Well what do you say about a mountainbike race that is 120kms with 5000 height meters of climbing and takes you 7:25 to finish? I suppose Ill start with "Bloody Hard" The day started at 4:45 for breakfast at the hotel where I ate as much as I possibly could knowing that there was no way I could have enough to last me for this race. The start was at 6:30 and my email to the organiser about being an Aussie had got me a nice low start number meaning I was pretty much shoulder to shoulder with the best of the best again. Only this time I was allowed to be there. The race plan was to ride with my friends and work for Alexandra who was the favourite for the pro females catagory. We had no feeder for this race but the race food and drink stations are known to be good so we would just feed from them. The race started with a 22km climb seperated mid way with some very fun single track. I started right behind Alex and only rode to her pace which was a far better move than the urge to fly up the front with the big boys. It meant I got to warm up and my heart rate was never above 185 (I had a monitor on for this race just to see what my heart was up to). Come that bit of single track I was feeling good and was loving it, unfortunatly though I was behind a whole bunch of nufties that wanted to walk most of it. Damn frustrating. The second half of the climb came and I sort of lost Alex behind me. she was riding with another girl and I though Bernd (her husbond, who was not in our start block) was some how ahead of us. I was sure I could see his Jersey up ahead so I picked up the pace a bit thinking he would be sitting up for Alex, so I figured once I got to him we could wait for Alex together. Well I never caught that guy (later finding out it wasnt him) and had left Alex well behind me. The top of the hill saw us head into some single track full of rocks and making its way around the hill for a few kms before heading into a scary fast bitumen descent. I took it pretty easy the whole way down sort of waiting for Alex and sort of just taking it cautiously. What came next I never would have expected. We started up again and all of a sudden I was faced with unrideable piece of track going up the hill. Everybody had their bikes on their backs, hiking up the hill. I opted for the bike under the arm idea but soon I got very tired and my back started to cramp up so I decided to go the Euro way. It just went on and on. We hiked like this up and along single track for over 30mins. And just when you thought you could ride, around the next corner it was back to hiking. It was so hard on your legs, back and arms. Really unbelievalbe, but that wasnt to be the last of the hiking for the race. Once back riding I realised that I had a decision to make. I could either wait for Alex or ride on with those around me and make for my own race. I was a bit unsure cos I didnt want to leave Alex but I really didnt know if waiting would be necessary as she had beaten me the weekend before. I opted for riding on and hit the next hill with a bit of effort. I was feeling good and I knew that come the top of that hill it was pretty much half way and only 2 more major climbs to go, so why not I thought. I must have passed over 20 guys going up the hill which felt pretty good. The top saw us head into a steep technical rocky, rooty descent that just went on and on. There is one thing about climbing big mountiains and thats that you have to come down them. The down hills went for over 30mins at times and by half way my hands were cramping whilst breaking and at times I wondered if I could hang on any more. Really got to have discs for this sort of thing. Come the bottom of the descent there was a spectator zone and standing right there was Bernd. Turned out he was behind us all along but had crashed pretty bad on the first road descent so was out of the race. This meant Alex was riding alone so it would be my job to ride with her to the finish and help her where I could. I really didnt mind. I felt strong and knew I could help her and it would also mean I would ride within my limits rather than doing what I had done the previous weekend. So after 5 minutes she came, she was in 2nd place and together we set off with just under 60kms to ride. It went pretty well for the next bit. Basically we had a massive climb that was nicley broken up by hikes with the bike up rockey little sections that just never seemed to end. I think we climbed over 1500 meters in that climb and boy was I happy to hit the descent on top of that one. The descent was quick, in fact at one stage I hit 89.5kms and hour. yep you read right I was bloody flying. I was taking no risks though, I promis. Then things went a bit pear shaped for me. I have no idea what I hit but my rear tire pinchflatted and Alex was left to ride on alone. I did a quick change and was back on the bike in about 2 to 3 minutes. The hands were rested and I still had a fair wack of down to go so I let it rip. I loved it and was flying. There is one thing about this race that had me astonished. I would have thought that as the race went on the down hills would get easier and we would see no dangerouse single track bits as fatigue would be pretty high after 80 to 100kms of hard slog. Hmm how wrong was I. I came flying around this corner and was directed to turn off the road and striaght into a narly piece of forest single track with roots and rocks a plenty. It was actually a really fun ride but geez bags not being the punter to hit that some 5 hours after me. The only thing worrying me was I hadnt put enough air in my tire. It was OK for descending but would hold too much road for the next climbs so it meant I would have to stop again and put more air in. This meant more time lost to Alex and I was keen to get back to her. I made the stop and lost way more time than I should have as i fumbled in my jersy looking for my air gun. Finally back on the bike and I got stuck into the chase. Gee was I none to happy to find the climb started with a 700 meter bike hike. Once into climbing I found I was feeling surprisingly strong for having ridden 95kms, so was passing guys left right and centre. Alex was ridding pretty well cos I soon realised I had passed all the guys that had got pas me during the flat and she was still no where in site. The last 15kms flew by as I pushed hard finally had Alex back in my sights. I didnt catch her though till 500 meters before the end when I flew past on a descent and quite happily corssed the line after 7hr 25mins. I felt pretty good, although some 10mins later my eyes just wanted to shut. Some of the great things about this race were once again the spectators. Not only were there the race feed zones with water, sports drink, coke, cake, power bars, fruit and more but residents on the course had taken it on them selves to set up extra feed zones. They litlery fed you from their front yard. They had bottles from last years race and Im guessing they would collect the bottles we dropped and use them again next year. All the houses also had music blaring which was pretty nice on along climb when you have some kylie song stuck in your head. But on top of the feed zones there were also lube zones where guys would lube your chain as you rode past. There were also massage tents on climbs as part of the race. It was very tempting to stop off for a mid race massage let me tell you. I love the crowds, especially the kids all looking for high fives as you ride past. I think I high fived every kid on the course and I loved it, and so did they. There were plenty of spectators on the hard climbs giving encouragment again, it really does help and riding with Alex meant they yelled even louder. I suppose the other thing about it was the views. The hills were spectacular and the scenry was just fantastic. Yes I was racing but I made sure I took in every view I could. All in all im really happy I went, happy I race and even more happy that I felt so good. We think that we came around 60th out of some 1200 riders. Not to bad I rekon as there was a pro field of around 120 riders and a amature licence field of another 80. So its off to London for some more traveling and a bit of time off the bike. I dont feel like I need it but I do have to remember that im here to also see a few things off the bike.