Final position. 13th in the open mens. With 18 laps (about 325kms) I did enough laps to secure a position in the world champs next year to be held on the same course.
Spending the Friday night with TR & Rach was a lot of fun. Those guys area a great reality check.
Race Start: 50 mins for my first lap. Smooth, not too fast however not sustainable. I then settled into a more sustainable pace ;-)
After my first lap it was clear the service & seal replacement on my forks didn't fix the leaking problem. They stopped leaking before the sun went down. I would suggest because they ran out of oil. Oh, well. At least I have my eye sight.
At about 6pm I got a small stick that flicked in behind my glasses. The vision in my left eye became instantly blurry. As the night laps went on my left eye vision was fully a blur & I was unable to see out of it. So at 2am I went to the emergency tent, they sent me to the hospital, the wait at the hospital was 6-8 hours! WTF is that about?! I made a self assessment, went back to the race emergency tent, got them to put on a sealed up eye patch so no dust or crap could get in & make it worse. All the while this was happening I was fuelling up!!! 2 1/2 hours later I was back on my bike.
I went out for a night lap with one eye & it was fucked! I finished it but decided I would more than likely axe myself. So I sat back for 20 minutes & waited for the sun to come up enough. I went out & smashed out some more consistent laps. Jason English with 23. Matt_dog with 18!
It was going to be the last lap that TR yelled at me on some of the fastest & most fun part of the trail. "Keep riding dog, there are more hills!!!" I was so cranked up & hungry to eat some more climbingdidn't stop at the transition before heading out for another lap just before the course closed. I simply turfed my empty biddon, my awesome girl saw what was going on & just held out a full one for a hot swap.
When Jason English first lapped me sometime before midnight he gave me some kind words of encouragement (bloody nice guy!) I then told him "Hey Jason, I have been sitting back resting & I am going to put in my attack on you soon!" A little cheeky but a lot of fun when tired. I am sure he had a little laugh too.
Man, that guy rides so smooth. I guess that's how you become the worlds best!
So when you ask “what am I doing in October 2010?” I am going to line up for the world championships! Yeee haaaa….. So get back on your bike so you can smash me up those hills!
Lessons learnt.
My Scott Scale 20 hardtail is a beautiful bike. I now must get a full suspension bike. My legs & head were still strong, my back, neck & shoulders were smashed!
Tubless tires with UST specific rubber are an absolute must for this course. I have never seen so many people sitting on the side of the track changing flats! There were so many, it looked like a hill top crowd on Le Tour!
Pizza is fucking awesome race food!
GU gels are shit in cold weather. They are so thick. Shotz were awesome gels in the cold.
Merino under shirts are awesome! My 2XU jacket saved my race. Easy to zip down when climbing & zip up on the freezing cold descents.
There is always room for one more lap.
A spare bike/100% redundancy is a great idea!
All the stuff I have just typed above is not nearly as important to me as this next bit. My partner, Kirstie, was an awesome pit chick. We both had an awesome road trip & established a new level of mutual trust in our relationship.
