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| Look 4hrs of riding and no mud! |
The course would rate highly amongst the best I have ridden. The vast majority being fast flowing single track, even some of the climbs were technically interesting and challenging. As is usual with Gorrick there was a dizzyingly twisty section in the trees, but on the whole it was a really enjoyable 7 mile circuit. However, as I have already said the highlight was undoubtedly how dry the course was despite the recent weather.
As I had missed a round I wasn’t gridded at the start. This made the first few miles more fun than usual! Back in the pack there was plenty of bumping and barging as everyone fought for the same bit of singletrack. Having found some space I was starting to move up the field when the chain dropped off my new mono chainring. Using a single chainring at the front without a chain guide was always going to be a bit of an experiment and now I had the answer! You DO need a chain guide, even with a clutch rear mech fitted. Anyway it was perhaps only 10 to 20 seconds until I was back up and running but several riders had crept past. The chain dropped 3 more times in the first two laps, until I learnt to avoid the higher gears and ride at the top of the cassette, where the extra tension in the derailleur seemed to keep everything in place. Obviously this meant I lacked top end speed on some of the flatter sections but this became less of an issue as the laps wore on and my pace naturally slowed.
To be honest I felt terrible on the bike. I think a lack of off-road riding was partly to blame, with too many training miles spent on the road bike. Off-road riding is a different type of cycling, power output is far less consistent than steady miles on the road ride. Instead you are constantly pushing up a slope or accelerating out of a corner. As I came round to complete my third lap the legs were beginning to wilt and so was my rear tyre. Luckily I was able to nurse the bike back to the pit area with a little air still remaining.
After a top-up I set off again, only to hit the back of the 2 hour race which had just started. To be honest it wouldn’t have been much slower to walk. The riders at the back of the 2 hour “race” are having a lovely ride in the woods, but you certainly wouldn’t describe their pace as brisk. Constant calls of “Rider left” or “Rider right” often result in a worried glance over the shoulder before a wobbly exit into the foliage. Looking at the lap times I would calculate I lost 8 minutes on a 48 minute lap trapped behind slower riders.
However, eventually perseverance paid off and myself and two other 4 hour riders emerged on the other side. Neither of my new companions seemed willing to come past, both sitting contentedly on my rear wheel for over a lap. As I crossed the line for the 5th time the clock said we had been riding for 3hrs 50 minutes. Only one lap remained. I had a final swig from the bottle, a fig roll from my back pocket and dug deep for the push to the line.
We quickly dropped one of my followers but the other stayed glued to me like a shadow. I pushed on a couple of times and the gap grew to 5 -10 metres but he always got back on my wheel. So after four and a half hours of racing we came to the final hill, a steep tangled mass of roots. I kicked as hard as I possibly could, pushing my calves to the very verge of cramping. Half way up was a back marker, I went to the left, my shadow darted to the right. Then I heard a ‘CLUNK’ and a shout of “Oh Fu*k!” I’ve no idea what happened, I didn’t look back, I just kept pushing hard for the line praying my chain wouldn’t derail one final time.
It didn’t and I finished a respectable although not remarkable 16th out of 72 starters.
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