12 hour dusk to dawn...

Having decided to sit on the sidelines for this one, I thought it might be a good opportunity to be a support person. I've always wondered what it would be like watching everyone spending eveything in their own personal pain bank just to keep moving forward....well, for a moment there, I thought a shared support role would be easy. It was not a decision i should have taken so lightly. I have to say that all this week i am seriously exhausted & looks like a week or two in full recovery mode.

We had what we thought was a well executed support plan. Al & I had radio comms, plenty of food, sleeping accomodations & most importantly of all, a bar nearby. Personally for the event I managed to properly prehydrate & in my taper I ensured that my nutriton was well balanced & thorough. I might just add here that i was a bit lax about the training required for this one & knew i was in over my head.

I'll be honest, during the event, we both suffered pretty bad. There were very rushed bottle hand overs, wrong food, there were times when i wasn't even there when our rider needed. There were other times I struggled to remain upright & veered off into my tent for some much needed recovery. I think i remained upright for about 8 of the 12 hours. Pretty good going if you ask me, assisted of course by the abundance of easter eggs. Thankfully Al made up for my shortcomings as a support person & brought the team home. Thanks Al.

A huge congratulations to Prue, our rider, who battled through the night and showed us how it is to be done with or without support. 12 hours on a bike will never be easy but to see her & so many out there doing it with a smile is what its all about. I seem to remember an article about this at the last 12 hour?



click here for Prue's write up