24 May 2014: Erlestoke 12 (6 hour solo category)

First race since the end of March, but with a slight change to the intended plan. I was supposed to be racing in the 6 hour race as part of a mixed pair with Angela. However, she managed to crack a rib in a crash the weekend before. She maintained to me that she would be fine until the afternoon before the race, when I prepping bikes and packing kit, I got the phone call I’d half expected saying she wasn’t going to be fit to race. So the obvious option was for me to switch to the solo category – not that big a deal as I’ve done plenty of long solo races in the past, albeit normally with more than 24 hours notice.

Angela still wanted to come along and pit for me, which turned out to be a big help as the weather was pretty sketchy. On the two-hour drive over to the venue, it rained more or less continuously. Although it didn’t rain during the race, the damage to the course was already done, and at best it was wet and slippery, and at worst it was the sort of thick mud that sticks to everything and clogs up your bike. Not knowing the course I’d had to rely on the internet as a source of information regarding conditions – various forum posters ensured me it never got that muddy, even in the wet. Based on this I’d started the race on all-rounder tyres; if I’d known what conditions were going to be like I would have opted for full mud tyres. Oh well, don’t believe everything you read on the internet.

Despite the mud it was a good course with plenty of fun singletrack – just not the bits where I had no choice but to push a mud-clogged bike up unrideable climbs. The first two 7 mile laps took me over an hour each, but conditions slowly got a bit better as the weather stayed dry and the sun occasionally made an appearance. After three laps I switched to the 29er, something that with hindsight I probably should have done earlier rather than spend three hours hauling round a bike with bad clearances and several kilos of mud stuck to it. On a fresh bike in drying conditions, I rode more of the course and went faster for the last two laps. I even managed to catch and overtake another soloist, who I’d been to-ing and fro-ing with all afternoon, in the last few 100 metres. I managed to come home 13th out of 50 or so starter overall.
An unplanned marathon rather than a series of sprints then, but good training nonetheless, and all the riding sideways in mud is good skills practice for ‘cross!