Scott24 hour jobs done photos now added

Final position. 13th in the open mens. With 18 laps (about 325kms) I did enough laps to secure a position in the world champs next year to be held on the same course.

Spending the Friday night with TR & Rach was a lot of fun. Those guys area a great reality check.

Race Start: 50 mins for my first lap. Smooth, not too fast however not sustainable. I then settled into a more sustainable pace ;-)


After my first lap it was clear the service & seal replacement on my forks didnt fix the leaking problem. They stopped leaking before the sun went down. I would suggest because they ran out of oil. Oh, well. At least I have my eye sight.

At about 6pm I got a small stick that flicked in behind my glasses. The vision in my left eye became instantly blurry. As the night laps went on my left eye vision was fully a blur & I was unable to see out of it. So at 2am I went to the emergency tent, they sent me to the hospital, the wait at the hospital was 6-8 hours! WTF is that about?! I made a self assessment, went back to the race emergency tent, got them to put on a sealed up eye patch so no dust or crap could get in & make it worse. All the while this was happening I was fuelling up!!! 2 1/2 hours later I was back on my bike.

I went out for a night lap with one eye & it was fucked! I finished it but decided I would more than likely axe myself. So I sat back for 20 minutes & waited for the sun to come up enough. I went out & smashed out some more consistent laps. Jason English with 23. Matt_dog with 18!

It was going to be the last lap that TR yelled at me on some of the fastest & most fun part of the trail. "Keep riding dog, there are more hills!!!" I was so cranked up & hungry to eat some more climbingdidnt stop at the transition before heading out for another lap just before the course closed. I simply turfed my empty biddon, my awesome girl saw what was going on & just held out a full one for a hot swap.

When Jason English first lapped me sometime before midnight he gave me some kind words of encouragement (bloody nice guy!) I then told him "Hey Jason, I have been sitting back resting & I am going to put in my attack on you soon!" A little cheeky but a lot of fun when tired. I am sure he had a little laugh too.

Man, that guy rides so smooth. I guess thats how you become the worlds best!

So when you ask “what am I doing in October 2010?” I am going to line up for the world championships! Yeee haaaa….. So get back on your bike so you can smash me up those hills!


Lessons learnt.

My Scott Scale 20 hardtail is a beautiful bike. I now must get a full suspension bike. My legs & head were still strong, my back, neck & shoulders were smashed!

Tubless tires with UST specific rubber are an absolute must for this course. I have never seen so many people sitting on the side of the track changing flats! There were so many, it looked like a hill top crowd on Le Tour!

Pizza is fucking awesome race food!

GU gels are shit in cold weather. They are so thick. Shotz were awesome gels in the cold.

Merino under shirts are awesome! My 2XU jacket saved my race. Easy to zip down when climbing & zip up on the freezing cold descents.

There is always room for one more lap.


A spare bike/100% redundancy is a great idea!

All the stuff I have just typed above is not nearly as important to me as this next bit. My partner, Kirstie, was an awesome pit chick. We both had an awesome road trip & established a new level of mutual trust in our relationship.

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What have I done

I should mention that the two photos used in this post are taken by John Flynn. John is not only an awesome photographer, he also rides a bike! Check out some of his stories
So, about 2 weeks ago when asked how I was feeling about doing the croc trophy, I described it as "I am at the stage of I wish it was tomorrow but I also wish it was still 3 months away!"

Today, as I write a few things in my diary, realising that I fly out at the end of next week I now have the feeling "What the flip have I gotten myself into?"

Then I look back at the many other occasions I have made that same comment.

I committed to completing the 2008 crocodile trophy nearly 9 months ago. There have been so many changes in that time. Many simply falling in behind my croc goals.

With that in mind, I would be a fool if I didnt appreciate all that I have experienced leading up to this event. Its not just about the 9 days of racing for me. It is the entire experience leading upto, during & I am very excited about what is to come once it is completed.

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Alcoa 12 hour Dusk to Dawn done!

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Quick one. The track was out to smash me. Little round gravel the size & shape of peas. It was like riding on marbles. I set the single speed up with a 32 x 18. for a couple of hours last night I was in 2nd.

I ended up with 3rd in open mens with about 187 kms. I also won the highest ranked single speeder for the race too :-)

Race report to follow once I get back to Brisbane.

Until next time, smooth flowing lines!

Dog


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Alcoa Dust to Yawn done dusted

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Dust to Yawn is just how it was. A 6pm start. It was still too warm to ride off with anything more than a jersey. Oh, I did have nix on too. After a few hours it had cooled so I had to put my magical, long sleeve Icebreaker top on.



The laps were about 17kms long. After 10kms we came past the transition area then headed out for the other 7km loop. I was getting them done in about an hour. Shortly into the second lap I heard a loud, vibrating noise when I went to use my front brakes. Its ok, I have only lost one of my brake caliper bolts. The second one was loose to. The only reason I can think this happened is because I didnt tighten them when I put the bike together after the plane trip. No bike shop mechanic to get grumpy at & blame only myself.

I took the second one out, wrapped the caliper around the other hose line & did the next 15kms with only a back brake. This was a really good thing though. I found that when riding on marbles (pea-gravel) front brakes bring you down. As I came through the transition at the 10km mark I asked my dad (support person for the race) to find me one of these please, grabbed a fresh biddon, mouthful of fruit cake then continued on. The old-fella found one. It took me a few minutes to fit & adjust.

My dad commented that one of my lap times was not as consistent. I said "that was probably the one when I head slammed & tree & sat down for a couple of minutes to make sure I was ok. oops, sorry tree.

I was in 2nd place for a short while. On about lap 14 or 15 3rd place caught me. I stuck on his wheel & had a casual chat. He then must have realised it was a 2nd/3rd thing. The pace picked up. I wheel sucked. It got a little faster, I wheel sucked. He then backed off a little, so I attacked. Along came a short climb, so I attacked it hard. I hope he pops soon because I am about to. I then see his lights getting a little further back. When the trail flattened out he caught me again. He was certainly stronger & faster than me on the night. 7kms of attacking each other was AWESOME x 10!

I have made some improvements to my race nutrition & didnt get an upset stomach all night! Now that is a first in a long time. This is one of the major benefits of using Infinit Nutrition I can adjust it to suit.

What is it like to single speed for 12 hours? I loved it. All you do is pedal. If a hill comes along pedal stronger, if its flat just spin it out a little, if youre going down, stop pedaling & enjoy the ride. The hardtail hurt my feet this race. Other than that & my poor choice of rubber the bike was the perfect assault weapon.

On 3 separate occasions I started working on excuses to quit. This always happens for me at least once. My body wants to stop the hurt & go to bed.

In this interview Jens Voigt says "Sometimes you can hear like your body start talking to you. It says, I cant do it anymore I cant do it anymore! Your mind then goes Shut up body & do as I tell you!!!"

I will track down some more photos & update this post when I do.

Time to visit U-Turn Fitness for a session & get back on track with training.


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Everything I have ever done has lead me to this moment

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I recently watched the film 127 hours. In brief, it is a film about a free, adventurous and happy dude that got his arm jammed between a rock face and a large rock that dislodged. Trapping him. 127 hours later he came to the conclusions there was only one way out. So, he broke his forearm bones and cut his own arm off, escaping and was able to get help.

During his time stuck between a rock and a hard place one of the realisations he came to was this. 

Everything he had ever done in his life led him to the situation. The rock that had spent millions of years doing its rock thing had been waiting for him and that very moment.

Today is 2 years to the day that everything I had ever done led me to meeting the woman of my dreams.

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Kirstie. Thank you for taking such time & effort to put together such an amazing, wonderful & complete woman that you are today. I love the way you walk. I love the way you laugh. I love your smile. Passion, vision, support, dreams, strength, encouragement, sharing. All this & more we fit into one day. I am so looking forward to smashing out this moment, tomorrow & the rest of my life with you.

Until next time...dog

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