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Fling?
Anybody do the Fling this year? It's not even in the Calendar. I was hoping to read a few Fling exploits to ease the pain of missing it this year...
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110km Fling was good - hard as usual for an old bloke like me. Perfect riding temp and weather but very windy later. Same trails w minor variations. Halfway Hill (24+%) still evil and Breakback Mountain after 100km is very evil... Bent my der but bent it back and kept going and my bottle cage rattled so loose I almost lost it. Always a good comp.
.. for an old bloke. Well done!
Race as well.
Perfect weather, hard race though. So much paddocks that's heavy to ride. A few very steep hills that sucks the juice out of the legs.
Good setup for L'Etape which is only a few weeks away now.
Good turnout for the race, great sponsors. Weather was perfect but puckered up to produce an awesome tailwind in the open dirt road sections (first time I've experienced that cos normally there's a headwind).The awesome wake up call from the bagpipes and incentivised use of reusable coffee cups and off course the string to tie your number plate on!!!!
It was the hardest century I've done - mostly because I was on a single speed!!!
It's hard to write anything new as each year seems to be a copy of the year before:
- field for the Full Fling gets smaller each year which is disappointing which I assume is due to it being so damn hard but the Half Fling seems to be growing
- Elite riders start 15 min behind us and seem to catch us earlier each year and fly past so quick you start to wonder if maybe your brakes are half jammed on
- Wingello single track is huge fun
- halfway hill is a grind but ok
- The Kick is a gentle climb that goes on forever and really messes your head. Getting through it without crying for mummy is an achievement. It is also where the majority of winners of this event make their move
- Outer Limits with all the sharp pinch climbs is where pretty much everyone gets cramps
- lots of stretches riding alone which is hard later in the race to keep stomping the pedals. I did the first 10km of the last loop without seeing another person
- The Rollercoaster then Brokeback Mountain so late in the race it has you hating the event and swearing this is the last time
- the last single track is so much fun you end on a high forgetting how half hour earlier you made the decision this is the last time...
- family at finish line to cheer dad
- beat last year by 4 mins which was 4 mins faster than the time before...
- hard hard hard race but very satisfying to get to the end. Survival seems to be more important than racing for a time
I had a go at the 100 mile Fling this year. A departure from the single speed due to a crook back had me hunting around a cassette all race. I've done 3 full flings on the single speed, so I was really disappointed to go slower through most of the course with 11 gears, even though my game plan was flat out at Full Fling speed.
The second loop of Wingello was pretty awesome, 55k with only seeing 2 full fling riders just near the end of the stage. I couldn't really get into the empty single track like I wanted due to back pain but I enjoyed the second lap way more than the first.
I've completed 3x 55k 3x 110k and 1x 160k so I have 2 more milers to go.. Hopefully on the Single Speed next year.
That is hard core.
How do you compare that to the full fling in terms of fatigue and energy intake. Is it a matter of doing the same thing for longer or do you need a full feed along the way or a stretch rest or some other thing to last the distance.
well done!
@Stephen....what a legend. That has to be one of the toughest 100 mile races around!
Stephen what ratio did you find works the best for the race. I rode a 33/20 and ended up walking quite a few climbs!
I have always run 34/18 at the Fling, I can get that up Halfway hill but for some frecking reason The Kick kills me and I usually bail on that browny coloured ground for a bit, geez that stuff sucks some juice. Some of those pinches in Outerlimits I can't get up and the 2 longer climbs in Roller Coaster. Oh and not a chance on The Wall..
I felt I ate and drank well all race so the second lap felt much the same as the first just quiet. Also because there is nobody on track the second lap I just settled into a tempo rather than trying to stick with others.
Well done on the 100 Mile Fling!
It’s a tough one for sure, it takes a special kind of crazy to want to ride the back half of the race alone knowing that all the fun social stuff that goes with a marathon MTB race such as the Fling is happening somewhere much closer to the finish line, only to roll into the event centre some 8-10 hours later exhausted and delirious and discover that almost everyone (and beers) has packed up and gone home?
The 100 Mile fling is the hot tamale of MTB races, most definitely not a race for your average muchacho!