather to have mid race. If only more enduros had this! Loz and I stopped for a good 10 minutes at the drink stop to eat and stretch. We got to the end of the untimed section with two minutes to spare. Perfect timing! Off we went up the hill and again I was faster up the hills and lost Loz. I figured he'd catch me on the flats and sure enough he did a few km before Stromlo. He was working with another rider and just steamed past me. It was painful on the bike path and road to Stromlo. There was a strong head wind and I was pretty spent. Thoughts of pulling out when I got to the final drink stop were going through my head but I figured I would push on and get it done.

I stopped at the final drink stop for around 5 minutes to stretch out my quads. Reluctantly I then started the climb up Stromlo. This was a painfully slow granny gear spin up to the top. It seemed to go forever and I was so thankful when I saw the start of the downhill track. Then over to Skyline. I would have preferred if my legs didn't have 90+ km in them before this point as this has to be one of my all time favourite tracks! I went down as fast as my body would permit and had a whole lot of fun. Quick sprint over to the finish line stopping the clock in a little over 6.5hrs total time, 5:38 adjusted time. Done!

I only really started training early January and I didn't have any serious goals apart from finishing the race so I'm pretty pleased with my result. Maybe the Fling next?
http://app.strava.com/activities/44587788