Scott 24hr - Mt Stromlo

The Scott 24hr was held at Mt Stromlo over the weekend. After 2 weeks of not so much as touching a bike after Europe, i wasn't sure how my body would hold up the 24hours of abuse, but after getting 2nd last year, we were keen to go for the win this time. Our team (wonderfully supported by Swell Design - http://www.swelldesign.com.au/) that consisted of Adrian Jackson, Shaun Lewis, James Williamson and myself met up for a practice lap the day before the big race. The track included the full length of the beginner downhill track which is quite rocky, and in my opinion, one of the best tracks on the mountain so i was super happy. With the excitement of being out riding the local trails again with my mates it was hard not to give it too much and my de-trained legs pulled up a little stiff from the session, oh well, it sucks to fall into the trap of enjoying your life!

The field this year was probably the toughest in the race's history with no less than 4 teams that could win the race. Our main competition was Crowne Plaza (Macca, Hendo, Haas & Braunsteins), Gu (Sid, Millar, Pez & Potter) and Rockstar (Gordo, Hamo, Glennan & Fleming) so it was a bit daunting going into the race, but we knew what we had to do. Lewi rode the first lap and he went quite hard, doing enough to mark Hamo (Rockstar) while Paul VDP (Felt 6) and Carlso (Spearman Cycles), who was having a blinder of a weekend with 4th in the prologue, went off the front. When Lewi handed over the me i headed out with Matty Flemming and thanks to Lewi's effort, Crown Plaza and Gu were left behind to chase. Matt and i soon passed the Spearmans and Felt riders and took it in turns at riding on the front, each of us keen to crack the other. After 45 mins, and literally rubbing shoulders at times, we came in together. Then it was over to AJ who managed to put 1:37 into Glennan to give us a small advantage. Aj certainly was looking like a valuable inclusion to the team after Matt Fleming defected to Rockstar in the off-season. From there we just kept plugging away gradually building a lead which was up 9 minutes over Rockstar at 11:30pm, with Gu at 21 minutes and Crowne Plaza at 36min. At that point Lewi and I had a rest while Willo and AJ did 2 laps each. When Lewi and i took over at about 3 o'clock in the morning we had a lead of over 18 minutes from Rockstar! (with 36min to Gu and Crowne lapped) With the knowledge that we had a small lead, Lewi and I set about our laps with a bit less pressure. We could conserve a little and just knock out some steady times, while the Rockstar lads had the pressure on them to chase us. It was extra comfort for us to know exactly how that feels, since we were in that position last year chasing Gu. It is really hard; you have to dig deep on every lap while the fatigue just builds and builds. Come the morning, Rockstar had clawed back quite a lot of time and we were hanging on by 5:55. that is when AJ went out at 9:30am and smashed his quickest lap of the entire race, a 47 flat. From then it was a matter of not crashing and not flatting to ensure that we would take the win. The final margin was about 9 minutes.

An awesome effort from the boys and great to share a win with mates. Thanks to Anton and Col from Swell Design Group for making it happen and to Rosie, BJ and everyone else that helped us out. We will be back to defend next year.

The Swell Team Ute

The lads after the big win

Podium photo

photos by Russ Baker and Dan DeWitte