Better than a Root Canal

WEMBO - 24 Hour Solo MTB World Championships. 

It's been a big week with many mixed emotions. With my injuries over the last couple of months and my inability to train I went off to Canberra well under prepared and worried whether I would be able to ride the full 24 hrs.

Helium in the tyres?

Thursday
We had a fairly uneventful trip to Canberra.  Except for when the front wheel of the car fell through drain resulting in water spewing from the front of the car.  Emotional turmoil #1. Fortunately it was only the washer water.  I fixed it in a couple of minutes and we were back on track.

Friday
Woke up early as usual with a slight tingle in one of my back teeth.  You know the one.  It's been filled that many times it's now more filling than tooth and is going to cost $5000 to have fixed.
We head out to the track after lunch, register, set up camp and the usual practice lap with Kate, James and Mark.
The course this time is a mix of the red and blue laps of last year. 16 km with one big climb and last years more technical rock sections removed.

Oh! and it's dry. 
It has not been raining for 2 days. 
There are no creek crossings, mud swamps or lakes.

Looking totally exhausted.  I haven't started yet.

Race Morning.
It's 8.00am. I have hardly slept overnight, the tingle is no more. I'll go about a 5/10 on the pain scale and an 8  when i bite down.  Emotional turmoil #2. At this point I could possibly say I have reached a lifetime emotional low. In fact, I'm a blubbering mess.
The idea of competing in the Solo 24 Hour World Championship was conceived just on 2 years ago and as such the last two years have been spent preparing for this day.

11.00am. With some great advice and support for Kate's dad Kim I was seated in the dentists chair discussing the option.  If they remove the tooth it's all over. Go home and rest for a couple of days and wait for it to heal.
Option 2. A Root Canal. Open it up, drain the infection and hope for the best. I will be able to compete but to what level? We will have to let the tooth fairy decide.




Race Day - Saturday
11.15am.  "Mark can you please get the bike ready. I'll be there in 30 minutes"
A Root Canal, the associated drugs and the pain has gone.  I'm just left with that numb feeling and a fear of eating for a while.
11.58am. I'm ready, the bike is ready, I haven't eaten all morning, I haven't stretched and the face is still numb but I've made it to the start line.
WEMBO here we come.

No Haych.
I am not going to massage your date.

Race Day - Sunday
I find out later that they expected me to last a couple of hours then concede.
19 hrs later I did gave up. Emotional turmoil #3.  No leg strength, forearms weak and hands sore as hell. The pain in the butt and tooth are distant memories.  40 minutes later after a ten minute walk and some stretching I'm back on the bike.  2 more Laps.

I'm sitting in the back of the car writing this and tears still come to my eyes as I realise how fortunate I have been to have such great people around me.  Without their support and help this would have not been possible. Mark, Glenn, Shannon, Bart, Jeremy, James, Kate and Kim.  I thank you so much.







WEMBO 24 Hour Solo MTB World Championships.
haych.mtb - Haydn Chapman
127th Place overall
19th in Male 45-49
16 Laps, 
270.24km
5540m Elevation


And a huge congratulations to Kate.
6th Place - Elete Woman
20 Laps

Team SauruS - 2013 Flèche Opperman All Day Challenge

Team SauruS Rides Again

So, it's my first ride back after major shoulder surgery. Frank, Kate Harold and I set of for Rochester in Northern Victoria for the Oppy. This years target is a meager 501 km in 24 hrs.  With Julie, Amelia & Geoff in tow as our support we start riding at 8 am from the Opperman Memorial.


It's been a really bad week.  My shoulder has been giving me hell but with a bit of advice from the Physio I have put a riser stem on the GTR.  It looks ridiculous but it has given me nearly 2 inches of height in the front.  He also told me not to ride or to at least minimize the amount of riding I do.  So I have decide to attempt to ride for 6 hours,  the first hr in every 4.

Stage 1 Shepparton - 70 km
We're on the road at last. The shoulder has responded to the new bar set up nicely.  If I stay off the hoods and concentrate on my shoulders being back and down it feels good.

Stage 2 Katamatite - 130 km
Woo ho! I'm still riding into stage 2 and feeling great.  I have been looking forward to this event for so long and I was told the recovery for the op was 4 - 6 weeks. And I'm pissed because it's taking much longer.  Two flat Tyres in 10 minutes. Bugger

Stage 3 Mulwala NSW - 170 km

Still going.  There is a great tail wind and the average speed is still above 29 kmh. As we ride into town there is a light drizzle. The roads are wet but we manage to stay warm. It's still 20 deg.

Stage 4 Corowa NSW - 210 km
I just had another flat Tyre  We see 4 other team going in the other direction. It's so obvious they are doing the same event.

Stage 5 Berrigan NSW - 290 km
Now for the hurt.  The legs are getting tired and SauruS syndrome has started. We have been riding into a nasty cross/head wind for the last 80 km I'm finding it very hard to keep up a rhythm. I'm looking at the map on the Garmin as I ride and I can see what is coming around the next corner.

It's been 6 weeks since I have been on a bike and I've now done 290 km in 14 hrs.  No shame in giving up now.

Stage 6 Cobram - 320 km
Kate, Harold and Frank push on they ride the next 100 km into the wind. The next time I see them they look destroyed. Going has been very slow. The rolling speed is now below 20 kmh.


Stage 7 Nathalia - 385 km
A very hesitant start.  It doesn't look like anybody wants to restart.  The slow going has reversed any time advantages gained earlier and it is going to be a tough ride to finish.  5 km into the stage I'm back on the bike to help out. 70 km to go to Rochester.

Stage 8 Echuca - 430 km
It's about 8 degrees,  The sun is rising, there should be an energy surge real soon, it always happens when the sun rises.....................


Stage 9 Rochester - 460 km
7.35am we ride into Rochester and go straight to the memorial.  Not finished as we intended to but that's enough. We are not the only team who hasn't made the distance.

Stage 10 Rochester -501 km
Cancelled.  We are out of time

Well done Kate Frank and Harold you guys are cool. Ride 461 km in 24 hr under extreme conditions. That's 3 new PB's.  Me, 364 km a 6 weeks after shoulder surgery and 6 week off the bike.

 Some more stats

4 riders total km 1747
461 for k,h, & f 364 for h
It was my first ride in 6 weeks
Ride time aprox 20 hr
Can of coke 8, jells 12, bars 12, fruit cake a big one
Chicken sambo...... No more please
Hrs ridden in the rain 0.5
km riden into a really shitty head wind 230
teams competing about 20.   Min distance 360 Max distance 540
scabs on my arse. 4
We all had trouble sleeping friday night and got 1-2 hrs of sleep. So really we went two full nights without sleep

"Left over pasta" - Scott Australian 24 hour MTB Championships

Wow! 'That's the hardest thing I have ever done.'

Haych - 11th place. Solo Male 40+.
Kate - 3rd place. Solo Woman.

 It turned out to be a 5 day weekend but the extra days helped in the preparation and recovery.

Thursday.
Kate, Mark & I set off towards Canberra late in the morning.
Here starts the carbo loading. Baked potatoes for lunch, pizza for dinner.
We settle into our backpackers' accommodation for the evening, our home for the next 2 days.  As Glenn put it.  "I little bit above our standard."

Friday.
Nice to relax for the day and not have to travel. We have an easy morning inside, it's raining and has been all night. - 55 mm of rain in fact. We are starting to worry about the track and are thinking back to the Garmin last year and the two previous years @ Forrest. All in the rain.

By late morning the rain had cleared, Glenn & James have arrived and we head off to lunch.  You guessed it, gnocchi.
Canberra sucks. After quite a few wrong turns we finally arrive at Stromlo Forest Park, the site for the 2012 Scott Australian 24 hr MTB Championships. What a fantastic venue. We set up the marques & tent on Solo Pit Straight.
Kate & I set out for a practice on the Red Lap with 9 year old James in tow.  We find out soon enough there is no tow involved. He rides like a machine, like no other 9 year old in the world.
Off to Chris' place in Canberra for dinner.  Guess what. Pasta.

End of the Red Lap.

Saturday - Race Day.
No pressure to get up early. Eat that last 1/2 dozen slices of toast & head out to the track.
Shannon is with us now so the pit crew is complete. The 3 boys, Mark, Glenn and Shannon have got their instruction written down and the wraith of Kate awaits should they stuff it up.
The nerves are setting in, 4 trips to the bathroom in the last hour.

12.00 noon. A rolling start for the 130 Solo riders and we are on our way. The Red Lap first. A 7 km climb up to the top of Mt Stromlo. Tight & technical with lots of switchbacks, but mostly dry. Then the amazing descent across Skyline & the tight section back down to camp on The Luge to complete the 12 km lap.
Garmin Connect The Red Lap




12.45 pm. We go back through transition and head immediately out on the Blue Lap.  Not as steep and not to the same altitude but there is still the same amount of climb over 14 kms.
Garmin Connect The Red & Blue Lap

Start of the blue lap, some time before it got dark.

A light drizzle in the early afternoon sees the track start to deteriorate.

6.00 pm. Time to stop racing a 6 hr Enduro and start racing for 24.  It starts to get dark and stage 2 begins.  Can we ride through the night?  9 hours in the dark.  I know I can, I've done it before.  But Solo? What was I thinking?  A bit more rain in the early evening and now some sections are becoming unrideable.




Sunday - The race continues.
12.00 midnight. It's dark. The mud gets stickier, but still going, have not had any spills yet and still........... happy?

1/2 way checkpoint on the Blue Lap about midnight.

6.00 am. Have gone way past the cramp stage. The mind is still good, the body is reaching its limit.

7.30 am. The body is shot.
Slow up the climb and now slow coming down. Legs, arms and back feeling the pressure.

10.50 am. The last lap Red & Blue has taken me me 2 1/2 hours and I'm officially cooked.

23 hrs.Why was I smiling?

11.05 Back on the bike and cross the finish line and straight back to the deck chair.  NO MORE

3.30 pm. All packed up and on the way home.  We spend the night in Albury and I have a massive steak with fresh vegies.  Lovely! And a couple of ciders and a red wine.... or two.  Off to bed at last.

Altogether a pleasant experience. The body will recover but the sense of accomplishment far out ways the pain.
Will I do it again. YES! Bring on WEMBO 2013.

I haven't said much about our support crew in all this.  What a bunch of inconsiderate bastards. All they could say was "Drink that water bottle Haych," & "You haven't eaten enough."  I just wanted to have a quiet rest and go for a leisurely ride.
Without them,  Mark, Shannon & Glenn we could not have done it. Thanks guys. You Rock!




Monday.
We finish the trip home on Monday morning and I go into the usual clean up routine until dinner time.
What's for dinner Jac?
"Left over pasta"

2012 Oppy 24 hr Challenge

Go Team SauruS.

H-o-SauruS, Frank-e-SauruS, Gibb-o-SauruS and Haych-e-SauruS

406 km in 24 hrs.

We left Lilydale Lake @ 8.am Overcast and threatening to rain. Frank-e-SauruS has a flat tyre before we get under way.

Stage 1- 70km to Yea.

A few wet roads but no rain.

Stage 2- 40km to Seymour.

First flat tyre for Haych-e-SauruS.

Stage 3 - 50km to Heathcote.

Gibb-o-SauruS needs a coke to get the heart pumping again.

Stage 4 - 45km to Bendigo.

Dinner, pasta of course and was it good.

Still no rain. But the roads are dry.

Half way there now.

Stage 5 - 70km to Moliagul.

Wow that was a slog another 70 km.

It's dark now. You can see the stars. All of them.

The roads are quiet now. A car goes past about every 1/2 hr. So Peaceful.

Haych-e-SauruS has two more flat tyres.

Stage 6 - 45km to St Arnuad.

It's 1am we have to get the drunks to sign the Brevet cards.

Legs are official overdone. Must pedal on. 100km to go.

Stage 7 - 55km to Dunolly.

3 hr rest at the Dunolly Motel. Did anybody sleep. Hardly.

SaurArSe syndrome is starting to set in. Ah! Have some more drugs guys. Ahhhhhhhh!

Stage 8 - 30km to

Maryborough. 8am All done 407 km in 17.5 hr ride time. Average 27kmh.

A special thanks to unofficial SauruS's Julie Amelia & Jason for an awesome effort supporting the SauruS's

Garmin 24hr Enduro, Redesdale 2011

OhNo! Not another wet ride.  The conditions really, really, really bad for the first 12 hr.  It rained for 9 hr before the race start and then a light drizzle until night fall.

The track, always twisting and turning with the potential of loosing the bike from under you in a blink.  Slosh and mud, no traction with rocks in it.
Slowly lap by lap the slosh cleared to make the track almost ridable.  The stars came out. The sun came up. That's a bit better.Physically and mentally demanding to the extreme.

A late entry on Friday afternoon saw a new team enter the mixed pairs category. The World Champion Adventure team has entered the Garmin 24. Bad luck for Haych and Kerryn.

Kate is a machine.  No Demons. Just determination
•Female Solo
•First place
•10 laps 172.2 km
• 5 Laps clear on 2nd Place
Keep your eye on Cycling Central for the official interview.      

Kerryn (That's Sami's awesome mate) is a machine.
After lots of falls and memories of recent "happenings", she continued to get up and pushed on.
Haych,  He's is a machine to.
•Mixed Pairs
•2nd Place behind those world champions.
•Haych (9 laps) and The Kingy (7 laps) = 16 Laps 275.52 KM
•5 laps behind the winners and 9 laps ahead of 3rd place.
We wont be on Cycling Central.  Ah! but I was.  Having a bath in the dam.

Hey. And not to forget our support crew. Bart, Mark and Shannon your guys and totally awesome. And the guy who kept dropping by with the beer and spare parts.  He's awesome to.

Jeep 24 hr MTB Enduro - Forrest - 27-28 Nov 2010

Race Preview,Imagine if the government come to you and said they are going to build 70km of mountain bike specific trails around your town. To the people of Forrest in the Otway Ranges this became a reality in 2003.
On election day 2010 the town was swamped with an enormous amount of rain and extra 800 visitors as they hosted the 2010 Jeep 24hr MTB Enduro.

With much excitement, the four of us. Kate, Haydn, Dave & Jo set off for Forrest on Friday morning. We set up camp on the oval then went out for an easy ride to check out the race trails.
We had a great meal at a local B&B restaurant in the main street then went back to camp for our pre race sleep.





9am Sat. The oval began to fill with 650 riders and their support crews. We get a wake up call as Dave played a tune on the bagpipes. Our spirits drop quickly as the rain started to fall.


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Race Review

• 12pm Sat. Race underway. Haych and Dave set off on their first laps. Still raining a little.
  3pm Sat. Dave and Kate hit the lead in the mixed pairs category. Haych and Jo are in 6th Place. Still raining.
• 6pm Sat. Still raining and the trails are getting bad.
• 12am Sun. Half way. We are riding the night lap now a little easier but the mud sticks to everything. The bikes are starting suffer. Kate and Dave have a clear laps lead. Haych & Jo have moved up into 3rd place.
• 6am Sun. As the sun starts to rise we take off on the second day circuit "Mariners Run"
  The rain has stopped for a few hour now but the mud.......... Haych and Jo have just made 2nd place by a very slim margin.
• 12pm Sun. Race over. Kate & Dave 1st place with 22 laps. Haych and Jo 2nd place 21 laps.

Race Debrief.Sore, tired and a little bruised we set off home. Adrenaline still pumping with a sense of achievement.
We! Are! Awesome!
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Race Stats. ( for the 4 of us)639 km ridden.
49 hrs riding time.
48 power jells and sports bars.
48 litres of water.
24 bike washes.
20 cans of coke.
4 hrs of sleep
2 bottles of red wine (Support crew) or was that 3.
4 happy campers...........