XC Racer Blog Post
3 tips for how to not win a race
Share on Facebook Share on TwitterBY: George Budd
Published: 26th March, 2015
What an amazing race and a wonderful event with loads of people and good demos available! As you can probably tell I absolutely love this event, organised by my new team boss, Matt Page of A Cycling. Matt's turned from leading races to organising them instead and is doing a great job with an expanding array of XC and Endurance events.
Battle on the Beach started in 2014 with about 200 hardy riders racing round a mostly damp and flooded Pembrey. This year couldn't have been more different - it was bone dry, warmish, sunny and fast. Which led to the first problem...
How to lose a race: Do too much riding
Given the amazing trail conditions for the last few weeks, I've been doing a lot of riding even by my standards. 26hr weeks, 15hr weekends and the like... So I wasn't exactly fresh. I also *had* to stop at Afan on the way over and go KOM chasing on my Banshee. After managing to limit myself to 3.5hrs riding I was feeling ok for Sunday.
How to lose a race: I'm not a roadie
I had a frustrating time in the race really; having sat comfortably towards the front of the echelon for the entire beach I got swallowed up by about 30 riders as everyone took me by surprise and attacked for the tarmac exit. I got stuck on the windy and exposed left hand side and got passed by about 30 riders. I spent the rest of lap 1 overtaking everyone and was making ground as I started lap 2. I'm really not used to bunch riding as I've never done a road race; suffice it to say it was a very steep learning curve and really the race was over for me after the first 6km.
How to lose a race: get lost
Now I've only ever seen this happen once before - Luke Webber hammering up a steep hill at Swinley leading out th Gorrick 100 back in 2005 or so... Only to then notice the back half of the field hadn't followed. Oops. This time it was my turn - however at least I was following the arrows as some local idiot had turned a key market around. Our group lost a couple of minutes, but to be fair the biggest loss was getting off the beach at the start.
How to lose a race: Do too much riding
Given the amazing trail conditions for the last few weeks, I've been doing a lot of riding even by my standards. 26hr weeks, 15hr weekends and the like... So I wasn't exactly fresh. I also *had* to stop at Afan on the way over and go KOM chasing on my Banshee. After managing to limit myself to 3.5hrs riding I was feeling ok for Sunday.
How to lose a race: I'm not a roadie
I had a frustrating time in the race really; having sat comfortably towards the front of the echelon for the entire beach I got swallowed up by about 30 riders as everyone took me by surprise and attacked for the tarmac exit. I got stuck on the windy and exposed left hand side and got passed by about 30 riders. I spent the rest of lap 1 overtaking everyone and was making ground as I started lap 2. I'm really not used to bunch riding as I've never done a road race; suffice it to say it was a very steep learning curve and really the race was over for me after the first 6km.
How to lose a race: get lost
Now I've only ever seen this happen once before - Luke Webber hammering up a steep hill at Swinley leading out th Gorrick 100 back in 2005 or so... Only to then notice the back half of the field hadn't followed. Oops. This time it was my turn - however at least I was following the arrows as some local idiot had turned a key market around. Our group lost a couple of minutes, but to be fair the biggest loss was getting off the beach at the start.
Our group of about 10 riders wasn't the most cooperative and it seemed just Kim, Bruce and I were doing all the work. I eventually got fed up, turned round and berated the others; that's the beauty of a beach race - you can ride along at 30mph looking backwards and not crash into anything.
On lap 3 I ended up with Kim Little and tried to close the gap to the leaders to mop up anyone that got dropped. We worked well together and passed Chris Metcalfe towards the end. A 3 way sprint for 9/10/11 put me in 10th.
Overall, Lots learnt for next year in terms of positioning and expecting the fast exit. We were over 30mph down the beach at times, but it did go in waves of twiddling at 20-25 then going nuts and spinning out in the 34/11 as someone attacked. Comedy moment of the day goes to the in depth discussion at 30mph over whether or not to go after Crispin as he launched a solo effort on lap 1 - chapeau for trying!
Given the issues above I was quite happy with the result on reflection; I was quite grumpy for a while though. Lots learnt for 2016...
If you didn't do this event this year, you really must for 2016. It's fabulous and totally unique.
Overall, Lots learnt for next year in terms of positioning and expecting the fast exit. We were over 30mph down the beach at times, but it did go in waves of twiddling at 20-25 then going nuts and spinning out in the 34/11 as someone attacked. Comedy moment of the day goes to the in depth discussion at 30mph over whether or not to go after Crispin as he launched a solo effort on lap 1 - chapeau for trying!
Given the issues above I was quite happy with the result on reflection; I was quite grumpy for a while though. Lots learnt for 2016...
If you didn't do this event this year, you really must for 2016. It's fabulous and totally unique.
Click any of the images below for a larger view / slideshow
The start line
Leading out the bunch of 600
Lap 2 trying to catch up after getting lost
Speedy Dutchies
Lap 3 trying to drop Kim, and failing.
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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