I actually didn’t know what to expect for this race because July is when I started to get back into training after a break from my last race being The Convict 100 in early May. I think the last time I raced a 50km marathon was the last time I did the 3 Ring Circus. This was in 2010 and my time was 3:01:36 so I thought that was a fair enough goal time to beat ;-)

After getting some accommodation at the last minute my plan was just to cruise down Saturday arvo with Wayne, register, watch the night race and get an early night. Being a 10am start it was going to be a pretty cruisy morning compared to the usual 7am starts for full marathons.

Come race morning, after a warm up I head over to the start line and it seems everyone is keen as and without pushing in, it looks like a mid field start for me for this one.

The gun goes and by the time I get to the start line the front row is already out of site. With my HR going from below 100 to mid to high 170’s within seconds I start looking for gaps to squeeze though. It doesn’t take long and gaps in the groups of riders are already appearing so I start the process of bridging these. It’s actually amazing how much energy you have to use to bridge 50-100m but I guess when your speed is ranging from 30-40+kmh it makes it quite hard.

The blue loop seemed to be over in a flash and now we’re on the red loop. I get to the infamous “wall” dig deep and manage to ride up it. I catch Doc here and he leads into the single track. I’m sitting on his wheel through here but by the time we exit the second section all my previous efforts catch up and I can no longer hold on. I start to concentrate on my eating because before this I hadn’t done much and surprisingly start to feel a bit better. The rest of the red loop seemed like a bit of a blur except for the end where they take you though the single track which is normally the start of the loop and then a decent climb to finish it off.

Though transition and the start of the yellow loop. Although quite tired, I was feeling a bit better now. I caught a rider in the distance and then I encouraged him to work with me to catch three riders ahead of us. Taking turns we get within 20 metres when he decides his had enough so I push on and join the group.

Half way hill came and went and although not a PR it always makes you feel like your going fast when you overtake other riders. Then come the roads back to transition. Working with a couple of riders here I have no idea what category they’re in but with 5km to go I make the decision at 3km to go (just after you turn off the main road) to have a crack at riding off the front. As the road starts to rise I just dug deep and opened a gap which I just managed to hold to the finish.

In the end I crossed 7th in the veterans category so considering the elites ride by age category I was quite happy.

Well done to the SXC Team with Gazza taking the win in masters, doc 3rd, Wayne 4th and Gary 18th in Vets.

Next time I’ll line up closer to the front ;-)