Sussex-MTB

It was billed as a post Christmas Indulgence tonic, and was just what I needed after a few too many calories and just a splash or two of fine wine. I only decided to enter a few days before, so there was very little time for preparation, just a run on the Saturday and a brief 25 min blast on my gorgeous new road bike to stretch the legs on Sunday.

I’m well known for not getting on with Enduro events, having a reliable tendency to go too fast and blow up after a couple of hours, so I entered the 2 hour category – hardly really an enduro, but a good challenge for me with a really wide age cat of 16 – 40 that would test these creaky 35 year old legs.

Chilly start

The morning dawned really chilly, a heavy frost on the ground and a beautiful clear blue sky above, perfect race conditions. The original Ash Ranges course was billed as 8 miles, but was shortened to around 6 due to foresting. This meant that I reckoned I should get onto a 5th lap before the 2 hr cut off.

I lined up about 4 rows back from the front of a massive field (109), ready to have fun, and without great expectations of a top result – top 20 would be great considering the field size and age!

Start line

After shivering on the line for a few minutes, the hooter went and we set off up the start hill, jostling for position. The course quickly headed up a really steep section which had most off the bike, although I just about managed to find a clear line and made it up. The course proved to be pretty good, nice singletrack sections, with plenty of open tracks giving passing room. There were also quite a few short sharp climbs and descents to test the skill (and cause a few slow processions!). My first lap went well; I was enjoying myself, warmed up nicely and found a good flow. I completed it in a tad under 27 mins, getting great support from my usual support crew as I crossed the line and set off on lap 2. I’d made a pact with myself to keep on top of my energy levels so downed a gel and cracked on.

Race time

There’s a slightly crazy element in me that has to clean climbs, the steeper the better, and that was the challenge for lap 2 – complete them all with no dabs, which I managed to achieve. There were two large water splash puddles per lap and by the time I’d done them on the second lap my feet were numb cold, although most of the rest of the lap was mud free – frozen! The last section of the lap wound around a couple of the rifle ranges, and care was needed as several times the course popped out of the trees onto the frosty grassed edges, each time into a tight bend – I saw 4 people go down on the slippery grass, and heeded the warning to go careful!

The course was pretty congested through the first 4 laps – the 4 hour guys had started 15 mins ahead, so very quickly there were around 250 riders on the 6 mile course, although it was encouraging to be passing people all the time, and I was able to use the fact that I had to follow some guys to keep a check on my speed and stay in control of my heart rate.

Race time

All this meant that I found myself crossing the line to start my 5th lap with 10mins to go before the cut off, so knowing that lap 5 would be my finale, I was keen to buck my usual trend and finish fast. I was feeling good and strong, and really up for a good last lap, having absolutely no idea how I was doing in relation to anyone else. I managed to clean all the climbs again, which I was chuffed with, got through the watersplash, with a huge wobble – only sheer will power kept me out of the freezing muddy water – and on, up over the heathland on top of the ranges, passing other riders frequently.

I managed to complete the race with a flourish as I raced a rider down the last singletrack descent, passing him at the bottom and heading on to the finish line, completing the race in 5th place, which was a real bonus surprise. Might well be up for the final round after this…

Big Daddy

All last week I’d been thinking about what to do Sunday, I had a ‘day pass’ and originally I was going to ride with Deadly and the Brighton MTB crew as well. I noticed that round one of the “Merida Brass Monkeys Enduro” was on and was pondering entering, but when I went and looked it said entries were full. A chance glance at the web site on Friday morning revealed they’d released another 100 places and I had till 12:00 to enter, a stroke of good luck, so I signed myself up for 2 hours 40+.

It’s fair to say in the last five or so years I’ve largely ignored traditional XC events in favour of the longer enduro style ones. Doing 24 hour team, 12, 8, 6 and 4 hour solo events too. I figured 2 hours would be a good test to see if I still had any XC legs left.

Not a good start

The weather was rubbish when I got up and I loaded the car in pouring rain, driving through some fairly biblical weather to Rushmoor Arena, near Aldershot. I don’t know about you but I hate getting to an event in the wet, then having to sart in the rain too, a little dry wouldn’t go amiss!

The promise of dry weather?

As I said above the event was full and the registration process meant the start got held up, I think quite a few changed category to the 2 hour option. In the end we started half an hour late at 10:30, with the 4 hour races starting behind us a bit later. For once the start was not too frantic as the start straight was totally waterlogged and muddy. Pulling out of the arena and onto the course proper I was pleased to find I could maintain a decent pace and I was steadily overtaking people.

The course was a decent mix of singletrack and fire roads, with a few nice technical bits too, yet again though I was amazed by some of the other competitors, you’d think some people just don’t ride in the winter. There was a lot of slipping and sliding going on. Once the faster 4 lap riders started coming through on my third lap I was reminded that I could go a bit quicker so I spent that lap catching peoples wheels wherever possible when they overtook and hanging on for as long as I could.

By this time though both my brakes were down to the backing plates and half way round I’d pretty much hit the wall, I was happy to see PlusOne (hats off to you for completing 5 laps in those conditions BTW) when he passed and I begged him for food! I’ve never been so pleased to see a Clif Bar, it tasted good as well. Amazingly I bounced back after that pretty quickly and was able to put some effort in for the remainder of the lap.

Shattered but happy (yes, really!)

So in the end I managed to put 3 laps in, in about 2 1/2 hours and I ended up 17th out of 67 in the 2 hour 40+ category. I’m really chuffed with that result as I’ve not done anything like that for a while. The bug has bitten again so I’ll be doing some XC stuff over the coming months.

Hummerlicious

After missing out on round 1 at the last minute, I was keen to get back to Gorrick racing, having not done a pure mtb race for a good few months whilst dabbling in offroad tri’s.

The weather had been pretty lousy and Saturday night had me undecided about whether to use mud tyres, or stick with Geax Saguros. In the end, pure laziness meant I left the tyres as they were and took a chance on the good drainage at Crowthorne.

Sunday dawned cold, but dry – perfect for autumn racing. After some faffing and the scariest rocking portaloo experience, I set off on the practice lap with my teammate Jeremy. The course looked great, on the whole surprisingly dry with the odd exception, with loads of singletrack to cause a queue or two.

We just about made it back to the start line on time, and I lined up in the 2nd row, Jeremy a few rows behind and Alex Davey (all South Downs Bikes liveried) right behind.

As the horn sounded I had a huge slip and instantly lost loads of places, although importantly not to Alex…). Fortunately for me, the start fireroad section was long and by the time we entered the first singletrack section I was right back up in 3rd place and ahead of any potential queuing issues.

After a while the race settled and I found myself bowling along nicely in about 6th place, feeling good and in a small group of 4 riders. The course was truly excellent fun, including a really fast descent with a loose and difficult cambered bend to be taken without braking if you’re brave enough, and the first lap flew past with me feeling really good and managing to ride away from the others in my group. (I went so fast that my supporters missed me go through…) Lap 2 was equally good fun, although I lost track of my position as I caught some of the tail enders from other categories and a couple of fellow masters riders. There were some good technically challenging sections, some interesting drop offs and one nice, steep and fast roll in that was about 15ft down. I ended up in a close battle with a guy for the last third of lap 2 and into lap 3, although he got away in the end.

I couldn’t keep with him and turned my attentions to defending the position I had. Fortunately there was no-one in sight and I felt good, so I flew on, really enjoying myself. After a while the guy who’d got away was in sight again and suddenly I felt that I could catch him. I slowly closed the gap, and down the long fast descent I got quite close as I slid round the cambered bend right on the limit of grip. Coming out of this section, the course turned up hill and got narrow and sloppy; necessitating a big gear change, which unfortunately my usually ultra-reliable front mech decided it couldn’t manage any more. I lost valuable seconds getting it going and by the time I looked up again, the guy was gone…

No matter, on looking back nervously, there was no-one close so I was safe enough to complete the last third of the lap and keep my position. As I crossed the line, the announcer called me in 4th place which I was really chuffed with – my best Gorrick finish for a good while. Not long afterwards, Alex came in 15th and Jeremy crossed the line in 20th, having successfully singlespeeded his first race for nearly a year.

I must also congratulate the best Sussex finisher of the day, Uncle Phil, who claimed a 3rd place in his first short course xc race – very impressive work. (A footnote apology for no pictures this time – the support team were without camera this time!)

Check out the Brass Monkeys 2 and 4 hour Enduro series through the winter run on the Gorrick courses at www.gorrick.com

Big Daddy

After a pretty successful first Trail X event (despite the disqualification…) I was very keen to give it another go, and signed up for the next race, taking place in and around Poole harbour.

My preparation had been going pretty well – coming off the back of a good summer running and riding loads and feeling pretty fit. Then I got a cold, the weekend before and I started to grumble about timing of ill health! The cold cleared up after a couple of days, but returned with a vengeance the day before the race, which really annoyed me, as I had aspirations of a podium finish.

The morning of the race dawned, I dosed up with cold & flu tablets, made sure I was properly hydrated and set off with daughter and parents. After a pretty good journey, we found the somewhat remote race HQ in a cow field right on the water’s edge. It was a stunning place, the sun was shining and it was almost hot. We were early and had time to kill, but it flew past as the anticipation of running 10k, riding 20k and kayaking 3.5k really built up.

Silly grin

After the usual briefing stuff, I was clear on what I had to do – 2 run laps, 2 bike laps and kayak across the harbour, round an island and back. Cool. The gun went and I got swept along towards the front of the field of 50 or so in my category. Despite the amount of nasty green stuff I seemed to be producing, I ran ok for a while, although I was a bit nervous of a slightly dodgy ankle, as this course went through rough woodland and sections were not on paths but straight across open heath-land. I did get grumpy as we approached the first checkpoint, which meant crossing 300metres of ankle deep bog and ruining my nice white running shoes! No fussing, just get in there and try to stay on your feet!

After a while I seemed to lose pace a bit, and a fair few people went past me, so I justified it to myself by promising to nuke them on the bike… I found the last part of the run tough and was pleased run with another guy who kept the pace hard and to get back onto the fireroad track back to transition and the welcoming yells of my daughter…

Run finish

So, through transition, grab bike and good drink, and set off to make up some of that lost ground. Almost straight away my head cleared of cold and I felt much better. The first part of the course was fairly open tracks which quickly turned into a long drawn out climb, through a few gates and up in the Purbeck hills. I was now in amongst other categories, a lot of them being novice mountain bikers from what I could see, and I lost a fair bit of time as the trail narrowed into a quite techy singletrack climb, stuck in a long queue. The course then suddenly tightly turned back down the hill on another track, and once I cleared the queue for the checkpoint, it became an absolute scream to fly down the technical singletrack past loads of other guys, completely showing off as I jumped, slid and generally looned down the hill.

The final part of the lap was back onto fast open tracks and I was able to get my ‘part roadie’ legs working hard and motor along. Lap 2 was less eventful, with the exception of some calf cramps, but I downed a TORQ gel and a drink and that settled pretty quickly. The climb was definitely easier without so many other riders on it and the descent was just as much fun as the first time…

Bike leg

So, back to transition and the section I was really looking forward to – the kayaking. This was my third attempt at a race including kayaking and the first time it was actually going to happen, so I was excited about the challenge, having not been in a kayak for at least 15 years. I picked up my boat and kit and entered the water a couple of hundred yards behind a guy, with 2 more a similar distance behind me, so the pressure was on, as I had a feeling I was in a pretty good position at this point.

I recalled a conversation I’d had with a guy I ran with for a while, who said that these boats had a max speed, so there was no point in going mad, but efficiency was the best technique. This turned out to be good advice as it quickly became obvious that as long as I kept going, status quo would be maintained. I had to head out across open water, round an island (where there was a checkpoint on a jetty) and back across. The first part went well, I got settled in a rhythm and felt good. As I neared the island it became obvious how shallow the water was as I beached, more than 100 yards out! I panicked, not wanting to lose any places to the two guys close behind, but managed to refloat and take a wider line round to the jetty.

The wind and tide were with me on the final push across the open water, and I got back to shore with my position safe and a big grin – that was fun…

Kayak finish

All that remained was to do a 300 metre run (well very stiff jog) back to the transition area and finish

The end in sight....

I’d survived and taken 53 mins to run, 69 mins to ride and 33 mins to kayak the course and finished in a respectable 4th place, which, considering my health, I was really pleased with. It’s just annoying there isn’t another event til next Spring!

Big Daddy

Well I was going to write a bit of a report about the Brighton Big Dog, but fortunately for me someone has done a nice little video (I think it was http://twitter.com/markbrown25 as he was loitering with a video camera!!).

So here’s an aerial view of the course:

And this is what it felt like!!

So here’s the video, enjoy!!

Got off the bike and got some food and showered where a certain organiser joined the queue and bragged to another chap in the queue how he had just done 12 laps in male vets category. Funny that as he finished behind me on time with 10 laps also once the results were published…….. Hmmmmmm. Next year I will lap him at least once  just to make sure

I entered this event in the back end of 2008 and I was looking forward to this as I missed last years as I was not fit enough to compete due to my recovery from my broken shoulder so I was determined to make amends.  In the 4 months build up I was averaging less than 3 rides and 61 miles a week. That included Mayhem and a SDW ride. In hindsight next time I would like to put in more miles and the number of times I actually ride a week and hopefully try to fit it a couple more endurance races along the way…

I made the trip with Charlotte who had just had a shoulder op the week before she informed that she would not be able to help out and would just watch me suffer… I borrowed my friend’s wife car and her young son kindly kitted me out with a big medallion, shiny glasses and rings to go with the vehicle….

Damo and the pimp mobile

We met Si and Jim laughing at the pimp wagon at about 10.30 at Crossbush and we set off on the journey down to Plymouth. Every other car seemed to have camping gear in and seemed to be heading west also so the traffic was quite congested. I lost Si as he turned off onto the A36 and we stayed on to get on the A35 but that was completely jammed so we meandered through Poole where the Sat Nav said another 4.5 hours at which point I said to Charlotte I cant be bothered with this as we had already been driving for over 2.5 hours. After resetting the Sat Nav it had a change of mind and the journey was now another 2.5 hours to Plymouth so off we went and made it to the site to find Si and Jim setting up at about 3.30. Phil and Alex were already there. Brian and Andy then turned up and put up camp near by.

Tent erected and then Phil and Alex returned from there practise lap looking a little muddy and informing us that the course had quite a few hills. I readied my bike and did a practise lap with Brian. The course itself was rather slimy in places and the ST was littered with wet roots. Twice I lost the front end on the lap.  The course was 7.92 miles long. We got back and I cleaned my bike and showered cranked up the BBQ, helped Charlotte quaff some wine and then a walk around the arena to look for any goodies, got to have one of those  Exposure Diablo lights they look awesome….. Expect to see a few joysticks on the classifieds soon……

New shiny stuff from exposure

Time was getting on so we went off to bed but parking next to the main road in and out of the camp was not the best idea with the cars running up and down but eventually they closed the gates and I got in a few hours sleep.  Dougall arrived in the morning and set up nearby. On the Friday I had really neglected the carbo loading so I tried to play catch up scoffing various things whilst I changed the tyres on my bike amongst other fettling.  The weather was due to stay dry but I opted for a mud front and a fast rear due to the conditions. Charlotte by now had volunteered to help me with my food and drinks whilst I was racing so that was a great help. By the time I was dressed to ride and finished with my fettling I set to the start line with Jim Si and Dougall. We were right at the back and arrived just as the start commenced.

There was a short lap to spread out the field but it just created a big bottleneck into the section of ST they used for it. We then circled back around through the start and the real lap commenced via a grassy track that meandered around the site and then up and out to the big tarmac climb that would take us up to the first bits of ST. The usual hold ups in the ST continued through most of the lap but the climbs were starting to string the field out. The Clif Bar climb was the toughest for me as if you lost traction you had no chance to remount due to its steepness. Managed to get the first lap out of the way in just over an hour, the bike felt spot on and the tyre choice I felt was definitely the right one.  I went through the first lap without stopping and then set about the second lap. It was now I began to feel a little dehydrated, the field was beginning to thin and you could now put the hammer down in the ST – the cottage return was awesome.

Damo

After completing lap 2 in a similar time I stopped to refuel opted for a small camelback to keep my hydrated. As I was just slowing down to pit a rider decided not to shout left or right and just piled into the side of me. I kept my cool and just told him what a cock he was as he lay spreadeagled on the grass. Luckily I just suffered a bruised ankle, it could have been a lot worse… I still could not fathom why I could not seem to rehydrate but set off on lap 3, not long in I had severe stomach cramps which I could not shift. I stopped at the end of the lap where I had to take an extended break as the cramps were getting worse. A run to the toilet then ensued and I had acquired the runs, I knew that if that continued I would have to bail. I made up a rehydration drink, downed it and set off, the first half of the lap the cramps were still causing me problems then as quickly as it came on it had gone.  I then set about just trying to record reasonably consistent times for the rest of the race aided by Charlotte who tended brilliantly to my food drink and drug demands.

Lap 6 I was told I was in 11th place and my aim was a top 10 finish so I just continued on at a steady pace and by lap 8 I was inside the top ten. Pushing on again in lap 9 I made another place and had lapped every other ride below me now so that was secure. Lap 10 took a little longer as after taking the first descent my rear brake pad on one side seemed to just disintegrate so it was metal on metal for the rest of the downhill’s so I took it easier after previously seeing 2 casualties on one of the cobbled descents…  I got back to the pit with about another half hour to spare but I would have had to change my pads – Si kindly offered to help but my body was saying no as the earlier stomach problems had taken their toll.  Charlotte checked my placing and I was 7th so I knew 8th was the worst I could end up with so I decided it was best to call it a day. Completing another lap it turns out would not have placed me higher anyway.

Night time at the changeover

Got off the bike and got some food and showered where a certain organiser joined the queue and bragged to another chap in the queue how he had just done 12 laps in male vets category. Funny that as he finished behind me on time with 10 laps also once the results were published…….. Hmmmmmm. Next year I will lap him at least once  just to make sure

Anyway went to bed interrupted by the cars and the 24 hour solo helpers. All I can remember is being woken that night by shouts from one of the top five 24 solo riders to his helpers – “ flat coke 500ml”  them informing him his nice clean podium shoes were ready … I was woken almost every night lap he did with his request for food and drink….

My goal had always been a top 10 finish here in my category but the others also put in great efforts, some of which surpassed mine.  I’m made up with my placing and I doubt any future 12 hour solo will be without its set backs some time in the race. My GPS recorded over 14,500 of climbing,….  D2D to see the year out and I can’t wait to tackle this one again next year, I’m not one to brag but I know there’s more to come from me performance wise one day if I continue riding a little more than I currently am…

The course

Having spent many years racing mountain bikes, first xc, then downhill, then back to xc, I’ve found myself branching out and trying some different forms of racing over the last year including the Rat Race, and a couple of duathlons.

I’ve been interested in doing a triathlon for a while, but my swimming is not of a competitive level and I don’t have time to do it regularly, so I was excited by the www.endurancelife.com Trail-X series as there were categories with kayaking instead of swimming. Now I’ve not kayaked for at least 15years, but I reckoned that a lot of others wouldn’t have either, so I might stand a fighting chance of keeping up and a lot less chance of drowning!

The swimming and kayaking categories were each split into 3 distance sub categories, the ’sport’ version consisting of a 10k run, 20k mtb, 3.5k sea Kayak appealing to me most. So I signed up to the Sussex event, which took place at Birling Gap near Eastbourne on 11th July.

Despite the best of intentions, I didn’t manage to get near a canoe in the build up to the event, so I would be truly winging that bit, but I’d completed the Reigate 10k run the Wed before in a personal best time and 6mins faster than last year, so was fairly confident in my running, and obviously the biking is my strongest discipline so no worries there…

So to the start-line… The weather was windy and changeable, with drizzly showers blowing in regularly, and the sea conditions were ‘messy’ (as described by the organisers in the briefing) meaning that the swim/kayak course was shortened to a simple ‘out & back’ course. The swimmers race order was – swim-ride-run, and the kayakers race order was – run-ride-kayak, so that we weren’t all in the water together. We had to complete 2 run laps, ride out to Friston forest and complete 2 short laps in the forest then ride back (total 20k) then the ‘out & back’ kayak section.

The gun went and the swimmers set off on the short run to the beach. We were to start a few minutes later. An apprehensive bunch of racers gathered at the start-line and the countdown began. As the gun went we all piled into a bottleneck and the first narrow path down towards the beach. I managed to get fairly near the front, skipped past a few others through the bushes and got settled. I had no idea what the course profile would be like, except that I knew the area was hilly. And it was. Oh my god it was steep. The run lap consisted of a short steep climb, back down steeply, then a much longer climb up from near sea level to the top of the hill, over the top and down a near cliff, then up another hill and down, loop round and back over both hills, then a long dragging climb from the beach up to the lighthouse, and finally down to the main path and back to the transition area. Twice. No flat sections at all, and it wasn’t a 5k lap, it was over 6!

It was awesomely beautiful, the sun piercing the swiftly moving shower clouds and the white cliffs standing out against the sea. It was also serious ankle-breaking terrain and I had to really pay attention to my foot placement, not being use to this standard of off-road running.

I ran well, and although it was becoming a struggle through the second lap, I really enjoyed it. Having said that there was no-one more pleased than me to get to transition, see and hear the brilliant support from my daughter and the rest of the family, be done with the running and get biking. That is, until I was given the soul destroying message that the coastguard had deemed the sea too dangerous for the canoeing, and we were to complete a further run lap after the ride.

I was really disappointed with this – the kayaking was one of the highlights of this event – it was also cancelled due to weather in the rat race I did last year. Still, I gathered myself together, got kitted up, jumped on the Truth and set off on the bike course. I was looking forward to this – my chance to gain some ground, as in my experience of multi-sport events so far, most competitors are runners rather than mtbers.

After following the run course for a few hundred yards, the bike course then veered inland, and up and up. This course followed tracks out towards Friston forest, going over the biggest hills the organisers could find! During this section I started to feel a bit dodgy – light headed, tired and nauseas which was not a good sign! Not enough calories in my belly. I only had Torq gels with me, so downed one of them and it fairly quickly made me feel a bit better, although I was struggling to concentrate on the riding. As I got into the forest proper and started the pretty good singletrack sections, I found myself riding on autopilot, not really taking in what was happening, just focussing on following the course markers, and getting past the many slower riders littered all over the course, some walking their bikes. I still find it amazing that people fit enough and game enough to do these events can’t ride singletrack!

To be honest I can’t remember a lot of the detail of the rest of the ride as my head was a mess, but somehow I survived it and found myself on the fast road blast back down towards transition. I was pretty concerned about doing another run now! I arrived in transition to great support once again, although I think my face gave away how I was feeling! I scoffed down some energy bar, stretched out the legs (my calves always suffer most with running) had a few wobbly moments of ‘I don’t think I can do this anymore’, got my running shoes on and set off again, determined that this course would not beat me.

Surprisingly, I seemed to settle into a reasonable pace and started to feel better. The only mistake I’d made was to carry a bottle with me, which was very quickly becoming annoying, so I soon dumped that with a marshal, promising to pick it up on my return, and got stuck into those hills again. I kept a close eye on my heart rate, attempting to keep it down under 175 where I could, to try and save some energy. I was pleased with how I was going and felt much more confident about completing the race, and maybe getting a good result. I knew that the wind would be behind me up the final long drag to the lighthouse, and that if I could get up there I was guaranteed to make it. I had to walk up the first steepest section to the ridge, where the wind did indeed get behind me and I was able to keep a decent pace all the way to the top, and then go past the lighthouse for the last time, down the hill and pick up the path back down to the finish. As I entered the short copse section, I saw my daughter waiting and cheering for me. She ran the last hundred yards with me, and I crossed the finish line in a complete mess, but thoroughly chuffed with myself for completing a proper ‘hard as nails’ race.

The best bit was yet to come though – as I was then told that I had won my category, completing the course in 3hrs and 3 mins! I’ve never won a race before, and never thought it would happen now I’m getting on a bit, so I was extraordinarily pleased to have won a race like this, especially when I spent a lot of it not expecting to finish!

Unfortunately, the story has a further twist as we once all the info from our ‘dibbers’ was processed and the results posted – it seems I (as well as several others)  inadvertently missed a section of the bike lap, so I am disqualified from the final results. I’m gutted – if I added the 15 mins it took the lead guy to complete the missed section to my time I would’ve still finished a clear 2nd. Damn… I knew my head wasn’t right on the ride and I must’ve missed the signage.

The next one is based at Poole harbour on 12th September. I might just have to be there to prove a point…

Big Daddy

Mayhem time

We’re all off to Mountain Mayhem for the weekend, if you’re interested to see how it’s all going there will be photos and updates posted here, assuming there’s a phone signal!

Without any real intention, 2008 has become a year of branching out from short course xc racing into trying various other forms of competition. This started from entering the Brighton Rat Race in June, which had meant I had to learn to run; too many years of turning the pedals had caused the legs to be inflexible and recoil uncomfortably at the thought…

So, having done the rat race, Reigate 10k run and a flat and fast sprint off-road duathlon (which I finished 3rd in cat and 4th overall) this year, I was challenged with the Merrell Mudman Duathlon – a 7.5km run + 15km mountain bike + 7.5km run, with the added spicy twist that I would compete for family honour against my brother Kevin, who in duathlon terms is the opposite to me – a regular runner who used to ride, but doesn’t much now. It seemed a good match up and added urgency to the training (I don’t need much encouragement to ramp up the competitiveness!), with neither of us with any idea who would win the battle within the war…

Training went well for me until 2 weeks before the big day when, having been suffering niggly soreness in my left groin, I slipped on my son’s toy at home and pulled the groin, rendering me unable to run at all.

There was no way I was missing the race, so decided to rest as much as possible and just race ‘til I broke… (didn’t tell Mrs Daddy that though!). 

Fast forward to the morning of the race – cold, but dry weather and relatively dry under foot (despite what the picture shows) at an Army vehicle testing ground near Camberley (scene of a few Gorrick races). 

The pre-race info had talked about ‘heartbreak ridge’ which we would have to climb and descend 5 times on each of the 2 running laps and that it would be hilly. I settled my nerves by telling myself that there aren’t proper steep hills in this part of the world, got my gear set up in the transition area with my brother and headed for the start.

I had a strategy of sorts – to stay as close as possible to Kevin on the first run without getting my heart rate too high, then hammer the bike section, passing him and gaining as much of a lead as possible, then hang on grimly through the last run and get to the finish just before he caught me. Oh, the best laid plans…

The gun went and 150 of us set off on the first run. I slotted in behind Kevin and fairly quickly found a good pace and rhythm. He pulled away from me slowly, but I was happy with my pace and let him go. The course was fairly undulating for a while. Then we got to the first ridge climb. Oh my God. As I approached it looked like a sheer cliff, and the runners ahead looked as if they were rock climbing their way up. It got steeper and steeper and my heart rate went to max. Still, I managed it, but wasn’t ready for the hairpin bend and straight back down the ridge. Running down a rough track that steep is a serious skill – some guys were practically skimming the surface as they flew past me. I got to the bottom and faced going up again, then down, then up etc etc. It was brutal. The rest of the lap was hilly as well, and I was so relieved to get to the final climb, and head towards transition. 

3 minutes later…

As I headed into transition, my dad shouted that I was only 3 or 4 mins behind Kevin, which I was happy with. I changed shoes, ate and drank and headed out on the bike. It felt so much better to be riding! I got straight up into the big ring and really got motoring. I was passing people all the time which was a real boost.

The 15km bike section consisted of 3 laps of a shortened 5 km version of the run course, basically missing out the brutal climbs and descents of the ridge, all except the first one anyway… I was determined in my usual way to make it to the top of the wall-like climb and I thought I was going to make it – I got to within 20m of the top and picked a crap line, hit a rock and that was that. Still I was encouraged to hear the marshal shout that I achieved the highest point of anyone!

The vast majority of the ride (and the run) was on sandy and rocky fireroad, so it was really fast and definitely played to my strengths on the bike. As I went through transition I clocked a 15minute lap which I was pleased with. I was concerned that I hadn’t passed Kevin yet though, and further confused when my dad shouted to me that I was ahead of him. Huh, I can’t have missed my big passing moment surely? 

Oh well, I decided to forget that and just keep on going. My legs were settled by now and I was ratting along nicely. I didn’t achieve the same height on the hill as the first lap, but felt consistent. As I wound it up down the last descent, I saw Kevin with the bike in bits and an extremely grumpy look on his face. I’m ashamed (not really) to say my first reaction was to pump my fist and shout ‘yes’, then I asked what happened and if he needed help. He said he’d had 2 punctures and was out. Being a ‘stans’ rider I didn’t have a spare tube, so told him I was gutted for him (which was true!) and carried on my way. 

I pressed on, disappointed that we wouldn’t race to the end together. I went through transition and told dad what had happened to Kevin and sent him off to rescue him. I set off on lap 3, determined to make up as much time as I could before the inevitable suffering of the final run. 

As it was hilly, there were quite a few areas of deep wet muddy puddles in the hollows at the bottom of each hill. I had successfully negotiated these at high speed the previous two laps, but failed to be prepared for the number of riders that had now gone through and the depth of the ruts. In I went thinking about the approaching big hill, had the classic wobble and down I went, although fortunately not into the water and no-one else around to laugh…

This lap I did well on ‘the hill’ and got pretty high before dismounting. I flew round the rest of the lap and set my fastest lap of all, which was pleasing. As I entered transition, Kevin was standing by my bike waiting. He said he would come with me on the run a) to pace me round and help me and b) to exorcise some of the energy and frustration from not finishing the race. I gratefully accepted, changed shoes, ate and drank and set off. Straight away I had cramps shoot up my calves, but I was able to keep going and after a couple of minutes the muscles had stretched and settled and I felt ‘relatively’ comfortable. It was really good to have company and share the pain. The first part of the lap went ok – I felt tired and sore but happy enough. Then came ‘the ridge’. Oh how I suffered. It was all I could do to put one foot in front of the other up those climbs, and then when I turned to go down, the legs went to jelly. Not quite sure how I managed to get through that section, or even that I would’ve done at all without the encouragement and pacing from my brother, but I did and we got out onto the next flatter section which gave a chance to find some sort of rhythm again. I found myself in the usual situation for me when running, in that my heart rate drops off as my legs disintegrate into pain as they are not adept enough at running to keep up with the heart! 

I dragged myself into the final climb, even managing to pass someone and have never been so relieved to see the finish line!

It was really good to cross the line with Kevin, although a real shame we didn’t get to race to the end. I was chuffed to actually get to the end, although as I sit here writing this I am properly battered and broken! If you look closely, you can see the pain in the eyes of the one who did the ride, and the smile on the face of the one who didn’t!

The next Merrell Mudman is in March 09 http://www.humanrace.co.uk/mudman/index.html  and I have a feeling we’ll both be back to complete unfinished family business…

(That’s if I can ever walk again, which currently is an issue)

Big Daddy

 

2008_1116_110813AA

Originally uploaded by www.sussex-mtb.com

That’s what I say! Yes I’ve got a lot of grief on the forum over the last few weeks, for posting cyclo cross stuff on this site, but as I said, it’s all bikes, it’s all fun

This was Holly’s first race at the tender age of six, Tom is a bit of a veteran really as he did his first when he was four, and that was on a rigid singlespeed

Anyway they both had a great time, then it was time for Me, Deadly, Billyboy and the Ginger Prince to line up and give it a go. I didn’t expect to do too well, but I had a great time and climbed surprisingly well. It was the first outing on my latest cross bike too.

So, don’t knock it till you’ve tried it anyway, can we persuade a few more of you out for the next one?

Hummerlicious