Firstly, thank you for all the support emails. It is great, and i really appreciate it. For those who commented that I needed to get a job, and you know who you are, for the record I have been working of late. Yes hard to believe, but it is true. I have been working for Armadillo Merino® (www.armadillomerino.com) helping Andy Caughey. Armadillo Merino® is a couple of years old and supplies merino base layer to first responders and the likes, and has some great product (and would make a great christmas present). We have products, sales and the business is looking good, so it has been exciting to be involved in a start-up that has gone through some of the very early growing pains, but is still experiencing a few. Good times, and i have been busy with trade shows, working on business plans and chasing sales. It has allowed me time to train, but at the same time I have been working pretty much full time since early September, and post race I will be busy catching up and back into it close to full time.
1 day until the start of the race. Nervous times and there are some very serious looking racers here. Lots of little skinny cyclists, and more so than the Haute Route. In total there about 100 racers and I heard 60 support crew. 15 from Belgium, and hardly any Aussies here. What does that say about the Belgians, and what do the Australians know that everyone else does not. Maybe in cycling terms the Aussies are soft and the Belgians are hard men, but we already knew that. The field is a mix of first timers and returning racers, but I get the feeling that the standard is high.
How does someone fill in 2 days pre a 9 day race. Very easily. Yesterday we had a group photo shoot at 10am, and made the selection of pics at the end as the Kiwi contingent with Steve, one of the two other Kiwi in the race.
Then off for a quick recon of the first days course. Day 1 is 5 loops around a 6km course, that is fast, single track, and very twisty. Not so technical but it will be hard to pass people as it is tight. 2 laps was enough for the day, then the 15km ride back into town. I found out afterwards that two of the guys are expected to be in the top ten in the elites, and are sponsored riders. I feel better as they got away from me on the twisty parts.
The rest of the day was spent sorting out stuff. You may wonder what I would need to sort out, but a surprisingly large amount of stuff.
By the numbers, 9 days of racing needs a lot of stuff:
- 5 spare tubes, as i have heard horror stories of flats and if it is extremely hot, which it is forecast to be, the tubeless tires do not like it, so maybe back to tubes.
- 2 containers of spare latex gu for the tubeless tires
- 5 CO2 canisters in case i get a flat
- 20 Cliff bars
- 10 other bars, as I brought all the Cliff bars in Cairns
- 45 energy gels
- 10 tubes of nuun
- spare chain
- spare derailer hanger (as again bad stories.
- spare brake pads
- spare spokes
- chain lube
- 9 recovery shakes
- 2 big bags of salted nuts for post ride snacking
- 3 tea towels to be used as rags
- knife, fork, spoon, plate and cup (for camping)
- Sleeping bag
- Camelback as expecting it to be very hot on day 3 (37-40 degrees C)
As you can see a good list of spares, and the good thing is that i am nearly there. Lucky, as some of the bike shops are running out of spares, and I brought pretty much all the Cliff bars in Cairns today.
Later today, race briefing then a good meal and a good nights sleep for the start on Saturday. Weather is forecast to be 30 degrees C, and 100% sunny. It will be a hot first day as we start at noon, and expect it will take about 2 hours for the 30km. The plan is to not go too hard, although that is always easy to say the night before.
Below are a few useful links:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/crocodile-trophy-2013
Until tomorrow, enjoy your day.
Hamish
PS - I am not the only one having all the fun as Leah is off to Mallorca for some late summer warm weather riding. I may even get a picture or two from them to drop in the end of the updates tomorrow.
