Grand Prix & 12hr

[crummy]

Report to follow shortly (day or two) ;D

[crummy]

Late, I know!

Rocky Trail Grand Prix & 12hr

Both on the same day, same location, it was bound to be interesting. Not only that there was MTB racing up and down the coast on the same weekend. So, it was off to Yarramundi again, a few of the boys wanted to do the 12hr solo and needed a bit of support. It was an early start to get a good tent location near the transition. It was to be a tent of Mick's, one out for his first solo 12hr, another pushing for a good 12hr result in elite solo. The usual suspect Mick was giving the Grand Prix a crack, then there was a honorary Mick who kept an eye on the 12hr elite solo listing, happy that Mr English wasn’t going to turn up.

The 12hr riders were of a little late with a cool morning just burning off. It was a fire trail climb before riders headed into the single track. Starts can be fickle and the 12hr Mick’s all had different stories, good, bad and indifferent. I wanted to give first solo Mick the best chance to complete his 12hrs of riding, he had arranged a nutrition and fluid plan and I ensured he had what was necessary, set out neatly. Good result Mick had his own crew and was set with two bikes for fast laps. Honorary Mick had an experienced crew and shop support for his bikes, he was in the front runners from the start.

It was only a couple of hours after the 12hr start the Grand Prix qualifying period started with a hot lap of the WSMTB kids track. It was just a bit over a minute around the short track, a sandy corner patch, medium to slow switchbacks, a short rocky section into a gradual climb and finishing straight. I lowered my tyres pressures just a bit as there wasn’t any technical sections, for more positive traction. There were a few fast lads with some serious equipment, I was unsure at how well I qualified. Fifty or so minutes later
we lined up for the start and the qualifying results. I managed a hot lap and was awarded pole position!

Follow the racing at mcrummy.blogspot.com!

[crummy]

This is quoted from Mick Smith, enjoy his journey!



Ok folks. A quick summary of the Yellowmundi 12hr race on the weekend.

A few of us went out to Yellowmundi and competed in the Rocky Trail/ Western Sydney 12hr and 4hr Grand Prix at the weekend. The other riders were Shane Taylor, Mick Hernan and Mick Crummy. Mick Crummy was the only one whom raced the 4hr Grand Prix which was held in conjunction with the 12hr. Both Shane and Mick Hernan competed in the Elite category whereas I was in the mens solo.

So the race day started as any other with the 4 of us setting up camp and getting our equipment ready for the inevitable day of self torture. We went and registered and we all commented that the weather could not have been better. Once registered, we finished organising all our food and equipment in prep for the day ahead. About 1/2 an hour prior to the scheduled start, fine tuning and warming up commenced. A slow practice of the second half commenced with a reduction of tyre pressure being the only adjustment required to my bike. Due to delays in registration, the rider's brief and race start was delayed by about 20 mins. The riders brief was conducted and we proceeded to the start line which looked more like a farmer trying to heard cats than anything else.

I ended up a the back of the starting pack, which was fine as I had all day to get to the finishing line. I certainly wasn't in any hurry as this was my first solo attempt at anything greater than 4hrs and a 5 min delay was not going to effect my results at the end of the day. So this was a learning experience for me. The starters gun went off and we slowly started climbing and filtering into the first bit of single track. For the next few hours we all circulated with Crummy doing a fabulous job as our pit crew until the start of the 4hr GP.

About half way through my day and everything was going quite well. I had 3 little get offs, but nothing too bad. Crummy had set my food and fluids up just nicely to keep me going and with the minimum amount of time in transition for when he went and competed in the 4hr GP. At about the 7-8hr mark was when my day started to get interesting. Some parts of the track were getting quite rough and I started to cramp on a number of little rock garden climbs which was a sign of things to come. So I decided to start taking magnesium supplements to try and keep the cramping at bay, which seemed to work but the damage had been done. For the most technical sections, about 2-4 sections of about 5-10m in length each, I decided it was time to walk them, not because I couldn't ride them but more as a survival decision to ensure I got to the end of the race in one piece as they were sucking what little endurance I had and my strength was not that strong now. So I battled on.

In the mean time, Mick Crummy had stormed to brilliant and dominant finish in the 4hr with a first place finish. Nice work Mick, now back on the tools.

The final 3 hrs of the race for me was the most pain and discomfort have ever felt. The track, in parts, had degraded quite significantly. On a number of descents the braking bumps looked more like double jumps than bumps. Fatigue was starting to get the better of me also. I was struggling to hold on when braking into bumps and even changing gears was an effort in it's self. So after almost 10hrs in the saddle and 13 laps, I was ready to park the bike and call it a day. But Crummy had other ideas. This man is sadistic and revels in others' pain. He gave me a stern talking to and gave my hands, arms and shoulders a quick massage, told me to drink this and eat that. After about 5-10mins rest I was right to go out on another lap. This one was to me my last. It took me about an hour to complete and I had definitely decided this lap was it. So after 11hrs and 5 mins my race was finished. Thoroughly exhausted and satisfied that I had given my all. All that was left to do was to encourage Shane and Mick to the finish.

The final results of the day are Shane Taylor with 21 laps and a time of 12hrs 33mins and 2nd in Elite solo, Mick Hernan with 17 laps and a time of 12hrs 24 mins and 6th in Elite solo, Mick Smith with 14 laps and a time of 11hrs 5 mins and 12th in mens solo and Mick Crummy with 11 laps and a time of 4hrs 12mins and first in 4hr Mens Solo.

To sum up, we all ended up with excellent results and had a great day. I personally would like to thank Mick Crummy for his advise, support and motivation, by calling us little girls names and telling us to HTFU, was certainly needed and welcomed.

Bring on next year's 12hr I say!!!!

Note: The 4hr GP was on a slightly modified track to the 12hr track with only a few sections of track common to both races.
Michael Smith