To finish off any year of mountain biking a team 24hr race is the best way possible. It involves your mates, biking fast and road trip with a dash of camping. Perfect nirvana.
The location was to be Mt Annan in western sydney and the event was run by Rocky trail entertainment. I had the boys from rideettalong.com.au offer me a place in their elite team of 4, the team contained Matt (owner) Jon ( mechanic) Brett ( Machine) and myself (chops) they hooked me up with a sweet brand new kit, which just happens to match my Turner flux from www.scvimports.com.au as my birthday was recently I was able finally got rid of my 4yo avids and threw on an XO drivetrain for good measure.
The road trip began on a Friday morning in a caravan convey, and I became 'one' of those people with a flattyre on the F3. I had the pleasure of pumping the spare up with a track pump to keep us rolling on. The closer we got to the race track the itcher my legs got to get out on the track, A trail I had not seen before had me chomping at the bit to go riding. Reality hit real quick, as you stepped out of an air conditioned car into 30 plus heat! The men who we hired a circus tent from showed up to erect the marquee, to get the party started.. I headed out around 4pm for my first lap here.. I return and make some changes to my fork pressure, I ran them a little bit softer to feel the floating affect so to keep good traction on the hard pack. I headed out again looking to smooth out the track and to make the pinch climbs more efficient, I found the best line for the rock gardens and really got my sweat on. Now to rest up till race time.
Come midday on Saturday the oven was turned to Roast, but we hustled into the start line. MC Crafty kept the humour high with seeding positions by how smooth ones legs were.
The pace was on from the gun with a lap of the camping ground to stretch the field out, riding along inside the top 10 with so many different categories their was no need to burn the legs early just to beat the odd 6+6 rider to the single track.
We started our race with only 3men, after my third lap Jon was in transition ready for his first lap, and his first lap here a 28min lap was posted. Conditions really improved when the southerly hit in the late afternoon combined with some torq powder Jon brought from the shop and having a longer pit stop between laps I was supercharged as my next lap will be my last before the sun sets, I was able to get my lap time down to 26:02.. I was pumped and really had the track dialled.
The lights go on but we all seemed to struggle with depth perception on our first lap, second time around everything seemed a lot more natural, compared to the start the temperature seemed perfect for every other 24hr race I've done being in Canberra, racing at night and not feeling cold was a pure delight. We start to hit up some double laps through the night as we fought to catch 2nd place. The race was way to exciting and non of us got any sleep. Matt had the dawn lap honour with clouds to spoil any sun that could of shone through. We now race one lap each to keep the intensity high and the enjoyment even higher. 8am comes around and we have found ourselves just minutes from the lead, it creates a huge smile on my dial and matt has a 'let's go hunting' look in his eyes. I await matts arrival in transition keeping a close eye on the timing computers to try and find out what the team we are chasing looks like, they come through on a 29min lap.. Now I just need matt here real soon so I can close the gap.. He does arrive within 2mins and I stomp it out of the event centre with a taste of blood, I hunt down our competition and pass him before the shimano switchbacks, and finish the lap as hard as I could to most my second fastest lap. The leaders gave me a good sledge as I appeared from the scrub before their rider :)
I send out Jon with the info that we are in front, he holds the lead, brett then steps up to ride thru cramping legs to keep our lead, when matt goes out he was only 4 seconds in front.
My plan now is really get us in front, 2nd place was chasing hard so I had to really pull out something special so I can give my team mates one last lap to. My lap begins with crusty legs after posting a low 26min lap before hand. Knowing every minute I was on course was getting us ahead of 2nd place gave me enormous amount motivation to really bury myself.
I rip into transition but excelerate straight back out, in the corner of my eye I see a raging bull chase me, oh it's just brett. I yell I got this covered as he chokes on some dust. I finish my double as the day is heating up and I was very cooked I refuel the best I can while battling my eyes from staying shut. We now have a 7min lead, we all wait nervously for brett to return not knowing how his legs will go it was a nervous wait. Jon heads out to smash his last lap while I wait with matt as the tension builds 2nd place is closing in on us but it's just one last lap matt. The pep talk of keeping the lines smooth but riding to empty the tank works well, we make the final tag at 1145am and I'm back on course one last time 'don't crash keep pushing don't crash keep pushing' was circling through my thoughts I did drift off into ' how good is this we are going to win' my legs where so toast. Hitting the finish line to a huge cheer from the 30 coasties that where there and crafty revved up the crowd, I took the beer that was offered and really enjoyed spraying team mates and the crowd with it.
Winner by 2min 30. Wow what a race.
Justchops :)
