Blogs

I need more training!

My first WSMTB XC race, and it won't be the last.

Did 8 hours out of 12, a fair share for my 1st 12hour pairs race.

In a word this ride turned out to be everything I hoped for, EPIC!

We took it steady, with plenty of breaks to take onboard extra water and food. So it took close to 9hrs to complete. Stopping all stations at: Helipad, Woodford Gate (food), Creek Crossing, Ingar End (food), 2nd Creek Crossing, Woodford Gate (food), Helipad.

I finally banished my 70km demon as I went on to add an extra 106km on the clock. So now I know I can go the distance. I'm a very tired but happy chap this evening.

The WWS round 2:

The way to the start line was interesting as I almost crashed in super big hole hidden under the grass…Mmm that was not a good start. Two other solo girls were next to me at the start and one looked strong (she had The Look..)
Start and here she went like a rocket ….

Getting up at 5am is always hard, but a nice race day makes it worthwhile.

The track this year had a small change from last, with a nice section of technical climbing added that I'm happy to say I cleaned on every lap. Later on though didn't quiet have the strength left to clear the original section later in the course and had to dab on the last two laps. Still - I didn't get up that once last year due to being forced onto the right line so happy with how this went.

Bike: Surly Karate Monkey 29’er and single speed (32/20)
Weather: 25-29 degrees sunny and windless.

My mindset approaching today was that this was a “me” day. I had gotten a day long leave pass to go riding and train for the Dirt Works 100 so I wanted to test ride my SS over a reasonable distance (not just Terrey Hills fire trails) and to see how my ass and quads would survive.

My goal was to ride consistent times but to also keep my average heart rate down to around 150 bpm (85% of max). I knew I would blow it on the hills, but with an average of around 150.

Another great race with the Lap Dancers, this time at Yellowmundi. I was keen to have another go at the 8 hour race as at the first round I couldn't really get in the course and I felt I didn't do it justice, struggling with front end grip and the furnace like heat. This one was different and I loved it. I had swapped my igniter for a new Panaracer XC and it made all the difference, I had controllable front wheel slides and I actually didn't have a crash (who'd have thought?)

After having an amazing time with Gav's friend Ian on Saturday (we saw a fluffy goat, spoon bird, a snake with no teeth and fish) We took the train with our bike and big bags direction to the house of MTB 24h soloist mentor John alias Carlgroover. When the boys were talking, I was working on finishing a really important part of the ARC grant application as I had a big dead line ...Gav called me to have dinner and I had gluten free pasta and supa salty cheese and pasta sauce (no beer).

Well, that was the hardest 8 hour solo i've done so far and i've put the blame mainly on one thing, it wasn't the weather,my fittness,my equipment or the track. it was BEER!

After a big night in bondi on wednesday night, i foolishly backed it up by having another big night on friday after a hot day at work!
i made sure i drank litres of weak endura all day saturday and took even more magnesium than i usually take on a daily basis.