XC Racer Blog Post
Wipers on full
Share on Facebook Share on TwitterBY: George Budd
Published: 26th May, 2014
This weekend was the first of 3 double weekends of racing that I've got this season. Truth be told, when we had the sunny weather in April I got a little carried away and just entered everything. At least it makes me go to all these races. I think had I not pre entered I wouldn't have made the trip to Erlestoke; as I drove down the rain was absolutely hammering down - driving through Marlborough I really thought "what am I doing"... I was actually worried about seeing where I was going at points on the journey.
After really enjoying the racing at Erlestoke last year, I decided it was an event not to be missed in 2014. However, given the rain the clagfest was inevitable. The trails were really fun though - it's a fun course. After a horrific race at Erlestoke in the rain back in about 2004, I said I'd never race there again in the wet. The fact that my wheels kept turning this time shows quite how much I refuse to quit races these days!
In an attempt to reduce the inevitable misery, and to add an element of entertainment, I decided to race on my Salsa Beargrease fatibike. On the fat bike the whole lap was rideable apart from the 2 steep sections out of the field into the fire road, so about 50 yards of a 7mile lap which, given the weather, would have been the case anywhere. I let some air out of the tyres after lap 1 and the grip was immense. It must have been 7ish psi. I was on Dillingers though - I think anything else apart from Nates would have struggled in that mud.
I think most of the fire road and a lot of the course ended up attached to my bike. It looked like it had been pebbledashed. The bike didn't clog up at all to the extent that it stopped the wheels going round, but it must have weighed about 40-50lbs at the end of the race. I could barely pick it up. Clean, dry and happy, it's 26lbs...
Couple of things re the event - the entry info said there would be limited drinking water available. I needed to refill one drinks bottle prior to the start and asked 3 different people where the drinking water was and they all said there wasn't any. The lack of results updates either on paper or via a PA was a shame as we had no idea where we were in relation to other racers. I had no support at this race so the only reason I thought I was winning was because I knew who to look out for. Having positions called as you come through the start is really useful when you're on your own. A friend'd dad tried to find out the placings and time gaps during the race but I think he got a frosty reception.
In the end I won by a lap, was the only person to do 7 laps (including the 6hr pairs and teams) and set the 2nd fastest overall time on the Red Bull timed section (I lost by 1 sec!). Proof if any more were needed that fatbikes are awesome.
Still, I'll be back next year - this is definitely an event that should be bigger. It's a really fun course - the final sections after the road climb were excellent. Thanks to all involved in putting it on - laying out an event and tidying away in those conditions is really tough.
I left Erlestoke and stayed overnight in Poole with Chris Noble (via a retail park - thanks Sat Nav woman). Sunday dawned and whilst it was sunny I have to say I feared another 6hrs of slogging through mud at the Dorset Gravel Dash 100 mile ride, which wasn't a race. No. Really it wasn't.
Charlie had put together a fantastic loop that took in much of Dorset. We had bacon sandwiches at the start (and proper coffee), a delicious cake stop half way round with an amazing view (bacon and cheese cake FTW) and the trails were almost entirely lacking in bog slog. There was probably 1 mile of slog in the 92 mile lap which was remarkable given the weather the day and night before. A lot of the lap was on fire roads, bridleways and fields and it held up really well. I must say a huge thank you to Paul Errington, my Salsa team mate, who led me round the entire lap. Unfortunately my borrowed Garmin was not great at being able to follow the course, the route kept going blank and it wouldn't let me zoom in to see where the turns were... If I do this sort of thing again I'll definitely be investing in one of the newer models which apparently don't do this. As I sat behind Paul on one of the final longer road sections I studied the map of the course that I'd printed out to see where I could make my move for the win. Turned out the final 5 miles or so was fairly easy to navigate - up to Old Harry, all the way up to Ballard Down and then down into Swanage. As we hit the bottom of the climb I launched an attack and didn't look back - it was sort of like walker intervals as it was quite a busy day what with all the sunshine. In the end I won by about 5 or 10 minutes, and felt a bit bad for leaving Paul as without him I'd never have made it round. Sorry.
Still, I'll be back next year - this is definitely an event that should be bigger. It's a really fun course - the final sections after the road climb were excellent. Thanks to all involved in putting it on - laying out an event and tidying away in those conditions is really tough.
I left Erlestoke and stayed overnight in Poole with Chris Noble (via a retail park - thanks Sat Nav woman). Sunday dawned and whilst it was sunny I have to say I feared another 6hrs of slogging through mud at the Dorset Gravel Dash 100 mile ride, which wasn't a race. No. Really it wasn't.
Charlie had put together a fantastic loop that took in much of Dorset. We had bacon sandwiches at the start (and proper coffee), a delicious cake stop half way round with an amazing view (bacon and cheese cake FTW) and the trails were almost entirely lacking in bog slog. There was probably 1 mile of slog in the 92 mile lap which was remarkable given the weather the day and night before. A lot of the lap was on fire roads, bridleways and fields and it held up really well. I must say a huge thank you to Paul Errington, my Salsa team mate, who led me round the entire lap. Unfortunately my borrowed Garmin was not great at being able to follow the course, the route kept going blank and it wouldn't let me zoom in to see where the turns were... If I do this sort of thing again I'll definitely be investing in one of the newer models which apparently don't do this. As I sat behind Paul on one of the final longer road sections I studied the map of the course that I'd printed out to see where I could make my move for the win. Turned out the final 5 miles or so was fairly easy to navigate - up to Old Harry, all the way up to Ballard Down and then down into Swanage. As we hit the bottom of the climb I launched an attack and didn't look back - it was sort of like walker intervals as it was quite a busy day what with all the sunshine. In the end I won by about 5 or 10 minutes, and felt a bit bad for leaving Paul as without him I'd never have made it round. Sorry.
In true CTBM fashion the trophy for the "win" (remember it's not a race) is awesome and actually rather deadly. There was a pint of ale at the finish and a big roar from the pub beer garden when I finished - please can more races finish in a pub?
Click any of the images below for a larger view / slideshow
It's all his fault... Charlie the Bikemonger Hobbs. Legend in his own lifetime.
It doesn't exactly fit on the trophy cabinet.
Paul's Salsa Warbird - designed for this sort of racing.
Blogger Info:
George Budd
Marathon racer & Deputy Head. Usually found eating carrot cake in Peaslake.
Thanks to my sponsors: Pivot Cycles, Upgrade Bikes, Ison Distribution, USE, Exposure Lights, ODI, Gusset, Halo, MRP, Schwalbe, Absolute Black and Rotor
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This blog post was written by a third party and their views do not necessarily reflect the views of XCRacer.com
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