British Mountain Bike XC & Trek Marathon, Round 2
Sherwood Pines: 12-13/05/07
By Ben Thomas
XC - A win for Ben
Sherwood Pines was the setting for round 2 of the British Mountain Bike Series. With UCI category 1 points available in the Elite races everyone was on tenterhooks hoping that some of the world's best athletes would make the trip to the UK. We weren't disappointed with pre-entries from some of the world's top 10 cross country racers.
The organisers Inevent were out to impress the foreign invasion and to extinguish any doubts about the ability of Sherwood being a venue worthy of a national race. The organisers had been hard at work and although they hadn't been able to magic some giant mountain into the venue they had been able to find some hidden gems that definitely should have got rid of the less technically able. The course consisted mainly of long sections of swooping singletrack and a small amount of fireroad; in total the course was just over 11km. There were also several large logs or trees lying across the course that riders had to ride over - some riders inevitably found this harder than others, or take the slower and longer 'bus stop' route.
Ben winning the Sport race
[ Photo courtesy of: John Newport ]
Calum was the first of the team to race the new Sherwood circuit. He had a good grid slot after his previous performance and after a hard battle with some tough competition he managed a superb 10th place in the Junior category. This is what he had to say after his race:
BT: How did you feel going into the race? Your result at Thetford must have motivated you?
CC: I felt good but I didn't get my head in gear, I don't generally think about the last race, so that didn't motivate me. I didn't do a proper warm up as I wanted to try and get a good grid and I didn't get my focus back until half way through the race.BT: What did you make of the course? There were lots of new sections, did this affect you being the first category out?
CC: It was good, although it would have been better on a hardtail and I should have quickened up my rebound. I always like fresh stuff, the newer the better, makes it more sketchy; but this was well bedded in mostly, and was good fun, would have been better at full pace.BT: How do you think the race went? You've got some stiff competition in the Junior category.
CC: I'll say, it would be good if I got with them from the start, then I'd have a chance. Everyone's beatable, I needed to have my mind in gear and go out as if I was going to win, not just roll round.BT: Were you satisfied with the result? What's the objective for Margam Park in 3 weeks time?
CC: The plan was top 10 so in that respect it was good. It was a strong recovery from that shocking start, although the times show I still needed to pull my finger out a lot more! But personally it wasn't good enough. Aim for Margam is to get in with the leaders and see how long I can stay at that pace.Anything else you would like to add?
CC: I will beat Ben! (Note that Calum's average lap time was just 3 seconds slower than mine and his performance would have put him 2nd in the Sport category!!)
Next up from the team were Chris, Warren and myself all participating in the Sport category. The crowds had gathered to watch the Elite races that were happening at the same time so there were plenty of people around to cheer us on. After our performances at Thetford Warren and I both had a decent grid slot; I was lucky enough to be on the front row. Chris was left further back to fight it out within the middle of 78 Sport riders. The pace through the arena was high and six people including myself managed to get away from the remainder of the pack. With 32km remaining I was moved to the front of the leading pack and suddenly I started leaving them behind, I put the power down and managed to get a gap. During lap one I put a minute's gap between second place and me. Warren was also having an eventful lap with a large crash that resulted in smashing off one of his bar ends. Chris wasn't going too bad either for a Saturday ride! During lap two the fun continued. Out in the lead I crashed heavily after losing the front wheel on a log, however at the end of the lap I still had a decent lead of about 50 seconds. Wining my first ever race at the Dragon XC recently was special but to win a British MTB series race in such a dominant way and in front of people who knew me was amazing, thanks for all your support as well! In the end I finished 29 seconds ahead, with Gerald Tudor in 2nd. Warren rode another storming race to 13th place, top 10 next time? Chris raced his way round and bettered his previous result by 11 places to finish 55th place, if he carries on improving at that rate he will make the top 15 by the end of the series. Chris also managed a better average lap time than the very fast Paul Davies of team Aircom International/ Mountain Trax!!
Chris aboard his new Yeti
[ Photo courtesy of: John Newport ]
The final races of the day consisted of Paul Hopkins and Paul Howard who lined up ready for the Master race, Dean in the Veterans, John Newport in the Grand Veterans and Lorraine Staley in the Master women's race. The first two batches of races earlier on in the day had taken place under sunny skies but come 2.30pm the weather was about to take a turn. By lap two of these final races the course had turned into a mud bath and lap times jumped as riders began to struggle. By lap three it had stopped raining but the damage had been done.
Paul Hopkins set out with good pace but started losing places once the weather turned, he eventually finished 15th after four laps. I'm sure that had it not been for the wet weather though he would have had an average lap time almost as fast as mine and Calum's ;-) Paul Howard was able to benefit from the bad conditions and produced two good paced laps in the middle of the race when other people were slowing. He was able to battle through the soggy condition to improve on round one's performance and finish 34th place.
In Veterans Dean loved the wet conditions, however the speed he had shown earlier on in the season couldn't be repeated, Dean finished in 24th place. In the Grand Veterans race John struggled to keep his first lap pace as the weather took its affect and finished in 17th place. The quality of racing in the woman's Master race this year is super high but Lorraine rode a good race to finish 12th position.
See you at round 3 of the British Mountain Bike Series at Margam Park on the 2nd of June.
Pos Laps Time Time+ Name Lap 1 Lap 2 Lap 3 Lap 4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- JUNIOR 10 3 01:30:52 08:08 CALUM CHAMBERLAIN 29:52 30:45 30:15 SPORT 1 3 01:30:41 BEN THOMAS 29:02 30:39 31:00 13 3 01:34:08 03:27 WARREN BATES 31:31 31:09 31:28 55 3 01:49:36 18:55 CHRIS WHITE 36:35 36:10 36:51 GRAND VETERAN 17 3 02:03:00 27:40 JOHN NEWPORT 37:32 41:36 43:52 MASTER 15 4 02:08:08 09:13 PAUL HOPKINS 28:12 30:31 34:15 35:10 34 4 02:14:54 15:59 PAUL HOWARD 31:21 33:02 34:18 36:13 MASTER WOMEN 12 3 02:12:58 28:02 LORRAINE STALEY 39:59 46:10 46:49 VETERAN 24 3 01:39:52 07:43 DEAN MORGAN 31:16 33:57 34:39
Trek Marathon - an enduring day amongst the Pines
By Paul Howard
Sunday morning dawned dry and bright over the campsite but I knew having seen the weather forecast on Friday that a long and slow moving rain band was due to hit late in the morning. With this in mind pre-race preparations consisted of packing up a dry tent and loading the car in readiness for an easy post-race getaway.
With two and a quarter hours of xc racing in my legs from Saturday I warmed up for 30 minutes to lose the heavy and stiff feeling and took the opportunity to checkout how the singletrack was riding. It had mostly bedded in nicely now rewarding us with good speed, not for long though.
I got on the grid early so was about third row, then saw Wozza appear minutes before the off heading to the back of the pack, perhaps the lure of having a proper roof over his head and a bed for the night delayed his arrival! The opening three laps passed by in a blur on a course that was broadly similar to the xc but with some extra distance tagged on, mainly as singletrack, showing what good scope Sherwood Pines has to offer. From now on the memory is a bit hazy, or perhaps I'm just trying to forget the horrible conditions that ensued, but I think the rain started on the fourth lap...and continued on the fifth...and the sixth...and....you get the idea!
Now ask yourself a question...have you ever fallen off riding up a very slight gradient on wet singletrack at about 8mph? I did just that, what a twat! A slight lapse in concentration saw me sprawled across the track, lying on some brambles and wrapped round a tree, unable to unclip or move at all. Thanks to whoever it was (possibly one of the leaders who rides for Team Singletrack) for removing my bike and helping me up. This unfortunately dinged the top tube of my week old Scott Spark. Stern words with myself ensued!
By lap seven I was ready to quit. My disc pads were non-existent, fingers were so numb I couldn't tell if I'd changed gear or not and I was wet through and mud covered. Coming through the feed zone at the end of the seventh lap there was one lonely looking supporter, but not Lorraine or Warren who had been pit bitching for me. Warren had decided to quit after three laps when he didn't really feel 'on it'. They thought I was due to finish so had packed up only to realise in a flash I had one more lap. A few of my other mates were also around and could see how drained I was but gave encouragement, a fresh bottle of GO, a gel, and a thermal top along with the advice to just 'spin along, you'll soon be finished'.
The rain seemed heavier now as rivers of water coursed down all the tracks. My perception was that this improved the conditions under tyre as it was no longer so sticky in places, just water and spray flying everywhere. Some of you who raced the xc may remember after a fireroad crossing 'the climb that shouldn't have been a climb because it appeared totally flat but the sucked the hell out of your speed', this now had me down to granny ring just to keep the cadence up. The final miles were powered by the thought of a hot shower, sweet tea and cake which got me to the finish... in 17th place, 5 hours and 49 minutes, phew what a slog. In total only 19 people finished all eight laps (100km) of 65 starters, a testament to the conditions and the mentality of those prepared to soldier on. That cup of tea I dreamt of earlier.... I spilt most of it whilst shivering uncontrollably!
I may have 'only ridden for six hours' but that was mentaly and physically the lowest point I've been in since a very bad lap during Mountain Mayhem solo last year. But I'm writing this report a week after Sherwood Pines having just completed the final round of the Gorrick Spring Series in fine dry conditions. My outlook is bright having achieved a 7th in the Supermasters on my singlespeed. I love the way this sport changes your emotions - from minute to minute, day to day, from one ride to another, oh the highs and lows of cycling eh? Right I'm off for a doughnut (or three), I think I earnt it!
Thanks to Lorraine and Warren for your support and much needed humour, I'm sure sitting in the feedzone cold and wet under an umbrella is an enduro in itself. Roll on round 3 as I'm now really looking forward to Margam Park and tackling four 25km laps over what everyone tells me is a great course and ideal for the Spark.
Pos Laps Time Time+ Name Lap 1 Lap 2 Lap 3 Lap 4 Lap 5 Lap 6 Lap 7 Lap 8 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 100k ENDURO 17 8 05:49:28 01:21:06 PAUL HOWARD 35:49 36:08 37:02 39:04 44:18 49:10 52:03 55:54 60 3 02:06:31 WARREN BATES 40:12 40:12 46:07 - - - - -