As perhaps evidenced by the recent reticence of this blog, things have not been going entirely to plan lately. After an enormous burn-out in September, the WEMBO dream went chugging down the drain in October in a swirl of perpetual sickness and mediocrity.
So, after a change of jobs and of houses, it was time to get back into some decent riding and racing. Round 4 of Singletrack Mind would be at Welby. Having missed Round 3 to the aforementioned sickness at Awaba, I was in need of making up some ground and riding some new singletrack.
Welby did not disappoint. It brought rocks, tight switchbacks, pinches, roaring descents, oppressive heat, roaring winds, deep dusty corners, and a very epic black powder to all the riders. As a race for pairing up for hot laps, it would be fantastic test of skill and speed. As a race for riding solo, it would be challenge of stamina and strength in the rough, rocky terrain.
Back to Basics: Starting Fast
The most important ingredient in a solo endurance race is to start fast and have fun. It’s only let me down on something like a daily basis. After a starting loop, I was comfortably slotted in on third wheel with Andy Lloyd on my wheel. Andy was backing up from 2nd overall at WEMBO a month prior, and has been getting consistently stronger and stronger over the past few months. Jokingly, we discussed who’d set the pace fast. Slotting on to the front, I soon tried an over-ambitious A line and took an undignified tumble. Lloydy got onto the front, and the pace got very hectic.
Soon finding myself thoroughly in the red and going backwards, I decided it was time to hang up the “Fast start” theory, and go back to basics again:
Back to Basics: Chugging!
From this point, it was time to go back to the controversial topic of chugging. This is the pace that is curiously sustainable yet manages to suck all excitement whatsoever out of the race. This involves sensible nutrition strategies, and drinking copious amounts in the heat.
And so, the gap grew and the race rambled on in a display of dust, rocky corners, and pinch climbs eternally tempting the emergence of the dreaded cramp monster. It was time to fun some intrinsic motivation!
Back to Basics: Having Fun
Taking the pace off a bit with three hours to go, it was time to enjoy the intrinsic aspects of the race. I was riding a bike through challenging and diverse terrain. I wasn’t at work! The endorphin high would be enormous. The bike was deliciously fast up the hills, and chomping through the rough stuff surprisingly well for a sub 9kg hardtail. It was time to start having fun! I tried smiling at the photographers, but for some unknown reasons, they dropped their cameras and scurried off into the bushes with screams of horror. I pondered.
Back to Basics: In the Pain Cave
Having thus been rejected in my attempts to be beautiful and happy, I decided instead to engage in the usual male photographic pose instead: attempting to show as much heroic pain as possible, looking like enjoyment was the last thing on my mind, and that my racing was some bizarre form of lycra-clad flagellation with a more obscure and far less ascetic (and very expensive!) form of religious reverence.
This was coincided by the racing coming towards a close. I knew I would be very close to the 7 hour cutoff at the conclusion of my thirteenth lap and was oscillating wildly between wanting to do a 14th and wanting to collapse somewhere cool and refreshing. Heading out to start the 13th lap, I mistakingly heard the gap at 2.5 minutes and decided to hit the pace for a last lap hot lap.
Winding up the pace again after 7 hours of racing is possibly the hardest and most rewarding way to finish a 7 hour. Coming in one minute after the cut-off, I’d ended up about 5 minutes back on a charging Lloydy – and happy to be back racing!
Next up – the 100 mile Fling – and possibly with some wet and cold weather to counterpoint the heat and dust of Welby…..
Ed Rides Bikes 