So when the surgeon told me I could start mountain biking on August 21st I was stoked that the SRAM Singlemind 7hr Enduro at Wingello was on that very same day. Ripper I could enter that, but not before heading out on a sneaky 5hr mtb the weekend before from Castlemaine to Daylesford to get the feel of my bike back and some endurance in the legs. (hadn’t been ridden since March) About 1hr in we hit a kangaroo, us 1, roo 0. Then it was a quick stop in the bike shop in Canberra as we live in hillbilly central nowhere near a bike shop we got some supplies. After leaving Marlo we arrived in Wingello State Forest some 8hrs later to rain and mud whilst Marlo was having its first sunny day in about a month. We set up the tent and headed out on a practice lap. My knee, hip and throat were feeling sore and I was started to get bad vibes about being at the race. No showers out in the bush so we cooked up a quick pasta then jumped into our tiny tent all muddy and tried to get some sleep through the downpour.
I was started to have massive doubts about racing, with 1 very slow 5hr mtb all the training I had had, and some short road rides I was massively underdone and concerned if I fell on my hip that I would break my femur. I convinced myself that I would take it very easily, stop when I wanted to stop and be careful. It seems the closer you stay to race HQ, the later you are to the event. 30mins before the race I asked Al to put some more ait in my rear tyre, my tubeless valve decided to bog itself and we decided to put in a tube. Madly trying to organise food and drinks for the race, we just made it to the start line in time and consequently started way back in the field. All I had to do was not fall off I kept saying to myself. According to my polar clock on my bars, this plan lasted all of 4min 32seconds. Heading round the first bend it was quite sandy and the competitor next to me slid out and lock straight into my bars and 5 of us hit the dirt. Quick examination of the hip and I was good to go, fuelled with adrenaline and angry at what had happened, I hammered out a 38min lap and came through in 1st place solo female, not realising it at the time.
Halfway through the next lap I realised my back tyre was going flat, having never gotten a flat on my MTB in training or racing, I was significantly annoyed but set about changing it as quickly as possible. My co2 canister failed miserably, as did the next 2 I tried that some kind folks lent me. A fellow competitor lent my her pump which I had no idea how to use, and then a guy called Dave in a totally rockin CLIF bars ONESY skin suit quite easily pumped it up with his co2. Made it back round to transition and headed out for another lap, keen to catch the solo chick who I’d been chatting with before the flat. Got about 10mins up the road and rear tyre had flatted once again. Ok time for a new tube me thinks. New tube in, c02 on, and kapow co2 explodes without putting any air in, try another one, same result. What’s the definition of insanity – doing the same thing over expecting different results..... That seemed to be what was happening to me right now. So after having 4 c02’s fail, a tubeless vale and 2 tubes fail I had a quick tanty then started walking back to transition and realised my polar computer had broken off my bars. It was at this time I saw Al coming up the climb, so focused on getting up on his SS rig that he didn’t even realise I was there until I yelled at him. Sitting in 3rd in SS, he was torn between helping me and racing. I was upset and whinging declaring I was going to go back and sit in the car. He tried to tell me to get it fixed and get back out there. Having a small domestic on the top of what we named “Tanty hill” ongoing competitors came up the climb looking a little bewildered and asked if we were ok to Al’s response “It’s ok, she’s my girlfriend” Scooted back to transition where I took my bike to the mechanic to get a new valve and ran into a mate who I hadn’t seen for 8 months so chatted to her for a bit then I got bored and cold so decided to head back out on the track. I also thought to myself HELLOOOO I have been sitting out on the sidelines for 6 months, no amount of flats, exploding co2’s or dodgy tubes could ruin my first race back as it was just RAD to be RIDING!!
The track was surprisingly tacky and not a lot of mud which was great. There was quite a lot of fire road and I was feeling for the SS riders who were busting their guts up the climbs only to be caught again on the flat and downhill sections, legs spinning like crazy. Then again, who’d be silly enough to ride a SS....... The single-track was smooth and flowy and a couple of pinch climbs were really felt towards the end of the race as the legs were burning. I soon learnt that racing unfit requires you to leave your ego at home. I had to keep reminding myself that this race was only for training, that it was simply to get fitter for the Scott 24hour. Easier said than done though, and continual thoughts of how much fitter I used to be, and how my skills used to be heaps better, and how I COULD and SHOULD be in a better position. I kept comparing my race to if I was fit, and you can’t do that when your racing unfit. I guess I can see why some people only race when they’re fit, but racing is what makes you fitter and you need to work with what you’ve got.
I was lucky enough to catch up to Al and ride the last 3 laps with him which was good fun as we don’t usually get to race together. We pulled each other along, both absolutely spent and I was relieved when I crossed the line 2 minutes after the 7hour mark, no chance to go out on another lap!! Thank goodness. Packed up the esky and tent, this was the first enduro we had done where we did our own support and it worked pretty well.
We jumped in the car and headed on the 6 ½ trip home. At about 10pm we hit the windy sections and the logging trucks came whizzing by we knew it was stupid to be driving but needed to get home for an 8am start at work the next day. Then we hit another roo, this one was bigger and this one got wedged underneath the car. Pulling onto the side of the road it took a bit of manoeuvring and Al trying to yank it from out of the grill to be able to continue driving. Us-1, Roo-1. Needless to say the Nescafe’s were being smashed at work the next day. In regards to the event itself, for the entry fee of $80 it would have been good to get some more goodies in the show bag, and an acknowledgement of the top 3 SS riders at presentation as there was a category in the race. Organisers did a fantastic job handling the weather conditions and provided a well run event. A massive thanks to the 4 people who stopped along the way to help and at the end of the race I had acquired 4 co2’s, a pump and a tyre lever! A big thanks to the volunteers, race organisers, Ay-Up Lights, Giant Bikes and Nuun Hydration, boy it’s GOOD TO BE BACK ON THE BIKE!!!!!!!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment