Throbbing, aching legs, stiff joints and every movement an
effort. That’s just sitting at my desk today!
The reason for my discomfort? Yesterday I raced the Merida
Brass Monkeys 4 hour endurance race at Frith Hill near Deepcut in Surrey. It
was minus 3 degrees when I left home and although the temperatures had risen
slightly as the start time approached, the puddles on the opening loop were
still frozen solid. I thought I’d have the normal 15 minute “warm-up” before
the off. Not much warming-up took place, the result was numb fingers and
shivering as I rolled towards the start.
I haven’t raced much this year, so my pre-race prep was
slightly rusty. I’d got distracted chatting to a few familiar faces during my
warm-up which meant I joined the grid near the back, with only a handful of
riders behind me. When the race got underway I was immediately held up as the
pack ahead funnelled into the trees. Once into the wood there was plenty of
beautiful singletrack, but this meant there was no chance of overtaking so I
cruised around picking off riders here and there when I could. We also quickly
caught the slower guys at the back of the 2 hour race, adding further to the
congestion.
My favourite phrase when instructing new riders is, “Speed
is your friend”. Riding obstacles slowly can frequently be harder than
attacking them with more momentum. Your inertia carries you over the roots and
rocks in the path, which can quickly catch you off balance when tackled more
cautiously. For example… Following a back marker about ¾ of the way around the
first lap we had to clear a fallen tree. I lifted the front wheel which cleared
the trunk fine, but misjudged our slow pace and the rear tyre bounced off the
top, rebounding sideways. My saddle was pushed into me with such force it
rotated to a 45degree angle. I rode the rest of the lap standing on the pedals,
which is surprisingly tiring!
I stopped in the pits, grabbed an allen key and corrected
the saddle. It may only have taken a minute, but so early in the race the field
hadn’t strung out and dozens of riders I had just battled past came streaming
through. Taking the opportunity for a swig of water and bite of banana I was
underway again and once more picking my way forward through the pack. Suddenly
a rider ahead fell, I dodged round the prone figure as he writhed in the mud,
but my front wheel washed out and I also went down with a thump! More time lost
and 3 positions handed back to those behind. I was aware my knee hurt
afterwards, but it was kind of lost in the general body aches of racing. It was
only the next day as I was limping around the office I realized I must have
given it quite a whack!
Laps 3 and 4 were stunningly fun. Now with some free space
around me I could enjoy all that glorious singletrack! Braking late and diving
into the corners, accelerating away towards the next bend. There were also a
couple of really sharp climbs which perfectly suited me. I powered up, weaving
between people pushing their bikes or leaning against them grabbing a
breather!
At this point, despite my problems, I’d been averaging 40
minutes a lap, so I was still aiming to squeeze 6 laps into the 4 hour race
time. The weather however, had other plans! It started to rain towards the end
of lap 4 and the course quickly became very slippery indeed. I had to abandon
hope of that 6th lap as I slithered around the twisty corners battling for
grip. Water flowed down some sections of the course like a stream. Riding to
the left or right of the marked route was frequently faster than the gloop
created where hundreds of tyres had churned the trail. Of course, where there
were trees or bushes this wasn’t always possible and I even had to resort to
foot on a couple of short inclines near the end of the lap such was the poor
state of the course.
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