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.