Dirt Crit 6-Final Round

worked dayshift before the race this week. Left home early to get in a sneaky warm-up lap before the race, only to realize on arrival at Garvey Park that I had forgotten my spare light for young Nick. Luckily only 10min from home so went home and grabbed them still in time for rego, but no warm-up. A few familiar faces. Tony and Lorraine doing their tireless volunteering, Chris, Nick, Scott. No Nigel for his A grade debut. Rich made an appearance as well. Saw a few people struggling to mount some borrowed lights before race start.

Another big turnout for A and B grade, with Sean Oneal and some other legends returning for A Grade. B grade start and I lost pedal off the start line, and it seemed like it took longer then a refund at Medicare to get it back in! Had another racer comment "You gotta hate that!" as he rode past. Ended up mid to 2nd half of the pack.

Settled in to a rhythm and got back a couple of places including Chris before the end of the first lap. Took another 3 on the second lap and held on with no major eventfullness. Lost a place on the 4th lap and tried to put in to get some back. Major front end slide in a rutt on the back loop seemed to go on forever. I was eyeing off a landing spot for the impending departure, when SOMEHOW I managed to bring the front wheel back under me. Guy behind said "I can't believe you didn't come off" my reply "Me either!"

Last lap had Anthony Giancoppo fly by and some time after I had a couple more closing, Reece asked nicely so I let him and Sean Oneal by and pushed through to the finish in 11th from 20.

Sausage sizzle at the finish was a great way to finish the series which was a great success. Chatted with Gregor who didn't ride and the others. Reece couldn't hold out Sean once they got out of the single track for 3rd.

Thanks to Craig, Greg, Tony and Lorraine for all their hard work. Look forward to next time.

Anaconda Adventure Race-Augusta 2010

Headed down to Augusta Saturday for Sunday race. Dropped off the Ernie the dog and gave Nigel a call on the way, seemed Nigel was having a relaxed trip having lunch with Lorraine and Declan and their respective families at a winery in Margret River. Mici and I arrived at Registration mid-afternoon, and the crowds weren't too bad. Placed my ski and got a great spot for launching. Went to the bike transition and found a decent rack for my MTB as well. Back to the accommodation and we were pleasantly surprised at the standard of lodgings for the late booking and very fair price. Got my transition gear and food and drinks sorted (no mean feat for these events). Back for briefing, no surprises. During the afternoon bumped into Bill, Wade, Andy and eventually Nigel. Positioned Nigel's car for post race and back to the lodgings for carbs and early night, Nigel was very pleased to see "The Chicken" had made the trip.

Race Day
Beautiful morning, bit of cloud cover and mild temp. Positioned transition gear, and confirmed ski and bike still where I left them. Positioned car and Nigel realised he had left his car keys in the room. Happy if that's all that goes wrong for the day. On the bus out to race start, found Rich and Michaela. Everyone was nervously in good spirits and joking around. Chatted with Andy, Wade, Limey, Kerry at the lighthouse, and saw Jase on the start line. The usual pre-race nerves are heightened by the helicopter flying around at eye level (making it hard to hear pre-start instructions).

Started mid pack, and was surprised at how little congestion there was this year. Took the low road along the rocks and picked up a few places, saw Bill running strong as always. Hit the first dirt road and was chuffed to have Limey and Dave overtake me (nice to be in front of them even for a little bit!) Settled into a good pace, had a bit to eat, managed ok on the soft sand and was happy to come in 2min slower than last year with an extra 1km of rocks in the course making it 1hr 29min 14.4km.

T1 went well this year (remembered to put race bib on OUTSIDE of wetsuit this time). Race haircut meant swim cap went on easy. Into the water saw Matt one of the pro film crew for the event in the water. Said hi (might get on the tele!) Started the swim slow and tried to pick up for the second half, felt pretty good. Run up to the ski was different to last year and much easier on the feet. Really surprised to have knocked off 5min from last years swim 42min 1.9km .

T2 was great too. New strategy of camelback under PFD worked well and made getting bib on easier. Easy launch and spent the paddle up the river eating and drinking. Paddled the river mouth this year and had no excitement through the surf (thank the gods). Seemed to take forever to get to the paddle turnaround. Downwind on the way home, pretty happy to see heaps of boats still coming out heading into my stronger MTB leg. Very pleased to paddle 8min faster than 2009 for 1hr 29min 13km.

T3 good again. Camelbak strategy meant just whip off PFD and good to go. Saw Reece Tucknott waiting for his team in Transition.....thought he's gonna come past......FAST. More food as I hit the climbing. As usual getting passed by plenty of teams (or as I call them CHEATS). Hit the sandy hill and didn't bother trying to ride it. Off the top at 11ish km was thinking that there was a long way to go, but I had forgotten the rest was pretty easy riding, had fun hitting the sandy bits as fast as possible sailing through while others were bogging in and walking their bikes. Rode most of the second 10km with a guy who seemed to know me (No46) we had a good chat about Busso and MTB's. Final 10km I decided to have a go, I pushed on and managed to drop Mr46, had a little bit of energy to do some very small jumps through the BMX track. before I knew it I was at transition. I was looking over my shoulder the whole leg waiting for Nigel and Reece to catch me. Wasn't expecting to do as well as last year on the bike, but blow me down with a Pale Ale if I didn't crack 6min off last years time for 1hr 34min 32km .

T4 had another cracker. Realised a little into the run I had forgotten to take my helmet off, but just left it on.
Got passed by Mr46 and passed a few teams. Felt good and managed to pick up the pace for the last km or so. Hi5'ed a heap of kids in the finish chute, and finished feeling the best I have in a big race for ages. 17min for 2.5km run.

5hr 34min 174th/607 overall and 38th/118 18-39Male was17min faster than last year with an extra 1km rock run. Really really really happy with the result. Princess Mici was there to give me hugs and kisses, Lorraine keeping her company. Nigel crossed 5hrs 56min in a Yo Gabba Gabba suit and having to have a compulsory toilet stop after the run did well and beat me by 1min on the bike (less than I expected). Saw most of the guys at the finish with everyone seeming to have a good race. Even managed to retrieve all my gear from the transitions (thanks to the person that tied my goggles to my wetsuit). Found Rich's Michaela in the bar re-hydrating and decided to hang around and give Rich some support as he finished. After about 7.5hrs Michaela was a bit upset when the timers didn't have Rich off the MTB yet. We left her to go get our gear and came across a very weary Rich running along the final straight. I ran in with him trying to cover my race number, but was called by the commentator finishing the race......again. Nigel is campaigning to have my second time count!

BBQ was a laugh all the IOAR kids having a ball at the expense of the some over zealous neighbours and I made ingesting as much protein (beer has protein) as humanly possible my priority!

Big thanks to Mici, Nigel, Lorraine, Tony & Reece Tucknott, Declan, Gregor and The all IOAR crew and their families for the great support. I feel a bit lost now my Adventure Racing season is over.....Look forward to getting to more events next year......and paddling faster.

Dirt Crit 5

Yes I missed 2 weeks with night shift and the Melbourne cup, but I made a return for Rd5 and I was feeling.......SORE! Anaconda Augusta on Sunday was brilliant, but I was very sore and tired for the Tue Crit, but I thought after 0430 start at work I'd have a roll around anyway.

Familiar faces on arrival, Chris, Gregor (happy birthday), Lorraine, Nick, Tony, Greg. A slow lap with Chris was very handy as this was my first time in reverse and there were a few changes with a few large rocks in choice places. Turns out there was a massive field for both A and B grade this week.

Off the line I saw Chris doing well near the front. I on the other hand was finding that the soreness in my legs was inversely proportional to the strength in them. Where I had been in the top5 in previous weeks I was dead last this week, and struggling to get back onto the last wheel. "Quite dusty back here" I thought.

Midway through the second lap I was catching someone. To my surprise it was Chris. I asked if he had fallen off! We rode together for a while and I was doing my best. Each time through the Start line Tony and Lorraine were teasing me about how much it hurts. Managed to find something from somewhere and I pulled away from Chris and took another. Gave it everything of the very little I had to try and stay away.

Passed young Nick on my 4th lap, nice short cut Nick! Yes I did notice he wasn't the only one who was chosing to take a short cut rather than dismount and push up over the mounds. It wasn't THAT hard.

A few A grader's lapped me on the my last lap, noticed one of them was Sean O'Neil. Didn't see him at Augusta!

With a great deal of deadness in the legs and swaet running off me everywhere, I finished my 5 laps 16th out of 20. Gregor rode well top 10 finish in more normal cycling gear although he did have the name of some country where they speak funny on his kit. Great fun yet again. Next week last round of the Dirt Crit's and a BBQ to celebrate.

Dirt Crit Rd2 - Now what do I do?

Tue Night Dirt Criterium Round 2 in Garvey Park and I was looking forward to it after having a great time in the inaugural event last Tue night. Nigel, Scott, Dave, Gregor, Reece were all there wtih Lorraine recruited for Lap counting being there to support Nick, and Chris turned up with a none to happy expression with a late light failure ruling him out. Kim came along for a look, I was looking longinly at the beer in his hand.....crack out a few laps first then a well earned one I told myself.

A grade took off, then us B graders 3min later. Nigel did well to take the lead into the first single track with myself in 3rd. Coming onto the loop out the back I took a corner well and found myslf in the lead.........first time leading a race ever.........Now what do I do?...........I managed to stay ahead to the hairpin and promptly fell off! Pure lack of ability stack, went down hard. Got myself back together and managed to get back in about 10th as I watched the train zip past.

Found a bit more slower traffic in the single track this week, which was a welcome breather really. ended up having a great battle with 2 guys swapping positions a number of times. KOM guy was smashing me in the sand cyclocross style jumping off and running like a rabbit. On the last lap I tried his method and clipped out my right foot and swung it around ready to run. It worked a treat. The other guy I was battling in Black and White kit got me coming into the finish, I didn't have an answer.

Saw Nick going well, Scott and Gregor out in course, Lorraine had the catering covered, thanks. Seems Nigel came 4th. great effort and we had a great post mortem with all the riders at the finish line. Gregor had a good race and won  the "Fashions on the Field" award with his Ashley Simpson Skank outfit. Seems like B grade had some great racing and with the new rule of first 3 step up a grade I look forward to the next one. Reece almost pulled off a last corner move to snatch 1st in A Grade but just didn't pull it off. Great fun hope to see a few more familiar faces next time.

Dirt Crit 1

Brand new concept for Perth and for me. Dirt Crit's in Garvey Park, Belmont in Perth.I had no idea what to expect or how to approach it.

On arrival Chris was giggling like a schoolgirl in an all boys dormitory, suggesting that the tricky bits of the course would provide some carnage. An attempt at a lap provided more confusion than anything else as the course was unclear. At Rego TT was attempting to get us to ride A Grade, but I was nervous at even B Grade. Nigel decided he would Ride C Grade for reasons unknown. A guided sighting lap provided a little more clarity of the just over 3km course with a surprising amount of fun single track, and some were a bit unhappy with the technical sections maybe a "B Line" for the less confident might have been a good idea, but I think the guys did a pretty good job with the course right in the city. Was A thru D grade with self seeding. A grade doing 6 laps, and each other grade doing 1 less lap.

A grade went first and we B Graders lined up, I was a bit shocked that we were doing 5 laps, I didn't think we'd get 5 in in the allotted time of 35'ish min. After A Grade came through on their 1st lap we were off. After the first adrenalin rush I was surprised to find myself in about 4th position. I thought I'd put in to hold it to get a good run at the single track. This worked well and a held my own for the first lap. I was on front of a group and lost my way only to slot back into the middle of the group on the right track.  The next couple of laps were a bit of a blur, keeping a bit of space over the technical lumps worked well so I could ride the whole course. A battle with a single speeder who sat on my wheel for a couple of laps kept me pushing.

On the 3rd lap my front wheel dropped away when I went a bit further left than there was dirt on a narrow ridge. I got it back and was off and maintained my tactic of pushing to get ahead before each section of singletrack. This too worked well and I didn't get held up much at all.

A guy passed me at the end of the 4th lap, and I was hoping there would be no-one heading out again on another lap.......DOH! C'mon legs...........Pushed hard and took a few and was pretty happy. Found David and Chris at the finish. Nigel came in a little later.

Hung around for the presentation, and thought I'd placed 8th-10th. I was super chuffed to see the guy in front of me collect 3rd place! Holy crap I think I got 4th! Nigel did well but was pipped by a 10yr old girl complaining about stacking and getting lost.

Everyone seemed to have fun, positive comments on the PMBC website, look forward to round 2 next week......motivated to push harder now!

Collie Adventure Race

Collie is a first for me with Road and MTB. With 2 bike legs I was confident of a good result.I had a few friends there which was nice. Dave, Jase and Bill Ironmen and Nige' Lorraine, Blair and Declan in their SPR team. Training has been downgraded lately so although each leg was within my capabilities I wasn't sure how I would be by the end. It turned out not that flash but got through it.

Race; 27km Road, 10km Paddle, 1km Swim, 22km MTB, 10km Run. There was an optional Horse leg as well, but I was missing a vital hay eating piece of equipment for that leg so I went with the 5stage race.

Early start with 2.5hr drive from Perth. Parked to drop off ski and immediately bumped into most of my friends. Everyone was in a great mood by the looks. Rego confirmed this was a casual event. Snuck a peak at the competitor list and I was surprised at how few 5stg Ironman competitors there were. Later I learnt there were 12.

Next as I had no support crew (but very helpul friends) I had to take the car out to the Lunch stop/transition and ride back to town for the start and I was running short on time. Rode hard  to get to the start on-time (a couple of big hills I didn't count on) and made it with 10min or so to spare.

Race start was 3 at a time with Bill and Dave ahead of Jase' and myself. I started out slow, Jase' went out ahead. I lost my drink bottle within the 1st km on a railway crossing. Water conservation became a priority with 1.5ltrs of fluid in my Camelbak to last for the Road and Paddle about 2hrs.At this point very happy with the decision to carry my Camelbak form the start. This was originally a strategy to avoid issues and time at transition onto the paddle. Now was a blessing.

The Road was relatively uneventful, I was taking it easy with the thought "Long day ahead" in the front of my mind. Hills weren't as bad as expected. Nice to see a guy off his bike helping a young guy having difficulty getting up a hill. coming to the turnaround the guy we were joking about with the "teardrop" helmet turned out to be well qualified to wear it. He was flying! First familiar face was Dave, going very well. Jason a little further back, then Bill not far in front of me. On the way back got a wave from Lorraine. The other SPR team rider went past me at a rate of knots. A mini battle with a team rider, he had me on the hills and I had him on the flat. All the time slowly getting a little closer to Bill. Caught Bill just as we got back to town. I think "You bastard!" was the affectionate greeting I got. With the paddle and swim next I knew it would be short lived. Happy with 52:34min 6th position.

Transition and someone offered to take my bike, so I handed it off (later I wondered about the wisdom of this). Great transition onto the ski, and immediately met with weed and submerged obstacles. Jason was just ahead with a guy I would later meet, Neil. As I paddled in what I would describe as soup as the weed seemed to pull the ski back, I was waiting for Bill to come by. Just before the Weir Bill caught me and Jason, Neil, myself and Bill negotiated the portage together. Bill said he got tipped out by his rudder when crossing the pipes in the water at the start. The Weir was the easiest bit of the portage, the wade through the reeds following that was a highlight. Dragging your ski through a channel in the reeds there were all sorts of waist deep holes to fall into, as you couldn't see where they were. A little more weed then when we hit the clear water, I was no match for Jase' Neil and Bill. The paddle then dragged on. The longer it took to come across someone coming back, the  more I was thinking this must be more than 10km (it wasn't). 01:12:05hrs and surprised to get 8th on the paddle.

Before the race I was pretty keen on the idea of a lunch break. As it dragged on though, I became more and more against the idea. I was feeling crap and just wanting to get on with it.

Next was a mass start swim. Less chaos than expected and halfway through found myself looking into Bill's eyes every time I took a breath. He swam past me, but I came out of the water not far behind. 15:11min 10th wasn't a great result, but I was feeling really poor after the lunchbreak.

Another great transition once I got past the spectators standing in the transition area. I was held up a bit for the first section which was single track. Not a bad thing, as it allowed me to work into it and Nigel to catch me. Nigel started off, and initially I couldn't match his pace. A couple of km later though............I hit my straps! Nige' tucked in behind and we were flying. I spotted what I thought was Bill up ahead and cranked on. Turned out to be Jason, we passed him and were taking no prisoners particularly on the downhill sections. I bit of loose stuff added a bit of entertainment. By now I had decided Bill must have been behind me and I must have passed him in transition. A few reasonable hills in the last few km I meant I might have burnt my candles for the run. Couldn't hold onto Nigel, but I had a ball on the bike. 01:02:45 and VERY pleased with 2nd on the MTB.

Another cracking transition I asked Nige' if he was ready to go. He had an army helping him in transition, and he said "no you go". I was off and set an easy pace to see how I would feel, knowing I was going to struggle. Dave came past on his return and commented that I must have had a great MTB. Jase' ran by and I knew I wouldn't be able to hold him. Passed Nigel on my return, and I was confident I could hold him out. Got past the return point without seeing Bill, so I was feeling confident I could hold him out as well. After 3km I knew I was going to have a bad run. I was just trying to keep my pace below 5min30 km. and managing that ok. Neil ran past and commented "Man you can ride a bike". Passed a team runner about 8km in. Later learnt the poor guy got lost and did a couple of km extra. The last 1.5km were torture. I tried to pick up the pace but my body wouldn't be in it. Lack of run training was evident. Running past the bike-paddle transition no sign of my bike or gear......Mmm this will be interesting! My guts were locking up and I thougth I better take it easy to make sure I can run around the Trotting Track finish. The sledging for walking would be endless! The signage was lacking in the final 1km, thought Leigh might have shown them how to do it. Into the Trotting Track, and missed the turn onto the track. NOT HAPPY! The run around the track was torture! Luckily I had no-one around me so I had no need to sprint (or plod a little faster). 58:14 and 7th not great but I made it! Met by Lorraine with beer, and congrats from the boys.

Overall 04:20:49 7th from 12 in category 5stg Ironman and 13th from 55 overall including teams or as I like to call them....cheats! Dave had a great day 2nd Ironman 3rd overall, Jase 5th and 11th, Bill 8th and 15th, SPR 15th team and 31st overall. Nigel got "Chicked" on the final turn of the run, turns out by the only person to complete the 6stage event, and only a couple of minutes outside her own record. So I would worry too much about that. Met a young guy Rich who bought his ski last week and this was his first adventure race. Well done you maniac! Managed to find my Road Bike and gear which had been collected for me so I was pleased to be heading home with all the gear I arrived with. Great day, Look forward to Augusta

Pete

Painathlon Race Wrap

Painathlon Race Wrap.

Hi All,   I have been on holidays since the Painathlon, so apologies for this late thankyou note, but here it is. Better late than never.

Firstly thankyou to all. Your generosity astounded me, and as a result I was the highest fundraiser for Variety WA in the event by far. At last count from Variety after the event you donated $1481 in my name. So again thankyou. The event has raised over $10,000 so a fantastic effort.

If you are interested in how I went on the day;   It was by far the toughest event I have attempted to date. On the start line I was thinking if I get through the course within the 10hr45min cutoff I would be happy. It was a cool morning. We arrived in the dark at City Beach. Mici was nice enough to get up far too early for her own good and drop me off.

We began with the Beach Run and Reabolt Hill. I was interested to see competitors walking already on Reabolt Hill. I was trying to pick who was doing the Half (kiddies) Painathlon and who were the idiots doing the whole thing with me. In hindsight I think the other idiots were long gone. I got through the first 5 challenges City Beach, Reabolt, DNA, Mount St, Bridges Run feeling quite good in around 3hrs. Caught up to Nigel on the Bridges Run and was keeping a pace a little quicker than I expected but feeling good.

I again got on my bike, this time for the longest cycle leg of the day out to Brigadoon.   I started to feel the pinch here punching into a stiff breeze with no-one else around to work with. A guy leading a horse was dragged along until the horse escaped as the horse was startled by the figure of me on my bike. They were both fine, and  a welcome distraction for me. I glanced down to look at my new Garmin edge 705 mapping cycle computer to see a blank screen. Oh no! I had my course mapped out on here and the second half of the course would be a struggle not having any maps. The last thing I wanted was to go further than I had to.  

I set out on the Truth and managed to keep up a run until the roundabout near the top, then gave in and walked on the steep uphill parts. By the time I got back to my bike around an hour later I was really feeling it. This was when I started to think I might not make the 10hr45min cutoff. To my dismay my Garmin was still dead, and a guy who was pulling out of the race was kind enough to give me his paper maps. Thankyou! I was really worried about taking some wrong turns.

As soon as I got on the bike after the Truth I was in Cramping hell, and I kept cramping for the next 6hrs. I now resigned myself to the fact that I was not going to complete the course. But I thought I would just do as much as I could and see where I ended up. I was at a little over 5hrs in and I was not looking forward to another 5+hrs of this! Another withdrawal by a guy riding near me. His parents were driving to each major intersection ahead of us and making sure he was ok. The lure of his parents house nearby was too much for him to resist and he withdrew.

I kept the pedals turning but had no strength to hold a decent pace. Any time I tied to push hard I got a massive cramp, and my legs were taking turns in accommodating those cramps. This was survival mode.  

Zig Zag was a welcome relief from the bike. Running down through the bush didn’t feel too bad. Steady ride to Quadcruncher. I actually was looking forward to Quadcruncher, I had no intention of even attempting to run up it. On entering the bush area I came across a competitor who had taken a wrong turn and run an extra 4km. I set him on the right track and was quite happy I managed to get a little distance on him during the stage in my pathetic cramped up state. On the return leg I offered him a drink as we passed from the bottle I was now carrying on the runs in an attempt to keep me going a little longer. He eagerly accepted as he had now done around 7km without a drink. At this point I was thinking I will be doing well to make Jacob’s Ladder at all, and I will definitely be pushing my bike up Mount St NOT riding it.  

Back on the bike and I jumped on the back with the team of 3 belonging to the guy a gave a drink. This was the first time in the race I had managed to get any help on the bike at all. A little chatting and a bit of entertainment as the guy on the Felt time trial bike fell off at the traffic lights helped me to forget the body issues of the moment. I managed to hold on to the back of them all the way to Raffles, and good old Nigel was waiting for me.

A little cola and the Mt Henry Bridges run was a struggle. Run, run, run, walk, run, run, run, walk, run, run, run, walk…… Nigel rode next to me and tried to encourage me and distract me with a few funny stories like little Will’s attempt to help him count his laps of Jacobs Ladder.   Nigel rode with me to Jacob’s. When we got to Mount St I told Nigel that there is no way in hell I would get up it on my bike. But as for the rest of the race I gave it a go and just would see how far I got. I gritted my teeth and Nigel gave me some “Your doing well”s. To my utter disbelief I did make it, and the rest of my loyal support crew Mici and Chris were waiting at the top for me to arrive. Seems the first day of August was too much for our Dry July Champion Emma!

I think Mici and Chris were a little shocked to see how bad I looked, but I was still going and pretty chuffed to have made Jacob’s Ladder and to have ridden up Mount St when I had been convinced I would do neither. Johno the tireless race organiser who had also did the half saw me at the bike rack and said to just do as many laps as you can. The race was about seeing how far you get inside the cutoff. I was at just over 10hrs now and had no hope of completing the 10laps of Jacob’s required to complete the course in time. I thought I might get in 2 or 3.   So I set off and the team I had ridden with hi5’ed me as they had just finished.

1 lap turned into 2, 2 laps turned into 3, and all of a sudden I was looking at getting 7 laps done. Chris and Nigel did a few of the laps with me in support. A guy on the steps was amazed that we had been going for over 10hrs already.   242 steps each lap. I had 7laps done with 5min to go.......Off I went again with Chris saying “I knew you’d do that”.  Got the 8th lap in and the cutoff 10hrs45min fell. I headed to the finish line. I was done. Literally!

I began thinking another 11min. 11min was all I needed to get the final 444 steps in. Bugger! Lying on the grass recovering Chris asked if I was going to do it again next year. I immediately replied NO! Mici and Chris were both a little surprised at the conviction in my no. Neither had ever heard me say no to an event. That lasted about 2days. I’ve got unfinished business.  

Off to the pub, and a few beers and as much food as possible with my friends, I had a great day.  

So in summary I didn’t complete the course. I did all but the last 2laps of Jacob’s Ladder before the 10hr45min cutoff. I placed 13th of the 23 solo entries being the first of the competitors who didn’t complete the full course. Josh Randall won completing the course in 8hrs38min. All in all I’m really happy with my result. It was a massive undertaking. I did a hell of a lot of training at ridiculous times of the day before and after work and on days off. I look forward to going back and finishing the course inside the cutoff.  

Thanks again to all who donated. Mici and I had a great holiday and I’m looking forward to the next challenge!

Pete