Red Centre Enduro starts Monday!!!

It's been a while since I last blogged... It's been a busy month for training, work and all things mountain biking, so the Red Centre Enduro in Alice Springs has come up pretty damn quick.

I have in my possession a new pair of custom fit shoes and a new set of wheels, which I took out for a quick grind tonight and to my delight, both ran superbly. I was a little disappointed when I found out my custom-built race wheels weren't compatible with the UST tyres I wanted to use, and given the prevalence of thorns and sharp rocks around Alice Springs, I wasn't too keen on running the thinner, lighter tyres I generally run in a race, so the only option was to switch to a set of tubeless-specific wheels... Seems to have done the trick, but only next week will tell.

So my usual "travel lightly" packing is just about done... Just need to do the weigh-in and pull my bike apart after some minor adjustments, so all things going well, in bed by 9 for a couple of hours sleep before the notorious 6am flight that I seem to be so good at booking (there's a reason this flight is cheap!!!)

Looking forward in particular to seeing my sister, Emily, who has been commissioned to photograph the race (small world huh???). Emily had her first serious taste of MTB photography when she supported me at my first world champs in 2008, and I must admit, bias aside, that she takes a bloody amazing photo... Check out her work at Emily Dimozantos Impressions.

So the Red Centre Enduro is a 5 day, 7 stage race. Most of the stages are relatively short, except Wednesday's 100km stage. This may or may not be a good thing for me. I have some good speed in my legs, but the longer stuff has always been a better flavour for me. There's going to be some strong riders there, including 3 time 24 hour solo world champ, Rebecca Rusch, so come Monday, it's gonna be on like donkey kong!!!! It's not looking too hot and they've had some rain, so I reckon it's gonna be running sweet. Can't wait!

The Red Centre Enduro website has a live updates link if you want to follow the race. I will try and keep updates running here on my site, but as usual, there's never any guarantee that I'll have internet access.

Wish me luck!!!