The Irate Intern

For the second consecutive year, mountain bike races have been held in the Mogo State Forest, which is situated in and around the village of Mogo (about 10km south of Batemans Bay). The three races offered are a 100km enduro (Angry Doctor), a 50km race (Irate Intern), and a 10km fun race (Nasty Nurse). The terrain being traveled is very hilly (lots of downhill) along fire access routes, a few bush roads, and a decent helping of single-lane tracks in the Mogo State Forest. John entered the Irate Intern and had an absolute blast. Check out http://www.arocsport.com.au/mtbenduro/mtbenduro_home.html

Race day was sunny and 18 degrees Celsius. Many weeks of riding to and from work helped me attain a certain degree of fitness which came in very handy (especially on the uphill sections). After 4.5 hours of riding I managed to do 5 major climbs, too many smaller climbs to count, lots of technical single-track (not my forte) and a healthy dose of cruising downhill. My favourite was a series of jumps on a very gentle downhill section of the course which helped build my confidence and fun level. I also managed to eat one energy bar, half a Ziploc bag of peanuts and raisins, eight rocky road squares the girls had made, and drink about 2 litres of water with lemon and some electrolyte replacement stuff called “GU2O”. Every body needs fuel.

The ride actually went quite well. There were probably 350 competitors in the race I was doing (actual number unknown to me) and I ended up riding in amongst a number of similar ability riders. It was good to chat and encourage other riders on their way. When I eventually reached the finish line, I was met by my family, and we proceeded to the ice cream shop in Mogo where we all got an ice cream, and then made a quick return to the race site where they were handing out prizes (including four Cannondale mountain bikes).

Three of the four bikes to be given away were random draws from partici- pants, and the fourth was given to the person who had no business even finishing the race on the bike they had (high quality bikes with front and rear suspensions, and disc brakes were the norm). My neighbour had lent me his very nice Specialized mountain bike for the day (dual suspension, disc brakes, weightless, you name it) which allowed me to do my run in maximum comfort possible so I was out of the running completely for the new bike. I did however pick up a nice rear flashing light for my rides home, and also grabbed a pair of men’s cycling shorts (literally grabbed – there were so many prizes at the end that the organisers were tossing the goodies out into the crowd (tires, t-shirts, etc.)). It was a fun time. Everyone had a good time and went home happy.

Would I do it again? Certainly I would. Unfort- unately we won’t be here this time next year but Susan and I have vowed to find/ make great tracks back home and participate as much as we can; it really is a good time.