Cycling pair survive desert enduro

THE alarm rings at 4am and Andrew Hellier and Mark McLaren have to climb out of bed.Just the thought of what awaits the Port Fairy pair is exhausting.From last Tuesday to Saturday, the two south-west riders competed in the 23rd Simpson Desert Bike Challenge.Each day they rose, their proposed daily agenda was 12 hours trudging through the Simpson Desert in about 40-degree heat.And then they had to battle sand storms, strong headwinds, flies and hills."It was difficult," Hellier, 46, said. "Actually, that's a mega-understatement. It was extremely difficult."On the hardest day I drank 11 litres of water in six hours, just simply to survive."The race, which started in Purni Bore, is mostly in South Australia, with riders entering Queensland in the final 20 kilometres on the last day.The event consists of nine timed stages over five days and covers about 590km."The whole race is worked out on percentage of total distance," Hellier said."You get chased by a 12kmh car and if you don't keep up with them, you're effectively forced out of that stage."Only one rider did 100 per cent."He was referring to overall winner Alan Keenleside, of New South Wales. Thirty riders competed in the event, with McLaren finishing 19th and Hellier 27th."I enjoyed it thoroughly but it was a little bit different to what I expected," McLaren explained. "We just rode through sand a lot more than I thought we would."I was talking to an organiser after and he said it was the hardest one in about 11 years."Despite it being so physically gruelling, the duo will most likely be starters in the next challenge.While Hellier said yesterday he was keen to go again to improve on his percentage, McLaren was not fully committed."I'm not sure," he said. "I was knackered (when I finished). I guess it's like childbirth."In six months I'll probably want to have another crack at it."He conceded he would approach the race differently if there was a next time.His preparation included 10 weeks of solid training, riding up to 500km while Hellier was doing 2-3 training sessions per day, which worked out to be between 65 and 85 hours per month."Even the best prepared found it difficult," said Hellier, who lapped up the sightseeing while he sweated it out."I thought being in the Simpson was a fantastic experience. Seeing it up close, there was quite a diverse range of ecology."The pair were extremely grateful of the people who helped them complete the event, such as their crew.While Hellier thanked his family, personal trainer, coach, physio, doctor, sports physio and nutritionist, McLaren made special mention of the six o'clock Port Fairy training bunch.