DW 100 on a SS (tick that box)

Elapsed time 7:29
Moving time 6:20
Speed 15.9 kph
Average HR 139

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/8136774

Where to begin, I picked up Gary about 1.30pm Saturday afternoon and it was cruisy traffic free drive to Wiseman’s Ferry and then straight onto the ferry. We arrived at the church mid-afternoon and started to enjoy the warmth, serenity, good company, Christine’s special Strog and a few beers (John I think 8 is the magic number of beers).

I went to bed feeling anxious but during the night started to get hot and cold flushes which made for a very restless sleep, something wasn’t right. Now I burp, fart and snore like most men, but we have 3 podium places in Stuart, Nic and Pikey. Pikey deserves a special mention not only for the loudest farts, but also for the quantity. I woke the next morning with my stomach feeling queasy and the creamy rice and Up and Go just sat there not knowing where to come or go. This all made my preparation a little more addled than I’m used to.

Gary and I started dead last in the second group and given the poor top end speed I can achieve on flat road on the Single Speed we remained there until the hill. We walked from the bottom and while still on the hill we started to get passed by riders from the last wave including Sean who was really charging. After nearly losing my breakfast about 3 times in the initial road ride by the time I crested the hill I was starting to feel better so up on top we kept up a steady pace which was fine with my race strategy of not maxing out my heart (I averaged 139 bpm or 82% of my max for the entire race and only reached my max on about 5 climbs).

This was my first race on a single speed and my first race on a hard tail and going into the race I was concerned was that my legs would pack it in from all the climbing. Little did I realise that riding a hard tail would be so punishing on the downhills and that my quads would ache from absorbing the bumps ten times more than they hurt from the climbing – I soon learnt to dread the downhill. On the rocky downhill sections between “the hill” and the 28k water station my endure bottle and my GU container were shaken loose by the continual pounding and were lost – not happy Jan. Arriving at the water station with my fuel plan in tatters I restocked with water and bananas and Gary gave me some of his special electrolyte powder. Luckily I also had some magnesium tablets which I downed as a precaution.

The downhill just after the 28k turnoff was fast and I was so close to the edge that I was puckering up – one false move, one stray rock and it was a lift back home in the chopper, but the rest was a lot of fun. I haven’t done the DW 100k before and now I will never go back to the 50k. The 50k is like riding Long/Perimeter (nothing to rave about); the 100k is like riding Manly Dam (a bit of everything, technical, tough, fast and fun).

I ran into Sarina at the 50k water station when we stopped to re-hydrate, eat, lube and Gary stretched for a while as he was starting to get those telltale twinges.

The hill out (Western Commission I think) was steeper than I remember but I was feeling great, plenty of power and my heart rate was surprisingly low. Once over the hill we came to a technical downhill and at around the 56k mark I went too close to the right hand side of the trail and snagged my bar ends, falling heavily onto my right hand. My middle finger which was poised on the brakes took the brunt of the impact and made gripping the bars and brakes with any strength difficult. (A day after and even though I iced it last night you can’t see my knuckles on my right hand because the whole hand is swollen - there goes my love life).

Shepherd’s Gully - I hated for two reasons, firstly my quads were killing me trying to soak up the shocks and secondly the nuff nuffs in front on me who obviously weren’t in a race but rather a Sunday afternoon pedal – with a clear run I might have enjoyed it more.

The canoe bridge was a 15 minute delay to cross and next year I think I’ll try and ride because walking wasn’t easy or quick and I saw a number of people ride it (Sarina –well done).

The 75k water point was a cruel joke. When I got to the water station I thought yes another hill gone only to later realise the climbing went on and on for k’s. I saw Martine ride through at the water station while we re-hydrated and for the next 10k or so I would catch her for a chat on 2 or 3 occasions.

Around the 80k mark I start to get twinges in my quads but funnily enough it was only when I was sitting and pushing, if I stood everything was fine. As we started to descend, about 15k out I punctured on a smooth fire trail decent. “How can I smash and case rims on rocky fast descents and nothing happen but on a smooth fire trail I puncture – that’s weird”. Even using CO2, I reckon fatigue made this a 20 minute tyre change – bolt on back wheels and chain tensioners have a disadvantage.

Jacks Track what a hoot, I flew down there. Hopefully some entrepreneur will build a chair lift there one day. Down a the bottom we rode home at a steady pace until we realise we could break 7.5 hours so we turned it up a bit and snuck in with seconds to spare. I also discovered another benefit of the SS, because you stand so much you don’t get a sore butt. It was only on these road sections that it started to pain.

Loved the Dirt Works, loved the camping – I had a ball. Sorry Christine if we left a mess I just wanted to get home for a shower, dinner, beer, ice and bed.

Also a big Thank You to Sarina for allowing me to road test her prototype MTB jersey. It was easily the most stylish jersey in the race, it survived a crash and after 100k’s and 7.5 hours of sweating the first thing V said to me was that I looked hot - I think it was because of the jersey.

Where to finish – you can’t beat leaving at 5.20pm driving without traffic to get on the first ferry and home after dropping Gary off in under 2 hours.

Next year sub 7hr.