Having never ridden 100 km on a mountain bike before (98 km being the most), I knew the Convict 100 wasn’t going to be a walk in the park! Having got some good training in since the national series ended, I was confident I could “race” the race and not just ride it, even with the bit of fatigue I was carrying. The week prior had me searching all across the internet for every detail about the race I could get my hands on. One recurring theme throughout the videos, articles etc. was the feared first climb. Coming around at 11 km into the race, after a flat section of road, it would most likely shape how the rest of the race would pan out.
As St Albans is rather remote, the closest accommodation option was camping. The night prior to the race after much deliberation (by Dad) we finally chose a camping spot, by luck it happened to be right next to fellow national series racers, Michael Crosbie and Alex Meyland. Then it was onto a quick roll up the start road, rego, dinner and an early night.
A very favorable start time of 7 am (not very favorable) meant waking up at 5:30 am, which left enough time for several nerve induced toilet stops and some food. Quadruple checking everything with bike and rider, all seemed squared away and there was time for a short warm up. …Read On
