This article was first published on the MarathonMTB.com Race Team website. Craig McKeown is a member of the team and will join Crocodile Trophy masters winner Hans Dielacher at the 2011 Craft Bike Transalp powered by Nissan, where the pair will target victory in the masters category.
Like many mountain bikers I made the traditional progression from riding a mountain bike off-and-on for a few years before graduating to the status of ‘weekend warrior’ as myself and a few mates began to push our boundaries in Nerang State Forest, in Queensland, Australia.
Sure enough, it wasn’t long before we became a little bit more competitive racing each other and further developing our skills and technical ability on the singletrack. After a few bust ups, spills, stitches and bruises I came to realize there was more to mountain biking than just putting on a fancy helmet and lycra nicks.
At this point I had just been riding in the bush each weekend when a friend suggested to join him for a road ride. I’d never ridden a road bike but I presumed I’d be fit enough. I figured if I can ride for a couple of hours in the bush what’s a few k’s on a nice, flat bitumen road.
But that day was an awakening of sorts as I learned just the type of fitness that is needed for the demand of road riding and just how unfit in reality I was, especially considering the fact that I was planning to enter my first big mountain bike race, the 2010 Epic in Toowoomba.
It was this at point I needed to find a new direction for my riding and a plan to increase my endurance and fitness to a level worthy of the Epic. My solution to my quandry was pretty simple: join my local road riders on my 29 inch mountain bike. The group was very skeptical of the flat-bar-bearing new kid on the block. Most wondered why I’d come to a gun fight with a knife!
But the logic of it seemed clear to me – if I could keep up with these guys or at least get to the middle of the pack I knew I would become stronger, quicker, and also be motivated not to be dropped from the pack.
It worked. After several months of hard slog my fitness had reached another level.
At this point I entered the 80km Boonah Marathon, followed by the 24 hour at Hidden Vale in Queensland. The 12 hour Canungra race and 100km Brisbane to Gold Coast road race followed.
With my hard won fitness and first tasters of competition, my enthusiasm was growing.
The 100km Epic was now achievable. It was a great feeling to cross that finish line after 6 hours 17 minutes, but I couldn’t help wonder how the race winner succeeded in only 4 hours 15 minutes. Clearly, I needed more training and to learn about nutrition and hydration.
By chance, I happened to spot a man on a bike. A man on a mission.
He was riding an orange 29er and as I was drove past I clocked him doing 35km/h. Awestruck, I pursued him for almost 2 hours stopping ahead of him in the hope I might grab a word with him. Nothing doing: This man was clearly focused and didn’t look like stopping.
But just as I was about to give up, he stopped to fill his water bottles.
I had my chance!
I pounced and bombarded him with questions.
I was simply in awe of how fast a man could ride a mountain bike for so long.
It turned out his name was Hans Dielacher and he was training for the Crocodile Trophy. Our friendship began right then and there. Immediately, I knew this bloke would take me to a whole new level in mountain bike riding.
We began training together and within four rides, Hans had invited me to ride with him in the Transalp 2011 – an eight day stage race across Germany, Austria and Italy. The invitation was a shock, but it was a boost to my confidence that someone of his superior fitness and caliber could see some untapped potential in me. For me, this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I’m not going to let pass.
And now the serious training begins…