I've been away working for a few days so haven't had a chance to post the outcome of this. Well, I won it with the fastest time of 6 hours 8 minutes, which was quite unexpected, but I am very happy about it. Not sure whether I should use the word "win" as it was all for charity, but it felt like a race, and I rode it as if it was a race, and I crossed the line first so, yeah, I "won" it.
The organisers, mostly from Rush Cycles promised a monster challenge and it was the hardest 100km I've ridden so hats off to them for delivering what they promised. On top of that, they couldn't have asked for a nicer autumn day, with stunning clear views of the whole of the Brecon Beacons in the distance.
The ride started at The Bryn Bettws Lodge and I rode the first 40 to 50km with Dave and it was a pretty sociable affair, happily chatting away on the flats and climbs and it seemed to be going well for us both. I'd leave Dave on the longer climbs while he'd catch me up on the downs (the boy's too fast on them sometimes. I think it's his shoes, or glasses, or gloves, or something), but overall we were riding together.
The route took us up the first of many climbs for a bit of a warm up, before looping back onto the Wall descent, past start at the Bryn Betws Lodges and down the final Wall descent before crossing over the valley to the Afan Argoed visitor centre and a nasty technical climb out onto the moor towards Cymer. I'm not fond of hike-a-bike action and prefer the challenge of impossibly steep climbs. I rode most of this section apart from a couple of stretches, while most pushed, so although it probably wasn't the best thing to do during the first 10km of a 100km ride, I had some satisfaction out of it and it got me properly warmed up and settled for the remaining 90km.
The next challenge was the long climb out of Blaengwynfi, making me shudder with the memories of the last time I was on this fireroad when I got my work (Forestry Commission) van stuck on a site visit, with no mobile phone signal, 5pm on a Friday night with darkness fast approaching....It's scary out there! Anyway, I digress. It was a long climb. At the top we were rewarded with some Skyline singletrack.
Dave and I at this point were both convinced we had punctures, but it was the slightly damp sandy ground that was making things somewhat draggy. That is until Dave did actually pick up a tear in his back tyre. Running a tubeless there was no way it was going to seal, even after repeated attempts of stopping, pumping it up and riding on. The inevitable eventually happened and Dave had to stop to put a tube in. I didn't know this at the time as I'd headed down the last descent of Skyline, on a roll, as I was really enjoying the ride. At the checkpoint I hung around for Dave but there was no sign of him. With the clock ticking I headed off convinced he'd eventually catch up with me. But unfortunately the rest of the route was a pretty lonely affair. I'd been told I was the first to have passed through although I had no idea at that point I would actually be the fastest through as well (it was a staggered start between 7.30 and 9ish, so I assumed there'd be quicker guys coming up behind me).
Onwards and upwards I went, out from Abercregan onto the climb that crosses Whites Level and eventually reaching the 75km/100km cut off. There was no way I was going for the shorter option so rode on to get treated to some excellent descents on the 100km loop. But as they say, what goes down, must come back up, and up it went, up, and up and a bit more up. I cursed after passing the marshall point for the second time only to be told I was 60% up the climb, after I'd been climbing for what seemed like an age. I cursed. Twice.
The final few kilometres were a bit of a blur as I felt like I was just surviving, although according to my GPS and stats from it, I kept up the same pace I'd been doing throughout the race, if not a bit faster. I didn't feel like it, and by the time I was climbing back to the Bryn Bettws Lodge and the finish line I was hanging off the bike. But funnily enough after I got off and had the chicken sandwich I was looking forward to for hours (half of which Hamish the Hound stole) I felt fine.
We were treated to some excellent trails both known and unknown to me, joined together with some brutal climbs, that really did make this event a monster. I hope it stays a regular fixture in the MTBing calendar and it is also for a very good cause (Macmillan Cancer Care and Support Charity).
Tuesday, 28 September 2010
Monday, 6 September 2010
DUSKY VALLEYS 12
Mark and I scooped the win at the Dusky Valleys 12 hour race last weekend, held at Bryn Bach Park, Tredegar. Not only winning the Men's 12-hour pairs category, but the overall win as well, with 33 laps.
This was the event's first year so we had no knowledge of what the course would be like. The event didn't disappoint and the course included some great climbing sections and some fast natural and man-made singletrack descents to make the climbing worthwhile. The course was very fast and short, so Mark and I were lapping in just over 20 minutes. We decided to stick to a one lap strategy which seems to work for us, even though it meant very short stops, just enough time to get back to camp, oil chain, eat and drink something before lining up to go out again.
Having been training for 24-hour soloing this year, and still recovering from my 24-hour solo at the Twentyfour12 and also recovering from a chest and ear infection just 2 weeks before the event, I didn't hold much expectation from the event but after the first couple of hours I found myself at the front, leading the race, having started out at a very fast pace (for me). I wasn't sure whether I could keep the same pace going but found myself lapping consistently in 20 - 22 minutes and I didn't seem to be tiring. Mark was also in high spirits and lapping in similarly fast times so we just kept going, and got into the "rhythm" of racing as a pair.
Within a couple of hours we realised we had a race on against the team from M&D Cycles in Abergavenny. They were on a one lap on one lap off strategy like us, and after a while they were taking the lead during one lap, only to be overtaken by us on the next. The gap between us stayed at 30 seconds for the first few hours, but the pressure and distance seemed to start taking its toll on them and our lead got progressively larger to about 5 minutes. At this point, I had a quick word with Mark at the changeover to keep our pace up, not do anything silly, and to quote "Show no mercy!". Five minutes was a good gap, but anything could happen to take that away and deny us the lead.
As the race progressed and got to the early hours, the prospect of actually winning the race started to become reality and I couldn't get that thought out of my head, which was risky as there was plenty of time for things to go wrong. As daylight came and with just an hour to go we were in to our final 3 laps. I'd worked out I'd have the final lap, so as I sat in the tent preparing myself for the final lap, having a cup of tea, watching the clock, I heard what I thought was my name being shouted across the campsite. "Can't be" I thought and continued to sip my drink. I heard the same again, and again, and it suddenly dawned on me, like a slap in the face that it was Mark back at the changeover waiting for me to take over for the final lap. I had completely misjudged the time that he'd be returning by about 5 minutes, which was our lead on 2nd place. I sprinted over to the changeover, throwing off jackets and other bits of clothing, shouted a rushed apology to Mark as I disappeared down the course, cursing at my stupidity at putting our lead in jeopardy!
On that final lap I kept looking over my shoulder for any signs of the M&D Cycles team as I knew that our lead was less than what it should have been from my timing mistake, but once I reached the top of the climb I knew I could finish off the race and cross the line to win the race. The feeling I had going through the last sections of singletrack was amazing, and I crossed the line elated, having won my first mountain biking race.
It was the first time Mark and I had raced as a pair since the Bontrager Twentyfour12 in July 2009 when we came 2nd. And bringing home a win at the weekend confirms that the combination still works as well as ever, which is good, considering we'll be racing together for 7 days in Canada in July 2011!
As well as our win though, there was also a fantastic first prize spot for Zoe in the women's 12-hour solo, Zoe's first night 12-hour race, and a 3rd place for Scott and Johnny in the Beyond Bike Mechanics team in the men's pairs.
As is often the case in events we were treated to some luxury and pampering from our good friends Dave and Jo "Blanche", making good use of their caravan and awning and drinking their tea and biscuits. Huge thanks as ever goes to them! And well done for getting the win in the mixed pairs category.
This was the event's first year so we had no knowledge of what the course would be like. The event didn't disappoint and the course included some great climbing sections and some fast natural and man-made singletrack descents to make the climbing worthwhile. The course was very fast and short, so Mark and I were lapping in just over 20 minutes. We decided to stick to a one lap strategy which seems to work for us, even though it meant very short stops, just enough time to get back to camp, oil chain, eat and drink something before lining up to go out again.
Having been training for 24-hour soloing this year, and still recovering from my 24-hour solo at the Twentyfour12 and also recovering from a chest and ear infection just 2 weeks before the event, I didn't hold much expectation from the event but after the first couple of hours I found myself at the front, leading the race, having started out at a very fast pace (for me). I wasn't sure whether I could keep the same pace going but found myself lapping consistently in 20 - 22 minutes and I didn't seem to be tiring. Mark was also in high spirits and lapping in similarly fast times so we just kept going, and got into the "rhythm" of racing as a pair.
Within a couple of hours we realised we had a race on against the team from M&D Cycles in Abergavenny. They were on a one lap on one lap off strategy like us, and after a while they were taking the lead during one lap, only to be overtaken by us on the next. The gap between us stayed at 30 seconds for the first few hours, but the pressure and distance seemed to start taking its toll on them and our lead got progressively larger to about 5 minutes. At this point, I had a quick word with Mark at the changeover to keep our pace up, not do anything silly, and to quote "Show no mercy!". Five minutes was a good gap, but anything could happen to take that away and deny us the lead.
As the race progressed and got to the early hours, the prospect of actually winning the race started to become reality and I couldn't get that thought out of my head, which was risky as there was plenty of time for things to go wrong. As daylight came and with just an hour to go we were in to our final 3 laps. I'd worked out I'd have the final lap, so as I sat in the tent preparing myself for the final lap, having a cup of tea, watching the clock, I heard what I thought was my name being shouted across the campsite. "Can't be" I thought and continued to sip my drink. I heard the same again, and again, and it suddenly dawned on me, like a slap in the face that it was Mark back at the changeover waiting for me to take over for the final lap. I had completely misjudged the time that he'd be returning by about 5 minutes, which was our lead on 2nd place. I sprinted over to the changeover, throwing off jackets and other bits of clothing, shouted a rushed apology to Mark as I disappeared down the course, cursing at my stupidity at putting our lead in jeopardy!
On that final lap I kept looking over my shoulder for any signs of the M&D Cycles team as I knew that our lead was less than what it should have been from my timing mistake, but once I reached the top of the climb I knew I could finish off the race and cross the line to win the race. The feeling I had going through the last sections of singletrack was amazing, and I crossed the line elated, having won my first mountain biking race.
It was the first time Mark and I had raced as a pair since the Bontrager Twentyfour12 in July 2009 when we came 2nd. And bringing home a win at the weekend confirms that the combination still works as well as ever, which is good, considering we'll be racing together for 7 days in Canada in July 2011!
As well as our win though, there was also a fantastic first prize spot for Zoe in the women's 12-hour solo, Zoe's first night 12-hour race, and a 3rd place for Scott and Johnny in the Beyond Bike Mechanics team in the men's pairs.
As is often the case in events we were treated to some luxury and pampering from our good friends Dave and Jo "Blanche", making good use of their caravan and awning and drinking their tea and biscuits. Huge thanks as ever goes to them! And well done for getting the win in the mixed pairs category.
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