Short Circuit Cancer charity ride

After a wet and soggy week in Sydney this event was in real danger of being postponed. However we got the word on Friday that, after consultation with NPWS, the event would go ahead as planned which was great news and finally broke my run of bad luck I had of entering events and having them not go ahead due to, in the first instance, horrendous fires last October for the Kanangra Classic, and then more recently the awaba rocky trail 4hr at the start of the month due to over 120mm of rain two days before.

If you had told me 18 months ago that I would be lining up about to ride a mountain bike for 6 hours I would have called you crazy, nevertheless here I was listening to the rider brief and making chit chat with a few fellow riders at the 4th Short Circuit Cancer Charity event. I was riding with the #001 plate on my bike - the organisers clearly mistaking me for #1 ranked UCI rider Niño Schurter, unaware he was currently 10,000km away competing in the Cape Epic. Either that or I was the first solo rider to register but I'm staying with Niño story.

We were told that the track was mainly fine except for the northern end of the goarra trail upon which the descent was fairly eroded and the climb out was wet. I didn't actually have my bike with me during the rider brief so after that was done I went back to my support tent (yeah I brought a gazebo with me) 200m away and the by the time I got back to the start line there were riders flowing out - I had missed the start which didn't bode well for the start of my MTB ride/race adventures! A tip for beginners no doubt - be race ready for the rider brief.

Six hours is considered a very long ride for me, my previous longest had been a bit over four hours and I keep weekend training runs to a max of three hours given family commitments etc. After a casual start the plan was to find a rhythm and pace I thought I could sustain over the entire ride. I started passing quite a few riders in the first few kms which was easy enough on flat firetrail and reached the descent to the creek which wasn't as bad as I had thought it might be. Across the creek, smile for the photo and then the climb out which was pretty darn wet. I felt my weekly ride through Lane Cove NP (the climb up to Canoon road for those familiar with LCNP) prepared me well for this as I powered up here without too much trouble. The mud was thick in places with lots of standing water over the next 3kms but was manageable.

After 2 laps I picked up some more gels and endura and kept going, dropped a bottle on lap 3 (gloves covered in mud by this stage) which I quickly retrieved and then noticed the tape I had used to fix a spare tube to my seatpost had nearly come off and the tube was hanging out like the tongue of a tired canine. Into the jersey pocket that went and continued on at a steady pace. I was feeling good after nearly 40kms and at the end of lap 4 came in again for supplies. When I reached my support area I found my wife, kids, sister, nephews and sister in law there waiting me which was a huge boost and incentive to keep going. The kids had matching team shirts on which looked awesome. I decided not to take the spare tube with me when I left as it was too heavy in the jersey pocket and wasn't holding on the seat tube - what do others do? Top tube? Considering I was running tubeless anyway what could possibly go wrong

It was now about two and a half hours into the ride and the track was really starting to clear out, or so it seemed to me. I was riding by myself for the most part, occasionally passing or being passed by others. There were some fast guys out there and it sucked being passed but I reminded myself that the majority of these guys were riding as part of a team, having a decent rest between laps. I concentrated on holding a sustainable pace, breathing, feeding and just enjoying the awesome day out in Australia's oldest national park. Something I noticed was how the track was changing as time went on, news lines were appearing as previously waterlogged areas were drying out on the straights and small rocks had moved especially on the major climb of the lap. Interesting.

The other thing I was concentrating on I had little control over. When I ride I constantly have songs in my head. Sometimes it's welcome and other times less so. Today on the jukebox was Pharrell Williams 'Happy', which I blame on watching an episode of the block earlier in the week where they played it for what seemed the entire episode. I'm normally a gunners/rhcp kind of guy so this song, whilst initially ok and apt for the occasion, became like fingernails down the proverbial chalkboard. No matter what else I tried to think of it wouldn't be long till 'Happy' invaded once more.

Lap 5 was uneventful however fatigue in the legs started to rear its ugly head. For whatever reason the steep pinch climbs were fine but the 1.5km gradual incline afterwards started to become a problem for me. The boggy sections required concentration and balance so as not to fall victim to its muddy siren call. Lap 6 and 50kms in the mechanicals and crashes around the track started to become more prevalent. I probably passed ten or so riders walking or working on their bikes, each time making sure they were ok before pressing on. A Laurel and Hardy moment came near the end of the lap where in a train of 3, the lead rider baulked on a rocky section and hit the deck hard with the rider behind not having enough time to go around and he went OTB. I managed to avoid the carnage. It all sort of happened in slo mo, everyone made sure everyone else was fine and we all continued on - MTB spirit prevailed

At the end of lap 6 I came in for some lunch, after 4 hrs I'd has enough of gels and wanted some real food. Stayed and chatted with @OatleyLad who had come to sledge from the sidelines - thx mate. I probably stayed a little too long at this stop but it was nice to talk to the family and have a proper lunch. Lap 7 saw me passing my previous longest ride length and I was really enjoying the parklands trail section of the track which was a fairly smooth descent with a few opportunities for water bar jumps. Top speed through here was 48km/hr according to my GPS.

The last 3 laps or 27km were basically spent nursing my way through the gradual incline section whilst being passed by quite a few people. Aerobically I felt fine it was the legs that were buggered. On what was to be my penultimate lap I teamed up with another solo rider who was 2 laps in front of me and instantly I was able to hold his wheel and my pace increased. I've read how much better and faster it is to ride in a group and now I understand why. It would have been nice to ride with this guy for longer but after a few kays we passed through transition together (how cool is transition with music going and MTB'ers milling around etc) and I needed to stop for a drink refill. He left me making me promise I'd do another lap - of course I was going to!

The last lap was done at a fairly pedestrian pace - I didn't want to have a fall and I knew I didn't have enough time to get to transition for another lap. I was even passed by a dude on a fat bike - oh the shame Apparently it was only the pinch climbs which presented an issue for him. With three kms to go and entering my favourite descent on parklands trail I saw my father and sister in law on the side of the trail cheering me on, 100m down the trail my wife and daughter were there as well - that was awesome and I'm not too proud to say a bit emotional as well.

They made it back to the finish line to see me cross after 6hr 12mins and 82kms done. A fair amount of stoppage time due to breaks but after all this was a charity ride and not a race, and the fact this was my first attempt at anything like this and I was pretty satisfied with the result. The announcer was calling out names as they crossed the finish line so i popped a mono over the line for shits and giggles. In my mind I had the bike nearly vertical but I have it on good authority that I had the front wheel exactly two inches off the ground.

When all is said and done the Short Circuit Cancer event was extremely well run, with kids activities, local bike shop attendance and a friendly atmosphere contributing to a great day out. My wife commented on now friendly the MTB crowd was, maybe i'll convert her one day. I ended up raising $1005 via donations over the last 4 months so the time spent in the hurt box was worth it.

Apart from participating in a charity event (which I encourage everyone to do at least once) I was using this event as an opportunity to learn a bit more about race strategy and my readiness for entering actual races and noticed the following:

* time goes fast - it didn't seem like 6 hrs to me.
* after 4 hours I'd had enough of gels and didn't have another one even though on the last two laps at times I was labouring.
* my trek superfly dually was awesome for this event, reliable as ever even when caked in mud - gear shifting was crisp and braking fine. The cleaning the next day took me 2 hrs.
* in an actual race situation I would have forgone the long breaks and probably would have been able to do another 2 laps.

Next up us the Rocky Trail 4hr a James Estate Winery, looking forward to it.