2018 Wildwood Rock Extreme Enduro

[Pygmygod]

Keg:

[Pygmygod]

Originally Posted by ggchris

Yep.. that's the one that I can feel right now. Oh, no indeed!!

The prologue looked a lot harder than last year.

Got a pic of Buzz:

[ggchris]

Originally Posted by Pygmygod

The prologue looked a lot harder than last year.

I haven't 'raced' the event for a few year, since 2015 maybe..
But yes.. really upped the level, I think. A proper challenge for the likes of me, anyway.

Love the geezer pointing and laughing at me falling off.

Hope ya choke a ya Guava Cruiser..

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[gibnut]

Well, that was easily the toughest 3 and a bit hours I’ve ever had on a bike.

I was on thin ice before the event even started - I drove straight down from Sydney - 8hrs on Saturday - set up camp, signed on, went for a look at the track, had dinner and a tinny & got about 2 hours sleep in the pits in a flimsy tent in 2c on rocks with my daughter’s sleeping bag - not ideal night before preparation! My fault & no excuses - just saying I wouldn’t do it like that again.

I did 3 or 4 laps at last years’ DBW GNCC & did one lap yesterday. The track was brutal for Gumby grade 3 riders - in fact, it’s testament to how inclusive the event is that we are even allowed to enter.

I took 3 goes to get over one big log in the prologue, but went ok through the rest of it. I got stuck behind a couple of guys towards the end of the obstacles only to have a Steward tell us “Wade’s coming, get out of the way”. The top riders in Gold were around their first lap while us Bronze back-markers were just getting started!

Frankly, I was wrecked after picking my bike up 3 times in 90 seconds in the prologue & with little sleep, the ‘DNF demon’ entered my mind. At least half of my race time was stopping & resting I was that knackered! Hmm, stamina probably needs work..

The hills were harder than I remember with Horsepower Hill having been moved & the new one has a rock garden at the top, as well as 250m of about 40 degree pea gravel to negotiate. I crashed hard in one of the gullies, bent my brake lever & had to drag my bike over a 50kg boulder as my foot peg was snagged on it - right in the race line. Up comes Wade Young, barely twitching a muscle, smooth & calm as you like. Phenomenal skill. Ben Grabham, Tim Coleman & Wade Ibrahim were stand outs, too. Along the way, I saw everything - pro’s binning it big time in the prologue, a guy on a Beta with a blown crank seal laughing & getting up the hills in a cloud of white smoke, bikes cartwheeling down hills, bodies cartwheeling down hills, some bloke changing a tube halfway up a hill, riders getting yelled at for blocking the race line. Hectic.

Keg found me at the bottom of the ‘rock river’ (the hardest part on the track - 150m x 3m wide of 50cm round granite boulders you just had to paddle up) & gave me a pep talk, so I had a splash in Deep Creek & off I went..

My advice for anyone of my level considering the race - find long, steep hills to practice on, go 2-5psi on a brand new 120/100-18 or as wide as you can (I was probably 9-10psi on a 300km-old Motoz Arena Hybrid); the top guys had basically flat rear tyres for maximum traction. Oh, & get some sleep before the race.

I’m so proud I finished - a third the way through I was thinking “I can’t do it”. But I pushed through.

Finally, it was truly amazing to watch world class extreme enduro riders attack the track first hand. Great event, great crowd & well done to Steve and his team of dedicated workers and a big thanks to GGChris, Nocams & Marky-Mark for making it a fun day.

[Pete40]

Good on ya Gibnut.

[Pygmygod]

You were you #171 Gib? I couldn't find any pictures we took of ya

We got there a little late so only saw the last 3/4rs of the riders start.

We watched just after the bus for a little while and to our amazement we saw Wade and the rest start lapping you guys. I couldn't believe it!

Did some Googling and found the young downed rider who got choppered out on Facebook, he's ok. Nothing broken, just ligament damage, so that was good to hear.

Well done to all who rode, looked bloody hard.

[ggchris]

I started with Gibbo at the back, we knew we weren't going to be troubling the podium so didn't stress about it.

By the time we got to the start line the pros were already through the rock garden. All good though, I just about got out of the prologue before they smashed on by.

They're from another planet btw.. watch them from the sidelines or on the internet, by all means, but if you see them float through a set if obstacles that you've just struggled through it REALLY makes it clear how good these people are at what they do. Credit to Steve for attracting that level of talent.

Yes, Gibnut was on 171. Did a good job, too..

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