Was looking forward to this race. After breaking the 6hr mark last year, I was aiming to to hit somewhere between 5 - 5 1/2 hrs.
Prep before the race was limited to mainly 50km length rides, but thought this would get me through given the course as I remembered was relatively flat.
Arrived Saturday late arvo, registered, and then came the rain. Rain fell pretty heavily for a couple of hours and then eased off during the night. Got to race start next morning and the paddock at the start area looked very boggy - this was going to be a bit different then last year I thought.
That was tough today. This was my first 100km race on the 29er HT.
I started today’s race with Wayne. My plan was one stop at the 56km water stop which I knew was cutting it fine but thought as it as cooler I should be ok.
The gun went and heading up the golf course my race was nearly over when a stick flew up into my rear wheel but I was lucky after it freed itself with no damage.
I think the race organisers did a much better job this year. The track was marked better, race central work well, access the the RSL toilets and somewhere to keep warm in the morning was nice as well.
Also, thanks to the local club SCUM (http://www.scum.asn.au/) for providing awesome single track. It would be awesome to be able to link the trails around the massive bog holes because for me these we just too much.