THE ‘A’ LINE WANTS YOU: JUBBALAND ROCKS!!!!

THE ‘A’ LINE WANTS YOU: JUBBALAND ROCKS!!!!

It was that time of the year, the last weekend of August. That means only one thing. JUBBALAND 6 HOUR ENDURO was here. I freakin’ love this race, it reminds me of when I first got into MTBing and it means I get to home for a weekend of fun riding and catching up with mates! We rolled in on Saturday and I was keen to take Al on the sweet single track that goes from my folks house right to Jubbaland, do a practice lap, then ride home. Should only take an 1 ½ hours or so. My navigation skills are extremely ordinary and even though I had ridden the track 2 weeks earlier and was feeling confident it took a bit 5 minutes and I was lost.

Finally made it out to Jubbaland for a practice lap and I remembered my love hate relationship with the track. The hate stems from some of the technical, switchback rocky climbs and descents, getting frustrated when I stuff it up and going back to try it over and over. Then feeling the love when I finally nail that A line. The first A line on the track, took me almost a year of riding to it then chickening out before I finally went over it. Looking back over my training diary I have written NAILED THE A LINE AT JUBBALAND WAHOOO thats how special that day was for me, and the feeling of satisfaction I got from finally going down it. However that A line is scary that I think I simply felt relief that I had made it down alive. There was no sense of wow that was nowhere near as scary as I thought it would be, I can do that no worried now. It was all HOLY S#*& how did I not just kill myself. So I decided I wouldn’t be attempting it in the race, and when I went through on my second lap of the race and it had been taped off, I seriously wondered if perhaps someone had died on it the lap before. So our Saturday ride turned into a 3hr stint, not ideal and it would seem my race would follow the ‘not ideal’ routine as I did things that you know you shouldn’t do.

1.      Long ride with not much food and drink the day before instead of resting

2.      Using nutrition on race day you’ve never used before

3.      Not taking weather into consideration and having not enough bottles out

4.      Following other people’s advice on how much to drink, knowing I drink a lot more

5.      Changing bike setup dramatically 2 days before a 6hr race.
(Also not ideal was the Le Mans running start when I was under strict instructions from the surgeon not to run, but as Jake told me I could cheat I made a ew shortcuts to get to my bike)

The first 2 hours were painful, it was hot and I was using Hammer Perpeteum which is a high carb drink that one drink bottle would last me 2 hours for. However, due to the sun being out and me knowing I drink loads of water I was cursing this decision. I was feeling dehydrated and wonky in the head, I needed more fluid. Third lap I decided to grab a Nuun, take my time and get myself feeling good again. Just wanting to get through the race, I settled into a rhythm and decided to ride my own race, not chasing down the solo rider in front of me.

The Thursday before the race I changed my flat narrow bars to riser bars, flipped my stem, changed my saddle and chose a comfier higher position on my bike to try to negate the wrist pain from the weekend before. After Saturday’s ride I woke up with sore hamstrings and lower bike. Not ideal. Once again I set out with ‘this is just a training ride, I’m not here to race, my goal is to finish upright.’ And once again as soon as the gun went off, those thoughts went out the window.

The track is like 1 massive 10km rock garden. It’s tough to eat and drink as its 97% singletrack and the fire roads are loose and uphill. It’s a challenging course and any errors can result in significant damage. I saw loads of people with busted sidewalls, flats, busted derailleur’s, busted chains and even a busted bike or two. It seemed you needed to carry a spare bike with you just to get through the race!! Knowing the course and the conditions was a massive advantage and running my bike suited to the conditions results in no mechanicals or stacks for the day. The track took plenty of casualty’s as some were impatient in waiting to pass as well as fatigue hitting towards the end which resulted in silly mistakes being made. I decided with 1 ½ hours to go I would see what the legs had in them and up the anti a bit. On my second last lap I managed to get myself into what I thought was 3^rd position and decided to go hard until the hard.  (Pic: Marty nailing the A line with perfection as usual)

My legs were feeling surprisingly good up the climbs, but I was erring the side of caution on the technical descents to avoid stacks. I found myself struggling to get up the technical climbs which I had gotten up no dramas earlier on, I didn’t have the concentration or fitness to get up them in the latter parts of the race. I was taking comfort in seeing many other riders feeling the same way!! I was saying to myself ‘don’t hit that log’ and 3 seconds later would hit the log, or ‘don’t go off the track’ and no doubt I would go off the track. It was on the tight switchback rocky climb I knew I needed to get up to try to maintain my position, and that’s where I stuffed it up. A chick overtook me here, looking strong, and I thought she’s looking too strong to be a solo rider, she must be in a team. I convinced myself I didn’t need to bother chasing her, and I would keep my tempo and roll into 3^rd all going well. What I didn’t realise was I was actually in 2^nd, and that strong fresh looking chick was in solo, and she had just overtaken me in the last 15mins of the race. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and I have been kicking myself that I didn’t go harder and chase her down however I’m pretty sure I was going as hard as I could, and she was definitely looking much stronger than what I was feeling!! Turns out the solo chick was local rider, Kim, and she got back just before the clock struck 4pm and smashed out another lap, whilst I got back 1min after. Which I was massively relieved at the time as I really don’t know if I could have done another lap even if I had of known where I was at.  Pretty stoked with 3rd though.

Jubbaland is a rippin course, its brutal on the body and kudos to the SS RIGID rider who broke his downtube. I was smashed on a dually 4 inch travel bike. Some people say it’s a XC course or for team races only, however it is a race that challenges solo riders, you’ve gotta be fit and you’ve gotta have good technical skills. And best of all, it doesn’t suit roadies and puts guys who rock up with all the gear no idea back in their box. There are lots of enduro’s out there that all you need is fitness to go well, here you need to be fit and be able to handle a mtb. There was a greater sense of accomplishment as I got home feeling absolutely smashed from head to toe.

The atmosphere at the event, on Saturday night and Sunday is stella. Camping, a bon fire, kids races and 16” races its a weekend the whole family can enjoy. A big thanks to Jake, Rocky Riders and the Jubba family for organising such a rad event. Thanks also to Giant, Ay-Up Lights and Nuun Hydration for our support and counting down to next year’s race already!!!

sweet as handcrafted trophies