St Albans 100km

Check out that 140mm of travel!

Luckily western Sydney and the greater north west didn't get the rain Saturday night that the coastal regions did. Therefore the track was the usual mostly dry condition it is always in. For those that haven't done an annual St Albans MTB Festival, the 100km course links what is mostly fire trail between sections of bitumen and dirt roads. The first 70 odd kilometers loops 8kms short of St Albans then you hang a left for the remaining 30kms which takes you to the other side of the river and back to the top of the ridgeline. This returns you 5kms past St Albans for dirt road sprint to the finish. The track is a mixture of rock and sand fire trail with limited pure dirt and single track. Some sections hold water year round, like before the 50km mark and the downhill to the 70km mark is always cool and damp.
Like I mentioned previously the weather held off and the morning was cool and foggy. Once we were out of the valley and onto the ridgeline, above the fog, it was nice to find a sunny day without a hint of a cloud. It remained this way all day, a slight breeze kept temperatures around the early 20s.
Having some suspension issues post Australian 24 Solo. I managed to bring the Canaan back on line with a modified front end. On the front I fitted my Float 140s. This brought with it some climbing problems on the steepest sections but made up for it with downhill prowess. I managed the rear end through the pro-pedal lever, stiffest for all climbing and flat sections and then fully open for the descents. I fitted some small block 8s and pumped them up real tight to keep them ultra fast rolling.
The mass start was staged and it really didn’t matter what time you kicked off as everyone was micro chipped. I started at the back of the first non elite start and after the chorus of clipless cleats I wound my way through the 200 plus riders to the first major climb. There wasn’t many incidents to talk of over the first 50km. A few riders would have been happy that they placed ply-wood boards over the wooden plank bridge before the 50km mark. It was after the 50km point that things started to happen around me. The first was a poor bloke with no idea on why he was having trouble shifting. Turns out when I had a look at his bike the rear derailleur had failed. It was the tensioning spring that was the culprit, the only thing I could think of was to put it in the big ring on the front and shift as high as possible on the rear. This would mean he would be virtually single speed to keep the chain tensioned as much as possible. The next incident I came across was a bloke that had just broken his collar bone. He wasn’t far in front when it happened, I had spotted his jersey numerous times prior. He was in some pain and a few other guys had stopped to render assistance. Unfortunately there wasn’t much we could do, he was stable and didn’t have anything else wrong. I move his feather weight and ultra light hard tail off the trail and he agreed not to attempt to move from the spot we found him. I rode to 3-4km to the 70km point which was the next manned point in the trail and informed the RFS and medic staff. It sounded like this was their first casualty for the day. From here it was on the canoe bridge that was created to cross the river. Having ridden the bridge on its inception I had no hesitation on doing it again. I managed it successfully and rode on to the 74km check point, on the way up to the ridgeline. It was from this stage that the climbing was starting to take its toll. My legs felt heavy but I managed to keep with the riders around me. Climbs began it be granny ring spins. But finally I made it to the final big down hill section, the guy I had been keeping up with let me lead down. He later said when he caught up that I put well over a couple of hundred meters between us just in that one downhill section.
I had a good 100km, no mechanical issues and a heap of fun on the fire trails of St Albans. I finished 13th in Open Mens and beat my previous St Albans 100km 2007 by 3 minutes, doing it in 5:12!