Ellsworth Truth mk 6

Ellsworth Truth mk 6

The Truth is now a large frame, and fits me better – no more super-long seatposts and sore lower back, so it seemed the ideal opportunity to get out and race it. I’ve not had the best winter fitness wise, and am starting to feel old and slow, but I come off the back of 3 consecutive running pb’s, so I was feeling confident of a decent race.

Paul Jellybike was with me at his first race for a long while, as was Charlie and Irene from the Freeborn/Ellsworth team, the sun was (kind of) shining, it was warm and the warm up lap presented us with a typically high standard of singletrack rich Gorrick lushness.

Finally our turn to start arrived in the Masters category, and I was there on the start talking myself through a lightening first 100 metres to get a good track position into the first bottleneck. The hooter went and about 30 guys shot past me as I yet again failed to nail the start and I had to queue into the singletrack and watch a decent placing disappear with them. Bum.

I managed to settle into a decent rhythm early on and pass 5 or 6 people pretty early on. I was feeling much more comfortable on the new frame and the course was great fun. There was an amusing moment as I went off a drop off, got my shorts hooked on the saddle and couldn’t position for the step up, causing two guys to crash into the back of me and curse. Ha!

As I passed the start/finish at the end of lap 1 I was going well and feeling good, and got the usual great family support, today from Little Daddy, who at 4 is already trying to upstage the old man and ride faster and with more style…

Big Daddy / Little Daddy

Unusually, I found myself with other riders for most of this race – I often seem to fall into gaps and ride on my own, which makes it harder to keep up a pace – but today I was constantly either chasing or being chased. Lap 2 passed uneventfully, and I set out on lap 3, managing to pass another group of guys as I felt strong. The final half lap was great fun, with the pressure on as I chased down a guy in front, and also defended from an ever closing rider. I crossed the line having held my position and having really enjoyed the race, feeling that apart from losing time at the start, I’d maximised my performance. It was a crushing disappointment then to be placed 19th! I’ve definitely slipped into the old and slow half of the Masters age group and seem to be taking Paul with me, who finished 31st. The Freeborn team face saving job went to Charlie in Super Masters who got 7th, and to Irene who bagged 4th in Masters…

Still there’s always a next time and another racing fix to be had!

Team Freeborn / Ellsworth

As you may have read elsewhere on here my Cove Hummer had been mercilessly plundered to build up my new Titus El Guapo. This left me with a dilemma as 160mm of travel isn’t conducive to fast XC times. Fortunately I managed to wangle the Whyte 19 demo bike from Quest and I was looking forward to riding something at the opposite end of the spectrum to El Guapo!

El Guapo

Whyte 19

The G.S.C. has a nice relaxed vibe and definitely feels a bit more like a ‘local’ event, unlike the larger Gorrick events. It’s always nice to catch up with a few old faces you haven’t seen for a while and you can usually be assured of running into loads of people you know. We had a pretty good turnout this year with Myself, Andy, Josh, Tim, Dillon, Andy H, Damo, Kim, Uncle Phil and Alex (sorry if I’ve forgotten anyone else) all taking part across various categories. Not to mention John not taking part for some reason

Officially being an old git now I lined up with Tim and Damo for the veterans race. There is some lovely flowing singletrack on this course, not to mention some long draggy climbs. Fortunately some had been cut off this time round, bring the lap down to a more manageable 5.5 miles.

I won’t go into a great breakdown of the racing, if you want all the stats you can go to the results page here. Unusually though I was feeling pretty good and ended up in 11th spot which I am very pleased with.

The Whyte 19 once again proved itself to be a faultless performer. Being a whole eight pounds lighter than El Guapo it was literally like having a couple of extra gears or a rocket up my bum. It was nice to be back on such a nicely handling hardtail and it reminded me of why I like hardtails so much. The direct feel and instant response to mashing on the pedals was great. So I really must make the effort to get my Hummer back up and running next week, it’s going to be lightened up and made a bit more racey now I have the El Guapo for moments of madness…….

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

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

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

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

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