Enough Rest, Time for a Test

It is quite a while since I last tried to ride for more than four hours. But it is about time I did. Once again this Saturday I will line up for another 12 hours of mountain biking. Last year I competed for the second time at the 12 hours of Woodhill north of Auckland. There were only two of us trying the full 12 hours solo, so most of the time I raced against the team riders. The other soloist had a bad race, which became obvious to me when I passed him as he threw up on the side of the track.

This year I will be going to three wins in as many appearances. It is not clear if there will be riders coming over from across the ditch to make things more interesting. My form is not likely to be great as I have only been training a month or so. I am sure, despite this, that I can get through 12 hours of sandy trails.

Last weekend I competed in the first round of the mid north island XC series held at the Craters in Taupo. At only 30km I was not expecting much. This proved to be a correct assumption. I placed seventh in the open men's. Not great considering there were 10 starters. However I got some big time speed work in and the Rohloff hub made its racing debut.

At first I was running a 44 tooth ring in combination with a 16 tooth sprocket on the rear. But this proved to be a little tall even with the wide range of ratios in the Rohloff. So before the race in Taupo I changed the 44 for a small ring. I increased the chain tension as well to make sure the chain stays where it should be.

The Ellsworth frame presents a small problem when it comes to mounting the Rohloff front chain guide. The bottom shock mounting takes up most of the room on the seat tube where the chain guide usually clamps. With the bigger ring it worked, but with the small diameter ring it can not go low enough to be useful. So at this stage I am solely relying on the chain tension to keep the chain on. So far, so good. But the real test will come on Saturday, with 12 hours of rough sandy tracks.

One thing I find a great aid in ultra endurance racing is music. Let's face it: you're out there for a long time and some tunes are ideal to let the time slide on by. I often find when a favourite track comes on I ride a little faster or smoother. Music is known to allow people to find rhythm or even slip into a trance a whole lot easier. Rhythm is critical to riding an ultra endurance event well. And yes, I do often slip into a vague trance-like state when racing or even training.