A word from the Editor

The years are definitely going faster. As I gathered the content for the upcoming 24hr races I realised it’s nearly October again. Nearly October! Time to get excited about the big Canberra 24hr race, the race that popularised this whole endurance trend we are now all madly in love with. Except now there are two, both in the same month, both in Canberra, and both proving to be amazingly popular!

So, with the 24hr races on our doorstep I took some time to ponder my introduction to the sport and, more importantly, why I keep coming back.

It was back in Stromlo in 2001. I’d been hearing about the race all year from local club mates. It was the mythical, hero event. I’d have a blast at some smaller race and beam with sweaty, dusty excitement, “How fun was that, aye!!” But I’d always be met with that same knowing expression, “Mate you should see the 24hr in Canberra.” I’d try to hold my head up but there was no getting around the fact that I was the new guy, the guy who hadn’t even been to the 24hr, let alone raced it.

My day came though. The clouds were looking ready to drop on us as our 4 person team started punching out the laps midday Saturday. I’ll never forget waiting in transition for that first time. My heart was beating through my throat, my legs tingling with nervous energy. My team mate arrived and I pedalled blindly from transition, head down, trying to make every pedal stroke count. I felt like a real mountain biker as I gritted my teeth…I was racing the hero event. Staring at the stem with lactic filled pain I inadvertently rode directly over some course bunting! Making matters worse, it wasn’t until I was out the back of nowhere, way off course on some un-used fire road that I realised my mistake. The look on my team mates’ faces as I rolled into transition way behind time was enough to make me want to crawl in my sleeping bag and cry into the tent groundsheet….but we still had 22hrs to go.

It got worse too. It rained…and it rained. The mud was crazy. There were sections hundreds of metres long where my wheels sunk deeply into the thick, greasy mess. Losing momentum made it a long walk. I hated it.
The weekend finally ended. Having pushed my inexperienced body through the freezing conditions I drove home feeling terribly muddy headed, with a throbbing sore throat and a big question mark over this whole, seemingly crazy race format.

So why keep coming back? Well, I’ve found that tough times make for fond (or at the very least, indelible) memories. They make for markers in your memory, providing feeling and vivid recollection to a certain period in life. It’s easy to glaze over those days at work doing the same mundane chore, a lot harder to forget that flat tyre half way through a lap at 2am in a freezing Canberra morning. 24hr racing is so involving it insulates you from your outside, ‘rat-race’ world, gives you a newfound sense of perspective and taps into more simplistic, fundamental aspects of living.

So I’ve tried to capture our great sport in Enduro 6 and give you a sense of what makes us all so addicted to it. As October is once again upon us and the years continue to fly by those memorable moments are, well, priceless!

James Williamson - Enduro Editor

Shimano XT Wheelset Winner.
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