Catch up blog on the Scott 24hr that was held in October
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| A packed start line full of nerves and lycra |
The trails at Stromlo are testing at the best of times but throw the odd 'axle deep' rut in there and you have some serious challenges. My favourite laps were my first lap and my last lap. I had a little traffic on the first red lap but got passed a couple of riders at the bridge on Skyline and was able to hook into the Luge with a free run, only to find more traffic on the DH section.
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| Me enjoying the conditions of the first 6 hours |
The night laps were very tough, it was wet, it was cold and the challenge was keeping the rear derailleur out of the mud so you had some gears left by the end.
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| Entering the night |
Back into the day light and my last run on the Blue lap was wild but being on the demo Scott Genius freshened things up for me, plenty of paddock bashing on the grass to get around those muddy sections, unlocked 200mm of travel on Party Line, passed my family cheering at the bottom of the 4 cross track and had a great clear run into transition.
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| On the Scott Genius demo bike |
Simon - got us off to a brilliant start, the way he jumped on his bike after the lemans start, elbows out, looking very angry, showed nothing short of pure aggression and commitment. Even with 3km of riding on a flat in true hardcore downhiller style, Simon finished in under 49mins and had us in 25th place. There is no doubt this would have been the fastest lap of the team had luck been on his side.
Ed - Red lap Ed, obviously Ed loves the steep stuff and it was awesome to catch his style at the end of his first lap, loose, sideways and airborne, doesn't get much better. Ed kept it super consistent and obviously gave it everything on his last lap to keep his lap time nice and low. Massive thanks for entering us and setting up the tarp in the rain on Thursday, it was a great spot and proved to be a well organised site.
Jimmy - anyone that rides a Scott is cool with me. Jimmy showed some great riding, he closed some serious gaps including taking about 20mins out of 15th place on his night double lap. Massive effort and great lap times considering you're new to the Stromlo trails.
Sam - Quiet achiever Sam CAN ride an MTB, with a yellow bandanna flying, in trying conditions he stomped out the laps, in taking 7 places for the team he must have some good passing strats. Great effort in bringing us within less then a minute of doing a 30th lap. I know how much that last lap can hurt.
Pete - I've raced with Pete for a few years now and he always brings a great attitude and 100% commitment on the track , both of which rained true. Pete's first lap was a flyer and gained us a place, and having endured the rain on his night lap he mustered up the courage and stamina to punch out 2 great laps on the sunrise shift.
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| There was lots of this stuff on the track |
All in all a great throw together and I don't think we could have arranged a team with closer lap times and better dynamics if we tried. We finished in a creditable 14th place in the hotly contended category Men’s Team of 6.
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| Tent city |
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