Mike’s Prologue 500 2024: a triumph of perseverance

Earlier this year, I was thinking I was keen to ride The Prologue, but I was not sure whether to enter. I mean, mentally, was I up for another big ride after Terra Australis and would I have time/motivation to train for it.

Fast forward to a week before the race and the mind was raring to give it a shot, so I think "screw let's do it!" might have been my mantra!

Added to that, Fox kindly donated a set of the brand new gravel forks, the Fox TC32. 50mm of gravel tuned plushness. Perfect for a course that was quoted as being designed for a Mountain Bike. So, it ended up a bit of a Frankenstein bike and not what I'd planned to ride, but I do have a reputation of making things hard for myself!

So long story short, I arrived at the start pretty chilled with my Wondercross Wanderer, a nice new orange fork and 650b Enve's dressed with Panaracer Gravelking SK+ 50mm. I would have preferred 700c wheels, but I was running Klite Lights and with the overall set up I had to opt for the smaller wheel size.

The start to this historic race is usually quite fast for such a long way ahead but my legs felt good, so I tried to stay in the 2nd group of 5. The 1st group of 5 I was never going to stick with were next level, as proven by the winner Ollie Penny, going around in under 25 hours! After faffing with my phone whilst riding, a little gap had opened up so on the descent into the Murrumbidgee, I rolled a bit faster to try and catch up and right on the 10km mark I approached a nasty looking off camber right hander. As I came round the bend, I saw someone standing over their bike right on the exit of the corner… This wasn't going to end well... I tried to skid out the back tyre a little to avoid a collision, but the combination of Canberra loam, small wheels and panaracers on the that corner proved too much for my bike handling skills and down I went like a sack of spuds on my right side.

Photos thanks to Clemence Gontie off the Bikepacking Ultra Racing Australia FB Group.

I picked myself up and knew my elbow had met with the cheese grater. Knee and hip also took a hit, but they were fine. My InReach mount had snapped and the rear mech had taken a big impact, so the gears were stuffed. Thankfully I still had gear #1 and the chain was staying on the cassette so that was something. Cursing myself for being so gung-ho so early in a race this long, I rolled down to the river, waded in, shoes and all and started scrubbing the gravel out of my elbow. You'd think by my age I would have learnt something about how not to start a race. I was not happy with myself.

Pulling out was never an option.

So for the next 20 km or so I let the adrenaline wear off and just concentrated on trying to ride a bike that had about 5 usable gears across the 11 speed range, due to the bent hanger.

The one consolation was that the scenery, roads and weather were totally mint.

Yes, it was getting hot, but the Tinderry Nature Reserve was beautiful, the vertical metres were already adding up and I was still rolling at a reasonable speed. I picked up a bit of water from the Trail Angels and passed 4 or 5 guys who stopped for water at the Queanbeyan river. I was starting to get a feel for the bike with the fork and small wheels, taking more caution on corners but still rolling fast when I felt the back tyre bottom out. Unfortunately, in my haste to prep the bike, I had not had time to check sealant and the back tyre now seemed to have a slow leak. I tried to pump it up a few times and could see the air leaking from under the valve stem. I tightened it but no luck so after 4 or 5 stops, I threw my only tube in at the 85km mark. I'd need to do the next 415km with no punctures.

Are you starting to get the impression that maybe I went into this slightly underprepared?

Well, the good news is I thrive under pressure and now the pressure was on, not only was a finish in the top 10 in doubt, but I may also not even finish. That would really suck: I hate the letters DNF!

The one thing I did get right was drinking and eating. The legs were feeling great, and was super-hot so I was drinking almost 1L an hour. I was doing OK, I was eating, the bike was rideable, and I stopped with 3 other guys at Peppers Creek to refill bottles. The elbow looks a mess but no point stopping now.

The goal now was to make it to Cobargo (205km) before the Hotel kitchen closed at 8pm. I rang them at around 7:30pm and asked them to put aside a Chicken Schnitzel, chips and veggies for me. I made it to the Servo 30 minutes before closing (8:30pm) and got a Maximus, chocolate milk, Up and Go (for breakfast) and coke. Then to the pub, they were so nice! The Publican had labelled my dinner "BIKER MIKE" and when he saw my elbow, he went straight and got the 1st Aid kit and his lovely bar person, Skye, who used to be a nurse.

She said, "It is a nice change to be patching up a cyclist compared to what you normally get to patch up in a country pub!"

My next stroke of luck was good mate Pete Mullens had booked a room and said if I needed to use it, the key would be in the door. So, in I rolled, elbow neatly bandaged up with steri-strips to hold together the open gash. I grabbed a shower, sorted out all my food and drinks and took a 1-hour nap. I then woke and scoffed down half the snitty and chips and was back on the road around 11:30pm.

A 3-hour pit stop was so worth it and now I felt human again. I'd re-learnt how to use the gears and had a nice balmy evening to ride through the night. The bad news was I had dropped from 6th place to about 15th place, but that didn’t worry me at all. I knew everyone would be suffering like me and now I had some good food in my belly. The goal now was to just finish as quickly as possible.

Photo: Meredith & Chilli Mullins before the start

It's always a pleasure to ride with my good friend Meredith Quinlan. We are a classic Hare and Tortoise match. She has one speed and is the very definition of Perpetual Motion. We rode together from around Tilba to Narooma which was great, we had some great chat and plenty of laughs at the expense of my ill-prepared self!

The next little spanner in the works was the lovely novelty detour into Narooma MTB trails.... I'd heard these trails were new and groomed, but unbeknownst to me, Steve (The organiser) was taking us into the "old" trails and my goodness it was a shocker trying to ride rocky overgrown pinchy single track with no flow on a fully laden gravel bike. It was the same for everyone. All I can say is I was happy to get back onto a gravel road.

Next stop was the servo in Bodalla. Not a friendly bloke, but again I was able to restock bottles with Maximus and sculled a Dare Intense Coffee and a few other treats. The sunrise in the misty valley of Bodalla was out of a fairy tale and crossing the bridge over the Tuross River to head for Moruya looked like paradise. Western Boundary Rd through the Moruya State Forest was more Champagne gravel and a good tonic to leave those MTB trails behind.

Moruya I grabbed a juice and an Egg and Lettuce sandwich for lunch. I ended up devouring it on the bike just before Araluen, my goodness it tasted good. On the ride to Araluen I caught three really nice young blokes Max, Jack and Kev and it was great to have a bit of company again as we aimed for the Araluen Hotel knowing full well that one of the toughest climbs was just beyond the pub. The service at the pub left a little to be desired thanks to the cranky old dear in the kitchen, but the bloke behind the bar and the fella serving the plates did all they could to help us weird-looking lot and the food was very good. I had a steak sandwich and chips, with 1.25 Coke and 2x600ml Powerades. Again, I inhaled the food and as my three new young friends were in no hurry, I bid them adieu and headed for more hills.

The Araluen climb wasn’t as bad as I imagined, for one it was a sealed road although I had to walk a few of the steep sections as my knees were beginning to ache. I hadn't brought enough gears and had been grinding out some low cadences up some big climbs, so I needed to spin as much as possible, or walk. Added to that I was dreaming of my Brooks B17 saddle sitting at home on my hardtail MTB. I like my Selle Repente saddle, but it's not really the right choice for a 500km gravel bike packing adventure.

The last 100km were pretty uneventful, another glorious sunset, some more hills and as the vertical metres clicked over 10,000m.... That was a moment to celebrate!

We got off Captains Flat Road and got our last little taste of gravel. A white-knuckle descent down Queanbeyan River Trail. Fun!

And then it was an easy cruise into Canberra and the finish at the Bent Spoke Brewery 9:38pm, elapsed time 37:40, moving time 32:30.

Kerrie (Pete Mullen's girlfriend) was there to pick me up and Alice and crew were there to make a big fuss and award me my prize for finishing. A pint of Bent Spoke's finest cloudy Ale.

We got back to base, I showered, redressed the elbow, ate, drank, and took a nap before returning to welcome Meredith Quinlan, Women's overall winner into the finish just after 1am. Yours truly took out a pretty respectable 8th overall.

Thanks must go to the very many people who supported me through this process. First of course to my wife and family who not only allow me to enter these crazy rides but encourage me to get amongst it. I really loved this one, despite all my dramas. Thanks to Meredith, Kerrie and Pete (go Chilli!) for another very memorable weekend and especially to Kerrie for the cold pizza and the expert dressing now protecting my shredded elbow. If you've been following my escapades lately, you'll be glad to know it was the other elbow I damaged on the Newy Epic 2 weeks ago. Think I need to start wearing elbow pads!

Thanks to Fox and Klite. I'll say more about this kit in another story, but I really appreciate your support more than words can express and your gear were the bomb! Thanks to everyone who watched and cheered, thanks to the friendly folks I met on course and special thanks of course to Breathtaking Events and Steve Watson. This one was special!