After Saturday's night race, by the time I’d had a massage, cooked some dinner, might have had a sneaky beer (!) it was after midnight. I didn’t sleep well at all, not helped by drinking gallons of Rego, tea etc after the race… For anyone that hasn’t done one of these, there are 3 distances to choose from, so effectively it’s a mass start for everyone competing that day. Same drill as Saturday with about 5ish miles on the road chasing the marshal’s van… but I just cant stay with it today, legs are spent and I know immediately that the order of the day is simply to “Suffer-like-a-dog”! Its not long, possibly on the first main climb that the cramps start, Quads, Hamstrings, calves the lot… then the lower back starts to cave-in, oh this is going to be a long day… just turn the pedals, its only pain! A wee while later one of my Tuesday night crew passed me. Steve is as much a competitive animal as I am, but I cant live with his pace, I mean he was in his bed last night while I was out racing… it’s a good excuse and one I decide I can comfortably live with. But its funny how fortunes turn in racing and an hour or so later I spotted him up ahead, off the bike and clearly struggling with his own cramping issues.
That’s it, my mind is set, there is no-way I’m going to let him get away again! Steve’s a demon down hill, but we manage to stick together for the last 3rd of the race right upto the final descent where he pulls a healthy gap. Dropping back onto the last few miles of road, I can see him a few hundred yards up the road and I’ve really got the bit in now, big ring engaged, back pain/legs cramps/fatigue all blotted-out and I’m surprised at how quickly I reel him in and pass him then just keep it going to the finish.
As for results well there’s a problem there, loads of riders missed a turn and cut-out a significant loop, which makes it all a bit of guess work, but of the 485 finishers I appear 146th. I expect that in reality it was a top 100 finish, not a great result on its own, but reasonable effort after the previous evening. I went round the 42 mile course in 4hrs 9mins.
Link below for the data junkies…
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/29753997
This Sunday sees the first round of the Midlands XC at Hanchurch Woods near Stoke, looking forward to that one, 4 laps of a 6ish mile course, its hilly and technical. Will report back next week when I can.
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