Like all good adventures, this one started with a message to a mate. “Hey mate, would you be interested in doing a 12hr XC Style race with me as a team?” To my surprise, and like all good mates, Rohan responded with “Let’s do it! How do we sign up?”
4 weeks later, we found ourselves on the start line (very underprepared) for the G-Bom 12hr hosted by the Bom Bom MTB Club, based in Grafton, NSW. But, we had a plan: Rohan would start, aiming for me to finish and we would simply take it lap by lap for the 12hrs. Our focus was on making sure between the 11km course laps that we tried to recover, replenish and service our bikes to make it through as consistently as possible.
To say it was a hot day was an understatement (36 degrees), but the atmosphere was great as everyone was stoked to be a part of the event, which was in its return after a period of closure. It was a strange feeling taking in the start of the race as a spectator, but my time would come. Rohan punched out a fantastic first lap in the traffic, which set us up in a strong position for the day.
I narrowly missed disaster with a small puncture on my first lap, but was able to push through as the tubeless sealant did its job and kept us in the race. Rohan also got tangled up with a stick grabbing his derailleur, bending it out of alignment. Some bush mechanics got it sorted while I was out on my next lap, and we continued to plug along.
The heat and dusty course provided a great challenge for all. Heading into the late afternoon we found our consistency. Our ability to recover/replenish between laps saw us leading our category, which was a surprise as we entered to have a great day out riding bikes and weren’t too fussed with our performance. Now that we had the lead, our competitive nature kicked in and we weren’t letting the race go without a fight.
With the late afternoon and drop in temps, we switched from the day course used for the first 6hrs, to the night course. The switch of courses provided a great mental relief; we felt like we had a new lease on life. On a personal level, we set our fastest individual lap times for the entire day in these twilight hours.
As the sun set and lights were installed on our bikes, there was a great sense of community building. For roughly the last 10hrs we had all been living it up in the pain cave and only crossing paths with a handful of other riders on each loop. Now we could see the lights of our fellow competitors scattered through the trees and found great solace in the fact we weren’t out there suffering alone.
As we worked through the last hours we were able to set a pace that would see us finish with an equal amount of laps each completed (18 laps for a total of close to 200km) and I had the honour of crossing the finish line for our team to wrap up what was such a great event.
I would encourage anyone thinking about participating in an event to simply give it a go. You will do much better than those sitting on their couch at home: the MTB community is so welcoming and inclusive. I would like to give a massive shout out to the team at the Bom Bom Mountain Bike Club for hosting such a great event. There are many amazing events right across the country waiting for you to have a go. I can’t wait to see what Rohan has in store for me next, as we are still living the post event high. Bring on the next adventure.
Until next time.
Nick
Customer Service Manger
Banner & Last Photograph - Thanks to Sharon Mitchell Images & Design
