When we told our non-mountain biking friends we were going to Adelaide for the Kona Dirty Weekend we certainly got some interesting looks. For our mountain biking friends, they knew exactly what it meant! The Kona Dirty Weekend was held by Bicycle SA on 16th/17th April and saw us make the road trip to Adelaide so Al could compete in the 24 hour solo race, with me as support crew. It was awesome timing being the middle week of school holidays meant we did not have to get any time off school and could have a little holiday in Adelaide.
The race started at 2pm, so we made the trip up through the Adelaide hills that morning. Setting up was a little tough as I was feeling a bit green from the windy roads to Cuddlee Creek, and most of the trackside places had already been taken by other support crews. We managed to find a piece of grass on a fairly steep incline about 10 metres from the track, next to a couple Jane and Gaz who were competing in the 24 solo. Looking at their elaborate and organised set up they had clearly done a few of these!! Once setup it was time for Al to eat, drink and put his feet up and wait for the clock to strike 2!! Race briefing at a 24hour feels like there is a nervous energy buzzing cloud in the air, hovering over as many riders prepare to ride their bikes for what seems like an outrageously long time! They would be riding for 12 hours in light and 12 ½ hours in pitch black!! The fear and nerves in their eyes said it all!!
Speaking to a few of the locals, the track had been changed from last year, and there were whispers that the course would be more difficult than the recent World Championship 24hour at Stromlo. Surely not!!!! 2pm come soon enough and the twenty one 24 hour soloists were off. With 114 entrants in total, this event offered something for everyone. A 6 hour, 12 hour (split into 2 x 6hrs giving competitors a chance to sleep through the night) and a 24 hour event had solo and team entrants. The course was 10.9km, which we had estimated would take Al roughly 45 minutes to complete. When I saw the leaders charge through at 45-50 minutes I was starting to wonder if our estimations were a little skew-if. Indeed they were; a course with almost 100% single track would result in lap times being slower than anticipated. The course was described as full of switchbacks and rather technical for a 24hour, but no doubt a lot of fun. Once the riders were off, the event village was pumping to keep riders, team members and support crew entertained. They did a great job with the Torq van providing energy, a mobile cafe serving delicious food and coffee and the red bull tent pumping some tunes which gave the event an awesome vibe.
When Al came through the pit in over an hour, towards the end of the riders, with his number plate hanging by a thread and blood down his arm and leg it was obvious something wasn’t right!! Not exactly the start we had hoped for! About 7 minutes into the race, the rider in front of him had skid out and with nowhere to go Al found himself catapulted over the handlebars crashing badly on his head and right shoulder. Next lap he came back to the pit in an even slower time advising me his right arm had pins and needles down it. He was obviously in a lot of pain but was refusing to stop, and kept saying ‘it’ll be right.’ I went for a walk through the pit crews and found an off duty paramedic who came up and spoke to Al after this next lap, which, by this stage his arm intermittently going completely dead and the movement in his neck and shoulder were fairly limited. Obviously struggling with the decision to ride on or not, we decided it would be best to go to emergency to make sure no nerve or spinal injuries had been obtained in the crash.
Needing to pack up the marquee and all the gear in the dark which luckily my Ay-Up head torch made things a lot easier and quicker. As did the help from our next door neighbour’s support crew, big thanks to those guys!! The GPS sent us on a dirt road for about 20km’s, which was badly corrugated and had Al flinching in pain the whole way down. Worried we were doing more damage by not keeping his neck completely still we were holding our breathes as the GPS took us past some weird looking hillbilly places. The numbness in Al’s arm was a result of swelling in the shoulder and neck pinching the ulna nerve with every small bump or movement and thankfully no permanent damage was done.
Unfortunately our Kona Dirty Weekend was cut short and it was a shame to miss the night’s events and Day Two, which was sure to be quite eventful, especially in the men’s field. The women’s field was vastly underrepresented with only 1 competitor, Jane Hutchinson, who managed a fantastic 15 laps. Awesome effort considering when you come in to pit at 3am and you know you have the event won, it would be quite easy to stop riding, however Jane kept riding through and placed 45th overall. Super effort!! Come on girls, have a crack!! Steven Lee took out the Solo male category with an impressive 25 laps, placing 18th overall. Team Orbea had a close tussle with Bobby Dazzler’s for the male 4 person team with a whopping 32 laps. In the 12 hour event, Anne Antrecht and Dean Jones took out the solo wins.
This event was run superbly, with the event village really pumping and friendly smiling faces everywhere you looked. Suggestions for next year would be to include a bit more fire-trail in the loop to give riders more of an opportunity to eat and drink, as some described the course suited to a cross country race rather than a 24. Perhaps having some merchandise such as tee-shirts would be good for competitors so they have a souveniour of their epic feat, as well as having more room track side for support crew. It was quite a tad annoying having to race down to the track with food and drinks and then have to run back up the slope if riders needed a bike tool or something else. A big thank-you and well done to Bicycle SA, sponsors, volunteers for running a fantastic event!
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