Dirt Works 100km Classic - Race Report
By: Mark Osborn (Rider #924)

This was my first ever mountain bike race at the ripe old age of 47! I cycled with my mate Steve Blasina in the Masters category. All was good up to 22 kms then I had a stack on a fast downhill section. I was bleeding from every limb and had a mouth full of dirt but in the true spirit of the Dirt Works I kept going. 2kms later Steve shouted “STOP PEDALLING” as he had just seen my derailleur hanging on the ground after a broken hanger.

Despite the fact that I had patiently waited for Steve up all the hills to that point, he disappeared into the distance leaving me to walk 3 kms to the drinks station. I’m not much of a bike mechanic so when I got there I asked around to see if anyone knew how to fix my bike, but no luck – they were all fire service people. They said they’d be happy to take me and my bike to the bottom in a ute once all the competitors had gone past.

All my dreams of finishing the race were shattered and that was the low point. I reckoned I would have to wait a couple of hours then I’d have to explain to all my mates and work colleagues that I wasn’t able to finish the race. There had to be a way....

I hung around there for about half an hour and chatted to a 100km guy whose handlebar had snapped off doing a downhill section (ouch!), then I saw a young lady who appeared quite distressed. She had a chest infection and had only 3 hours sleep the night before, but nevertheless had decided to give it a go. But she had hit the wall.

So we had me who was fit to go on, but with no bike, and her who wasn’t fit to go on, but with a good bike! Perfect. So I wandered up to her and suggested I’d be very happy to take her bike to the bottom for her. She looked at my broken bike and my bloodied legs and arms, and her boyfriend looked at me as if to say “You’ve got to be joking” .

But after a bit of negotiation and a promise to repair any damage I had a new bike! Trouble is, I’m 189cms and my new friend Jenny was probably no more than 169cms. When I sat on her bike my knees touched the ground, but this was no time for small details. I took my seat post and fixed it to her bike, and raised it as far as possible. My knees were now a good 10cms off the ground so off I went – that was the hardest 23kms I have ever cycled, but I am pleased to report that I finished the race.

I had a laugh when I’d been going about 5kms and I came up to this big guy labouring up a hill. I went past him and he said “this is a tough one” . I said “mate you should try it on a girls bike”. I won’t tell you what he said.

Of course all the people at work are now making up stories about bells and baskets and streamers, but I don’t care because I finished and that’s all that matters, even if my bastard mate Steve did it in 2:51 and I took 3:45! The photographs will be interesting – the first half I will be competitor 924 and the second half number 990 on a girls bike.

Now all I have to do is send my new friend Jenny her seat in the mail to Canberra, with a box of chocolates, and mission accomplished.

Thanks for the day guys it was fantastic and a day I for one will never forget!