Training the house down

10:48 pm Unknown 0 Comments

I competed in my first Northern Combine race for the year on Saturday out at Broadford. It was the Brunswick Cycling Club's John Sewell Memorial Handicap. Three laps of a 33km circuit to make it 100km Handicap of hill lovin' fun! Well, that was the idea.

Bike - Ready to roll and race

I took a look at the initial list and didn't know any of the names - so didn't know how to compare myself against these guys. I was in the 22 min group with 10 guys and Carly Williams who I have ridden with before so we would have a good day out. The start line was a little way out of town and up a hill. My team mate Emma Pane had mentioned that I should give myself some time to get out there and that the hill was not nice. She was right and it felt like climbing a shelf to get out of town!

For part of my warm-up I rolled the reverse of the last few kms up to the finish line. Each lap we would ride this massive roller coaster that climbed up and up and up to the top.



I found Carly on the start line and we had a chat about tactics, but with the hills, wind, and calibre of riders we'd be lucky to hang on. The start was downhill tailwind so I was fine rolling turns with the guys on this, then we hit the mini-berg at about 10kms in and I was scrambling to stay with the guys. I'd slipped off the back of the group with 3 others and we clawed our way back to hold on. One guy didn't keep up at this point.

The next section was FAST. I hit 54km/h doing rolling turns and hung on on the skinny straight road with on-coming cars it was a little scary, but everyone was communicating well - shouting out nice and loud and allowing space for riders to go single file. We lost anther guy on this section due to a flat tyre. The next section seemed pretty straight forward on the map (up to climb 3 from the course profile) and I hit my max 5min power for the ride hammering up that climb. These riders were on a mission and rolling the wrong way into the head wind when the course changed directions.

I think it was around hill 4 or 5 that I dropped off the back, never to see that bunch again. There was one Blotto rider that had dropped off the group just in front of me and I chased to catch on, I convinced him to come along for the next lap and then his team mate soon appeared up the road. We refuelled for the next lap on the downhill start section we'd just made it to the mini-berg when the next bunch caught us. I was sitting on the back of the pack at the base when a Cycles Galleria kit (Orange and Black) cut straight in front of me into the tight right hand corner, not holding his line and nearly taking out my front wheel. My two Blotto mates who were on my wheel screamed out at him and I washed off my speed - making the start of the berg that little bit harder. The guys were NOT waiting at the top of this 7% climb and I was off the back again. Puffing like a steam train I tried to close the gap and one of the Blotto guys gives me a push and I'm there, but he's gone. I sit on the back to try recover and call the guys through.


Rolling through the finish line for lap 2 to start with by mate Blotto.  Photo: Michael McRitchie

It wasn't long till we picked up Carly and we travelled along together at the back for a bit, then the road started to go up and the pace went up further, more guys were dropped and soon I was too. Ten kms later and I hear Ben (Emma's boyfriend) call out from behind to jump on. They were coming like a freight train behind me. I caught on mid-pack and then we caught Carly again and we were all punching up the next few climbs. It was getting towards the end of the second lap where I got dropped on another hill, two more bunches came through and I could tell the home stretch was coming up. I look back and I see scratch ripping up the road, as they pass me I hear cheers out from all the guys and James Pane asks if I was ok. It felt like I was standing still as they tinkled up the hill in front of me!

The last lap was lonely. This was the nasty part of the 100km - this was the "training" part of the ride when you're no longer part of the race, no hope for any good things to come, everything hurts, nobody is talking on the road and you've just got to get it done. I passed a few guys, a few sat on my wheel, one guy rolled one turn and the rest was solo right to the line.

Rollin Solo.  Photo: Michael McRitchie

A big thanks to all the guys who hollered out to me on the road, even just to say "Hi Von" from the bunches passing. It made me feel part of the community and not in a hostile bike race where I had no hope of winning. The event ran smoothly from my perspective, even though I finished later than most, I was still greeted on the finish line by the officials.

Big congratulations to my team mates Emma Pane winning first unplaced female and James Pane for coming in 5th in a quality field.

My swanny Manni had me covered when I got back to the car with a fresh beverage and a wet towel to wipe off the salt. I was more than grateful for the chauffeur home after a tough day out.

Cold Sunday morning recovery ride goodness at Top Paddock.


Next weekend is Tour of the Southwest in Warrnambool. I'll be fielding a team in A-Grade Women and looking forward to a nice sleep at the Lady Bay Resort (I won the accommodation prize featured in last week's Cycling Victoria newsletter).


Next month I've been invited to sit on a panel for the Women's Social Media and Cycling Forum. I hope you've enjoyed reading my blog, following my twitter feed, checking out my mini-movies. I've had great feedback so far and would love to hear your thoughts on what you like about my reports that keep you coming back for more.


Sunday 12th May is the Mother's Day Classic where I will be WALKING with my family as part of team "Micich Mafia" to raise funds for breast cancer research. Yes, on Mother's Day with my MUM (who is a breast cancer survivor) we'll be taking steps to save lives by helping fund the best breast cancer research. You can help us too by donating online here. I have to admit, this will be the longest I've walked in a long time and I haven't been doing any training, but if my Mum can do it, I should be fine to finish it ;)


This week I've also recieved official notification that my ride at Amy's Grand Fondo in 2012 has qualified me for a start at the UCI World Cycling Tour which is essentially the UCI World Championships for masters and amateurs. I've won a free ticket and this year it is held in the northern alps of Trento, Italy on 22nd September. I have to admit, this was not on my radar of events but has started to make me consider it with a free entry...

My Hell of the North

11:19 pm Unknown 1 Comments

I've had it on my race plan since the start of the year and been thinking about this race since my 4th place in D-Grade last year. HELL of the WEST. I had my gear selection and bike was ready to go - but fate or satan chose others for that day - I entered, but did not get a start as the grades had filled up. I think only 9 women managed to get through (much larger than last year).

So I spent the week scouring the internet and discarded the option immediately of doing Baw Baw on Sunday (I haven't been training for that one!), otherwise there was a Geelong or Broadford Seymour Handicap. I checked in with the team mates and the boss said to check out the Seymour one.

After a hard week at work and a tough interval session on Friday, it seemed like a bad idea. BUT - I had new equipment to test out and I was itching to see how it would go.

I have finally saved up all my winnings, bikkies and tatts tickets to purchase a Quarq Elsa. It's the top of the range Quarq, crank based power meter. Back in October 2009 Shane bought me a PowerTap power meter. An extravagant gift for a woman riding about four times a week on a shiny red carbon road bike feeling like a race car. When I put the wheel based power meter on my bike, I found out that I was not even a Toyota Carolla, more like a Datsun 200B.

The great thing about this was that even though I had my commute to work on the bike, my weekend rides, my trips away to ride the mountains, I could measure myself. I used this to look at where I had improved, where I was not working hard enough, how to pace myself, and later when I was doing more kms where I was grinding myself into the ground. Needless to say - I'm a BIG fan of training with power. By the time things had progressed and when I was looking for a coach in April 2011 I had over 2 years of data to show my progression.

I'm now onto my third carbon bike and it's a matte black stealthy racer. I had the Quarq fitted this week and paired up the Garmin 810 (firmware update out this week to fix the power reading & recording issues). I was ready to race!

Black Giant - Quarq enabled.
Shane directed me out to Seymour where I was welcomed warmly by fellow riders who I had raced with out at Coburg Crits and at the Vets Champs in Maryborough. The secret code on their race fixture of "2.00pm Burgess Signs. Locksley via Palm World. 60km" was about to be revealed. I went in to registration at Burgess Signs, they sighted my license and added me to "the book" I was off 12mins from limit - mid pack, three bunches from scratch. I went to roll around on the main road to warm up and get all my Garmin settings working when Shane was urging me from the roadside to get to the start. They mentioned the start was down the road, but it was out the other side of town and down a side road that I would have never found without being human-motorpaced by Shane to the start. Warm-up complete!

I introduced myself to my 3 other riders that I would be working with to the end, and we took off at a cracking pace. It was a grey windy day, the rain looked like it would hold off, but the ominous sounds of thunder had me second guessing until the locals told me it was just the bombs being detonated out at Puckapunyal!
On the start line - ready to roll with the thinker.
Just over 7kms in we turned left and our smooth straight line turns switched to an echelon across the back country roads. The course was mostly flat so we were ripping turns to chase down the bunch in front and to keep those chasing behind us off our tail. We sighted the bunch in front a few kms later and it took another 10kms to reel them in. This was my personal 'hell of the north', I felt shocking and we were only 20kms into a 60km race. We went through Avenel where Shane was out training and snapped a pic of me and at this point I had thoughts of just rolling back to the start - but I couldn't let my fellow racers down - I was last out of the corner, they waited up for me and we made contact with the bunch we'd been chasing for the last 10kms.

My group rolling through Avenel
There is always a little bit of disarray at these times. I made the most of it and sat near the back of the now 10+ strong group to eat a bar, have a drink (very deceptive on a grey day how much to drink) and regroup mentally. I re-joined the turns and we kept rolling out the road, at one point we did a u-turn, went back the way we came and saw the scratch bunch coming for us. This got the guys rolling back to speeds like we were doing near the start of the race, and with the first attacks I'd seen all day. I was scrambling for wheels and trying to hang on, I still was not sure of the way home! At one point we were coming into a little town and I backed off the pace when I got to the front calling out "Do we go left?" and got a response "Someone roll over Veronica, she doesn't know the course". I had a little chuckle and chased onto the wheels going straight.



There were a few hills on the way back. I dangled off the back for a few meters on the main one and clawed my way back to the group. We only had about another 5-8kms left and I was NOT getting left behind now. The guys were looking around and could not see the scratch bunch. We'd worked our way into a bunch sprint and they were jostling for position. While I was feeling horrible, I knew I could finish, but when they kicked for the line I totally missed it and so did most of the other riders as we were strung out along the road when we crossed the finish line.

I came in 9th overall, averaging 36.7km/h. Shane rolled in a few minutes later while I was cooling off and shepherded me back to town and to the car. I was totally toasted. The good thing about the presentations was that it was warm, they had lollies and I bought a can of drink (there were beers there for those peeps wanting de/hydration of the relaxing kind). There were a lot of congratulations all round at the great ride and race from all competitors. I'm really bad at remembering names and it's even harder when riders are out of lycra and helmets - one of my three guys handed me back my entry money as he'd placed in the final sprint and decided to share his prize money around. Too kind!

In future if I miss out on racing in Melbourne or it's raining in the morning, it's an easy decision for me to go and join the afternoon's racing out in Seymour. I'd recommend to give it a try.

Vic Masters Crit Champs

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Well, I was feeling prepared, the day before the crit. A sunny day on Saturday in April, went for a roll down back road and back with Hawthorn Cycling Club, coffee with their president, and brunch with the lovely birthday girl of the week Kat Lee at the super trendy Top Paddock.

I finally wrangled the apartment into some state of sanity, wiped the bike down and checked over the tyres, arranged the kit ready for Sunday and watched a movie. (Django Unchained is a great violent action movie)

When I set my alarm for the next morning, I would have plenty of time to pack the bike in the car and go. When my body clock woke me up, I had even more time on top of the daylight savings time. How good are sleep-in's!

I arrived over 1hr before the start of the Victorian Masters Criterium at Castlemaine. At registration I was not sure who was in the race as Miranda Griffiths was on the start list, but Liz Hall was not on there and was warming up already. They made us pay for the race booklet that straightened out who was who for my race - as they were putting all Masters Women in the same race.

As a Victorian Championship race, we were not in it for money or overall line honours - just the medals per age category. In the end I had only one other competitor and it was not Miranda Griffiths, it was Danielle Garden, who I think came to race last year.

The course is a 700m rectangle shape a hill climb of about 5% for 160m on one of the short sides and a 120m sprint to the finish line from the last corner.

We rolled out easy, easy up the hill as the men from the previous race were still on course cooling down! A few yells from the front of the bunch sent them scooting off course and out of the way. 25mins was the total race time, this was going to be fast hot race. 

All smiles on the start line - let's get down to business!

I used the first few laps to work out how fast and what line to take each corner as I didn't get out on course before the race. I sat about fourth wheel and when I got to the front about the sixth lap about 7mins into the race I hit it hard just after the base to the top. This was the fastest time up the climb and going 35km/h. Another rider counter attacks and we chase back on, the next two laps were easier up the climb at about 20-24kmp/h.

At about 10mins into the race, someone attacks on the main straight right before the climb, I see Liz attack across and hit the base of the climb to bridge across right as we chase up behind. Frustrated and not sure what to do, I needed to get across and attacked up the climb again. This "burnt a match" for me in the race and I started to feel like I needed to race smart. I was left in no-man's-land with Danielle and the pace was off on the next lap. The next time round the pace was back on and attacked along the main straight and then up again on the climb and over the back straight. Argh, it was sapping in the heat and the next two laps were easier - Liz and her breakaway mate was out of sight.

Danielle and I swapping off laps and attacks.
The rest of the race we kept alternating fast and easy laps with either of us attacking each other as our energy levels went up and down. I sat second wheel into the bell lap and we hit the back hill side by side as Danielle went under two riders we lapped and stayed on front as we hit the back straight head wind. I was on her wheel into the last corner and then tried to come up on the outside. She pushed me high when she realised I was on her hip then straightened up and sprinted to the line. I didn't have enough runway for the fight and was half a wheel off the finish line.

Thanks to my camera man Shane for the steady cam - but go too excited at the end when I was going to come second, that he didn't capture the finish! (I cut off the swears).

While thanking Danielle for the awesome battle I went for a cool down and nearly threw up! When I could get a sentence out I found Liz to find out she had been pipped on the line for 1st overall. The presentations were only a few minutes later and I was still trying to get my head together, red faced and not ready for a photo shoot! I popped through the crowd and received my medal from Kip to stand on the steps with Danielle for the photos.

Gold for Danielle and Silver for me.
Shane and I went for a roll/human motor pace session afterwards and it was tough going. It was a beautiful afternoon out and we got a loop in around the Newstead TT course and back to Castlemaine in time to watch the elite ladies in the Show-women's (not show-girls - they are something different) crit. I cheered on the chicks around the course and gave a massive cheer to Miranda who won the final sprint. 

We stuck around for the Showman's Crit to support and watch ex-team mate Shannon Johnston work his butt off in the race. Talk about a marked rider, he kept his cool and made it look easy as he closed gaps, covered attacks, made his own moves and kept it upright to the finish that was almost rained out. Into the final corner we saw him come around second wheel and hold position to the line. Amazing feat after all the work done in the race.

The rest of the Victorian Masters Championship Road and TT races are later in the year. I'll be training up and looking to try win a medal in these events. I believe in Women's Masters racing and will see it succeed.  While I was a little disappointed at the entry numbers in Castlemaine, maybe next year they can schedule it when the SKCC club crit champs are not on and we can round up the crit-troops from Melbourne and make this event five times as big.

Easter Feaster of Racing Vets South Pacific & Vic Championships

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The idea was that we were going to do the Vets South Pacific Champs in Maryborough over Easter that we had heard about when we joined VVCC this year, stay in Ballarat with my family and travel each day over to the racing. In the end the reality was 2hrs of travelling a day, short & sharp racing, but not much family time :(

Cleaning up the bikes for the weekend
Friday started with the 45km Road Race. No route map was available online and the one in the booklet was illegible. My Kosdown team mates were warming up on course and I asked them to show me the final turns so I could practice the approach to the finish. They were not sure where the Women's route turned onto that final road though...We'll see if we can work out where the route goes during the race.

Lining up on the start line, I only recognised one face and matching bike - Laura White from the Horsham Handicap we'd raced earlier in the year. The low numbers meant we had a combined field of 6, 30-44yr old Women.


Road Race Start Line
We rolled out like a bunch ride and there were no attacks, surges or anything of note for 10km. We lost one rider due to a mechanical (I think) as her gears were making a lot of noise. I assumed that the attacks would come on the hills, the first one coming up I pushed the pace up a little on the first one. The next rise I threw in a more serious attempt. I attacked a number of times over the next 30kms of the course and was chased down and sat on every time by different riders. It seems they wanted a bunch sprint, as we were told on the start line we would get sashes and medals for our age category, but money only for the first 3 across the line.

A category 2 rider took off on the descent back into town and the whole bunch shattered to react. As we headed into the back blocks everything started to look the same, we followed the lead car at over 50km/h, at one intersection it went straight but the police woman was urging us left. First two riders followed the lead car, I doubled back and recognised the stretch of road back to the finsh. I had two riders on my wheel now and we were back in town. I swung off on the stretch of road back to the finish line but didn't want to get stuck. We would all place, all the attacks were aching in my legs now. I moved beside the other two riders who were both Cat 2, just as we got over the last rise I kicked to sprint to the line first!

New kit, happy racing!
I cooled down on the crit course and got to watch my mates from Cat 4+ roll in with the next bunch and 10mins later Shane and Simon in a duo break away! I was very excited and ready for presentations and a rest. Then I found out the presentations were linked to a dinner that was on after 6pm. As we had family waiting for us back in Ballarat for dinner, we had a delegate to collect on our behalf - Thanks Dale!

First EVER sash - so proud
Got home to show my sash to my parents and mum ran off to find something to top off the look.

Post race hair and a crown - Thanks Mum!
That night I prepared my bikes for the next day and I found my back wheel rubbing... I had broken a spoke during the race, and finished on it with that sprint! Wow! I have some new equipment on order, so I'm hoping this won't hold me back for long.

Powertap goes Kapow! (bent spoke for the pic)
Saturday was going to be a big day. 300m Sprints in the morning and TT in the afternoon. You could pick your speciality or do both to be a part of the overall points. My first attempt ever at a straight line sprint and it was a final as there were only one other entry.

Mad drag strip for bikes
I've done a few TT starts off ramps where you flow down and get stuck into the race. This sprint was off a ramp a little lower than one I had been on before and side by side your opponent. I made the mistake of watching the older male rider come off the side of the ramp on his start and it threw me or the handler who kept wrenching my bike around while I was ready and waiting to take off.

I started rolling and it was all bad, I headed to the left and off the side of the ramp - NO! I kept the bike upright, spun up the gear up - my opponent was up the road and accelerating away. I slammed it down a few gears and started gaining back some ground, the crowd was loving it and cheering us on. With the slight rise just before the end of the track I knew I had the speed and the distance left to win it. In practice I couldn't do the whole distance out of the saddle. In reality during race conditions I smashed it. Personally I would have like to re-do the sprint to get the start right, but that's racing!



The timing seemed to work by a commisare counting down to the start via radio to another guy manning the computer at the finish line. If you broke early, +2sec penalty on your time. If they hesitated on hitting the start button, your heat would be shorter/longer. If they didn't hear the radio of the start for your whole category, they forgot to record your time!! The women's 40-44 had to do their sprints twice in order for the timing to work. They were devastated and were totally wasted by the end of the morning. The results on the fastest time for all categories was a bit questionable.

The time trial was scheduled for the afternoon so we went for a coffee, rolled out to the course and back and had some lunch. The weather was overcast and grey and the wind was picking up.

Cool calm and collected on the roll from the start (still got my summer tan but for how long?!) Photo:Mark McRitchie

Shane was off first so I got a little bit of quiet time before my start an hour later. I was a little nervous as to how this ride would go and talked my way into borrowing some go-fast bits (helmet and bootie covers). The start was perfect, pushed into the headwind and took off for the first leg. At the turn around I worked out where/what they wanted me to do and took off for the return journey.

On the way back - holding form
This felt worse than the way out. The glutes were burning and power numbers were like a yo-yo. I couldn't hold what I needed to on the way back. I could feel my position change on the bike and by the end just got out of the saddle and punched to the finish line at the top of the climb. OUCH.

Pain face - gasping for air to the finish line.  Photo:Mark McRitchie
It took a little bit of time to recover from that ride. The whole journey home my legs were aching and wanting a break. Overall I came 1st in my category, and 3rd fastest time from the women. Definitely learnt a lot from an in-competition test.

First in the Sprint (sash) and 2nd in the TT (medal)

I don't mind a good crit. Throw a few riders together, mix it up with a closed street course and watch them try and pull each other apart.

This 20minute crit was pretty much an all-in affair. I wanted to secure a win and only the first 3 places would get prize money, so I needed to work hard to get there.

Anne Gourly went from the gun early then Dale countered. Dale's main competitor Amanda came across and the bunch was split across 500m, I bridged across to them. I looked back for Anne who decided she didn't need to come across and we formed a break in the first 3 mins of racing.



I was pretty excited and wanted it to keep going all race. The goal to to try to drop Amanda but in the end we ran out of time and I sat on the front and kept the pace high for most of the last lap. When it came to the finish I swung off and let the other 2 riders battle it out for their own category. Third overall for me and first for my category.

Crit in progress

What I would normally be enjoying on easter morning with my family - Mum sent us off with a care package. YUM!
An artist wife of a competitor takes up residence
in front of our car, sketching the racing scene
 As it was the end of the championship, we thought it was important to attend the final presentations - the problem was it was 7-8hrs later that evening. I went for a ride, put my feet up and watched some racing, had a nap, read my book... but really all I wanted to do was get the presentations done and spend that time with my family.

It was a good time to reflect on age based racing vs skill based racing. I firmly believe there is a valid reason and occasion for both.

Where there is a large field, you can cut it up either way. I would argue with a large field skill based grading is better and more fair on the riders. Whereas when the numbers are smaller, it seems fairer to the riders competing that their ages are taken into account so the 1 or 2 60+ ladies are not racing against 25yr old VIS athletes ready to make a name for themselves on the scene. You could group them on age categories or multiples therein.
An interesting mix of the two approaches is the SKCC club crit champs that will be on this weekend. It's an all-in race for all women, but there are also age categories in the same race. Oddly they do not recognise Masters 1 and only start the age categories from 35+ instead of the standard 30+ categories in Vets and Masters age group.

Back to the Vets - It was a good atmosphere and the meals were good size at the presentations. We had a table of 4 near the front. It was nice to hear how well everyone else had gone over the weekend, the competition was small enough that you could catch up with all the riders there. I picked up my sash for 1st in my age group and the overall win of the aggregate for my category.

Crit Champ WINNERS!
Big Kudos to my husband Shane Miller who won the overall most outstanding male performance for the championships and for the first year ever, they awarded a female prize. Dale Maizels won that for her hard work over the weekend. I'll have to work hard over the next year to try and keep her on her toes next Easter.

On the night entries closed, we decided to enter the 63km Handicap on the Monday as well. Little did we know how exhausted we would be from the daily 2hr drive and short sharp racing over the 3 days. A quick warmup on the Lemond stationary trainer was all I needed to roll out with the 17min bunch of 12 riders.
Rolling over the KOM - this is FUN!  Photo: Amanda Hosking
There were 3 bunches ahead of us and a heap behind us. Everything stayed pretty steady and even till the last 15km. There were a few hills in the back section, but we kept the pace pretty sedate over the top then started to push it a little faster on the way back to town. I was getting excited at this point and was given a few words to settle down on the rises, when we overtook a group and I couldn't help myself when I saw how many people were just sitting there on the way back into town, I had to try jump away at about the 10km to go. Laura, the last remaining female rider closed me down and the bunch sat on. A minute or so later I hear hollering and scratch is coming through like a train - Damn, timed it wrong and I was stuck on the other side of the bunch. Indicated that I wanted OUT and jumped on the mid-back of the pack.

We hit the last rise before the last left hand turn into town and I was scrambling to hold on. I see one blonde ponytail still in the lead pack, and then I hear Laura (still on my wheel) give up. I hold on for a moment longer and we're in no-man's-land together. Around the corner we go and up the final part of the climb and we're coming home fast. I've totally overcooked myself with the attack and the attempt to hang with scratch after a fairly cruisy bunch ride. I tried to roll a few turns with Laura who seemed keen to keep racing and direct her into the finishing straight. Hoping that ponytail I saw was just a crazy mullet on one of the guys, I kick for a sprint to the line for fastest unplaced female - but that was not to be. Leanne Dynon was in the bunch only a few seconds up the road got it.

It was a fun race, Shane was in scratch and came close to limit. Dan Ives from the 26 minute group ended up winning it. I think that was my 3rd handicap race and if they are done fairly, you can have a good go and come close to the win.

So overall we had a great time - but then we ended up stuck stationary 450m away from the Burnley St exit of the Burnley Tunnel. When we left Ballarat late on Easter Monday to avoid the traffic, but we were the ones that blocked the lane of the tunnel and were waiting for the emergency response vehicle to push us out and a tow truck to drive us home. I'd like to say it was some mechanical nightmare, but I think we just ran out of petrol!

outta go-juice

Mont 24 MTB Race

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This is the highlight vid - report below:



A busy schedule meant I hadn't been able to cram in any extra MTB training in the last few weeks. The bike was still dusty from the Westerfolds adventures and I had run out of time. During my lunch break on Wednesday I wrote up my packing list and set to work as soon as I got home to assemble all the stuff I'd need for the adventure ahead.

I packed all the possible kit combinations I could think of, found all the bedding we could burrow under - if we got the chance to sleep, got the bike bits ready and charged the lights for the last time. After work on Thursday I packed the car and we hit the road to Rutherglen. It was great to see Tony's smiling face, even after a tornado literally flew through the area and half flooded his house while we were driving up.

After what seemed like the best sleep of my life, I woke up to the chirping of birds (not the usual traffic hum outside our apartment), had a hearty breakfast and coffee with Tony and we hit the road again. By this time mid-morning I was wishing that I had flown up. Boring roads, bad radio, nerves starting about the unknown race and event. Time ticked away and the GPS seemed to be taking us through Canberra and toward Goulburn. Thanks Apple Maps! We switched to Google Maps, and we were on location and in tent city at the Mont24.

First to arrive on our Thule premium camp site, we parked kitted up and were about to go for the practice lap roll when Kahill and Ansie rocked up. While they kitted up I went in search for a spare tube, tyre levers and saddle bag in the shops that had set up to cater for riders. I'd planned to put all of this in my jersey pockets, but I was setup for $25 and my loaner bike was good to go.

Strava course profile

First part of the trail was flat and easy - good for starting out and warming up. The next section after about 4kms started to flow downhill. I was a little cautious on this, but it ended up not being too technical. When we stopped to regroup Shane kept asking me what was up, Nothing! Just a lot to take in and remember going flat stick through the bush.

At about 10kms in the path crossed over/under each other and there was another fast section into a sharp right hand drop off that flowed onto a massive fire fire road/trail, a log technical climb for a few kms and then we were into the technical descent. This was switch backs, rocks, pine needles/leaf litter, bad camber, drop-off the side kinda stuff that I had hoped would not be part of the course. As a beginner/intermediate rider I knew that this would challenge me - and I would be the slowest of the group. After I got through that section, the guys waited up for me and it was another technical climb and flowing slightly technical descent back to transition (where you swap to the next rider).

When I got back, I knew I could do the course, but said there was a very unlikely chance of me doing the night laps with that descent. The team lead Scott, Stevie on support, and big boss Jacob had rocked up when we got back and started the base camp preparation. We munched some nachos, helped setup the site and then went to catch up and stay for a good night's sleep with our mates in Canberra.
We lived in these - All snuggly and warm.

Team issue Jersey - now we can spot our
team mates coming in for transition




















Definitely felt more confident about the event, now we knew what the course was like, where we'd be camping and we'd see how it would all unfold the next day.

Out there again by 9:30am and got everything set-up and ready to go. Bed ready for later that night in the back of the Subaru, kit laid out and a baked potato for lunch from one of the great food stalls.
Out last pair of riders Jenny and Damian arrived close to roll out time, so Kahill was going to cover the first laps for us. We all went to the briefing and there were hundreds, possibly thousands of riders there (total of 3070 riders over the weekend) and it was a good reminder using a show of hands that for many this was their first MTB race, their first 24hr event and to be nice and talk while you're out there passing on the track.

Kahill went out, then Ansie and then me. With no warm up, I was glad the first part was easier to get back into the groove. We had re-inflated my shocks that morning and the bike was flowing nicely. On the first fast downhill one guy tries to overtake me, clips my handlebars (almost ditching it himself) and almost throws me off course, the 2 riders behind me give him an earful of screams and curses on my behalf and I take a few deep breaths to steady the nerves while racing on - hoping this wasn't to be an indication of how rough my first race was going to be.

Action Von - Photo: AuroraImages

I flew up the technical ascents and fire trails and tried not to tip-toe down the descents. Got back in 1:19:51 and handed the passport to Shane to carry on. Jenny and Damian were scheduled next and would take us through to the evening for the night laps. We had not set up a schedule and I was torn - sitting out night laps it would be a hard slog for the rest of the team. Ansie was going to go out again and I was still fresh after dinner, so I said that I'd setup my lights and try my first night lap. If it all went horribly wrong - all you can do is walk out of the course.
Stevie doing it all - flag bearer, bike holder, time keeper! 

Shane came back from his lap and I let him know that I was going to try a night lap. He was a little concerned and came with me to transition - but with awesome head and bar lights I rolled out at 10:45pm for my first night lap. I estimated with the team that it would take me 10 mins longer.

Active Lifestyle Catalogue? - Rocking it!  Photo: AuroraImages
Things looked different at night. I ride a bit at home on paths and commute through the city late on my road bike. I haven't used helmet mounted lights before - THEY ROCK! I did a slight adjustment to get them to focus on where I was looking and we were cooking with gas. Things were not as scary in the day, by this time the path had been swept wider by so many riders and passing was easier on the uphills and the downhills smoother from all the wheels, the technical descent section was still a challenge, but I just called out to those around me that I was "just going slow here" and by the time I realised I was coming into the transition section, I was elated! WoooHOOO! 1:21:54  I smashed my own expectations and the team were standing there with a Thule flag so I could find them in the night - I was PUMPED! Shane took over and zipped out onto the course to smash it up.

It was pretty late and I said that I could do another night lap with a bit of sleep. The next one was scheduled for 4am. With the rest of the camp asleep I tried to wind down and hydrate by the heater before slipping into the sleeping bag and cocooning in the Subie. I heard a rustle when Shane came in and got changed and then he woke me up when he came to cocoon in his sleeping bag beside me - somehow we had all stuffed up the schedule and he would need to do another night lap just before me in the morning... urgh! More broken sleep as I drifted off and woke up again to him shuffling out for his  crazy night lap at 3am.

I was up and started with the layers of lycra, it had cooled off and mist had rolled in. Right on schedule Shane rolled into transition and I grabbed the passport to do my next night lap. The pace of the riders was more measured, friendly and talkative than before. 40mins in on a section where you could choose your own adventure on either a raised path or low sweeping berm, my front wheel washed out on a tree root. The guy riding behind me who had been chatting to me stopped to help out. Tony "t-bone" Brown from Newcastle helped me back up and illuminated the troublemaking tree root, unfortunately my head light went out at that point and all I could do was swap the battery pack over and limp home.

I sent a quick txt to Shane to say i'd be 10mins late (it was damn cold if you were waiting at transition). Tony was an absolute gentleman and let me sit on his wheel back to Transition, waiting up when I got caught up, it was pretty hairy on the technical descent section but we were flying home. With a maaaaaaasive thank-you to Tony I gladly handed over to Ansie after a lap of 1:32:28. I didn't have any caffeine, but it was going to be hard to wind down. The fog had rolled in and I went in search of a hot shower at around 5:45am with a little lantern to guide me.
Zoom, day laps are FUN! Photo: AuroraImages
My next lap was 10am and my phone was dead flat. No alarm to set (I left a note on the schedule to wake me) I crawled back into the quiet of the car and cocooned into the warmth and instant sleep.

When I woke up, I felt like death - whole body aching, headache like I'd hit the tequila hard. Shane was preparing to leave for his morning lap and opened the back of the car up for me to breathe and wake up. I shuffled in my cocoon to the edge of the car and Stevie handed me a cup of coffee. Very much unlike a butterfly - I emerged from the cocoon to go watch Shane transition for his last lap. I didn't think I could do another lap, my leg was coming up with 2 lumps and aching.

Ben Battisson, one of the commentators from the Mont24 had heard about my adventures that night and asked me to stop by the transition area that morning. He interviewed me for the crowd where I told my story and thanked Tony again with a Thule t-shirt for him to collect. Ben gave me a smile and a prize to help me out with my next MTB race, a $250 set of lights to keep me on track for my next night ride!! YEAH!

Things had shuffled again with the ride order and it looked like Damian would be able to finish the race doing 2 consecutive laps after Shane.  Amazing! We all went to transition for his last lap and cheered him on!

In the mean time we had 2hrs to pack up the site and leave it like we found it - untouched. Everything packed away, we said our farewells and started the pilgrimage back to Victoria, work and road bikes.

This has been an amazing adventure outside of my comfort zone - but with a little help from my friends and sponsors, made it an easy transition.

Thanks to Deb Gardner for the extra Ayup lights (her's didn't go out).
Thanks to Nadine Crane for the loan of the bike - if you're looking for a good one, it's for sale!
Thanks x2 to Tony Reekman for the secret halfway house of respite.
Thanks to Thule Australia for inviting me along and taking care of me.
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