The Course:
A course billed with a 1000ft of climbing per lap was always going to be tough but add in boggy, claggy soil and it became a race of attrition.
Many of the racers suffered cramp including a race ending bout for Alex Davey. Aside from the pain Gorrick and the ACU had put together an excellent course with a great mix of singletrack and open trail with a bomb hole stream crossing near the finish for a bit of fun. Due to the recent spell of inclement weather the course was sodden in places and the weight of riders caused a couple of sections to be re-routed.
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| Matt hitting the bridge just right |
The Race:
With the weather being chilly I started with plenty of layers which I thought would be discarded during the race, however, with the breeze only the gilet came off. The turnout was excellent with over 100 riders on the line for the 4 hour race and 240 for 2 hours including 14 Southdowns riders.
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| French Dave and Ben at the start |
Out of the blocks! The usual sprint off the line into the first hill and the inevitable bunch into the single track. Even this early it was clear that the course would suffer. After the rush I settled into a steady rhythm and focused on picking off the laps.
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| Amanda |
However, when I hit the fourth lap the course started to hit me! As the clag took its toll on my legs I found myself contemplating the passion/obsession question Ben posted in his report from round 2. I also contemplated running the course, chain suck was a major issue in the second half of the race. One guy was running a Shimano Alfine gear system. Definitely a good call for the conditions. Given My final 2 lap times I was pleased to find I had finished 15th.
The post race chat focused on the conditions but also on Goodness Shakes flavours. Vanilla won 2-1 on the line, what's your favourite flavour?
Congratulations to James, 3rd on the day (despite gear problems from the first lap following a collision) and overall series winner! Great start to
2011 season. Congratulations to Dave and Ian Finishing 9th and 11th in their respective categories, and well done to everyone else for getting through it
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