Wahoooooey!!!! Great day to ride like snot!

[crazycanuck]

(just to backtrack a bit...In my training i spent quite a bit of time just pushing it to ensure I could meet the two time cut offs. I only really did 65km mtn bike rides during the weeks leading up to the event due to my lovely dear having to be my support crew, driving to n from the area close to where we'd be racing etc etc.)

I had no clue what was ahead and ..I thought most the hills lessened after Turner Hill! I was wrong.. I knew part of the trail after turner hill as i'd used it during training but only small bits. I know the pea gravel's freakin deep but that didn't bother me. What started to bother me was ingesting food. I often felt a bit off but then felt zippy again..I just kept on goin and battled the hills, toodling along & then Hells Gate...It's a 4wd track rutted & rideable to a point...reminded me of the Otway!

It was from here that I never saw any other riders for another good 45min. I was totally cool with that and just kept going. I swore for a while that I was the last person...

By this stage, my legs kept going & I felt fine mentally but nope..think again. I came to a deep pea gravel section going around a corner & my mind said "spin, spin,spin" my legs just did one spin & ended up walking for a smidgen. I couldn't trust my odometer any longer but my ETA was a fine time. URGh..another long drawn out pea gravellly hill. Lovely until i stacked it..going uphill. I decided to take it easy but then..the trail got easier!!! I then heard a motorized vehicle & it turned out to be our XC club prez/marshall. The end must be near..cool..only 10km to go!!! Wahooooey!!

Last 10km was flattish so i zipped it out & let of some wahoooooooeeyyyys!!! I wasn't the last finisher!!!!!

Finished in 8hrs:17sec. . Heaps o congrats n handshakes etc from other mtb friends. Awesome day. WIll def do the 100k again next year!!

Now to do a 200k Audax ride in Oct.. and am pondering the 12hr solo this year. I'm going to follow the Training Peaks program. Ian's not been doing much dirt & isn't doing much dirt for the next month as he's overseas again. He's my dedicated support crew

[crazycanuck]

First..warming up in the morning.
Second...end of the 40k..I was wahooing not cringing!
Third..the road leading into Turner Hill
Fourth...end of Turner Hill!
Last-At the end with one of the top female mtn bikers in Australia-Jodie Willett(beat my friend, the Western australian champ, by 5min..)

[crazycanuck]

There are heaps o photos of Big Bertha on Facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?...3557368&ref=mf

[Aggie_Ama]

Congrats!! All that training paid off and you were worried?

[MtnBikerChk]

CONGRATS!

Looks like the Titus was worth the wait !

[crazycanuck]

Titus was worth the wait

Here's some footage from the beginning of the event-the dude's going to upload the rest a bit later. http://contour.com/node/111298

[SheFly]

Congrats! I knew you could do it and not worry about the time cut offs! Great reports, too.

The mental part of a long race/ride like that is TOUGH. I struggle with this still, after years of racing and riding. You need to focus on your goal, and not let the negative self-talk creep in. Since you were so far ahead of the time cuts, you should have focused on seeing just how much you could beat the next one by... But, I know this isn't easy.

Sounds like a great time with some bigger goals ahead! Congrats again.

SheFly