Gravity 12 hour with Superman
And so it was. I sit here in front of the chrystal bucket once again, preparing to bring you the Gravity 12 hour in text and pictures, and think to myself two things; 1) This team is awesome, and 2) that race was a whole lot of retrospective fun!
Back to the beginning, Jack arrived at the race course on Friday afternoon to secure us prime position for the race, much like last year. Doing so, he awaited our arrival and we set up our site for the race the next day. Prime position trackside was the site for Felt Racing HQ and it was a super spot, allowing us to do transition right in our tent and minimize the delays to our progress.
With over 500 competitors at the Rosewhite course, and a forecast of 30deg, it was always going to be a great race. Not a drop of moisture to be found anywhere about made a change from the previous years, although the brown grass made for different feel to the venue. However the event management did a great job to keep the dust down, unlike the [large bike brand] 24 hour in Canberra weeks ago. The event was so good, the race started early!!!!! Can you imagine!?
As the first runners come around the bend, we can happily see Paul out in front on the run, leading the race from the very get go, and with a seamless bike pick up, he is away with his his brother Neil in tow. The two of them power off into the sunset, and when Paul completes the first lap out in front, the scene is set for the rest of the race.
The race progresses into the hottest part of the day, and it becomes clear to Felt Racing that the main competition for the win is going to come from the Brunswick Street Cycles 4 male team, conveniently parked next to us in pit alley, and good mates of ours to boot. The temperature heated up and up, finally peaking at 35deg in the shade of our tent, and making it decidedly hot for this time of the year. Everyone was suffering out there, and management was key, getting body temps down became order of the day. Paul elected to use his superpowers, and as well as putting a huge grin on everyones faces around the course, also went on to get the fastest lap of the day in his get-up, proving that he was indeed the strongest man on the day! And awesome series of laps from him cemented our position, and we all worked to extend our lead, with the goal of lapping the field just like last year.
The day finally cooled down and allowed us out from under the Felt metropolis, and slowly turned to dusk. For the Felt team, it was time to turn the screws, and with far greater comfort we all seemed to lift and work to chase BSC around to get that lap up that we desired. The lapping had been called early in the week, and the team was keen to reach its goal, so the inventive was well and truly there. With the sun setting, the hot laps rolled out again, the other riders on the course were extremely co-operative with our objective, our sympathy goes out to the gentleman that collided with the tree and came off second best, and our thanks go truly to the other riders on the course for their courtesy and understanding. With some hot laps laid down, the margin was tumbling to catch the BSC boys to complete the lap of the entire field, and with Paul on course in his Aussie colors, we completed our aim. Although it was in circumstances that the BSC team may not enjoy (a light mount shaking loose), the lapping was complete, Paul changed over to Jack who had a full complement of angry pills (thats an expression, not a fact...) and charged off into the night to finish off our race and bring home the victory for Felt racing, lapping the field for the 2nd time in 2 starts. 2 from 2 is always a record I'm happy to bring up, and I'm sure we'll dine out on it for a while to come.
Naturally the Felt Racing team would like to thank Felt Bicycles for the use of their excellent bicycles, GVRaceTech for his amazing work on our bikes, as well as graciously supplying his time and effort to fixing other riders bikes, not to mention his photos that are evidenced here. Hutchinson tyres kept us inflated and upright all weekend, the Tubeless Light Piranhas were the perfect tyre with their aggressive side biters gripping the loose off camber surface. To all the people that made us laugh during the day- thanks for the memories, we had a great day! Finally, to the organisers of the race, Paul, Sue and the Beechworth Chain Gang, thank you for reminding us how a race should be run. Prizes (medal AND schwag), great venue, amusing commentary, resonable/sensible amount of competitors, water truck used sensibly (seeing a trend?), a suitable amount of showers and toilets for the event size, and a great track. And did I mention the race started early!!!
Thanks for stopping by, next races on the calendar are Ballarat 6 hour, then the final 24 for the season, the Kona 24.
Back to the beginning, Jack arrived at the race course on Friday afternoon to secure us prime position for the race, much like last year. Doing so, he awaited our arrival and we set up our site for the race the next day. Prime position trackside was the site for Felt Racing HQ and it was a super spot, allowing us to do transition right in our tent and minimize the delays to our progress.
With over 500 competitors at the Rosewhite course, and a forecast of 30deg, it was always going to be a great race. Not a drop of moisture to be found anywhere about made a change from the previous years, although the brown grass made for different feel to the venue. However the event management did a great job to keep the dust down, unlike the [large bike brand] 24 hour in Canberra weeks ago. The event was so good, the race started early!!!!! Can you imagine!?
As the first runners come around the bend, we can happily see Paul out in front on the run, leading the race from the very get go, and with a seamless bike pick up, he is away with his his brother Neil in tow. The two of them power off into the sunset, and when Paul completes the first lap out in front, the scene is set for the rest of the race.
The race progresses into the hottest part of the day, and it becomes clear to Felt Racing that the main competition for the win is going to come from the Brunswick Street Cycles 4 male team, conveniently parked next to us in pit alley, and good mates of ours to boot. The temperature heated up and up, finally peaking at 35deg in the shade of our tent, and making it decidedly hot for this time of the year. Everyone was suffering out there, and management was key, getting body temps down became order of the day. Paul elected to use his superpowers, and as well as putting a huge grin on everyones faces around the course, also went on to get the fastest lap of the day in his get-up, proving that he was indeed the strongest man on the day! And awesome series of laps from him cemented our position, and we all worked to extend our lead, with the goal of lapping the field just like last year.
The day finally cooled down and allowed us out from under the Felt metropolis, and slowly turned to dusk. For the Felt team, it was time to turn the screws, and with far greater comfort we all seemed to lift and work to chase BSC around to get that lap up that we desired. The lapping had been called early in the week, and the team was keen to reach its goal, so the inventive was well and truly there. With the sun setting, the hot laps rolled out again, the other riders on the course were extremely co-operative with our objective, our sympathy goes out to the gentleman that collided with the tree and came off second best, and our thanks go truly to the other riders on the course for their courtesy and understanding. With some hot laps laid down, the margin was tumbling to catch the BSC boys to complete the lap of the entire field, and with Paul on course in his Aussie colors, we completed our aim. Although it was in circumstances that the BSC team may not enjoy (a light mount shaking loose), the lapping was complete, Paul changed over to Jack who had a full complement of angry pills (thats an expression, not a fact...) and charged off into the night to finish off our race and bring home the victory for Felt racing, lapping the field for the 2nd time in 2 starts. 2 from 2 is always a record I'm happy to bring up, and I'm sure we'll dine out on it for a while to come.Naturally the Felt Racing team would like to thank Felt Bicycles for the use of their excellent bicycles, GVRaceTech for his amazing work on our bikes, as well as graciously supplying his time and effort to fixing other riders bikes, not to mention his photos that are evidenced here. Hutchinson tyres kept us inflated and upright all weekend, the Tubeless Light Piranhas were the perfect tyre with their aggressive side biters gripping the loose off camber surface. To all the people that made us laugh during the day- thanks for the memories, we had a great day! Finally, to the organisers of the race, Paul, Sue and the Beechworth Chain Gang, thank you for reminding us how a race should be run. Prizes (medal AND schwag), great venue, amusing commentary, resonable/sensible amount of competitors, water truck used sensibly (seeing a trend?), a suitable amount of showers and toilets for the event size, and a great track. And did I mention the race started early!!!
Thanks for stopping by, next races on the calendar are Ballarat 6 hour, then the final 24 for the season, the Kona 24.
posted by Ash Thomas at 3:01 pm
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