Gravity 12hr

Gravity 12hr

1st - Solo - 12hrs:40ish

~ 250km / 3800 vert m

Following from the Audax roadie ride in Bright last weekend, Robyn and I decided to hang out in Bright for the week, and prepare for the Gravity 12hr.

After racing this event last year, I knew what I would be in for - solid climbs, flowing singletrack, power oriented fireroads and a heap of fun!

The course is perfect for an enduro. The course follows the river up stream through to the local dirt crit track. A quick lap of this, and then it off into some singletrack over old river bed rock.

This singletrack is great fun, as the rocks are quite smooth and slippery, and they are always moving around. I did a practice lap earlier in the week after some rain, and I had some interesting moments slipping around on these rocks and logs!

Once out of the river rocks, there is a longish fireroad into a climb. This section is great to get the power down and really accelerate away.

The climb itself is reasonably gentle. I ended up making it through the whole race and never used the little chain ring on the front (2x10). I was thinking that next year I'll run XX1 here.

The climb went up a bit higher then last year, and into the pine forest singletrack. Despite my badgering of the event organisers to take up higher into the forest, we dropped back into "Gorilla Warfare" - a classic pine forest flowing descent.

About 5km later, the course leaves the pine forest and drops back down to the river, where we get another fast fireroad and suspension bridge into the final 3km of pinchy and tight singletrack.

The race starts with the only crappy part of the event - a running start to the bikes. I have no problem riding for 12 hrs, but a 300m run kills me!

By the time I got on my bike and into the rider train I was about 20 bikes back from the front. Not knowing where Ed McDonald was, I took every opportunity to start moving forward.

I'd seen Ed out of the corner of my eye in the run, so I was pretty sure he was in front of me. So, with that in mind I pushed really hard to get to the front.

About half way into the lap, I came across what appeared to be the front group - but no Ed. Hmmmm - knowing Ed, he could be off the front of this lead group. So I kept pushing.

Coming through transition, I heard I was in 2nd place. Was that 2nd solo or 2nd overall? Better put the head down and find out!

Another quick lap later, I came through and was told I was now in 1st place overall - nice - always good to be sticking it to the teams!

I ended up staying in 1st and 2nd place for the first few hours, and figured I may as well keep up the pace.

Around the 5 or 6 hr mark, I had a little lull in pace and Robyn let me know that Ed was within 3 minutes of me. Bugger.

Oddly enough, after the 6hr mark I started to feel good again and was able to pick back up the pace. A few hours on and that 3 minutes gap was back over 10!

Coming in around the 11hr mark, I asked Robyn if Ed was going to go out for a last lap. I figured we were both up to 50 min laps, so he would come through with a minute to spare. Next lap I learned Ed was done, and I thought sweet - this will be my last lap too then :) ... however, coming in at 11:50ish, Robyn (and JD via phone) quilted me into one more lap. So, off I went :)

The bike of choice for this race was my new 2013 Cannondale F29er Ultimate (29er hard tail). It was perfect for this race. The bike only weighs around 8.5kg, which is very handy on the climbs and getting over the various pinches on track.

The 29er wheels just roll over everything, and I really did not feel too beaten up after the race.

Tires were my trusty Schwalbe Racing Ralph Snakeskins.

Nutrition wise it was quite simple - 24 x clif gels, 1 x clif shot bloc and 12 bottles of electrolyte drink.

A big thanks to;

• Robyn for looking after me and keeping me moving

• Cannondale Australia - the F29er is awesome

• SRAM Australia - SRAM XX group set worked flawlessly, and I'll be definitely going for the XX1 at this course next time
•   
• Frameskin - With heaps of rocks and dirt flying around on track, I was very happy to have the new bike all frameskinned up!

• Finishline Events - Iain, Russ, Clayton and all the volunteers who make this event happen - one of the best races in the enduro calendar 

• The Cyclery - the place to go to get Cannondale bikes!

On track at Gravity

... and I'd also like to thank ...

Robyn with it all under control

No pressure!

Not gravity - Duo Classic - but a cool photo!

Alpine Classic - ACE250

Alpine Classic - ACE250 

250km / 4700 vert m / 8hrs : 30ish

With the 2013 race season approaching, the Alpine Classic is a great way to get in some solid base miles. Based out of Bright, VIC and the weekend before the Gravity 12hr, the ACE250 is one to add to the training calendar.

Usually, the ACE250 heads over Mt Hotham, down to Omeo, back over Falls Creek and then back to Bright, however with the bush fires in the region the course had to be modified. The new course was simple - 3 repeats of Bright to the top of Mt Buffalo.

Although 2500 riders were originally entered, a large number of riders pulled out - baulking at the idea of doing repeats. Given that many of my enduro races are lap based, I had no issues in doing the same lap multiple times. It actually worked out really well, as you could set your little milestones on the way and you knew exactly where were you were and how far you had to go each lap.

With so many riders all on the same loop, it also meant there were always riders around for a chat - and more importantly, always someone to work with on the flats and descents!

The 2nd wave of 250km riders left Bright at 06:19am - along side the 200km riders. Riding off with Aaron Thompson, Tommo jumped straight into the Audux spirit. He went straight past the huge train of cyclists and chased down the lead group. Once at the front of the group, he went off the front again - as he had noticed another small bunch up the road a little more.

As we caught and passed this front bunch, Tommo kept the foot on the gas and off the front we went. The small front bunch jumped on, and it was my turn to take up the pace setting - for the next 30km!

We kept a fast pace across the rolling flats to the base of Buffalo, and pushed hard into the start of the climb. Soon enough, the lead group was down to just 5 riders - with very little talking going on!

The climb went by quickly, and the cool morning air was refreshing.  The 5% gradient was perfect for keeping the power down.

As we got within the last few km of the top plateu, one of the riders in the group dropped the hammer and rode off the front. I was feeling a bit bummed about this, but soon enough we reached the 200km rider turn around and this front rider and all the others turned off! Lazy!! So it was just me continuing up the final climb to the top turn around point.

The descent was wicked - a solid 20 minutes of on the drops weaving in and out of corners and riders.

Looping through Bright and back to the climb I took it a lot easier and settled into an enjoyable pace. The climb was rewarded with a big Power Cookie at the top - so good!

The 2nd descent was going well, and then ZOOM - a pair of Italian riders went by at warp speed. That looks like fun, so I jumped on the back.  Holy crap they were quick. Sure, I know I am not a super strong roadie descender - but there was no way I was going to let these two get away. By the time we hit the bottom of the mountain I think my heart rate was higher then any point of the climb! It also did not help the heart rate that we were punching 400w out of the corners on the descent!

The 3rd lap was slower again, with the final part of climb a bit of a grovel fest. It was a relief to hit the descent for the final time.

Heading back into Bright I was able to work with another 250km rider - except he had started at the 4am start! We finished off the flats into Bright pretty quickly, and soon enough I was rolling back up the road to my apartment and crashing out on the couch :)

A top day out on the bike and a great alternate course ... oh, and I did not have to wear an ichy fluro yellow vest either!

So what bike do you need for an Audux ride? The Cannondale Supersix Evo of course! It might not be the traditional Audux bike, but it sure gets the job done - and there was a lot of guys and girls eyeing off the super light 'dale.

As for nutrition, 16 x Clif Bar gels and a Power Cookie was all that was needed, along with 6 or 7 bottles of water with electrolyte.

This was my first ride back with my SRAM Quarq power meter too - and for the power weenies, this was a 480 TSS ride - and that first ascent was 60m @ 320w / 90m @ 308w - not bad for a lazy training ride!

So, now it's time to eat some ice cream in Bright, and hang out for the week awaiting the Gravity 12hr next Saturday :)

Half way up	06:19 am start	Nice views
Top of Buffalo	Selfie starting 3rd lap	Top of Buffalo