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RR: 6hr MTB team challenge @ kooralbyn

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01 / Original postRR: 6hr MTB team challenge @ kooralbynTamyka Bell · 6 Nov 2005 02 / This pagePosts 1–9Page 1 of 1 · chronological order 03 / Latest replyPost #9hippy · 10 Nov 2005

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Original section
Australia and New Zealand
Published
6 November 2005
Last activity
10 November 2005
Original author
Tamyka Bell
Posts
9
Discussion status
Public discussion
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444
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Topics
Mountain bikingHydrationRear derailleurs

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  1. Original post
    Tamyka Bell
    Archived post
    #1

    I'll do a full report on my blog sometime tomorrow (I need sleep!) so if
    you're interested, check http://blindrapture.blogspot.com/

    I entered the 6 hr race with my mate Kurt, who guided me through the more
    technical bits of the cycle epic, and wheelsucked when we hit the roads.
    It's been pissing down rain in Brisbane for a few days and this morning
    was hot and rainy. We joked about cancelling, but as we arrived in
    Kooralbyn, the sky miraculously cleared.

    We each did six laps, first a single each, then a double lap each (during
    the heat of the day, which was incredibly stupid, and next time we will do
    the doubles first - good for course familiarisation) and then finishing
    with a single each. Kurt did 33-35 minutes per lap and I did 38-41 minutes
    per lap; a hell of a lot better than I expected and placed us 5th in the
    mixed category. (To make us sound cooler - first and second place went to
    pro adventure race people and to Guy Andrews... and we were only a 10
    minutes down on 3rd place.) I have only been on my MTB once since Epic and
    I really wasn't expecting to ride so well.

    The course was awesome - a bit scary in places but nothing that I
    couldn't do, and the climbs were challenging but do-able. I liked riding
    past people up the hills and some of the spectators cheered me on heaps
    for this. Then I let people ride past me on the lead up to some technical
    bits because I'm a bit of a gumby.

    I caught up with some people from the MTB marathon back in ?March? When I
    was checking out times, the guy from Gap Cycles recognised me from the ADF
    road champs earlier this year and said, "Not bad for an Army roadie..."
    and I said, "Hey, I'm not even a real roadie yet, I'm still on the
    conversion course from triathlete." He thought that was an even bigger
    achievement.

    Heaps of people were taking it very seriously, but then again there was a
    guy with spokey dokeys (woohoo!); only one guy was rude on the course and
    everyone else was really supportive. There were some incredibly
    impressive riders, including my good mate Hamish who came 3rd 😄 and one
    girl who was incredibly fast but made really weird grunting noises as she
    rode.

    I saw a guy come in running with his bike, rear derailleur hanging free.
    After he'd dumped it and passed the race number to the next guy, I asked
    him how far he'd run... it was about 4.5km - from the furthest point of
    the course. I suggested conversion to adventure racing but it turns out
    he's a triathlete. (Obviously one of the good ones as he preferred a MTB
    race to the Noosa tri-to-rip-everyone-off-lon.)

    I have to give a huge thanks to Lotte who, as most of you know, is a great
    MTBer and trained me up for the Epic. Apparently some of what she said has
    sunk in 🙂

    Report
  2. Peka
    Archived post
    #2

    On Sun, 6 Nov 2005 21:11:21 +1000, Tamyka Bell
    <[email hidden]> wrote:

    I did have intentions of finding you to say gday, but I got nominated
    to do the start and from that point on I was either caning myself
    stupid on the track, or sitting next to my fridge refusing to move
    until it was my turn again.

    I was nominated to do the start because apparently neither of my team
    mates can run. I watched all these people sprinting for their bikes
    and wondered how long they'd last up that first hill when their legs
    were already burning before they even got on the bike. I think I
    overtook at least 10 people on the way up that hill and was pretty
    surprised that the leaders were still in sight. They disappeared
    pretty quickly though, but according to my team mate I was in the top
    15 after lap 1 😄 The first to finish lap 1 did a time of just under
    24min for an 8.7km lap. My first lap was around 30min.

    After my 2nd lap I checked the time on my speedo - 28:43 !! I was very
    happy with that, and then found out we were in 8th position for the 3
    man teams. The 3rd lap I sprinted halfway up the hill from the
    start/finish and I'd worked out that if I didn't want to get held up,
    I had to go bush to overtake people. Which meant getting out of the
    seat and sprinting uphill over some dodgy terrain, but it paid off
    with a 28:17. Could have been sub 28min if I hadn't been held up a bit
    in a few spots where it was impossible to overtake.

    My 4th and final lap was a 28:48. I might have been able to do a bit
    better than that but I thought I might get a 5th lap in if my team
    mate could get to the finish before 3pm.

    We thought we held off another team for 8th but they ended up getting
    in front and we finished 9th for the 3 man team, 22nd overall - that
    put us in the top 13%.

    I've only been back on the bike for 3mths after >10yrs break. My mate
    Adam has only been riding again for 5mths after ~5yr break and was
    doing 30min laps. Our 3rd team member we met on the day, he had just
    posted on the forum that he would like to ride in a team. He was
    consistent but another couple of mins per lap slower than Adam. So, if
    they had been lapping with similar times to mine, we would've been in
    with a shot for 4th or 5th, maybe even 3rd at a stretch.

    This was my first MTB race and while I knew I was fit, I had no
    expectations at all, just wanted to have some fun. To finish in the
    top 10 with the lap times I did was unexpected to say the least.

    The course was awesome. The first half mostly uphill, second half was
    much easier going but with another couple of climbs thrown in. The
    single track in the second half was really good fun hooting along at
    25-30kmh.

    My kickstand got a few laughs, but the only guy who gave me [censored] about
    it was faster than me so that's ok 🙂

    Quoted message said:

    Tam said: ....and one
    girl who was incredibly fast but made really weird grunting noises as she
    rode.

    Yeah I remember her, heard her coming up behind me for nearly half a
    lap, lol. She was certainly quick though, after she passed me I
    couldn't stay with her but she only got a couple of hundred metres
    ahead before the end of the lap so I was happy with that.

    I felt pretty good today. I don't think I could have gone any harder
    while I was on the track, I was pedalling and breathing so hard during
    each lap I didn't even think of drinking from my bottle. I think I
    could have kept up that pace for a couple more laps.

    Started my new job at Flight Centre today. Company gym with some cycle
    trainers, and encouragement from my boss to use it during work time.

    So look out for the speeding kickstand at the next MTB enduro race 😄

    Report
  3. Tamyka Bell
    Archived post
    #3

    On Mon, 7 Nov 2005, Peka wrote:

    <snip>

    Quoted message said:

    I felt pretty good today. I don't think I could have gone any harder
    while I was on the track, I was pedalling and breathing so hard during
    each lap I didn't even think of drinking from my bottle. I think I
    could have kept up that pace for a couple more laps.

    Tell me about it! After my first lap, I ditched the bottle and stuck with
    the camelbak - I barely had time to but the bite valve in my mouth, let
    alone hold a bottle for a few seconds. On my 5th lap, however, I guzzled
    about 1.2 litres. It was pretty damned hot out there!

    Taam

    Report
  4. Peka
    Archived post
    #4
    Tamyka Bell said:

    On Mon, 7 Nov 2005, Peka wrote:

    <snip>

    Quoted message said:

    I felt pretty good today. I don't think I could have gone any harder
    while I was on the track, I was pedalling and breathing so hard during
    each lap I didn't even think of drinking from my bottle. I think I
    could have kept up that pace for a couple more laps.

    Tell me about it! After my first lap, I ditched the bottle and stuck with
    the camelbak - I barely had time to but the bite valve in my mouth, let
    alone hold a bottle for a few seconds. On my 5th lap, however, I guzzled
    about 1.2 litres. It was pretty damned hot out there!

    Taam

    I didn't really notice the heat. I did my best lap in the middle of
    it. Not surprising though, I grew up in Townsville and prefer the heat
    to the cold anyday. I was well fed & hydrated before the start and
    drank and ate plenty between laps though....

    Report
  5. Tamyka Bell
    Archived post
    #5
    Peka said:
    Tamyka Bell said:

    On Mon, 7 Nov 2005, Peka wrote:

    <snip>

    Quoted message said:

    I felt pretty good today. I don't think I could have gone any harder
    while I was on the track, I was pedalling and breathing so hard during
    each lap I didn't even think of drinking from my bottle. I think I
    could have kept up that pace for a couple more laps.

    Tell me about it! After my first lap, I ditched the bottle and stuck with
    the camelbak - I barely had time to but the bite valve in my mouth, let
    alone hold a bottle for a few seconds. On my 5th lap, however, I guzzled
    about 1.2 litres. It was pretty damned hot out there!

    Taam

    I didn't really notice the heat. I did my best lap in the middle of
    it. Not surprising though, I grew up in Townsville and prefer the heat
    to the cold anyday. I was well fed & hydrated before the start and
    drank and ate plenty between laps though....

    I suppose it helps being the fastest in a team of 3. I was the slower of
    the pair - I only got half an hour rest and felt so [censored] after my second
    lap I had to send Kurt out on a double. Which bit me in the bum because he
    was so smashed after his double that he sent me out on a double. I think
    my biggest struggle with MTBing is the high heart rate... on the
    downhills... because I spend so much time freaking out! 😄

    Hey, well done! You'll have to go solo for the 24hr one...

    Report
  6. Peka
    Archived post
    #6
    Tamyka Bell said:


    Hey, well done! You'll have to go solo for the 24hr one...

    ROFL, I don't think so! Maybe the next 6Hr - I knew I could have done
    6hrs solo yesterday, but nowhere near the pace I did it in a team....

    Report
  7. hippy
    Archived post
    #7
    Tamyka Bell said:


    Taam

    Slurring your own name?

    Payback for "ans" :P

    hippppppppppppppppppppppy
    "hehehe"

    Report
  8. Tamyka Bell
    Archived post
    #8
    hippy said:


    Tamyka Bell said:


    Taam

    Slurring your own name?

    Payback for "ans" :P

    hippppppppppppppppppppppy
    "hehehe"

    --
    hippy

    b!tch.

    Ta<insert as many a's as you damn well like>m

    Report
  9. hippy
    Archived post
    #9
    Tamyka Bell said:


    Quoted message said:

    Slurring your own name?

    Payback for "ans" :P

    hippppppppppppppppppppppy
    "hehehe"

    b!tch.

    Ta<insert as many a's as you damn well like>m

    hahaha :P

    *victory dance*
    *big raspberry at you*

    hippy
    "need sleep, too damned hyper!"

    Report

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