Bike SA Dirty Weekend 2017
Technically not a race for us, since we were the only team in our category, but we got out there and gave it a go. Miss V and I entered in the 24hr mixed duo class, partly because we noticed no one entered that class last time, and also because it gave us a bot more flexibility on when to be out on track.
I woke up on friday with a sore back, which unfortunately persisted throughout the weekend, probably not helped by trail riding on a hardtail :P
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Miss V was keen to do the first lap, mainly so that she could drop to the back of the field and do a lap with no one trying to pass her. As soon she'd started i headed back to the tent to get ready for my laps. I'd barely got dressed when i heard "Carl! Help!" Miss V had punctured on the opening lap and had made it back to the part of the track that backed onto our campsite. Puncture fixed, though that put paid to Miss V's theory of not getting passed.
1 1/2 hours later and it was my turn.. woot!
a quick debrief about the course conditions and I was off. What was immediately obvious was that the course was very slippery due to the rains during the week. This was particularly evident through the two forest sections and anywhere with exposed tree roots. It also highlighted that choosing to run with due-for-replacement tyres was probably a poor one. One new section in particular was very difficult and pretty quickly smashed any confidence i had
i put in two laps as planned and then came in, with V taking the first of the evening/night laps. Surprisingly, I managed a couple of PBs in this run! Very unexpected.
https://www.strava.com/activities/963908811
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V finished her lap, looking pretty happy, though feeling like her asthma was playing up a bit. She'd originally planned to do two, perhaps three laps on the first day, so she had achieved her goal. Good stuff. I headed out for my first night lap to find that the course was perhaps a bit slicker than before, and for some reason my concentration just wasn't there. I had a bit of a stack near the (awesome) forest disco section, landing in some inconveniently placed blackberry bushes. ouch. With that in mind, I made the decision to come in after one lap and go grab some food. This also had the advantage of allowing the track to clear as the 12 hour riders came off the course
https://www.strava.com/activities/963908792
Refueled and lights recharged, I headed back out just before 11:30pm. I won't lie, part of my brain was recalling last year when i headed out at this time with the torrential rain. None this time fortunately. In fact, despite the cool temperature, it was pretty nice with almost no wind to speak of. First thing I noticed was that the course was drying and was pretty nice. Things i struggled to ride earlier were feeling much better and I could feel a bit of confidence coming back. I did stack it at one point on a tree root which rattled me a bit, but on the whole rather enjoyed the lap. The second lap out was quite similar, right down to almost stacking it on exactly the same tree root
. About half way through my second lap, I was think "do i reckon I have a third lap in me?" I looked down at my light and it had enough burn time left. I knew my helmet light had enough left... did i? Even my back was feeling almost ok. Maybe due to taking ibuprofen prior to the session.. but all the same, feeling good. So i decided to go with it. So i did a third lap. I was even extra cautious at the damn tree root of death
. I've never done three laps straight. Super happy.
https://www.strava.com/activities/963909049
i collapsed onto a couch and made myself a cup of tea before contemplating heading to sleep. Unfortunately during this time I got news of a mate having pulled out due to a dislocated knee cap while in the lead and coming close to lapping 2nd place.
On day two, both V and I decided that we'd probably done enough and sat around supporting a few of our mates as they took out the 24 hour 4x female team event.
For our efforts, we each picked up an Exposure light.. Helmet lighting sorted for next year!
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