Beaten but NOT out
Racing a bike and riding a bike are two completely different experiences – I keep forgetting this. I have just raced in the The Lough Derg Mountain Bike Challenge, which is a very short two day, four stage mountain bike race. Set in and around the lough in West Ireland, this spectacular setting attracted more than 160 riders from mostly Ireland but even as far afield as Salt Lake City, USA.
Arriving in Dublin on Thursday morning after a hurried bike pack, I realised that I may have left a few key bike components in England – tyres being one of them! So, with a couple of days before the start of the race I had time to make the start line with an operational bike. Not so fast, apparently Ireland hasn’t really caught onto the 29er craze so finding tyres became challenge No1. With much internet browsing and at the 11th hour I found a set of Schwalbe ‘Rapid Rons’ at Cycle Inn - result.
Unpacking and building my bike from it’s box, I noticed another problem, my front brake system didn’t have any bite! So I am guessing the air made it’s way into the hydraulics during the flight! Secondly, whilst fitting my new tyres I couldn’t get them to seat correctly on my wheels – even with my dish washing liquid technique (which has never let me down before). The result of which I had a bike with a serious hopping motion (front and back) and one that had very little stopping power.
Day 1 – stage 1 and 2
Both stages started with a neutralised ride out of Killaloe (kind of anyway), before we were let loose to race. The stages were super short so it was more like a cross race i.e. 1 hour of pain. This is where the realisation set in that my body, weight, power, endurance and ability to descend (thanks to my brakes) were all insufficient. Within minutes of stage 1, I was thinking about finding a window to recover so that I could push on a bit….this is not how it should happen! The result of which I had no option but to back off and almost spin up relatively tame climbs that were set in the course….the reality set in – not even my TORQ gels were helping!
For the rest of the stage all I could do was set my sights on the rider in front of me and work to pull them in and pass them – which at least gave me something to focus on. Somehow I still managed a 15th place on stage 1, partly down to the gentle descending on the stage and also my early moments of speed.
Stage 2 started at 2:30pm, roughly 2hrs 30mins after the finish of stage one – so a bit of time to socialize and have a bit of delicious lunch put on by the organisers. Stage 2 was basically a straight up and straight down stage. It took about 15 minutes from the gun that I had to back off…so I took the view that I would spin up this little hill without popping my eyes out. A combination of tar, gravel roads, boggy tracks, loose rocky tracks and even a bit of singletrack got us to the top of the 500m climb. This is where it got really interesting.
The descent surface was loose rocks or grass and it was literally straight down with the occasional bend or turn. This worked well for me with no brakes because I could point my bike downwards and smash it. The problem came when there was a bend or turn – I literally couldn’t stop….so the solution was to eject from the bike so that I didn’t overshoot and end up 100m + down the hill. I wish somebody filmed what must have looked like a petrified beginner being thrown down the Megavalanche run. Fortunately losing 500m in altitude happens pretty quickly, so after a few ejections and a couple of overshoots, I made it to the tar road that gave me the opportunity to catch up a couple of riders that whizzed past me on my crazy descent strategy. I clearly looked like a complete novice on a mountain bike….cringe worthy riding at it’s best!
As I made my way back to the hotel from the finish (8km’s) I rode with two guys who were doing pretty well in the GC – Martin and Chad – and it was good hearing what fun they were having at the front of the field! After the normal post stage rituals (bike wash/shower etc.) it was time to refuel – so considering my days riding had been almost comical – I decided that a couple of Guinness and some awesome food at Flanagans Bar would solve all my problems, and it did (momentarily). Again I somehow still managed a 19th overall on stage 2.
Day 2 – stage 3 and not stage 4
The start of stage 3 was about 7km’s from the hotel so I made my way along the shores of the lough, which was stunning. On tar I almost felt like I was limping with my bike hopping every time the tyres hit the spot where they didn’t seat correctly. Anyway, stage 3 started with a gentle climb on forest roads, followed by a descent on forest road and then a couple of tracks that were super boggy – which were good fun although my drivetrain was freaking out. I would love to say that my lungs felt good….the fact is I could only put in short spells of effort before I needed to recover.
Normally, during a stage I think about where I can push, recover, drink, eat, catch up, drop, pace myself etc. instead, this experience was about enjoying the stunning views and making sure the train of riders I was somehow pulling along, didn’t cause me any issues. Stage 3 result was 15th overall!
As this was such a well planned trip I also realised that if I did the short 6km time trial (stage 4), there was a good chance I would miss my flight from Dublin. So, I held my hands up and accepted that I was beaten from all sides of Killaloe and skipped the stage so that I could get back to England – which is a real shame.
Summing it all up
I had a great time at this little event, which was very well organised, very sociable and with a descent size field. The trails were not technical at all (although stage 4 apparently was) and one didn’t have to be a mountain bike god to really enjoy. Although front brakes would have helped, I have no excuse for my poor lung capacity and leg strength as it was entirely the cause of not enough time in the saddle. So it’s time I put in more effort and raise the game – next big event is Iron Bike, which takes no prisoners.
Time to do some race training instead of general bike riding!!
