Sunday, July 12, 2015

2015 Jacks Ridge XXX

In the past I have competed in this race in ridiculously muddy conditions. So bad in fact that my derailer became jammed and ripped off. Looking at the forecast in the lead up week I was contemplating finding a single speed! I was looking at driving up in the morning before the race however, with a 9am start leaving at 4.30am I had an easy 4hrs to ride the 110km to the race. I haven't completed a warmup so thorough and I was quite interested to see how I would go in the race. With a few elite riders on the line and with the kms in my legs I knew the race would hurt.

I let Andrew Lloyd set the pace from the start and my legs felt pretty good. By the 3rd or 4th lap out of 8 I could tell the pace had dropped off however, I had planned on winding up the intensity for the last 3 laps. On the 4th lap I was starting to get some cramping twinges which I was quite surprised to have. The gastrolyte wasn't doing a thing to help. After a desperate plea my support managed to find some Shotz tabs and my cramps actually went away. It was time to race! I guess I take my nutrition for granted. I have a system that works and I rarely change from it. Basically on any race under 8hrs I have Shotz tabs in every bottle I consume and aim for 2 gels per hour. Never again will I race without the tabs! Unfortunately on the same lap I got my nutrition sorted, Andrew and I came across an injured ride. He had destroyed his helmet against a tree but, seemed to have held consciousness through the ordeal. I could related to this situation as I have in the past hit a tree and broken vertebrae. I stayed with him while Andrew continued to notify the next marshal. When first aid arrived on the scene I completed the rest of the lap and expected to see Andrew at the start finish ready to race the last 2 laps. I didn't know, but he had directed the ambulance to injured rider and was expecting to see me there. Either way, I did a fairly fun and fast shortened last lap and we called it a tie!

The Jacks Ridge track is great, the guys that get to ride in this location often are very lucky. I have already made a commitment to the Softcogs function in August otherwise I would have been keen to come back and ride this track for the 12 hours. Generally the track is quite fast and flowy. I think the average speed Andrew and maintained was close to 23km/hr on a mostly single track course. Even with a little moisture the track held up great. The new section of track that was put into this course will be great with a couple more berms under dry conditions. The trails had the challenging A lines taken out leaving a course that was still great fun and suited riders of all ability.

I need to thank the club for inviting me back again, I had a great time and hopefully will make the journey again. Sue Wood also needs a big thank you for passing bottle and having pity on me by providing a lift home. I need to thank my major sponsors JetBlack, Pivot and G8 but Shotz nutrition for coming to the rescue and making sure I have enough electrolyte for the Albury Evocities round next weekend!

1 comment:

  1. It's been a great inspiration story of the biker and i love to read this whole story of it. That how he did not do practice before the game and still compete with others. Here you can get help from onlinepaper to get educational content easily. I think this is a great source of getting motivated.

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