XC Racer Blog Post

Erlestoke 5:35

Share on Facebook  Share on Twitter

BY: Oliver Herdsman

Published: 30th May, 2012


Erlestoke 12 - 6 hour solo - Midday to 6pm

I'd been looking forward to Erlestoke since last year! I rode the 6 hour solo category in 20011 and enjoyed it so much I thought I'd give it another go this time around.

I managed to start about a third of the way down the pack in the mass start, an improvement on my usual position of dead last and got away relatively fast. Not fast enough though as I hit a fair bit of traffic when things got narrow but that's to be expected and I've learned to get over it.  I came in at the end of lap one a few minutes slower than XCracers Louise Robinson (according to her report ;)) and was feeling pretty good.  As I was feeling so fresh and strong I thought it might be a good time to up the pace, so I sucked down a delightfully rich Accelerade chocolate gel, with its 100mg caffeine hit and tried to pass some riders and make up some places (not that I had any idea where I was in the scheme of things). Big mistake! I came in at the end of lap two a few minutes earlier but I had over done it and destroyed myself - I had also taken a clumsy fall and given myself a 'dead leg' (the bruise has just now started to get some colour - such pretty purples and yellows).  Lap 3 was a bit more mellow as the field was by now very much spread out - I still rode relatively hard on the climbs and flats but took it easy on the beautiful, flowing singletrack through the woods which made up a large percentage of the course.  

When the race had started it was around 28 Celsius, so keeping hydrated was a major issue.  I seemed to be managing okay, taking a 750ml bottle of Accelerade every lap, which worked out about a litre of fluid an hour.  Stopping every lap to pick another bottle from my cooler did waste a little time but I think it was preferable over carrying the extra weight of an additional bottle, plus an ice cold drink was a VERY welcome treat.  I seemed to be rolling along just fine, maintaining a relatively consistent pace, right up until about the 16:00 mark when I suddenly started to drop.  A headache and spells of dizziness crept in and my legs became heavy and weak.  The sun, the heat and I guess not taking on quite enough liquids had taken their toll on me and my last two laps were a real slog - I was at that stage where you start to slump and every root or rock begins to rattle your body to bits.  I tried to relax and take it easy as much as possible and just enjoy the course and the amazing weather.  I came in from my final lap at about 17:35 and was very grateful for the rules stating laps must be finished before six, not started.  

I had managed 8th place in a field of about 70 solo males, not too bad but I was, as ever, way off the pace of the winners in either the 6 or 12 hour categories.  Maybe I'll find some speed by Bontrager Twentyfour12 or maybe I'll have to wait until next year - I'm a patient man, I don't mind the wait, it's going to come eventually.

Well done to everybody who raced, the sun and the wind presented a challenge in themselves and Hi Fives to the other XCracer team members who all had a good race it seems.

If anyone is interested, you can click HERE for a link to my Garmin file for the race.

Thanks to XCracer, MT Zoom and Accelerade for sponsoring me.

Next race, Fully Sussed SW Series R4 at Forrest of Dean, let's hope for another dry one! Maybe I'll even make it onto the podium this time!

Oliver Herdsman

XCracer
MT Zoom
Accelerade




Blogger Info:


Oliver
 

Oliver Herdsman

Read More By Oliver
Disclaimer:

This blog post was written by a third party and their views do not necessarily reflect the views of XCRacer.com

Advertise your business/event here »