24 hours of Adrenalin

I now get it.  I now understand what racing for 24 hours solo on a mountain bike is all about.  I am not saying that I would ever do it without first having a lobotomy, but I do understand the experience of 24 hours of being that pumped and excited about an event that saw people of all ages, shapes and sizes and ranging abilities, have a go at pushing themselves far and beyond what they would normally do.  I had the priviledge of supporting Greg Molesworth compete in the 50-54 years age category for the 24hr Solo World Championship at Mt Stomlo Canberra last weekend.

 My first impression was "tent city".  Then I had never seen so many mountain bikes in my life.  And again everyone from kids who looked like they could bearly walk to boys, girls, mums and dads, adults of all ages on a bike.  Man! I was in my element.  Then I got to pit lane.  The atmosphere was charged.  Body and minds getting ready for the day night day ahead.  I was pumped.  Judy - Greg's wife and pit crew was pumped.  Greg was feeling sick with excitement and a bit of terror of what he was about to jump into. 

The Le Mans start was awesome.  So many fit bodies with millions of dollars worth of bicycling equipment.  With the gun firing the 24 hours of heart pumping action was on.  All solo riders do a 18km lap with wound back into the pit area at the start of the new lap.  Judy and I had about 1 hr 15mins to get ready for Greg's first lap.  This meant getting a range of food and drink options ready and being prepared for mechanical issues and even a bike change.  14 times we saw Greg come in and out of the pits with Greg racing for the full 24 hours completing 15 laps.  His lap times had a percentage of decay which peaked at 2am at 2 hours, but as sun rise came he pegged is lap time back to 1hr 30mins.  He had a bad fall at 11pm hurting his knee and his shoulder to as we found out after the race and he took his shirt off.  He was sporting a bruise the size of two cricket balls.  Judy and I napped for an hour here and there.  But the truth was we found it hard to sleep.  It was just too exciting and too much going on to be a part of.

There had been carnage all night.  At 3am when I was heating up Greg some porriage the tents were just littered with damaged bodies.  The race was becoming a war of attrition. The last two laps where the hardest to send Greg back out to do.  We knew he was hurting.  But in order to preserve his position and savour all the hard work he had done at 10:30am Sunday morning he started his last lap.


Greg crossed the finish line completing 15 laps, 7th in his age group and 199th out of over 400 solo riders, completing 270km, 6900metres of climbing and definately 24 hours of adrenalin for all involved.  I am extremely proud of Greg's performance on the course and in the pits.  He was always calm and in control.  I was an honoured to serve him in the pits and of all the people his life and all his associations with cycling I still can't believe he asked me to be a part of it.  This was the most amazing cycling adventure I have every had and I didn't ride a bike once.