Tour of Canberra

7th GC / 2nd KOM - C grade

What better way to backup the 24 hr Solo Nationals with a road race the weekend after ...

I'd let Fenner talk me into doing a roadie race to mix things up a bit ... and I figured if nothing else this would be a good high intensity, low volume training ride.

On the friday night I really did not sleep too well - I had no idea what to expect the next day. Was I going to be completely schooled? Would they stop that I was an mtb imposter? Would I be a complete tard in the pack?

So I was pretty tired turning up on the Saturday morning and heading out for a warm up with fellow mtb imposter Aaron "Tommo" Thompson. We both had let our stubble get out of control, and I *may* have deliberately neglected to keep the leg hair under control ... :)

The first stage was a simple 55km out to the Condor Creek dirt road via Uiarra Crossing. My plan was simply to stick in the pack and watch what everyone else did. I hung mid way through the pack, and hugged the road center line ... much to the annoyance of the trailing copper who kindly (and constantly) reminded me to stay in the line with a loud toot of his horn.

I found it quite interesting the huge variations in speed the pack would travel out - feeling like we were almost stopping after each little climb.

We eventually made out way to the final climb to the dirt turn around. I guessed this must be a KOM point so smacked it in the last 100 metres to claim the points. It was a good think I did, as it meant I had a pretty clean and independent run down ... and was no where near a big stack that took out a bunch of riders behind me.

The climb back out of Uiarra was fast, and I did not pick up that there was a KOM point there - so missed a good opportunity. Regardless, I hung with the lead pack and avoiding their end of stage sprint finished 10 seconds down.

The afternoon was the individual time trial. Something I have never done (outside of training and FTP tests). I went out and rode to my power meter. I managed to clean up about 4 or 5 riders in front (20 sec interval release), so I figured I was doing ok. At the end though, my time sucked. I finished about mid-way through the pack. My power for the 30 mins was just a big below my FTP, so I think I rode strong - but without any of the aero advantages of TT bars, helmets, wheels, body position I sucked.

Tommo however nailed it. 9th in the TT on his stock Giant / Shimano 105 bike ... beating heaps of guys on their $10k plus beasts!

Heading into the final stage 3 minutes down (damn you TT), I figured I would have some fun on this 80km stage. I sat in until Uiarra Crossing and punched it up the short climb. Reaching the top first I decided there would be no rest, and promptly set a 300 w pace. Not happy, the pack followed without their little rest. Pulling off I expected this pace to be maintained, but they were not up for it ... so I said stuff it and went back up to keep the pace up.

We eventually got down to the Pierces Creek climb and again I smacked it into a climb I know pretty well. But unlike racing with Gaz, where we race side by side, I had a couple of tails who drafted me to the KOM point and jumped out to get the big points. Grrrrr.

Out into the long false flats I set the pace again, no attacking just a solid tempo, and soon enough I was out all alone! Lazy buggers!  I got a few minutes up the road and was wishing for Jase or Gaz to be there with me to take it home. I eventually sat up and waited for the bunch.

Luckily by now, we were into the meaty end of the race, and the race leader was keep to see the pace picked up. A small group attacked Mt McDonald and the cruise back to Uiarra. Heading up the three sisters I dropped off this little group - but was not lone as my fellow KOM buddy was there suffering and fried. We dragged each other back in to finish about 1 minute behind the lead group of 5 or 6 riders.

So, all up an interesting weekend of training riding.

Food wise it was the simplest setup in a long time ...  a few bottles of Torq Energy and a few Torq Gels!

Bike wise I ran my Scott Addict RC 2 . The bike is light, fast and responsive. It was good to see a number of them out there too.

Thanks to Tommo for keeping me company on this roadie adventure, Fenner for his daily tips on how to ride each stage and Robyn for her patience in losing another weekend to me on the bike.

Next it is back onto the mountain bike for a 6 hr in Beechworth and then the Paterson 24 hr ...

Being an embarrassing MTB rider

Australian 24hr Solo Champs

6th Overall, 3rd Age Category

The race

This weekend was the Australian 24 hr Solo Champs, held at Mt Stromlo.

This year saw the race leave Majura Pines and instead use the trails of Stromlo.

The course itself was very different to the Solo Worlds course we had all competed in last year - with no climb to the top of mountain. Instead, the course took riders out to the western tip via trails such as Little Rascals, Blackberry, Slant-6, Willolink, Party Line, Break Out and Berm Track.

Despite there being no real climb, there was a steady gradient to ascend to get to the top of Willolink. But the real challenge to the course was that it was pretty much all single track and a lot of pedaling.  Because of all the rain over christmas, the tracks were very rocky and bumpy ... and throughout the race the track was constantly moving and evolving with new rock gardens forming and moving around!

My strategy for this race was going to be simple - don't lost contact with the lead group, survive the night, and power home in the morning.


I was also looking forward to (hopefully) hanging onto my riding buddies of McAvoy, Ed, Garry etc.

Despite a lot of talk amongst the top riders of a slow start, once the siren went off there were a few guys who went off like scolded cats. There were 4 riders up front, with Ash setting a cracking pace. I jumped past McAvoy, Ed and Bellchambers early in the lap and kept the lead group in sight.

Not surprisingly, this pace did not last long and soon it was just Stuart who was off the front and I got to sit in behind English and have a chat.

Soon enough I fell off English, and had quite some time sitting in 3rd place - with Scotty C about 3 minutes behind.

Around dusk Scott and Ed caught me up, and it was nice to have some company heading into the night. Ed eventually got off the front and Scotty C fell off and it was off into a cold night for me.

From dusk until midnight I struggled to keep my heart rate up - consequently my lap times slowed, and the cold really hit me. By midnight I was feeling pretty down and out, with news that McAvoy, Bellchambers and Ash were all close by. I decided to break the seal and pop and few no-doz.

Within 10 minutes the no-doz kicked in, my lap times dropped and I was back on! Everything felt fine, no pain, riding strong - hey this is fun!!

Perhaps due to pushing a little hard through the night, not taking on enough food or caffeine or perhaps I am just soft - but by 6am I was slowing down again. I still had a pretty good lead on Bellchambers and Ash, so I just had to survive and hope my usual morning energy kicked in.

No morning energy came ... but the Brett and Ash steam trains did! Soon enough my 4th was a 6th and I was limping around wondering where I went wrong.

Lucky I had a big gap to 7th, so I could finish the last few hours with some slow laps.  I waited for McAvoy and English to come around for the last lap, and we had a great cruise for the last lap.

Food

I kept the food real simple for this race;

• Torq Gels
• Torq Bar
• Torq Energy
• Pancakes
• Easter buns
• Nutella sandwiches
• Bananas

My food tip was to mix 1 scoop of flavored Torq energy with 1 scoop of natural. Much less stress on the stomach. In fact, with this above food intake I had no stomach problems at all!


I also got all my caffeine from no-doz. I did not really use any caffeinated gels.


Bike & Equipment

My pair of Scott Sparks did really well again.

Knowing the course would be rough I dropped the the front fork PSI down to 50, and ran the rear at 160. I also tweaked the rebound to keep it even more super soft.

I also put on some Richey form grips to absorb more of the impact. These were a big success.

After doing some test runs, I chose to run a Schwalbe Rocket Ron on the front and a Schwalbe Racing Ralph on the rear. I ran both USTs. With all the rock gardens I did not want to risk a sidewall.

The choice of tires worked, and I had no tire issues.

The twin-lock was again a real advantage - especially running the lower PSI pressures. As soon as I hit the (brief) fireroads or crit track, the lock out was fully on and the bike was as powerful as a rigid ... and then a quick flip of the switch and it was back to being super soft.

The true success of these bikes is that my body has recovered really well. Despite a little sore wrists and fingers, the rest of my body (back, neck etc) are all fine!

Thanks

A big thanks firstly goes to my support crew - Robyn, Kylie, Anne, Houran + special guests of Robbie and Indi

You guys & girls did a great job to keep the food and encouragement rolling, and doing all the bike cleaning and maintenance.Could not have done it without you!!

Thanks to Dave & Brett from ACT Bike Superstore for getting my bikes all prepped and ready to race.

Thanks to Jase & Houran (Radical Lights) for letting me share their pit space.

Thanks to my trusty training buddies - McAvoy, Garry, Ed and Dave - it was great to be riding with you out there. Well done to all of you - you all did really well!

Next

This weekend I am hanging up the Spark and pulling out the Scott Addict for the Tour of Canberra.

Then in a few more weeks there is the Beechworth 6 hr, Paterson 24 hr and a 8 hr in Nowra ... nice!!

Age group podium with Ash and English

McAvoy and I happy to finish

On track