Grizedale Mountain Bike Challenge –16th September 2007

Grizedale Mountain Bike Challenge –16^th September 2007

This was the main event I was looking forward to at the beginning of the season and wanting to do well in as it’s a well known local event.

The start list was close to 700 riders! So it was going to be a good turn out.

Unfortunately 2 week prior to the event my dad damaged his wrist while out riding and the doctor said he should stay off the bike for at least 3 weeks.

I had to train by myself and keep myself motivated as best I could and get out after school or on Saturday with a mate. I managed to put some good rides in so felt determined and confident that I was reasonably fit My only concern was I had never raced 30+ miles before so didn’t know what to expect.

The day of the race I woke up at 6am, I drank lots to make sure I was hydrated for the day ahead of me and I also managed to have a bowl of cereal and then a bowl of pasta. Yes pasta for my breakfast not something I normally have but I had read that the top pro cyclist’s eat pasta so I thought I need to eat like a champion!!!.

My dad and I set off from home and by the time we got to Grizedale at 9am it was raining and windy.

I had arranged to meet a mate Jack Pullar early so that we could go for a spin and get physced up before the start.

At 10am all the riders came to the start, I managed to get on the front row with some of my team mates. I didn’t think it would matter too much about setting off fast as it was a 30 odd mile race but I was told that if I felt fit enough to go off steady I wouldn’t get stuck behind people in the mayhem of the first few miles.

After a quick briefing about the course over the tannoy, the airhorn went and off we went.

 
Me (76) Start Line.

It was actually a faster start than I had expected with a group of about 10 riders pushing the pace early on, flying up the first climbs and were soon out of sight!!.

We climbed up on a steep forest fire road for about 3 miles which soon had people strung out, I was sitting in about the top 30 after 5 miles and feeling ok but not great. This first climb had been a bit brutal and was tough but it’s a challenge what do you expect, It was a fast start so its also no wonder why I was feeling it a little bit.

My dad was at the top of the climb shouting encouragement and taking photos.

 

Me (76) at the back of a group after 1^st climbs.

The tempo soon slowed down as we hit a great scenic section called Parkamoor, which I have done many times in training as Grizedale is one of my local training areas.

I was really enjoying this section but still wasn’t riding at my best but got some encouraging cheers just before I entered the woods after the climb out of Parkamoor.

Just Leaving Parkamor.

After the Parkamoor section we were gifted with a great descent down what is known locally as ’DAD’ and ‘GRANDAD’ its always pretty technical in the dry but today in the rain it was rather sketchy trying to steer on the wet and muddy rocks. Soon after the descent we came to a forest fire road that climbed up past Wood Moss Tarn on our left before sweeping down fast to join a ‘footpath’ section I have never ridden before. It was a singletrack descent which was as muddy as hell all the way down to the bottom. I was going fairly well until it came to this gulley full of mud which I found impossible to get any grip and went flying off into the bracken banging my knees and shaking me up!

I was just getting back on my bike when another rider came flying off in exactly the same place, nearly landing on me, he went with a hell of a crash. He sat up holding his nose which was bleeding pretty bad saying ’I think I have bust my nose’. I was shocked and asked him if he was alright he said I should carry on and he would make his way to a marshal. I hope he was ok.

I took the rest of the descent nice and easy as I was still shaken up a little, I came out onto the road which enabled my tyres to clear of mud.

On this section another junior rider had caught me up and he started to try to put a gap on me as we rode past Force Mills onto the turn at the car park at Blind Lane. I knew from experience this next bit of fire road was steep in places and went on for a fair way.

I stayed on his wheel up the first part until it got steeper I then decided I would make a break for it and started to push the pace, getting out of the saddle and using my bar ends to power up.
When I got near the top I looked round and realised he wasn’t chasing, I felt really good knowing that I had dropped him.The track levelled out and I must now have been in about in about top 40 or there abouts as I had lost a couple of places after my fall.
The route then down a section my dad and I call the “Downhill Course” It’s a really nice sweeping single track with a couple of tricky ‘rooty’ sections on the way down.
At the bottom it was another road section where I was joined by a fellow Wheelbase team mate Ian Palmer. We rode together on the road then turned up a steep technical climb on a bridle path. Everyone at this stage were having to jump off and push for the first 100 yards, it was that hard.

We managed to get back on and pedal a short distance before having to get off and push again, It was a killer!! We did manage to ride again and came out at the ‘Red Fox’. Were I grabbed a drink at the feed station.Another sweet single track and a bit of fire road bought us out at Moor Top car park were the checkpoint marshals took our times.

Getting A Tow From Ian Palmer.

I managed to stay on Ian’s wheel for about 30 minutes until we came to this steep climb on a muddy singletrack which I had to get off and push.

I was really starting to feel tired at this point and just had to keep my head down and focus on the riders in front. After a couple of minutes riding on my own I finally managed to catch up Luke Webber (Yeti Racing Team) who I know from the NPS series, we rode together for a while. He was feeling the effects of setting off a bit too fast!

We rode along the fire road for about 300 yards then turned off, but some how we had managed to go the wrong way. I was just following Luke so wasn’t sure if we had missed an arrow or it was pointing us in the wrong direction.

We were both really gutted and thought it was race over for us. Luckily I know Grizedale well and managed to get my bearings of where we were and we got back on track.

We must of lost about 10minutes and a good few places in the meantime but at least it wasn’t race over for us

After going off course we did a nasty short but very steep climb which was a real leg burner I got cramp in both my legs, I had never had cramp before and was in agony, I had hit the wall and was really feeling it now!

I kept on riding and Luke said I should keep on drinking, I had already drank one 750ml bottle of isotonic drink but drank some more and had a energy gel which seemed to make things a little bit better.

I managed to ride through the bad patch and we rode along the forest track at a nice steady pace, I was trying to spin my legs to get rid of the rubbish in my muscles.

After the forest track we then went down a technical descent which for some folks would have been easy but for me on my racing hardtail was a real struggle as it was really rocky, the rain was hammering down and I was slipping all over on the rocks.

I decided it would be best to hop off and run with the bike and once I got further down I could see more people were doing the same as me!

I got to the bottom of this rocky technical section and onto the road, I realised that Luke wasn’t behind me, I later found out at the finish he had punctured!

The weather was horrendous it had been raining since we had started it wasn’t just raining but it was windy and cold! Not the ideal conditions but there was nothing I could do about it other than just to ride my bike! We then hit a short road section which then leads to another great climb through some woodland at the back of Brantwood towards Lawsons Ground. It was a hard climb that I had done loads of times with my dad but today I was struggling and then I got cramp again, I kept on drinking but it didn’t seem to work this time! I had to stop for about 20 seconds, I was nearly in tears until it eventually went again I knew I was going to get some more cramp later on in the race but I tried to make sure I didn’t over push it on the climbs and just spin a little bit more I was in about 50^th position which I was chuffed with but I knew I could have been higher up.

We then had another climb up through the woods from Lawsons Ground which was tough,it was slippy as well which made it harder but I just kept on digging deep until I eventually got to the top were my dad was again.

Trying To get on the wheel of a Lune Valley Rider, climbing out of Lawson Ground woods.

I asked him how far was left and he said there wasn’t long left now so I just tried to forget about how knackered I felt and kept drinking hoping I wouldn’t get cramp again.

Along the fire road and then down another bridle path till we hit another fire road and climbed back up to Moor Top to cross over the road back into the other side of the forest.

It was now fast fire road until we turned off onto a single track which was a steep muddy descent, dodgy in parts as my front tyre was slipping all over the place. There was no particular lines to take so I just had to let the bike roll and hope for the best. I managed to get to the bottom with out coming off.

At the bottom we hit the road and a marshal said there was only about 5 miles to go, I headed off on a short road section down towards Satterthwaite, I rode about 5 metres when I was joined by my good mate Pete Thomas( Kent Valley RC) who asked if I was alright I replied “Yes just my legs are killing me” he said he was the same but had cramp in his bottom!!

We turned off onto a bridleway that took us back across the valley to re enter the forest on the other side. At the top of the bridleway we then turned left and joined the fire road that took us back up the first climb we had done at the start of the race.

This was the final sting in the tail.

I was struggling and was in pain like I had never felt before as my legs were just locking up with cramp, I knew this was going to be hard so I just gritted my teeth and hoped that I wouldn’t seize up with cramp again.

We both rode the forest track climb together until Pete upped the pace and managed to open up a gap on me, I really thought my race was over and it would just be a question of hanging on to get to the finish.

I was really disheartened as I saw Pete starting to ride away from me, I then thought that I would have to have another go at getting back to him, the last thing I wanted was to be beaten in the last couple of miles. I was in agony but I gradually upped my pace and could see that I was slowly getting closer and closer to Pete. He kept looking behind to see were I was which only spurred me on to get out of the saddle and try harder.

I think in the end Pete gave up trying to get away, by the time we got to a flat section near the top I had caught him and the feeling inside me was just fantastic.

All I had to do now was make sure I kept in front I kept him front of him down the next rocky descent. I made sure I took the direct lines so that he couldn’t get pass me.

We hit the forest track and I could see the finish line below through the trees now I just flicked the chain up to the big ring and started to grind it.

I could hear Pete about a couple of bike lengths behind me, I had one last corner then a fast sprint to the finish.

I came in a time of 3 hours 19 mins ,and 55^th overall out 561 riders.

The day was very tough but it made me realise I can race over 30 miles and people have said it can only make me a better rider for future races.

My team mate Lewis Craven won in 2hrs 33 mins just over 8mins clear of Barrie Clarke in 2nd and my mate Jack Pullar in 3rd place.