To Do
- XC race
- Build some wheels
- Munda Biddi Trail Section 2a
- Ride and paddle Avon Valley
- Learn to Swim
- Offroad metric century
- All Perth Hills & John Forrest singletrack on same day
- Ride all night
- Freo-Scarborough (16km) less than 20mins
12th December 2009, South Beach, WA
Troyathlon
Words don't do this day justice so check out the photos.
30th November 2009, Jarrahdale, WA
Suicidal Possums and Flying Final Laps
This year the WA 12 hour mountain bike enduro was bigger than ever before with nearly 400 competitors and a lengthened 17km course. The end of daylight savings (boo) meant that there would be less time in the evening and more in the morning for daylight laps.
Myself and Pete entered the huge and very competitive pairs category. He lost scissors-paper-stone and had to do the first lap, which turned out to be not as congested as we had feared, so much so that I was 15 minutes into my first lap before I even saw another rider.
On Pete’s second lap his chain broke which saw us drop to 10th position in our category. Some steady lapping through the night, despite me running over a possum, saw us claw our way back up the field.
It was looking very iffy as to whether we would have time to do a complete 12th lap. Pete put in a solid time on lap 11 leaving me with 61 minutes to scoot round for one final time. The adrenalin rush that dawn brings, being able to descend faster due to the light and the knowledge that I would only have to push my way up the hills one last time saw me comfortably home with a whole 3 minutes to spare. This was enough for 5th place and a trolley load of prizes due to the size of the category and the generosity of the sponsors – not least the Bootleg Brewery.
I was pleased with my lap times. My fastest was around 54 minutes and only one slipped just over the hour. I also managed - similar to the 2008 Anaconda - to not be overtaken on the track.