Sunday started early for the Subaru-MarathonMTB.com Team. Riders Justin Morris, Graeme Arnott and Mike Blewitt were accompanied by Team Support guru Pete Figg to the airport, for an early flight north to Cairns. Packing for racing adventures is always a balancing act. Having to make our way north with bikes, race food, spares and camping gear for 10 days of hard racing at the Crocodile Trophy would be pushing the 25kg baggage friendship. Gratefully, Virgin Blue were more lenient than they could have been early on a Sunday morning, and our excess was rounded down to 35kg over the groups allocated total.
The build up to the Crocodile Trophy has been pretty long. Although most people know that they want to compete and plan accordingly, our plan was hatched in July – not an overly long time out from the race. Being equipped to race hard for 10 days in an isolated region takes a bit of forward thinking, and a whole lot of support. Justin Morris put it best over breakfast this morning, “It’s not a like a road tour, where you rock up, race, and then everything you need is at the hotel. Your biggest decision is whether to have Thai or Italian for dinner.” There is an endless list of items we would love to be taking with us, but even though the flight is over and we have unpacked, we still need to fit all our stuff within duffle bags for the daily truck transport. Having a support vehicle would be a huge advantage, but beyond the teams timing and resources. Most rental companies won’t let you go much further north than Cairns!
Central Cairns - even after a short flight, it's worth getting the travel fatigue out of the legs.
So now it’s a case of asking what do we really need? What is going to help us get through each day, what will keep us healthy, and are some items there more for want than need? They are tough decisions, but it runs deeper than what to pack physically. There is also an element of escapism as we plan to head bush for almost two weeks. There is little need to worry about work, or any other issues that have been bothering you. Save for when there is an internet connection or a phone signal, the people we will be in contact with will be around us each night. Some mental baggage is certainly ripe to be left behind in Cairns.
With a start list sprinkled with some of the worlds best endurance mountain bikers and Tour de France pro’s, we also need to be realistic about our own goals. Struan Lamont, our host in Cairns, and a Croc veteran, is pretty open with how he approaches the race, “Basically it’s 10 days camping in the bush with mates, you just have to ride your bike to the next campsite each day.” Having ridden for previous winners over the years, perhaps Struan is understating the requirements a little – but it’s a fresh mental approach for the event.
The presentation is on this afternoon, and last minute supplies are being gathered. We headed out for a spin up the opening climb this morning. Graeme and Justin were both able to put in some good race efforts – I merely aimed for survival as my body is still waking up from a week off the bike and a course of antibiotics. Getting used to riding in no-mans land is another thing to get used to anyway! It’s a challenge getting used to the heat and humidity up here. Even when the temperature drops at night, it’s like sleeping in a chapter of the Jungle Book, with a cacophony of sounds around you. It’s fair to say we’re all looking looking to get started, and see how the first day (known as the hardest and fastest) treats us.
"It's going to get less humid, right??"