Category: RaceReport

Brighton Big Dog Race Report

On Saturday 12^th August a few members of HMTBC headed down to the edge of Brighton to have a go at the Brighton Big Dog Endurance race. Matthew Darley and Joe Champness were racing in the Little Dog race (1.5 hour), myself and Mark Darley were in the male pairs (6 hour) and Paul Champness was part of a team of 3 (6 hour).

I had stayed in Brighton with my family on the Friday night so I didn’t have to get up at the crack of dawn to drive down from Essex, but my plans for a good nights sleep were foiled by my 1 year old daughter who had a restless night and then decided to wake up at 5am. I had a nice leisurely breakfast and arrived at Stanmer Park around 10:30 to find everyone else was already there. Michael Travers kindly let me leave my stuff under the team Travers Gazebo and I prepared my kit while chatting to his team (Michael, Jake Darragh & Peter Stiff).

I went over to find Mark and we headed off to have a scout around part of the lap. We didn’t fancy spending the energy doing the whole 6 mile lap less than an hour before the start of the race so we had a look at the start and first part of the long climb before heading over to the very end of the lap where we could see an A and B line marked on the course map. We spoke briefly to a marshal and heard a few riders mention that there was very little between the 2 lines before pushing up and riding most of the A line. The route wasn’t that technical but it was steep and narrow in places. Since the A line was fairly easy we didn’t bother checking out the B line and headed back to the main arena to get ourselves sorted for the start.

Mark was up first for us so he grabbed his race bottles and made his last minute preparations before heading to the start line at about 11:45. There was already a fair number of people on the start line but Mark managed to start somewhere near to the middle of the pack. Jake had bagged a much better start position on the 3^rd or 4^th row, but the Travers team were looking for a competitive result. The event village was buzzing leading up to the start, helped by the fact that the organisers had a DJ there for the whole event and the music was loud and energetic.

At 12 the gun went off and the riders started the first laps of the race. I knew from people who had raced in previous years that a lap was around 40 minutes, so I wouldn’t have long to get myself ready. I headed back to the pits to grab my race bottles and a bit of food before returning to the arena to get ready for the hand over. The handover area was a little chaotic to say the least. There was only a small opening into the area where the riders would pull into after their laps to pass on the reflective arm bands, and lots of riders were blocking the entrance off rather than sitting back and only getting close when they saw their team mates enter the other side of the field.

The first rider came through at 12:27 and he was absolutely flying. Normally at the start of an event like this you would expect there to be a few teams all keeping touch with each other, and the gaps to only really start to increase as the hours go by, but it was a couple of minutes later before the 2^nd rider came through. Just after 12:35 things started to get a little more frantic as a lot of riders were passing through the hand over point, and with all the people blocking the entrance there were a few frayed tempers as people were asked to get out of the way and allow people through. Mark appeared in the distance just before 12:40 and as luck would have it a few people had just moved in front of me so I was able to get through easily and prep myself for the hand over. I started to roll forwards as Mark entered the area and he was able to snap on the arm band as I was accelerating with my arm out stretched. It is always nice to pull off a smooth handover, especially when there are so many people watching!

The course at the Big Dog has a surprisingly large amount of climbing in it, and nearly all of it is packed into one long climb at the start of the lap. There is no warm up, you just hit the bottom and grind your way up for 15 minutes with the steepest bits at the top being fairly technical and hard to ride cleanly. There are then a few sections of fairly flat single track and bridleways where you can put the hammer down and make some time up. The roots still had a lot of moisture on them from the previous night’s dew, so there were quite a few sketchy moments where one or both wheels broke traction unexpectedly. The last part of the lap has a lovely descent that then splits into the A and B lines before dropping you back in the field with the main arena and the hand over point. We had another clean handover and Mark was off for his 2^nd lap.

In the break I had a bit of time to look around the stalls in the event village and found a stall that was selling some amazing banoffee flap jack. The organisers were also selling Big Dog mugs will bottomless refills of tea, so that was another essential purchase.

After 30 mins or so of rest I was back in the handover point waiting for Mark and my 2^nd lap. It was rather strange racing in an event with someone and not being able to chat with them to discuss the course or anything. All we managed to shout were a few words of encouragement while handing over the arm band and heading off into the distance. The 2nd lap started off quite painfully. My legs weren’t ready for the long climb after the previous lap and rest, and by the time they had woken up I was at the top and on the single track. It was clear that the course was drying and coupled with the fact I had dropped a couple of psi out of my tyres I had a lot more confidence and was enjoying throwing the bike around a little bit more. The handover went well again and I was feeling pretty strong.

That is when things started to go wrong. Just before heading to the hand over point for my 3^rd lap I headed to the toilets to find a bit of a queue. It moved a lot slower than I expected and I had to rush over to the handover point to meet Mark. I was waiting there for what felt like ages before Mark’s wife, Kathleen, tapped me on the shoulder. She said Mark had been there earlier and after not being able to find me he had headed out on another lap. I felt terrible as the laps there are hard work, and without rest I knew it was going to be a hard lap for Mark. In hindsight the lap times had been dropping slightly due to the improved conditions, so where I was expecting Mark at 40 mins, he was a couple of minutes faster.

There wasn’t much point in heading back to the pits at this stage as I expected Mark to be back soon, and I reckoned I had enough water to last me through the lap. Time ticked by and I started to get concerned. I saw Matt Lane from the Superior Bikes team who I had been chatting to earlier and I asked him if he had seen Mark out on course at all. He had and reported that Mark had bad cramp but was making his way round. I felt even worse. I expected it to be a hard lap for Mark, but with cramp it would be awful, and it was a situation he wouldn’t have been in if I had made it to the handover point in time. Mark’s 4^th lap was around 55 minutes, which showed how hard it had been for him. At the hand over I could only apologise and crack on with my lap. Explanations would have to wait until the race was over.

The 3^rd lap was reasonably incident free except for a poor line choice on a steep rooty climb that I fluffed and managed to burp some air out of my rear tyre before falling. On approach to the hand over point at the end of the lap I couldn’t see Mark and knew I would have to go out and do another lap. I saw him at the other side of the track and headed over to see if he had any water to top up my empty bottle, before heading off onto my 4^th and last lap. The climb was hard with the fatigue in my legs, but it was offset slightly by the fact that my legs were warmed up and not cold after a rest. Still it was a hard climb and I could feel twinges of cramp in my calf muscles that I managed to stave off by spinning and not putting down too much power.

I crossed the finishing line at around 5:45 absolutely ruined and spent, but happy that we had managed to finish the event. The organisers were handing out beer in plastic pint glasses on the finish line and I was happy to be one of the few that managed to grab the glass without breaking or dropping it as I rode past. I had a catch up with Mark and apologised again for messing up the hand over, but he seemed in very good spirits considering everything. Without my mistake we would have been fresher on our final laps and might have just managed to squeeze in a 9^th lap, but it would have been tight (any laps completed outside of the 6 hours are not counted, even if you finish it at 6 hours and 1 second). Still we finished in 29^th place out of around 50 teams so it wasn’t too bad.

Joe Champness had a great result in the Little Dog youth race with a 3^rd place finish. Team Travers also had a decent result with 10^thplace (out of 42) in the men’s team of 3, with Jake in particular putting in some blisteringly quick lap times.

It is a shame that my lasting memory of this race will probably be my timing error, as the event was well run and once the track was dry it was really good fun. I would definitely have another go at endurance racing and I am already eying up the Shouldham Warren Enduro in September to try and redeem myself. I would like to thank our team sponsors of Hardnutz and Mitas. The Mitas Scylla tyres worked perfectly all day (when i got my pressures right) and the Hardnuts helmet was there ready for when I make a mistake and fall off.

Matt Phillips – HMTBC Race Team

National Series Round 5 – Builth Wells by Rob Staines

We decided during the week before the race to make the trip to Builth Wells for the final round of the National Series on the day of the race.  We got up early and set off around 4 am.  It was a long journey and I managed to get some sleep on the way.  We arrived around 8.30 as I had decided to go out for a practice lap on the second practice session of the day.  I had some breakfast, signed on and changed ready for practice.  The weather had been changeable during the week before the race.  On Saturday the course was wet and in some places muddy, however as there had not been any rain since Saturday afternoon the course had started to dry up so I decided to use Mitas Scylla tyres.

I went out on my practice lap and after I had completed my lap I had to make a minor adjustment to my pedals as my foot had unclipped and I nearly stacked it on the drop off.  I then went out to practice the drop off again and the other features near the start/finish area.  After my practice lap I got changed and spent some time just relaxing whilst we waited for my race.  About an hour before my race was due to start I got changed, got my rollers set up and started my warm up.

The weather throughout the day was not very good, cold and overcast.  Just before I made my way to the start we looked over behind us and could see rain in the hills and it looked like it was heading our way.  I went to the start area and waited to be gridded.  After the Elite’s started it was our turn to start.  I got a good start and made up a few places.  I settled into a good rhythm and was pleased with my pace.   Fortunately the rain held off and I had a good battle with 11^th place, unfortunately for me he got the better of me in the final couple of laps.  I finished in 12^th place just 1 minute off a top 10 place.  I was really pleased with my result, my best at a National race.

Big thanks to the club sponsors, Mitas, Hardnutz, Cyclewrap and Scimitar.

HSBC UK British Cycling National MTB XC Series – Round 5

I’d noticed at the last minute that the final round of the National XC Series was taking place in Builth Wells, Wales at the weekend and I just had to go and see what the experience would be like.   This meant driving the 240 miles on Saturday morning to join to Open race that afternoon.  My goal was simply to honour the race and gain experience, without putting any extra pressure on myself.

A solid bout of rain greeted me upon arrival an hour before the race; churned mud and grit interfered with my bike and it was extremely hard at this point not to lose all morale.  Practicing the course was tricky in those conditions, so most of it would be discovered during the race.  I composed myself at the start line with goal to complete a lap and take it from there.The start was well organised with 11 or so entrants in the Open race.  This compact field and a wide meant a good solid start with the pack staying nicely together.  About minute or two later the track narrowed into a slippery, waterlogged section.  It was hard to maintain speed with lessening grip and thick mud clogging up everyone’s bikes.

Riding up some of the steep, off camber sections was futile in places and running with the bike was the much faster option.  Some parts of the course turned into a kind of scramble where we were running and climbing while holding our bikes, which was probably the fastest strategy given the conditions.

There were some more open, progressive climbs with good grip and a wide cornering lines which could be attacked with gusto.

Using the dropper seat post helped with a low stance on the bike, lending stability for negotiating down some of the tricky, steep descents.  Great concentration and a lightness of touch was also to stay upright on the unforgiving wet terrain.

The A-lines on the course included a gap jump, a downhill drop-off and a length of tree trunk on its side.  The longer B-lines were easy, low-skill alternatives.

I was elated passing through the finish line around an hour later, buoyed by the welcoming enthusiasm of the commissures and spectators from all corners of the nation.  I knew it wasn’t going to be my perfect race, but I did what I came to do, and now I can’t wait to do it again!

I would recommend entering a national event even if you are new to racing; the course design is very welcoming with its A and B line choices while there were far fewer riders in the open category than at the regional events.

Samuel Poole

Ardrock Enduro Intro Sunday 6 August 2017

Wow, that was tough, huge kudos to the guys who did the main event on Saturday.  The Intro was the last three stages (4, 5 and 6) of the full Ardrock but not half the distance 30km against 45km.

An early start on Sunday to register and get our number boards and timing chips, our start time was 8am. A bit of early morning drizzle cleared and we were on the road, not much more than 200 yards in a right turn led the way to the first climb of the day, the push up began.  From road to single track to slippy mud and peat bogs the transition to the first stage was long and tough going, it soon became apparent that six weeks off the bike with a chest infection and just a week of mainly downhill in Morzine was not ideal prep for the Yorkshire Dales.

Three hours or so later of riding, hiking and heavy breathing we reached our first stage (stage 4).

Stage 4 was rocky with some scary descents I was thinking don’t look at the big rocks, hold your line and this is going to hurt if it goes wrong.  I got through the stage with just one little push up a steep incline I didn’t quite carry enough speed into or “pedal pedal pedal” like the marshal shouted.  Stage clear I sat at the end waiting for Dave who I passed and Fiona to come in.  From the chat the consensus seemed this was the most technical stage we had to do.

Onwards to stage 5 via a stream crossing and hike-a-bike, ups, downs and more peat bogs fortunately this transition wasn’t as long as the first, speaking to the marshal at the stage start I was told people were enjoying it and it was fast and flowy.

Off I went it was completely different from stage 4 it flowed nice up and down with some little drops, some features were marked with caution signs and I nearly got caught out on one, a drop still rollable but not what I expected, bum met rear tyre rubber on that one!

Two down one to go, the shortest transition but by no means a walk in the park, we reached the top of stage 6, the final stage and could see the event village below, the stage start went through a stone wall and disappeared.  The top of stage was tricky not as steep as previous stages but with fallen stone walls and loose placed rocks and some off camber I found it the hardest stage. Across off camber grass through fallen stone walls, a final grass bank with lots of spectators shouting encouragement as I blasted through the final wall to the finish.

I was happy enough with my 11th place overall in my category, with 9th on my favourite stage 5 and 13th on stage 6 needs to work on those rocks.  A great experience and at some points I didn’t think I would make it through, although with time to reflect on the day, it’s when can I sign up for next year – intro again or full distance!

Jane Brockman – HMTBC Race Team

HSBC UK British Cycling National MTB XC Series – Round 5

Thought I would write a small piece for the HMTBC web page this time – may have more of a following that way??  Still do a blog but, more for my own posterity and those that want to read and asked me to put one together in the first place. 

Here goes:

Nice long ride to location for round five of the British National Cross Country MTB Series, located at Builth Wells, mid Wales.  Stayed at Llandrindod Wells in airbnb.

 

Saturday morning was spent doing a walk around the course in a torrent of rain, assessing the features and lines to take – decided there were two A Lines I would try.  Picked up number board and before allowed to go out on course.

First lap done in the early afternoon,  had problems keeping up right in the cambered muddy uphill and down hill sections.  Plenty of rocks  and roots to deal with and short sharp elevations to hammer up.  Other features involved rock garden, log ride and drop, drop off, gap jump and more mud. 

   

Attempted my first real gap jump A Line – buzzing!!  

Afternoon saw the sun pop out and with a good breeze, the course started to clear up a little.  The  fun and sports races also helped to flatten off lines through the mud.  Samuel Poole from HMTBC took part in one the these races doing exceptionally well for his first National race.

 Went out on second lap for more practice (take note Samuel!), mainly to see how the course had changed and another go at the gap jump.

Had problems with rear brake fade, which Kev helped me with…. Unfortunately it didn’t work.

Sunday – came around to fast, calms didn’t help, still couldn’t sleep the night before a race – naffed off with that!!

 Watched the first races (all the young ones) before Kev bled the rear brake again and filled up system. 

 

Set off on my race at 11:00 managing to complete four out of the five laps, one better then the championships.  Did the gap jump on all laps and the steep grass A Line elevation three times, last time, quad cramp.

Finished in 17th place, my best result to date. 

Stayed to watch Rob and Jake in their race and enjoyed seeing them mix it up with the best the country has.  Great racing and results with Rob placed 12th followed by Jake in 13th.

Saturday 15^th July – Salzkammergut Trophy marathon XC race, Bad Goisern, Austria

Back at the end of last year I was sat in a hotel bar in Copenhagen when I received a call from a friend that lives in Austria. He invited me over to have a go at a marathon XC race local to him and after a quick check with the wife for permission I was signed up for the B race before I knew it. It was only the next day that I realised what I had signed up for as the B distance is a 119km off road race through the Austrian Salzkammergut mountains with just under 4000m of vertical climbing. The only consolation was that I hadn’t entered the 220km (over 7000m vertical) A distance event.

Just to put that 4000m into perspective, if you start on the gravel track at Hadleigh that runs down by the train tracks and climb up to the top of the hill past the top of the rock garden, you will have climbed a little over 50m. Now do that 80+ times.

The Salzkammergut Trophy was to be my main target for 2017 and my winter training started off well. I lost the weight I wanted to and started the season fitter than ever, but as the race loomed closer my endurance training ride goals slipped by and 2 weeks out I felt hopelessly under prepared. This was exaggerated even further when I sent my forks and dropper post off for a service at Sussed Out Suspension and Royal Mail managed to lose them for a week so I didn’t get the bike back together until the weekend before the race. Then when preparing the bike for travel I found one of the pedals to be seized onto the crank arm, but luckily Grips bike shop came to the rescue and managed to remove it without damaging the carbon crank.

I didn’t get the chance to give the bike a proper shakedown and test the suspension before packing my bike bag (rented from Traversbikes.com) so this would have to wait until I got to Austria and fingers crossed everything would work ok.

In order to get the approval from the boss to go to Austria I had to make one major concession, and that was to take her and the little one with me for a “holiday”. Luckily I have plenty of air miles from travelling with work, so I manage to book us some business class seats on BA.

We aren’t a family that tends to pack lightly as it is, and with a 13 month old and a bike we were at the limits of both our baggage allowance, and what can be fitted inside a Vauxhall Insignia estate hire car. At least if you take EVERYTHING on holiday with you then there is less chance of forgetting something!

We all arrived safely in a wet and rainy Austria a couple of days before the race. Luckily the weather improved the next day so we were able to see a bit of the amazing scenery in the surrounding villages and towns, as well as try out the amazing open air swimming pool in the village. The water was nice and warm but we had the pool to ourselves and I’ve never had such wonderful views while swimming.

The day of the race was soon upon us. We knew from the weather forecast that there was a strong chance of rain for most of the day, but I didn’t expect the amount of rain that fell during the 12 hours before the start. We arrived in the small village of Bad Goisern at about 7am to find it feeling deserted. The A race had started at 4am and all the spectators and teams had retreated back to the warmth and dry of their accommodation so the town had an eerie feeling about it. All of the B distance competitors seemed to be waiting until the last minute to show their faces and try to start the race as dry as possible. We went to sign on and collect our race numbers before finding a little café and grabbing a couple of coffees while we watched the rain fall. I must admit at this point I really didn’t fancy getting into my kit and starting a long ride. It can’t have been much more than 10°C and I wasn’t relishing the prospect of being wet and cold for most of the day.

After a bit of mutual encouragement we pulled our kit together and assembled ready for the 9am start. The rain seemed to be easing up a little so everyone’s sprits were lifted slightly and the anticipation grew.

At 9:05 we were off in the second wave. I am used to the start of a race being a hectic mass of bodies, all trying to squeeze through the smallest of gaps and vying for position. The start of this race in contrast was a relaxed affair with competitors casually chatting to one another and gently following the procession through the town, knowing that there would be a hard day in the saddle ahead of them so fighting for position now would be worthless. Then the climbing started…

I knew that with 4000m of climbing in the race there would be some brutal climbs ahead, but to hit 10%+ gradients within the first few minutes was a bit of a shock. The gradients then slackened off slightly, but the hills went on and on and we covered barely 7 miles in the first 2 hours of riding. The reward for all this climbing was some pretty decent descents, but when you are knackered from the climb and in temps around 3°C at the top, they were punishing on an XC bike. The first descent alone was over 20 minutes long and I suffered from arm pump and cold / numb fingers for most of the way down.

Close to 40kms into the race I had a mechanical issue that almost ended my day. I had chain suck due to the amount of mud in the drivetrain, and the over tensioning of the chain had partially ripped off the small tab on the rear mech hanger that the mech limiting screw sits on. The mech was now contacting the cassette and wouldn’t last long. Luckily I was able to reset the mech position and the small bit of tab remaining on the mech hanger managed to hold on for the rest of the race.

The hardest part of the race was the climb up the mountain behind the village of Halstatt (one of the places where the sound of music was filmed). The trail followed an old miners track up the Salzberg mountain for 1000m. The first switchback section was hard enough, but the tarmac road at the top was so steep that no-one managed to ride it. I was slipping in my shoes on the hard surface when pushing the bike up the last super steep bit and I have to admit that I did have a bit of a sense of humour failure at that point. I thought I had died and gone to hell at one point as this chap was walking down the trail in front of me, but he only had words of encouragement (I think so anyway as he was talking in German)

Once past that bit the views were amazing and a pass over the mountain was cut into a sheer rock face with dizzying views to the left over the drop

The trail on the ledge narrowed to just slightly more than bar width and it was very much a bit of a squeaky bum moment (pic below is stolen from google to give you the riders eye view)

The only way I was going to make it to the finish of the race was by eating and drinking correctly. Luckily the race organisers had laid on some fantastic feed zones, and the smoked sausages and cheese went down particularly well. I managed to pace myself nicely through the day, spinning up all the climbs and taking on food and drink regularly so I didn’t bonk in the later stages of the race.

Eventually we crossed the line after a gruelling 10 ½ hours out on the bike (8 ½ hours moving time). I was expecting to be absolutely ruined, but all things considered I felt pretty good. My bike and body made it through the hardest ride I have ever attempted, and most importantly of all I managed to avoid the broom wagon! I enjoyed the experience of racing in Austria but I don’t think I will be back for another go in 2018.

Mud Sweat & Gears Round 6 and National Championships

It was Sunday 16^th July and the next round of Mud Sweat and Gears.  We arrived at the venue, Hintlesham in Suffolk around 11.30 it was a very warm day compared to last year which was very wet.  After signing on I got changed and prepared to go out on a practice lap.  The course was good and the lap was fast.  After my practice lap I warmed up on my rollers and headed to the start line and waited to be gridded.

After all the categories were gridded we were set off with the Elite/Expert category.  I got a good start and was in a group of 3 at the front with Jake Darragh and James Pickering.  We were together and worked together for 4 laps, on the 5^th lap Jake and I dropped James and stayed together until towards the end of the 6^th lap.  I know that Jake is strong on the flat because of his time trial prowess so I decided to attack on the uphill sections which I did at the end of the 6^th lap, I made a small gap to Jake and then made a further attack during the lap, Jake couldn’t catch up with me and I came home first with Jake 22 seconds behind me in second and James came in third.  It started raining on the last lap which made the fast sections a bit slippery.  I was really pleased with my result, my first win of the season and on a course that did not suit my riding style.  My training was geared to the Nationals the following weekend but this race gave me the opportunity to try something new with my fuelling which seemed to work for me.

The following weekend was the National Championships at Cannock Chase, wow what a difference in the weather from the weekend before at Hintlesham.  Although this is my 4^th season of racing it was the first time I had been able to compete in the National Championships, I missed the previous 2 years due to injury in 2015 and exams in 2016.  We made an early start on Sunday morning getting up at 3am so that I could have time to get in a practice lap early.

The weather was not good, it had rained all Saturday night and was raining when we arrived.  We met up and spoke to Iain who had ridden a practice lap on Saturday and he gave me some good information on the how the course was riding.  Due to the conditions I decided to use Mitas Hyperion tyres as I thought I would need the extra grip so we changed my wheels.  I got changed, signed on and went out on a practice lap.  The course was good, muddy in places, the rock garden was slippery and the Hyperions worked well on the features that had claimed many riders in the past.  I was hoping that the weather would improve and dry out the course.  After my practice lap my Dad cleaned my bike and I got changed.  We spent some time whilst waiting for my race talking to friends and watching some of the other races cheering on my fellow team mate and the OMX Pro team riders.  The weather improved and the sun was shining, I could tell from the amount of mud decreasing on the riders in the race before mine that the conditions had improved although the BC commissaries felt the course was getting slower.

 

It was then time to get changed and warm up.  I teamed up with fellow Eastern region riders Kieran Jarvis and Travis Pell to warm up on our rollers.  I then went to the start to be gridded.  The field in my category was very strong and included Tom Pidcock, Cyclocross World Champion and National Circuit champion along with 2^nd and 3^rd in the World Cyclocross Championships and most of the top 20 in the current National rankings.  There were 3 categories in my race, Elites, Under 23’s and my category, Juniors.  Elites were set off first, then under 23’s and finally Juniors.  My start was good but not as good as I had hoped, not sure what went wrong but will analyse it for the next race.  The course had improved and had started to dry, then it started to rain.  It was a short heavy shower and didn’t make too much of a difference to the course but was happy with my tyre choice.  I finished 18^th and was very pleased with my result in such a strong field.

I really feel that my training is paying off and I am making big improvements, a big thanks to my coach, Loose Cannon’s conditioning.  I would also like to say thanks to all the club sponsors, Mitas, Hardnutz, Scimitar and Cyclewrap.

Rob Staines

 

MS&G Round 6 – Hintlesham – Race report – Mark Darley

Ok, so lets start by saying that after last year’s mud fest I wasn’t especially looking forward to this round.  Turns out I couldn’t have been more wrong.  Thanks to the team at msg, they pulled it out the bag.  A very fast running course, not technical at all, but a challenging one for the fitness levels.  There was a great turn out from the Hadleigh team at this event, which was really great to see.  We had racers covering most of the days groups.

I started the day being in pole position in the open category. (A position I definitely didn’t expect)  The race started uphill, a change, and one that opened the lungs from the off!!

As I said earlier, this was a fast running course, and I found that you couldn’t let up for one turn of the crank before another racer was breathing down your neck.  After the first lap, I found myself in 5^th position, within my own battle for 4^th.  The top three had made a gap so I dug down and got on with my race.  As usual there was great support from the crowd and especially from the club members who made the journey.

Kev was always on hand to let me know how my race was going and how far the leader was in front.  Unfortunately, I found I didn’t have the legs to get back a 4^th spot, but still really pleased with my 5^th position.  There was some great results from the Hadleigh Teams at this event, which they should all be proud of.

This leaves two more races until the end of the season, so its back to the training!!

Thanks to the club sponsors, hopefully some more great results to come

Thanks for reading

Mark

MS&G Round 6 – Hintlesham – Race report – Alfie Cunniffe

Today was the day of MS&G round 6 at Hintlesham. I arrived a bit late but as soon as I got there I was off on my practice lap. The course weren’t very technical but there was one A line that was rather fun as it involved a small drop on a steep downslope. At the end of the course there was a long and painful climb leading up to the finish. I knew the race was going to be tough so my aim was to get as close as I could to my last finish, which was 6^th.

15 minutes before the race we went off to the start to get gridded. I was gridded on the last row as I had only raced one MS&G but I was determined to get to the front. Then it was time for the start and as soon as the gun went we were off! We sprinted up the grass climb and I got boxed in by 3 riders for about 10 seconds but after that I got myself into a good position. As the first lap went on me and a fellow teammate, Joe Champness, paired together to go and chase the rest of the pack who were ahead.

We managed to catch up with another teammate, Euan Alexander, and we passed him and rode on. After staying together for most of the race Joe went off at about a third of the way through the last lap and I was left on my own for the rest of the lap. After riding fast to finish the lap I was on to the long and last grass hill to finish the race. I was about halfway through the last bit of the grass climb and hear Paul Cavalla call to me “Watch out he’s catching you” so I look behind and see Euan sprinting towards me so I sped up to the finish and managed to finish 1 second in front of him. Thank you Paul for telling me or he would have beat me! Anyway well done to Euan for catching me up as he made about 40 seconds on the last lap, but also to Joe for the great race between me and him.

Thank you to the HMTBC for the support and also Kevin our team manager. I managed to finish 7^th so I am very happy with my result.

Thank you for reading,

 

Alfie Cunniffe

 

Race 1: Welsh Enduro Series:Round 3, Llandegla

Something in me decided this being my first year of competitive cycling, that I should get out and ride as much as I can. After doing the my first endure a couple of months ago in Wales, I decided it was best to return to the series and carry on, seeing as I enjoyed it so much.

After a slightly damp night camping at the nearby fisheries, it was up at a not so unreasonable hour to drive the short hop up the road to sign in for round 3 of the Welsh Enduro series. Get number board, choose a start time and collect a timing chip to be worn on the wrist and I can trot off and get the bike ready for a pedal around the lap to see what lays in wait. One lap, just shy of about 12miles with 4 timed stages to contend with. Fortunately the weather was on side and the sun had come out to play. A couple of hours spent on the practice spotting lines and seeing what was what then back to refuel for the race lap, swap over to my race jersey and get ready to go. I was set off in our batch of 10, this time riding with a group I had met at the previous round (Enduro is so social) meant there were laughs to be had, encouragement and the occasional haribo being passed around to make it feel less racey.

After a slog up three mile climb, stage 1 was ready to be tackled. Just over 3 minutes long, this was a trail centre type stage, some dusty windy bits through the trees cutting onto the main trail which was hard packed and littered with a good mix of rocks, jumps and braking bumps. Fast and flowy, only interrupted with a few hairpin berms that actually climbed before descending back down.

A decent transition to stage 2, which had most people talking back at race HQ, as this was fresh cut in for the event. Very loamy, some evil slippery roots and what can only be described as a mud chute into a rock step into a bridge before opening up into some more loam and roots then joining the trail centres berms and jumps. After some interesting moments on the practice lap I’d decided it would be faster to jump off and run that section before remounting. This worked out to be the toughest stage of the day, a shade over 5minutes and with a fair amount of pedalling involved.

Another long but enjoyable transition taking in some of the north shore sections of the trail and some beautiful views of the welsh countryside we were held at the start of stage 3 as medics cleared a downed rider. This stage started with a flat pedally sprint through ferns into some massive pumpable rollers before cutting across trails into a short descent before having to power up a short climb before sprinting into a fast downhill path that pulled right behind the trees and over the stage finish.

Last transition time, some steep climbs that burnt the legs and wearing a full face helmet also made my head feel like it was boiling in a pot meant the sight of stage four was a welcome one. Time to down the last of the water (vital weight saving) goggles on and pin the last stage, a little under 2minutes in length meant it was a sprint compared to the rest of the days stages. Typically welsh trail centre, so the hands were buzzing from the small rocks and bumps, the arms pumped up from hanging on over the fast doubles and the sight of the finish line signalling the end of a great days racing.

Thanks the Welsh enduro series for a great event and to Scimitar for the race Jersey.

(Misfits jersey was my practice attire)

Race 2: Pedalhounds Enduro series: Round 4, Bereleigh estate

After a night under the stars again, and a much reviving shower, it was time for the second enduro of the weekend. Pedalhounds is a little less hardcore than the welsh series, as far as the courses go owning to the fact that we’re not exactly blessed with steep mountains down in the south of England. Still, Paul Hunt manages to find some awesome venues and cuts some fun, challenging tracks that suit riders of all abilities, getting harder the faster you ride them.

After a quick walk down the courses after sign on, it was obvious they were going to be loose and technical, with the loam being dusty and most of the course being set off camber with a healthy dash of roots to spice it up.

Three stages with a linked transistion stage and three laps to contend with this time and another nice appearance from the sun meant it was going to be a hard slog throughout the day.

Starting out on stage 2 and riding with the family Repman (fellow MSG racers) I decided to just ride all out. Bad idea for the first run as the ground was ridiculously loose which meant a small collision with a tree as the front washed out on a nice off camber run. No crash but still not the fastest way to negotiate the course.

Stage 3 was taken on in a slightly more restrained manner and trying to apply all the coaching from Kevin Darragh to get round the course was helping but I was still struggling with the lack of grip available.

Stage 1 had possibly the most fun section of the day included. A steep chute taken on the brakes into a right hand turn onto flat then on the pedals hard into the trees again. Doesn’t sound much but nailing this right was so satisfying!!!! The joy with the short stage format and getting three laps meant you could really dial in the lines over the course of the day, something that shows up in the times with around 12 seconds being shaved off from the first run to the last. However, with the time being accumulative it rewards those who can ride fast and blind.

Whatever the case, it was a fun and enjoyable event again, highlights for me being able to speedway slide into off camber turns, probably not the fastest but my god was I having fun getting loose!!!

A long weekend of racing, but so much fun and riding with some good people makes it even more enjoyable.

Thanks again to Paul Hunt (pedalhounds) for organising a great event and to club sponsor Scimitar for the killer race jersey.