1st Convict 100 won't be the last

I've ridden bikes on and off most of my life, but just for fun. In 2010, with the arrival of my first 'little one' and moving into mid 30's I decided I needed to get back into some sort of fitness regime. Went out and bought some running shoes... Ran 7k's on a bush trail... Then came back bored and went and bought a bike instead; the trusty 2010 Trance X2.

Having kids resulted in a group of new friends and I was able to rope a couple into my new found MTB obsession.... Many thanks to our wives for allowing us to indulge! I had planned my 1st Convict last year but with the arrival of 'Number 2' my training went out the window and I pulled out. Fast forward to Convict 2014.

A mate and I decided to step up our riding from casual fun to something a bit more focused. 50k's or 100? We can ride 50 on the weekend was my response, only ever having ridden more than that once and with our rides averaging 15k's. but we decided if we were going to do a job we'd do it properly; so start with a 100k Marathon with 1800m climbing.

The motivation of a race has been sensational and although I didn't hit many of my training goals it pushed me to ride more and even start a routine of riding to work 2 days per week with 10k's of dirt as part of the each way commute.... What a way to start and finish a day!

Coming into the race I knew my strengths were descending and technical but my great weakness was climbing.... Yeah so why chose the Convict . With this in mind I set myself a goal of finishing in an achievable time of 8 hours.

The race was very different to what I expected. I had thoughts of Cascades Quarry Climb x4 for the Blue climb, followed by Terry Hills until a big descent into the canoe bridge, a Heath Track climb only longer then another descent. How wrong was I! So much more climbing than I expected and so much more sweet, technical single trail than I could have dreamed! I knew I needed to average over 12.5k's for the race to hit my goal and after a recky ride on Friday afternoon knew the first road section should deliver me around 23k's coming into the first climb. With everyone walking the first hill in my wave I didn't lose anything until the top. I hit the 1st hill and with 85ks to go decided to focus on spinning the small ring instead of pushing a big ring and destroying myself. And then, every so often.. my time would come on the descents .

I heard the warnings about water bars and certainly took notice... Although with many 4 Gates under my belt and the Acron and Quarry KOM i had some confidence, an awful lot of fun and plenty of hang time. Then everyone I overtook on the downhill would catch me at the base of the next climb. Fortunately I was only racing myself.

At 50ks in I was feeling good. I'd had a major blow up during training due to lack of food so had put a strategy in place that seemed to be working. I still couldn't climb but hey, I can't on fresh legs so what did I expect. I was actually pretty happy with the climb out of 10mile hollow; focusing on my position on the bike, breathing and heart rate and keeping my speed in double digits... and achievement for me on a climb.

The techy rock gardens were amazing, I'm going back to St Albans to ride them as soon as I get the opportunity. I was actually able to overtake some people uphill as lots of people unclipped on the main line and I was able to take another line around. Then Shepards Gully descent. What a blast, rocky fire trail leading into it had some great lines and the descent itself was fast, loose and had me focused the entire way down. Strava gave me a Top 10 on the descent and 7th for the weekend... So very happy with that!

The canoe bridge. I'd been going to ride it all the way up to the morning of the ride. With the cold and the wind and the knowledge of the pain to come with the final 30ks I didn't want to add being wet into the mix. I walked and was happy with the decision after being blown about with the wind and having to concentrate to stay on.

The final climb...oh the pain. The saddle pain was setting in, I had some cramps starting in the quads and I calculated that it may take me more than 2 hours to climb that final hill. I though about giving up for a minute but with the knowledge that my family were waiting at the finish line and the training that I'd put in with my mate who was probably already 2/3 of the way up the hill I refocused and knuckled down. Took me 1hr 12min to get tot he top.... But it didn't defeat me and I'll be back there on training rides to get this climbing monkey of my back, that's for sure.

The final downhill sections were fun... The final road section less so.

It was great to cross the line, to see everyone there to greet me, to realise I'd broken my goal by an hour and to see my riding mate had come out with a great first effort of 6:34.

I'm now even more hooked to this great sport and with some focus on my climbing issues hope to break into that 6 hour club next year. Look forward to seeing you all on the trails!