Queensland 24hr wrap up...

It's back to the real world today. Yesterday was totally lost in travel, amazing how a 2hr flight can consume a whole day.

I am pretty happy with how the race panned out. My intention was always to ride as little as possible and just get back into the solo rhythm again. With the race starting at 2pm and continuing for about 9 hours after the sun came up on Sunday, it was always going to be tough in 30plus temperatures. I felt the early signs of heat stress only 2.5 hour in, throwing up and feeling very cooked. But luckily it was evident even the Queensland riders were also suffering in the heat. I decided to ride very conservatively through the heat and try to create a gap during the night and with any luck, wouldn't need to ride for the full 24hrs.




My plan worked well. I was happy with how I was riding and very glad I could take a rest for the last 4.5 hours of the race.




A good ride also by fellow AyUp rider Sean Bekkers to finish a very tough event only two laps down.

A huge thanks goes out to my parents for their efforts looking after our little tribe while we were away, Robyn for fuelling me and AyUp for getting we up north for the fantastic event.

Its over .... We hope!

There's a good chance the race is done. Just keeping an eye on 2nd & 3rd, but very unlikely they can make up the distance. Andy stopped riding at the 20hr mark, so he'd be pretty unhappy if he had to get up and ride! I wouldn't want to try waking him!

Starting to suffer

18hrs in and andy has a vomit right in the middle of the tent - thanks honey! Gone out on another lap now. Day is getting very hot already. Will need to get him off the course as soon as possible. Hopefully just 1 more lap needed to take the win...

Tired & dirty

Just came in on lap 30. Ready to stop when its a done deal. Just a few more hours... The sun's up & its going to be another great Qld day

Into the brutal hrs of the am

Lead extended to 3 laps so he's about 1.5hrs in front now. Andy struggling with stomach probs - but nothing new there. He's still riding well so he'll hopefully be right until I can get to a chemist in a few hrs.

Now 2 laps up. Still riding strong.

8hrs in ....

Still strong. Now a lap up so taking the time to stop & eat. Nice mild night - all good.

6 hours in....

About 20mins up on Sean Bekkers. Doing consistent laps. All good.

Scott 24 Race Report...

Sorry for the delay getting this up. There has been a fair bit on of late.

This event has always been one of my favorite events on the 24 hour race calendar. CORC always put on a super slick event and even though I was never planning on racing this one solo (I just wanted a break from solo after 5 years straight) I wanted to race. You have probably heard people say that pairs over 24hr is tougher than solo, well I wanted to find out for myself, so I asked Randall to join me.

Our race plan was always going to be ride lap for lap until we needed to have a decent rest, then play it by ear as to how we continued. This plan ended up working very well. We didn't get any idea on how we were placed until about the 9 hour mark due to a stuff up in the timing and by this stage we were about 0ne lap up on our competitors. we didn't let this new information slow us down. We persisted on our lap for lap plan all the way to the end. This allowed us to finish at 11am, have a hot shower and put our feet up.

I started at a pretty conservative pace knowing I have two more solo 24's to race in the six week following, but Randall went hell for leather. He only dropped out of the dog on a few occasions during the night. And to his credit, he didn't once complain about being tired. For me, I found the riding part great. The course was so much fun, you just wanted to get out there and ride. The time off the bike wasn't that much fun when is got really cold. But overall, I would say it is much easier than a solo 24.

A big thanks goes out to Ben from Kona. He looked after our bikes and mad sure we didn't fall asleep in the beanbag during our short stints off the bike. Also a big thanks to Randall for a great partner. It makes things a whole lot easier when you don't have to worry about your partner putting in their fair share.

Scott 24 race report still to come...

Sorry, I am waiting on the fantastic photos from Sportograf before I do the full report. Hopefully it won't be long now..

My new look....

It arrived a day too late to take up to the Scott, but here she is, my 2010 Kona Hei Hei 100. I am back on the 4 inch program after 12 months off. More on the new rig latter.

The new kit below has been my baby. I have worked on it for the past 9 months. It all began when I decided I wanted to ride a higher quality pair of knicks. Firstly I tested several brands over many rides to find something I was happy with. Then I worked closely with Ventou (won the comfort competition hands down) on the design and material choices to come up with this.

I have found these Knicks to be the most comfortable I have ever used. I went for a compression tech fabric, an integrated shammy and silicone leg compression bands. Ventou have been very good to work with, and I would highly recommend them. Being an Australian company is also a huge plus in my book.

Worst ride ever...

I type this post as I walk to meet Robyn after a few mishaps. First my chain dropped off during a lazy change, sucking the chain up snapping the inner cage on my rear mech. Then I got a flat and while fixing it I hung m bike from it's seat on o fence, it feel, braking the body of the rear mech. Flat was fixed, gears still shifted (gotta love SRAM) and off I went. 30 mins latter the bead had popped off the rim and no longer passed through the frame. I have no pump and have run out of gas. Big boo....

Oh well, I can honestly say, in the 14 years I have been with Robyn, this is the first time I have called to be rescued.

winners....

Just a quick note.

We kept the pace going. Got about a 3 lap lead and then decided we would stop riding at 11am. Pretty happy with how things went full race report to follow.

Another update 2

We are about 2 laps up.... Yeah.
Track is holding up we. Randall is still firing. As for me, the time off the bike is tough, but I an getting into it.

update...

Sorry I have posted yet, the new timing crew are having some troubles.

As of 10pm we were about 45mins up and both feeling pretty good. Our mixed 4 team is racing a close battle, only minutes down in third. And Campbell has just moved into 11th.

We are planning to keep going lap for lap and hope we hold up....

Morning at Stromlo...

This is home for the weekend. It should be a good weekend. We rode a lap yesterday and they have incorperated many of the good aspects of last years two courses and made one ripper one. Lap time will be a bit slower, which will suit us in a two man team.

I will try and update as we go...

Just Announced....

Looks like my prediction was right. Next years Scott 24hr will be hosting the World Solo 24HR MTB Championships. It hasn't been announced yet, buy will it also be our Nationals? This would make it one of the biggest races ever.

Avoca 2010 Nation Marathon course pre ride....

During the week I escaped the mad house for a test ride on the 2010 national marathon championship course in Avoca. Rohin required some company for the ride, so I didn't hesitate putting my hand up along with Randall and Willo.

It was always going to be an epic ride due to much of the single track not yet built.

We were also required to hike-a-bike for about 2 hours through some tough Aussie bushland. We ended up with 90km riding/walking, 3000 vertical metres and zero mechanicals (amazingly).

Two seconds before I took this shot, Rohin was looking a tad pissed, thinking of how much work is require to get this bush walking track up to scratch, but then he though how much fun it will be once the hard work is done.

This is the start/finish location for the event. The local are really getting behind the event. The aim is to get more Mountain bikers to the area to enjoy what they have to offer. Check out the event website, Big Hill Events.