Thursday 30 October 2014

2014 Cape 2 Cape - My Last Race with the Torq Team

CAPE TO CAPE OVERALL - 8th

2nd at the Cape2Cape Redbull Sundown Showdown
Coming into Cape2Cape I had 3 weeks off the bike, 1 week on, food poisoning, then 4 days on the bike :D That's what is good about the C2C, everyone is either in their off season or have just come off a break. Everyone is relaxed and up for some semi chilled racing with great views and guaranteed adventures


STAGE 1 - 'The Beach stage' 42k - 6th

The shortest stage but the hardest stage - just over the length/time of an XCO race. It's interesting because is the first time you see what sort of form everyone has. I actually enjoy riding all the sand sections and the beach, riding down the dunes felt like I was surfing my bike! I was off the beach and sitting in 5th for a while before PVDP and Dan McConnell caught me up as we all passed Brendan'Treky'Johnson.

STAGE 2 - 'The Bonk stage' 60k - 13th
What is a bonk? A bonk is when an athlete pushes their fitness limits to the end, in my case my fitness limits were not very hard to reach. I started with the goal to not get lost like I did in this stage last year, and to do that by hanging onto the lead bunch. Last year I took a bottle at the half way feed zone, took a drink, got caught in the sand and crashed off into the bush, panicked, tried to chase to get back onto the lead group and went the wrong way trying to do so doing 8k's extra. This year at the half way feed zone I was with the lead group which also included Team mates Mark Tupalski and Chris Hamilton, Dean gave them bottles but wasn’t quick enough for me, it’s not like I already chucked my bottle to him with 25k's to go! Ha..no hard feelings.

I was dropped from the lead group with about 5k's to go. I pushed and pushed to get back on. With 1k to go, I slowly died and headed to Bonk City with my friends Larry Lactate and Peter Pass Out. I seriously started blinking repetitively and was starting to lose vision like the time my brother did a choke hold on me when I blacked out in his room. That is what happens when you keep trying to push your body without nutrition. I slowly rolled over to the TORQ van for my TORQ THICK SHAKE (Recipe Below). As I tried to pour my powder into my shaker I couldn't stop my hand from shaking it all over the floor missing the shaker - I was truly bonked.

REDBULL SHOOTOUT - 'The #Enduro in the pines' 700m - 2nd


The TORQ Team rolled up, we got our practice runs in and after some riders got the finish line jump taken out due to their complaints, we waited for our race run. Thanks to Dan McConnell for getting me in race mode telling me I was late for my race, the blood was pumping. I had my seat down and I was ready to go full enduro for the 700m flowy track with at least 15 doubles and one 100m climb. My race run felt great, I was racing like my life depended on it and forgetting I was on a hardtail XC bike. I had a clean run and went straight to the hot seat with a time of 1:53. Next rider down, Paul Van Der Ploeg, Skilled and legs the size of baby hippos. He pumped out a 1:52. Shane Wode and Andy Blair tied for 3rd with a time of 1:54. Josh Carlson well known Enduro World Series rider rode a 1:51!! Putting me in 3rd but Josh was an invitational rider as he wasn't in the Top 20 Open men So I got 2nd place and a time bonus of 45seconds for my overall Cape to Cape time. Also one second off the $1000 prize money!
Em Parkes won the Elite Women!

STAGE 3 - 'The Single Track stage' 57k - 15th

Aim of the stage, to smash myself before all the single track entrances to get in front of as many people as I could so I didn't get held up. I forgot I was racing, I had done so much single tack that I was in a trance. 100m to go, I dropped the gears into sprint mode to explode for the sprint went to the right of the group which was the longest slowest grass that was like riding a bike with no wheels, and like riding a bike with no wheels I flipped, twisted my seat and broke a spoke, but it was long grass so I was fine. I looked up and Ben Henderson sat up and asked if I was alright!? "Keep going!" I yelled. The crashing didn't end until the end of stage 4...

STAGE 4 - 'The Roadie stage' 64k - 9th


This stage ended with a 3ks of single track of 'Pea Gravel' which is like marbles on hard pack, the loosest possible track. I was sitting about 5th in our group in the single track. I wanted to explode, I didn't feel like I wanted to just hang onto the group anymore, I was going for a win (little did I know there were 2 guys 2minuets in front of our group). But I didn't know that. I was so ready I was already sitting in my sprinting gears for the whole 3k's of single track in a big gear scoping for any possible chance move up the group. Because of the sketchy pea gravel and my feeling of wanting to turn into a T- Rex on STEROIDS I felt like I was about to kill someone. The track had a fork, half went left and half went right then it all joined up and we were in the open and everyone was in full sprint, I was only able to sprint for 1 position as I crossed the line. I swear at this point I tried stopping but I seemed to gain speed as I headed straight into a metal barrier, I slammed sideways into it pinning Team mate Chris Hamilton in between another metal barrier. An official asked "what do you want to do?" I replied........................."ah, get up". It was that easy, I couldn't figure out what was twisted where but the bike was all good and I’m all good.


Mark Tupalski - 1st Overall, 11th Redbull Shoot out
Chris Hamilton - 3rd Overall, 49th Redbull Shoot out
Ben Forbes - 8th Overall, 3rd Redbull Shoot out
Em Parks - 3rd Overall, 1st Redbull shoot out

Torq Bar Challenge: continued that night with Mark Tupalski, Chris Hamilton and myself up for the fastest person to eat a Torq Bar (video found on the Torq Facebook page) Mark Tupalski Winning Again! 49seconds. Can you beat him?


Monday Morning - Hungover and in a deep sleep I was woken with a bursting balloon on my head, Thanks guys. We packed and cleaned up and it was goodbye to the Torq Team - A shake of hands and hugs, Chris Hamilton said he had to go before he cried. I'm sure I'll be seeing this bunch of planks everywhere, they will be friends for life. After just 1 year of being in the team, it feels like 10 years. It's the first team I've been in, they have been like a second family. The hardest thing about leaving the team is that with them you know you're guaranteed to have a great trip away and finding yourself in all sorts of adventures like concussing yourself on a kid’s bike. I've learnt so much from these guys about being in a team. It feels amazing to be apart of such a passionate team that is full of personalities that are so motivating for me. Its very sad to move on. Thank you Dean and Gen Clarke for the opportunities. As I move onto the ENDURO scene, The Torq Team also moves onto some new sponsors!


 SO PROUD of my parents Alison Forbes and John Forbes. They both completed the Cape2Cape, it was great to see them at the end of each day still smiling. So glad you guys came and got it done! My mum is also starting an enduro career :P

 Thank You DEAN + GENEVIEVE CLARK from TORQ AUSTRALIA
Kenmore Cycles
Anna Beck + Aiden Lefmann from Cyclinic
Motion
Complete Wealth
SRAM
RockShox
Avid
Truvativ
Schwalbe

!!!<<<<<BONUS>>>>>!!!!

TORQ THICK SHAKE - 'The Ultimate Recovery Shake'


Ingredients:
1 Serve of Torq HMB
1 Serve of Torq L-Glutamine
1 Serve of Torq Beta-Alimimine
1 Serve of Torq Recovery

Method:
  • Mix with 700ml of water.
  • Drink with in 10min of finishing exercise.
  • Follow up with second serve of HMB at night.













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