2013 Highland Fling

This was my first time at the Highland Fling and I had no idea what it was going to be like or how the race would play out. I went into it with an open mind not expecting too much, just looking for a good result. The course was made up of mainly fire road and double track, with only about 10-15kms of single track.

All the main contenders from the Australian marathon ranks were sitting on the start line. My plan was to stay up front and keep an eye on what was going on but not to do too much work until the second part of the race.

As soon as the gun went it was on and the weather was really not on our side, with it raining from start to finish. In the events long history it's the first time it has ever been run in the rain, so lucky me.

The race was strung out down the first fire road and stayed this way through the first two river crossings. The gaps in the field began to appear within the first 15kms. A small group of riders got away with the main riders in the group and I was left chasing with about eight other riders. The gap never got closed as no one was working as a team and by the end of the first stage they had about two minutes up on the field.



In stage 2, which was about 53kms, I found myself in a working group of three with Jason English and Shaun Lewis. We worked well and rode as a three, putting time into the chase group and into the leaders as well.I ran out of steam at the 95km mark, with only 15kms to go. I rode across the finish line in 7th position. I was really happy with my race, as it's only 3 weeks back training and a whole season in front of me. Looking forward to Hell Fire Cup next week in a mixed doubles team.