Convict 100 - The Benchmark of my season ...

The Convict is always a race I look forward to. It was my first 100km race in 2012 and one I have done every year since. For me it’s a benchmark of my progression, and one of the few races where I know my race times off my head!
With a new bike this year I started putting the pressure on myself a couple of months out. Had I made the right decision changing bikes? Would I be quicker? Was I as fit as last year? Each year I feel I am at my peak for this race, so the pressure to repeat the performance seems higher each time.
The race itself was good this year. I got away in wave 1 and despite losing a bottle on the corrugations during the first 4km (which distracted me for a few km) I felt good. I was disappointed that Jacks Track had as much lose soft sand as it did, having ridden it last year I felt like I was behind the ball when we all ended up walking a couple of sections this year. I got a good group along the road to the kayak bridge, but dropped them when I stopped to refil my water (the lost bottle irritating me). Whilst I could see them along the next road section I couldn’t close the gap until we hit the climb. The grader had certainly made the climb easier, and I passed quite a few with my head down and legs spinning.
The rest of the race passed pretty quickly. I had an issue with my rear shock about 60km in which meant I lost a lot of travel (I think the cartridge has failed inside it?), so I took the downhills a little easier than normal. I got to the road at the end with 10km to go and saw one guy just ahead. I quickly closed the gap and made a plan to work together. Unfortunately after about 60 seconds he decided he didn’t have the legs meaning a solo slog all the way to the finish. I was going hard a keeping the average high but boy did it hurt!
Crossed the line in 4:41 … would have loved to break 4:40, with some help on the final section, or without the shock issues I’m sure I would have, but overall I was really happy with the result, and finally cracked the top 10. My results over the years make for a good story of progression, but the pressure is back on for 2017!
2012: 7:08 (spent ~45 mins waiting at the kayak bridge!)
2013: 5:06
2014: 4:57
2015: 4:54
2016: 4:41