Sounding like a broken record yet again...its been a while since my last blog entry.
Why?
Life gets away from me.
Each day is so engaging and the ease of a picture and a quick blurb on Facebook allows me to communicate in a brief moment.
Blogging on the other hand, I find once I start I can't stop.

Perhaps a little like a 24hr race, once the race starts I am on, yet moments before I am unsure, unable to imagine myself riding at 2am tomorrow morning, yet knowing that when I start time will pass and I will live to tell

Last weekend Norm and I went to Mt Buller, for two reasons, to catch up with The Corner Store Buller, the staff and to help out a bit. The other was to ride our bikes, together as husband and wife, as mates, riding buddies. Norm and I don't really do this often, maybe Brew Crew on a Thursday night is the time we might both be on the same track at the same time. Its a little different though, hanging out with 10 others and chatting with them is like we are there together but not interacting with each other.

My trip to Tassie – Hellfire Cup

Hellfire cup was originally meant to be held on the Australia Day long weekend in January earlier this year, but unfortunately mother nature breathed fire down the very region that would be holding the event, leaving it unfeasable and certainly unsafe for us to race let alone camp and have fun in the area. Bad luck for the race, the organisers and local tourism, but with the postponement put forward to late November, surely the timing would be good, albeit a bit busy on the schedule?

Well...no...the weather went exactly the opposite, rain

And its time to hurt... In some way it was good to get called up last in the Elite field and take my spot where it suited.
I got to sit in behind a bunch in the middle, I did not want to be boxed in on the inside and made a concious decision to search for gaps and get away from wheels that would hinder me.

The start was a quick spin around the crit track with an exit up a fire road that would take us to Cockatoo switchbacks entrance. I felt good, yet had no idea that

The Build

As I said in the last blog post, these events are always a tick box of processes to follow.
Everything from packing your gear, nutrition, lights to booking accommodation, riding the trails, delivering on media commitments and getting sleep!

When I got back from Mongolia after being sick and then after some R & R in Townsville, I only had 3.5 weeks to build form for the Worlds. Mongolia built form nicely, then I got sick, then I lost about 3kg in about 4 days and then I spent the rest of the time enjoying the sunshine and riding

The longer I leave this post race recollection, the harder it gets, so many various stories have entered my mind on how to retell this journey I have been on.

Perhaps I will start at the very very start, just briefly.

To remind you my reader, I first got excited about riding and racing back in late 1992 when Norm and I moved to the Gold Coast. Norm's brother, Rick, had a few mountain bikes and lived in Nerang. We went for a ride in Nerang State Forest on some trails and whilst I was totally scared and did cry