Isle of Man and Forest of Dean

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BY: Niall Frost

Published: 2nd October, 2011

After a trip to the Isle of Man earlier in the year under the pretence of, "TT spectating" I was really looking forward to the End2End event having pre ridden a fair amount.  There is something special about a point to point race against 1400 (1700 entered...) other riders.  

My fitness and form were a distinctly unknown quantity after a period of disrupted training and some races not going to plan but I was happy that I had the base stamina which can usually carry me through in the longer events (or so I trick myself into believing!).  After an early morning blast along the m62, Neal Crampton (Crosstrax), Mike Wragg (Python RT) and I boarded the ferry crammed with other mountain bikes and their riders.  There were bikes from all spectrums aboard showing the broad appeal an event like this attracts.


The view of my fellow riders I was expecting to see when the gradient went above 10%

Upon arrival at the house, I dismissed any notion that I was ready to race by enlisting all and sundry to help me bleed my front brake as I'd managed to lose all the fluid in an attempt to make it, "better".  Fortunately Neal appears to have a master in the dark art of Avid brakes and had it centred, bled and free of the rotor in about the time it took for me to drink my glass of red.


The view of over 1000 riders back from the start

Bikes prepped, an early start was required to make sure we got to the head of the field before it kicked off at 10, somewhat important when there are nearly 1500 people riding.  With the ride underway, we called on Mike to guide us to the front of the pack and out of trouble but before we knew it he was up the road attacking on the road section.  Fortunately sense prevailed and he was soon back dragging the main field, with Neal close on his wheel, through Ballaugh and into the first climb, Ballacob.

Riding up Ballacob, I could see everything going on; the attacks, the different lines, people riding away from me, but was unable to do anything about it.  I sat back and waited for those up the road to come back to me.  By the Brandywell descent I was well inside the top 10 and quite happy with how I was feeling.  Those up ahead had gone, but those behind were a fair way back so it was a case of settling down to enjoy the trails.  A this stage I was with local riders, Rob Sorby and Lloyd Taggart so it was a case of following lines down the blind crests and trusting their braking points.  I was still a bit, well rubbish really, at descending after my recent crash so was glad of the assistance.


The descent to brandywell, photo kindly supplied by Sarah Jewell who has photos of all the riders on her website

Coming down to St Johns and the atmosphere was incredible, loads of people out cheering which I definitely needed as the climb out was steep and not to my strengths.  After seeing Matt Clinton (Mike Vaughan Cycles) down with a puncture, he came flying back past both Rob and I on his way back up to the leaders, at a distinctly impressive pace.  By now we were over 2hrs on our way and my legs were showing the signs of effort, after a motocross style descent through Glen Rushen I span up the Pipeline climb knowing that there wasn't too much further to go, I had been dropped by both Lloyd and Rob at this time so I force fed another gel in the hope it would stop my legs cramping.
As the gel took effect the course gave me a break.  At the last feed station I managed to spill most of the water over the kind lady who handed it up (sorry) but the shallow fireroad gradient following helped me catch, and ride past Rob who was suffering at this point.  I was in a fair bit of pain to, but the last thing I'd do was mention that!


Dropping down to St Johns - not sure why the funny face

I was certain the descent off Ballarock was shorter the last time I did it, but nevertheless I pushed on ignoring the growing feeling cramp and descended down to Port St Mary.  The last climb up the Craigneish road was pure agony and I had to keep pedalling through whatever cramp was being thrown my way.  Despite that I rolled over the line, extremely happy, in 3hrs 7mins, 6th overall and 2nd Senior behind Matt Clinton.  Neal had solid ride to 3rd place with Mike making up big gains on the road sections to come home 6th Senior.


Drying the bikes out afterwards

An excellent event all round, the prize giving and buffet in the evening gave us a chance to chat with all the other competitors and watch Nick Craig take the overall win for the fourth win in a row.  Can you unseat him next year?  I'd recommend trying, even if you don't succeed, it's a brilliant feeling riding from one end of an island to the other.


The house prizes - not a bad haul

Forest of Dean Enduro

Showing the preparation of an organiser's nightmare, I entered on deadline day thinking this would be a great antidote to the fast and frenetic nature of the final BMBS at Newnham park the previous day.  After late night snacks at teammate Mel Alexander's house, Mark Spratt and I headed over to the event centre only to be told there was no parking.  A quick trip round the corner and we commandeered a corner of Gloucestershire layby for our prep.  For prep read faff, the essence of any good pre-race routine.

By start time the rain was pelting down and I was glad for both gilet and top to keep me warm.  Chatting with Ant White (Cannondale Racing/Mt Zoom) at the start and he was dressed like it was winter, I think I must have several layers of built in insulation to help me.  My argument: it's something to burn when I run out food...

The start was a nightmare, mud going everywhere off sprinting wheels and most straight into my eyes.  A quick duck and dive and some judicious use of the ditch, I got to the singletrack well positioned.  Much slipping and sliding commenced as I found out that Maxxis Crossmarks have limitations in slippy mud, or maybe my skills were late in arriving.  Thankfully 29 wheels do much to help the rider in mud, providing a bigger contact patch and I was slightly better off than those around me when it came to the inclines in particular.


Just starting to get dirty, must be the first lap - photo courtesy of the generosity of Sheldon Attwood who has photos arranged by race number for sale

Lap 1 of 4 was completed at a furious pace and all 5 riders at the front knew that backmarkers were going to be a problem as the 1 lappers had started not long before we'd come back round.  Unperturbed most of us managed to overtake politely (there was one exception, who shall remain nameless, shame on you) and racing commenced once everyone made it back onto the fire-road.  Ant and I had a mini-break by the close of lap 2 and I was getting extremely uncomfortable about the company I was keeping.  It's no secret that Ant's an incredible endurance rider.

Sadly, the mud was thickening all the time and starting to claim drivetrain victims.  My derailleur spring snapped limiting gear selection - big ring only, and Ant's derailleur hanger snapped.  That was game over for the close race that I suspect was about to blow apart for me, but I pressed on believing at the time that I was still being chased.  I think someone better scripted than me said, "I was writing cheques that my body couldn't cash" but I'm sure there will be another time.

The final lap dawned with a salubrious bottle of flat coke.  I didn't care that it was 50% grit/50% liquid by this time, it's caffeinated full fat goodness gave me the boost I needed and mental doubts were extinguished.  I ran up the unride-able sections and span as fast as I could with my limited gears.  After 3hrs 25mins I crossed the line 1st overall, much to the amusement of Mark who could barely tell it was me beneath all the mud.  It took me 2 days to get properly clean after that race, I think the bike's in a sorrier state than I, even now.

The prize was an excellent mug, handmade and colourful, together with a weekend holiday back in the Forest of Dean.  An offer I will definitely take up as the riding is excellent.  I might just watch the weather forecast first though...


The winning prize and it's creator with very pink hair.

Niall Frost
Xcracer.com, thanks to all my team mates, friends and especially to my sponsors this year who have been incredible in keeping me going:
Gateway cycles
Mt Zoom
Exposure lights
Accelerade