he 2005 Cycle Epic was a pretty big event with over 1000 entries this year. It's a 100km point to point MTB race in SE QLD that is one of the biggest one day MTB events in Australia. It's a good course with a bit of everything, singletrack, creek crossings, firetrails and some bigass climbs to test the legs. Although there are some road sections and a lot of easy firetrails 100km (actually 105km) of this is still a very tough ride!
www.cycleepic.com.au
The weather forecast was looking a bit dodgy but it turned out perfect - overcast conditions in the morning so it wasn't too hot although it got a lot hotter in the arvo. I was riding with my mate James (lurker), on an Intense duallie, and I was on a cannondale terra hardtail - 60mm of travel, hard core! There were two classes for the 100km course, 'challenge' which was for recreational riders which started at 7:30am, and the 'classic' which was for the more competitive riders. Due to a one of us being a complete wimp (not me), we ended up entering the challenge [lurker bait]. Didn't matter though, it's the same course for both categories and it's really a race against the clock.
All was going well, we weaved through the massive pack at the start up the first hill so as to not get caught up in the first bit of singletrack. We were going alright up in the top 10 until following some guys through the open grassy singletrack we missed a turn point, and lost about 20 places. I was a bit gumby on some of the technical stuff, rock gullys and creek crossings, getting caught out in the wrong gear on the other side and having to jump off a few times where I should have been able to ride, and I was and overly cautious on some of the descents. My pedals got all gummed up with mud as well and I was having difficulty clipping back in. However the places I lost in the rocks and stuff I made up on the hills. James is faster on the technical stuff so we were about even.
After the first 25km checkpoint is the razorback a big steep climb that goes for about 7km but seems to go on forever. I'd guess it to be around 10% with a few steeper pinches. It's one of those 'heartbreak' hills where everytime you think you are reaching the top, it turns and reveals another section. I went up that pretty well and feeling good and got most of the places I'd lost going the wrong way. Riders were fading big time after this climb.
Flying down the rocky descent on the other side I managed to pick up a big stick and before I could stop pedalling it had ripped my rear derailer off, bending and splitting the hanger, turning the derailler into a preztel and then wedging in behind the cassette. Ah for [censored] sake... All I could do was convert it to singlespeed but it was difficult to find a goldilocks gear combo that was rideable and had the right chain tension. One gear was too tight, the next too loose....Ended up on the middle ring and about a 16 on the back. Unfortunately the chain was a bit loose and it kept bouncing off on the bumpy descents a few times and dropping down to the 12.
Luckily it was mostly downhill to the 50km checkpoint, but some of the climbs I had to grind up standing which was painful. Without gears to get a good runup I could only get a max of 79.5kph down the 'devil's tail' on the bitumen. This turns to dirt near the bottom which you could hit flat out, but I chickened out and braked a little. I think it had been graded recently, it was a lot looser last year apparently.
Anyway at the 50km mark I pulled out, without a new hanger I couldn't fix it. I could have done the rest SS I guess,with lots of walking but with the gears jumping I decided not to try. I guess there is always next year!
I didn't catch the name of the guy who won the classic, but the time of 3h54m was amazing! To average over 25kph on that course is pretty impressive.
Tam sent me an SMS to let me know she made it which was a top effort....no doubt a race report will follow.
Adam