The Australian pro motocross was coming up to Queensland at my local tack in a few weeks and I was asking friend Todd Hickling from FOX head inc. Australia if he was attending? He responded quickly with a hard NO and that he was heading up to Noosa for the Noosa Road classic. It took me about roughly two minutes to ask him if I could join in him for the weekend. He was stoked to add me to his group, and I was like “hey Todd are you doing the 160k “100 mile” ride” he said “nah the 120k”. Me being the meathead that I am, I was like cool I’m coming but I’m going to suffer and go big for the century ride. Todd just laughed and said you’re an idiot. I’ve done my fair share of century rides but this one was different. I didn’t know the route as I’d never been to Noosa before, and I also didn’t have any friends that would be riding and pushing me.

When it comes to preparation, I didn’t really prepare for the ride, I just did some consistent rides 2 weeks out and made sure that my equipment was good. Sarah and I left after Noah’s soccer game on the Saturday before the Sunday ride and made the 2-hr drive north to Noosa. This was my first time to Noosa so what better to see it then on your bike. I arrived and checked in at the venue on the Saturday where I ran into Todd and his good friend Nicholas where were talking some shit under the Sram tent. I had just got my bike serviced but I thought I would get my bike checked over before the ride. The Sram Australia crew dove into my BMC where they saw some interesting things with my tune on the Sram red e-tap. Thanks to the crew for sorting out my bike and giving me confidence before I went into an adventure ride.

Sarah had a great place booked for the family where I only had to ride 10 minutes to the start/finish line, so it makes the morning very simple to get going. Speaking of getting going, it was the morning and I was really excited to crawl into the pain cave for 160k. My goal was to have a consistent pace and manage my nutrition so I didn’t bonk. As I sat over my frame rail with no friends, not knowing a soul I reflected on how much growth I had because I was there for me not for a sponsor, or any other reason. As I sat their a young Women named Alexa Leary was speaking and I was listening to her story of her rebuild of life after a bad road crash. Please click HERE to learn more about Alexa Leary and her amazing charity. Back to the ride. Alexa sent us off and in typical fashion the ride that’s not a race quickly turned into the flex off and you must find out where you fit in. We were only 10 minutes into the ride where we hit the first climb and the pace was quick! Very Quick! I was at threshold, and I was going uh oh I need to reel it back or it’s going to be a long day. I ended up suffering though the 5–7-minute effort. I felt as if the was my group of riders that I might be able to stay with, but the reality is I was hanging on for dear life! For the next 60k we broke in to two groups a lead group and a second group. I was in the second group doing my best to pull my weight when a guy rode up next to me and said “nice bike” it broke the ice and I was like “thanks!” This was the first thing I heard from our group of say 12 guys in over 90 minutes. That is an indication of how hard we were going - no time for talking.

The route was amazing to say the least, we left Noosa and went east where you would get very little relief with undulating roads with some amazing views. Although I only used one, the aid stations were spaced out perfectly across the route. One great element of the Noosa Classic is the 160k route and the 120k route merge. The 120k route starts one hour after the 160k route and the 160k route does 40k out farther so you can meet back up with a friend or other riders. In fact I met back up with Todd and Nicholas at the biggest aid station at around 120k for 160k ride. We had intentions of riding together from that point but once we got going and me having just over 40k left I only had one speed that felt comfortable. I worked into another group of 3 guys where we were heading towards the last climb and I heard it was the hardest. We hit the climb coming out of Cootharaba and what a doozy was this climb. It was split into two sections where it had me running out of gear and it forced me to get out of the saddle to get over. Once we got over the climb, I was able to take in the views as I was alone and almost to the finish line. I reflected on my journey in Australia the last 18 months. How lucky I am and how great life is! I’m fortunate to be able to ride my bike essentially off the couch 160k and suffer when others can’t or won’t. I came across the line taking a video for my IG story. My legs were wrecked I was wanting off my bike but my Nutrition fuelled by Ryno Power was on point! I finished 160k/100 miles in 5:15. I was stoked on my performance but now it was time to ride another 14k to spend the afternoon at the beach with my beautiful family. This extra credit sucked but seeing my family at one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever been to make it all worth it.

So should you do the Noosa Classic? Oh hell ya! The event is ran flawless, aid stations were 5 star and Noosa is one of the best beach towns I’ve even been to in my life with something for everyone.  I hope to make this an annual event for myself and others that I bring along with me.

Event Info - Noosa Classic

 Where I stayed - The BIG 4 Igeniia

The tools for the ride

Bike: BMC

Nutrition: Ryno Power

Bottle 1  - Carb Fuel - hydration

Bottle 2 – Hydration

Bottle 3 - Carb Fuel – hydration

Bottle 4 Hydration

2 gels

Gear

Helmet -Met

Shoes - Sidi

 Glasses – 100% SE2