Great day

Awoke to find that it was somewhat warmer than the 6 degrees last year so put on just arm warmers and my sealskinz socks plus usual kit. Big bowl of cereal and then a 500ml can of "Mother" with 160mg of caffeine and 200 calories in the car on the drive to St Albans from the Rosevale caravan park units near Wisemans.

Got off to a good start in Group 1 and had the Garmin Edge set on Virtual Partner so I could race against my time from last year. Chatted to a few people on the road ride who I bumped into and tried to draft like a roadie where possible. Chitts was just behind me as we hit the Wrights Creek climb. Walked a bit then jumped back on the bike earlier than last year to granny up to the top of the climb. Maintained a quick pace along the ridge line - chain came off big ring 3 times so had to stop and put it back on but managed to keep pace with Chitts until GNR corner at 33km mark when noticed a cut in the sidewall of the rear Racing Ralph (just after I had commented to Chitts about how many people we had seen pulled over repairing punctures!). Took the wheel out and tried to shake the Stans sealant into the gash to get it to seal, pumped it up and rode off for about 200m when noticed it going down again so pulled over and took out the rim strip and put a tube in. Got back on the bike and realised I had left my sunglasses at the first stop so decided to ride back against heavy traffic to try to find them, rode most of the way then realised I was wasting too much time so turned around and recommenced on my way. Checked the Garmin - 15 minutes of stopped time plus another 3 or so minutes wasted riding back to look for the glasses....Argh its going to be one of those races!

Got to 10 Mile Hollow and pushed on eating the PB&J sambo on the climb out when I started picking up quite a few riders. Lost some time in the techy section to the bottom of Shepherds Gully as the hard tail and the tube in the rear tyre meant I took more conservative lines. Waited an age (6 minutes) at the canoe crossing to walk which I wasnt happy about. Drafted some guys on the road to Womerah Range start feeling strong and then powered up to the top in record time - picking up lots of riders but having the odd cramp in the legs on the steep up hill sections. Flew down Jacks Track and along the road back to St Albans happy that not one rider had passed me since the Canoe crossing. Final time was 5:48:33 so 5 minutes faster than last year but I estimate ride time was around 5:23 after adjusting for sunglass hunt so happy to have shaved 27 minutes off the ride time. Felt good and strong at the end which I was also happy with and maintained the average heart rate at around 160 which seems to work well for me. Garmin results here

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/8134375

Post race it was interesting to note just how many people had punctures and / or sidewall rips this year and also how most of the people that did sub 6 hour times last year seem to have shaved 20-40 minutes off their times this year ie 100th rider was 5:45 last year and 5:25 this year. Lessons - perhaps a UST tyre on the back of the hardtail for races in the future as standard tyres cannot seem to take the punishment from high speeds on rocky terrain.