Team #269
Team TROG Yorkshire Breakaway Faction (or Wills Harper if you believe TimeLaps
)Myself and Chris set up as a team of 2, both of us with the intention of seeing how well we could do, but with no real pressure to worry the racing snakes
We got to Mayday Meadow a little after 1pm and on a whim asked the bloke directing the cars if he knew where TROG were camped. We assumed he'd give us a blank look and send us on our way, but surprisingly he knew who TROG were, where the first few arrivals were camped and also told us that our main van hadn't arrived yet! It appears our name is getting known!
Once the tent was up, Chris, Andy 1, Si G, Dan and myself all went out for a leisurely pre-ride. Once back at camp it was time to load up with more food and decide team strategy. Chris won the coin toss and decided to go out first and we chose to alternate each lap rather than staying out for multiple laps.
The change over area was heaving with bikes and people when I headed in around 9pm, but Chris appeared shortly after and I was soon out on the course. A crowd had gathered at the first bomb hole (The Skip) and as I rode into it I heard a few voices saying "Go on TROG", "Go on Ian" - however as I climbed out the other side the sand caught me out and my front wheel stuck sideways in it and sent me over, much to everyone's amusement. I wasn't hurt as I landed in a lovely soft sandpit
It was only back at the tent later I discovered it was JohnE and Crosser shouting encouragement/piss-taking.I'm pleased with the consistency of my first 3 laps times which are each around 55mins. However, after lap 3 tiredness was starting to get to me and I think that this led to me not being ready for the start of my 4th lap and Chris had to come and find me. When he did, I was just fitting my water bottle to the bike and about to head over to the changeover point.
For lap 4 I could feel that tiredness was starting to affect my concentration and I made many silly mistakes that I wouldn't normally. Tiredness coupled with not being ready at the start of the lap cost me several minutes, which is recorded as 1hr 6mins.
After lap 4 I was shattered and told Chris I was going to need more than his lap-time to recover; once again he found me back in the tent and I headed back out about 20 to 30mins after he returned, about 6am.
For lap 5, my last, I found someone going at a pace slightly below what I would normally ride at and sat on his back wheel for the duration of the lap, sharing banter with him and enjoying the sight of the dawn breaking. This lap clocked in at around an hour and a half (including the late start, so probably 1hr 5mins ride time).
All in all, Team TROG YBF completed 10 laps (an 11th being thwarted by the onset of some serious leg cramps for Chris and a serious bout of I'm-tired-so-can't-be-arsed-to-do-another-ness by me) and we came 52nd out of 84 male pairs. Or as I prefer to think of it, top of the male pairs who completed 10 laps
Things I've learnt for next time (and I'm not 100% sure why I've not learnt from last time
);- Don't try to go all day and night without sleep; even 30mins here or there is better than none
- Bring more warm clothing; you're hot as anything after a lap, but will be frozen solid 10mins later.
- Don't fall off your bike into a sandpit in front of your mates
http://www.flickr.com/photos/britishcyclingphotos/3982673559/
