Adam and I have done these for the last couple of years, but both being pretty ordinary navigators we enlisted the help of uber navigator Neil to run the maps and he did a top job of it. Adam and I could just do the part we like, riding the bikes, while he did all the brain work (and rde his bike too, hmm, not fair I guess, but the deal worked well for me!) :)
We headed out at a pretty relaxed pace toward Black Mountain for our first checkpoint, this was my first time on a bike since the Kona and I was curious how I had pulled up, so at the base of the climb I gave the pedals a little zap and it felt good, so I then I gave the pedals some grief, and that felt good too; then it was just a smash fest to the top to see when I would break, amazingly I didn't! I could not believe how good I felt, I guess staying off the bike for 7 days and eating copious amounts of ice cream and chocolate this week was a good move after all :)
The checkpoint was at the top of the tower, but we we were early, it didn't open for another half an hour, d'oh! So we waited at the bottom with other keen riders. Eventually the gaurd let us in to climb the tower. No lifts for us today, we had to run up the stairs! I have no idea how many flights it was, but it had to be over 20, my calves are pretty sore today as a result ;) Taking shoes off for this run was a smart move I copied from one of the other guys as we waited to be let in, doing all those concrete stairs in cleats would have been an accident waiting to happen.
After that we got back on the bike and bombed down the mountain heading for Hall via a few little checkpoints on the way, when we got to Hall the markets were on, cars and pedestrians were everywhere, it was busy beyond belief, but after some patient cruising we rolled into town and clipped the check point and stopped for a food break. A female pairs team was here with a very worn out looking mountain bike with dragging v-brakes. I hadn't seen v-brakes for a long time, but Adam knew what to do and fixed them up for her, what a guy! :)
From there we rolled to a stop at the Bowling Alley for Neil to knock down some pins before we headed to Majura; being the only single track on offer in the event, there was no way we would be missing out on it! A nice long munchy stop at the servo first to refuel, then into some fire trails and walking tracks on the West face of the mountain I had never ridden before, they were pretty nice too, until Neil copped a flat, the stans did it work with some pressure from a CO2 pump though and we were off again. Sadly it was all over too quickly though, and before we knew it, we were heading out of the fun Majura single track and back on the bitchumen into town.
As we rolled past Oconnor Adam remarked how good a beer from All Bar None would be, but I was keen to push for Mt Taylor... it wasn't long before I regretted that call though and comitted to a beer stop at the next opportunjity ;) We made it to Oakey Hill and Mt Taylor was only a stones throw away but the clock was ticking quickly towards us running out of time and the cramp monsters were starting to visit Neil. Being here for fun, not to race was the priority, so instead of pushing it, we bailed on Mt Taylor and headed for the check point at Griffith Shops, where we knew cold beer would be waiting... and it was... and it tasted gooood :P
After some refreshing rehydration, we realised we only had 20 minutes left, so we pinned it for the finish, Adam finishing his beer on the bike :) The boys rode strong and we came in 90 seconds before the cut off, perfect!
All in all a fun day out with the boys, thanx guys, let's do it again year! :)