24 Apr 2008

Marathon races are becoming the new black on the Australian MTB circuit with no less than three major marathon races already being held in Victoria this year.

This week it was the BMC 100 Classic, which was held at one of my favorite places to ride, the wombat state forest near Woodend. It could not have been a more perfect day for the race, there wasn’t a cloud in sight and the predicted temperature was in the low twenties. At 6am it was a different story though as I fought off the shivers that almost caused my bowl of muesli to leave the clutches of my freezing hands.

The sun had finally started to peak over the surrounding hills by the time we were standing on start line waiting for our epic journey. Before I knew it we were off down the road with 100 odd kilometres in front off us, which everyone seemed to realize as it wasn’t the usual mad sprint i’m used to at the enduros

Within a kilometer we were already into the single track which was a little unexpected after racing the Otway Odyssey where the first fifteen kays were on the road. The first kilometers were pretty relaxed apart from random people crashing in front of me, including one of the Torq riders who made an unintentional exit from his bike while negotiating a slippery tree root. I slipped past the fallen rider to try and catch back up to the lead bunch before they disappeared out of sight. I caught back up soon enough and even made it past a couple of riders who were starting to fall behind the lead group. Feeling pretty happy with were I was sitting I though I would settle down a bit and take on some fluids. I bit down on the hydro packs mouth bit and pulled to activate the valve, instead of getting a mouth full of water i got a mouth full of plastic as the non leak mouth bit had come off causing water to be sprayed all over me and the trail. I quickly pulled over the to work out what the hell was going on and ran around looking for the for end of the hose thinking that I needed to stop the precious fluid from leaking everywhere. I then realized that I didn’t actually needed it and jumped back on the bike in pursuit of the other riders but was thinking my chances of a good finish was as good as gone.

Within maybe 20 minutes (not that I had a clue as I forgot my bike computer) I had a rider in my sights who was only a few 100 meters ahead on a long fire road section. I quickly caught him on a climb to then see Paul Randal not too far ahead. I caught up to Paul as I powered along the open dirt road trying to ride myself back into the race. We worked together until we caught up with James Maebus where Paul opted to stay with him as I pulled away up a steep climb.

Eating and drinking was a bit of a struggle for most of the race, not only did I have know idea of the time and knowing when to eat, my stomach was not playing the game. Each time I had a gel or a bite of a bar I felt like it was going to come strait back up, which is unusual as I always find it pretty easy to eat on the bike.

After getting past James I was riding on my own for probably over an hour before I started to see riders ahead of me again. I zoomed passed a few more riders including Troy Baily and Rohin Adams before I was once again riding on my own.

On a long road section I could see two riders working together who must have only been about 800 meters ahead of me. I was determined to catch them, the chase was on and I was going to get that carrot. I worked my butt off and soon caught up to the two riders, one of who was Adam Gibson. I tried to scoot past them, pushing hard along some undulating fire road but Adam was not going to let me go that easily. We rode together for a few kays before disaster struck once again, this time in the form of a flat tyre. I was once again standing by the side of the trail watching my competition ride into the distance. I fixed my flat while cursing that I never bought a CO2 inflater the day before. I was up an going again in about five minutes and managed to not lose any more positions.

I crossed the line in 4 hours 49 minutes (7th place), just four minutes behind Adam and Dennis.

So is it possible for a race to become a “Classic” in the first year it’s run? I think any race that finishes with a person handing you a beer the moment you cross the finish line has got be a classic in my book.

Results here.

Posted by brett @ 5:46 am

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