First XC race ever looming… Only a four hour Brass Monkey

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BY: Pete Berryman

Published: 17th November, 2013

By this time next Sunday (24^th Nov) I will have completed the first of this season’s Brass Monkey events (the four hour stage) and I’m hoping to be relaxing whilst considering the second round… and my second or maybe third blog for XC Racer.

This will be my first ever XC event and comes after a tumultuous year. I’m a keen recreational cyclist, out most weekends for an hour or two – depending on the weather that could be a road spin out around Malmesbury, heading for the local trails or just trying to exercise the kids. But I’m now heading for the “Big Five Oh” and at the start of year had set my self the target of getting from Paris back to Malmesbury in just two days (none of this spending three days while someone else carries your bags).

Unfortunately at the end of June I had a massive crash at the bottom of the Verderas Trail (in the Forest Of Dean), landing on my head, compressing my spine and ripping my chin apart.  This picture is about the only one that I'm happy to share on a public forum… the aftermath of 10 x-rays, 5 hours in Gloucester A&E, 30 stitches and 3 months antibiotics wasn't pretty:

That crash put a stop to pretty much all of my cycling for three months and it wasn’t until the start of October that I felt as though I was getting a decent level of fitness back, even though the tips of my fingers are still numb… so it makes the Brass Monkey event a real personal challenge.

The Brass Monkey four hour stage is also making me reassess my approach to a ‘normal’ trail outing, so here are some initial thoughts:

1 - What to wear on the top half? I tend to wear three-quarter lycra shorts for most of the winter, so with some ‘shop returned’ Northwave boots (c/o JoleRider bike jumble) I’m happy that my legs will be fine. But the top half, with the complexities of wet-warm weather versus cold-dry days, makes the layering discussion on the day critical – and I’m expecting to have a car boot full of options, and still be undecided ten minutes before the ‘off’.

2 - What fuel? When I’m out with mates, I’m the one that normally takes extra fig rolls and jelly babies for when one of them hits the wall, but the last thing I want to be hauling are packets of biscuits. So I’m going with the science and relying on four Torq gels and two bars to keep the energy topped up. I’ve heard mixed messages about water not being easily available during the race, so I’m going with a Camelbak over a water bottle – just undecided on whether to add Isostar.

3 - What about the bike? That’s the one thing that I’m really happy with now. It’s a stock Giant Anthem X3 26er with a couple of tweaks. The wheels are now tubeless Eastons and, while I’d question whether there’s been a really noticeable change in the weight, it does feel as though it’s rolling way more easily. The other tweak, after regularly getting increased numbness in my hands on extended rides, was a change to Ergon Biokork grips and they’ve been a revelation, proving extremely comfortable over three hours.

Hopefully it’s all going to come together just before 09.30 on Sunday… I’ll keep you posted.