Scott 24!

This years Scott 24hr was the most enjoyable race I have competed in to date. To have the 24 Hours of Adrenaline World Solo Champs run in conjunction with the Scott 24hr made the entire venue buzz with more energy than a nuclear power plant.

Driving into the event late Friday afternoon and meeting up with Brian Merton, my racing partner for the Scott 24hr, we could see that the CORC organisers and volunteers were in for a very busy weekend. The venue was packed with campers and as such certain areas were restricted to vehicle access. We were able to convince the gate marshal to let us drive onto the crit track to enable us to drop our gear off. Brian had gone out earlier and grabbed a site on the crit track on the bend just before transition. This ended up being a brilliant position to watch all of the competitors roar into the finish and to cheer on friends and favourite riders in other categories, particularly Crummy in the Worlds. We got ourselves set up for the race and Brian and and his partner Mel went home and I stayed and camped to look after our camp. Unlike previous years, most of the camping areas were dead quiet by about 10.30pm. Most competitors choosing an early night rather than partying.

The following morning saw the usual bike and body preparation and organising our area for the commencement of the race. Seeing the elite riders, such as Mark Fenner and the like, warming up on the crit track was inspirational and awesome to think these guys were going to be climbing Mt Stromlo for 24hrs. Back to our race and after a brief warm up myself we headed down to transition to watch the start of the World Solo Elite and Age Group racers. 400+ solo riders commenced the day in all categories and it was certainly crowded and I'm glad we got there early to witness all of these elite athletes go off to conquer the mountain for 24hrs.
After the solo riders got underway, all of the teams lined up for the start of the Scott 24hr. Over 800 riders lined up for a Le Mans start in the transition entry and thankfully I was near the front. At 12:15 the gun went off and all of us ran 400m to collect our bikes. After a brief sprint down a fire trail, a bottle neck started to form on the entry to the first section of single track. Being near to the front only saw about a 5min delay for me but those toward the back of the pack could have seen close to a 20min delay on the first lap. In any case, we were on our way to the finishing line on Sunday.

After I cleared the bottle neck, it was time to get down to business and find a rhythm that I was comfortable with. The track had pretty much everything a MTB track could offer. There were flowing switchbacks with jumps and burms to provide massive grins, lightening fast downhill trails where speed was limited only by the fear within the rider. Technical ascending and descending rock gardens to keep you on your toes and fire access trails to "rest" on. All aspects of the track layout were challenging and rewarding. I found my rhythm pretty quickly on this circuit.
By the end of the first lap we were in 6th place and going well but a puncture on lap 3 saw us drop to 9th, but by the start of our double laps just before night fall, we had managed to get up to 7th. So at 6pm or so I headed out for the first of our double laps and we continued to go up the rankings which surprised me as our night lap times grew by about 10mins per lap, which shows that we both need to work on our night riding. After my second night double stint and sitting in fifth, I was contemplating having a good break, about 3hrs worth, but when Brian came in just before sunrise after his last double and stated we were sitting in third, well this was the motivation I needed. I then pulled out my quickest lap of my race and by then end of this lap we had a 47 min gap to forth. At the end of each of our successive laps, we monitored the gap to forth as it was closing and got as close as 22 on the penultimate lap. On my last lap I mustered all the remaining energy I had and pushed hard to keep that gap and to ensure the overnight work was not wasted.

At about the 4km to go mark, and the start of the most enjoyable part of the track, I went past a rider whom then stuck on my wheel. We both fed off each other, pushing each other harder and harder all the way to the finishing line. I don't know where this energy came from but I was able to hold the power on right up to the line. This final section was the best part of the race for me. We were both hollering and yelling and just having a ball all the way down along the flowing single track, which at the end of the day is what we were all there for. We ended up in third by about 30mins, both exhausted but thoroughly excited with the unbelievable result we had just achieved.
On reflection, what made this a thoroughly enjoyable race for me, apart from coming third in the male pairs category, was the atmosphere of the event. Everyone was out to have a good time during both races which was evident by the characters we saw go past on the way into transition on the crit track. Watching the solo riders go past lap after lap was awe-inspiring. Cheering on riders such as Mick Crummy, Mark Fenner, Jason English, etc, only meters from them whilst warming down after each lap was an experience and took my mind off the aches and pains that I was experiencing.

After my poor preparation, I was honestly surprised with our result. I definitely proved that this race is mostly a mental game. Get your head around it and you are half way to achieving a good result. I would like to thank the World Solo guys for putting on an awesome display of athleticism, Greg Ryan from TWE, http://www.ridetwe.com.au/, for providing spare wheels for me to race with, Carmen's Fine Foods for their delicious and nutritious muesli bars and last but not least, Brian and Mel. Brian for putting in a huge effort to keep us in third and giving me the motivation to keep at it and Mel for helping out at the camp as required and without complaint also. Thanks heaps guys.

Cheers,
Michael Smith