SeVen 2023
There is little argument that the 2023 edition of Seven (and her little sisters Five and Three) was as epic as it was brutal. Below are some reflections from 4Five+ members who rode the fine line between pleasure & pain. Chapeau all who rose to the challenge!
Geraldine Gorman
I entered Seven because I had completed Five last year on my mountain bike and felt that I could take on the tougher challenge of Seven. My goal was to complete the course within the 10 hours and I knew that would be hard for me.
Although I had been training more and graduated to riding my gravel bike, the last 2 months before the event did not go as planned and I started the day feeling very apprehensive about my chances of completing the course.
It rained and everything changed from the lovely dusty gravel rides that I had done 2 months previously. I rode at the back of the field and the downhills were slippery slopes which challenged me to my limits. As I rode, I kept thinking that I was an idiot to think that I could ever do this, it was too hard, I was completely out of my depth.
I made it to Lewana without any mishaps and felt very pleased at that stage to have stayed upright so far. On the approach to Ellis Creek road there was a downpour and I had to dismount for the first time to cross one very muddy section. I had done Ellis Creek on a training ride so I knew I could do it. But the mud was certainly slowing me down and somewhere in the Glacier Valley section I ran out of legs and had to briefly get off and walk. But my shoes were jammed in the cleats with mud so I just toppled over on my side. This happened a couple of times but somehow I was not injured and I knew by now that I would make it within the 10 hour cutoff time. I was thinking how happy I would be to finish and how I could tick this off my to do list and never have to go through such an ordeal again. The last 10km were glorious. I felt like a hero as I crossed the line. It was the hardest thing I have ever done.
But now I want to do it again!
Deb Kempe
This was my 3rd time at this event, and could have been my third Seven (yes the Blue buckle I know). But instead I chose to do FIVE this year, and it was so liberating to make that decision. Gone was the pressure I usually put on myself, the expectation, the knowing I was underdone in my training and also knowing that I just couldn't muster the required amount of courage, grit and time in the hurt locker that would be required to go the full distance of SEVEN.
That is why this event is so good, you have choices about your participation and whether you do the community ride, 3 5 or 7 it all feels like an accomplishment.
Five was still a significant challenge, but one that I was able to actually enjoy, with the unintended outcome of actually doing pretty well. 6th female overall for FIVE.
It still took me to the limit of my training, but without having to dip into the very costly Grit bank, where I had little reserve. I just didn't have it this time.
In 2022 I had qualified for the UCI World Championships at SEVEN, and went to Italy to compete, coming home with a rainbow jersey.
That whole campaign had been gruelling, the training, the travel and logistics, the event and getting caught up in a crash early in the race. I knew that my age group had diminished to a point where I just had to finish the remaining 115kms with an elbow that later required 16 stitches and plastic surgery.
I wore that well earnt rainbow jersey out on the FIVE course this year, not to show it or me off, rather to show others that anything is possible and often it's a matter (in life and on a bike) of just keeping going.
I rode happily, I chatted, I walked a couple of times, had an off in the mud into barbed wire, where a fellow rider stopped, helped me out of the barbed wire, and we both laughed about how "elegant" the fall was.
At the top of Brockman, my much needed prescription glasses were covered in mud, forcing me to stop at the aid station where a volunteer carefully cleaned them on his own shirt, gently wiped my face and put my glasses back on. I was so grateful, a tear rolled from my eye, the one I could actually now see out of.
By doing Five I actually got to be in front of the elite SEVEN field. It was such a thrill as they called and passed with speedy care, twice actually speaking to me, with one of the men in the front group actually saying, "Looking Strong there Mate"
My day was complete.
Thanks SEVEN, coach Toby Brown, and Escape CC. (Pic Daniela Tommasi)
Vanessa Johnson
Some days are impossible, until they are not.
This was my blue buckle ride, and I was hoping to podium so I could qualify for the UCI World Championships. The Female 55+ was a tough age group, including WA doyenne Alison Dyson, and climbing specialist Deb Latouf travelling across from Queensland.
It had been a thorough training campaign, but as the race drew nearer it was evident something was off, and taper didn’t bring the usual freshness. Putting it down to more perimenopause hormonal shenanigans, I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best on race day.
And then the rain. And the mud.
The first hour was OK, with a PR to the top of Brockman, taking on the first big muddy descent like a cowgirl (with appropriate yeehahs). I thought maybe it will be OK. But the next big climb clearly showed that what was a marginal gear selection for a dry course (42-44, set up for Italian flat) was not going to cut it. I then proceeded to grind up every climb, surviving on sheer grit and determination. The only blessings were my CX experience and local knowledge which stood me in good stead for the muddy descents.
Ellis Creek climb was torture. By then I had shooting pains through my neck, and had to back off the pace to survive. The bike sounded awful, but I was used to that from CX (maybe not for 6+ hours!). By 100km I was feeling slightly better, but Meachem fixed that. And then the last climb - a muddy, slippery, steep version of hell. I walked for the first time. I felt so demoralized.
I finished, and I qualified, but I reached so far into my bucket of grit that I was left entirely empty. So now I recuperate and gather up my learnings - Italy awaits!
(Pic Daniela Tommasi)
Greg Murray. Mo.
Token Bloke here at 4F+. The one with the ridiculous moustache.
I've done five laps of SEVEN and absolutely wouldn't miss it. This one..... well this year was PROPER epic. The toughest of slogs - so far. A soggy, tracked out course with drivetrain killing mud upped the challenge dramatically. And enough climbing to rival a Tour de France mountain stage. And did I mention the mud?
What Brendon Morrison, Rebecca Cotton and that tribe of loyal volunteers stage is something you won't fail to get something out of it. Most of us are there for a personal target rather than a "result" - but then we're also mates with Deb Kempe, Vanessa Johnson and all the other 4F+ hitters that resulted. I didn't get less out of it than them, and I can only be chuffed to be a small part of this community. Just do SEVEN. That is all.
(Pic Daniela Tommasi)
