Hills...my Karri ride report (long post)

[crazycanuck]

We entered The Great Karri Ride, 100km from Pemberton to Northcliffe here in WA. (www.greatkarriride.com.au) and it was an interesting day.

Here's what i learnt...

Don't forget your bike shorts at home...I had everything else packed & somehow forgot my bike shorts...i swear i packed them. However, the lovely chick that was our support crew is the same size & had an awsome pair of bike shorts.

Ensure you do the nature calls moment before you set of onto steep pea gravelly hills...


To make a longer story short for the board here's some info:

1-The organizers told us there was going to be burn offs but not at the same time as we rode. They had a plan b ride but CALM (conservation & land management) must of made a mistake. On stage 2 i came around a corner to find most of the competitors waiting. It appears CALM was doing a burn off right on the main course, not in the area they'd told us, making us backtrack....

2-They didn't tell us most of it would be gravel road riding. I felt a bit ripped off really as I thought it would be through the trees & off road. The hills were great though & felt my event training helped. I just wish people who have no clue about riding offroad uphill would move out of the way-arghghghghghgh

Enough about that. We(my dear & the other young gents) had an amazing support crew. Linda & her mum were there at the end of every stage to let us get our water, food & energy bars.

I was doing fine until the end of stage 2 and most of stage 3. Not only was it 36c (wasn't aware of how hot it was as it wasn't humid) but i had problems with my helmet, specifically pains in my ears & jaw. I took the scarf (made by buff) i usually wear & loosened the helmet straps but it still didn't feel loose. I was getting really annoyed at having to stop every little bit & adjust my helmet. My head was really bothering me to the point of me just about stopping on the side of the road & throwing my helmet into the trees..(spitting the dummy almost) I was about 10km away from the end of stage 3 & came accross the rural fire service(they helped us heaps) and some volunteers. I'd had enough of my helmet & felt if i kept going i would have been a danger to myself as i'd loosened it so much that if i'd fallen i would have been a casualty. I got a hitch back with the sag wagon.

I boiled it down to overheating....I so wanted to continue but my head was just not going to let me. I had a problem wearing a cap afterwards too as it was still too hot. It wasnt just me either, quite a few people called it quits over the heat.

So i made it 60km's & almost to the end of the toughest stage of the event & had to stop. I was really upset but am proud of myself as i made it up hills that other people walked up.

Water & hydration weren't a problem, i kept my fluid intake up & felt hydrated.

It was my helmet that got me...So i'm off to make new & improved adjustments to it..


c

[mellic]

Well done for riding as far as you did! You should not have been disappointed in your ride at all, 60km is a long way.

I heard a lot of reports about last years Great Karri Ride and that it was boring and a complete waste of energy. That's why you didn't see me there.

Do you think you will do it again??

[crazycanuck]

Hey mellic

I expected more singletrack & alot more just off road in general. In terms of a good off road ride in WA...umm it's not the best. Quite monotonous really. Not sure if it's worth my time doing it next year. Seems directed towards social riders & almost too easy for the top guys???

I felt it was poorly organized too. What was it like last year???

For a really good worthwhile ride, i think our best bets would be either to save our $$$ &
a-go back to NZ & do the 42nd traverse, the karapoti classic or anything near christchurch.
b- do the wildside or even the hidden vale epic.

Wanna do some rides round perth?

c

[allabouteva]

Hey C,

You're a champ! 60kays off road, on a 36 degree day, that's awesome. I would've gone home after the first obstacle ie no bike shorts!

I'm interested to hear how come the helmet was such a problem? Was it new? I hope you work out why it felt so uncomfortable.

I checked out the website, and the marketing job they did, sure made it look exciting, so I'd be like you, not happy Jan!

eva

[crazycanuck]

Hey eva,

Í didn't realize until this weekend that part of my problem in the past few weeks must of been my helmet as well. (DUH..i forgot things expand in the heat...) I've had the helmet for a while now & it's fine except in the heat.

I wear this headband type item under my helmet to stop the sweat from running into my eyes whilst mtn biking but now realize that it's not a smart thing to wear in the WA heat. I know the co that makes them has summer ones so i'll check them out.

I was just lucky that the lady we ride with just happened to have her bike shorts on her....

Dunno about next year. Perhaps i'll just do the 12hr & work on pea gravel hills that never end...

c

[mellic]

Hey mellic

I expected more singletrack & alot more just off road in general. In terms of a good off road ride in WA...umm it's not the best. Quite monotonous really. Not sure if it's worth my time doing it next year. Seems directed towards social riders & almost too easy for the top guys???

I felt it was poorly organized too. What was it like last year???

For a really good worthwhile ride, i think our best bets would be either to save our $$$ &
a-go back to NZ & do the 42nd traverse, the karapoti classic or anything near christchurch.
b- do the wildside or even the hidden vale epic.

Wanna do some rides round perth?

c

Yeah I would save your money and not bother with these kind of rides unless it is organised better. March is the wrong time to be holding an event like this to start with, mainly because of the weather.

The only good offroad endurance events in WA are the 12 hour and 6 hour. I would definitely head east if you want more, but the tracks over there are a little bit more intense (straight up and straight down).

In regards to riding, gosh I wish I had time. There's just not enough hours in the day.