Last weekend Holly and I drove down to Canberra for the Scott 24 Hour mountain bike race. It's been described as the Glastonbury of mountain biking, and it's pretty amazing. Hundreds of riders all on the same course, with a real party atmosphere. Though it was quite funny sitting around shooting the shit on Friday night and nobody's drinking!
Our team did an amazing job, with someone constantly out on the trail for the whole 24 hours. I only managed two laps, with very slow times, as I just wasn't fit enough, and the climbing was a lot more intense than I expected. I know the scale of the challenge for next year now!
We were fortunate enough to have a great support crew. Holly, Kaz and Majella ensured we were watered, fed, motivated and running smoothly for the whole 24 hour period. An amazing effort and some great food. Kaz's meat and bean chilli jaffles were a real highlight -- perfect race food.
My lighting setup was always a bit of a worry. Our team only really had two lighting sets, so my one was pretty important. As it turned out, the torch worked brilliantly and between it and the headlamp, provided ample light. Graeme chipped in one of his Luxeon lamps as well, which provided a bit of a broad wash to complement the focussed spots.
I really enjoyed the night riding, so I think I might use the lights a bit more now with some night rides around the place.
A thoroughly good time had by all. We're all pretty keen to do it all again next year -- especially Majella who injured herself out of the race only a couple of weeks before.
Update: