I always look forward to the Blue Dog Events 6 & 12hr at McLean's Island, its a flat track and you need to be pedaling the whole time which makes it a long day in the saddle.
With over 1200 competitors (about 360 on the track at once) this was going to be a fantastic day on the bike... I had spent Thursday and Friday setting up the ramp and dressing it with some Blox Fencewrap, the ramp is a big part of the day and Blox was more than happy to sponsor this part of the the event, we also had some flags down the finishing straight that added to the atmosphere.
Saturday brought an awesome day weather wise, rocking up to our tent site and seeing everyone buzzing setting up there tents, signing on got me exited about riding.
As I am waiting for my Scott Scale to arrive I borrowed a rigid surly 1x9 for the day...this wasn't the brightest idea on the planet....
After briefing the bikes went one way and the riders the other.... after some false starts, we started the 300m le Mons run to our bikes.... I had a good start and pushed hard to the 1st piece of single track, hit the 4wd and boom..the teams riders went flying by. Coming over the line around 10th after lap 1 knowing 1 solo rider was in front of me the next few laps I kept pushing....this is where I realised it was going to turn survival for me.
Pushing the Surly was harder than I thought, add a rough walking track and some runs down what felt like a river bed and the arms were gone! Cramping to the point I was missing corners. I kept the fluids up and backed off to try and sort myself out. The 4 hour mark came and I was still missing corners and having trouble... the legs wanted to go but if you can't hang on to the bars its hard to push...
As my lap time dropped I knew I was gone.... lap 7 I was in 2nd still and by lap 12 I was down to 3rd.... my longest lap was 30mins which is slow, 1 min of that was putting chain lube on, about 3 mins was lying on the side of the track trying to get feeling in my arms after almost making love to a tree!
Was a good day on the bike, but broke me. I haven't been that sore and tired after a race.
A lap down on what I did last year and 4th place in the open men solo category, I can't complain. Well done to Tay on the win, he rode strong all day and deserved it.
My thoughts go out to the family who lost there loved one at this event.
I also want to wish Nick all the best who is in intensive care... stay strong mate, keep attacking!
Till next time.....Stay Safe
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