Despite Huw Kingstons Highland Fling, held in NSW, being the unofficial National Marathon Champs, the Convict 100, really always feels like the NSW Marathon champs to me. If you race an MTB in the state, you have to be there. It is one of those dates in your calendar that gets marked in first.
In the words of queen Liz, this year so far for me has been a bit of an ‘Annus Horribilis’ (which is not the same as the ailment you would suffer from too much spicy foods..) – there have been punctures, illness, bikes literally taken from under me on start lines – along with a number of other personal drama’s that have really lowered my levels of both excitement and performance. I wanted a break from racing – badly.
I have a great relationship with The Convict race, and if it was any other race this weekend, I wouldn’t have started. I’d have just taken a break from racing, gone and watched, and thought about the next phase of the season. But – it was the Convict, so I had to be there.
Equipped with my new Cannondale Flash 29er, I wasn’t going to miss the race. At just under 8.5kg, it was built for going up hills, and responding to changes of pace. The light weight also meant I could run some pretty heavy tyres – and ensure I wasn’t going to have an early finish. A special mention to the guys at Cannondale Australia, and also to the patient team at City Bike Depot in Sydney. Hugh, along with Joe and Al in the workshop have put up with all my little ‘tweaks’ and changes without ever grumbling (to my face).
Riding the ‘dale meant I was a newly adopted rider onto the established Cannondale/Sugoi team of Andy Hall and James Downing. Happily, both good blokes, although they need to work on their sledging. Pre-race we had discussed a few options for how things would play out, and I had also done the same with Kyle (Rockstar) on the drive up. We knew how we would deal with most scenarios. There is a really good ‘teams’ aspect to the marathon racing now – and it is adding a totally different aspect to things. Cannondale want, and deserve to be amongst it with Trek, Giant and Specialized at these races.
Andrew Hall, the most successful Cannondale/Sugoi team member, coming 5th after 40km in the early break.
Race morning came, and a quick warm-up on the Lemond trainer (how good are they??!!) meant that I was ready for the first attack of the day, which came at 1 metre into the race. Andy Blair from Swell-Specialized launched into the race with a not unexpected attack. A few of us swapped turns and he was brought back. The minute he came back, another attack from his team-mate Shaun Lewis really set the tone for the day. Shaun came back. A few little surges and moves, and then a move went that seemed to have the ideal composition. It was Shaun, Brendan (Target-Trek), Mike Blewitt (Subaru-MarathonMTB) and our own Andy Hall. What it meant was that Swell-Specialized weren’t gonna chase, and neither were James Downing and I. It was up to the remaining ‘contenders’ to decide what to do about it. These were Jason English, Kyle, and Michael Crosbie (who had come up from Victoria to do the race).
They did nothing.
So, as we hit the first hill, there was a group ‘up the road’ and then the main field. That hill always sorts the race out. I was delighted when a rider I had never seen before gave it his best ever effort on the bottom of the hill to get in between myself and Jason and then ‘dabbed’ – causing me to have to unclip. After some choice words of support and congratulation to the rider, I moved on. I could see Jason and Seb Jayne (a talented young rider, getting into marathons to support his XC racing) about 15m ahead of me. In front of them was Kyle, Blair, and Crosbie.
Knowing the way Jason rides, I had to get back to him by the top of the hill, otherwise he would just slowly drag himself away from me on the ridge. I clicked up a few gears, and pushed on pretty hard. I passed Seb, and then latched on to Jasons wheel at the top of the climb. We rolled on hard. Seb had made it with us, and ‘teamie’ James Downing was also there. A bit of swapping turns and steady riding had us back at the front of the race. The ‘breakaway’ had split. Mike B, and Shaun were back with the bunch, leaving only Brendan and Andy Hall out front. This was good again for me, as it meant I would just sit on the back.
After a few interesting moments on some water bars (I so nearly was ejected out of the front on one of them – I rolled what felt like 5 or 10m on my front wheel) we got to the first feed station. All together, without too much drama.
Bottles were grabbed and we set off into the rocky section of the race (between feed 1 and 3). At this point, the attacks started to come. I really noticed the fact that despite starting a bunch of races, I hadn’t finished many. I was riding on good training alone – there was no race speed. No great change of pace. As we hit the rocks, I took a call to let the front of the race ride off, and to relax and then use my ‘diesel’ engine to wind in their ‘turbo’ engines on the final climbs. James, Mike, Seb and I rolled together for a bit, before Seb got detached off the back, and James detached himself off the front (i.e. rode faster than us).
Feed station 2. James was gone, Mike was with me, and we rolled past a cheerful Hugh from CBD who was manning the mechanics tent. Sorry I didn’t stop for a chat Hugh!
The long climb up the past the Buddhist temple was too much for Mike – he was gone.
I caught James on the final set of rocks on the North Road, having passed Blair who had punctured. Day over for him really.
Then it was the Canoe Bridge, and I rode on happily. This year, I nearly went for a swim. I don’t know why, but I got a wobble on. Foot out, and into a canoe. Phew. I had to get off and run the rest. There was a photographer there – snapping away. He was saying “oh – this is great, an Elite rider makes a mistake”. I suggested that I wouldn’t want to be seeing those photos after the event.
How you don’t ride the canoe bridge.
It just goes to show how fast things move when you make a mistake though. James had ridden it, I had half ridden and run. By the grassy field I could barely see him! I pushed hard and caught him on the bitumen. We chatted, sledged a bit, had a drink, and swapped turns. Fast, but not too fast, because the climb starts hard once you leave the road.
Together we rode really well. Solid pace. I was feeling incredibly good at this point and we looked forward to ‘collecting’ members of the front bunch that had miss-judged their effort.
I wasn’t sure who it might be, but have to admit to being a bit disappointed when I saw the Rockstar kit of Kyle ahead. He had blown like a balloon at a kids birthday party. We flew by, and all I could think to say was “just finish the f**ker” to him. Not the most supportive I have to admit, but between us, there was a bad trend of not finishing emerging.
Ward and Shippard are coach and athlete, and training partners. They know the Convict course well.
Long story short, James and I chatted about how fast we were going and whether we were likely to break 4hrs. I was riding completely blind – no Garmin, nor watch or timer – and it felt a bit slow. I said “no way mate, we are off pace I think”. Oh well.
James put in a good little dig on one of the climbs, and put a gap of 20m between us that would remain for the rest of the race. Across the wretched sandy river, the final rise on the dirtroad, and over the finish.
My first emotion was “thank god, I’ve got the monkey off my back, the luck has turned”. I didn’t know where I had placed, other than it was inside the top 10. I didn’t know how fast I had gone either. Last year was 4hrs 2min and I was so annoyed with not breaking 4hrs.
Turns out I was 7th, and rode 4hrs 1min! That bridge slip almost certainly cost me.
I was also delighted that Cannondale had the best representation in the results, with riders in 5th, 6th and 7th place. Andy, James and then myself. Very satisfying.
My attention turned to my friends, and also other people I have been helping with coaching and advice – the ‘team’ had a good day out. All riders went well, set PB’s and were positive at the finish. You all know who you are – well done.
That positivity is key. Get the f**ker finished is now going to be the motto. Sometimes, when you are caught in the heat of trying to win a race, when you lose the opportunity to actually win, you forget why else you might press on. “well, I’m not gonna win now”. It doesn’t matter. Press on, ride hard, and things will come your way. I need to heed my own advice on this.
Its an old adage, but in order to finish first, you first have to finish….
So – I was able to finish this first half of the season with a solid ride. I needed more racing to be really prepared, but got through it on training alone. My bike was faultless. The stiffness of the hardtail is really noticeable on the final climbs. I could just sit and drive the thing up there. For the tech-heads out there, I chose to run the 34T XX1 chainring, as there was some debate as to whether a 32T might be good, or even the 36T. 34T is the right size.
Maxxis Ikon EXO protection (600grms, but never missed a beat) – 25psi.
8 x Gu Roctane gels, and about 2.5 ltrs of Skratch Labs Raspberry drink. Pretty much perfect.
As a note to the future – this ‘teams’ concept is really going to become a part of racing. It will be increasingly harder (even for super humans like Jason) to win the races if they are riding alone. Its exciting to see the sport develop. There is no question that marathon racing in Australia is getting faster, more competitive and more #fullpro. Look at the speeds that being ridden now – across all age groups, and both genders.
5hrs would have won the Ladies Convict two years ago. This year it was only good enough for 5th!
The season breaks now, some thinking and planning to be done. See you out on the trails….