Dirtworks 2008

Firstly, thanks to Christine for getting us great accomadation. Nobmob always does it in style at events! Poor buggers freezing their bums off in the paddock below

Second well done to all that participated. It was my first Dirtworks and I loved it.

Alright onto my story. I started in the 3rd group with the majority of the Nobmob 50km riders. I took off with Lozza at a cracking pace. In hindsight we probably could have taken it a little easier if we had known what was coming up! We passed dozens of riders as we took it in turn slipstreaming to the bottom of the climb. And what a climb it was! I had no idea it was such a big push. I was seriously puffed and my calves were complaining up there. Stopped at the top until Lozza caught up and off we went again.

The ride along the top was pretty uneventful. Just cruised along and continued to overtake people. Ended up riding along with a guy on a hardtail most of the time. He'd overtake me on the uphill bits and I'd overtake him on the downhill bits as he gingerly negotiated the rough descents. For some reason I always ended up getting stuck behind slow riders on the descents. I got stuck behind one in the descent into the 28km water point. Nearly came off too as I was right on his tail and couldn't see what was ahead. I was also riding with Paul for bits and pieces up to the 28km mark.

Then we got stopped at the 28km mark for the helicopter. This was a little disappointing as Paul, Lozza and I were one of the early ones to get stopped. I was probably 4-5 rows back from the first riders to be stopped. On the other hand it is great to see that we have such good emergency services. We were stopped for well over 10 min. They let us through and I continued on without stopping.

I continued on a slower pace now. Legs were getting a little tired. I even pushed up some of the hills to save a bit of energy. Annoyingly I got the first signs of cramps in my thighs shortly before the big descent. Again I was stuck behind a slower rider on the first part of the descent. When I got to the flat bit in the big descent my legs were really starting to hurt. This was where Brian overtook me. I continued on and hit the gravel road eventually in a fair bit of pain. Next Paul overtook me. I stopped to stretch and thanks to Lozza who stopped for a minute before I told him to take off. Also saw Pikey go by as I was stretching.

The next kilometre or two was very painful even after stretching. However for some reason they went away and I was able to continue on at a reasonable pace. Liam caught up but he dropped back after feeling some pinches of cramps too. Then I caught up to Lozza about 4km from the finish. We struggled on and boy was it a good sight to see the town of St Albans again! I crossed the line and I could barely crouch down to get the transponder off!

I can't remember what the official time was but I remember I placed 29th in the open category which I'm happy with! Ride time on my computer was 2 hours 36 min. A little annoyed that I got cramps again but I guess that just means I need to train more for the next event. All in all a great event!