Let's get Down and Dirty!

Oh Yeeeah! :)

So for the last few weeks our minds have been on little else but preparation for the BikeSA Dirty Weekend, a 24 hour mountain bike race at the Fox Creek trails outside of Cudlee Creek. Many an odd look was cast our way at work when casually discussing our up and coming Dirty Weekend, much to our amusement! :D

This idea was born about a year ago when Miss V and myself headed to the Dirty Weekend to have a bit of a look and take some photos. Looking at the atmosphere and the event in general we thought that it seemed like a bit of a lark and that we should give this a bit of a shot. With such a long lead time between coming up with the crazy idea and implementing the crazy idea, it gave us some time (and motivation) to learn how to mountain bike a bit better! And there was plenty of learning to do. In the months leading up to the Dirty Weekend we were regular visitors to Fox Creek, trying to improve our skills and overall mountain biking fitness.  By the time the event arrived, we felt ready; not fast, but not dangerously under prepared either. As a bonus, we were able to rope in two other awesome people into our craziness; our ex colleague Anthony and our current colleague Meg.

Team Educated Guesswork secret training. 

Race Start and Lap 1 - 4

Team Educated Guesswork - Race day 

Race weekend arrived and everyone in our team, Team Educated Guesswork, were filled with nerves. We were joined at race start by Rob and Jill, who provided us with much needed support and a bit of informal management which was very much appreciated. We had decided to send out Anthony, our most experienced mountain biker, first from the start. From there the basic rotation was going to be Miss V, me and then Meg. I think from that point the nerves settled a bit. Camp was set up, the race was underway and the basic procedures for the race were known to us all. So it was just a case of getting out on course at the correct time, not injuring ourselves and basically enjoying things. Too easy.

Anthony on the first lap

We were all anxiously awaiting Anthony's arrival back at the transition zone to find out what the course conditions were like. When he arrived, everything sounded pretty positive. Two of the difficult parts that we'd practised in the previous weeks had been simplified which made everyone a little bit happier. Anthony tagged Miss V and she was away for her first lap. Anthony's lap time was faster than expected too, at a shade under 50 minutes, so he set the standard early on.

Miss V leaving the transition zone

With Miss V out on course I headed back to the tent to get myself organised. I was feeling strangely calm about the whole thing. I suspect because I knew the course and the conditions were pretty much perfect. I rolled down to the transition area and waited to see Miss V roll in. A few words in my ear about the state of the course and I was away!

By now the field had spread out and I was mostly by myself. As I reached the top of the first technical section I let a few riders go past to save them the hassle of trying to get past me on much narrower bits of the track. The first few corners of Drop Bear were a bit sketchy as I don't think I had quite got my eye in, but after that I felt really good. Lynskey seemed to be soaking up the trails, and I felt really smooth on the corners.  As I came up to the outcrops I had to tell myself not to get carried away and give it the respect it deserves as I know it's all too easy for me to lose it. I rode through them safely and without too much trouble, though definitely not setting any speed records. For the most part, the rest of the lap didn't give me too much trouble. The rains during the week had taken care of the dust that had been present on our reconnaissance rides in the previous weeks, and the trail maintenance crew had removed some of the more dangerous aspects of the course. By the time I was ascending the final couple of rises at the end of the lap, I think I was more than ready to hand over the reins to our next team mate Meg. The sight of the transition zone was more than welcome, where I tagged Meg and away she went, into the fading light as sunset fast approached.

CLP Lap 1 Strava Data

On coming off the track, I was greeted by Cathy and David who had come to check out the event and take a few photos. Awesome stuff. After a bit of a chat I rolled back to camp and enjoyed a fantastic sunset overlooking the city of Adelaide. As beautiful and dramatic as the view was, the clouds were closing in ominously, setting the stage for later drama.

Stunning sunset on Saturday night.

Saturday Night - Laps 5 - 8 

Meg pulled into the transition zone, looking fairly stoked with her ride as Anthony headed off for his second lap. With nightfall, the event village started taking on a bit of party atmosphere with lot of people milling about and checking out the action eating pizza and generally enjoying themselves. The predicted bad weather appeared to be holding off, which, I'll admit, had me thinking (somewhat optimistically) that it might miss us completely.

As Anthony arrived back in transition and Miss V headed back out the predicted bad weather appeared to be closing in. Within 10 minutes of the start of her lap there were the first signs of lightning in the far distance. That said, we couldn't hear any thunder so the lightning must have been some distance away. There was a little bit of light rain every now and again, which I wasn't too fussed about as it would help to keep the dust down. To be honest, I think I was more worried about Miss V stressing about the lightning! That concern extended a bit as Miss V hadn't arrived back in transition at the expected time.  As the minutes ticked by, I was wondering whether the conditions were a little trickier elsewhere on the course.  We soon found out as Miss V emerged from the darkness. A flat tyre.  Well, I guess that would slow things down a fraction.

With that mystery solved I headed out a little apprehensively on the first of my night laps, semi expecting things to get a bit wet and wild. Surprisingly, while the course was a little damp from the earlier showers, it seemed to help the surface become a little bit grippy. I reckon I found a bit of confidence in my riding during this lap, attacking a few of the corners harder than I would normally. That said, the lap time showed that I was slower overall than my first lap. I think this was partly due to fatigue in the legs, and partly because I was taking it a bit more cautiously due to the reduced night time visibility. Ten minutes slower on this lap than my last, which was still within reasonable bounds for me.

CLP Lap 2 Strava Data

After my second lap. Me smiling.
Photo c/ V. Riches

Meg was awaiting my arrival in transition. From memory, the only information I passed on was that the course was pretty awesome right now. And with that she burned off into the distance.

From this point on the general plan had changed a bit from what we originally planned. With the bad weather closing in there was general support to calling it a night and getting some rest.  Initially I was keen to keep going throughout the night, but my mind was fairly quickly swayed. Anthony mentioned that he was be keen to do one more night lap, so I thought that I might as well follow that example. The team plan was that we'd get up early and get a few laps in before the 12 and 6 hour riders got going in the morning.

Late Saturday Night, Early Sunday Morning - Laps 9 - 11 

Meg arrived back in transition and pulled off the course ready for a well earned rest as Anthony took off for his final lap of the night. At this point things were still reasonably dry, so I headed back to the tent and got myself ready to take over after Anthony had finished his lap.  As I was waiting the rain came, and then went. Repeatedly. Sometimes it was just a light shower, others a little bit harder. I'll admit to feeling like it might be a bad idea to ride out there again, but in the back of my mind I was thinking "How bad could it be?".

The rain appeared to clear as Anthony arrived back in transition which I took as a good omen for the lap ahead. I probably shouldn't have been so optimistic! Anthony mentioned that the trail wasn't too bad, though it was a bit slippery in places. With that, I headed out on my final lap of the night. Within a minute of me setting off the rain started bucketing down. There were thoughts about now about just pulling the pin on this lap and heading back to the warm, dry tent. However, I decided that I shouldn't let this put me off and kept going. With so few people out on course, it was actually quite peaceful and enjoyable.  The first part of the lap wasn't too bad as the tree cover sheltered the trail from much of the direct rain, but the second part of the lap was where things were getting a bit interesting. Small rivers appeared to be forming in the middle of many of the trails and traction appeared to be diminishing rapidly. I came to the conclusion that my skill level wasn't sufficient for the conditions and that I was way over my head so I essentially tip-toed my way around the remainder of the course, hoping that I wouldn't damage myself or the bike in the process.  Soon the transition zone came into view and the lap was done. By far my slowest lap, but realistically it didn't really matter.  I hung around the village area for a bit to wind down, before heading off for a snooze.

CLP Lap 3 Strava Data

Aftermath of my late night lap.

Sunday morning - Laps 12 and 13

In reality, I didn't get much sleep at all. The wild weather kept me awake for most of it, though I managed to doze off here and there before being woken by the tent walls slapping into me. The team plan was that Meg would be up at 5am to continue. I planned to message Meg to suggest to her not to ride if the weather was still awful, except I forgot.  In a bit of a daze, I noticed lights outside the tent, which had me thinking "someone's pretty keen to be heading out in these conditions". Only too late did I realise that it was Meg heading off.  Some frantic messaging and racing down to the transition area, but it was too late as Meg was already out on her lap. A few more messages and we agreed that we'd wait until the weather cleared a bit before heading out.  I made sure to meet Meg after her lap so she'd know no one was coming out to take over. When she finally arrived, it looked like she'd had a pretty epic lap.

Things were still pretty muddy during Meg's lap

The team gathered and watched as other competitors continued lapping in the early morning, all the while keeping an eye on the trail to see if it had dried sufficiently to go for another lap. On the whole, I think we all weren't super keen to get out there. Meg reckoned she was done for the day and both Miss V and myself were fairly comfortable sitting out for  a while.  Anthony decided to start another lap just before 8am. On his return we grilled him for information about the trail conditions. Despite a fairly positive report, both Miss V and I stayed put, content to watch other riders as they negotiated the outcrops section and making ourselves useful by loaning out our track pump to riders as they punctured on the outcrops.

Sunday Afternoon - A final fling - Laps 13 and 14

With about 2 hours remaining in the race, I decided to get out and have another go. I was a bit hesitant, but I'm really glad I did as it was pretty enjoyable run. My second fastest lap, with none of the fear inducing conditions that I faced the night before. So it felt like I was finishing my weekend on a high note.

CLP Lap 4 Strava Data

Miss V was waiting in transition for me all kitted up. She had decided that she'd do another lap dependent on a favourable trail report from me. My report: Hell yes it was good! get out there!   And with that the final lap for Team Educated Guesswork was started.

Miss V bringing it home for the team.

Wrap up 

For a team of Dirty Weekend newbies and in some cases, mountain biking novices, I think the event was initially quite overwhelming. however we all got into the swing of things and really enjoyed ourselves. Not everything went to plan, primarily the weather, however that's really just part of the event. Our team did a total of 14 laps, last in our category, finishing a mere 3 minutes behind our nearest rival. To put our effort into perspective, the winning team in our category did a massive 34 laps, and the winner of the solo male category did an incredible 29 laps. So, we weren't fast, but we definitely enjoyed ourselves.

Will we be back?  If I was a betting man, I would put money on it ;)