The (Very) Dirty Gran Fondo - The Event Report

On 10th May 2014, I did my first off road event (ever!). I have mentioned about this event before the day after I signed up. The days leading up to it was filled with nerves and uncertainty. I have only had 2 rides on my mountain bike - both at Lysterfield with mixed results. Both around 14km and completed just shy of 2 hours.

There were 3 distances for this event. The 90km, the 65km and then the 35km which was the one which I signed up to do due to my ability (or lack thereof).

The day started out early. Registration started at 6:45am and we decided to get there early so we could also prep our bikes. I currently don't have roof racks so the 2 bikes (one small 26" mountain bike and one very large cyclocross) were disassembled and placed in the back of my VW golf. We left the house (Cheltenham) at 5:15am and got to Wandong Football grounds by 6:30am. Registration was pretty straight forward - What is your race number? Here is your race number, done.

Start of the day - event briefing - all smiles

Random dog who decided to take shelter from the rain in our car.

It had been raining since Friday night and continued early Saturday morning and so the grounds were wet and muddy. It was hard to decide what to wear - should I cater for wet weather? cater for comfort as riding warms me up quick? I decided early to wear a rain jacket as there were still showers present. I also wore ear warmers under my Solo riding cap. The briefing started at 7:45am, the ride started at 8am.

We were told to self seed ourselves and I started at the back as I am more comfortable with my own personal space. The first few km were good. It was wet and it took me a while to be comfortable about finding the best line.

The rain tore up some nice paths for us to ride through. When I mean nice, I mean mud several inches thick. I tried to ride through the mud-fest as much I as could. This meant pedalling my little legs out like crazy whilst trying to keep the bike perpendicular to the surface. I kept pedalling until a point where the mud was several inches deep and there was a steep incline. My bike could not move any longer and this was the first part of the course where I had to walk the bike. I also decided before I got back on the bike that I would take off my rain jacket and my ear warmers as I was getting too hot. I knew this part of the course would damage people's bikes as further on the course, I saw hangers, brake pads and even a whole cassette!

Rear wheel. Relatively OK

We were warned about the steep descent at the 8km mark and when I reached it, I hopped off the bike in order to push the bike down. There was no way I could ride down that descent, I would have face planted as I had no idea how to manoeuvre myself down what felt like -25% gradient with plenty of rocks to add to the character.

#BAAW - Annie after the event. Not as muddy due to the rides through puddles.

Once I walked the bike down the road, it was time to hop back on, albeit quite difficult due to the mud caked within my cleats, pedals, brakes, wheels and cranks. I was getting slightly worried at this point as I had been out on the road for nearly an hour and I had only covered 9km. The next few kilometers were good, I found a rhythm and even passed a few people whilst we rode up a few inclines. I noticed around this point that the course with the wet conditions was more suited for mountain bikers rather than cyclocross. We then reached a turn off on the course and started with a gradient of 30% (ave 12%) , I couldn't pedal up this hill no matter how much I tried. It was a tough walk and what seemed like an eternity. I was however entertained by the signs the event organisers placed along the side.

Once we reached the top of the hill, it was a lonely ride amongst the fog and light drizzle until we reached the first feedzone, my halfway mark. I didn't stop for too long here, only filled up my water in my camelbak and ate half a banana. They had a smorgers board here, I saw cheesymite scrolls, cheesecakes, lollies and oreos but didn't have any. At that point (2 hours in), I was in no mood to stop for a picnic and I wasn't sure how my guts would handle real food and there were no toilet stops on the course.

The rest of the course was more fun and manageable. There were some tricky descents but I gained more confidence along the way and rode through them by picking good lines. I rode through some large puddles to clean the mud off my bike but there were some puddles which I had underestimated the depth and my feet were completely immersed.

The final hill came as a real surprise. I pedalled my way up and stayed on the bike the whole way through. At the 27km mark, the route brought us to the loose bitumen road. This part was tricky. I had been fighting the mud flying into my eyes for the first 20km+ but now I had to avoid the bitumen pieces for the next 1km.

The last 6km of the course was the best. Not sure if it was due to the fact that I knew that I was on the way to the finish line or it was because my skills and confidence had increased. There were puddles and mud again (as it was the same path as the one we rode out) but the ride back was much faster.
The very last part of the course took you to a narrow bitumen road before the finishers chute.

I was ecstatic when I crossed the finish line. I made it out to be a bigger deal than it was. It was my first off road event and I had only done a few 14km rides before this day. I couldn't believe that I made my way through the mud and climbed all those hills (glutes still burning today).

There were hot showers available and I got myself cleaned before I hosed the bike down as much as I could and waited a few hours for my partner to come through (he rode the 90km).

The Canadian - much muddier than me.

Things I learnt from this event:

• Mud goes through chamois. As much as some part of the course scared me, my knicks looked like I crapped myself.
• How to handle a mountain bike - it's gears, brakes and speed. Bike skills getting better.
• Carrying a camelbak for hydration worked better than bottles on the bike, especially if eating mud is not part of the recommended diet.
• I need glasses to wear for mountain biking. I didn't have clear ones and spent some time on the ride trying to blink the mud and bitumen out.
• I didn't come DFL - I actually placed 9th out of 15. Fastest was 2:43, my time was 3:51 and the 15th was 4:48. I rode the mountain bike which made it easier. I know that the females who finished after me all rode with cyclocross (credit to them). I stopped for nutrition and had a 5min break at the feedzone.

I loved this event. It was fun and I managed through it unscathed. Will I sign up for another one? In a heart beat! Depending on how I go in the next 12 months, I might sign up for the 65km or I might do the 35km again but on the CX bike.

Thanks to the event organisers.

My Strava can be seen here.