Well the day (12/11/06) came and to the dulcide tones of bag pipes at 5:30am, the day began at Bundernoon. It was an overcast sky, threatening to rain that a mate (Mark) and I prepared for the day ahead. We had arrived the previous evening around 17:50 and registered for the ride. After a quick "up & go" drink, a banana it was time to make our way to the start/finish line. In hindsight I certainly didn't have enough to eat and that was going to impact on me later that morning.
Kick off was at 07:30 and as I pedalled off, the day looked full of promise and a strong ride was expected of myself and for the first 30km all was well, then the hills started, and they all seemed to go up. Up and up and up.... about 40km in I found myself completely spent of energy. I trugged on, consuming GU's (energy gels) like they were going out of fashion and slowly making some progress. It was on this stage of the ride that I took and hour more than I should have. I finally made it back to the transition area and a rest and more importantly something to eat.
Refeulled and with the knowledge that the finish line was only another 25kms "down the road" I hit the road. By this time i had been 7hrs since I started. The last stage was relativley easy, compared to the torture like middle stage, by the time seemed to tick along so slowly. But I did finally finished, crossing the finish line 110kms later and 9hr17mins after I started. At the start of the day I was hoping to complete the ride in 6 to 7hrs, but in the end I was happy to just finish the event. For the record Mark came in an hour before me, and the first place getter finished in 4hr18min.
Despite the anguish suffered over the day, I'm looking forward to the opportunity to have another crack next year, now that I know what to expect I'm hoping to do much better.
Lessons learnt:
More training before the event (especially hills).
Eat plenty for breakfast.
Eat regularly on the ride (20-30mins) even if you really don't feel hungry, by then it's too late.
Drink regularly (20-30 mins).
Carry much more food (different types) on the ride.
