Ollie and I take on the 2013 Hellfire Cup

For the Hellfire Cup pairs race I teamed up with Ollie Klien, a mountain biker from South Australia I have met through several epic and marathon events over the past few years. We were on neutral territory for the inaugural running of the event in the south east of Tasmania, taking on the Male Pairs 40-49 category. When Ollie accepted the challenge to take on the event with me it signaled the start of some pretty intense preparation. I suggested to Jenni King (Pedallab) that I needed a training program to help me stick with Ollie. He is no slouch on the bike and I didn't want to let him down in his efforts to get to the Hellfire Cup.
With logistics and accommodation arranged it wasn't long before we were signing in.

The opening stage was a mass start of chattering pairs teams ready to stake their claim on the event. Heavy rain had fallen through the night making the trail conditions greasy, but this had not dampened any of the collective enthusiasm for the 25 kilometre stage.

It was a sporadic start, that used the vehicle tracks that skirted the race village before setting into a 3 kilometre section of single track. A couple of riders got between us but the traffic through the trails meant more congestion than pace. At the next chance I accelerated to get past and onto Ollie's wheel, then any time the trails opened up we would leap-frog forward a couple of positions. Some brief respite on a downward stretch of open road prepared us for a 4 kilometre climbing 4WD road climb that gradually increased in steepness and brought us in touch with a handful of other teams that had a better start. It seemed everyone was maintaining a similar, solid pace as we swapped positions several times across the next few kilometres of undulating dirt road.

Leap-frogging a position

The course left the road and into an off-camber trail that showed what influence the wet conditions had brought to what would otherwise have been a dusty, rocky weave across the terrain. If there wasn't enough challenge in that my glasses were fogged inside and caked with mud on the outside. The boggy switch back pinches were, in places, too slippery to keep any traction so I found myself running through a few of them, Ollie had the same problem. Soon enough we were skid-steering down a fast link of trails and climbing back out to the top of a generously bermed descent that pitched us back to another open road.

As we tipped back down to the single track approach to the race village the rain began to steadily increase. By the time we crossed the finish line the race village was sodden, with the adjacent creek filling, not only with water but also with finishers looking to clear the mud from bikes and bodies.    

the single track approach to the race village

 

Day 2 set a relay of a 20km lap each. The vibe was good, the rain had ceased and teams were warming up along the adjacent forest roads. The first rider of each pair assembled en masse for call of the stage start. Ollie started and hung with the front bunch for as much of the initial climb as possible. Within 45 minutes the first of the riders were coming back across the line plastered from head to toe with tyre-sprayed mud. Soon enough Ollie appeared sporting the same splattered livery. Tagging me to start my lap Ollie gasped, "30 minute climb…" and I was on my way.
The first few hundred metres escaped downhill but as I followed the course left onto the next road it soon became obvious that the corner signified the start of that 30 minute climb. I don't know which of us had the better or worse deal - Ollie started with the masses and so stayed with a group but also had the pressure of wanting to stay in touch with the front-runners whereas I found myself riding off solo but using the strung out field of second riders as motivation onward through the climb. For 10km the forest road stepped up, false flatted, and stepped up again and again, eventually breaking left for one more climb before picking up the rewarding, 10km return journey. A few diversions into some single track loops honed the skills through the mud-slopped corners and pinches. Although clear skies presented themselves for the day there was still plenty of water flowing across and at times down the tracks we were riding. This explained the spectacle of the mud-peppered riders returning to the race village. It was slick, muddy and fast! I sat with a couple of others through the soggy descents, eventually being spat out onto the forest road that gently rose back to the race village. The three of us pushed hard to get every last drop out of the tanks as we ascended to the finish to post our respective team times.

Ollie on the lead-out lap

the fast and muddy descent

after the 10km climb, Becs enjoys the downhill rewards

The rain was back on the scene for Day 3 demanding another course realignment. We rolled out for a controlled ride behind the Hellfire Van to to the stage start on a farm road alongside Bream Creek. Similarly to the first stage this was a mass start. After identifying our closest competition Ollie and I discussed the loose plan we should follow, which was to mark the other guys and not let them get away. The start seemed to hold a manageable pace along the flat, dirt road for just under 2 kilometres, although looking back at the data the group was pressing on at somewhere between 40 and 45km/h. Rounding a bend the next challenge came into view. As riders noticed the exit across a muddy approach to a sharp incline it was as though a gun had gone off, with riders attacking, knowing that anyone caught too far back in the pack would probably have to get off the bike to get through the rapidly worsening boggy section. From here it became a solid, steady climb over the next 3 kilometres. With Ollie on the front I followed faithfully through wheel tracks, across slight ridges and around edges of deeper puddles. We had broken past our category competition and were keeping the hammer down, unsure though as to whether we were increasing our advantage or being chased and they were keeping us within their sights. A welcome descent of about 1 kilometre dropped us to the base of the next 3 kilometre climb to burn some more fuel from the legs. We soon descended to a much smoother road surface and found ourselves working well with two other teams. We used the chance to keep the pace up but also recover the legs a little where possible. Once Ollie took the front it was the end of the bunch and the recovery as I dug as deep as I could to stay within a bike length or so, as the other two teams dropped back into their own pace. Mindful that the stage couldn't be too much longer we worked to put every second that we could into the bank. The finish line soon appeared on the horizon and we crossed adding another 30 seconds to our advantage.

digging deep to stay with Ollie

Stage 4 was held at the nearby show grounds on a small arena set on the side of a hill. Snaked back and forth across it 5 times the course took about 80 seconds to complete with teams sent off at 1 minute intervals in reverse GC order. Day 4 was another cool, rainy day. The stage had more of a festival atmosphere than a race feel with everybody getting the chance to watch every other team complete the course. Once every team had finished their run it was time to relax into the end-of-event celebrations.

Racing with Ollie was great fun. The three main stages saw me pushing consistently the hardest I can remember, from start to finish, to be sure not to let our pairs team down. The reward was in the result, with us cleaning every stage without mishap and winning our category for the event. Thanks Ollie!!

A major part of our success was in the preparation. It was great to have the support of Topgear Cycles to keep me supplied with all the spares and race nutrition I could imagine might be needed. Thanks Peter, for helping me keep my Specialized Stumpjumper pedaling, shifting and braking smoothly. A broken spoke was the only unrepairable casualty. My thanks to Adrian (team mate for Becs) for generously lending me a spare wheel he had brought along. Becs and Adrian took third in their category and fellow Topgear riders, Karina Vitiritti and Phillipa Birch teamed up to take second of the Female Open Pairs.
I followed the training program and once again I was amazed at how effectively Jen's coaching could push and elevate my own riding performance.

Becs & Adrian - Third in Mixed Pairs (40-49)

Celebrating our win!!