2005 Mont 24 Hour Mountain Bike Race

So the weekend was the Mont 24 Hour Mountain bike race. Absolute monster of an enduro. Having busted my arm 8 weeks ago, and not really ridden off road for about 3 months it was going to be interesting how well I went. In the end my arm wasn't too bad, but the lack of some serious training ment I blew up when I couldn't keep the pace I set for myself on my first lap. I'm pretty sure I'd been fighting off a virus for a few weeks as well, as I started to feel pretty sick by Sunday morning.

Friday

As usual some of us tried to head down early to set up campsite and do a practice lap or too. On the way down the Hume highway we came to an absolute standstill, as a semi trailer had spun the truck into the middle devided road section. It must have happened at least a few hours before as there were some pretty permanent "Traffic Accident Ahead" signs by the side of the road. They must have chosen that exact moment to extract the truck as both the north and southbound lanes were blocked. Turned the engine off and got out for a bit of a stretch. About 20 minutes later we were off and moving again. Luke and I arrived at Kowen a bit before 2pm and went for a quick wander around on the bikes to see if anyone else was there. Couldn't see anyone so I guess we must have been first. We ended up grabbing the campsite pretty much exactly where we were last year.

The Campsite

Tim and I rigged up a pretty awesome tarp, as it started to rain. Plans to go for a test lap were canned and we settled in for some pretty solid drinking. Most the guys turned up over the next few hours, so the "Wild Pony" and "The Peddlers" campiste was pretty well established. Lots of people seemed to have taken the option to stay in town, as while the campsite was full of tents, there wern't many people.

Sometime after midnight the beer ran out, so we had to turn it.

Transition

Saturday

Hangover! I guess I must have overdone the "carbo loading" the night before. Some breaky, and plenty of gatorade and powerade and I was pretty much sorted by the time it was my lap. The usual antics about who was going ot go first. (and do the 800m run) Grant was pretty much keen from our team, and Luke stepped up for Wild Pony when nobody else seemed interested. They even drew straws for the other spots. We racked the starting guys bikes down in transition and they wandered off to find the start line. The jolly roger flag was there to help them find the way. I was pretty happy with my first lap, but I felt pretty exhausted after. I wasn't too sure how well I was going to hold up.

I'd got a heart rate monitor to play with in the last few weeks so I wore it for my laps.

Red: Heart Rate: 100-180bpm
Brown: Altitude: 800-1050m
Blue: Speed: 0-55kph

First Lap (Day) I maintained my heart rate accross the whole lap, cranking it down and up the hills. I felt really good about the whole course. Heaps better than the previous 2 Kowen courses.

Second Lap (Night) I started hard on this lap, as I missed Terry in transition. It had taken me a while to get my lights sorted. I felt pretty good on this lap after that up until the top of the main climb when I suddenly felt very tired. Then it started raining for a bit. Instantly the track was sticky in places and slippery in others. You can see I start to freewheel the downhills, as my heart rate takes a break. Still an ok time seeing as I lost 5 or so minutes at the start by not being there.

When I got back I felt pretty sick. While I was out the other guys had "got a plan" they said. "Does it involve stopping" I said. Nope. We would pair off at night and do laps like a 2 man team to give us longer breaks. Starting with Terry and I. I was exhausted so had a bit to eat and went and lay down.

Sunday

Third Lap (Night) With about 15mins to go till I needed to head out Grant woke me up. I wasn't feeling any better but no matter. I was still sorting my bike when Terry rolled back into camp. Its raining now, and pretty damn cold. I decide to wear my raincoat to try and keep in some warmth. I pushed the bike up a couple of the bigger hills, and rolled down everything. A horible lap time, I handed over to Terry and said I probably have one left in me, and that is it. I hung around in camp trying to eat and drink bits and pieces and generally try and stay warm. Didn't work.

Forth Lap (Night) This time I actually was in transition to meet Terry. I took off slowly and went slower. Pushed the bike up everything, and rolled down everything. Got off the bike and stopped a few times to take a piss, and eat a mars bar and apricot stick. Started to get daylight towards the end of the lap. It was a real struggle to get back into camp. If there had been an easy way to give up I might have. You can see my heart rate gets down pretty low..

Handed over to Matt, and carried his and Lukes lights back to camp as it was full daylight by now... Fell into bed as the commentary started up. Meh. So tired it didn't bother me. Slept till about 10am. Got up to watch the other guys do their last few laps.

It was muddy
My 2002 Cannondale Jekyll 800 with Tim in the background

How did we go?

Provisional Results:
Summary
Detail Part 1
Detail Part 2
Detail Part 3

The Peddlers: 42/120
Wild Pony: 40/82

Well done!

The big comp of Phill versus Matt, goes to.... Matt! The margin: over 4 minutes.

And Damn did I blow up hard.

1:05:26 4440 Grant Dowell 17.5
1:06:21 4440 Grant Dowell 17.3
1:07:28 4443 Terry Rodgers 17
1:08:46 4442 Colin Humphreys 16.7
1:09:30 4440 Grant Dowell 16.5
1:09:53 4443 Terry Rodgers 16.4
1:12:28 6470 Mark Tarlinton 15.8
1:12:40 4440 Grant Dowell 15.8
1:14:51 6469 Luke Binsted 15.3
1:16:24 4441 Matt Costain 15
1:16:24 4440 Grant Dowell 15
1:19:01 4443 Terry Rodgers 14.5
1:19:17 6469 Luke Binsted 14.5
1:20:36 6466 Phill Maher 14.2
1:21:05 6468 Phil Purdy 14.1
1:21:19 6470 Mark Tarlinton 14.1
1:24:22 4442 Colin Humphreys 13.6
1:24:37 4443 Terry Rodgers 13.6
1:27:50 4441 Matt Costain 13.1
1:28:07 4441 Matt Costain 13
1:30:15 6465 Tim Courtney 12.7
1:30:56 4443 Terry Rodgers 12.6
1:32:00 6467 Ben Moir 12.5
1:33:24 4441 Matt Costain 12.3
1:34:04 6465 Tim Courtney 12.2
1:35:18 6468 Phil Purdy 12
1:36:08 6465 Tim Courtney 11.9
1:37:17 6468 Phil Purdy 11.8
1:40:12 6470 Mark Tarlinton 11.4
1:40:21 6467 Ben Moir 11.4
1:41:11 6469 Luke Binsted 11.3
1:45:51 6466 Phill Maher 10.8
1:47:19 4442 Colin Humphreys 10.7
1:54:29 4442 Colin Humphreys 10

Then it is pack up and head home time. Thinking about next year already...:)

All the images are in http://encypher.net/image/tid/148

Did I mention it was muddy?