fail?

 

It had all been going so well; a win a few weeks earlier at Juice Lubes 6hr, a cheeky 4hr night event at QECP whilst I was up there working the week before and, of course, my still almost unscratched S-Works epic to ride!

 

After an uneventful trip up from Cornwall . (if you don't count the last mile detour around a fallen tree - If people choose to live in the sticks they really should learn to reverse down country lanes) As a light wind blow we pitched camp next to the course and headed off to the local pub for a bit of hot food and, as it turned out, live music too. Getting back to the venue we had a pleasant dusk walk along the valley where we spotted a barn owl out on the hunt and dusty dry trails. so quick cup of hot choc and a tyre change and it was time for bed.

 

Saturday morning, the sun was out and even the wind had dropped. Always one who like to know what I'm letting myself in for I went out for a slow sighting lap, unfortunately on the exit from one of the earlier singletrack sections the front washed out and I went down. Luckily the bike was unmarked but I'd taken a bit of bark off my left knee and had a cracking mark where the bar end had dug into my leg and a sore thumb. Little soil sample aside, it was a great lap, two reasonable long climbs(one grass, one tarmac) and then lots of techy single track descents and climbs but none too long to be annoying or over technical.  Every time I thought that that was it the course would head upwards again, each time rewarded by another few 100 meters of flowing single track before the course finally spat me back into the arena with the garmin reading a little over 6 miles.

 

Louise (http://www.xcracer.com/viewblogpost.php?blog_id=523 )has already mentioned timelaps and the start so I'll move on to my ride. It all started so well, if you ignore the throbbing pain in my thigh; a feeling not dissimilar to that playground feeling you got after getting dead legged by your mate! I might have been leading the solo for a few laps before Russ Holman (RAFCA) stormed passed on the way to a convincing 17 lap win.  After than the next  4-5 hrs flew by despite the "short" 40 min laps, with James Horton (Cannondale racing) and James Hoppe (charge) popping up every now and again to keep me company.

Everything was going well; legs felt good, laps were consistent and the dull ache in my thigh was tolerable. Only problem and a minor one given that this was 12hr racing, was that I couldn't eat or drink anything.  I'd recently run out of my normal nutrition, so I'd had to reverted to the gel/drink combo I'd not used for a few years, annoying/sadly/unsurprisingly this time I just couldn't get on with it. I felt full, had trapped wind and spent most of each lap burping and try not to throw up. As the laps totted up and the time ticked by I felt more and more uncomfortable and unhappy, put bluntly I felt like poo, the pain in my thigh was increasing with every lap and my shoulder had now come out in sympathy.  So after 6hrs 50mins  and with 10 laps completed I parked the bike, sat down and quit my first race.

One of the things about riding for the Royal Navy & Royal Marine is the pride attached to representing the Senior Service and many times, when thing's haven't been going my way and I'm at my lowest, just riding in the colours has been enough to keep the pedals turning.  Knowing guys who are deployed on operations or who have received life changing injuries whilst serving their country puts turning the pedals on a bike for fun in the rain into stark perspective.

 

But for the first time I started to forget why I was doing this; it was meant to be fun. I never started riding or racing to win or get on the podium, it was/is about enjoying being on the bike, challenging oneself, meeting like minded individuals and above all else having fun; and on Saturday it stopped being fun so I stopped.

 

I think I'll be taking a break from 12hr soloing for a bit, and try to get back to enjoying the riding and I have a plan!

 

Look out in 2014 the mixed pair's team of Mr & Mrs XCwanabe!

 

To the guys at SPAMbiking.  The venue is ace, the format is spot on, the course is technical, challenging, rewarding and fun; the atmosphere chilled, welcoming and relaxed; whatever you do keep sacrificing whatever it is to whoever it is to guarantee the weather and come back in 2014.

 

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