Now for more of a story!
Well it was perfect weather for a race. The start was pretty crowded as about 700 people lined up in a completely unseeded way that was probably largely based on who had had to wait the longest in the line for the toilets (being a girl was a bonus!) and was therefore now stuck at the back.
The first stage took in a whole lot of bumpy, tussocky paddocks that had me glad I was not riding cyclocross like the guy I was riding behind. Even so, it was a relief to hit the first single track in the forest just to get some nice smooth ground to ride on! There were quite a few creek crossings early on that looked easy enough to ride through but were so stirred up they turned my bike into a creaking, sand-rubbing, grinding mess. Bad noises when you are less than 10km in!
The next couple were deeper (just above the knee) so I carried my bike through and made a mental note to do this on anything chain-deep next year.
Before I knew it we were at Wingello Oval. The next stage had the best singletrack of the day. A section of Wingello forest that traverses the top of a ridge. The Great Wall plus the bit before and after that were great. Mostly flat, flowing corners, if a little bit tight through some sections. I felt sorry for those half flingers missing out. Forest roads eventually brought us to the half way feed stop. By now I had eaten and drunk plenty but was feeling pretty sick in the tummy. Managed to eat a banana and keep going. Also had a sore knee in the week leading up to the event and it was starting to hurt.
The next stage back to Wingello was the hardest for me. All those endless ups and downs on little used forest tracks. I walked a lot of those hills (everyone around me was doing the same so I just relaxed and chatted to people as we all pushed our bikes up the hills). Felt like I had to save myself because it was still a long way to go and i didn't want to blow up majorly like I did at the Angry Doctor.
Then with about 8 or 10km to go before we were back to Wingello, we got treated to a whole bunch of fast, good dirt roads. Yee-ha, this is great. Teamed up with some guy and we took turns on the front, cranking along enjoying the speed. Back to Wingello, feeling strong now, but still a way to go. The guy on the microphone made some comment about "the tail-end of the race starting to come through". "What!" - said everyone near me, with a smile. "We're not the tail-end, we're smashing it up big time!"
And wow, those fast roads just kept on coming! I think it will make a big difference knowing the course next year, because if I'd known that the last 35km is the easiest bit of the whole race, I could have pushed harder through the middle part, knowing that the bad bits were nearly over. Nevermind. Great to finish on what was mostly a cruisy run in to Bundanoon. There were still a few hills to tackle, but the fast roads made you feel a million bucks in between.
Used a bento box this time, which made it easy to reach the food. Also sewed a little contact-covered feeding schedule on the top, which, though the kids laughed at me for overplanning, was really helpful. Found that rather than watching the kms (Speedo broke early on), I just kept an eye on the clock and fed on time. Like 9:30 gel, 10:00 muffin, 10:30 sustagen etc.
Made a big difference - no hunger flats (although I did feel a bit sick at one point while trying to eat a banana) and no dehydration (drank almost 6L in my 6.5 hours, which may be too much given that I needed 3 natural breaks
but was better than the result of not drinking enough). I worked out how much to eat beforehand based on one gram of carbs/per kg of bodyweight/hour. And I reckon it was pretty much spot on. My only feeding gripe is that the Gu2O I filled up my Camelbak with at halfway tasted thoroughly disgusting!
I sit now with ice on my knee and my fingers still tingle a bit (got to get that bike setup right!) but it was once again all worth it. At the end of these races I often think of the line in Harry Potter (and the Chamber of Secrets?) where Ron is reading Harry's tea leaves and says, "So...you're going to suffer...but.. you're going to be...happy about it." That's me.
)
The next couple were deeper (just above the knee) so I carried my bike through and made a mental note to do this on anything chain-deep next year.
