The rain lashed down and the wind tore at my jacket as the public address announced 10 minutes to the start. I glared though the downpour enviously at those riders around me on the grid who were lucky enough to have a
team mate or partner willing to brave the elements and hold an umbrella for
them to shelter under, or even provide a nice warm coat.
Back at the car I had agonised over what to wear. After our
blazing hot summer, 14 degrees felt like we were setting out on an arctic expedition, especially in the wind
and rain. I had peered through the steamed up windscreen at other competitors
and spectators all wrapped up against the elements and despite it still being
August I’d considered, full length tights, extra base layers and even the
merits of neoprene overshoes. However, in the end I had decided to be brave,
adding just a Goretex jacket to a standard long sleeved jersey and bib shorts.
Right now sitting on the start with water dribbling down my face into the neck of
my jacket and slowly seeping its way into my shoes, this choice seemed a bit bold.
I started next to Julien Paphitis, who has had some stunning
results recently at national level. Two years ago at the Grand Raid in Switzerland I'd just edged Julien in a sprint finish after 10hrs and 30 minutes of racing! Following his wheel as we splashed and
slithered our way around the start loop, I was impressed at his discipline, or
more accurately how slow he was! The
front of the field were scampering away and many more tore past us as we spun
quite leisurely through the puddles. As we began to drop back into the midfield
my patience finally ran out and I followed the wheels of a faster group as they
streaked past. I still expected I’d see Julien again, I just hoped that it wasn’t
for another 6 hours!
The torrential rain continued for the first 2 hours of the
race. Despite this the course conditions on the first lap weren’t too terrible. After
such a dry summer the trails under the trees held up reasonably well. However,
the passing of hundreds of tyres had soon churned everything into a mushy syrup by the
2nd circuit. Slippery ruts amongst slippery roots made it
challenging to stay upright and maintain any kind forward momentum! Luckily as
the third hour drew on the rain started to ease to a steady drizzle and the
same tyres began slowly pushing the mud to the sides, exposing a dry(er) racing line.
As we approached half distance my race was going well, I was
feeling strong, enjoying the challenge and riding positively. I was pushing hard
and attacking the corners, attempting to keep each lap under 60 minutes, which
would mean completing 6 laps in the 6 hour time limit. The weather had
completely blown my original target lap times which were still taped, somewhere
under the mud, to my top tube. They were based on completing 7 laps which would have earned a top 10 finish in
last years race. My first lap was 30 seconds over an hour, but that included
the start loop, so I knew that a sub 60 minute time was possible. My second lap
was faster despite the worsening conditions, but still 10 seconds over my new
goal. With the course at its muddiest I’d lost 3 minutes on lap 3, but the conditions were now improving so I continued to race hard, hoping I could recover the time lost in the 2nd half of the race. I was stopping every lap for a new bottle, gel and banana. I’d
considered ditching the jacket and slipping on a nice dry jersey at the end of
lap 3, but I was chasing every second so loosened the zip of my waterproof and ploughed on.
It was on this lap that Julien passed me for the first time!
With extra incentive to keep pushing, I stuck tight to his wheel, following closely. Luckily
not too closely when he slithered offline, caught the wrong side of some roots
and disappeared into a ditch! I confirmed he was ok before racing on.
Despite chasing Julien in improving conditions, fatigue had
started to become a factor, and my lap time of 62 minutes meant I had to accept that 5
laps was all I was going to manage today. It was very hard to gauge how I was
doing relative to those I was racing. I felt good, but fresh riders from the pairs and team events were regularly hammering past, making it feel like I
was standing still.
At the end of the 4th lap I stopped at my pit box
and fitted my helmet light, downed a quick gel and stuffed a Ciff Bar into my
jersey pocket. I slammed the lid back on the box before dashing off for my
final lap. With my legs still feeling strong and I pushed the opening section of
the lap really hard, descending rapidly into the wood. In the dusk under the
trees it was getting dark. I reached for my light and immediately realised my mistake. I'd left my main source of lumens, a Moon Meteor handlebar light, tucked away in my pit box. I'd come too far to go back. I flicked on my Diablo helmet light, but it made little
impact in the half light amongst the trees.
At this point I wasn’t fully aware of how bad an error I'd made. Despite the gathering gloom visibility was still ok and I continued to ride hard. However, spotting the roots amongst the mud became progressively harder and harder.
The helmet light helped, but just didn’t cut it at high speed amongst the trees. I had to rely on knowledge gained
during the previous laps when choosing my line. I took some some big risks and was lucky to just about
get away with it! Eventually I had no choice but to slow right down when
the course got even slightly technical. Determined that my mistake wouldn’t
squander positions I was sprinting whenever the course opened and terrain
smoothed out.
Thankfully no riders came past, and it was with great relief
that first the sound of the commentator drifted through the trees and then the bright lights of the Arena area came into sight. But hold on, who was that crossing the line just
in front of me? Julien! He’d either passed unnoticed in the gloom or most
likely while I was fiddling at my pit box. Never mind, I make that one all in
our head to heads!
