February 2011
Otway Odyssey, Apollo Bay - Forrest VIC
by Nic French
Thought I’d write something about the 2011 Otway Odyssey and its lead up since it has now been a month or 2 since the event and no one else has. I have written this from my own (very MTB inexperienced) point of view.
November 2010 - Sitting around at work one day Gav Drury says to me "We should enter the Otway Odyssey in Feb", my reply "What is it?" That response in itself should show my naivety in MTB terms but none the less I said "Sounds good" and entered that night.
Nov 2010 - Feb 2011 - Time to start doing some riding. Over the lead in months I tried to ride when I could, knowing full well that the race was going to be tough. Some long rides on the weekends with the rest of the Darwin crew that were registered starters were fun and allowed us to sample the delights at the Howard Springs bakery numerous times.
Feb 2011 - At this stage it looked like we had a good contingent of Darwin riders heading south including Kev, Bill, Aaron, Simon, Chris, Andy, Jason, Jamie, Nicole, Pete, Lukey, Gav and myself.
What no one was counting on was Tropical Cyclone Carlos making his presence felt right on top of Darwin exactly 3-4 days prior to the starter’s gun. The result of this was that Darwin Airport was shut down and every flight out of here was cancelled until further notice. This threw everyone’s plans into disarray and I would hate to think the number of phone calls that were made between the names listed above and the airlines. Long story short, I managed to secure some seats on a flight out of Darwin on the Friday morning. Unfortunately Kev, Bill, Chris and Andy couldn’t get seats on a flight which put an end to the event before it started for 4 of Darwin’s stronger MTB’ers.
The day before race day - After arriving in Melbourne, picking up cars, loading bikes and getting on our way it was mid afternoon. With one car loaded with bikes and the other with people we eventually made it to Apollo Bay only to be greeted by dark skies, drizzling rain and a solid breeze. Word on the street was that it was going to be a muddy race and that the race organisers had changed the course to the "wet weather" route. First thing to do was to pull the bikes out and get them put together. That done, next was a quick visit to the local supermarket for some breakfast supplies and then to the local pizza and pasta joint for some dinner. Once back at the accommodation we tried to get things as organised as possible for the early start in the morning. The scary thing was that the later it got the worse the weather got with the wind howling and the rain coming down. Laying in bed that night it was hard to sleep, racking my brain if I had this ready and that ready and what if this and what if that. It was while trying to go to sleep that it dawned on me that maybe I should have done some more riding, would a few long rides with the guys and 3 Sunday afternoon DORC races (which totals the full extent of my MTB experience) see me to the end of what is possibly the toughest 100km MTB race in Australia? Only one way to find out!
Saturday Morning... Race day!!!
Up out of bed and it is still pitch black outside and the wind and rain didn’t subside all night. In our cottage Simon, Luke, Gav and I are all pretty quiet and going about our own things. Not too long later Aaron comes in from next door and it is time to hit the road and head to the start line. It’s only a short 2km road ride to the start and when we arrive the music is going and there are all sorts of interpretations of MTB’s (and some not MTB’s... what ?). After cruising a few laps of the Apollo Bay back streets we run into Pete and Jason where Jase informs up that he only arrived in Apollo bay in the early hours this morning!! Sitting on the bike waiting for the start Aaron, Pete, Jason and I are about mid pack while Simon, Gav and Luke have worked their way up a little closer to the front.
Eventually the gun goes and we are on our way. About the first 10km is all bitumen and is a long climb up out of Apollo Bay. Even though the road is closed everyone is trying to ride on the left hand side no more than 2 abreast. Aaron puts an end to that and shoots off up the right hand lane seemingly giving permission to the other 400 people behind us to do the same. I decide to try and take things easy and just settle into a rhythm near Pete and with Jase just up the road. After a few KM’s the bunch has stretched out which makes moving about a lot easier. Chatting to Pete he says he is happy to just keep things steady and stick to his plan so I keep on plugging away at the hill and eventually pick up Jason. Riding with Jase for the next little while I can see Aaron just up ahead and just before the crest of the hill I hook up with him and Jason is only 30 - 40m back. With the crest in sight I’m looking forward to the downhill to coast a little and recover some. Aaron and I are chatting away, crest the hill and are both blown across the other side of the road by a bloody great howling wind. The whole idea of coasting down the hill was out the window having to pedal downhill?!?!?! It is no exaggeration to say that wind was almost blowing you back up the hill! Crazy. At this point the bitumen turned to a dirt road cut into the side of the mountain with huge gum trees protecting us from the wind. The wind was ripping through the branches but the huge gums gave some welcome protection. Aaron and I were riding side by side with the road slightly undulating and a group of about 30 sitting on our wheels. It was at this point that Aaron says ‘If it’s like this the whole way we will be finished in 4 hours’. Within 10 seconds of those words leaving his mouth there was a right hand turn onto single track that was made up of mud about 6 inches deep. Both of us were off the bikes a pushing along with every other person nearby.
The next 20km was a mixture of rise and fall but the mud was a constant. It was so ridiculous that even when pushing the bikes the wheels were that chocked with mud that they wouldn’t turn! The down sections were more like riding a sled than riding a bike with people trying all variations of ‘bike riding’ to get down the descents. One foot unclipped, both unclipped, standing up, sitting down, sitting on the top tube, walking, pushing or carrying, each brought the inevitable cheek clenching near miss or slow motion crash. At the top of each rise people were using whatever they could in a vain attempt to de-mud their bikes only to have then re-caked 10meters later. It was during this period where Aaron and I lost touch but I figured he would catch me soon enough. Now I’m no good when it comes to determining what section of single track I was on at any single point in time but I was glad to see the first drink station at what I think was approx the 40km. I refilled my bottles, shoved in a power bar and in the minute or two I was stopped I saw no less than 20 people speak to the marshals and pull the pin on their race and take the bitumen road back to Apollo Bay. Through the next 20 Km’s the mud subsided a little and it was possible to actually ride the trails. The single-track was very cool but I was experiencing what I now know as "chain suck". At the time I didn’t know what it was and stopped probably a dozen times to look at things and work out what the go was. Eventually I found a stick and spent 10 mins trying to get rid of as much mud as I could, including in between the triple on the front. Not knowing what I was doing at the time it fixed my issues and no more chain suck was to be had for the rest of the race.
Between the drink station at 40km and the 63km mark where you ride through the Forrest footy oval I saw some great crashes with countless guys going over the bars but in the spirit of MTB plenty of people stopped to make sure everyone was ok. There were also plenty of people attempting to repair busted bikes.
After what seemed like an eternity I made it to the 67km mark and rode through the Forrest footy oval. I refilled with water, shotz, a muesli bar and a killer python along with what I had managed to stuff in along the way. As I departed the oval they were announcing the 4th and 5th place getters coming over the finishing line..... Damn them.
Next was a 30km loop of mostly single track but with the odd bit of service road thrown in. For this 30km I basically stuck with the same bunch of 3 or 4 blokes. Overtaking each other from time to time but essentially being about the same pace. Surprising to me I found I was going really well climbing and leading the way for my new found friends where there were showing me how it was done on the down sections. This 30km I would say was the most enjoyable part of the race for me. The mud was minimal and the trails were pretty cool. I hadn’t seen any of our Darwin crew since Aaron and I parted ways and thought to myself that Simon, Gav and Luke must be still going as I hadn’t seen any of them on the side of the trail anywhere.
Just as I was about to come back into the footy oval I saw Jason heading out for the start of the 30km loop. I’m not sure how far he got but I know he had been plagued with mechanicals to this point and had to pull the pin not much further on. It was now time for the last refill and to commence the last 13km I really hit the wall. I was knackered. I took my time, drank a heap of water and refilled again, ate some more and begrudgingly remounted to depart the oval for the final 13kms. As I was departing I could hear a noise but I think the brain was in neutral as it took me a few seconds to work out that the noise was someone from behind rubbing their front wheel on my rear! Bloody Pete! Ha-ha. It was actually really good to see a familiar face. I had a bit of a whinge to Pete about how I was a broken man, we had a laugh and we were on our way. Pete filled me in that Aaron had busted a derailleur and was out of the race at the 63km mark, no wonder he hadn’t caught me! The first maybe 5km from the oval was on a dirt road and it just kept going up and up and up. It was bloody hard. It must have been near the end of this climb that Pete and I indulged in a nature stop as well as knocking off the remainder of the killer pythons that I had on board. At the end of the road climb we were back onto single track and it was simply mud slop straight up the side of another hill. Pete and I both half rode, half trudged up this section as were the others around us. Getting to the top of this little bit was a relief and I just kept reminding myself I only had a few KM’s to go. Pete’s skills are about 200% on mine and over the next few KM’s he left me for dead. This section had a few up’s and downs and again some more butt clenching near misses. It was during this time I was thinking that the 13km’s felt like 113km’s, seemed to take forever and my time over this section showed it! Eventually I reached what was the last muddy, slippery, rutted slope and dragged my bike to the top of what I now know is called the sledge hammer. I must say it made me feel better that Jongewald had to walk up the sledgehammer too! This meant that it was graded dirt road decent and a tiny twist and turn and finish line here I come.
The finishing chute was lined with people watching and clapping everyone as they came in. All I can really remember about crossing the line was an overwhelming feeling of relief! 8hrs 5mins and 27 seconds. Before we left Darwin the aim was for 8hrs and considering the conditions I am please to just finish.
Pete was right there having finished about 4 mins in front of me. I could see Gav over in the line up to get his bike washed by the local scout group. After a bit of a pow wow with Pete, Gav and some other blokes it was time for a baked spud, a coke, a coffee and some raisin toast.
Later that evening - Once we made our way back to the cottage, it was time to exchange war stories. Simon and Luke were absolute champs and having been back at the accommodation for a little while had already cleaned their bikes and volunteered to take care of mine for me!! The guys had also organised some beer and pizza and after a hot shower I was in a much better frame of mind.
What have I learnt?
1) No matter how many times you want to ride up Cullen Bay hill or the repeater tower at Adelaide River you can never replicate the hills.
2) Work out your nutrition and get used to eating it because if you don’t have a plan you just sort of forget about it.
3) Mud sucks.
The Best Bits?
1) Being able to say that I have done it!
2) Hanging out with the crew that we went with.
3) The beer and pizza that night.
The Worst Bits?
1) The cyclone and the hassle of trying to rebook flights.
2) How trashed my bike was at the end. (I reckon every single person who entered would have needed new cables, new bottom bracket and a new chain by the end as an absolute minimum)
3) Have I mentioned the mud?
So, would I do it again?
If you asked me in the 3 weeks after the race I would have said never again. Ask me now and I would consider it. Guarantee no mud and I’d be there.
The Darwin Results:
100km
Jamie Burton 81st (open 18-39) 6.09.21
Simon Drew 158th (open 18-39) 7.02.37
Gavin Drury 164th (open 18-39) 7.08.50
Pete Svara 99th (veteran 40-49) 8.01.03
Nic French 198th (open 18-39) 8.05.27
Aaron Caden - DNF
Luke Tennant - DNF
Jason Finlay - DNF
Kevin Wells - DNS
Bill Murphy - DNS
Andrew Barcroft - DNS
Chris Hanson - DNS
50km
Nicole Burton - 13th (open18-39) 3.39.10
