With expected temperatues of 30 degrees i wasnt lookin forward to slogging it out around mogo. We drive down on sat arvo for the rego and hang around catchin up with ppl for a while, its already hot enough on sat n sun is gonna be worse!
So up at 5 meet my uncle at the turn off n we r on our way. Still half asleep n not havin much time to get ready i ride to the start line where we r told there is different start groups depending on how fast u think you will do it. I decide against group 1 which is under 5:45 n go in group 2, 6 mins later. This turns out to be a good idea as me n two single speed guys break away from the pack n get the trail to ourselves for a while with no trafic.
After about 10km we catch up with the tail end of group 1, seems they over estimated themselves a bit lol. I ended up riding by myself for a while at this stage and must have passed about 30-40ppl from group one. I finally caught up to one of the single speeders at about 40km n we rode together for a while havin a chat.
I felt good comin throught the 50km mark n stopped for some fluid refills, only takin about 30 seconds, thanks chops, n i was off again. All was good untill about the 62km mark when the mother of all climbs hit me!!! It must have been at least 8km long n was just painfull, 35 degrees out on the track i found out later on, and so dusty too. I rode this hill with one other guy, both of us grinding away askin each other why the hell we were doin this??? me too stubborn to put it in granny ring so just pushin away in the middle.
Finally we reach the top n with a nice breeze its into about 5km of awesome downhill single track, bermed corners and all! Definately worth the climb (just lol) Not too many long climbs for the rest of the second 50 luckily but im still exhausted, about 5km left to go and id caught a lot of ppl that were struggling. Takin a gamble that there was no climbs left i put it in the big dog, head down, painful look on my face and start to reel in all these tired ppl. After about the 5th person im running on adrenalin only but still makin up places. I sprint the last 5oom and get 3 more places to give me 16th in open male and 36th overall. Unable to even get my helmet off or talk, chops pours water over me as im slumped over my bars, rediculously buggered but cheer up a bit when i find out i did it in 5hr21min! awesome time!!! Alot of ppl werent ready for the heat, me included, it was good to c how many actually finished the race n still had a smile on their face.
Was a great track, very challenging but very rewarding ill definately be back next yr, look out group 1!!!
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
Race results so far..........
Here are my race results for the last few months since i decided to actually get serious and have a go, ill update them whenever i finish a race. Category places r listed first then the overall place. As u can see ive been racing basically every wkend!
APRIL:
Central coast club round 3 at Ourimbah short course 2nd place
JUNE:
NSW state round 2 at Ourimbah 6th place
JULY:
Western sydney club round 5 at Blue gum lodge 9th place
Central coast club round 6 night race at Ourimbah 3rd place
Merida x-fusion 6 hour solo at Nowra 8th place
NSW state champs at Blue gum lodge 5th place
AUGUST:
Coffs harbour 100km race 2nd place! 12th o/a
NSW state round 4 at Lithgow 4th place 6th o/a
Three ring circus 50km race at wingello 8th place 20th o/a
Working week series 8 hr 2 man team at Sparrow Hill 2nd place!
SEPTEMBER:
Central coastclub round 8 reverse loop at Ourimbah 3rd place
100km race at Mogo 1000 entries 16th place 36th o/a
rocky trail gtp 4hr at awaba 2nd place behind gordo!
APRIL:
Central coast club round 3 at Ourimbah short course 2nd place
JUNE:
NSW state round 2 at Ourimbah 6th place
JULY:
Western sydney club round 5 at Blue gum lodge 9th place
Central coast club round 6 night race at Ourimbah 3rd place
Merida x-fusion 6 hour solo at Nowra 8th place
NSW state champs at Blue gum lodge 5th place
AUGUST:
Coffs harbour 100km race 2nd place! 12th o/a
NSW state round 4 at Lithgow 4th place 6th o/a
Three ring circus 50km race at wingello 8th place 20th o/a
Working week series 8 hr 2 man team at Sparrow Hill 2nd place!
SEPTEMBER:
Central coastclub round 8 reverse loop at Ourimbah 3rd place
100km race at Mogo 1000 entries 16th place 36th o/a
rocky trail gtp 4hr at awaba 2nd place behind gordo!
Sunday, September 6, 2009
single speed, world champs and emergency room
After a longer than expected wait, organising parts, my single speed road bike was finally ready to go this wk! The same afternoon i picked it up i rode straight from my house to kariong hill to test it out. The 15 kms from my house was a good warm up, even tho i was a bit wobbly not having ridden a roadie for yrs, and the first half of the hill was goin good. Up towards the lookout tho was a different story, i only just had enough power in my legs to push up the last bit!!!
So it looks like the boys at bikeworx got the gearing pretty spot on for me, i wanted to be only just able to make it up kariong cause hopefully im only gonna get stronger.
The second ride i had planned on the ss was a bit longer, hopin to do about 2 hours. I set out from mine again and went through springfield and on to henry parry drive. I knew i would have to hit this climb with a run up, but unlucky i got the red light at the bottom of the hill arghhhh!!
From basically a standing start i tried my best to build up speed but didnt get very far, it got real steep real quick! Determined not to give up i was calling my legs all sorts of names to make it to the top, only just made it n needed a rest for a minute to recover. The rest of the ride was pretty good, no big climbs just nice up n down through to tuggerah then the entrance then back home. 50km all up and 1 hour 50min not bad for my second time.
Saturday was our trip down to the world championships in canberra. 4.30 am we left (stupid idea, i hate mornings!!) and got ther about 9. The female elite r up first so we watch the start then head up the hill to the hammerhead to watch ppl stack. Unfortuanately the women all rode it pretty damn good with only a minor bingle. A quick lunch then its time for the mens turn. We decide to watch this start from up the fire road a bit. The sound of 80 riders coming round the corners was awesome!!! They were so fast and about 6-8 wide it was like a frieght train. Up the top we go again for some action. This time we see a massive stack on the rock drop as someonegoes over the bars and bounces their way down (ouch!!) We check out some more sections and i get some awesome photos. Back to the finish line just in time to witness first and second sprint it out after 2 hours and seven laps, the sound from the crowd was amazing, it was like there was 50 000 ppl there!!
Back in the car for the drive home, get there about 10 pm so tired but thanks to brian for driving us and feeding us too, cheers mate.
Ourimbah race today, reverse loop, (doh) and im hoping some fast riders from other clubs turn up so its not just a race between me n chops. Adam Kelly n his mate turn up, sweet game on i say to myself!! While im talking to a mate chops does a warm up lap and somehow manages to come off and dislocate his shoulder!!!! Damn now i have to chase these 2 on my own! So chops gets driven to emergency n its time to race.
Fireroad start and im right behind adam and his mate, spending the first lap trying to figure out where to go in reverse, i mansge to stay on their tail. 2nd lap n not much has changed, the 3 of us r so close u could have thrown a blanket over us! The other 2 swap the lead a few times with me staying in 3rd hammering my legs. Last lap n we r all so close still, im quite happy with this cause adam usually beats me by a fair bit. With adam in the lead on the last climb his mate makes a move n slips by just before the top. I have absolutely nothing left but still manage to cross the line a couple of metres behind him so 3rd for me, such a flat out race but really happy with how i went. Off to the hospital to c if chops is alright, things arent 2 bad but we have angry doctor next wkend! Hope you have a quick recovery and are able to ride cause it just wouldnt be the same without ya there mate......
So it looks like the boys at bikeworx got the gearing pretty spot on for me, i wanted to be only just able to make it up kariong cause hopefully im only gonna get stronger.
The second ride i had planned on the ss was a bit longer, hopin to do about 2 hours. I set out from mine again and went through springfield and on to henry parry drive. I knew i would have to hit this climb with a run up, but unlucky i got the red light at the bottom of the hill arghhhh!!
From basically a standing start i tried my best to build up speed but didnt get very far, it got real steep real quick! Determined not to give up i was calling my legs all sorts of names to make it to the top, only just made it n needed a rest for a minute to recover. The rest of the ride was pretty good, no big climbs just nice up n down through to tuggerah then the entrance then back home. 50km all up and 1 hour 50min not bad for my second time.
Saturday was our trip down to the world championships in canberra. 4.30 am we left (stupid idea, i hate mornings!!) and got ther about 9. The female elite r up first so we watch the start then head up the hill to the hammerhead to watch ppl stack. Unfortuanately the women all rode it pretty damn good with only a minor bingle. A quick lunch then its time for the mens turn. We decide to watch this start from up the fire road a bit. The sound of 80 riders coming round the corners was awesome!!! They were so fast and about 6-8 wide it was like a frieght train. Up the top we go again for some action. This time we see a massive stack on the rock drop as someonegoes over the bars and bounces their way down (ouch!!) We check out some more sections and i get some awesome photos. Back to the finish line just in time to witness first and second sprint it out after 2 hours and seven laps, the sound from the crowd was amazing, it was like there was 50 000 ppl there!!
Back in the car for the drive home, get there about 10 pm so tired but thanks to brian for driving us and feeding us too, cheers mate.
Ourimbah race today, reverse loop, (doh) and im hoping some fast riders from other clubs turn up so its not just a race between me n chops. Adam Kelly n his mate turn up, sweet game on i say to myself!! While im talking to a mate chops does a warm up lap and somehow manages to come off and dislocate his shoulder!!!! Damn now i have to chase these 2 on my own! So chops gets driven to emergency n its time to race.
Fireroad start and im right behind adam and his mate, spending the first lap trying to figure out where to go in reverse, i mansge to stay on their tail. 2nd lap n not much has changed, the 3 of us r so close u could have thrown a blanket over us! The other 2 swap the lead a few times with me staying in 3rd hammering my legs. Last lap n we r all so close still, im quite happy with this cause adam usually beats me by a fair bit. With adam in the lead on the last climb his mate makes a move n slips by just before the top. I have absolutely nothing left but still manage to cross the line a couple of metres behind him so 3rd for me, such a flat out race but really happy with how i went. Off to the hospital to c if chops is alright, things arent 2 bad but we have angry doctor next wkend! Hope you have a quick recovery and are able to ride cause it just wouldnt be the same without ya there mate......
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