Goodwood Duathlon 2012

Goodwood Duathlon.

This race was again held at the Goodwood race track and was sold out in record time. I (Gary Brind) did the event last year and won it, this year was the first time I was racing a multi sport event in the black & green colours of SDB, so the pressure was sure on.

During race registration it was a nice surprise to see Fay Cripps there with her interesting mode of transport a 29nr mountain bike !!! Most people were either on road bikes or TT specific bikes with all the aero gear, so a MTB with 2.1 tyres was an interesting choice to say the least :o)

There were 2 choices of distances 4k run 24k bike 4 run, or 4k run 40k bike 8 k run. I went for the standard distance while Fay was entered by default (a friend of hers backed out the day before, so she took her place) to the longer distance. In a way I was glad I did not do the longer distance event, as there was no way I would have won it, as a person called Colin Dixon was there (very well known for some years in the multisport world). Who is the current World Triathete age group amateur champion and also World number 2 amateur duathlete.

My run was tougher than I thought, as there sure were some better runners than the previous year, but once on the bike I managed to pull a lead where I did not have to worry too much on the final run and came in 1st place.

Fay Cripps did well in her event and came in 2nd in the women's race, no doubt if she had a sensible bike she would have won it with ease !!! (but as she said, it is great MTB training!!!!). We know what you want from Santa.....

Splits (personally I like to dork out comparing the stats after...);

Gary

4km run 24k bike 4km run

14.24min 34.40min 15.30min

Fay

4km run 40k bike 8km run

15:53min 1.15:04min 35.57min

Colin Dixon

4km run 40k bike 8km run

13:35min 55:36min 28.58min

Southern XC Round 1

The 2012 Southern XC series started on Sunday at the classic old school Checkendon course near Reading.

Despite a dry week the rain came on Saturday so the woodland course was a slippery maze of shiny roots. While most of the UK basked in spring sunshine, a torrential downpour just as the Vets got underway dampened the spirits. It also made certain sections almost unrideable as there was simply no grip. I can’t remember having to walk a climb on the warm-up lap before!

After shivering on the start line amongst the shaved legged racers, I got away well onto the grassy opening loop. The guy in front of me dropped a chain and for a second I thought I was going to tangle with him, but I squeezed through and he then did an excellent job of holding up those behind. The mad dash to the first singletrack got the heart beat racing and my breathing was soon struggling to keep up. I tried to recover as we wound our way through the trees but once out of the wood and back onto open trails several stronger riders surged past as I heaved for breath.

Then we plunged back into the wood and the nastiest section of the lap. A series of tight twisty off-camber climbs littered with greased roots. Everyone had to take it easy as we fought for purchase on the slimy surface. I cleared the worst section and was probably still holding onto the back of the top 10. Maybe I would be alright!

At the top of the hill I rounded a bend onto a short little upward slope and the front wheel caught a root. The bike slithered out from under me and I was forced to dismount and run the next few meters until I reached firmer ground. Three or four riders came through including Alex! I spent the rest of the afternoon chasing him down but he finished 13^th and I was 15^th. Next time!

Ian continued his good run of form with 4^th place, and Steve put in another strong performance for 6th in the Vets. In the same category I spotted Doddy off the bike wrestling with his rear mech, so I assume mechanical gremlins hampered his route to 12th.

All in all lots of series points in the bank for the team as we look forward to the season ahead. 

Putting the Spring into Spring Series!

What a difference a week makes. Last week we were contending with snow and frost bite, this week the sun shone and I raced in shorts for the first time since September!


The weather helped bring another stellar turnout for the third round of the Gorrick Series at Crowthorne near Camberley (there were over 600 racers at the previous round). The course was pretty flat, with nice flowing singletrack which lead to some very tight racing. In the Masters race 5^th through to 16^th was covered by only 50 seconds!


Again my start was not the best and I got bogged down with slower riders for much of the first lap. With few hills on which to attack it was very hard to make progress but I did slowly pull my way back up through the field. The Masters race starts a few minutes after the Super Vets and we spend the entire race picking our way through the back markers. Catch one at the wrong time and you can rapidly lose 10 seconds on the guy in front and when the racing is this close that can make quite a difference. As the last lap began I could see a chain of around 6 riders up ahead including Alex Taylor. I pushed hard and caught them by the finish but was only able to wiggle past a few before we crossed line. Alex finishing 7th just a handful of seconds ahead of me yet again! 


Elsewhere Ian P was on the podium after making it to the finish without a puncture for once! Steve was an excellent 4th in the Super Vets despite stopping for a flat and James was 7th in Sport. Matt is planning a proper bike but meanwhile brought home the fully rigid inside the top 20.

Fast starting Ian leading the Grand Vets away

Results:

Ian Petherbridge  3rd   Grand Vet

Steve Calland        4th   Super Vet

James Bailey        7th   Sport

Alex Taylor           7th    Masters

Ben Connor         10th   Masters
Matt Knight         19th   Masters

Black Park Mud Bath!

I had plenty of time to consider the sanity of racing during the 2 hour drive to Black Park near Slough. The rain was torrential and even controlling the car on the M25 was proving challenging. The thought of stepping out into the down pour and racing a mountain bike was frankly ridiculous!

Wellies would have been useful just to reach the registration tent and having collected my race number I abandoned any idea of a warm up for the comfort of a warm car. We set off in the usual frenzy but I soon realised that I needed to ease it back a notch. My first lap was around the 20 minute mark and it was obvious that the conditions meant that we were there for the long haul. Despite the 3 inches of slurry and deep puddles the course still flowed well and would have been an absolute blast in the dry. Instead it was a case of struggling to get the power down while remaining upright!

The rain started to ease but the trails became more and more churned as the laps progressed and we passed the 2 hour mark. The temperature dropped and there was definitely white stuff in the air. Sopping wet gloves lead to frozen fingers, making it impossible to change gear. Luckily braking was already pointless in the slime!

After the race the car park was full of shivering, mud coated riders struggling to remove shoes and undo zips. We gathered for a well earned hot chocolate at the nearby café and recounted tails of a race that will live long in the memory!

Black Park XC Results

1^st    Fay Cripps            Masters/Open
2nd   Gary Dodd            Singlespeed
5th    Ben Connor          Masters/Sport
DNF  Ian Petherbridge   Grand Vets   (Puncture)