I had this race biro-ed into the calendar as it fitted perfectly – the start of school holidays, a good 8 hour hit-out 2 weeks before the Scott24 to practise pacing and nutrition, and not to mention it would also feature some of the tracks from the Scott. So when the hip pulled up very sore after the weekend priors training sessions I was feeling pretty bummed when it looked like I couldn’t race. I rested all week and at 9.15pm on Thursday (race entries closed 10pm) the surgeon rang to discuss another issue (I had been hassling his PA for 12 weeks waiting for his call) I asked him what the hell was going on, why was I having the same pain in my hip when it’s been operated on? Easy he said, the scar tissue around the hip capsule had been disrupted, this would happen for the next 12 months bringing some pain but load up with anti-inflams and I’ll be right. Can I race the 8hr? What about the 24hr were my only questions. Go for it he said. Excellent, so jumped straight on www.rockytrailentertainment.com.au and booked us into race.
School finished early so we headed up the Hume, free for 2 weeks and what a great way to start the holidays!! Setup camp at Stromlo and had an ordinary night’s sleep, must have gone bit too hard on the anti-inflams and the stomach wasn’t appreciating it. I had my new Giant Advanced, having only ridden it for about 2hours prior and it was in a totally new position after having a proper bike fit I was wondering how an earth this race would pan out for me.
Waking up in the morning the temperature had dropped and the wind had picked up, we were freezing as we waited for Mike “Tomo” Tomoralis” to kick things off. The race started at the respectable time of 9.15 and with the weather being less than ideal organiser’s cut the race short to 7 hours. 1 lap in and I soon realised it was a mistake to wear a long sleeve winter top as I was sweating up a storm, and that it was going to be a long 7hrs as my stomach was not feeling the love. Riding around the track I had mixed feelings, I had only ever ridden at Stromlo once on these very tracks- at last year’s 24 hour Worlds and that was the most brutal and painful 24 hours of my life oh how the memories came flooding back!! The first half of the course we climbed, the second half we flew downhill. Thankfully riders spread out across the course after the second lap, but it was a bit hairy on the first couple of laps as the 4 hour riders who set off 1 minute behind us were obviously going full gas from the get go. My race was nearly cut short on the first lap when I went through the bridge at the top of the biggest berm on the planet a.k.a the ‘Luge’ and opted to go right and nearly launched myself off the downhill jump. I somehow managed to not go over the edge but lost time as I waited to rejoin the track as many riders flew by.
Struggling after the first lap I did my best to get into a tempo and decided I would ride a sensible pace until 2 hours to go and then I would try to put the foot down. At the 4hour mark I came within 20metres of Sarah, the race leader, coming up the climb and the switchback nature of the course meant she could see me coming as well. As there was still close to 4 hours left in the race, I decided not to chase, but rather stick to my race plan and hope she would blow up after I noticed she increased the tempo when she saw me approaching. The track was just as brutal on the upper body as I remember and it was my shoulders, arms and hands that were starting to tire well before my legs. Soon enough 2pm rolled around and it was time to put the foot down, this lasted about 30mins before I felt like I was starting to put myself in the box. I knew I needed to make up the time on the climbs as Sarah was an excellent descender. I was flying down the hills wondering how an earth I could go any faster but knowing I needed to in order to catch her.
The rocky track took its toll on competitors, with many tubes, sidewalls, chains and even a collar-bone being busted. Al’s race didn’t pan out too well unfortunately. On his 3rd lap he flatted once, on his 4th lap he flatted again and then ripped his sidewall, halfway through the lap this meant a 1 hour work back to transition. He then set about finding a replacement tyre, specialized were the only ones with a 29er tyre and it had a price tag of $90. Unfortunately we only had $70 in cash and they wouldn’t accept card. Aside from that, it was a very enjoyable and challenging race. I tried my best to focus on being smooth and fast descending but was beaten by a much smoother and better descender! It was awesome having Tomolaris commentating, it was most exciting hearing your name being called out every lap by cycling’s most recognisable voice. It made me feel like I was riding in the Tour De France!! I decided not to delve too much into the hurt box 2 weeks out, and used the race as training, although I must admit my last lap I was busting a gut trying to catch Sarah.
Unfortunately the weather turned ugly and we were kept awake by a thunderstorm that threatened to flood our tiny tent. Although it was quite amusing when we decided to move our tent at about 11pm to drier land, and to see our camping neighbour totally confused thinking we had blown away. “There was definitely a tent here last night, oh my goodness the tent here is gone......”we couldn’t help but laugh and in the end I gave him a friendly wave from across the way to assure him we were still there. The Uber weekend had loads on, with a 4X event, a time trial, skills clinics and slalom events however the weather resulted in quite a few people headed home early.
We headed over the Bruce Ridge with a mate to check out the trails. We stopped for a drink break and a heard a cracking noise, thinking to myself that sounds like a branch breaking I looked up in the air and the branch nailed me. Luckily it was only small and didn’t do any damage! All in all a great weekend and it was good to come away with a 2nd place. A big thanks to Giant, my Anthem rode awesomely and I can’t wait to race on it for 24 hours in a couple of weeks!!
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