Scott 24hr Mtb race - Stromlo Forest Park

This was my 4th year in the Scott (the race formally known as the Mont). The first 2 years I was in a mixed 6, last year an all-female 4 and this year an all-female 3. The previous years have been held at Kowen forest and this year was the first time at Stromlo using all the new trails built by CORC. I have enjoyed every year but this year surpassed the others by miles, I absolutely loved it. I really enjoyed the new course and 3 was a perfect size team, offering plenty of riding but not enough to be punishing. Plus my 2 team mates were awesome.

The new course is based on a "hourglass" with two separate laps = red lap and blue lap. Each team or solo rider must ride 1 lap of each in order for the 24hrs. Its up to you whether you do single laps, double laps, or any other combination as long as go redblueredblueredblue etc.

The red lap was about 11k and notable for the fact that it climbs basically to the top of Mt Stromlo through a series of switchbacks, then does a really fun, fast and flowing traverse of the mountainside then returns to transition down a moderately steep section. The blue lap was about 14k, is more rolling, with more firetrail and slightly more technical sections.

Red was my favourite but I also enjoyed the blue. But mostly I loved the fact that there was two different laps, it made it much more interesting. Also because each lap was shorter than at Kowen you could go harder, and not worry too much about food, drinks and lights. So the course was fantastic.


I was riding the first lap which is done Le-Mans style - ie. you run to your bike and then jump on. The run was very short this year, only about 300m. I started at the very back, which in hindsight was not ideal because it meant I got stuck behind almost every rider on the course. Next year I would go for closer to the middle of the pack. Anyway, the first lap (red) was very slow and congested until the top of the climb, then spaced out a bit. Although there is very little firetrail, its easy to pass as the singletrack is quite wide. The first lap seemed to be over too quickly as I was having so much fun.

We had decided to ride mostly single laps and each do a double lap at night to give some opportunity for a longer sleep or rest. This worked out perfect for us, being a team of 3 meant each person got to ride alternate red-blue laps each time. The 3 of us were similar in times for each lap, averaging around 50-55 minutes in the day.

With less than 2 hours between each lap, my routine was to finish a lap, eat and drink something, change into normal clothes, get my bike ready for the next lap, each and drink some more, relax and chat to everyone in camp for about an hour, get changed back into bike gear and go down to transition for the next lap.

My first night lap was a disaster. Well, it was going great for the first 10k but then my batteries failed and I had no lights. This has always been my worst fear in this race but its never happened before. (I think my batteries are just getting old and crapped-out, and I had not realised that they no longer last more than half an hour because that is the longest I usually ride in the dark when I am commuting.) Anyway, I limped home, trying to follow other riders and generally just being lucky that I didn't stack. I was very glad to make it back into camp.


My second night lap was scheduled to be the double and go from about 11 pm-1 am. Unfortunately it became apparent that none of my batteries, including all the spares I had borrowed from a friend, were up to the task, so I had to rely on a headtorch for most of the time and save my highbeam helmet light for the tricky sections when I really needed it. I had a few small falls and my confidence was not great, but I managed to get through red and most of the blue, but then I got a flat tyre. To cut a very long story short it took me more than 30 minutes to change - cold, tired, dark and my brand new spare had not one but two holes in it that had to be repaired. This time I was really really glad to get back to transition.

After that the other two girls did their double laps so I had enough time to have a faaaantastic hot shower, get into my sleeping bag and sleep for about 1 hour. And by the time I had to ride again it was light!! I have never appreciated the simple fact of being able to see quite as much as I did on that lap.

By time 11am rolled around, we had done 24 laps total, 8 laps (4 red and 4 blue) each. After carefully checking in the results tent that we had a large margin on the only other team in our category, I decided not to go out again for a final lap - the symmetry was too perfect to disturb and yes, I was tired.

We got some really good prizes, a plaque, 2 jerseys, shorts, a light and sport drink mix. All in all it surpassed my expectations of a wonderful weekend. I love mountain biking, its so much fun. One day I hope I get a bit better at it. This year my fitness is definitely better, but my skills are still lacking, especially on the descents. Next year I think a team of 3 again, it was perfect for me. And I have to get much much better lights.




PS. The amazing photos are from sportograf. I can't get over how good how they. Their business model is one flat fee for digital copies of all the photos of you. For this event the cost was $35 and there were over 20 pictures of me. This is SOOO much better value than stupid Triathlon Photos who charge $30 for 1 photo print and won't give you digital versions unless you pay more than $150. I love sportograf!!!!!