Australian 24Hour Mountain Bike Championship

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24 Hours of Dust

Andy Fellows / 30.10.2006

12 noon.
A sigh of relief went through the solo riders, as for the first time in the history of the race we were to start on our bikes, no 800 metre sprint! After a quick chat we were off, a rolling start through pit lane then the hammer dropped and it was on! Considering it is such a long ride I opted to sit back and drop into a steady rhythm.

2pm.
The sun starts to suck the energy out of anything not protected by overgrowth of the forest, and really how much shade can a pine tree provide? In the first few hours I choose to run a camelback with a high concentrated electrolyte to combat dehydration, plus take on water every lap. Slow and steady.

4pm.
It’s a long time to be out there by yourself, so I took the opportunity to ride with a friend. Together we started crankin’ out the laps, chatting the whole way, sneaking in all the cheeky views of the Kowen Forest! The sun set, but the dust grew thicker and thicker. Deep braking ruts started to appear in sections of the trail that were once smooth and a pleasure to ride.
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