Jacs new Outback packed, bikes lock & loaded, Thursday eave we headed North for Australia's capital city, what a smooth comfy drive at that, certainly made the 7 hrs a whole lot more bearable that's for sure.
The
Kaos,
BMC,
Nightlighting camp set & head out for a practice lap on Friday with James Williamson, Sean Lewis & Matt Flemming,
Very happy that I did as it became evident there was a distinct lack of grip out on course due to the extremely dry, firm base with a light dusting of loose sandy shale over the top, not to mention rocks & heaps of them.
With the knowledge of the course conditions I decided to go for the more aggressive tread, softer compound Nobby Nic tire on the front of both bikes, especially with the amount of sharp rocks out on course therefore allowing me to run a slightly higher pressure yet still have plenty of grip & more importantly allowing me to hook into the loose corners with the confidence instead of concerns of the front end washing out.
The congregation for riders briefing gives you a good idea of the size of this event.
As does this shot, the sea of bikes awaiting their captains 90 seconds before the gun went off.
From the gun, It would appear fireman Sam Bach has been neglecting his duties as the Total Rush boy was certainly in one hell of a rush & on fire to boot, with his team mate Mark Fenner not mucking about either.
The Giant
Nightlightning boys of Johnny Claxton & Geoff Williams were in hot pursuit going lap for lap.
Whilst not surprised by the early pace up front, Joel & I had decided to run double laps from the start due to heat of the day, giving us approx 90mins on & 90mins off at a slightly more realistic pace, allowing us to cool down & eat some real food, instead of 40 0n 40 off in the red zone giving chase.
It's a long race & given the distinct lack of training both of us had done since the worlds, not to mention myself carrying a couple of injuries that I was not 100% over, going out hard was not an option if we were to avoid ending up looking like this truck.
With all this said we punched out some consistent pretty quick lap times, 6 laps in, only4 minutes off the Giant
Nightlightning boys, then all our good work & strategy went out the window, with me puncturing & the hole being to big for the stans liquid to seal.............."cop a loss, i'll just throw a tube in & be on my way", simple right?
Only to be stranded track side for half an hour attempting to get the tubeless valve out of my wheel........thanks to the two dirtworks guys who stopped to help "who's names escape me", between the three of us we managed to get the nut off, leaving us all with sore thumbs.
With this loss of time it put us back into 4th, 20 mins in arrears of the local team Queenbean in 3rd & about 35mins off the Giant boys in 2nd with the Total Rush boys another 10mins up the road.
So with some time to make up, night falling along with the mercury, it was time to throw some hot single laps in, with a couple each under the belt we had pulled back to within 4 mins of 3rd,
now it was time go back to doubles, consolidate & ride strong through the night, by day break we were back into third by about half an hour.
From there it was all about enjoying the mornings worth of riding, holding it together & keeping the pressure on in case of a mistake up front.
The dawn lap, brings a smile to my dial.
Joel bringing it home TT styles.
Jason "
the man" English, his wife Jen & a bunch of TV cameras in his face!
after taking the win in Solo!
The aim was to get up on the box & up on the box we are!
Big ups to the Total Rush & Giant
Nightlightning boys!
A special thanks goes out to my team mate "
Joel Donney", who didn't put a peddle wrong for the full 24, The boys at
"Bike Shed", for keeping my bikes tuned to perfection the whole race, who had a workshop set up as good as any shop,
Nightlightning Lights for making my night laps that much easier,
BMC for my great bikes, was especially loving the Trailfox at night, with 125mm of rear travel & 140mm up front, soaking up all the rough stuff, making it pure bliss on a course becoming rougher & a fatiguing body, with basically no sacrifice to lap times,
Schwalbe tires, for giving me all the traction I needed,
Oz rider grips, I plain swear by them for comfort, feel & durability.
Lastly but so very far from least Jac, Mum, Dad & Rach for taking care of all our needs in the pits.
Especially Jac for driving all the way home on Sunday afternoon/eave while I could barely keep my eyes open & slept half the way I'm sure.
Live to ride, Ride to live,
Troy
With the Worlds,
& Work,
Behind me, what's left to do?
Nutrition packages packed & sent to designated Hotels.
& the New Nokia Navigator to help me find my way,
