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Rain, thunder, hail, sunshine & good fun-my 6hr report
We did the Perth MTB 6hr yesterday & oh boy was it interesting. We really didn't want a repeat of last years weather :eek:(it POURED the whole day) & sent subliminal messages to the weather all week :rolleyes:. It only rained a smidgen bit a few days leading up to the race but Saturday night..:rolleyes: It POURED..Good thing we'd purchased some harty safety wet weather jackets :D
In terms of being prepared, yep, all ok there. Nutrition check, hydration check, bike check..Wet weather riding skills, hmm..almost check. HTFU..need some..
My goal was three laps of the 12.5km loop & each in 1hr. First lap, the sun was basically out & conditions not too crazy wet! The trail conditions were great, the pea gravel was nice & smooshy, the rocks not too slippery & the log overs manageable. A couple of sections made me realize that my hill repeats, intervals & hill rides have all been worthwhile. I think my first lap made me realize that i'm not as unfit as i think. One off going uphill on a rocky section but otherwise ok.I was happy at the end & was ready for the next one.
Second lap, the weather was unsettled & had no idea if the dark clouds I saw were going to actually eventuate into anything. I had two rain jackets with me & picked my red one as it's a bit more durable. Good choice as I would find out ;) Started off & about 3km in, it started to rain then a thunderclap then of all things..HAIL!! I thought..hmm..interesting & wondered how it would fare from there. I kept going but was a tad bit more cautious & knew i'd just have to be careful on some sections.
I really don't know what happened on the second half of this lap but i believe I just lost all confidence riding over wetter tech sections after the downpour. In retrospect, I think stopping & gathering my thoughts would have been a good idea but didn't. No idea what happened next as I was riding along at a nice speed but all of a sudden I was on the ground-hit my whole right side was :mad: even more. I then eneded up walking for a bit as i was shaky & hard to get some good momentum for the uphill section I was about to go through. F(*&^$^#^#^ FH$$&$H#$H$HH. I made it to the end of the lap in 1hr 10.
I really wanted to do a third lap but I second guessed my ability and thought if i had another off i'd probably hurt myself even more! :rolleyes: :o Ian went off & as he passed by our section on his lap, he called out for drink, energy gel as he was thinking of doing a 4th lap as he's faster & would have time.
All up, we did 5 laps combined but weren't out there to go crazy crazy hard.
I think the 6hr's a good training tool for the upcoming enduro events though & will probably look at it that way. I now need to work on the mental game & riding in adverse conditions. Mental game will my enemy at the 12hr but would to have it as a friend.
Tons o fun & great lessons learnt. A pic of us at the end.
