Merida 24 Race Report 2010

Well I knew this race was going to be tough especially with level of competition rocking up. So what wasmy plan for this race, well try and have my head in the right place, get the nutrition down pat, top 5 outright result would be nice and maybe if all goes well I might hit the magical 400km mark.

Myself and good friend Al rocked out to Hiddenvale late Friday arvo to set up camp right across for the Australian Aerospace boys. The plan was to have a good sleep and take my time to get organised Saterday morning, after a practice lap I was feeling confident on the track so I spent the next couple of hrs chilling and waiting for Kiri, Maia, Pearso,Kel to rock up. Chris and Nat and littleman rocked up about an hr before the race.



Race: The gun went and I decided to sit straight on the back of Jasons wheel, I saw Adrian Booth take off up the front but I figured if I paced myself from the start it should set me up well for the rest of the race. I ended up rolling the first lap chatting with english before he tightened up the screws and chased Adrian down. 2 laps later I got told that Adrian and English were going head to head so I was pretty happy doing my own thing. For the next 9 hrs I was rolling around the course hitting all my lines and eating more food then I usually do. But as with these sort of races any little thing thats is not right soon shows through.





11pm: I came in off a lap and pretty much collapsed in the bottom of the Tomac tent, Al freaked out and basically woke me up gave me some soft drink, garlic bread and some other stuff don't really remember. I got back on my bike but the damage was done, I spent the next 6hrs trying to get food into me and hoping that I could finish with a respectable amount of K's under the belt. Over these 6hrs my position slipped back to 4th or 5th.

6am: I actually started to feel better my ace crew gave me some goals to get myself back into contact with the guys in front of me. On one particular occassion I was told that the guy I needed to catch was in a red jersey [It was time to play].

I caught the guy in the red jersey and as soon as he saw me coming he took off. I knew I was onto the right guy. I rode with him up through the fire trail and then put a little test on to see if he would follow or not. He didn't repsond, so I bured myself all the way up the aeroplane trail and into the gully track to make a gap, it worked. Although I tried to catch second but he rode to good a race and I couldn't catch him

In the end: I rode over the 400km mark and got a third. I could have not done it without Al, Pearso,Nat, Kel, Kiri and my little baby Maia. I also need to mention aunty Al over the last couple of races hass taken alot of time to help me achieve my selfish goal of becoming some sort of MTB rider, I don't think you can do this sort of racing without a ace crew so a big thanks to Al.

Thanks to Ay Up for my lights there the best, thanks to Super sport for my trusty stead[Tomac Carbide SL], also thanks to Onza for my tread.

Thanks to everyone that help me out.

Merida 24hr Photo

Chris cruising

This is the only time you will see me riding with Jason. Before he turns the screws up and leaves me for dead.

Some quick Stats: 28 laps complete, 400km in the bank 3rd outright solo and one great job done by my support crew.

report to follow

Something AL sent me

Motivation

1) I will promise to do my best. My best will vary from day to day, from hour to hour, from minute to minute. But in that minute, I will do the very best that I can.
2) Lactic acid is my friend. The wind is my friend. Anything that opposes me is actually helping me to become stronger. If I had no opposition, I would be weak.
3) If I can run, I run. If I have to walk, I walk. When I am forced to crawl, I crawl. And then I rest and live to fight another day.
4) I fear no man but I fear my workout. If I don’t fear my workout, it isn’t hard enough.
5) I may puke. I may cry. But I will not quit. Ever.
6) I never cheat. There is no honor in cheating. What joy can there be in a victory I did not earn?
7) The workout missed is the opportunity missed. I will not cheat myself of the opportunity to become a better athlete and person.
8) I understand the value of the push-up, the pull-up, the sit-up, the squat, and the deadlift. Just as there are a million ways to make chicken, so too are there a million ways to squat, sit up, pull up, push up, and deadlift.
9) I will give everything I have. And then I will find more within myself.
10) I don’t complain. Complaining is for crybabies. There are 11,232 babies born in the US everyday. I will leave the crying to them and I will soldier on.
11) I will bite off challenges, spit out results, and beg for more.

What are you going to do?

Ride my bike