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Fling box ticked
After reading the other accounts and it being my first Fling experience, I thought I'd put my ride down in print, too. Disclaimer: Chronologically, some of the tracks may have been in a different order to what is mentioned.
Kudos to all those in the race. It was ouchy! Kudos squared to those who did the full Fling, and cubed to the 100 milers! Wow...nuts...
Having heard all the good stories about the Fling I thought I'd give it a whirl, well the Half anyway. The timing of the event was perfect with the Mont a couple of weeks ago and a particularly busy few months coming up at work.
The Fling - Done and Dusted
To say I was nervous for this years’ Highland Fling would be an understatement. There were a few new faces racing this year which just added to nerves. To top it off I was questioning whether my training had been sufficient. Normally I focus on a combination of base and interval sessions but this year just couldn’t find the time (or desire) to get up early for those long base rides – I guess having 3 kids sort of takes up any spare time you thought you might have had.
Mont 24hr 2015
The meeting times are 'ready to ride'. If you need time to prepare equipment then please arrive a few minutes earlier.
The Ride Canberra site describes the main forest entrance as being the corner of Kowan Road and Sutton Roads. There is a parking area 5km into the forest along Kowan road with gates that may be locked. Call Canberra Connect (13 22 81) for the combinations or ride from Sutton Road for a warm up.
TRAIL BUILDERS OF THE APOCALYPSE...
The theme for the 2015 Mont is horror. Think zombie trail builders, creatures from the black lagoon, the Mummy, Adam's Family and all the other creepy monsters that lurk in the dark. Join us for a horribly good time on March 28-29. It will be Monstrous. It will be Ghoul.
Ride the Kow!
THE 2015 COURSE
First DNF for a while
The Fling is my favourite event of the year and was the reason I kept getting out of bed early each morning over Winter. 3 weeks ago, as I was building my last pyramid of training for this race those familiar razor blades in the throat hit me. Doh! My chest cleared a couple of days before the race so I decided to have a go despite my throat & sinuses feeling crap.
10 down, 10 to go.
A few years ago I decided that doing 20 Flings in a row would be a fun goal to set. At about 10am yesterday I decided I was done, 10 was enough. But I’m pleased to say that by 11:15am I was back on track looking forward to Fling number 11.
Highland Fling 2014 - how hard can it be?
I’m not sure really where to start with this write up as I have mixed feelings about this year’s Fling, both of satisfaction on the outcome and the lingering sensations of pain in my legs that caused it.
Last year I finished the race in 5:23 and in 33rd in category (vets), this year I rode about 1 minute quicker and finished 2nd (for the last time in vets), I think this goes to show the toughness of the route changes in 2014 – the race simply felt hard, from beginning to end.
First Ever Half Fling
First ever Half Fling, second ever race, and I am equal parts shattered, disappointed and satisfied.
Even though I was going in knowingly underdone (life gets in the road of training more often than not lately) I had hoped to get around in 4 hours, but as I approached Wingello I realised that was not going to happen.
Rocky Trail Entertainment Gravity Enduro round 3 @ Ourimbah
The meeting times are 'ready to ride'. If you need time to prepare equipment then please arrive a few minutes earlier.
Enter via Red Hill Rd, Ourimbah State Forest. On your right will be 'TreeTops' for the kids and it's large-ish carpark. Carry on past there and the first small clearing which is were parking used to be, and is where the 'Browns' single track turns (you might see riders on your left here). Please do not park in this car park.
Parking and official trail head is now designated a further 350m or so up the road where there is a larger area. There's a CCOMTB notice board here by the trail entrance (on the left as you drive up the hill). Park up nose to curb or as directed.
Round 3 - back to Ourimbah
While the track at Glenworth Valley which we originally wanted to use is great fun we decided that running only 1 track is not enough. So we went to scout out Ourimbah and found something completely different: we will run 3 tracks simultaneously. You shuttle to the start of 1 of them and have neutral rides to the 2 other starts.
3 tracks - shuttled runs to the top of track 1, neutral rides to the starts of track 2 and 3 - 1 run per track - combined time counts
Mondraker / Flowbikes will be tech support at the race for any mechanical issues that you might have.
A painful but enjoyable Fling
Phewww glad that race was over. After the Half Kowalski in September I was looking forward to riding the Fling. I decided to go the full, training involves riding up and down the Oaks for almost 5 weeks in a row, but that wasn't enough as the hills on the Fling are just nastier, longer and there's always another hill around the corner.
Flung
Found this pretty hard this year, which seems to be not an uncommon experience. The changes to the first stage didn't add anything to the race except for lots of ups and downs and sandy fire road corners. Changes to the final stage added a bit of interest with the new sections leading down to the creek crossing, but I found it hard to enjoy the rocky single track towards the end after struggling through Roller Coaster and up Brokeback Mountain. Be nice to have it closer to the start if they could find some way to do that without turning it into a conga line of walkers.....