Return from the Mont 24

This is an impressive event! Well run with many runs on the board, where the organisers clearly try to keep it fun and light. Unfortunately after 18hrs of dry weather the heavens opened at 6am the following morning and only the hardy continued on...I was not amongst them! As we continued to slip down the placings it became obvious we could not maintain the early pace with only 3 riders. So after my 2 slow laps at 3am we tried to sleep with the thought of maybe a final few laps in the morning before heading home, but as I mentioned the rain put paid to that. The car was packed and on the road in short time, Manly Beach was calling. It was hard to believe that by 2pm we we're sipping on lattes and thrashing around in the surf in a balmy 29 degrees before the cool change caught up with us later in the evening.

Some stats: 2800 riders or 600 teams turned up to have a go at the

18km East Kowen Forest

This was my first 24, having taken only the 12hrtrail that took a bit of a hiding. Roughly 600 riders circulated at any one time. I would say that 80-90% was single track which was pretty amazing.

It was a warm dusty start with the typical Le Mans carnage...actually it is an exciting way to start and the carnage is limited. Day receded into night and it stayed relatively warm....and dusty which made for interesting riding as the light reflected off the dust.

soft option in the past, which is really like a good long ride. A 24 requires a lot more planning. I wanna say if you were younger you might find it easier but a 24 hour involves a lot of mental as well as physical. To keep getting out on the track hour after hour, rider after rider, aching, tiring, withering.... not to be under estimated.

Having said all this, it was fun, with an amazing atmosphere. There were tents and caravans for as far as the eye could see, good food and a good line up of interesting product on display. It is a pretty cool thing to be surrounded by so many like minded people that share the same passion, all leaving it out on the track but always maintaining such a happy and positive outlook. Makes you proud to be a mountain biker.