This was my first solo race, and as it was being held by my club (TROG) at Tunstall Forest. I was helping out in the morning then racing in the afternoon. Yet again the conditions were against us!
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T'was very hard work!
My day went like this...
In short it was a great experience which was slightly marred by the weather, and I would hand on heart say that it was harder work than riding up and down the hills of Wales the other week!
I look forward to my next one but must confess to hoping for better weather...
Many, many thanks to the Marshalls, I've been there and done that in those conditions and it's not fun, but your continued cheeriness and banter really helped me to plod on.
Also, uber-thanks to Crosser (and all the other's who've helped out) for the hours he's put into getting everything in place, it's such a shame that yet again the elements have been against us...
I came 35th of 56.
My day went like this...
- Arrived at FR22 at 8am
- Spent next 2-4hrs playing car Tetris (ta to Mike, Stu, Mark, Darren and Ben for helping out)
- Reluctantly changed from warm clothes into shorts...
- Faced my first ever race start... Too many people trying to fit into one narrow bit of singletrack!
- Lap 1 went well once the pack thinned out, although I started to regret choosing Small Block 8s.
- At the start of Lap 2 I made the slight boo-boo of falling right in front of Mikey who happened to have the mic and proceeded to take the Michael...
- Lap 2 went well, although my ankle started to cramp a little.
- Lap 3 made me wonder why I hadn't chosen to do the 1hr race
- Lap 4 made me think the organisers had over emphasised the Sweat and Gears elements of the race and not put enough emphasis on the Mud side of things!
- Lap 5 looked good, I was approaching the 2hr mark, I was still in one piece (despite a fall in pit 2 - such a shame Greedy had chosen to take pics elsewhere at that point - still, the ground was soft, I almost opted to stay there and have a little nap) and passing the 2hr mark meant that this was the end of the race and this was my last lap!
- Got back to start/finish line and was told to do another lap...
- Swore lots..
- Questioned the parentage of the timing people...
- Swore some more...
- Muttered and grumbled to all the marshalls along the way...
- Realised the rain had stopped and oddly the ground seemed to be the most firm it had been all race!
- Started to make the most of what was left and enjoy it, despite the pain.
- Got to the finish at 3:45, needed to meet wife in Ipswich at 4:00!
- Ungraciously left without checking my position or helping pack everything away...
In short it was a great experience which was slightly marred by the weather, and I would hand on heart say that it was harder work than riding up and down the hills of Wales the other week!
I look forward to my next one but must confess to hoping for better weather...
Many, many thanks to the Marshalls, I've been there and done that in those conditions and it's not fun, but your continued cheeriness and banter really helped me to plod on.
Also, uber-thanks to Crosser (and all the other's who've helped out) for the hours he's put into getting everything in place, it's such a shame that yet again the elements have been against us...
I came 35th of 56.
