Forrest 6 Hour - May 2013

It has been a long time since I have done a Le Mans style running start for an enduro, and this was how the Forrest 6 Hour 2013 was set to begin. Team-mate Chris Wallace waited at the top of the hill with my bike whilst I waited about 150 metres away at the bottom of the pit lane for the starter's shout. The swarm of chaos ascended to grab the bikes, with riders trying all manner of techniques to make a start on the pedalling discipline. The opening lap stayed on open fire road for a little more than a kilometre which stretched the field out a bit more before the conga-line into the single track. The first lap can always have an element of stop/start with traffic and bottle-necking but maybe it wouldn't have been as bad if I had a more effective running pace. The first couple of kilometres of single track provided plenty of entertainment with people putting on the pressure, other riders cracking under the pressure, some moves of desperate overtaking attempts and in the later part riders only too happy to pull to the side and let others through.

Chris rounding the final turn to the finish line.

Chris and I decided to do a single lap each and then move into double laps for as long as we felt was effective. I finished the opening lap and handed on to Chris, then watched him rapidly disappear up the pit lane ascent. This gave me just under 22 minutes rest before Chris appeared out of the final corner setting us up for the commencement of double laps.

The atmosphere on the trails was excellent. Overnight rain had left a couple of puddles that were soon cleared out by passing mountain bikes. In general the trails were a lightly dampened hard pack, providing everyone with the time of their life on the ideal trail conditions. Our decision to ride double laps proved to be a good one. Between us, Chris and I were able to keep our double laps consistent, at worst the difference between a first and second lap was 30 seconds through the fast and flowing trails. With a few obstacles enroute to keep everyone on their toes it felt like the course became faster as the day progressed. Several times during some fast, rough descents I wondered how Chris was coping with his rigid fork, hardtail Stumpjumper, I'm still more than happy to have suspension forks.

Some on-course action. Thanks for the photo Brad Hill.

Thankfully we both kept the bikes upright for the day. Chris's fiancé, Sally, and his parents were keeping us up to date with the race positions. We were able to gain a couple of places up the ladder within the last couple of hours of the race to finish 7th, 23 seconds behind the very determined 6th place team.

Thanks Chris for another fantastic pairs race!

Brad Hill's photo bucket of the event