Brass Monkeys - Round 4

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BY: Louise Robinson

Published: 29th January, 2014

What the hell is up with this weather?
For the entire duration of the Brass Monkeys race it threw it down with rain, only for it to dry up the moment the course was closed and then, to add insult to injury, the sun came out for the drive home. I have started to think it’s personal. The other day, I looked out of the window and saw it was sunny so finished up the washing up, got my gardening gloves out and four and half minutes later the heavens opened. Give it a rest; I am fed up with rain. I have had enough. So please, if anyone is listening, it is time for a dry spell.


A pleasant day for a bike ride…..

But mountain biking is an all-weather sport, and we usually get plenty of weather. At yesterday’s race we must have had about 2 months of weather. The forecast was dire to be fair, we were expecting a lot a rain, it’s just that I was hoping beyond that it wouldn’t happen. It’s not the wet I object to, give me a scuba tank in a nice bit of bath warm water and I as happy as Larry, it’s the wet and cold. And boy, did I get wet and cold yesterday.


Yes, it was a little muddy….

The four hour race lined up at 9.30am in what the BBC described as “moderately heavy rain”. Despite the appalling forecast a surprising number of riders had turned out to do battle with Tunnel Hill. I had complete dilemma’s on what to wear and finally settled on a compression base layer, long sleeved race shirt and gortex waterproof. Halfway up the first climb I thought I might regret the waterproof but as soon as we hit an open section of heathland the wind went right though me and I was glad of the extra layer.


The start of the four hour race

Despite Tunnel Hill being a regular venue for Gorrick, the race course was completely new. Lots of familiar trails were run backwards (confusing the hell out of the locals) and most of the race covered the northeast side of the hill which is much less used. In an attempt to keep the race away from the lakes and ponds (previously known as the fire roads) the course was almost entirely single track. This made it a tough XC course, and a really tough enduro course. There was very little opportunity to refuel and overtaking was very difficult. The bikes took the brunt of it with race mechanic Little Dean seeing a steady stream of drive chain and brake pad issues. But considering the near constant rain for the last 6 weeks, and heavy rain on the day, the ground conditions were nowhere near as bad as they could have been.


Paul Howard - Mountain Trax

I started the final race of the series in third place with a comfortable buffer on Ali Hardie who was 27 points behind me, with just 9 points required to catch Emily Iredale. Iwona Szmyd was off frying bigger fish in Lanzarote so would surrender her series lead as every race counts here. I enjoyed the first two laps, taking it as good wet weather training and being glad of the opportunity to be out on my bike. By the start of lap 3 the ground conditions began to significantly deteriorate. My Specialized Ground Controls did a good job; it was my ability to ride in mud and on wet roots that let me down. Half way through lap 3 I came across as very sorry looking Emily Iredale who had lost control on a slippery downhill section and ploughed straight into an inconveniently placed tree. By the time I reached her, she already had a couple of girls waiting with her and the mobile marshal had been summoned. There was nothing for me to do other than give my condolences and carry on.

This put me in first place but my mojo disappeared, the cold wind bit and my drive chain gave up the ghost. By the end of lap four I made a calculated guess that I had done enough to maintain second spot on the series podium and threw in the towel. Well actually I picked up the towel – and did the age old “getting changed in a field without showing the entire world your bottom” dance. Probably unsuccessful in the maintaining modesty department but dry clothes did make me feel so much better.


Si Panter, Brass Monkeys race organiser, leads out the start of the four hour race on the quad

The calculation payed off and despite finishing 30 minutes early I finished second in the ladies race on the day and first in the series, by a margin of 2 points over Emily. Not how I would have like to have won but a lovely trophy none the less. Thanks to Four4th for making some really cool trophies, to all the event team for putting on an entire race series in abysmal conditions and to all the racers who turned up despite the weather. Special thanks to Ian from WXC who found me some cable ties when I crashed into a gate post and ripped off my race number and to all the friendly riders on the course who joined in the banter as I cursed and swore at my bike and the weather. Not so much Brass Monkeys, as Filthy Monkeys. Sunshine please for the next race, I think we really do deserve it.



Get well soon Emily, broken wrist, mangled knee and grazed chin – true to form it was the chin that was concerning her most as she sat waiting for the ambulance. Always a Deva!
Speedy recovery.

All photos by kind permission of Vermont Images  www.facebook.com/pages/Vermont-Images

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