In a perfect replica of the first round, the weather was grim at first then promised to improve later. Regardless, it was definitely knobbly tyres and overshoes, at least for the sighting lap. The course was a fine mixture of mud-strewn fire road interspersed with lots of tight and technical single-track in the best Thetford tradition.
As advertised, the weather wasn’t quite so bad at the start-line, but I still stood and shivered. At the gun, I went nowhere fast and watched in despair as the leaders took off up the first fire-road climb leaving me toiling to hold position. The plan had been to get a lightning start and try and take the sting out of chief rival John Mcandrew’s (OTH Ben Hayward) legs. Plan ‘B’ then; just ride around and try not to feel sorry for myself while trying to work out why I couldn’t challenge the leaders for speed from the start. Had I gone too hard on Wednesday night last? Had I drank too much wine on Thursday? Was that pizza on Friday night a wise choice? Had I taken on too much fluid before the race start? Had I cooled down too much after my pre-lap?
All of these questions rattled around inside my addled head as I negotiated the mud and carnage of the first two laps. After the first mile I’d lost sight of McAndrew’s group so I had no gauge as to my position or speed. It was no use trying to push, it just felt like I had lead for legs and it was pulling my lungs apart attempting to make them go faster. What did take my mind off this was coming up behind the various Plumz riders in the 4 hour category, and saying hello etc. if conditions allowed. Jef Sharp (OTH) was trackside on lap two and shouted encouragement but also had time to tell me that McAndrew was well ahead – yeah, thanks mate!
By the start of lap three, after entertaining brief thoughts of climbing off, I was beginning to feel a lot better in myself, and set about salvaging some sort of result from this ‘disaster’ – two things I didn’t know; I was holding second place, and although McAndrew was way ahead, his early flight with the Seniors had taken it’s toll. I arrived behind
In my mind I imagined eating up the gap between myself and McAndrew ahead, and this spurred me on to better efforts. From the start of lap 3 to early on lap 4 I couldn’t have given more, and by half way through the last lap my poor body was complaining bitterly. The bomb-hole got ever more treacherous (on my 3rd time through I was lucky to stay on) so on Lap 4 I hesitated a moment ‘on the lip’ of the hole, and eventually rolled in with feet waving about for balance. Up the last fire-road I still couldn’t see McAndrew ahead so mentally relaxed and just rolled through to the finish.
When I got to the finish line I saw McAndrew just rolling his bike out of the way and still panting. “How long have you been finished?” I asked.
“Seconds,” was the breathless reply. Jef Sharp sauntered over, exchanged glances with McAndrew, and asked him, “How did he get here?” pointing at me. It turned out I’d turned a 2 3/4 minute deficit into just 17 seconds at the finish, AND I NEVER KNEW!
John said if I’d have caught him, he’d have ‘rolled over and let me tickle his belly’, so to speak. Apparently he was just surviving on the last lap. To be fair to both him and me, I couldn’t have given an ounce more of effort, so the result is an honest and true reflection of our respective race performances. It’s just amazing that such contrasting ‘strategies’ should end up just 17 seconds from each other after 2h 29m of racing…
Driving down to the circuit, around the M25 I was ‘that’ close to turning around and going home. The demons in my head were arguing that it’s a meaningless race, not part of a series, and look at the weather – its 5 degrees and driving rain! I ignored them and carried on into
The course at Crowthorne holds happy memories for me, for it was here exactly 6 years ago where I recorded my first ever victory (that’s where and when the accompanying pic was taken). The circuit itself has changed a little over the years, and many more tree roots are exposed nowadays as a result of the thousands of MTB tyres rolling over them.
I got caught short for time at the last Thetford race so I left myself plenty of time to do a pre-lap, and the course was a mixture of very fast fire-road drops and climbs interspersed with miles and miles of interesting/technical single-track. Only one short section was a real bog, but this lent a different challenge and overall the course was entertaining in the best Gorrick tradition.
At the start line I didn’t recognize any of the other competitors, but at the whistle I was soon in a group of four, fighting and jostling for wheels down the first fire-road. Into the first single-track and it was immediately clear that Lewis King (Beeline Bicycles) wasn’t going to give his lead up without a good scrap; it was almost as if he felt the lead was his rightful place and no-one else deserved it. I tried two or three times to get past in some tight sections, only to find King actually leaning on me to stop me getting past – it was an interesting tactic and not one necessarily within the spirit of competition but there you are, it’s what I had to deal with. Darren Blackwell (Specialized/Dee Cycles) enjoyed the spectacle, telling me as much after the race.
The course dropped out of the tight stuff after a short climb, and opened up into a glorious long downhill fire-road with a long sweeping left-hander at the bottom. Here, my Scott Strike’s tall BB and slack angles fell into place, and I ate everyone alive down there, taking the lead into the bog section. I was able to hold the lead until a tight up and down switchback section, where my Strike’s geometry (and my ineptness!) told against me – I slipped off on an exposed root and King rewarded my mistake by running over my back wheel – thanks mate! King extricated himself and took off; I took a little longer to get going and slipped to a halt again a few moments later. By the time I emerged into the next open drop King was just a dot in the distance, and I immediately came under attack from Blackwell in third.
Following Blackwell through to the end of lap one, we could see King up ahead on the open sections, and on lap two we cruised up behind him in exactly the place where I’d tried to attack him first time round. It was obvious he wasn’t enjoying this section, and I stored this snippet of info away for possible later use; I held third for the remainder of the lap, but could make no impression on the leaders at all. I was by now telling myself that ‘third is okay, that’s two podiums on the trot’, and finished the lap just behind Blackwell, with King a little ahead as usual.
Blackwell seemed to fade, so I moved through early on lap three with an encouraging shout from the Dee Cycles
rider, and began to edge up behind King. Now, normally at this point in a race I’m beginning to flag – the early laps ALWAYS take their toll and I have nothing left to give – but this time I felt stronger and had one word on my mind; ‘attack’. I got onto King’s wheel after a steep uphill, and I noticed how he was slow to accelerate and how much he was ‘blowing’ – I knew right there I’d got a chance. I shadowed him for much of the third circulation, and moved into the lead at about 2/3rd lap distance; King was straight onto my wheel using me as a wind-break on the more open sections. This suited me fine, and I got my head down and attempted to break him by ‘opening the taps’ on the faster sections. Time and again, I attacked and varied the pace, hoping to upset his rhythm and get a gap.
King was still right there as we started lap four, but at the top of the first fire-road climb I had a gap (he said after the race he took a drink and couldn’t get back on my wheel). I simply flew into the first single-track sections and knowing this was where King had struggled previously I threw caution to the wind, crashing through the undergrowth and taking risks where I could to steal those precious seconds. Thinking I might lose some time to King in the switchback section later in the lap I had to keep the pressure on.
As we emerged from the switchback King was there, just 20 or so seconds back – I then got slightly checked by traffic entering the next climbing single-track and I was worried that King would get his tail up. By now I was really ‘blowing’ too, and feeling the effort of trying to keep ahead. Without looking back I reeled off the last sections, and entering the final two climbs I knew I was safe for the victory. King was over the line just 39 seconds later and Blackwell just 20 seconds behind him.
I couldn’t wait to see my lap splits on Timelaps... RESULTS
… and I was absolutely delighted to see my last two laps were quicker than the second lap, and my last lap was only just shy of the first and my fastest lap time. This is a first for me, and points to renewed confidence in conjunction with some good training; it’s probably also as a result of getting some ‘proper’ SR3 isotonic drink and not having to rely on ‘Powerade’!
| 24th | Brad Lovell | 40:58 | :47:00 | 47:56 |
Being as I was travelling a distance as well I elected to enter the ‘Super-Vets’ class, which meant I got to do an extra lap (four) over the ‘ordinary’ vet competitors. I lined up alongside 17 other victims, I mean racers, and looked forward to trying to get warm – the pre-lap, in company with Rick Fetherston (more of him in a minute) was followed by some tootsie-thawing action as my feet slowly came back to life.
I squeezed onto the front row and got a good start into about 3rd place. I soon moved into second and I could see Steven Jones (AW Cycles/Giant UK) just a few seconds ahead. The early part of the lap swooped through a few small coppices followed by a longer section of nicely bermed singletrack. This was nearly my undoing, as I caught an overhanging tree with my head and nearly lost my hat, such was the impact. I tried to settle down but couldn’t find a steady rhythm. Jones was not so fast as me on the open sections but was obviously familiar with the terrain (I’d never seen the place before) and used this to advantage, holding me at bay with ease. Actually, Jones admitted later that both my-self and Rick Fetherston (Mosquito) just behind me were giving Jones the run of his life – excellent stuff.
The course had a series of very tight singletrack together with occasional deep troughs to cross – both are features that give my bike and I a lot of trouble; the Strike’s high BB together with steep angles make the bike very ponderous and/or twitchy. Wrestling with the geography, I still tried to keep Jones honest, and I felt I was safe in second. Not so fast Smith; ’slow’ starting Fetherston now arrived on the scene, and shadowed me through till early on lap three (of four). He sneaked past in some lapped traffic, and took off before I could latch on to his wheel. That really was that, and I watched him ride out of view as he set out to catch Jones.
At this point my lack of long-range fitness came into play; my first two laps were competitive, lap three less so. On lap four I fell off the planet! I was ‘safe’ in third, and treating this race as a shake down for Thetford in a couple of weeks I was contented to just stroke it round for the finish. As it was, Fetherston caught and passed Jones on the last climb of lap four gaining a fine victory. He was quick to shake my hand at the end, and I was happy just to have rattled these guys’ cages.
| Just added old plumz for easy comparison (sorry dont know if your order is correct) a lot steadier than ours & an impressive last lap from Bob, I was struggling to stand up by that point! Our Results:- B&B Results James - 50.14 Paul 54.10 James - 52.17 Bob 47.00 Glynn - 46.03 Troy 49.00 Glynn - 49.41 Graham 51.10 Steve - 50.07 Paul 51.23 Steve - 51.30 Bob 48.15 Steve - 103.06 Troy 50.48 James - 50.38 Graham 54.04 Glynn - 50.59 Paul 49.11 James - 55.58 Bob 50.38 Glynn - 51.37 Troy 53.35 Steve - 56.00 Graham 54.45 Aprox Steve - 103.01 Paul 54.45 Aprox Glynn - 55.37 Bob 48.03 Interesting.. Well pleased with my first 2 consecutive laps (quicker than James, or perhaps not as his first lap was longer), but this is how not to organise a team, 2 laps each, James missing the changeover & Steve doing 3 (notice where it went bad for us there), but Steve did a great job still..then only one lap rest & straight out for a few times & to top it all off I missed Steve at the last changeover so the poor sod had to do another double, then I bonked on my last lap & struggled with a poor 55.37. Oh well leson learned we will be back! |
Photo Gallery from sarahbrookephotography
Pics HOLLIE Smiffy Leads Smiffy2 Bob Sideways Stew Pilch and James
| 65th | 5laps | 02:30:22 | Mick Pilcher | 00:29:21 | 00:30:10 | 00:29:39 | 00:32:00 |
ich relaxed on the start line.
(photo thanks to Rob Crayton Photos Go buy yours now as a momento. Although Troy might not want reminding of this OUCH)
Singlespeed team of doom and happy 10.
| 37th | Brad Lovell |
| 72nd | Tom Wright |
MTB racing is all about having fun, & after unprecidented amounts of negativity I can honestly say I enjoyed Bourough hill more than I could ever remember! A mass start proved not too bad as the wide field & long drag soon split things up, I had a reasonable off & on the first gravel track crept past Stu, Tom & a few others (using the field on the first run proved a good idea thus avoiding the crowding on the gravel).
Not concidering my fitness to be exactly peak at the mo I found myself in a position I did not expect & adrenilin kicked in & forced me to push harder, we entered the first wood section & ping what I thought was a chain snap turned out to be just a chain off, but I watched as Stu, Tom, Nigel, Bob & just about everyone else went past.
Now it was time for effort,I quickly gobbled up a few rider & found myself jostling with Stu (just like the old days) for most the race, Ron & a guy on an Orange joined our battles & I led for a good lap,but this was a very ameturish mistake! I dug hard on the gravel climb using my rigid set up & super lightweight here, but thinking I had pulled a gap I looked round to see half a dozen riders pinned to my back wheel! Doh...Burned
This just about killed me & I was suffering, Stu & Ron passed & Stu predicted incredibly well where to apply the presure (the rough section on the top field & the fast rough bits along the bottom of the woods) where my rigid forks let him spring huge gaps.
We popped out of the last climb (which incidentally I was riding on my 42t ring) with Stu having a decent gap, but us all believing we had another lap, unfortunatelly the leaders had just passed us on the climb,then to my alarm Steve popped up next to me for a chat, & thinking I had pleanty of time to jostle with him he passed with ease. I was not impressed when they directed us over the finish line for him to beat me by a few seconds!
Still 12th in the seniors for a Tue night warrior left me well chuffed!
Now here’s a thing. Off the back of my win at the Bowl last week I suppose I was feeling confident of pulling out a good performance, but such is the routine you tend to fall into with race preparation and suchlike, it’s easy to forget why you’re doing this – because it’s bl**dy good fun.
So it was that I lined up after a good couple of pre-laps, only to hear the race organiser call for a bunch start as the course could handle it. I quickly found a front-row start slot and went at 1 second to go (just like everyone else!). Jack was still getting back to the start-line, having forgotten to attach his race number, doh!
A leading group of about 8 riders formed with myself and Paul Ashby (Fatbirds) bringing up the rear. Pretty soon the group fragmented as the leading seniors pulled away, and both Ashby senior and junior (James – Fatbirds) started to gap me too. Nigel Scott shouted encouragement from the sidelines at the top of the first sharp climb, wanting to see me take it to the leader. I was already settled at this point for a long vain chase, much as what happened at Avalanche, but by the start of lap 3 I could see I’d held the gap to Paul, having passed James a little earlier. This was most encouraging and I pressed to keep up.
Going into the downhill/off-camber woods section towards the end of the lap, I hit very heavy traffic. The course by now was eroding very quickly over exposed tree roots and many riders found this more than they could deal with. I navigated through to the bottom of the first sharp climb to find Paul Ashby right I front of me (I’d actually caught some-one in a technical section!). He looked round and the look on his face was priceless – just to reinforce his dismay I said, “Hi Ashby, it’s me!” I passed him at the top of the climb, much to Nigel Scott’s glee, and sped up the lap-finishing climb to start lap 4.
It wasn’t enough to break the tow, and now the two of us were circulating together at top speed. I mentally prepared myself for the attack which was sure to come, and again resigned myself to the possibility of second place, not first. I eased it back slightly up the gravel climb using a gear lower than previously, Ashby was happy to use me as a wind-break and didn’t appear to respond. Once more into the trees, this time behind a gaggle of back markers who seemed intent on crashing into the scenery/each other/lapping riders rather than going forward. One rider crashed right in front of us and we were at a dead stand as he extricated himself and bike from around a tree. I heard a coming together and crashing of missed gears behind me as I got going again and knew that this was my cue to go.
I must admit, I had no plans on riding this round. I hate getting to Milton Keynes, I dislike the course when I get there and it always rains. Some things never change.
Short warm up this week - should have done more but at least I got the layers right. A bit of start line advice from Jack resulted in a storming start and fewer hold ups in the woods than usual. No Stu or Nigel this week so I was relying on Tom to keep me motivated. Disappointed to see him standing at the side of the course half way through so with nobody to chase and nobody chasing me, there was little motivation to get a shift on. Caught by James who eventually won the youths and Smiffy on his way to a first FNSS vets win. Well done to both. Jack caught me on the last lap but got away when I dropped my chain on the lumps and bumps at the back of the course.
Cruised round to finish 17th after 16th last week. Not too bad. Once again, loads of Plumz about which is good to see. Need to get a few more in the Senior ranks.
Smiffys Account:“See you next week for the mud at The Bowl”, said Richard Banks who’d arranged the previous week’s race at Avalanche. He wasn’t wrong, but it has been a lot worse; at least this time the course was just about ride-able for the duration of the race.
I’d elected to use Panaracer 1.8 Fire XC’s for this race, as I mentioned elsewhere I was relying on their narrow carcass and reasonably aggressive knob pattern for some mud grip – and so it proved. On my pre-laps (I did two) they gave up amazing grip in the off-camber sections and more than held their own on the grass and tarmac. At the start-line John McAndrew (OTH Ben Heyward) remarked that the top three vets from last week (Ashby, Roach and Sharp) were all missing this week and the race should be mine. He didn’t read his own script though, and he and Jack sprinted off into the lead leaving me trailing in third wondering what was going on.
I needn’t have worried; I pegged them both on the curved tarmac section on the far side of the bowl and set about getting away. This worked, and by the same place on the following lap I could see Jack still coming towards me, zig-zagging in and out of the tree sections. Towards the end of this lap the rain had set in properly again. This I didn’t mind at all, I was hoping it would get worse (am I actually saying this) rather than better so as to make it more difficult for anyone to catch me. It was nearly my own undoing though, as I turned through the gate to head back into the car-park area I lost both front and back tyres in quick succession. The tarmac here was more like wet glass, I saved it but I felt the tyre treads deforming fighting for grip – it was quite a moment. This came not two minutes after a lurid two wheel slide on a wet grass turn just earlier in the lap, careful Smith!
The slides asked for a modified riding style, regardless of soft tyres and suspension the front just would not stick like before so I was obliged to get the bike almost stopped, square off the corner and throw my weight back to get rear-end traction. This worked well, even thought the rear tread was complaining and squirming around. The next time through the gate, a marshal was stationed telling everyone to slow down – “you’re a lap late mate”, I thought. I only hope that anyone who did slide off there didn’t do themselves any damage.
The course really got quite slick on laps 4 and 5. It felt prudent to take a dab in some of the off-camber sections, but I was still holding good speed. I got badly baulked by Ken Bolton (KCC) going into the uphill single-track just before the greasy short drop. He would not move over, no matter how much I screamed ‘race-leader’ at him, then laughed as I eventually passed him, hmmmm!
2 hours away....should have checked really, but at least we were entered in the 6 hour race so VFM ..... Dave and i were booked in to do the 6 hr and Lloyd booked in on the line....weather looked pants and after Dave's weather endorsement of "it won't rain".....yeah right..... we hoped for a good ride, anyway....got there to see Tom and Rich there too in the 6 hr pairs.
BANG.....off we went for a 6 hour ride fest.....we rode this circuit in the winter series and it was rubbish when wet.......it started really well and the course was OK.. ish nothing to get too excited about and the bomb holes were more like pot holes, i was spinning well and caught and passed Dave on lap 2 or 3, then caught Gary Wright on the same lap. the weather held till about 3 hrs in and the rain and wind started. It rained for only 20 Min's or so and the wind soon dried out the damp bits..... it was at at this point i was starting to flag a bit and with the Torq bar consumed, jelly babies and a good amount of fluid a carried on......
I got stuck with these 2 guys who were going at about the pace that i wanted to be at, but they were nattering and i was getting a bit grumpy, so at the drinks stop i put in a bit of a spurt to lose them so i was on my own for about 2 laps and was moving well.....
On about lap 6 and Lloyd passed me looking fresh and pushing well.....Ii was going ok but I had possibly pushed a bit too hard early on, but still felt ok to get out the saddle on the lumpy bits..... End of lap 6 and there was Lloyd stopped at the burger van eating a cheese roll and drinking coffee........take it easy mate huh!!!! still I unlapped myself.
It took Lloyd about 3/4 lap to catch me again!!! and i had time for 1 more lap..... as I went through the start/finish line i was 11th and plodding well....i caught up with a guy I knew from Transwales and new he was 6 houring, he then punctured and his mate stopped to help him !!
I must have passed another rider on the last lap and was in 8th and then I saw Gary up ahead to lap him...... anyway last lap and on to the finish and 8th Wahay.
I got to the finish to applause from the other Plumz riders
Lloyd 2nd....even after stopping for a sandwich and a coffee. well done mate, 9 laps
Rich and Tom 3rd.... well done guys, 9 laps
Troy 8 laps
Dave stopped on lap 5 I think
Hollie raced in the morning and was a little nervous, we had pre rode the course the day before so she knew it was going to be tough, she started well and after the fisrt opening loop came through in 6th place already clearly being pushed to the limits by the extreme nature if the course, at the end of her first lap she was still in 6th place and decided to up her pace a bit and soon moved into 5th place which looked as if it would be her finishing posistion but a mistake and a crash by one of the girls in front elevated Hollie into 4th place at the finish. Hollie was extremely relieved to finish her race this was the most demading course and terrain she had ever rode and as a result of her position she is now ranked #1 youth in the country pretty good for her first year in the top flight.
My race was in the afternoon and after a rain shower the conditions on track were made just a little harder, i was hoping to at least repeat my performace from the first round and make it into the top ten. My start wasnt the best and came through after the first lap in about 15th place, with the field spreading out it gave me an opportunity to start riding a little quicker and i started picking off some of the riders in front i was loving the course and was noticably quicker on the climbs and technical descents by the time i came through to start lap 3 i had moved up to 6th place and could even see 4th place in front, icaught and passed 5th place at the start of lap 4 and started to chase down 4th but on the final climb all the effort hit me hard and i began to tire unfortunately i was caught and a final dig by my rival meant i had to settle for 6th place at the finish. i can honestly say this was as near to faultless peformance i have ever done everything came together on the day perfectly, i only hope it will happen again, can it get better than this, well, i was only 52 seconds away from standing on the podium........ BigRing.
