Today my legs are a bit tired because yesterday I competed in the Centurion 50 mile race. It's a great event consisting of hill climbs up Scenic caves road, a kids ride, and races of 25, 50 and 100 miles.
The event has only been going on for 3 years at Blue Mountain but it is easily the biggest event they have.
Registration is done online and starting on Friday evening you were able to pick up the race packets which have bib and bike numbers, a timing chip and a t-shirt. Like everything else on this weekend registration was well organised and I had my race packet in a few short minutes. That is one of the things about this event that I really like, it is very well organised.
Leading up to the race I had done some good preparation over a 2 week period which included 550 kms riding with numerous wind sprints included in these rides. The wind sprints helped my legs last much longer when climbing and my recovery time was reduced significantly after working hard. The week before the race I tapered by doing hour long rides with sprints at 80 to 90% of max, reducing the number sprints each day. The day before the race it rained so I went downstairs to my rollers and did 20 kms at over 40 kph average with one fast sprint. As well I tried to load up on carbs in the few days before the race.
I arrived at the start line at 7 AM and met up with Terry who has just started road biking but has mountain biked in the area for over 20 years. It was good to see him there. At 7:30 the race began with 1350 riders paced behind a car for the first 5 km until we turned right to head up the Grey 19 climb. That's also where the chip timing started.
Although I was getting passed on the climb up I was certainly doing much better than the previous 2 years and I arrived at the top in good time and was able to get in with a good group of riders. We stayed together as a group for most of the race, splitting up sometimes and then finding ourselves back in a group a few minutes later. My climb up to Epping was a personal best and after that there were no more long climbs. Heading back from Ravenna I made good time and a group of us flew back down Grey 19 and made good time to a sprint finish. Terry finished a short while later in under 3 hours which was a great ride for him. The only real problem I had were some minor stomach cramps near the end caused by a mixture of energy gels and 2 different kinds of gatorade. After the race the cramps got worse so I headed for home early.
One of the things that make this event really fun is the number of people who come out to cheer the racers on. I don't think they realise how much the riders appreciate their cheers and shouts of encouragement. I made sure I thanked them for their support several times during the ride. The volunteers at the feed stations also deserve a pat on the back for a job well done.
And now for the numbers. Time....................................2:43.21
Chip Time...........................2:31.23
Pace....................................33.8 kph
KOM..................................13.03 minutes
Result-age group................17/97
Result-Mens overall...........197/967
Result-overall.....................215/1370
