Perspective....

A little off topic, but tomorrow I'm doing a 100 mile race - 8 laps of Stromlo. It'll be on a singlespeed race bike which weighs less than 10kgs.

It's funny how much easier this task is, comparing it to the Brevet. We were doing those kms every day with triple the weight, long distances between food and water and no certainty about the terrain ahead.

I guess this is the sanitised mediocrity of circuit racing though. Adventure by bike in an entirely predictable form, where food and drink await you every 20km on the table and you can foresee the next lap and plan ahead with certainty and without that inherent danger and adventure of an unknown and varied route.

This race itself is small and the 100 mile crew is fast, so it'll be a fun jaunt on the bikes. I keep extrapolating these thoughts though to the 24 hours of Adrenaline "World Solo Championships", which seems to be more about hype, bragging rights and the appearance of adventure. Although there will be some great battles towards the sharper ends of the field and some deep performances, I can't help but feel that 24 hour racing (and endurance racing in general) is slowly selling out and sanitising the adventurous soul and spirit of mountain biking.

Sounds like it's time to head to the mountains again....