Rocky Trail - GP8, Mt Stromlo

I sense early signs of an MTB enduro tragic, or maybe just a mid-life crisis?

I was planning a long training ride in the Brindabella's Saturday, that was until I came across the Rocky Trail GP 8hr race scheduled at Mt Stromlo the same day, now this had to be more fun than grinding out a bunch of miles on my lonesome.  A call to the race organisers late in the week to check entries were still open and a quick on-line registration and I was good to go... the Super Master category again.  Kind of like a day at the office, start at 9 and finish at 5, except the Met' Bureau were predicting 90% chance of rain with 10-20mm forecast, the potential for another mud fest had me a little nervous especially on a course like Stromlo.

Photo by Dave B - the Berm website.

This race was definitely a "gentlemen's" start with registration open from 7am and the race starting at 9am.  I managed to make registration in plenty of time, collected my race number and parked a discrete distance from race central.  I struck up a conversation with another racer Ian who was prep'ing his single speed for the 4hr event, the low and ominous cloud cover had us both thinking the day could easily get worse.

At a guess around 250-300 riders crowded the start area come 9am, the 8hr bunch were scheduled to go off first with the 4hr riders about one minute behind.  Although this didn't make sense to me, everyone was pretty well settled after the first lap.

I'd thought about 8 laps would be a good number to aim for on the day, it'd give me somewhere around 110-120km which I'd planned for on my own in the mountains that day.  I settled at the back of the 8hr bunch so I didn't get in anyone's way, however it seemed no time at all before I had lots of 4hr 'sprinters' up my clacker on the first lap.  The pressure was mounting as we crested Mt Stromlo and headed out along Western WedgeTail then SkyLine and into the Luge trail, it was towards the end of the Luge that I 'burped' a front tyre and came a cropper in the single track, not a good look.  It seemed to take ages to get a tube into the front wheel and sufficiently inflated so I could get back on the bike and complete my first lap, gravel rash and all.  The 29'er was performing beautifully throughout all of this by the way, I can assure you I was the weakest link.

A nice feature of the day was Mike Tomalaris from SBS Sport calling the race, it was pretty cool coming through the checkpoint area and having Mike call your name, number and time out over the loud speaker,  just as if you were at the Tour de France.

I'd ridden trail 2 at Stromlo a number of times before, this wasn't a lot different except the organisers had added a section of track to the start that extended the total circuit out to 12.2km, a lot of hill climbing but with some pretty classy downhill as well, it didn't take too many laps before I became intimately familiar with every rock and bump on Stromlo.  8hrs is a fair time to be racing technical single track so I settled into a pretty comfortable routine stopping briefly at the summit for a drink and a gel then again as I passed through the checkpoint area, my laps were around the hour mark and that suited me fine.

Throughout the day the weather varied from heavily overcast to sunny periods which raised a sweat on the climbs.  The 90% chance of rain really never eventuated thankfully, just a few drops of rain across the whole day.  The single track on Stromlo is really quite technical, this meant the day never became boring as it was always a challenge to nail difficult sections of track no matter what lap you were on.

We'd been warned at race briefing that due to the nature of the weather that day the organisers may cut the race short at 4pm, which they eventually did and this meant I officially completed 7 laps for the race, coming in at around 4:30pm.  What to do, head over to the event centre and a beer or go out for another lap, decisions, decisions?  I eventually came into the checkpoint area around 5:30pm having completed my 8 laps and the very last person on the course, by this stage the race organisers were handing out free beer and there was almost a party atmosphere developing... now that's an MTB race!

I missed the presentations while I was out on that last lap, so it wasn't until mid week that I eventually caught up on the results.  What a surprise to find I'd actually taken out the GP8 Super Masters category on the day, quite a thrill.  It's raining now in Canberra towards the end of the following week and all I want to do is go back out for a few more laps... now that's tragic!

Here's a tip, keep an eye out for Rocky Trails enduro events, they're a lot of fun... ;O)

Standard Training Plan - XPD 2011

A number of people have asked - how do you prepare for a 700 km race?  The short answer is -  I have no bloody idea!!  Ask me after we have finished and I will be able to tell you what we needed to do more of!  

Basically, each of us have targeted a number of major events during the last year as a lead up to the XPD.  This has enabled our bodies to become progressively tougher - at least, that is the hope!


Members of the Team have completed a number of Ultra Marathons:  Bogong to Hotham, Overland Track, 6ft Track, TNF 100 and OXFAM trailwalker 100.  The GeoQuest was entered as a major mid year adventure race as well as the Husky 100 MTB race.


Here's a typical 10 day training block for David.


Day 1:    Run 45 mins, Paddle 3 hrs
Day 2:    Ride 6 hrs
Day 3:    Gym 2 hrs, ride 1 1/2 hrs
Day 4:    Ride 1 1/2 hrs
Day 5:    Ride 2 hrs
Day 6:    Gym 2 hrs
Day 7:    Ride 1 1/2 hrs
Day 8:    Paddle 3 hrs
Day 9:    Walk 5 hrs
Day 10:  Gym 2 hrs, Ride 1 1/2hrs
Rest and repeat!


Elevation change 7000m - most sessions at aerobic to upper aerobic range.


Is it enough?  Probably not - but that's all I can do.....

OXFAM 2011 Trailwalker

A happy and NAIVE Team at the start

The more you disappear down the rabbit hole of Adventure Racing the more the "normal" world warps.  


The OXFAM trailwalker is a great example of this - most people consider walking 100km to be a major outing and one that requires significant dedication and preparation!  Our Team had fallen so far down the rabbit hole that we now have fur, long ears and stupidity to match.  How's that?  Well, we thought it would be a good idea to "do" the 100 as a simple training day, in preparation for this year's AR World Champs - the XPD in Tasmania.

17km down - crossing at Cowan Station

 Warping and weirdness ensured that we and 2000 other walkers toed the start line at Brooklyn on the shores of the Hawkesbury River in NSW.  The competitors were a mixture of regular folk, teens, oldies, clubs and corporates.  Hiding in the crowd were a sprinkling of serious runners and the odd ARer - a few GeoQuest, TNF 100 and XPD logos gave the game away.  The start was literally a circus, with horns blowing, party hats, costumes and officials "pumping" up the walkers - a party atmosphere prevailed but was short-lived as the clock counted to zero and the first steep hill appeared. 

Col ensuring he has enough vegemite sammies

The game was on.  Walk as fast as you can.  Minimise your stops - manage your tiredness, boredom, fatigue, hunger, pain, blisters, knees, crutch and any other "bit" that could hurt. Remember to eat, drink, refill water, change socks and shoes, lube up as required - tape up bits sooner rather than later.  Stay warm, stay cool, stay dry - keep rocks out of your shoes.  Ensure you have enough light to get through a dark night.  Don't forget the chocolate coated espresso beans, no doz, painkillers and rescue blanket - walking poles are handy if you want some form of knee left at the end.  Oh, and a good sense of humour is required - you'll need it.  Some parts of this walk are exceptionally tedious and painful!

The best way to describe the Hawkesbury to Sydney Harbour walk is as a continuous series of short steep 100 - 200m hills - up one side, along a ridge top then down into a creek bed - long stretches of tree roots, slippery rocks and technical walking - if you put your brain on auto - you would trip almost instantly!  Occasionally a fire trail would appear and give respite to creek beds.  We walked non-stop between checkpoints that were spaced every 10 - 15 km.  Starting at 9 am, we had covered 35 km by dark - the conga line of walkers on the narrow tracks created a line of headlamps disappearing into the distance.  The first 50 km went by in a respectable 12 hrs and 30 mins - our aim was to complete the 100km in 24 hrs.  Nothing flash - just consistent walking - the sort of effort that we envisage will be necessary for the XPD in Tasmania.

Wildflowers in abundance

Pizza for dinner at midnight - a slug of coke and we were on the move again - with 60 km down our wheels fell off!  Knee pain and blisters began to seriously hamper Carey and I wasn't far behind with my own problems.  Colin was suffering 
from Monkey Butt and Emma was challenged by the late hour.  Maybe a touch of reality would have helped in our preparation - 5 weeks is not enough time to prepare for something as arduous as the OXFAM trailwalker!  Living in the AR rabbit hole, it becomes easy to think - yep 100km - no worries - we're fit - stick it in the training plan.  Opps - 100km is a LONG way - especially in the type of terrain this walk covered! 


A bit of humbling is good for the soul!

Dawn Day 2 - 75 km down

With this in mind, the midnight to dawn stages dragged on and on.  Carey was a champion - her feet were becoming bloody pulps.  Add a painful knee to the feet and going downhill was becoming a mission  - with taped paws and gritted teeth the night disappeared.  First light found us close to Roseville Bridge and the 80 km checkpoint.  Carey spent an hour in first aid having her feet repaired. A cup of coffee later and we followed the Middle Harbour track along the foreshore until we came out of the bush and into the suburban jungle of cars, noise and expensive houses.

Just another bash along a creek

Carey receiving blister aid

What a shock - we had managed to walk almost entirely in bush through one of the most densely populated areas of Australia.  Such is the quality of the Great North Track that it was only now; at 90 km did we encounter the noise and rush of a big city.

Down and across the Spit Bridge - the urban experience was a surreal juxtaposition to the previous 24 hrs, up the hill and down to the "glamour" of Balmoral Beach and the Saturday morning brunchers.  We must have looked very shabby and alien in our sweat stained clothes, muddy legs, weary faces and distant eyes.  By now our feet felt as though a cheese grater had been run over them.  Every step burned.

Not so glamorous walkers at Balmoral Beach - 95km down

One last hill and thankfully it really was the last one!  And the finish line loomed.  A very pleasing sight - a bit of fanfare and Team Five Ten had completed the 2011 OXFAM Trailwalker.

6600m of elevation change - 100km - 28 hrs and 20 mins.

Colin, Emma, Carey and David 

It was a great training day.  We were pretty toasted.  

The Husky 100ker...

The rest of Team Five Ten have been powering on after Geo however lately my motivation for training has taken a downward spiral, no particular reason really but I seemed to be struggling with a Canberra Winter, a new job and house renovations that were dragging on and with no central heating through all of this.  So I needed something to freshen up my training, what about a 100K MTB enduro?


Well lady luck was definitely smiling on me when I came across the cancelled Husky 100ker from June, by all accounts it seemed the perfect race for a first timer and with some sweet sounding single track thrown in.  The organisers had pushed the rescheduled date out to the 7th August so I was in luck, I could squeeze in a few laps of Bruce Ridge (my local single track area) with a couple of outings to Sparrow/East Kowen in hope of whipping my MTB legs into shape in what time I had left.

Clearly the organisers of the Husky have respect.  When I registered I found I qualified for the 'Super Masters' category i.e. those over 50!  I liked the sound of the title... it seemed pretty cool, there were a total of 29 in my category out of a field of 294 starters, but don't let that fool you (mistake number one).


The Husky is based out of Callala beach, just south of Nowra on the NSW south coast.  Being only 3 hours drive from Canberra I decided to leave late Saturday, stay in Nowra and then get a not so early start Sunday morning to make registration by 6am, perfect.  It rained the whole way from Canberra to the coast and mud was on my mind for the Sunday race.  The motel in Nowra turned out to be ok and I settled on greasy take-away followed by a couple of coffees to top off my Saturday evening, jeez these MTB racers sure know how to have a good time!


At least the rain had stopped Sunday morning and by 6am the sky was clear and early registration was open at Callala.  I registered, got my race number and started to change and prep my bike.  I chatted with another racer named Spencer (who'd parked next to my car) about modern carbon fibre bikes and the fact I'd splashed out the previous day on a carbon fibre bidon cage for my Trek Superfly, with thanks to the crew at Bike Culture in Canberra.  By 7am the crowds were gathering at the start area and I lined up with everyone else at the back of the pack along with a guy on a uni-cycle, the fact he was wearing 5.10 shoes was a nice touch... ;O)


So what to expect when it had been raining most of the day before and all that night, mud and lots of it.  Yes the Husky 100ker this year was muddy, the single track was muddy, fire trails were muddy just lots of mud.  For most of the 100k my chain sounded like a coffee grinder and I dare to think what state the brake pads are in, however the aid stations were staffed by very friendly and happy folks dispensing Shotz tabs, water, lollies and fruit... what a fantastic crew.  Did I say that I hadn't ridden much mud before, well this was certainly an introduction to riding mud and I have to say I really enjoyed it.


The Husky is both 100k and 50k races, it was at the 50km mark that I thought I probably would have been better entering the 50ker, that way I could have gone home at that point for a nice afternoon nap!  I pushed on through more mud but in the knowledge that most of the folks around me were probably feeling the same way, put it down to a perverse sense of humour.  It was at about the 95km mark that I met Keith, another Super Master who was powering along a fire trail.  I pulled in behind his wheel and stayed with him as he stepped on the gas.  For a while I forgot about being tired and just enjoyed some fast racing as we shot down sections of very narrow trail in the big ring.  It wasn't long before we rode together discussing all sorts of things and then into the finish line at the back of the Callala beach RSL, me in about 7h08m... not a great time but Ok for an old guy I suppose and my first 100ker on a bike!


As I write this up I'm checking the results for the Husky... first in the Super Master category was home in 5h02m - yikes!  Not bad when you think the first Elite rider and race winner was home in 4h24m... go the old guys!


This should give my XPD training a good kick start!

Epic, brutal, mesmerisingly intense - the 2011 GeoQuest

The start was clearly an omen of what was to come. As the clock ticked to 8 am Saturday - the Premier Mixed teams lined up with their boats ready to start the 2011 GeoQuest - a 48 hr Adventure Race second to none! It was the tenth anniversary edition - little did we know that we would get a birthday present that none of us would forget and a race that will be talked about for a long time to come.

With Col and I skippering and new comers to ocean paddling Carey and Ed in the bow, we paddled strongly from the start to avoid breaking waves and rock bars. Within 50 m of the beach a rogue wave loomed - it was large enough to create an

"oh s--t" moment - throwing the rudder down and sweeping hard we managed to crest the wave just as it went vertical - the slap coming off the top was loud. Paddling crazily we avoided two more large waves. The boats behind us were decimated.

Six boats swamped and the fleet in disarray. But we were now clear of immediate danger.

12 kilometres of downwind paddling in rising seas provided some of the most intense paddling Col and I had done.

We fought for almost two hours to keep our boats upright. Crews all around us were upside down - some separated from their boat - it was getting dangerous and several times we and other teams went to the assistance of distressed paddlers. Carey was on edge with a measure of trepidation - Ed was laughing like a lunatic in the bow - we were in for a wild ride. Most teams capsized on the beach landing. We side surfed a dumper in and nailed it. Ed and Colin were less fortunate.

Leg two started as a Bike Rogaine and was to finish with a two km pack raft of our bikes down the Kalang River to a transition. Our race derailed here and never recovered. It started with a loose bike rack, sucking mud, leeches and a swim in a drain and quickly progressed to more serious stuff - a navigation error and a lost 90 minutes followed by half of our floating devices disappearing somewhere in the state forest.

The end result - the most horrific and miserable 2 kms of "river paddling" in my life, 4 bikes, 4 people, 4 packs and 4 floating devices made for an epic of suffering. The tide was against us - so two people on a lilo, lying sideways and towing a small raft with bikes and packs lashed on the top meant we had to hand paddle our guts out to move two metres forward before needing a rest - unfortunately we would then float backwards one and a half metres. You can fit a lot of two metre paddling stints into two kms! On dark and becoming hypothermic we struggled into the checkpoint - four hours behind our projected time!

Moral: don't make mistakes!

Leg three was a kayak paddle down the Kalang River to Urunga - the tide had now turned and we had it in our favour - small mercies from the Gods of AR. Twelve kilometres disappeared in just over an hour - a beautiful paddle in the drizzle, calm water and dark night; we finally started to warm up!

Leg four required us to cross two very fast flowing outgoing 300m wide tidal channels in the PITCH black. You could hear the thundering of breaking waves on the sand bar just a little way downstream. No more immersion in cold water - we would sit in the rafts and use our split paddles to get us across.

Ferrying a plastic donut is an interesting exercise - it tends to go in circles. So we went in circles - downstream! My anxiety levels went higher and higher as the sound of the waves approached. It is disconcerting to be in the middle of what you know to be a fast flowing river but can't see either bank, your only point of reference a 4m circle of light around your raft. Making the far side was a relief!

A mangrove wade, some mud and oysters, a few sand dunes and we were on the beach. A little three kilometer traipse up the coastline in the windy drizzle and we arrived at our scheduled dinner stop - 9.30 pm. Our support team had built a wonderful shelter and we needed it - torrential rain had now arrived!

Leg five was a MTB ride with 4 check points that required navigation and bush bashing; each checkpoint was strategically placed at a creek junction, a euphemism for lantana, mud, groveling and lots of swamp work. We predicted 7 hrs, which meant this would take us through to dawn. We rigged for a wet and cold night. With hot food in our stomachs and layers of clothes and rain jackets on we headed out into the storm. It was 11pm.

Our night slowly disappeared into a collection of memories - all associated with mist, drizzle, wind, rain, steam, mud, leeches, swamps, riding and walking. With good navigation and excellent teamwork we nailed all checkpoints. Some were exceedingly tricky and it was a triumph for all of us to "click" our control bands!

The two hours before dawn is the dreaded "dead time"; micro sleeps while riding our bikes caused us to pull up and munch on a handful of coffee beans. With a new found zing and the psychological hit that comes with daylight we "lifted" and the last two checkpoints came easily. At 8 am we rode into a very welcome site - our fabulously hardworking support crew had built another waterproof shelter. Soaking wet and after nine hrs on the bike we loaded up on hot coffee and soup.

Deciding to stay in our wet clothes, a change of socks was all that was required. Once bare skin was revealed, the extent of the swamp marches became apparent - massive leech attacks.

Carey had six fat ones on each ankle!

Leg six, a 15 km trek began with a 4 km walk through the beautiful Gleniffer valley and the Promised Land to the base of the Dorrigo escarpment. Here our world went vertical and stayed that way for two relentless hrs - describing the trail as steep climbing doesn't do it justice! Called the Syndicate Track - it is famous amongst walkers and for good reason! After 800m of muddy ascent we crested the spur. Largely manageable and at times enjoyable the previous 28 hrs had varied in "wetness".

Now it became truly ugly.

The heavens opened and it deluged - wind and water came out of the sky in biblical quantities. We trudged on. The tracks became streams and the streams became rivers. Being the last team on the mountain and at over 1000m in altitude, we took the brunt of the storm. We started to become seriously cold, hypothermia was looming.

For the first time in my life I considered a DNF - personal and team safety was now becoming more important than finishing a race. I remembered that DNF can also stand for Do Nothing Fatal. As a team, we walked on and debated what to do next; deciding to reevaluate our position once we had made the Transition.

A staunch support crew welcomed us in - a sodden Leg six was over. The checkpoint official informed us that the race had been abandoned due to dangerous weather, floods and increasing rainfall! All teams were to be taken out of the field.

At 2.30 pm on Sunday - 30 hrs and 30 mins into the GeoQuest - our race was over.

We were disappointed and relieved - it was hard to tell which emotion held sway!

We are grateful to our legendary support crew - they went through a tough night and never let us down. No request was too much. A race like this is an equal partnership - without them we couldn't perform. Thank you Philip, Josh and Sharon!

A big thanks to our sponsors: Five Ten, Petzl, Aide, SilkBody, Platypus and SealLine. The right gear for trying places!

And GeoCentric Events - Craig and Louise - well done on a terrific 10th Anniversary race!

Over the Sunday and Monday 300mm of rain fell on the race ground.

It was a tough outing.

Bring on GeoQuest 2012!

Running in the Desert

With a week to go until the GEO - one last run was needed. What better than - Stage 10 of the world famous Larapinta Trail!

So that was today's plan.

Leave the car at Ormiston Gorge - run to the Finke River and back to the gorge - and the bonus - I get to do the Stage twice.

Running in the West Macdonnell Ranges of the Northern Territory is a very special experience.

It is surreal to run in the absolute quiet of an ancient landscape with only the crunch of gravel under foot and your shadow to keep you company.

The Finke River is regarded as the oldest active river bed in the world! Today it was full of water and a welcome relief from the midday heat.

One of the best 20 km's you could ever do.

The 2011 North Face

The 2010 North Face broke a bit of me. Not all of me thankfully - just my knee. I didn’t really pay much attention to the surgeon when he said my Ultra days were over. I figured what would he know! So off I went and did the Six Foot in March.

After a fair degree of suffering I reassessed my figuring. Maybe the surgeon did know something. With this new approach I downgraded my TNF expectations. It was to be the half for me!

All I had to do was to find a keen bean to do the other half. None were that dumb, so whilst my wife Carey is no sucker - she is pretty keen! She was in and the plan was hatched - I'd do the first half and Carey could run over the finish line and enjoy the crowd!

Ed and Colin were signed up for the full 100km - so Team Five Ten was fully represented.

Saturday May 14th dawned clear, COLD and windy, at 7 am almost 900 runners were away to loud cheers.

There is something bizarre about lining up to tackle the North Face - it is a test of physical and mental preparedness. A special sort of craziness is needed for these types of outings, it is tough and it builds an incredible sense of camaraderie amongst its contestants.

For most - it is the individual against the course - not each other! The terrain is mountainous and unrelenting. The majority of the field will finish late at night and in the bitter cold that only the upper mountains can produce.

Having completed the TNF in 2010 I was under no illusions as to what lay ahead. Knowing what is coming helps and I had a plan to get my half done. This year I had poles to help me with the downhills. After only 22km I needed them. The next 32 kms were an exercise in pain management and the bloody mindedness needed to get the job done.

I predicted 9 1/2 hours and that's exactly what it took! At Megalong Ford I handed the "baton" over to Carey at 4.30 pm. The sun was setting and the cold was increasing dramatically

Carey tackled the remainder of the 6 foot track and Nellie’s Glen in good style - passing many people, she was quickly into checkpoint 4 at Katoomba - with 11km done she was just warming up. Which was a good thing - the crossing of the Jamison and climbing Kedumba would be cold!

A very respectable 4 and 1/4 hrs saw her cross the Jamison - one of the biggest climbs in the whole TNF. At just after 11 pm she tagged checkpoint 5 at Queen Victoria hospital. Hot soup, a brief rest and she was away for the last leg - stage 6 - 11kms to the finish.

In good spirits, she completed this leg in just over 2 hours, finishing a few minutes before 2.00 am Sunday May 15th!

Our time - 18 hrs 53 mins and 13 secs. We were chuffed!

Ed and Colin finished in an awesome time of 16 hrs and 43 mins.

The whole team was in under 19 hrs. A great effort!

Crossing Mt Solitary

It was the last hit out before the North Face.

Carey, Colin and I opted for crossing Solitary the hard way - from Kings Tableland via the Ruined Castle finishing with a climb up the Giant Stairway to the top of the Sisters.

Then back to Katoomba Oval and our car.

From Jamison Creek below Solitary, a 700m climb in the pouring rain led straight up a super steep ridge line to the eastern Summit. The track had turned to a creek and the clouds descended.

It was meant to be a simple 25km run but the rain turned the track to black mud. The Wild Endurance - a 100km walk for the Wilderness Society was also using parts of the same track.

So 400 plus walkers had turned the Federal Pass track into a boggy morass!

Cold and drenched we arrived at the car just before dark - hot coffee

returned some life.

6 hours and 15 minutes for a lousy 25km - it was a slog.

Running in the West Macs - video

First video: At 1358m, the summit of Mt Sonder on the edge of the Tanami Desert is a surreal place!

Second video: Descending Sonder - grand views all the way down!

A Little Trip to the Desert

With time running out for the North Face. Carey joined me in Alice Springs for a taste of desert running.

The West MacDonnell Range is home to one of the greatest walking tracks in the world - the 234 km Larapinta Trail which leaves the Overland Telegraph Station in Alice and winds its way through desert, rugged mountain tops and secret canyons brimming with water from a year of rain, to finish on the summit of the majestic Mt Sonder.

Our plan was simple - run two stages of the"Lara" - my friend Dan joined us for the first day, a stunning 25 km from Serpentine Gorge along the top of the range to Counts Point and then down to Serpentine Dam to close out the day.

Blue sky, cool wind and mind blowing views accompanied us all day. The view from Counts Point is as good as any in the world. In fact, Dans words rang loud - it seemed as though we were on another planet.

Day two and Carey and I tackled the 8km climb to the summit of Mt Sonder. At 1358m - the fourth highest mountain in the Territory - after 700m of ascent we were rewarded with a view that takes the breath away.

Visibility was over 100km to the edge of the Tanami Desert. Everywhere we looked ancient mountains and desolate landscape filled the vista.

The desert is a special place to run.