While I was away on our MTB holiday I decided to do one of the most physically and mentally challenging things I might ever do, entering a 24 hour solo mountain bike race in March next year. I have been considering this for a while to have a crack at one and once entries opened I thought the best way to make the decision was to enter it so I was committed to it. I had considered an interstate event but the Hobart event came up out of the blue and logistically is much better for my first. The LMBC 6 hour was my first step towards this goal.

The 2014 Cycle 2 6 Hour fitted in nicely the Sunday after we got back from 5 weeks of mountain biking and it was a good test of just where I was at and what I need to do between now and March. I missed out on doing the 75KM Meehan Monster while we were away a tougher event. The 6 hour was the longest duration and length mountain bike ride I have done to date. Over the 6 hours I managed to do 14 laps, just on 106km distance at Kate Reed. I road the full 6 hours non stop except for the 15 times I had to pop my chain back on and about 30 seconds each hour to swap drink bottles and down a gel or banana at my feed station.

The race started badly dropping my chain 4 times on the 400M start loop they send us on around the Silverdome to spread us out and once I passed transition the first time I was way behind in a distant last place. No matter I had 6 hours to catch up. Only problem was I kept getting stuck behind trains of slow people and it took me till the end of the first lap to blast past them all on the hill climb and into clear track. Problem was I dropped my chain a couple more times on the next lap and some would ride past but eventually I got the chain to stay on for couple of clear laps but it gave me trouble for the whole race, stopping to fix it was not an option though.

The first 2 hours went really quickly and I was just in the zone pacing myself for the race distance. Once I reached 3 hours it was a good psychological barrier to pass as the time left to ride was now shorter than the time I had already ridden. About 4:30 into the race I started to feel my hands from the rough rocky back section of the course and towards the end I was struggling a bit to keep a good grip on the handle bars. The knees were aching but no problem really as I just blocked them out.

About this time somebody passed me and was talking to the guy in front of me about how he was doing the whole 6 hours as well. I realised (mentally anyway) I had done a few ‘sleepy bye bye laps’ and he was in front of me so on the next hill I kicked everything into gear and put in a big effort to pass and gap him. It was just what I needed to finish things off. I passed another 6 hour rider in transition on the next lap and I was feeling good with one lap to go as you have to finish after 6 hours and not before to be classified. I was doing 25-26 minute laps with 45 minutes to go. The last lap was a bit of a grind but it was a mental thing as you knew it was the last lap not a physical thing as my bike computer data showed.

I would love to tell you all how I went but their computer timing system stuffed up and got corrupted so we won’t know the actual results for a few days after they recover it all. I was looking around at others who use Strava and I think I have come somewhere between 4th and 1st in the 40+ Masters solo. It was a big let down really after all that effort and having to wait for the results to come out later in the week. I know I did more laps solo than a couple of the teams did talking to others at the end and I came in faster than a few of the other guys in my category. There are cash prizes up for grabs from 1st to 3rd.

So my journey to a solo 24HR has started and I have some idea where I am at after the 6HR, only 4 times that and it’s done! I had a long chat with Jess Douglass the 3 times world 24HR solo champion at the Mt Buller retreat and she gave me a lot of good advice and tips. Some I have already told think I am mad others know if I put my mind to it I will make it. 24 hour solo racing is as much a mental challenge as a physical one. I have no idea if I can finish one or not but the next few months will be full on training for it and we will see what happens on the day (and night) in March. I just need my body and mind to submit to it. I’ll give my best on the day and see what happens. I’m hoping to get a good support crew together as that is as important as the riding.

Thanks to my awesome pit crew yesterday (Sharon) who had everything layed out and water bottles filled to perfection. Stay tuned for further updates and the 6HR race results……..