Southern Exposure 12 Hour Solo

As I was rolling around The Forrest 6 hour I wondered if I should try a 12 hour, so here I am on the start line along side Ross Burrage.

Don't know what to expect today except it was going to hurt and hurt for a long time. 

My goal is to reach 200km by the end of the race. Ross believes 50 minute laps will get you on the podium.

There is the start and my immediate plans are to sit on Ross, so I know I am not going to hard. He is experienced at the longer events and it allows me to focus on him and not get sucked into chasing the 3 hour and the team entrants.

Well, that lasted less than 3km. My climbing is going well and I overtook him on the first major climb. Settled into a rhythm that I was happy with and focused on the trails.

Entering Tree Grass Alley

Into Grass Tree Alley and the section will become my favourite part of the course and looked forward to it every lap. Allow the bike to run and smile.

It was followed by my least favourite part of the course which I christened Root Rut Gully.

The cross over bridge comes and goes and soon I am on an unsealed road. I am already eating and drinking where I can. It is going to be a long day and I don't want to food flat, or bonk. As I return the bottle back to the bike I hit a lump in the road and lose my balance. Save it by unclipping. Whoa, that was close. I didn't come away completely unscathed. To keep my balance I whacked the back of my calf with the pedal, or so I thought. At the end of the day I find out it chain ring.

Another long climb and at the top was a view over the ocean. Nearly made the heart rate worth it. Over the water bars and at the end of the fence line road there is a tricky little right hander that I couldn't seem to get right over the day. Wide, shallow entry, shallow, wide exit didn't seem to get me any closer for setting up the climb on the exit.

Descending now and getting flow through the trees. A couple of them are tight and need to be given some respect. I don't want to tear off a derailleur here or rip a tyre off the rim.

It has started to rain and Mark is waiting in the food zone with his arms full. I swap out the bottle just in case. Rain doesn't last long but the cloud cover remains. No wind, no sun and 18 degrees. Perfect riding conditions. The climbs are still moving beneath fairly easily and enjoying myself.

Two hours in and my knee has blown up. My cleats had shifted a few days beforehand and I now know that I didn't get them lined backed up. Forty minutes later my IBS is starting to play up. Bugger. I am no longer riding to heart rate. I am riding to stomach cramps. Not far now, so close to the feed zone. Call out to Mark and he has the Nurofen, Coke and Gastrolyte sorted as I get off the bike. Jersey pockets are replenished with food and I am off within the minute.

There are times during the day when it seems you are the only person on the trails. The 3 hour riders have finished and the 6 hour riders have yet to begin. 

Gels are being avoided for the time being and replaced by a greater intake of Torq Bars and Gu Chomps.

Come into the feed zone for chamois cream and find out that I am leading the category by 5 minutes over Ross. That also puts me in 10th for the solo entrants.  "Ok...Now what do I do? I have never been in this position ever". Next lap and the gap is now 6 minutes. My head gets ahead of itself and I realise getting time gaps every lap is going to be more of a hindrance than anything else.

The next couple of laps I focus on being efficient and not being a nuisance to other competitors. The 6 hour race has started and some of the team riders are flying. In most cases you can hear them closing in so all that is required is a slight adjustment of speed and line to allow easy overtaking.

No stomach issues at the moment so I take on as much energy gels as I dare.  Root Rut Gully is giving my arms a pounding and now my forks are bottoming out. I need to be able to cope for four more hours.

The gap gets out to 11 minutes, so I can ride conservatively and not take risks on some of the descents and blown out corners. Lights have been fitted, tyres pressures adjusted and now is set up for the rest of the race. Mark suggests swapping out to the Hardtail but my body won't be able to cope for the remainder of the race. I take on more Nurofen, Coke, Gastrolyte and another application of butt cream. Have been prepared and setup for last few hours of the race.

The bike is bottoming out everywhere and isn't fun to ride. Root Rut Gully is a nightmare. All I can do is point it down the hill, let gravity take effect and hang on. All the bouncing is knocking my helmet light out of alignment. Guess they aren't supposed to be bounced around like that.  It is the first time I have used my Exposure lights and my first impression are that they are exceptional. There is no second guessing on the trail.

Some of the corners have blown out and have been loose all day. Have been weary of the worst one and now down I go. I paid too much attention to the build up of loose surface, so instead of riding through the corner I rode into it and washed out the front. Ten hours into the race. Everything hurts and I was a little slow to get up.

The gap is down to 8 minutes, then 5.5 minutes. Less than 2 hours to go. Into the pits for the last time to throw on a Camelbak and head out.

To get through the day I set myself little goals, from making sure my bottle is empty by the time I get back to the feedzone, to staying in the big ring for a climb, to make sure I get to 100km within 6 hours. Now it is to keep my average speed above 17km/h for the day. Looks like I will make it.

Ok, 2 more laps. There is just over an hour to go and have worked out I cannot stop before the 12 hours cause if Ross goes out he will beat me. Time to dig, spin the legs and try relax. People throughout the feedzone are offering encouragement. Mark throws some my way.

Into the climbs and grit the teeth. Still in the middle ring but it hurts. "You are nearly done. Keep turning over the legs and suck it up."  So tired, mind starts to wander and thoughts turn to doing a 24 hour solo. At this point of the day, I don't think I have one in me. Focus, an hour to go, focus".

Passed the dam and around the corner. "Don't you get off you fucker!" Twice more and 50 minutes left.

 

Big ring, middle ring, little ring, now dig into the climb. Pain, more gears. SNAP! Crunch, clack, clack!

My head is spinning and trying to catch up to the situation.: My derailleur hanger snapped? I am not that strong. What?"

Don't panic and start the process of removing the remnants of the hanger from the derailleur. Damn it, it is jammed. For a split second I get anxious. Lots of people ask if I need help including some of the leading riders. Ross now goes by. The derailleur has the new bracket attached. All I need to do is fit it back on the frame.  The race isn't over.

Get the derailleur attached to the frame. Now the race was over. The derailleur is bent and there was no way I can get the wheel back on.

So, off it came, on went the wheel and I pushed the bike back to the feedzone via the access roads. Arrived in time to hear over the speaker system that I had a 5 minute lead. Well not anymore. Mark was surprised to see me and now all there was to do was wait. Ross and myself had lapped the field, so there was a chance that I could still finish on the podium. Wasn't to be, 3rd, 4th and 5th had all been a couple of minutes of each other so they raced until the end pushing me into 5th place.

Some things to come out of the race. It was my fastest 100km in a race 5:38 compared to 6:00. My fastest 110km in a race 6:03 compared to 8:40 and it was my longest ride ever from 160km to 182km.

Out of the 182km I led for 178km, so I am ecstatic on how I rode for the day, but I hope that it doesn't mean I need to do the longer events to get a result.

 

Race Data - Strava

 

Race Data - Garmin

 

Thank you Mark for your support on the weekend. you made the day bearable and less stressful for me.

Upon reflection and the access to race data, I was at the highest point of the course and could have rolled, pushed myself around the final 10km and finished in second. At the time I was beyond tired, didn't know I lapped third place and the memory of The Red Centre where I carried the bike on my shoulders for 5km came back. I also wanted to get out of everyone elses' way.

 

40+ Solo

Place 5

Laps 13

Time 10:40:57

O/A  54

You Yangs Yowie 33km - First Race Back

The plan was to stay with the lead group at the start and see if I could hold on and to see where I am at now with my fitness due to Donna at (www.pcscoaching.com.au/).

There is the start and I get swapped. A junior next to me has trouble clipping in and drifts across the front of me. I had to wait before I can get going. The lead group are already 50 metres up the road before I have moved.

Head down and travelling fast. Too fast. My heart rate is above 90% and I am only 1.5km into the race.

Grit my teeth and ready myself for the first climb. The heart rate levels out and I know I get a chance to recover in a few kilometres when we go over the top. I am reeling people in.

Time for a breather and some single track. Out of Quarry and after a short fire road section past the toilets and car park I enter Vomit Climb. It has an average gradient of 11.4% but there are some parts that are as steep at 19.7%. It is 2:45 minutes of pain and pass a couple of people here. I am feeling strong.

Boulder Track comes and goes, not before I hit The Clam the highest, cleanest and fastest that I have ever hit before and there is still room for improvement. It no longer freaks me out.

Back past the car park which means back up we go. More climbing, you beauty. This time it is Lactic Acid. Whoopsie, the first bit of technical climbing and I stuff it up. Take it as a sign to focus. I clear the next technical section with ease.

Lactic opens onto a fire road and I use the respite to get food and fluids down. Notice that the leg has not given me any trouble. 

Another descent, this time Trav's Diamond. Wooden berm, rock drop, rock berm, rock wall, rock berm and I am through. Smiling. Awesome and the rider compliments me on how clean I rode that section. Thanks Norm (www.mtbskills.com.au) for the skills and confidence. Trav's is becoming a must do.

Drums? Ominous considering they are at the bottom of The Churn. The Churn is a three part rock section that can be painful if you get it wrong, but so much time can be made if you get right. First climb cleared. The hardest section cleared and the rider in front moves aside as I enter the last  climbing section. Done, cleared the lot and head down towards the final major climb of the day.

Idiot! Lose focus and get the entry wrong. Need to loop around. Idiot! now I am in the wrong gear and need to loop around again. Never climbed Cressy's but discover it is a lot easier than the road. That's it, I am now done with what I consider climbing for the day.

There are three distances for The You Yangs Yowie being run and start at different times. One of the elites catches me into the descent into Kurrajong. I follow Duncan and try to match his lines. For the most part he isn't getting too far ahead of me until I muppet one of the tighter switchbacks.

Let the bike run, focus on being clean into the fast section of the course and drive the legs.  Eight kilometres to go and there is someone 700m in front of me and there is a rider the same gap behind so I can ride my own race.

Out of a left hander. "That is strange" The log has been moved across the trail. "Jesus Christ! You son of a bitch" The Yowie took that moment to jump out from the bush. It scared the shit out of me. I continue, laughing hoping that my heart will relocate on its own accord from my throat back into my chest cavity.

I am riding as fast as I can but I can't get the heart rate up. I want another climb to take advantage of my fitness.

Onto the home-straight and I come in at 1:43:15. Holy crap! Got informed that I finished 8th. More than happy with the result. Average speed 19.7kmh

Race Data - Strava

Race Data - Garmin

The Road Back

The road back started even before I was injured. It started in Alice Springs when I was carrying my bike on my shoulders back to the start line after a mechanical on the night stage.  

Five kilometres gives you a lot of time to think. The Red Centre Enduro opened my eyes to what a little effort can produce. I was happy with my result but realised my training had no structure. A coach was needed.

It wasn't 'til a month and a couple of races later that I had to get my act together.

One day in June I woke with an extremely painful leg. Walking any distance just plan hurt and stairs were an absolute nightmare. People that know me, know that I don't bother to get things checked out unless it is broken. Not this time.

The doctor suspected stress fractures and an MRI was booked. Why stress fractures? Well my riding went from 300km a month, to 700km to 1400km all within two months. Yep, I had overdone it. Crap.

So into the MRI listening to U2 through semi broken headphones. MRI machines are nothing like the movies. They make a decent racket and are a little disturbing. Results produced nothing. I didn't have stress fractures so I was booked in to see a leg specialist at Olympic Park Sports Medicine Centre to explain why I couldn't walk more than a 100m before stopping due to the pain. I described my symptoms to the doctor and he squeezed the spot with his thumb without searching for it.  Double checked the MRI and confirmed that I had Tibialis Anterior Tenosynovitis and slight muscle tear where it and the tendon are connected. "Hang on, its a what? Running injury? I shouldn't be able to get it from cycling?" "Oh, I walk like a cyclist"

So, over training and “closed”, tight hip flexors were the cause and the outcome was no riding, no walking, taking Voltaren 50's and a stretching program. The no riding turned into 4 weeks and driving the 3.5km to work for 3 months. Races had been paid for and now withdrawn from. Others came and went without me. So frustrating.

Time for the coach and the search was on. Most of them offered a set 13-16 week program. This was not going to help me, so I contacted the strongest cyclist I knew and with her massage therapy background Frixshon, I was hoping Jodie Willett, could get me back on the trail. Her decision was to put me in contact with her coach Donna Dall, PCS, Progressive Coaching Systems. After 3 months I cannot recommend the pair enough.

I was now on program and something to focus on. Problem was, it is now September and was limping again. Back to OPSMC for a couple of appointments. One with the leg specialist and the other for a bike fit. The benefit of getting a bike fit through OPSMC was the physio had my file and knew what to look for. The bonus is a rebate from your private health insurance. More exercises and specific stretches recommended and I could feel the results within a couple of weeks.

Now to get the riding sorted. It was always on the cards after The Red Centre Enduro but I was waiting for the You Yangs Mtb Park to reopen after the floor damage. A skills course was booked with MTBSkills.com.au run by Norm and Jess Douglas to sort out my cornering. Off to the You Yangs and after a day of tuition by Norm and finally by Jess the obstacles I had apprehension about no longer fill me with dread or instantly reaching for the brakes. The course have provided me with the building blocks for better riding and continued improvements. Even now I can hear Norm's sage like voice in head when out on the trails. "Keep your head up".

Where does this leave me? I find out tomorrow. It is my first race in four months and cannot wait. The head is right, the leg is 88% there and my balance is good. I don't think I have ever been as fit, strong or motivated as I am now.

The 15th October is now New Years Day. 

Thank you Dr Blackman, Jodie, Donna, Norm and Jess for each of your parts to make it happen. Thanks also goes out to all my friends for the encouragement when I needed it over the last 4 months.