Kellevie 24hr

I was really looking forward to my first interstate 24hr event, even moreso that it would be in beautiful Tassy. I'd heard reports the Kellevie track was rough and rocky. After just one warm-up lap, I knew I'd have my hands full on a HT. All the locals seemed to ride dually's.

There were a few fellow Queenslander and other interstate riders toeing the line. I didn't know many at all, but I did quickly migrate to the Qld camp;) Thanks for use of the chair Nick:) My pit arrangement would have been pretty primitive otherwise;)

Race start:


I felt really underdone with training of late, but I wasn't going to let that get in the way of having a good crack. The gun fired and, to my suprise, I was leading out the solos. About 4km in, I had a little gumby stack, and a few riders snuck past. I didn't know how many of these were solo or team riders. After a couple laps, I snuck past Sam Chancellor in transition, but he quickly jumped my wheel. I led the next 3 laps in solos. I tried to break Sam on the hills and on some fast flats, but he seemed to comfortably re-catch me on the rough desecents.




About 3hrs in, Sam slowly pulled away. Without any support crew, I had to stop at transitions and didn't have any much appreciated feedback about race positions. I maintained a strong pace up to the 12hr mark (just under 200km), but quickly started to peter off from here. Limited training was showing. Third place caught me at the 13hr mark, and I had a rare soft moment .... I decided I'd comfortably get my WC qualifier, so decided I could afford a sleep.

I felt guilty as crap after 5hrs sleep. How soft am I?!? The course had really taken its toll though. My callased hands had blisters all over, and my arse, well, I know you don't want to go there, but lets just say "baboon arse" thanks to all those rocks. I rode most of the final 6hrs standing up!

The course wasn't steep but included a testing rock garden, some great single track, rainforest sections. My compliments to the Kellevie track crew. There was brief rain several times during the night. It was threatening to pour down, but never did.



The back end of my race was a real let-down. I'd lost some motivation and just went through the motions to get my WC qualifier. Anyways, this race was a great mental learning experience for me: 3rd in category and 6th place overall. Hmmmm, now if work would just allow me some time to train .....


I rode the last few laps with Nick Westwood and was pleased to see Nick perservere and also get his WC qualifier. Top effort amigo!