First MTB experience/race - JetBlack 24hr
Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2011 7:43 pm
So a few weeks ago a few mates had a team member pull out of this event and asked if anyone was keen, I thought it sounded like fun so put my hand up. I haven't done any mountain biking before (except as a kid when we used to bash about the bush if that counts) so borrowed a bike and lights and was set to go for the 24 hour race, 6 man team at the botanical gardens at Mt Annan. I had one quick ride to get used to the bike before the event and then in the morning did one lap with the team mates to check out the course. What an awesome course, I don't know what other races are like but it was so much fun. It is almost 10km, 90% single track, extremely windey (heaps of switchbacks) all up and down, no major climbs but there is never time to rest either. I never even took a water bottle with me because there is nowhere where there's even time to reach down to take a drink.
With 6 riders we decided we'd do one lap each during the day, then during the night ABABAB/CDCDCD/EFEFEF. Each lap was about 30 minutes so you would just go and smash it out then recover - repeat. From the first lap I realised this sort of race has very little in common with road racing. You're pretty much just doing a 10km time trial. Even though there were >500 riders traffic wasn't really a problem out on the course, I was a bit worried beforehand how overtaking would happen on the single track but passing people wasn't really an issue, everyone was very courteous, very different from road!
I smashed out my first two laps in 28 minutes each, the best laps of the team and comparable with some of the pros so I was pretty happy with that. My next laps were in the dark and that was a different story. My first night lap started off ok, but it seemed my lights were deteriorating and I was having a very hard time seeing what was coming up. I was really struggling by the end of the first night lap and wasn't looking forward to the next two. I was overtaken for the first time in that lap and I couldn't see how the guy who overtook me was able to take the technical sections so fast with lights that looked comparable to mine. Before the 2nd lap I got cleaned my sunnies, and BAM! I could see again! All along it was my sunnies that had fogged up without me realising, the lights were then SO much better! I enjoyed the next 2 laps a lot more, even though my power was dropping, my skill level was rising on each lap with the experience I gained on each lap (nothing like learning on the job!). My night laps were about 5 minutes slower than my day laps.
By now it was 3am and I had about 3.5 hours until my next turn so tried to get some sleep, but even though I was pretty smashed I found it hard to get to sleep with my heart rate still high. I probably only got about 2 hours sleep. I had a bit of breakfast and headed out again. Was glad it was light again but wasn't feeling so good, just low on energy now. That lap was faster than the night laps but not by a lot. I got back and my girlfriend who was camping with the team had cooked some awesome bacon and eggs, I was so glad to have them. Ate a fair bit and began to feel a whole lot better. Our team calculated that if we did some quick laps we'd be able to finish at 11:55, so the last rider would be able to get out before midday (cut off time) and we'd be able to get that extra lap in. So the pressure was on on my last lap not to stuff up. I was feeling great on that last lap and did another good time and we got that extra lap in.
Our team ended up getting 2nd in our category (24 hour 6 man team) so we were pretty stoked with that. Out of all 172 teams we were 7th.
It was an awesome experience, today my body feels far more destroyed than it ever has after a road race. My whole upper body tired/aching, it doesn't normally get this sort of work out! It was an extremely well run event too, the organisation was really good.
With 6 riders we decided we'd do one lap each during the day, then during the night ABABAB/CDCDCD/EFEFEF. Each lap was about 30 minutes so you would just go and smash it out then recover - repeat. From the first lap I realised this sort of race has very little in common with road racing. You're pretty much just doing a 10km time trial. Even though there were >500 riders traffic wasn't really a problem out on the course, I was a bit worried beforehand how overtaking would happen on the single track but passing people wasn't really an issue, everyone was very courteous, very different from road!
I smashed out my first two laps in 28 minutes each, the best laps of the team and comparable with some of the pros so I was pretty happy with that. My next laps were in the dark and that was a different story. My first night lap started off ok, but it seemed my lights were deteriorating and I was having a very hard time seeing what was coming up. I was really struggling by the end of the first night lap and wasn't looking forward to the next two. I was overtaken for the first time in that lap and I couldn't see how the guy who overtook me was able to take the technical sections so fast with lights that looked comparable to mine. Before the 2nd lap I got cleaned my sunnies, and BAM! I could see again! All along it was my sunnies that had fogged up without me realising, the lights were then SO much better! I enjoyed the next 2 laps a lot more, even though my power was dropping, my skill level was rising on each lap with the experience I gained on each lap (nothing like learning on the job!). My night laps were about 5 minutes slower than my day laps.
By now it was 3am and I had about 3.5 hours until my next turn so tried to get some sleep, but even though I was pretty smashed I found it hard to get to sleep with my heart rate still high. I probably only got about 2 hours sleep. I had a bit of breakfast and headed out again. Was glad it was light again but wasn't feeling so good, just low on energy now. That lap was faster than the night laps but not by a lot. I got back and my girlfriend who was camping with the team had cooked some awesome bacon and eggs, I was so glad to have them. Ate a fair bit and began to feel a whole lot better. Our team calculated that if we did some quick laps we'd be able to finish at 11:55, so the last rider would be able to get out before midday (cut off time) and we'd be able to get that extra lap in. So the pressure was on on my last lap not to stuff up. I was feeling great on that last lap and did another good time and we got that extra lap in.
Our team ended up getting 2nd in our category (24 hour 6 man team) so we were pretty stoked with that. Out of all 172 teams we were 7th.
It was an awesome experience, today my body feels far more destroyed than it ever has after a road race. My whole upper body tired/aching, it doesn't normally get this sort of work out! It was an extremely well run event too, the organisation was really good.