07 July 2009

6 Hour Slushfest

Home from the Forrest 6 Hour Championships - and what a slush fest, after the track copping 50mm of rain in the 3 days prior to the race, plus alot of the track being in shaded gullies and valleys, already holding saturated soil.

No long winded race report here, but in brief:

# Was feeling good to great up until about lap 5, when I started to get cold and fatigue.
# Riding through mud is an acquired skill, and one I don't have. It certainly teaches you to pedal smoothly, and getting out of the saddle to power up a climb is not an option.
# Generally you will proceed most quickly when your front and rear wheels are pointing in roughly the same direction. Unfortunately I didn't manage this.
# Could of and should have pushed harder. Finished 45 out of 75 with 7 laps, in 6 hours 8 minutes. If I'd managed to sneak around before the 6 hour cutoff and got out for lap 8, it would have jumped me to about 33rd place.
# 6 hours solo is completely within my capabilities, and I'm glad to have completed one successfully. I like the format and I'd like to try it again, a little quicker next time.

2 comments:

Groover said...

Congratulations and well done!

Dee said...

Come to Townsville next year for the 8 hour, or the Paluma push (next weekend)! They are in the best and driest season. What are you doing cycling in the southern winter....