memorable/challanging momments

memorable ;

- Jumping in a freezing pool in the middle of the night, saposibly for recovery benefits. The only benefits that were gained were a few laughs... Teachers comment - they call that spanner water in the Northern Territory, spanners tighten nuts.
- Luke forgetting to flush... enough said

challanging:

- Keeping my race nutrition in my well maintained bike box... Endura gels were coming from all directions as we claimed our bike boxes at Sydney airport.
- Logging 14hrs of school work after 'forgeting' all my school text books.

Greatest Challenges/Most Memorable Moments

My first greatest challenge was trying to get co2 cartridges to Alice Springs. Mission failed at Sydney Airport. . . My second challenge was completing the event. Mission again failed. After being dehydrated and a forced DNF for stage two i took it easy only to end up with 8 stitches in the right arm a day later. I achieved seeing more medics then course I think.
My most memorable moment was getting more contact numbers then kilometers travelled. I went further with the nurses the on the track.
My second memorable moment was the completion of stage 7. I thought that I would be unable to ride the last stage due to my arm but on the Friday morning I woke up and felt ready to ride. Coming across the finish line with my Dad on the other side was a fantastic feeling and I could easily say almost a lifechanging experience. It wasn't about my time, it was about getting out there and just doing it. I strongly suggest this race to any rider no matter what ride of life they come from!

Endura report

The greatest challenge was the technical downhill sections, these seem to slow me down the most because I was on a hardtail and on the rocky sections I was just a bit more cautious to try to avoid getting flat tyres. Another challenge was the sand, these stages had the most sand that I have ever riden, punching through that sand proved to be very tiring on the body.

The most memorable moment was when I was riding the 95kmstage, and Luke jumping in for the last 16km with him running up my back side with his bike when I came to a stop and not alerting anyone behind me, Luke ended up with 8 stiches that day due to my ignorance.

Another was being able to finish the race, this was a great moment for me because this race was my first stage race and I have really felt like I have achieved something great.

Final Stage/ Presentation

Friday was the final stage, a 45k ride through some nice single track and 4-wheel drive trails. I started off at the back of the pack taking it easy preparing for a long day ahead of me. The first 28k's was nice and smooth and it was there that I gained the places that I did. It was an even mixture of up hills and downhills with some sand thrown in for good measure. I got to the drink station and was still feeling good so I did some stretches, refilled my water bottle, had something to eat and went on to complete the last leg of the track. The last section was good, once again with a real mixture of tracks. The most memorable part of this track was the crazy rocky downhill parts that there was towards the end. 5k's from the finish line I got a puncture but luckily three guys stopped for me, one gave me a tube, one gave me tyre leavers and the third gave me co2 cannisters. The "Three Wise Men". Completing the last course was really uplifting for me because I thought that I would not finish when I set out, so it realy made my day and my week. I went home and had lunch with the boys then got ready for presentation that night. We rocked up to the convention centre where everyone who participated and helped out that week was there having drinks and telling stories so we fitted right in doing our part. The evening progressed anfd we had a nice extra large dinner along with stories from the officials about happenings of the week. The presentation was wrapped up and we went and did several photo shoots for personal keepings and for other people. Overall the whole week was a fantastic experience and very worthwhile.

Stage 6 - 23km night race

With a great, fun course that everyone had already raced on in the morning, this night race was going to be a cracker! With plenty of fire road at the start to sought everyone out, it was game on. This 23km had plenty of fun flowy single track which was a lot more interesting at night. With slippery rocky corners, good lights were a necessity. My handlebar lights came loose and just about blinded me, until i made the decision to turn them off. This wasn't such a bad loss as we were in a pack of around 10 and light wasn't really an issue. As the track opened up, so did the pain. Some serious drivers hit the front and pulled us home. Over four minutes quicker than my time in the morning, i was left wondering how i would have done if i didn't get that flat tyre in the morning. Finished the race just inside the top 15 with a 14th place. I need to do more night riding...

Stage 5 - 23km TT

After a big day the day before i was still keen for this day, this sought of distance and course really suited the style of racing I've been doing over the summer and i was really happy about the hills not being to big. 23km is the sought of distance I've been racing over the national xc series and anything under an hour i really enjoy. With a few flat tyres on day two, i new my ranking would be lower than what it could be and therefore i had the opportunity to catch a few people. With 30 second increments between each rider, it was a great confidence boost to catch a good 5-10 people. Psssssss

down goes my tyre, devastating...

with some serious fiddling about, i was now at the back with all the fast boys. With about 10-15psi in my tyre i was taking it pretty easy on the tight corners, until the 2km of fire road appeared. I thought i better do something useful and paced Ben Henderson and Clarke Petrick home. disappointing to get a flat tyre on a stage i was well suited to, but theres still 2 stages to go.

Stage four - 98km of sand

Alice Springs does get chili in the mornings and today was no exception, with the sky still black we arose. Stiff and sore from the day before, we attempted to get ready in time for a bus trip to the middle of no where (I thought we were already in the middle of no where). With only four porta-loos for a crowd over two hundred, decisions had to be made on how important your race was; with the line increasing in size as race start grew closer.
This being my first 100km race, i had no idea how hard i should be going and therefore was in a spot of bother at about 20km in. Still in touch with the lead bunch, i watched them ride out of site within a few minutes. It was time for some serious fluid and something to eat! 10 minutes later and i was in a nice rhythm until a group of us ended up in a random pa-dick riding around a dam, looking for a way out. With a now larger group due to the confusion, we swapped off until the havoc started...
Massive stretches of sandpits sorted everyone out and the benefits of sitting on shrunk. With massive stretches of sand came the lactic acid from running. After about 70km of racing i was spent, feed stations became rest stations and race mode turned to survival mode! with 15km to go a road train of 29ers came past; my lift home.

Although it was a flat 100km it was certainly hard work, the sand turning chains into grinding machines. After no mechanicals i was happy to cross the line in 22nd overall.