The BWA 5 dams 2012 was going to be no easy feat for any cyclist, let alone the first time newbie to the event. Waking at 4.30am to perfect conditions was enough to lift the enthusiasm and excitement. Starting the day with a decent serve of Weetbix, a few last minute checks on the bike I was set to go………..registration and getting to the start line in the 3rd wave of starters, the sun was just coming up and I had some real motivation kicking in.

My team mate and I had decided that we would go out towards Greenmount Hill trying to average in the mid 30kph range as we looked to set ourselves up with a good time for the day…..We found an alliance of about 3 or 4 riders riding around the pace we were hoping for and started rolling through towards Midland. Hitting the base of Greenmount hill it was time to settle the heart rate and legs into a rythm, which worked better than I had planned……..My team mate was working at slightly higher tempo than I, but I thought I would sit on his wheel and attempt to work a bit harder…….The body responded and after a few minutes again the heart rate started to settle into a rythm………at this stage I was feeling confident we would post a good time by the first checkpoint at Mundaring Weir. As we reached the top of Greenmount Hill there was a sign of relief although following my team mates pace, we appeared to have dropped most ofthe guys we started with at the bottom………physically I didn’t feel any issues, but mentally concerned we may be going out too hard, as it was still early days……….Following the pleasant descent into Mundaring Weir we met our first checkpoint. Many of the riders seemed quite anxious to make this a quick transition……..We quickly filled up the bottles, took some of the supplied supplement on board, ate a banana and made way up the climb out of Mundaring Weir.

As we climbed out of Mundaring Weir, it was time to shift focus onto what lies ahead……..we had planned to ride at a comfortable, but still elevated pace until we found a group of riders moving at a similar pace and form an alliance. We found two riders from Glen Parker Cycles and formed a rolling group taking turns as we moved down into Bickley valley and back up towards Canning road………then our first hurdle……..my team mate’s front derailleur slipped a cable and he had found to have lost reach on his two inner most gears on the rear cassette…….setting up quite a challenge for hill climbing………luckily we had a strong rider on our hands otherwise that may have spelled disaster. He managed very well given the extra resistance. As we made our way through Canning road surrounds and moved towards Brookton Highway, we managed to keep our group intact, catching another group of about 6 or 8 and slowed down to their pace to find some recovery. Keeping an eye on my sugar levels as I’m a type 1 diabetic, all was well but opted for a vegemite sandwich just to keep myself sustained……..drinking more electrolytes and maintaining my gameplan to keep the calories up early in the ride in order not to hit the wall later on. Clearly as the day progressed I was to learn this was not enough.

After hitting Roleystone and a sharp left turn onto Soldiers road, it was time to think about Churchmans Brook dam…….a bit of climbing involved, but again we took this hill on with an elevated pace………I found at this point I was feeling stronger and happy to attempt pushing myself a little more. We passed the sign labelled “check point 300m”………now I don’t know if it was just the pain of climbing and that this sign would later be misrepresentative, but it seemed a very looooooonnngggg 300m up the hill, in every instance!……..we eventually made it to the check point. Time to refuel, again taking onboard more of the electrolyte supplement supplied and my team mate to make some mechanical re-adjustments with a tool supplied by the BWA marshall……..he had his two gears back ecstatically and we were good to go……..Rolling out of Churchmans Brook, we were on task and motivation was high!

As we progressed onto Albany Highway, Wungong Dam was the next objective, knowing this climb out of the dam was particularly steep. As we made it down into the dam, we were greeted with the neutral zone, a free time zone where we were to enjoy ‘lunch’, but being only 9.30am, I didn’t want to take on board any insulin and unstablize myself, so I opted for having a few energy snacks I had stored and more electrolyte supplement……this was nutritional mistake number one (more to follow on why)……..After applying some sunscreen and getting another stamp, it was time to head out………we made a strong and steady climb out of the Dam and up the dreaded hill towards Albany highway……..still feeling good, still feeling motivated, it was game on!

Canning Dam next on the list, we were well on our way down the Albany highway and making the left turn, down the hill we went passing many 3 dams riders making the relentless climb out of the dam with a sign of pain on many of their faces. This taunted us for what lay ahead knowing we were to face the same fate. There was a short sharp climb up to the dam itself and feeling a bit of energy burst I decided I would again push for a strong climb, dragging my team mate up who was temporarily lacking in enthusiam. We met our next check point……..Canning Dam!……..We were greeted by the Red Bull girls, supplying us with a free serve of their ‘scientifically proven’ beverages………I decided to have one against everything I would normally do………….nutritional mistake number two!

So the next moment in time was the climb out of Canning Dam which we had feared would test us……….relentless to say the least as by this point, although not completely fatigued, the reality of 238kms had well in truly set in……….as we were griding our way up the ascent, the red bull was aiding in my mental focus somewhat. We hit the Albany Highway and my team mate decided it was time to stretch the legs, forming a consistent pace of around 40kph……eager to speed up the time, I was happy to hold the wheel and not call for an “ease up”. We found a few groups, but were travelling much below our speed so we overtook and pressed on.

We turned onto Jarrahdale road……….the negative turn of events started here. As we were (still at well above pace) hurrying up and down Jarrahdale road, we hit a climb coming into Jarrahdale where I became restless and wanted to push hard up a the hill and past another group, then it came……….with a bang my right hamstring and aductor cramped severely!!!………kind of like a gunshot wound to the back and inside of my leg………..not ever experiencing this before, I was shocked at the sheer force, but tried to push through the pain………….dropping down a gear and loosening up the pedals, it seemed to relax my leg…………my decision at the time was to swallow the rest of my electrolyte supplement supplied to us on the day, thinking it was alleviate the muscular distress……………Before this seemed to absorb came the big bonk!! (and I say this in serious humour)…….I had hit the wall…….how could this be…..? though I thought I had taken in enough calories………thinking back, perhaps my food intake was not quite regular enough and certainly not  carbohydrate dense enough, as my sandwiches were on wholegrain bread with only Peanut butter and a dash of honey…………my healthy eating habits had come back on me in this instance fearing I would impact my sugar levels………..Not forgetting I am an insulin dependant diabetic, I was now hitting the wall with worsening low sugar levels, bonking and cramping………so I stuffed my face with more energy bars (which also contained electrolytes)………..this was all in series of mistakes to add to the situation about to follow.

As we (barely) rolled into Serpentine, I was cramped and starving and in a less than average way………My team mate was anxious to press on to save valuable time, as this was not a time neutral zone………..so I hammered down two wraps and a spare Nutella sandwich I had………….in my delusional state I filled not one, but both bottles with the electrolyte supplement drink……….this was the final straw and I was about to realise my series of mistakes………….

We rode out and up Kingsbury drive like a frantic team of maniacs……..I was starting to black out from my low sugar levels as the sugars I had eaten didn’t get enough time to absolrb…….confused I just stared at my team mates rear wheel and did not look up, thinking the energy hit would come as my food absorbed………….we started to level out and I just hung on………….cold chills and sweating prefusely. We started the speedy descent down to SW highway and I started to come good…………Thinking the worst was behind me and with renewed energy and elevating sugar levels, we began to put the hammer on again with our friends from Glen Parkers……….Rolling through at 37-38kph we were aiming high towards the freeway………..now things started to really go wrong………..my stomach cramped and I started to feel nauseas……….feeding myself a mental cup of cement and trying to toughen up mentally, I pressed on……………it worsened………….and worsened some more until I was again feeling unable to continue at this pace………..When we reached the first freeway stop for water, I drained my bottles of supplement drink (what was left about 1/4tr bottle) knowing that had been the error of my ways……….loading up on water and snakes as I couldn’t eat anything else without vomitting………….

We pressed on again towards Rockingham rolling through with a group of about 7 or so………..the pace was heating up and I still struggled to hold pace………..I was becoming a liability to the group and not taking turns in fear of vomitting over my shoulder………..that came around Thomas road where I unloaded the contents of my stomach onto the path……………I had no choice here but to stop…………we lost the group……….I was delerious, sick, sweating and weak……..determined to make it when I thought I couldn’t I decided we would start rolling at a snails pace……….I drank more and more water and ate my jelly snakes. We hovered around 30kph…………..this was to be the longest 30 kilometres I have endured with frequent (and severe cramps) passing the final timing mats………….I could now smell the sausage sizzle at the finish line, knowing we were so close but it wasn’t over yet…………..from here it was just an eyes half closed delerious roll at that pace all the way through….too much speed and I would cramp again and again…..Eventually we found the end of the freeway and turned towards Mill Point road. The ‘hill’ (more like tiny bump) on Mill Point road felt like D’Huez……We had made it………….somehow……………The finish was in sight. I was well and truly finished.

The foods I chose were perhaps too light in carbohydrate denisty, combined with too much Electrolyte versus water intake, coupled with a caffeinated red bull, we all which made the final 60 kilometres the worst I have endured on a bike…..or ever!

BUT – we managed an overall respectable 24-25th overall time amongst the field with just over 8 hours by their timing system (7.42 of ride time on our clock)……………lessons to be learnt in what to do and what not to do were learnt……….an unforgettable experience…..Met a great bunch of people along the way…….would I do it again……………….Hell yes!!!!