Tassie gift - 2024

Tassie Gift has been on my mind ever since I completed the Monaro Cloudride in 2021. However, I was unable to start that year as the borders were shut due to COVID. In 2022 I bought flights for a second time, however capitulated at the last minute due to a number of factors - mostly anxiety around training and the flooding on course, which were both without basis. I spent most of 2023 injured and unable to train. So in 2024 I had to finish the gift, lest it get the best of me.

The Gift is a top quality experience but the trouble with experiences is that they are best experienced, and not read about. So this is going to be more a reflection of my experience rather than about the Gift itself. I’ve captured my thoughts on several themes but you cannot capture the totality of the experience.

Enjoyment and Suffering

When I started bikepacking, I did tough rides to prove to myself and others that I could do them, and thus suffering was the point of the ride. In firm contrast to that mindset, Abdullah Zeinab once said “the point of racing is to not suffer”. I finally can agree - I know that I enjoy riding until I am exhausted for days on end. The tougher the terrain is, the more I enjoy it. And since I want to ride in this style so much, why not focus on enjoying each moment?

Of course, there is bound to be pain in an event like this, and there were a few mistakes that I made that led to unnecessary pain. But since I chose to do the event and wanted to be there, I would not really call it suffering.

I think the course design plays into this as well. The Gift is not designed to torture you - every hard track is interesting or leads somewhere beautiful. Emma Flukes, the creator of the gift, claims the course is entirely rideable, if you are fit enough. Whilst I walked a lot, I would tend to agree - there was very limited mandatory hike-a-bike. My time doom scrolling instagram betrayed me. The route has a fearsome reputation online - but as an experienced bike packer (with a generous dose of self doubt and over thinking) the warnings are not for me.

Problem Solving

One of my strengths in ultra endurance activities is my ability to ignore problems until after the race. But this year I have been practicing my flexible thinking. Ignoring problems is still useful, but it’s great to have other options.

On day one a nipple in my front wheel disintegrated, so I spent eight hours on day two waiting for a wheel rebuild. Due to being undertrained and perhaps pushing too high a gear I really aggravated my right knee - but with my problem solving skills I tried a variety of tactics including river and ocean based hydrotherapy, taking panadol, and soft pedalling. The eventual solution was accidentally breaking my front derailleur and being consigned to the low range.

After the knee calmed down, the soles of my shoes lost their structure. At first I put up with this, but while getting my wheel re-tensioned in Branxholm I also picked up some nice large flat pedals.

I missed shop hours in Waratah as they had closed up early. With the next resupply option being a Fish and Chip shop in Arthur River 180km down the road, I was in a tight spot. However I managed to resupply at the Waratah pub with hot chips and chocolates.

Persistence Hunter

One of the things I enjoy most about bikepacking is working my way through the pack. Having to wait for the wheel rebuild on day two put me all the way back to 27th. My moving speed was not faster than anyone ahead of me. However, each day I would get up slightly earlier, break camp slightly faster, then ride slightly later into the night. I only made ground on people around dawn and dusk.

Throughout the whole ride I caught people, often passing them while they slept in. As I got closer to the finish, the number of people you can possibly catch reduces but I was still keen to make a few more positions and get into the top ten.

I was quite worried when I saw Wes riding towards Lake Leake - he was moving with incredible speed and I could not hold onto him. However, there was a reason that I had initially caught up to him. Moving at nearly double my speed required more sugar and more rest - whereas all I had to do was keep soft pedalling and eating Tim Tams.

Heading into Derby (about two thirds of the way through the route) the rider ahead of me - Jason - had a six hour lead. Over the next few days I managed to whittle this down, but he was still well ahead of me on the final night. Since I was feeling strong and wanted to make sure I left it all out there, I decided to ride through the night. As I passed Jason’s tent I turned my lights off and pedalled silently. It felt a little bit silly, like a sprint finish in the last 100 metres to move up one place at Park Run, but when else do you get to chase someone cross-country for days on end?

Ultralight Efficiency

On this ride I changed my style substantially from heavy and “comfy” to light and efficient. I traded my Surly for a carbon hardtail, tent for tarp, 3/4 length bushwalking coat for lightweight shell, Steripen for gravity filter, and Jetboil for cold soak. A lot of this was in recognition that this is a climbing race and thus power to weight is the most important statistic. But there is a reason I say “ultralight efficiency”. Some choices are also about having an efficient ride. The cold soak not only saves almost 500g off my Jetboil, but also saves time and effort cooking. The cold soak might seem at odds with my focus on enjoyment, but the cold soak meals are fuel - the obscenely large cafe meals are enjoyment. An added bonus of the cold soak is that you can now mix up choccy milk from powder whenever the going gets tough.

The tarp was a recognition that I will sleep inside or under a roof when I can, and will need a “portable roof” when I can’t. It also turned out to be more luxurious than my ultralight one person tent, although it is more of a faff to set up.

I also stopped journalling, stretching and moisturizing each night. This was so that I could increase the time I spent riding and sleeping. However, given the physio said my knee injury was due to a tight quad, I may go back to doing some stretches. I’ve also learned instead of writing in a journal, you can record voice notes or vlogs while riding - increasing efficiency whilst still capturing moments that the brain fog will take from you.

In the end, I didn’t lose too much comfort off the bike and gained a lot of comfort on the bike, so I am very happy with my lightweight approach.

Training

This year I put a lot of effort into training - waking up early to do intervals once or twice a week. However, I did not manage to recover effectively and for every good week of training I had a week without motivation. I got sick from the lack of sleep, and I even started fantasizing about quitting cycling and becoming a runner. About six weeks out from the race I stopped trying to train, started drinking beers again and aimed to get to the start line in the best head space possible. For full disclosure, this “not training” period included doing a 24 hour mountain bike race and a three day bike tour, but the focus on getting to the start line seemed to work.

During the race I found the love of cycling again. It seems that training out of compulsion is not beneficial. This year I will try and do less training but more consistently. I will also focus on finding the fun in training. I don’t need to train in order to prove myself or to complete the event. I know I can manage my food, sleep and body to ride to the finish. The training helps to make the ride more enjoyable and thus the pain of training shouldn’t outweigh the benefits it brings (or make you want to quit cycling).

Conclusion

Tassie Gift is a sublime ride. It’s a great opportunity to ride from sun up to sun down for almost two weeks. The course design is immaculate and the terrain and scenery are stunning. Like many adventures, I fit more life into those twelve days than I did for most of the year. Finally, the level of adventure was just right - enough things went wrong to keep it interesting, but nothing was catastrophic.