Looking forward to this.
The idea is to start at Falls Creek and finish down below at Mount Beauty 67km later.
…and we are away, behind the support vehicle down the hill and into the village. The official pulls aside as the field gets to an access trail. Good start, sitting just behind the leading group spinning along within myself. “What the hell was that? Dear God that tastes like shit.” That bug was so big it felt like it was carrying luggage. Whatever it was I force myself to throw it back up. Tasted no better on the return journey. Back into it. The trail drops close to the dam wall and onto a road. Push while I can. The first drinks station comes up quickly and no need to stop.
Time for the first climb of the day. Not steep, not overly technical, just a little loose surface in places, but it was 3km long.
Follow the trail to the right and final get to build up speed on a surface that isn’t bitumen. Still need to tweak the new front end setup. The World Cup Sid a little too sharp in the rebound department. Sitting in the right hand rut and it has flowing water in it. Strange, the left is bone dry. At the speed I am going there is no way I can get out and over the crown, so a wet bum it is.
Creek! Started to look for the easiest line to get across ‘til I noticed the red X. Off to the right then. I am having fun. Back on a short road section to the drinks station. This time I stop. Top up the bladder, have a gel and a couple of Gu Chews as the next drinks stop is over 40km away. Back onto the climb and this time I carry on to the left. The second part of the climb is slightly steeper and by the time I get to the top it is nearly 6kms of climbing. It is also the highest I have ever been on a bike. 1847m above sea level. There are no trees, just short grass, bleached rocks and baking sun.
Slight descent down Big River Fire Track and it is rough as guts. Pedalling in the big ring so I can stay on top of the rocks. Both ends of the bike are working overtime and rocks are pinging off in all directions. Distance is getting ticked off quickly. Loving it. Hands are taking a pounding, pinky and ring fingers start to tingle.
The scenery changes and get into the tree line. I take the opportunity to drink and soften the rear suspension. Now get ready for why I am here I entered the race. Kilometre after kilometre of going downhill.
I start on the outside and become very wary of the drop. Damn that is a long way down. Plan B, move to the inside. Turns out that wasn’t such a good idea. Loose fallen rock and jutting out tree branches. At the speeds that I am doing there is no way to pull up in time or avoid the obstacles. Back to the outside and concentrate on keeping me eyes on the middle of the track.
My mantra - Remember, momentum is your friend.
Hands are numb, I have lost all strength in my left hand so I can’t rest my fingers over the brake level. One benefit of this is I go faster. Awesome, the trail is just whizzing by.
“FUCK!” a washout. Can’t stop, my heart explodes. “Fuck, fuck, fuck” too fast and I can’t avoid it. Shift my weight behind the seat and lift the front end up. Manage to skip over the top of it. Some goodly person packed it out with a monster of a rock. Concentration levels are now on high alert.
Discovery there can be too much of a good thing. I need to stop a couple of times to allow my hands to recover. I am not the only one. Someone remarks that wasn’t fun. I can’t agree with him. My hands would disagree but I had a ball.
At the end of the first 8km descent is Big River. Don’t even try to keep the feet dry. The water comes as such a relief. The lower I get the hotter the day gets. Back to climbing now and towards the top I get a twinge of cramp. Time for fluids, a gel and a Enervit. Cool, I catch it early enough.
Downhill again, except the trail now has tighter bends and is a lot rougher. My guess is earth moving equipment has been used to clear the track of fallen trees and other debris. Some hairy moments with loose rock on the way day. A couple of creek crossing later and I have finished the majority of the descending. The terrain levels out, my hands are numb and shoulders are sore. Yep, I have neglected doing sit ups and push ups over the Christmas break. Lesson learnt.
Bit of a climb, and turn onto the Bogong High Plans Road. Flying now and using most of the road. Starting to worry. Have I missed the turn off? It seems like a long road section. My body is recovering slightly. Turn ahead sign. Cool, I haven’t made a mistake. Cross the road and onto flowing single track dropping down into Mount Beauty.
Into the last drinks station and take on some fluids before the last 7km loop. This turns out to be a 4.5km climb. That is plan nasty. My shoulders hate me at the moment and 600m out from the drinks station I get cramp. Mentally I am lying in my bed. I know I should stay on the bike, but I use the cramp as an excuse to get off and relieve the pressure on my shoulders as well. Fianlly I snap back into action, very loose term. Back on the bike and the legs are rolling over very slowly in granny gear. No more up. The trail marker points at single track back towards the finish. There should be 3km to go. Down, down I go. Come up to a pinch climb. I can’t do it. No drive left, unclip and push. I like the single track around Mount Beauty. Don’t know if I would sit in a car for 4.5 hours but happy to ride it if I was in the area. The finish should be only 600m away. No chance. Still too high and far away. Last bit of single track. My body digs for one last effort and over the line.
Turns out I finished 20th out of 46 people, so goal achieved. At this point as long as I am in the top 50% of the field I will be happy. Total distance 71.67km (supposed to be 67km) 4h 39m 40s. Total calories burnt 2603.
Race Data
I came out without a scratch, surprising considering the number of trees and bushes I brushed through. I also found a new way to get sore on a bike. All the rough descending left the balls of my feet sore where I was clipped into the pedals.
I am not quite there yet, but I am learning to better my fuel and liquid intake. Bring on 2011. Even though I was ruined for the shorter distance I am already contemplating stepping up to the 100km.
