Sweet Thursday
Eat boy, eat.
With all the goings on at the shop at the moment, Thursdays are a little hectic. With the new room on it’s way, I’m stuck for somewhere to treat from. While I have been keeping an eye out for an alternative, Thursdays have become my big k’s day.
Sweet Thursday!
Maybe I should label it long ride day instead of big k day, because at the moment a 3 hour ride takes me about 5 hours. Anyway, I could dribble on until the point is lost, so back to my sweet Thursday.
With belated entry plans for the 6 hour enduro at the You Yangs (crazy 6), I figured it was time to get a solid ride in. As a health professional, I always advise against trying to do any “last minute” training as it tends to lead to overuse injuries. You can’t cram physiological adaptations. But you can try.
I also needed to spend some time on the cross bike for a few upcoming adventures. With all that in mind
I rolled out to Warburton to catch up with my mate Damo. Damo is rad. His sense of style and fashion is always a highlight at single speed festivals and it’s hard not to groove to the beats when he brings the sound system with him on the bike.
There are a few things that I like about this ride for some long easy k’s. It’s about 170km return from my door. The first section is on the Eastlink bike track and there’s narry a traffic light to bother you. Once you get to Lilydale it’s dirt all the way to Warby and back on the Warburton rail trail. And you get to stop at the Cog bike cafe (both of them, and twice at Mt Evelyn) which suits me just fine.
In the name of metabolic efficiency, I managed this ride on 3 coffees, 3 muffins and 3 bidons. Pretty sure I can still run on the smell of an oily rag, proverbially speaking. Glycogen depletion achieved, I ate for about 3 hours after I got home ready for the race on Saturday.
The race on Saturday.
Things I learnt, or re-remembered. Preparation is the key. I put my bike together on Friday night, lateish. Long story, don’t ask. The SS Crosser has been in storage for about a year. I haven’t ridden it since I’ve been back from Italy. Always a good thing that single speeds are pretty easy to assemble. I looked at my semi deflated tyres and reckoned the rear might have a slow leak, ahh she’ll be right, pump ‘er up, see how she looks in the morning.
Morning comes, tyres don’t look too bad. After about 2 hours I start to think my lines are getting a bit ratty. Bit early in the race to be so clumsy, roll through transition and not longer after I figure the state of my slow leak and think it would have been a good idea to change it last night. From my courier days you learn there is a point where you can roll on a slow leak, take the quick option and pump it up every so often, or get it fixed and carry on merrily. I chose the third option, which is usually the right option to take, except in this case. Turns out my spare tube I’ve been carrying around with me on the townie has a hole in it. Damn. So after 500m I’m back to putting my tube with the slow leak back in. I’m also remembering that I really should have replaced that grommet in the pump because the seal is terrible.
I take it easy around the course trying to hang on when the back end does step out and avoid hitting any of the jumps with pace or knocking any of the bumpier roots on course. Roll into transition to get all this malarkey sorted out and DC grabs my bike and gets to work. Excellent, I have a moment to eat, laugh and pray. Nothing like a bit of mid race love from the Fitzroy Revolution. DC also whacks the GoPro on me for a lap, which is not so conducive to any idea of taking any easy lap to get the legs warmed up again.
After all these shenanigans, I started to hit some rhythm, which was awesome. It was probably 2007 when I last hit out at an enduro and to start finding my old 8 hour race legs brought a smile to my face. I was reasonably glad it was only a 6 hour though… While the flat track at the Youies may not be the most gnarly of mtb loops, it is certainly enough of a challenge for a one speed cross bike over 6 hours. In the end, I knocked out 135km, which wasn’t too bad for an old has been with no expectations, poor preparation and a hazy memory of past glory.
I even got to get my racer on, and yell at the transition crew (well, the girls hanging out waiting for their lap) “bottle, water, next lap”. Thanks ladies. Top day out, Rich did a great job on the mic, prizes looked awesome (I’d take a deli hamper over a cheap saddle any day), weather was tops and I felt that draining tiredness roll over me at the end of the day. I wasn’t far from falling asleep at the dinner table, I certainly vagued out, and could feel the nods coming on.
Win, win.