Black Stump Adventure Ride 2009

I found out on Saturday that all those times I thought "I really should go ride some hills", that I really should have gone and ridden some hills.

I had entered the 30km Black Stump Ride, but ended up taking the "pike" option and switched to the 18km ride at about the 14.5km mark. I'm a bit disappointed with the way things went, but there are lots of reasons it didn't go as awesomely as I had envisaged.
First off, and I think most importantly, it rained. We've had scorching hot and humid days here, until about 2 days prior to race day when it started to sprinkle. The hills out at Glen Massey (where the ride was) got a few good doses of moisture. Secondly, I had Maxxis CrossMark tyres on my bike - a dry conditions tyre. But, plenty of other people were using them too... so I can't say that my poor performance was entirely attributable to my equipment.

Obviously I hadn't done enough training, so add to that the wet, sticky, slippy clay, and I wasn't going to have an easy time of it.

The start was pretty slow, too slow for someone on a singlespeed. I managed to grind my way up the hill, passing a few people, but getting stuck behind some bigger bunches. I reckon I got about three-quarters of the way up the first 1km climb before the pace was too slow (all the "gearies" were in their granny gears) and jumped off to push my bike the rest of the way. Maybe I started too far back in the group and the pace would have been better up the front?

Over the top of the hill and back on the bike I found myself getting along ok on the wet and muddy grass, but I was surrounded by riders that would wobble all over the place and stop on slight inclines, or skid out on slight declines. I ended up feeling like I was in a cyclocross race, hopping off my bike to run past other people or avoid crashes. Hmm, maybe the skill level of my fellow competitors would have been better if I'd started at the front of the group?

The long downhill sections on farm track were more like slippery slides by the time I got to them. There were probably over 150 riders in front of me, all skidding and sliding down the same track. Lots of people were crashing, trying to pass (without calling out that they were coming though!), and skidding all over the place nearly taking out other riders. I came across one guy who had taken a diver into a bank after being clipped by another rider (who didn't even stop). He'd stuffed his shoulder and his ride was over. I resorted to walking down the hill to avoid a ride-ending crash.

After the downhill, the track levelled out a bit and I got back on my bike and started to grind my way along, passing people who were just spinning along in a low gear. Then the track started to tilt upwards again, ever so slightly. The combination of the slight gradient and energy sapping mud soon got the better of me, and I resorted to walking again. Very frustrating. Luckily my walking speed was only slightly slower than the speed of those riding. And soon, there were several "gearies" pushing alongside me.

Cue the silly one-liners we bandied about: "nice day for a walk", "who's stupid idea was this?", "where's the shuttle truck?", and my favourite reply to spectators who called "go the singlspeed!" was, "yeah, but it's more like 'walking speed' today!".

After about 6kms we looped back through the event village. I momentarily considered pulling out, but one of the school kids shoved a drink towards me, so I grabbed it and plodded on...

About 200m later I had a pang of regret about my decision to carry on. The track narrowed, and became one slippery rut, twisting it's way through the scrubbery, sapping energy, and halting progress. I ended up in a chain of people walking and jogging, all of us smiling.

And that pretty much sums up the rest of the ride; pedal where I could, ride up the hills as far as traction permitted, then get off and push. Walk the steep, rutted and slippery downhills, then rinse and repeat.

My tyres and bike frame clogged with mud. My brakes howled when I tried to use them and they were getting less and less effective as time wore on and the brake pads wore down. Luckily for me, Matt from R&R Sport had adjusted my brakes for me just minutes before the start of the ride, otherwise my brakes wouldn't have been working at all!

And the end result? The official time for my 18kms is 2 hours 8 minutes and 26 seconds. Pitiful! If I had contiued on the 30km ride I would have ended up last and wouldn't have got home in time to breastfeed Ella.

Whilst I was out challenging myself at the Black Stump, Andrew was at home trying to conquer his own little challenges - Oliver and Ella! He stayed home to look after them... the first time on his own. Of course he did a great job, but I don't think he wants to do it every weekend. Damn.

So the lessons learnt and things to change for next year are:
- Run grippy tyres if it's wet (and it's almost always wet)
- Start much further up in the field to avoid getting held up on the first climb
- Ride some hills in training
- Train
- Send the kids to their grandparents and get Andrew out to do the ride with me!

Overall I did enjoy the event. It was really well organised, the marshalls were great, the course marking and directional signage was excellent, and there were lots of spectators around. I definitely want to be there next year.

But, I still feel like I need a 'proper' mountain bike ride. :D