CAPITAL PUNISHMENT 2010

Capital Punishment was held on Saturday 30th May 2010 in Canberra and took in some of the best tracks that Canberra have on offer. I was predicting a wet race, but nether expected the mud fest that prevailed.

Due to poor planning, we underestimated the time required to travel to the get start line (i.e. getting lost) and missed our race start slot by over 10 minutes. I started the race in the 4th wave and soon realised that forgetting my glasses was a crucial error, as mud was flicking up into my eyes, making visibility extremely difficult. After the 3km of fire road, we soon discovered how hammered the tracks truly were.



The next 30km was a battle, with the previous 300 plus riders turning the track into slop and the front wheel drifting through corners and the rear wheel sliding across the track from left to right. Overtaking other riders was made difficult by the poor track conditions and sheer volume of single track. I worked hard on the fire road sections to overtake as many people before re-entering the single track where patience was essential.

Half way through the first section, I had worn through my rear brake pads and was using the front brakes cautiously to ensure I would have some brakes for the rest of the race.





On arrival at the first 30km check point I literally had no vision, I was squinting to prevent any further mud going into my eyes and trying to make out the fast approaching check point. On arrival at the check point, I quickly grabbed a cup of premixed Endura and threw it into my eyes, to try and wash the dirt out.

I pushed on through the miles of paddocks that followed on my way towards Majura pines. At this point I was feeling strong and managed to make up some lost time. My expectations of the Majura track was not high, but the trail was in much worse condition and I found my self hugging a number trees and walking the steeper climbs.

At the 60km mark I stopped and had some food, attempted to wash eyes out again, but unknowingly over stayed my welcome by thinking that this section was untimed.

I was ecstatic on reaching the untimed section another 15km’s later, as I desperately need to go to the toilet and had been holding on from the start.


The last section before entering into Stromlo was painful, the track felt like I was riding through wet concrete, with large sections in an unrideable condition. The trails at Stromlo were the complete opposite and had held up really well.

This may sound like blasphemy, but I preferred the climb up Stromlo than the run down to finish, as I had absolutely no brakes left and the descent felt sketchy. With the finish line insight and the hum of the tyres rolling over the asphalt brought on a feeling of relief that it was all over. I ended up in a respectable 25th position overall and 16th in elite category.

Thanks to Bike Bug North Sydney for tuning my Merida FLX hardtrail for this event and to Steve who is going to help me strip clean the bike in the aftermath that was Capital Punishment.