8hr enduro

5am Sunday morning, and I was out of bed. What the hell? I don't usually see the morning on Sundays, and when I do it's before I go to bed...

I was helping out a couple of mates who were doing a mountain bike 8 hour enduro race. Consider me as part of their "pit crew". The race started at 8:30am and was about an hour and a half drive from my place, longer since I had to pick Paul up (who was also helping out), which was why I had to get up so damn early.

It was held on a private property in what felt like the middle of nowhere. Competitors and their support crews/families and friends were all camped around the place. The purpose-built course was approximately 10km or so per lap, which took the boys about half an hour to lap in the early stages when they were still fresh.

Our job - pretty much top up their bottles and give them food and/or drinks whenever they wanted them. This wasn't much of a task given that they really only came by the spot we were stationed at every half hour or so. We had a gazebo, a camping chair, a hammock (which I fell off twice) and were armed with snacks and drinks to get us through the day. It was NRL Grand Final day, so we also had a radio to listen to the matches (woohoo for the Raiders winning the Under 20's Premiership!).

The race is something you don't really get exposed to until you actually go. The atmosphere was terrific - there were lots of youngsters around, who I think had their own mini races as well as unrelated activities like a jumping castle to keep them occupied. A lot camped at the site the night before too. Everyone was very friendly and easy to talk to, and a lot of people seemed to know each other from previous races.

All this actually makes me consider getting into mountain biking, though I think I'll start with flat smooth surfaces first... Gotta go buy me a bike first though. Might do that either towards the end of the year or early next year - I'd like something I could also use for a triathlon if I manage to get my fitness up in the next few months.

Ps. Post #100. Apparently. Yay for me.