http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjitzQkaUNs
Friday, 29 March 2013
Tuesday, 26 March 2013
2013 Mont 24hr - Team Smooth Transition
7th place in Six Packs - OPEN - Male
The morning pack for the race took a little longer then I expected and had me arriving at track side at 1015am. The team had my back here already and had taken care of signing on and picking up the plates. I wasn't rushing, actually I was doing quite the opposite, trying to move as slowly as possible to conserve everything for stomping out some laps. The relief of arriving at the campsite soon turned into excitement when I notice Simon already on the trainer, getting warm and keen.
A quick meet and greet and within minutes we were talking about our approach and rider order. Within another few minutes the plan was sorted and attention turned to the start. Everyone in this group is so laid back but on the other hand are equally as keen to do well on the track. This formula is very hard to find.
Simon started us off with a solid performance and came through in the first 120 out of 600 riders, which positioned the team into 26th in our category. We would soon work our way into 14th place with Jimi smashing out the fastest lap for our team in the first 12 hours period.
The team engine was firing and turning around at great efficiency. Everyone was pumping out laps within a couple of minutes of the last and we managed to keep it rubber side down.
I was really worried about how my legs would respond because they were feeling like rubbish in the lead up. With swollen glands and a sick kid in the household I also wasn't sure if my body was going to play the game either. But after the nerves subsided and I got on the bike for that first lap, my legs felt punchy and immediately felt good about going 100%.
The night grind was on and our unlucky rider was chosen when Paul got a double flat. The instant he realized that his last CO2 was not enough for those big 29er hoops, a girl crashed right next him and proved to be the cartwheeling pump queen when Paul borrowed her hand pump to get him back on the track. Once he got back into a rhythm and made it across the line it had cost us about 14mins. Never mind because it was only a matter of 4 laps or so and we were back in 7th place.
I felt great on my last lap, the course really opened up with new lines and the traffic had thinned out a little with some teams pulling the pin before the buzzer. I had nearly made it home with only about 5kms to go, then I struck a tree root with my left pedal and it flicked me on my back like a helpless turtle. My bike was upside down with the stem skewed at nearly 90 degrees. I quickly straightened my bars and jumped straight back on. Have to say thanks to the 4 guys who stopped and sorry for not even making eye contact because I had some where to be and it was only a few kms away.
We would finish in a credible 7th place out of 120 teams, or 22nd overall out of 600 teams. The team put in a couple of great late laps including the fastest of our race with Hamish bombing a 54:03. The gap between us and 6th closed quickly but we fell just short and finished 2mins behind our closest rivals.
http://www.racetecresults.com/MyResults.aspx?CId=16253&RId=130&EId=1&AId=19690
SMOOTH TRANSITION
Race No : 7146
Category : Six Packs - OPEN - Male
Status : Finished
No Laps : 24
Fastest Lap : 00:54:03
Slowest Lap : 01:18:44
Average Lap : 01:01:30
Distance Done : 487.2
Finish Time: 24:36:12
Overall : 22
Gender : 19
Categ : 7
The team dynamics worked really well this year and it was great to race again with a like minded bunch of lads. I'm hoping we can keep this group together for upcoming team events or even just some weekend pedal out in the local bush.
Team Captain award goes to Ed Meeuwissen for showing so much improvement since the Scott and riding so well during this event. You had an awesome preparation with heaps of racing in the lead up. Keep it up mate.
*Yoda: Potential in you there is, keep training you must.
Special thanks
TLC Cycles for race prepping my bike, it was flawless the entire race.
Don from our Rough Transition team who setup the massive marquees
Our interstate riders for making the trip and making the race so worthwhile
Hamish for making his comeback on race day. Who does that, seriously!
Dan Parker for coming out and taking some photos, he was meant to race but was out injured
All the cool peeps who dropped by the campsite just to say hi and give support. It all pays when you are grinding out laps at 3am.
Stay tuned and I'll bang up a post with rider comments about the race and some more photos/vid etc.
Next race is the last round of CORC XCO, with Hamish on the come back running in 3rd overall and me runnning just a few points behind its going to be an interesting race.
Ride on.
Dave
 |
| Smooth Transition Paul, Jimmy, Simon, me, Hamish, Ed |
The morning pack for the race took a little longer then I expected and had me arriving at track side at 1015am. The team had my back here already and had taken care of signing on and picking up the plates. I wasn't rushing, actually I was doing quite the opposite, trying to move as slowly as possible to conserve everything for stomping out some laps. The relief of arriving at the campsite soon turned into excitement when I notice Simon already on the trainer, getting warm and keen.
A quick meet and greet and within minutes we were talking about our approach and rider order. Within another few minutes the plan was sorted and attention turned to the start. Everyone in this group is so laid back but on the other hand are equally as keen to do well on the track. This formula is very hard to find.
Simon started us off with a solid performance and came through in the first 120 out of 600 riders, which positioned the team into 26th in our category. We would soon work our way into 14th place with Jimi smashing out the fastest lap for our team in the first 12 hours period.
 |
| Ed pumped and ready to hit out his first lap |
 |
| Jimi tags Ed in and completes one of many smooth transitions |
I was really worried about how my legs would respond because they were feeling like rubbish in the lead up. With swollen glands and a sick kid in the household I also wasn't sure if my body was going to play the game either. But after the nerves subsided and I got on the bike for that first lap, my legs felt punchy and immediately felt good about going 100%.
 |
| Ripping in my first lap |
The night grind was on and our unlucky rider was chosen when Paul got a double flat. The instant he realized that his last CO2 was not enough for those big 29er hoops, a girl crashed right next him and proved to be the cartwheeling pump queen when Paul borrowed her hand pump to get him back on the track. Once he got back into a rhythm and made it across the line it had cost us about 14mins. Never mind because it was only a matter of 4 laps or so and we were back in 7th place.
I felt great on my last lap, the course really opened up with new lines and the traffic had thinned out a little with some teams pulling the pin before the buzzer. I had nearly made it home with only about 5kms to go, then I struck a tree root with my left pedal and it flicked me on my back like a helpless turtle. My bike was upside down with the stem skewed at nearly 90 degrees. I quickly straightened my bars and jumped straight back on. Have to say thanks to the 4 guys who stopped and sorry for not even making eye contact because I had some where to be and it was only a few kms away.
We would finish in a credible 7th place out of 120 teams, or 22nd overall out of 600 teams. The team put in a couple of great late laps including the fastest of our race with Hamish bombing a 54:03. The gap between us and 6th closed quickly but we fell just short and finished 2mins behind our closest rivals.
 |
Beer Garden enjoying my last hit out for the weekend. |
http://www.racetecresults.com/MyResults.aspx?CId=16253&RId=130&EId=1&AId=19690
SMOOTH TRANSITION
Race No : 7146
Category : Six Packs - OPEN - Male
Status : Finished
No Laps : 24
Fastest Lap : 00:54:03
Slowest Lap : 01:18:44
Average Lap : 01:01:30
Distance Done : 487.2
Finish Time: 24:36:12
Overall : 22
Gender : 19
Categ : 7
The team dynamics worked really well this year and it was great to race again with a like minded bunch of lads. I'm hoping we can keep this group together for upcoming team events or even just some weekend pedal out in the local bush.
Team Captain award goes to Ed Meeuwissen for showing so much improvement since the Scott and riding so well during this event. You had an awesome preparation with heaps of racing in the lead up. Keep it up mate.
*Yoda: Potential in you there is, keep training you must.
Special thanks
TLC Cycles for race prepping my bike, it was flawless the entire race.
Don from our Rough Transition team who setup the massive marquees
Our interstate riders for making the trip and making the race so worthwhile
Hamish for making his comeback on race day. Who does that, seriously!
Dan Parker for coming out and taking some photos, he was meant to race but was out injured
All the cool peeps who dropped by the campsite just to say hi and give support. It all pays when you are grinding out laps at 3am.
Stay tuned and I'll bang up a post with rider comments about the race and some more photos/vid etc.
Next race is the last round of CORC XCO, with Hamish on the come back running in 3rd overall and me runnning just a few points behind its going to be an interesting race.
Ride on.
Dave
Thursday, 14 March 2013
James Williamson Enduro Challenge - 14th place Open Male 50km
http://jameswilliamson.com.au/enduro/event-info/
I entered this race last year but was sick in the lead up so had to bail out last minute. So naturally I was excited to complete this time and to test out my current training and fitness. It would prove to be a great bump in my fitness level and set me up for the final week of hard riding before the Mont 24hr in just 2 weeks time.
The start was carried out in waves, and I was in the 3rd wave. The first wave was the 75km riders including all the hotshot marathon and XCO racers. It was cool to watch the start from just metres away and observe the uber fit cycling greyhounds power off for over 2 hours of racing in the bush. Names like Dylan Cooper, Sid Taberly, Shaun Lewis, Andrew Blair are definitly among Australias hardest pure breeds.
 |
| Dylan/Andrew/Shaun leading the 75km off the start |
First thing I noticed on our startline was Brad Morto, he is a 'thing' when he is on a bike because he is a machine that churns out podiums at just about every race he enters. Oh well, looks like the 50km does attract some fast riders after all. I was thinking I might be a chance at a podium at this little ride in the bush in the mddle of nowhere. Little did I know. So I conservatively put myself in the 3rd row back, which probably meant I was in the top third off the startline.
 |
| Brad leading the 50km off the start |
The start took us up a fairly steep fire trail and passed through the Shimano Start/Finish. I felt like I was going backwards straight away, heaps of riders went passed me in the first few kilometers but I stuck to my heart rate monitor, and kept it well under 180bpm (laughs). I gave myself a couple of rests and took the wheel of a 29er motoring down a fast section. I warmed up and riders started to blow, one by one I started picking them off. The course has heaps of firetrail but not enough for my bad start and I got caught in a conga line that came to a dead stop on 3 occasions. Open fire trail was never too far away and I was able to get moving forward again.
 |
| and me, leading the mid field :-) |
The first 25kms seemed to fly by and before I knew it we were back at the start/finish ready to go for another lap. With open air and the group well and truly settled in and spreading out all the time I was able to really smash out the single trail and fast fire trail descents. Such great riding with countless sandy two wheel drifts, thick scrub licking your elbows and the odd rider yodeling out with glee.
I marvelled at a pair of Black Cockatoo's flying by and entered another great section of single trail. The massive screeching birds proved to be a very bad oman. I hit my fork lockout to free up my stanchions and it snapped cleanly under my thumb, uh oh. Within 3 corners I was off the track and off my bike, hugging a tree like its life depended on it, jumped straight back on with a banged knee and within another couple of corners I was over the bars and on my back. My fork was locked for the rest of the race. I polished off my 2ltrs of water and went for my bottle but it had done a Hudini in all the cartwheeling and I was out of liquid for the last 15kms. I tried to put it to the back of my mind, until I rode passed a water station but I would have had to stop and fill up my camelbak and would have lost several places in the process. Surely all that hydrating with sweet electrolytes the day before would have to pay off.
Every climb and pinch I was out the saddle and making sure that my legs were getting the punishment they deserve. I made a few more places and was on the home run. The question came to me, to sprint to the line, or to pop a wheelie across the line. A quick head check and with no one pushing me I popped it up for a little celebration of the race completion action. Ah happy days, I was shagged, couldn't have pedalled for any longer and the commentator must have seen the effort I went to and gave me a new set of grips and a couple of enduro mags. With no idea what place I was in I already felt like I'd accomplished another big challenge.
I never met James Williamson, a riding friend pointed him out to me at an early Mont 24hr race. But what I do know is that he was a Solo 24hr World Champion, that he must have loved riding Wingello trails and every year in March he still attracts a super relaxed, super fast bunch of people. The vibe at this race is something special and you can still feel James Williamson's presence in the riders that he touched in his very short life. I can only dream of being remembered in such a way. So cheers to you young James, and may this race continue in your name forever. God bless.
Summary
50kms
Lap 1 - 1:10:54
Lap 2 - 1:10:51
Average HR - 170bpm
Max HR - 198bpm
3 Endura Gel Shots
2lts of water
1 broken fork lockout
Heaps of fun
I'll try and post up some pre Mont 24hr words in few days
Ride on
Dave
Monday, 4 March 2013
2013 CORC 3hr Series - Race 1 Stromlo Forest Park
The course had been locked in and made public for over a week, I'm not sure if it helped or hindered our performance on Saturday. On one hand we knew we would be racing on our home track, on the other hand its a course that benefits the complete rider, basically timing wise, the lap is 2/3 climbing, 1/3 decent. The climb while not that steep is prolonged and takes around 20mins, the descent is fast and furious and presents a flowing single track with countless ski jumps and many berms. So it makes for a benchmark of sorts and for the competitive rider, lets face it we're out there to race, the course is a true test and a race presents a time to pitch your ability and strength against everyone who is racing. So for Hamish and I, the pressure was well and truly on.
Naturally Hamish had a chaotic preparation in the hours leading up to the race. Including 600kms of driving, picking up a brand new 29er Specialized S-works from Sydney, purchasing a new pram and capsule from Sydney and the replacement of press fit bottom bracket bearings in his 26er s-works so it can be raced in the 3hr. Conversely but also fairly naturally I had a relaxed prep with the morning spent lubing my chain, pumping up my brand new Kenda Small Block 8s, sleeping for about an hour during the day and ensuring all the right fuel had entered my body by 3pm.
This is how it unfolded.
5:15pm - I arrived trackside and entered us as a team in the Open Male Pair category. Hamish busily throwing bike and gear in the ute at his home.
5:30pm - I was geared up and prepping my lights for the 2nd half of the race. Hamish calls and is on his way.
5:45pm - 15mins to race start, I hit the criterium track for some warm ups, legs are feeling ok but that wind is cold, so cold that I cut half the track and only ride with the wind to stay warm.
5:50pm - Hamish arrives, "Scissors paper rock for first lap or do you want me to do it", I was warm and prepped so it was always going to me, had to make the option available.
6:00pm - Race start, I self seeded 2nd row behind the A graders, but still side by side with so many fast riders. The depth of riders in Canberra is extraordinarily deep, to say the least. I'll list the results at the recent Australian National Championships at the end of this blog. I live for this moment, on the start line, heart rates already maxing out on many riders. Time for the bullshit to stop and the gun to go off. My attitude to the first lap was 100% on the way up, 95% on the way down.
I stuffed up my seeding, I put myself right on the outside of the first left hander so I found that 30 or so riders were in front of me within the first 100m. Then I noticed a Trek team rider take a creative line off the fire trail and up a single track that meanders along the side of the 4 cross course. Time for a little high risk/high gain and I followed him. It was a bit more effort and I wasn't sure how it would play out, or how legal it was, but by the time the single track re-joined the main trail, I saw the Trek rider go straight into the lead, I smiled and zoomed back into about 15th place.
I felt good on the climb and my legs responded well after a good warm up. I'll eat my words now because I used to bag the riders who did a serious warm up, I now know that it is essential to a good start. I was basically the first of the rest by the end of the climb, meaning I was bringing up the front of the bunch behind the A graders. I hit the decent and repeated to myself, "smooth and fast, right on line" and kept the hammer down. I soon caught a guy and got passed quickly just before the skyline single trail, milking the new ramps for every bit of free speed, I caught two more chaps, Dave Medlock from Nitelights and another random. I called for the overtake at the start of the Luge and the typical response from a reluctant competitor, "Oh its a bit hard here mate", I've said the same thing so can totally understand. So I prepped my fellow racers and said "On this berm coming up, you go high and I'll go low". To my surprise they both took my advice, only Crafty Dave Medlock took the inside as well and we both scooted passed the inside of the slower rider. I've been on Dave's wheel before, and he's got game, so was happy to chase him down without pushing the pass. It was interesting to note how his 2 niner responded in the switchbacks compared to my 2 sixer. As expected, every mid corner I was scrubbing his back wheel.
The last few kms were fairly uneventful last as I was riding smooth and hitting all my lines. Rode through transition in 9th place overall and 2nd in our category and handed the reigns over to Hamish.
6:30pm - I threw on a hoodie and tried to stay warm while downing half a bottle of Endura. We were required to have lights on after 7pm so I setup one of my lights as I knew I would be back before sunset.
6:50pm - Started to warm up a bit and put my helmet on ready for another hot lap
6:58pm - Expected Hamish to come in at close to the 29min mark or a little quicker
7:00pm - Heard some riders coming in reporting that a rider was badly hurt half way down the descent.
7:05pm - No Hamish at transition, starting to have bad thoughts.
7:10pm - Trent comes through and tells me Hamish is down and is pretty bad. Our race is over and my thoughts are now straight to Hamish's health. Preying that he doesn't have severe injuries.
7:20pm - I rode up the fire trails to meet Hamish at the crash site and nearly got there but he was already on his way down the hill in the first aid car.
GoPro Vid of Stack - http://youtu.be/sTyPf5OLHW0
Hamish looked liked a corpse, was severely concussed and disorientated but had his sense of humour in tact. No time for chit chat the Ambulance was on its way. I rode behind the car back down the hill. I felt like a old loyal dog following his owner, thinking about what injuries he might have and what long term effect this will have his attitude towards riding.
Hamish has no broken bones but he went under a general anesthetic to have plastic surgery done on his upper lip/nose to make sure that it all heals up correctly. They underestimated his fitness and he stopped breathing while being operated on and the doctors had to pump Narcan into his blood to get him going again. Besides feeling like he has been mauled by a dog, he is generally fine and is already putting together his race calendar for the rest of the year.
Here are some quotes from Hamish just after the crash...
"I'm good to go for a couple more laps!"
"Well there goes my modelling career"
"Is my bike ok?"
"Dude, don't worry. We are going to win the series"
"Is my bike ok?"
"I seriously had no idea what was going on until 5mins ago"
"I just remembered that I bought a new bike. Sick. Glad I didn't crash that one"
On finding out he needs plastic surgery under a general
"I will enquire about getting my nostrils drilled out a little bigger to get a VO2 advantage"
"Is my bike ok?"
"Dude, I can't ride my new 29er. That's pain!"
"I've now had to clean both blood and spew from my 26er during its racing career"
Hamish has been told he can't ride or train for two weeks so that rules him out of the up coming Mont 24hr team race. The search begins for a replacement rider, it will be nearly impossible to find another rider who will attack the track like Hamish does every time he heads out.
ACT rider results from the Australian National Championships XCO
Dylan Cooper - 5th in Elite
James Downing - 19th in Elite
Bec Henderson - 1st in U23
John Henderson - 1st in Super Masters Men
Bradley Morton (Mort0) - 1st Masters Men
Hamish Scanlain - 3rd in Expert
Charlie Brodie - 2nd in U15 Men
Zoe Cuthbert - 3rd in U15 Women
Naturally Hamish had a chaotic preparation in the hours leading up to the race. Including 600kms of driving, picking up a brand new 29er Specialized S-works from Sydney, purchasing a new pram and capsule from Sydney and the replacement of press fit bottom bracket bearings in his 26er s-works so it can be raced in the 3hr. Conversely but also fairly naturally I had a relaxed prep with the morning spent lubing my chain, pumping up my brand new Kenda Small Block 8s, sleeping for about an hour during the day and ensuring all the right fuel had entered my body by 3pm.
This is how it unfolded.
5:15pm - I arrived trackside and entered us as a team in the Open Male Pair category. Hamish busily throwing bike and gear in the ute at his home.
5:30pm - I was geared up and prepping my lights for the 2nd half of the race. Hamish calls and is on his way.
5:45pm - 15mins to race start, I hit the criterium track for some warm ups, legs are feeling ok but that wind is cold, so cold that I cut half the track and only ride with the wind to stay warm.
5:50pm - Hamish arrives, "Scissors paper rock for first lap or do you want me to do it", I was warm and prepped so it was always going to me, had to make the option available.
6:00pm - Race start, I self seeded 2nd row behind the A graders, but still side by side with so many fast riders. The depth of riders in Canberra is extraordinarily deep, to say the least. I'll list the results at the recent Australian National Championships at the end of this blog. I live for this moment, on the start line, heart rates already maxing out on many riders. Time for the bullshit to stop and the gun to go off. My attitude to the first lap was 100% on the way up, 95% on the way down.
I stuffed up my seeding, I put myself right on the outside of the first left hander so I found that 30 or so riders were in front of me within the first 100m. Then I noticed a Trek team rider take a creative line off the fire trail and up a single track that meanders along the side of the 4 cross course. Time for a little high risk/high gain and I followed him. It was a bit more effort and I wasn't sure how it would play out, or how legal it was, but by the time the single track re-joined the main trail, I saw the Trek rider go straight into the lead, I smiled and zoomed back into about 15th place.
I felt good on the climb and my legs responded well after a good warm up. I'll eat my words now because I used to bag the riders who did a serious warm up, I now know that it is essential to a good start. I was basically the first of the rest by the end of the climb, meaning I was bringing up the front of the bunch behind the A graders. I hit the decent and repeated to myself, "smooth and fast, right on line" and kept the hammer down. I soon caught a guy and got passed quickly just before the skyline single trail, milking the new ramps for every bit of free speed, I caught two more chaps, Dave Medlock from Nitelights and another random. I called for the overtake at the start of the Luge and the typical response from a reluctant competitor, "Oh its a bit hard here mate", I've said the same thing so can totally understand. So I prepped my fellow racers and said "On this berm coming up, you go high and I'll go low". To my surprise they both took my advice, only Crafty Dave Medlock took the inside as well and we both scooted passed the inside of the slower rider. I've been on Dave's wheel before, and he's got game, so was happy to chase him down without pushing the pass. It was interesting to note how his 2 niner responded in the switchbacks compared to my 2 sixer. As expected, every mid corner I was scrubbing his back wheel.
 |
| On my way down Old Duffy Descent |
The last few kms were fairly uneventful last as I was riding smooth and hitting all my lines. Rode through transition in 9th place overall and 2nd in our category and handed the reigns over to Hamish.
 |
| Chasing Dave Medlock |
6:30pm - I threw on a hoodie and tried to stay warm while downing half a bottle of Endura. We were required to have lights on after 7pm so I setup one of my lights as I knew I would be back before sunset.
6:50pm - Started to warm up a bit and put my helmet on ready for another hot lap
6:58pm - Expected Hamish to come in at close to the 29min mark or a little quicker
7:00pm - Heard some riders coming in reporting that a rider was badly hurt half way down the descent.
7:05pm - No Hamish at transition, starting to have bad thoughts.
7:10pm - Trent comes through and tells me Hamish is down and is pretty bad. Our race is over and my thoughts are now straight to Hamish's health. Preying that he doesn't have severe injuries.
7:20pm - I rode up the fire trails to meet Hamish at the crash site and nearly got there but he was already on his way down the hill in the first aid car.
GoPro Vid of Stack - http://youtu.be/sTyPf5OLHW0
Hamish looked liked a corpse, was severely concussed and disorientated but had his sense of humour in tact. No time for chit chat the Ambulance was on its way. I rode behind the car back down the hill. I felt like a old loyal dog following his owner, thinking about what injuries he might have and what long term effect this will have his attitude towards riding.
Hamish has no broken bones but he went under a general anesthetic to have plastic surgery done on his upper lip/nose to make sure that it all heals up correctly. They underestimated his fitness and he stopped breathing while being operated on and the doctors had to pump Narcan into his blood to get him going again. Besides feeling like he has been mauled by a dog, he is generally fine and is already putting together his race calendar for the rest of the year.
Here are some quotes from Hamish just after the crash...
"I'm good to go for a couple more laps!"
"Well there goes my modelling career"
"Is my bike ok?"
"Dude, don't worry. We are going to win the series"
"Is my bike ok?"
"I seriously had no idea what was going on until 5mins ago"
"I just remembered that I bought a new bike. Sick. Glad I didn't crash that one"
On finding out he needs plastic surgery under a general
"I will enquire about getting my nostrils drilled out a little bigger to get a VO2 advantage"
"Is my bike ok?"
"Dude, I can't ride my new 29er. That's pain!"
"I've now had to clean both blood and spew from my 26er during its racing career"
Hamish has been told he can't ride or train for two weeks so that rules him out of the up coming Mont 24hr team race. The search begins for a replacement rider, it will be nearly impossible to find another rider who will attack the track like Hamish does every time he heads out.
ACT rider results from the Australian National Championships XCO
Dylan Cooper - 5th in Elite
James Downing - 19th in Elite
Bec Henderson - 1st in U23
John Henderson - 1st in Super Masters Men
Bradley Morton (Mort0) - 1st Masters Men
Hamish Scanlain - 3rd in Expert
Charlie Brodie - 2nd in U15 Men
Zoe Cuthbert - 3rd in U15 Women
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