Southern Exposure Surfcoast 6 Hour

I hit the start line of the Surfcoast 6 Hour, jersey pockets bulging with bars n gels, helmet light mounted and ready with my only plan to stop being for fresh bottles. Start time was 4pm, taking us through to 10pm for the finish. Five of us were counting down the minutes 'til start - alongside me Rich Kemp & Gus Crisp had thrown they're gauntlets down at each other, Jodie Palmer was psyched for her first 6 hour challenge, and Mark Rimmington was putting to test his lead-up training for the event.

I didn't break out of the blocks like a charged cannon but started with an immediately steady pace up the first gentle climb, where i picked through those that had smashed it too early and were already gasping. A group of four of us were punting along at a good pace. At times I wondered if I wasn't working harder than I should but told myself it was what I was there for! One mindset was the unknown of how I would go after the structured training, the other mindset cancelled it out by reason that the structured training was being done to hit the goal! When I realised this I referred to the second mindset from that point on. My objective was to hit the first couple of laps to two hours in a higher effort range, then settle to a rapid tempo to then crank it back up for the last couple of hours.

I was at the back of the group of four over the first lap and a half, and after watching one of the guys make two or three mistakes I decided to at least get in front of him. The next couple of changes of terrain saw him drop right away. Stew McKenzie was leading the pace as the three of us put another lap or so together and we were hitting good lines but still had me conscious of the pace was we were holding. Asking Stew how he was going as we opened out onto a fire road section he said he was finding it hard to warm up so I took the front for the next long fire road climb and found myself gapping them considerably. I figured I was going 'hard enough' or maybe even with more yet to give. Sure that they would pick my wheel back up along the next fast down hill or the slight rising open track after I put more pace on and found myself well out on my own as I began to settle into the race.

At 45min I took the first gel, then a solid fruit bar at 90min. I got two laps from my first bottle, and then was lucky enough to have Katie McKie handing me food and drinks each time I passed our base. Katie was fresh back from Europe and sporting an engagement ring now as Stew's fiance.

The lap just before dusk began was probably the clearest lap in so far as traffic was concerned. Passing along pit lane Katie Chancellor and bro, Sam, both cheered me on which elevated my spirits more than from the fun I was already having, and I set on for a smooth and consistent lap. The dusk-to-dark transition was my slowest lap, the head light was not bright enough to over-power the dimming light and the dim light was not enough to show what was hiding in the shadows. I don't think I was alone here, as it was the lap I encountered the most traffic, especially in some sections of single track through thick tea-tree. Once complete darkness had set the track was a lot easier to read.

The first half of the course climbed up along the north and contained the most technical riding. A switch back climb, a fast descent through what could only be described as a treed chute, a nuggety fire road climb, a short climb that jacked up to maybe 12 percent gradient and another super fast descent that spat the rider into a corner covered in fine sand. Some more undulating single track dropped us at the base of a gentle climb to the race village where the track figure-eighted via a crossover bridge. This gentle climb on Lap 5 gave me some hints of potential leg cramp so I put some extra focus on drinking. Passing through the pits found a jam sandwich waving in front of me, Katie had put the bread and jam together that I had in my esky so that made for another snack. The next couple of laps seemed to fly by taking me across the finish line with 10 minutes to spare, and so my 9th lap began. Gus and Rich had pulled the pin as luck had not shone their way for the day, Mark was still out putting the icing on his consistent race and Jodie took 3rd in Solo Women 6 hour category. As I passed our tent for one last time Pete came good with a can of coke and jumped on my wheel for my last lap, to enjoy a taste of the great trails. I got back to the race village in 45 minutes to find I was on the same lap as the winner. My legs were pretty fried. I felt satisfied at the end that I had worked hard for the whole race and was grateful to have not suffered any mechanicals. Tyre pressures were great, maybe a little low at the rear as the bike would just oversteer out of tighter corners, but in general the bike felt confidently predictable.

On seeing 5th place finished only 6 minutes ahead of me I figured there were probably 4 climbs on the course that I wonder if I could have chopped 10 to 15 seconds out of, which over 9 laps would have been 6 to 8 minutes quicker... gives me another target for next time!