AMB's man from the Southern Highlands, Dan Bonello, travelled to Canberra last weekend to wrench for reigning Aussie 24hr Solo champion, Katrin Van der Spiegel. Read on for the tale and to find out why 24hr solo riders are the world's toughest people:
Australian 24 hour Solo Championships
Majura Pines, April 11-12
This past weekend I had the privilege of being race mechanic for Katrin Van der Spiegel, as she attempted to defend her national championship. Having raced in 24 hour events before I thought I knew how it all worked and how painful the racing could be, but this race truly opened my eyes to the suffering these riders go through and the support they need just to head out from transition on another lap.
On Saturday morning I arrived at the race venue and was pleased to find out that Katrin was still in bed relaxing before she fronted up to do battle. I was also puzzled as to why there were people with race plates coming in from practice laps or sitting on turbo trainers. Surely the benefits of a proper warm up can only be minimal in an event as long as this.
I did not know much about Katrin before this event, but I was aware that she is number two in the world and that she had raced no less than six 24 hours races before, so she knew that dual suspension was the only way to go. For these events it is pretty much a no brainer for the serious competitors to run two bikes (not at once) so it was up to me to get Katrin’s two beautiful Treks set up for a solid hammering.
When midday finally rolled around we were completely ready and Katrin was feeling confident. Watching the mens start was unbelievable. With a full day ahead of them they did not hold back and it was like watching a world cup XC race begin. As the ladies rode past at a slightly more sane pace, Katrin settled into second and it was game on.
For me it was pretty chilled for the first few laps, I even had time to catch up to James Williamson (24 world champion) for a chat. He made it pretty clear to me that he was glad not to be racing and told me it was going to rain and rain hard once the sun went down.
Well he was right, it did rain. Although it took a while to kick in, once it did things in the pits got pretty wet, while out on the track it was just plain demoralizing for some riders. Numbers began to drop in all categories. My job also became a lot more full on with the bikes being good for only two or three laps. New housing and shifting cables were pretty much on order every time i handed Katrin her fresh bike, and brake pads were being left out on the course.
Strangely enough, it seemed to be the rain that woke Katrin up and she comfortably took the lead from Jessica Douglass. I should point out that I had never heard of Jessica Douglass, but by looking at her I assumed that it would have been for track cycling not 24hour racing. She was proving her self as a force to be reckoned with and never let Katrin get her lead to a point that she could not manage. All through the night both girls kept rolling through transition and heading straight back out or just not stop at all. It was pretty impressive to actually see a real race unfold.
By the time the sun came up Katrin had still not been able to drop Jessica and the advantage Katrin had slowly began to diminish. It became pretty clear to Rich and I that Katrin was really starting to struggle so we brought her in for a longer transition knowing that Jessica would pass her. We forced her to eat some food and cleaned her up a bit, then Rich came in with a pretty impressive coach/husband pep talk. Katrin was having none of it tho and just wanted to get back out on the track.
The revival we had hoped for never came and all we could do was watch as Katrin bravely tried to limit her losses to Jessica. Then while on what was to be her second last lap Katrin hit a wall. While trying to negotiate a deal to cruise the final lap with third placed Vernina Vergoz, She began to really fade and developed a serious desire to throw up in the forest. Even when she got off her bike and walked into the trees to lie down, Katrin could just not escape the pain.
And finally it all came back up. The countless sachets of energy gel, some red bull, some coke, the pain killers and the no-doz and a whole lot of banana. With her body unable to keep digesting and utilizing all the junk, it decided it had to go. ‘This is more painful than childbirth’ she uttered to me and then lay back down. I had no reply.
With the rule being that all riders had to cross the line on their bikes after mid day on sunday to register a result, Katrin left her bike by the trail and limped back to the pits to tough it out for an hour. When the time came for her to head back and remount her bike for the finish it really took a monumental amount of convincing to get her up. Showing a whole lot of courage she managed to get across the line and claim second.
Unfortunately for Katrin, she was unable to make it to the Podium for presentations as the St John’s crew would not let her out of bed. After some tests and a bit of time to let her body warm up and slow its heart rate she was dismissed.
So that is pretty much how my experience of a 24 hour solo event unfolded. It is truly astonishing to watch just how much pain these riders can deal with and what they will go through just to finish, let alone win the race. As for the single speeders, well they are just masochists. Hopefully we will see Katrin back at the top of her game somewhere down the line, as soon as she forgets about the pain of Easter weekend 2009, I am sure she will be back.
Oh yeah Jason English won the mens event. Not by much!!
Congratulations to Jessica on her amazing win and thanks for ending the speech before the sun had set.
Danny Bonello
