World Solo 24 hour

After a good lead up, and really mentally prepared, I felt ready for this one. I knew it would be hard and after a week of getting over jetlag and adapting to the high altitude I was "only just" ready in time. I had a chance to pre ride the course and it was tough, rough and steep. I felt comfortable with it and knew there would be some walking for everyone.

Well the race started really well starting from 70th I made really good ground in the run, some training at Club Lime put me in good shape for it.

Then the climbs begin, really it is a granny climb and plugging away upwards the heart rate was up at 170+ for most riders, and talking to Jason English his was up around there for the first 3 hours at least. There were roots, rocks everywhere with no real clean lines on the most of it so pushing away, trying the be conservitive, and keeping speed up was my objective.

It was a hard course to ride fast, single tracks were rough, fire roads had steep pinches, but I did manage 67 km/h on a down hill section. Things were going well, 2 hours in I could really feel the heat it was 36 degrees and really trying to keep the fluids up and heart rate down. I was sweating and covered in dirt, but kept at it. Adam Kelsall a fellow Aussie in my cat past me around this point with a cheer of Aussie Aussie Aussie. 4 hours in I was in 6th and in the next lap I got to 4th. Rain had come to cool things down a little and I was happy with that, I really needed to re hydrate. The next position to go for was third, I had to catch Adam he was 15min in front of me. I pulled 8 minutes in 1 lap and in the next caught managed to catch up. But as soon as I saw him he was off charging to get away. At the end of this lap, with some great work from Kendra (I am sure this was how I was gaining time to Adam each lap) I got past him with another quick stop. He chased me down on the up hill, but it was on after a few friendly words and I was off, trying to pick some quick lines on the downhill, then a quick fast walk up the long rooty climb, that almost everyone was now walking I could not see him. I tried to keep the effort up but some cramps slowed me a little, and I was hoping to gain some time in the pits again. But Adam was back with me up the climb.

The climb was hurting me, and hurting bad not my legs but my bot bot. Pushing on mostly standing I was trying hard and it was taking it out of me. I knew I was losing lots of time, I was getting no rest, and it was getting real ugly down there for sure. I got to the feed zone, and waited while Kendra got an extra pair of knicks to put on. This did not help at all but battled through to finish that lap.

We really did not want to pull it at this point and the option was to go out with some flats and runners to do what I could. But 1 look from Kendra of what was going on down there, and it was not worth the risk of going any further. I won't tell you the words the medic expressed, but he was shocked, and he did see lots of action that night. I saw the medics take 2 riders off in stretches plus there were calls for cancelled laps every 10-20 mins, I am sure they saw some bad things out there.

I don't really know the reasons why, with wearing some of the best knicks (skins) and cream I don't really know what I could have done. It was really rough and maybe I just sit too much, although I thought I was standing quite a lot.

I am happy with how I went and I know Adam and I would have kept battling. I did feel really strong and that was the only bit that hurt in the end. Just dissapointing to have to pull out due to something I could not prevent.

Thanks to all for your best wishes, and encouragement. It has been a great experience, and have meet some great people here. Thanks to Fenner he has got me in great shape and have really improved my riding speed and endurance. Kendra was fantastic in transition she had everything and did everything I needed. She was so encouraging out there and really kept me pushing. It has been a big commitment for us to do this race, but now it time to enjoy our holiday and relax for a bit, and treat her to some us time.

How Exciting

We have the internet, for a little bit.

After flying business, and staying in the fairmont we were on our way to Jasper. We had alot of fun there, seeing bear, squirrels, elks, eagles, and the list goes on. Did some hiking and bike riding.

Everywhere we look it is just amazing especially driving down the icefields parkway towards Canmore.

We arrived in Canmore a few days ago and we are almost all ready to race in 24 hours time. But all is good we have found it hard to get internet access so far. But I have set up the twitter via sms to keep you all updated. So check this out here:
http://twitter.com/crankinkwells
or on the right hand side of the blog.

We had a great duinner last night with most of the Aussies and we are all keen to smash up the track. The track is a good one, it is not a fast track in places and one to keep you awake, some hard pinches to climb, and will definately keep everyone on there toes. So it is all good, and what I was expecting from a Worlds course.

Kendra is going great, but very nervous, well more than me anyway ;). She is being very patient tripping over bikes in the RV.

Sorry about the delay in updates but lots to do and see.

Business

All is good sitting in the Qantas lounge eating and drinking after an upgrade. Thanks Qantas, it is great knowing I can sit back and relax for the next 20 or so hours. Opps better go for another drink ;).

Worlds details and links

Well the time has come to head off and leave our furkids to Bree. It is great knowing we can leave our home knowing everything will be looked after. So off to Sydney to fly out tomorrow.

So race starts in a 8 days, and I am keen to get there to get sorted but still plenty of time. I pick up a new bike this Sunday, as a 2nd bike for the race, and it should be a rocket. So lots to look forward to for sure.

Hopefully I will be able to setup this blog so that all I have to do is send a text to update it, but at the moment this only works in the US, and Canada so hopefully that will all just magically work. If not there is always Twitter, so check for the updates on the right hand side, and you can always click on the follow me button. Other sites you can check for updates during the race are:
The Worlds twitter site:
http://twitter.com/WSC24
The Worlds website:
http://www.24hoursofadrenalin.com/twenty4/index.cfm?fuseaction=dsp_eventDetails&eventContentID=8e9dc8c3-3048-8bc6-e8ab-06946528367c
And the adrenalinlive website (this is where they gave there live updates last year):
http://24adrenalinlive.blogspot.com/

So this year I really don't know how they will update it, but it should be one of them, or at least be a link somewhere.

After a nice massage this morning to iron out the last sore bits of the injury everything is looking good, well better than a broken wrist. Keep a look out for Jason McAvoy, he broke his wrist on Tuesday and is still going to try and claim the 1st position in age cat after his second place last year. I really hope he does it, good luck Jase.

Time has been flying

It has come up pretty quick, and although it is my last day at work today for nearly 6 weeks, I expect the time will fly. I am really looking forward to it, and to be honest it will be good to finish off my last few days of training before the taper, and I know I have to make them count. The last of my VO2 sessions tonight, then some long rides over the weekend will finish me off.

It does not seem that long ago when I started really putting in the time for this race, but it started last December, after a little rest from finishing the Scott solo. So I have never felt more ready for a race, I know there is always room to improve, but really I am happy with where I am at, and if I was not it would be too late now. So the hard work is nearly done, and the fun part about to begin.

But my nerves are starting to show, and it is a good sign. Mentally preparing yourself for the race is a good thing. It is hard to stand on the start line to face a 24 solo, and this being the Worlds, plus on an unknown track with lots of climbing (2 by 20 min climbs each lap), I need to be in the right frame. All is good I have a secret weapon, and it’s not a carbon bike that rhymes with Shrek ;).

Other news, I got my ticket to the 100 mile fling in November, which shall be a great race. Kendra decided she would do the 105k Fitz’s challenge instead so the weekend before I will do that with her. It will be great for her to get over the 100k barrier on road. I have lots to work towards, especially with the Kona in November. I always have to set new goals before I finish one, with no goals I have nothing to accomplish; I always have to have that target.

What a weekend, with a ride to Wee Jasper

The first challenge of the weekend was mine. Friday night I had some sets of VO2 max, and I hit them hard hitting all targets on all reps plus 1 rep extra just for good luck ;).

Saturday while I was riding Honeysuckle, Kendra's target was 2 RPM sessions with Andy at Club Lime. Andy's class's are great, he makes you work for it, and always adds extra tracks to the sessions. So Kendra made the 2 hours of pain, pushing herself with an average of 150+ HR. Nice work.

Sunday was a ride to Wee Jasper, we were meeting up at 8:45am at Uriarra Xing, so I added in a ride there. Here I meet up with Ed, Jase, Joel, and Phil and set off. We were to meet up with Claire and Erik for lunch, they were taking the road option.

This ride takes you over the edge of the Brindies and had 5 big climbs, some river crossings, and fantastic views. I was pretty hard work, as Jase was really setting a high pace, while I sat back in tempo. With the fire road climbs comes the downs and these were pretty quick. The last road section into WJ was awesome. It was hard, as all I wanted to do was look at the greenery.

Lunch was at a nice little country pub, and 5 min after we pulled in came Claire and Erik, perfect timing. Here we had wedges, soup, it was all good stuff. I think we stayed here a little too long as we were not really keen on climbing the hills back out.

But we headed off, and really did not seem as bad as we expected. Hitting the fire roads back there was alot more climbing and getting back took only a couple of minutes longer than getting there. By this time it was 5pm and about 5 hours of riding for 100k's, or total for me 6.5 for 135. My plan was to ride back home to get 170k's up but decided as it was getting dark and cold that the temptation to jump into Jase's nice warm car was too great. So thanks for the ride guys, I had alot of fun.

Sold: Merida 904 Road bike 56cm

Full shimano 105 groupset
Token carbon forks
Richey rims, seat post, bars,and stem
SPD pedals
Great reliable bike.
Sorry Sold

Email: k76wells@gmail.com

Picture to come.

For Sale: Rocky Mountain ETSX 30 2005 19inch (SOLD)

Fox float R rear shock 3.5-4.5 inches travel
Fox Talas R forks 90-130mm travel
DT swiss hubs and mavic tubeless 819 rims
Headset Aireal
Brakes Shimano Deore, with ano blue Straitline levers
Cranks Shimano LX (different than in picture)
Shifters SRAM X7
SRAM X9 rear derailleur
Shimano Deore front derailleur
New SPD pedals
Great rare bike, in great condition, lots of setup options for the XC racer to trail bike riding.
Nice handmade quality frame
$1300.

Please note I will be racing O/S and will be back on the 19th of August, so please be patient till then.
Email: k76wells@gmail.com

Sold: Giant XTC3 2006 19inch

Rock shox Tora 318 Air forks with compression dampening.
Alex TD17 rims , Shimano hubs
Deore, and Deore LX components
Hayes nine disc brakes
SPD pedals
Comes with 2nd set of wheels (original)
Good reliable bike could be used as a training bike on or off road
Sorry Sold.

Email: k76wells@gmail.com