Big Hill Race

Well as the name suggests that's exactly what it was, a race with a bloody big hill, I didnt conquer the thing either, I dont know what was worse trying to walk the damn thing or ride it, either way it equalled pain! Perhaps I will make it up it next year. I had a great race, it was by far the most enjoyable for me, I started right at the back so didnt have to worry about faster riders trying to get by and even managed to pass a few which was a first for me.
I managed to get 4th in the Womens Open which we entered as 36.5klm but were told they threw in an extra 2klms just for good measure, So for the 38.5klms I managed 4th place with a time of 2hours 50min, 11min 47secs off the winner.

The start of the race was a mass start of 200 riders so I stayed right at the back, from the start line we headed out onto a fire trail which went on for not too long before we got into the first bit of single track, I havent ridden very many different tracks but this was alot of fun and by far the best single track I have ridden in my total of 5 races so not much to compare to but that's what I thought, although would have been happier if there was a bit more single track in it but still loved it all the same. From here we came out and back to fire trail, there was a hill we were going up which I thought was pretty big and figured it was 'The Big Hill' I asked one of the guys that was riding in the group I was riding along with if it was in fact 'The Hill' to which he replied 'Nope it's alot bigger than this one', great I thought, I didnt struggle too much with the hill we were on so was quietly confident that I could do the big one, a few more hills came up and I wondered as I got to the top of each of them if they were the notorious Big Hill, hoping once I had got to the top of each one they were, until I spotted it, The Big Hill, there was no doubt in my mind that this was it. There were riders walking their bikes up, not one person ahead of me was on a bike, I pedalled as much as I could but couldnt even make it a quarter of the way, so off my bike and started waliking, then once I thought I had reached the top and got back on the bike for a bit it was there to haunt me again, so back off pushing my bike again not for too long though. From here it was not too far to the first feed point, I had some Powerbars and gels on me and didnt feel like stopping so rejected the offer of the bakery treats they had on offer and kepth going, came to really fast downhill that seemed to go on for ages which was a nice change to all the climbing we had just done, not too sure how fast I got down this section but figured after I had seen the other girls doing the first steep down hill section that they would probably not have gone that fast down it so figured that would have given me a pretty good lead on the others, I knew they would catch me on the up hills so tried to get though the next bit if single track as fast as I could which nearly ended badly with a wet log diagonally across track and my lack of experience riding in the wet, I hit it going pretty quick (or quick for me anyway) and it pretty much slid me sideways along the log towards the trees on the side of the track, I dont know how but I managed to avoid face planting it and remained upright, the only other near off I had was when my handle bar clipped a tree but managed to avoid any disasters there too. Once I got out of this bit of singletrack it was pretty much fire trail the rest of the way, I was on my own for the rest of the race and in some spots I was worried I had gone the wrong way until I spotted another rider off in the distance, I was cruising along nicely, most of it was down hill from here and next thing I spotted the top of one of the Bike tents at the finish line but actually thought I still had at least 10k left to go and thought it might have been a bit of a tease Otway Odyssey style where they have to pass the finish line and go off and do another 13klms past it, it was nice to find out that was not the case and I had finished my first Big Hill Race.

The finish line was very quiet and not too many people around, I figured either I was really slow and everyone was gone or maybe I made it in before the rest of the riders doing the bigger rides which turned out to be the case. I thought it would take me 4 hours and was hoping to do it in less than that so was a nice surprise to find out I had done it in under 3 and beat a bunch of girls in my class and some guys too, so very happy with that result! I planned on taking my camera with me to get photos once I had finished my race but figured there was no point as I thought most of the riders would have finished well before me, including the Elite 90 klm riders so didnt bother,oh well will take it with me next time.

Thank You's for today

First off a huge Thanks to Croydon Cycleworks, they have supported me from the start, Mick Jamison worked on my bike for me on the Friday before the race and just a few small changes to my bike made a huge difference and no doubt had an impact on my result today. Check em out at www.croydoncycleworks.com/shop/

Also to the organisers of this event, they did a great job putting this race together and to the marshalls for volunteering their time to guide us in the right direction. Top job!www.bighillevents.com.au/

Thanks again to Rob Faull for all the help and encouragement http://mtbfit.com/