I was planning to travel the 4 hour drive down on my own on the Friday night and camp in a tent before racing Saturday morning but then I was offered to stay at Jason English's in-laws only an hour from the race venue. How could I say no!
Traveling down on the Friday night my car overheated after running out of water but lucky I had 6 water bottles full of water to top up the radiator alowing me to get to Jason's in-laws where i was greeted with a cooked meal ready & a bed ready to sleep in :-)
After a good nights sleep and a big breakfast we put the bikes on Jason's car while watching the sun rise for the nice day ahead before heading down the freeway for the start of the race.
Ariving at Ourimbah there was a fire road full of cars & people everywhere getting ready for the race. While picking up our race numbers we were told it was the most riders to enter a Shimano GP yet this year. We managed to find a spot on the track side to set up our food station & get in a little warm up before being called to the race start.
After riding through the slippery rainforest the track started to climb into open woodland before coming back down around a wall ride & down some rock drops before re-entering a flatter part of the rainforest where the flow gave a lot of grip & let you get your breath back before climbing the switchbacks through the timing area before heading out for another lap.
Jason got the win in the Elite 7 hour riders just behind Billy Sewell & Tristan Ward in an Elite two person team.
After returning back to Jason's In-laws I was greeted to an awesome recovery meal & a hot shower before the extra 3 hour drive home before getting up at 4 am the next morning for work.
I would like to thank Grahame Sonter for his awesome photo's and help in the race as well as Jason English for giving me a lift on race day.
A special thank you to Jason's in-laws for there great hospitality in letting me stay & cooking some beautiful meals.