2012: THE YEAR OF BEING INJURY FREE......

When I sat down to map out my goals for 2012, there was really only 1 I was focused on. To be injury free for the year. I have devoted myself to cycling now for 3 years (having crossed over from the triathlon world) and have been sidelined for about 10 months of that due to injury. No other goals about winning races or getting stronger would matter if I wasn’t injury free. After the Scott 24hour I spent about 6 weeks just rolling round on my bike not training too hard but still maintaining my fitness, it took me about this long to fully recover from the race. Following this I was starting to find some good form and was feeling strong. I did some tough hilly rides as a way to monitor my fitness and found them much easier than in the past. I was loving life, school was winding down and I was feeling really strong on the bike, what a rad feeling that is. In the back of my mind I was worried of getting injured as in the past a time frame of feeling strong had generally come crushing down with injury. Still, I was training hard keen to get some good k’s in the legs to start building for Italy where I am heading for the 24 hour World Champs in May.  

I haven’t had the best start to 2012 and achieving my goal of being injury free. My hip has been fine with riding, only feeling pain occasionally on the bike. It has been 6 months since my surgery and I was due for my 6 month follow up with the surgeon. We made the trip to Melbourne and he conducted some movement tests. One test in particular resulted in me levitated off the table in pain. I had been having difficulties walking any more than 1km in distance and walking up stairs and hills was still causing pain. I figured it was part of the 12 month recovery the surgeon had advised me of.

Not pleased with the movement test the surgeon sent me across the road for an MRI of my hip. Results came back showing my rectus femoral tendon was pretty inflamed and not too happy. The good news is the hip joint itself is excellent and the original problem that required surgery has gone. I am not sure if the tendon had been that way the whole time and masked by all the other stuff that was wrong in there, or if I came back too early after the surgery.

The surgeon wanted me to begin PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) Injections, which involves taking 20ml of blood out of your arm, which they spin down in a centrifuge to separate the components. The PRP is then harvested and 4ml of PRP is extracted from the centrifuged blood. Under ultrasound guidance they put this into the tendon and the hip joint. As tendons do not have a blood supply the aim of this treatment is to speed up the healing process and hence get me back on the bike quicker!!

I had packed for 1 night only as I was supposed to be heading back to Marlo after the appointment with some friends to do the triathlon down there. Unfortunately the surgeon wanted me to have the injection done as soon as they could fit me in, that Friday. He said I could continue to ride but try not to walk too much. Unfortunately I hadn’t packed any bike gear so couldn’t do any riding, I went to an RPM class one morning which was a good hit out.  Back down to Melbourne on the train for the injection and then I was going to head to Marlo as I still held hopes that I would be able to do the ride part of the triathlon in a team.

The injection was a bit uncomfortable and a tad painful but the pain I felt in my hip for the next day and a half was worse. It soon became apparent I wouldn’t be going back to Marlo for the tri, I couldn’t walk on it let alone get on a bike. I was advised to spend the next 2 days on the couch, then ease back into it for the next 7 days. I could ride in those 7 days, but 50% of my usual volume and on flat courses. We had planned a training camp in Bright next week, where we were going to do a stack of mtb and road riding, pretty shattered I couldn’t make it as it would have been perfect to kick start my training for Italy with long hard hilly rides. I have to go have another injection in 2 weeks and hopefully it will be better after that. I have to keep reminding myself that taking it easy for 3-4 weeks in the scheme of things isn’t that big of a deal. I need to learn from last year that ignoring the problem will only make it worse. This time last year I ignored the pain in my hip and as a result spent 5 months unable to do any exercise. I must learn from this and realise that I will get strong again, that my fitness will return and that 3-4 weeks of easy riding to get over this injury is the best thing to do. Sitting on the sidelines is never an easy thing to do, but I’ve come to accept that if you are an athlete then getting injured, managing these injuries, resting and recovering and listening to your body is even more important than those long rides or smashing yourself on an ergo.  (Well TRYING my best to do this and to not to be a mopey grumpy pain in the ass) Just got to be patient (IM TRYING!!) and accept my time will come as long as I learn from past mistakes!!!

I spent the next few days in Ballarat watching the Road Nationals which has been enjoyable but also very frustrating, as I remember standing on the sidelines declaring I would be racing there in 2012. Things didn’t pan out that way but by getting on top of this injury now should mean I will be at the start line next year. Watching Amanda Spratt in a solo breakaway with 30kms to go was so motivating and inspiring that I can’t wait to get back out there and race. But first it's back to the surgeon's office next week for another injection and then another 10 days taking it easy then hopefully all will be good and I'll be seeing you out on the trails!!!

MY WICKED WEEKEND AT THE YOU YANGS

A month or so ago Jo from Giant emailed me asking if I could lend a hand at the upcoming Liv/Giant Demo Day held at the You Yangs on December 11^th. The day would involve taking 2 groups of girls out for a skills session. Sure would was the reply and I found myself looking forward to it as getting to ride a heap of other chicks is a rarity for me.

GMBC 3 hour Enduro

That week I was scrolling through a cycling forum and discovered that the Geelong Mountain Bike Club would be holding a 3hr Enduro at the You Yangs on Saturday 10^th. Perfect timing, I felt I had recovered from the Scott and was ready to race again. I was also looking forward to riding the You Yangs as I had never been there.

I left Marlo after school on Friday and stayed at my brothers in the city, unpacking the bike I realised my back tyre was flat. Upon closer inspection I noticed a tear in the tyre and when I tried to put more than 30psi in it would spray sealant everywhere. I hoped it would reseal overnight. I was up early and arrived at the You Yangs with plenty of time to get organised.

I was a little nervous about the race as I had heard the You Yangs were massively technical and rocky but luckily the race was on the other side in Kurrajong. I came back from a practice lap to find a packed transition area, over 120 people had turned up to race! My tyre had held air during the lap however it hadn’t sealed. I wasn’t sure what to do, put in tube or not...? I ummed and arrrrdd and after asking a few guys for advice I chose to leave it and hope it wouldn’t go down during the race.

I wasn’t feeling at all confident as I had hardly been on the mountain bike in the past month and the course contained a lot of sandy corners which have been known to cause me some carnage. I noticed a serious amount of bike bling going on. Everything and everyone seemed to be carbon!!Most riders looked like they rode for a team and I was hearing a lot of carbon wheels roll by making that intimidating sound. A combination of not riding much, serious bike bling and being by myself meant I went against the advice of my coach. I am always told to get up the front at the start as to ensure you don’t lose time trying to pass people. There’s no way I’d be trying to pass these guys though, they looked awesome!! So I put myself about 3/4’s of the way down the field. However that old adage of all the gear no idea shortly came into play when I found myself frustratingly trying to pass quite a few people on the first lap. I reminded myself what the MC had said at the start of the race “Sheep stations were up for grabs a few months ago at the Yowie, if your here to race for those then you better go home”

Three hours is a relatively short time to be racing your bike when your last race was a 24 hour. My race plan was to race hard the whole race, however after the first hour I realised that racing flat out for 3 hours would actually be incredibly hard so I backed it off and found a nice tempo for the next hour and a half. The course was loads of fun, it contained lots of berms and turns. The first half had 1 slight uphill and the second half was all downhill. Although it was a fairly flat course it deceptively made riders tired as we always had to keep pedalling. The weather also made the race harder as it hit 34 degrees and 80% humidity, no wonder I was sweating profusely!! I decided to stop every 2^nd lap for a bottle refill as it was taking me roughly 28 minutes per lap. I made sure I put in a massive effort up that 1 climb and managed to overtake quite a few people each time however was frustrated when they caught me on the downhill more often than not. Must work on those cornering and descending skills over summer!!! I had no idea where I was coming in the field or even how many girls I was racing against (turns out there were 17 which is AWESOME as I had never ridden against that many girls in 1 race before!!!) On my 2^nd last lap I overtook a girl and decided against grabbing a drink bottle for the last lap, it was only 28 minutes without a drink I decided and I didn’t want that girl to catch up. Poor call. Turns out you do need a drink in 28 minutes when it’s hot. Drinking PureSport throughout the race meant I didn’t cramp like I saw many others doing as it was just so hot and humid that the amount of electrolytes lost was insane. My jersey was covered in salt marks!! One highlight would have been on my last lap when I came up to a male rider who said "would you like to pass" I responded with a "when your ready mate" to which he said "Oh man Im about to get CHICKED arent I?" my reply: "dam straight" as I passed!! :P

I went as hard as I could for my last lap and came in over the line in 3 hours and 5 minutes, 3 minutes behind 1^st place and 18 minutes ahead of 3^rd place. Won a piece of rocky road the size of my head, some nice local wine, honey and jam and had an awesome time. A big thanks to Geelong Mountain Bike club for putting on a awesome race ($20 entry fee you can’t go wrong!!) and thanks to Giant and PureSport for their support.

LIV/GIANT DEMO DAY

After the race I headed into Ocean Grove and stayed with my friend Suze who would be coming with me on Sunday. Woke up early and headed into the beach to try to freshen up the legs before heading back to the You Yangs to hang out with the Giant crew and take some girls out mountain biking for the day.

After meeting the other Giant girls we set up all the 2012 bikes including the new Trance and Anthems Giant has and were advised what our roles for the day would be. Sarah and I would be taking the intermediate group out where we would do a lap of the course 2-3 times giving the girls a chance to learn some new skills, test out the new Giants and ride with other ladies. There were about 10 girls in this group and they had some decent skills. I rode at the bike and chatted to Giant rider Stef Hanson for a bit, I think I distracted her asking her loads of questions about her Ironman training that she stacked it into a rock only a few minutes in. All good though she sprung back onto the bike and we proceeded to roll past a group of fully sick Mother drinking downhillers who were looking pretty pleased a group of ladies would be riding past all day.

After the skills session we cooked up a barbie then Norm showed the girls how to change a tyre and break a chain. Shortly after they left another group of girls arrived and we took them through the same as the morning group, with a few of them already raced in a crit that morning. It was awesome to see some of them overcome their fears and go over some decent sized rock drop offs. There was lots of whooping and squealing noises come from the girls and its seemed they were having an awesome time. I really hope they get in to mountain biking now!

We packed up the Giant Van and I headed home. A fantastically fun weekend spent riding, racing and meeting new people. I loved riding with other girls, it was awesome!!! Thanks Giant for letting me be a part of it, can’t wait for the next one!!

PureSport Workout and Recovery Drinks

I’m stoked to announce that I’ll be getting some sponsorship from PureSport, a company with premium performance sports drinks that I have been using in training and for recovery.

PureSport offer 2 types of drinks; ‘Workout’ and ‘Recovery.’ Both have the same delicious flavours Banana/Berry, Grape, Fruit Punch and Lemon Lime and contain whey protein, electrolytes, carbs and antioxidants.  Aside from the awesome taste, what I love most is it provides me with energy but with a low amount of sugar and electrolytes as well as protein so I can recover quicker and be able to back up training and racing consecutive days.

I spent the weekend mountain biking in Bright this past weekend, it was very hot, hilly and the pace was on. I certainly noticed a difference during the ride, I didn’t run out of energy or get dehydrated. When I got home I had a recovery drink and then I was able to head out and do it all again on Sunday. The powder comes in a handy easy-to-tear-open sachet, I carried a heap in my jersey and conveniently added a sachet of powder every time I filled up my drink bottle in the river.  By having 4 different flavours it meant I never get sick of the flavours! This will be great when I race in the 24hour Worlds in Italy as I can keep using the Workout drink right throughout the race, rotating flavours so I don’t get sick of the one flavour. I’ll also be using the recovery drinks in the second half of the 24hour to repair those damaged muscles along the way. Thanks PureSport!!

Head to http://www.puresport.net.au for more info!!

Here is a Michael Phelps commercial, he is sponsored by them too!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mmsrC9S9_g&feature=related

found a couple of picture that sums up what goes on in my head quite often.....

RACING THE SCOTT 24 HOUR

After I had my hip surgery in June I was still feeling a little down and couldn’t figure out why, I was fixed what’s the problem? Conversations were had and we realised I didn’t have a goal. So in July I decided I would be competing in the Scott 24 Hour Australian Mountain Bike Championships to be held at Mt Stromlo on October 8/9^th. That gave me 12 weeks after 5 months off the bike to get back in to the swing of things. I raced in 3 x 6-8hour enduro’s in that time and achieved some good results and began feeling strong on the bike. This is weird, I’ve had all this time off and I am training less than ever yet I am feeling strong. Was it because I was wanting to be out there racing, appreciating every moment I was out there, having let other niggling injuries fully heal and focusing on quality rather than quantity, listening to my body rather than sticking rigidly to a program. Perhaps a combination off all these factors led me to have a great race at the Scott. Somewhere in that time frame I changed my thinking. I wanted to RACE a 24 hour. My previous two 24’s I had RIDDEN, I wanted a greater challenge, I wanted to RACE and I wanted to win.

A race plan was put into place. Only 3 people- my support crew (Al, Loki and Dave) knew the plan and knew we were there to have a crack. The weekend prior had been a pretty busy one, we had gotten married and done quite a bit of walking around Melbourne. My hip had flared up and by Thursday when we were heading up to Canberra I was wondering whether I was actually going to be able to race. Smashing the anti-inflammatorys seemed to help my hip but massively upset my stomach. Opting to rest on the days leading up to the race rather than check out the blue lap which I had not ridden all I could do was hope my hip would hold up. The weather had been ordinary and we were all expected it to be a mud bath, excellent I thought as I know some people are mentally beaten before they step up to the line if it is raining. We set up our pit and waited until the clock struck 11.55 then it was go time.

The course would consist of 2 laps, a blue lap (14.5km) and a red lap (13.5km) coming into transition after each lap. Having ridden the red lap in the 7hr enduro 2 weeks prior I was looking forward to riding the blue lap and had a great time on it for the first 6 hours. However once the dark set in I found myself craving the red lap which was much less technical.

My race plan was to treat it as a long easy training ride, to get myself to 6am and then raise the tempo. The weather surprised us and sitting at the start line it was pretty hot. Race nerves must have gotten the better of me as I went abit nuts on the first couple of laps and Al kept telling me to ease up. I was sweating up a storm and worried I would pay the price through cramps later on. My friend Beth was following my wheel rather closely and over the next few hours I would be convinced I’d dropped her as she would be out of sight, only to come back in to transition to see her right behind me again. On the end of the first lap Phillipa came charging by me and was setting a blistering pace. All I could do was hope she would blow up during the night. I had gone in to total race mode in the beginning, worrying about where my competitors were, not talking to anyone and being totally focused. That only lasted a few hours, by about 7pm I realised I was there to have fun and loosened up a bit, largely thanks to having Brett Bellchambers ride behind me and having a chat I realised it was all about enjoying myself. (Hard not to when you see how much fun he is having out there) What will be will be I told myself and let myself enjoy the ride.

Unfortunately Beth came off and fractured her shoulder putting an end to her race, I have no doubt we would have pushed each other right until the end. Some wicked thunderstorms hit us and some rain, followed by some sunshine which thankfully dried out my kit. At 8pm I decided I would change my socks as they were still wet and I knew the temperature would drop significantly during the night. A couple of mouthfuls of porridge and I was back on the bike. The first 8 hours I was experiencing some stomach problems and had to stop twice to go the loo, cramping in my stomach I was hoping it wouldn’t last the entire race, thankfully it didn’t!

                                                

I was riding my new Anthem Advanced Carbon Dually and it did not miss a beat, I rode a few laps on my 2009 Anthem so Dave could keep my Advanced running clean and smooth. Having the 2 bikes worked a treat and I was able to fly through transition rather quickly. Generally when I rolled in, Al would have a strong carb drink (Hammer Perpetuem) and a Hammer Solid ready to eat, then I would grab a drink bottle off Loki and finally Dave would put some food for the lap in my jersey. This worked a treat and minimised time off the bike.

Al and Loki freezing in the pits!

Throughout the night myself and Liz Smith were swapping places and overtaking each other, I thought Phillipa was still charging out the front and we were in 2^nd and 3^rd. However I later found out Phillipa had stopped and I was actually battling it out for 1^st. At 1.30am I started to feel very ordinary, it seemed everything was in slow motion and all I wanted to do was crawl into bed and go to sleep. I had a very slow lap and the boys decided it was time to have a recharge at 2.30. They sat me down, fed me a bowl of gnocchi, cleaned the bike, massaged my neck and updated me on the race standings. Making sure I didn’t get too comfortable it was time to start on the caffeine. A no doze later and I was rearing to go. Al told me that at 6.30 I would have another 5 minute stop for some porridge and all I had to do was ride smart. At 6am I took the lead and the decision to keep riding was made, there would be no 5 minute porridge stop!

I seemed to feel better the longer the race went and at 9am I decided to increase the tempo and put in more effort up the climbs, then descend smartly easing up a bit making sure I didn’t have a stack. At 10am a rider came past calling track, I told her I would go to the left and there was room for her on the right. I didn’t however see the track sign and run straight into it. Luckily it just bruised my shoulder. I had known coming in to this race that it would be my upper body that would take a hammering and therefore got a bit of work done on my back and shoulders to make sure I could minimise fatigue in this area.

 I kept increasing the gap as the morning wore on and by 11.30 I had a 45 minute lead, still not sure whether I needed to go out for another lap I made sure I had enough left in the tank to complete another lap. I crossed the line at 11.35 and tried to get confirmation about whether I had to head out again, it started to rain and I was hoping so badly I wouldn’t! Liz came up and told me she had stopped and that I didn’t have to head out again as I was already a lap up. The afternoon was a bit of a blur, it hadn’t sunk in at all and I was feeling pretty wrecked and hoping I wouldn’t stuff up the interviews or speeches. A massive thank you to Al, Dave and Loki- best support crew ever it really was a team effort. I reckon that it’s a harder job than riding!! Thanks to Giant for making such wicked bikes and helping me out, thanks to Ay-Up for providing such awesome lights that kept me going all night long, thanks to CORC and all the volunteers for putting on such a great event and for the TICKETS TO ITALY !!!! So looks like we are off to Italy to compete in the World Championships in May next year!!!

Lots of people ask me what I ate during the race so here is a bit of a list:

FOOD:

·        White bread with nutella or vegemite

·        Fruit cake

·        Little muffins

·        Bananas

·        Hammer Gels

·        Gnocchi with pasta sauce

·        Couple of mouthfuls of Cinnamon porridge

·        Couple of mouthfuls of creamed rice

·        Hammer Solids (about 15 of them!)

·        Hammer Bars

·        Carmans Muesli Bars

·        Pikelets with honey

DRINKS:

·        Water

·        Nuun electrolyte tablet with Hammer Gel

·        Hammer Heed

·        Strong Hammer Perpetuem (small cup in transition)

·        Strong Sustagen (after 12am small cups in transition)

 

ROCKY TRAIL SHIMANO GRAND PRIX 7HR @ STROMLO

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 3^rd lap he flatted once, on his 4^th 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 2^nd 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!!

Bear and Courts Tour De Cabbage Adventure

I felt as if I would either sink or swim, I was either going to really love this type of riding, or I was going to yearn for the comfort of my own bed, being clean and warm and having proper food. Obviously heading out for one night is different to going out for 30 days but I felt I could get a bit of a sense for what it’s all about. We ordered a lightweight cooker and headed into the camping shop after work on Friday night to pick it up, all set for our trip. It hadn’t arrive, dam. What to do now, we decided to ponder our options at the coffee shop then an invite for a drink at the pub with the boss sounded appealing. When chatting to the others about what we were thinking of doing, heading out for a bikepacking weekend,  we were told to be careful of snakes, wild dogs, wild farmers with guns whose land we would have to cross, ticks, angry cows and deers. Excellent. A beer, a bowl of chips and some pizza slices later we decided to go jump on the bikes and go. I told my boss if I wasn’t at work on Monday to send out a search party. Al (Bear Grylls) convinced me he knew the tracks and we would be safe. Lights on, energy bars packed, map in hand we headed off.

First part of the trip involved riding 10metres, walking 10metres through cow patties in a muddy cow paddock. I had attached a drink cage under the down tube of my frame and wasn’t overly impressed to see my drink bottle was now covered in cow crap. Let’s hope we find a tap soon. We rode for 2 ½ hours and only diverted off the track once. I have a ridiculously bad sense of direction (I sometimes get lost in Marlo, which is a pretty small town, only 300 people live here) but thankfully Gryllsy can navigate with his eyes closed. We found what we thought would be a nice place to camp and I set out the bivvy and sleeping bags whilst Al set about making a fire. Jumped into bed, and this is where we learnt a few things:

-          Don’t get into your sleeping bag when you’re sweaty from riding. It makes you clammy and uncomfortable and cold

-          Take an inflatable pillow with you. Stuffing a jacket into a sleeping bag cover does not provide any neck support.

-          Don’t get out to pee at 4 in the morning then step in it

-          Don’t decide to camp on a slope

Laying there I felt as if I hadn’t gotten any sleep, but presumed I had or I would have been incredibly bored laying there for 5 hours. When I woke up at 6am freezing my butt off, I felt somewhat of a connection with Rose from the Titanic, feeling similar to when her and Jack are floating in the ocean on a plank of wood. So the first thing I huskily said to Al was “Jack.....Jack......Blow the whistle Jack.....” which then became our catch phrase for the rest of the ride.

 We jumped up and quickly lit a fire to dry to thaw out. Our drinks had turned to ice and a frost had hit. We had some apple energy bars so we put them on a stick and toasted it for breakky. Rode for another hour, with the sun coming up and spectacular views over the valleys I couldn’t imagine any other place I’d rather be. Rolled into Cabbage Tree (yep that’s the name of the town...) to the one and only cafe and ordered some food. Unfortunately all they had were sausage rolls. Having not eaten a sausage roll for years and being a fairly health conscious person it took some self talk and persuading that I need energy to continue riding. It was very delicious and I followed it down with a nice big coffee. Then spent 25 minutes on the loo, there are downsides to eating a healthy diet all the time, you’re not used to it when you have to eat unhealthy foods. Bellies full we headed out on the back tracks towards Bemm River. It was a perfect 25 degrees and we were loving every minute of it. Somewhere along the way I dropped and lost a drink bottle and spent 10 minutes backtracking to find it, with no luck. Starting to get hungry and parched again, I was dreaming of a nice salad sandwich I was hoping to get at Bemm, 3 hours down the track. The trails were pretty rad, fireroads but quite rutted which meant you had to concentrate and use skills making the ride more interesting. We rolled into Bemm and headed to the pub, receiving a less than warm welcome and not seeing anything except greasys on the menu, we headed to the general store for a feed. I wonder what the minimum amount of supplies a shop needs in order to call themselves a general store.... Ice creams, chocolate bars and a jar of vegemite were the only edible items in the shop. A mango ice cream and a cherry ripe later, we were heading out on Old Coast Road to make it back home. Riding along the coast was beautiful, until we hit Pearl Point Track. A 6km sand track, which took us over 2 hours to get through. Ride 10metres, push bike for 10metres repeat over 6kms. It was good fun trying to fly through the sand without coming a gutza the first 3 times, then it got a bit old.

Baking in the sun pushing the bikes though deep sand we ran out of food and water, luckily we were only 18km from home. Cruised in on the bitumen and headed straight to the Marlo store. Relatively incoherent the store owner gave us some delicious big milkshakes to get the sugar levels back up!

So....did I sink or swim?? Looks like training for Tour Divide has officially began!!