Hammer's Hell of the West race report

The night before the race at the pasta party I met couple of guys – 1 who had done a 100 miler footrace and another one who had his Kona number burnt on his shoulder. Instantly my instincts of beating the shit out of them in the race vanished. It didn’t helped when they told me that they have done 4 hr ride on Saturday. They were aiming to complete the race in 4:10 something. I quietly ate my pasta and told them I wanted to complete the race in 5:30 hrs. Still quite a big jump from my marathon effort in Yeppoon of 6:55 hrs.

The night before was humid and I felt its going to be hard tomorrow. I slept well as I can’t be bothered to be anxious anymore, especially when the banks of the McIntyre River were only 10 strokes away from the centre. Early start at 3:00 and was at the transition area by 4. After numbering and checking out the various hot (female) contestants with their hot bikes it was time to move towards the river for the start. 5 mins before the start people swam to the middle of the river. I didn’t want to swim a single metre more than required so I stayed at the bank. Stupid and costly mistake as I realized later. As soon the horn blew I jumped in and … jumped straight out. The bloody goggles was leaking. Swam back, adjusted the goggles, and went in again, goggles still leaking, swam back again, readjusted them and finally went back again… quite a start.

The water in that river is BROWN. Couldn’t see a thing for the first 10mins. I was just following a light at a distance and surprisingly swimming well and confidently. There was so much weed and stuff in the water that I became oblivious to it. After about 15 mins the fast guys of the next wave went passed me. I had no idea of the time as I couldn’t see the time on my watch. To the turnaround the slight current was against. From the turnaround my form deteriorated a bit and I had to correct my direction quite frequently to save time. The finish line appeared all of a sudden and I started kicking a bit harder to get some blood flow into the legs. Out of the water in 53 mins which was satisfying (Mooloolaba 1.5k – 55 mins, Yeppoon 1.9k (with wetsuit) – 1:03).

After a long transition run I ran to grab the bike. No bikes were left in my section. The announcer yelled at the mike that the first guy (Luke McKenzie) has reached the 20k mark on the bike just as I was about to mount which was a bit discouraging. The first half of the bike was a breeze. Sat at 38k (avg) and maintained a good cadence. Temptation was there to go hard as and make the most of the tail wind but I kept within myself. A Douche bag was racing me and kept on overtaking me (in his biggest gear out of the saddle). I was annoyed but waited for the 40 k turnaround. Once we took that turn didn’t saw him again. And uh …. Got chicked 3 times.. I unchicked once but the other 2 just went away L
That wind is real and demands respect. My Speedo dropped 10k as soon as I made that turn. To keep the cadence high I had to drop to smaller ring in the front. I was hovering between 28-32km/hr all the way back and I overtook heaps of people just in return which was very satisfying :D. There were sections where the wind was just outright abusive. Passed three dead pigs and 1 live snake in the meantime. Didn’t have the time to even give it a second thought. Finished the leg in 2:29.

Back at T2 I had a bad transition. Off the bike I realized that all my toes are numb and painful and I could barely walk. The rough road didn’t made life any easier. But once I put on the running shoes I was alright. Forgot my race number as I started going out of transition so had to run back and collect it. Lost 30secs there... Overall bike time (including transition was 2:33)

Out on the run I was in a rhythm immediately. At this point I would have to admit that I was getting chicked left right and centre. But I had to hold back to stop from blowing up. Nutrition on the bike was good so I was hoping for the best. I kept moving along making full use of the aid stations drinking heaps and using the ice in plenty. It was nice and cool, a bit of a let down from the famous dreaded heat on the run. The locals were great and they had home made sprinklers etc on the road to cool the athletes. A few were singing on their guitars as well!!. Did the first lap in 36 odd mins (for 6.67k) and I was on thinking of 2 hrs for 20k. I had a gel at the end of 1st lap and started finding my legs again so I stepped it up a bit, and still could maintain it. Second lap was the easiest of the 3 and went without any dramas. Only when I had the second gel at 13k mark, the trouble started. I had a big stitch on my right abdomen area which was probably because of the gas due to the gels. I had to push from here as I was not going to stop and walk. I was grunting and panting but kept going at the same pace. Picked up quite a few people on the 2nd and 3rd lap which was again a good feeling.
3k before the end the stitch was worse but I hung on. It eased up a little with a big burp due to the coke I had. No further dramas from there on as I completed the 20k run in 1:48 which is a full 12 mins faster than what I expected. Compared to the half marathon in Yeppoon (2:20) this was just great.

I was ecstatic at the finish line. I had a quite celebration, just because I finished strong, didn’t have cramps and felt good throughout. Total time of 5:17 , 13 minutes faster than what I wanted. Nutrition was good; heart rate was within 155-170 range throughout. I felt that I nailed this one right!

The race was so well organized. A cute girl gave a nice massage at the end to top of the day. Had a litre of milk afterwards which was a terrible idea as on the way back I had diarrhoea. Had a good feed later on as we were leaving the town. I’m going back next year for sure. I think I have a sub 5 hr in me.

Highly recommended race for all. If only IMG can take a leaf out of these organizers, a lot of HIM will be much more fun.

Regards

Hammer

Swim at the Dam

Folks there a few of us heading to the Dam on Sunday morning for a swim. 8am start in the water. We will be flashing up the BBQ and cooking a bacon and egg burger after the swim; byo tucker. Zuuer and G are running out there starting at 5:30, if you are keen to join them contact Zuuer for details.

Let there be light!

While this is not all together accurate as most did have lights it does point out we have been noticed by some travellers. From next week please make sure we have lights front and rear of some sort. The ride from the servo to the big roundabout we will keep the pace down and keep it tidy so as not to attract this kind of publicity.

GC Guy's last ride

9 riders fronted up this morning for the ride, our best turn out yet. The light is disappearing quickly now and if you don’t have lights you need to think seriously about it now. Noticeable by his absence was Chipper; the big weekend had taken its toll on him.
On the way out Sprinter copped a flat and most of the pack stopped to make sure he was ok. The rest saw this as an opportunity and didn’t look back.
GC Guy picked up his first ever jersey in the mountains (ok they are only hills) and narrowly missed out on the double with The G just hanging on to win the sprint.
Special mention this week goes to the Zuuer; our worst fears have been realised and he is very strong on the new machine. Looks like you will be doing plenty of work up the front Zuuer!
With this being GC Guy’s last ride I have asked him to commentate on the events that took place up the front.

These are his words…..

The pace out was Fast and Furious; The Cervelo Test Team of EPO Hammer & Zuuer did most of the work out. I had to wait for a car at Benaraby intersection and the boys waited for me. Thanks guys! After the railway tracks, Zuuer started hammering again and Hammer faded. I kept looking back to see if Hammer would come along as I wasn’t sure a breakaway of two would survive the peloton. But Hammer obviously didn’t have enough EPO this morning, wasn’t coming so I sucked onto Zuuer’s wheels for dear life (laws of gravity do not apply to this bloke as he was hammering up the hills the same pace he was going down there). I tried couple of times to help with the pull but the pace was just too crazy. Luckily I had just enough in the tank to lead Zuuer up the hills. He probably didn’t know where the finish line is but as it was my last ride, all diplomacy went out the window and I went for it! Sorry Zuuer.
On the way back, The Stretcher paused to organise the groups into one single pack (I thought he was going to have a stretch). The objective was to pace line to the finish. The Stretcher, young Dylan and I attempted but The G responded with a “no way”. Obviously, he has bigger intentions. Young Dylan, The G, Zuuer and The Stretcher did most of the pulling on the way back. I was sucking on everyone’s wheels (just like a good GC guy would do) and not let anyone get away. The Stretcher attempted to breakaway on the big hill but was caught by a Furious G (Fu-G). Towards the last couple of hundred metres, I followed G hoping that he would tire but he didn’t. Having never contested a sprint, I blame it on my poor timing. But in all honesty, it was just a pure case of lack of muscle mass. Now, I will have the shame of beaten by some guy from Manawatu/Pahiatua/Eketahuna… Oh the shame…

As it was my last Wed ride for a while (you never know, I might come back and try the double another day). Thanks for the comradeship and the many fantastic rolls on the tarmac with you folks. Safe riding and good luck with the drafting.

First post!!!

Tension is already starting to build for this Wednesday's ride with the return of the G on the Fuji and whispers of a couple of high profile riders rumoured to be making an appearance; we will see....

This will be a sad ride as it will be GC Guy's last ride as he leaves us for the big smoke. Mate you will be sorely missed as you have been an inspiration to a lot of us with your achievements in the Tri world and a mainstay to our local cycling group. Best of luck down there fella.

It looks like the KOM will now be on top of the first hill past the turn off to the Caravan Park, just to make it even more enjoyable.....

Will The Stretcher and Sprinter be winners again this week?

I don't think so!!!!