Scanning around the web reading my favourite blogs I noticed that this is also the time of year when the MTB racing crowd kicks back a little and reflects on what a glorious or disastrous year they had so here follows my (albeit a little late) effort at a retrospective on my particular year that I guess, on balance, was a mixture of both……..
The before
Around this time last year I could be caught happily clutching a pint of beer at the Real Ale Wobble in blissful ignorance of what pain and suffering was to come.
After several 24hr races as part of teams I did my first 24hr solo attempt last year and absolutely loved it. It’s a very different experience to riding on a team and although I got through this first one pretty well (probably mostly on sheer adrenalin) there were obviously lots more weird and wonderful things to learn about this ultra-endurance malarkey.
So that’s pretty much how it happened really, I thought why not do all of the big three 24hr solos in 2007 and accelerate my learning curve - sort of a crash course but hopefully without the actual crashes.
The During
By the start of the season proper I had been lucky enough to meet up with top gals Jo and Heather at girlsruntoo. I’m sure they actually thought I was quite mad at the time but Jo threw caution to the wind in deciding to support me in my efforts and she has been tireless in coming up with brilliant clothing solutions to all the crazy situations that I found myself in – just ask her sometime how wet she has ever seen a base layer!!!!!
Before the 24hr challenge there were some marathon and 6hr races and these certainly had a few ups and downs of their own including the high of seeing the smiles on Jo and Heather’s faces after nailing the ladies day at Catton and the low of bailing Mr M out of hospital from a suspected femur fracture after the Sherwood marathon.
So what about the big trio then? Well apart from lots of time spent contemplating the reflectivity of Mavic Crossmax wheels and of course the constant support of the long suffering Mr M, there were so many highs and lows that it’s difficult to squash the list down so it won’t totally bore you to death.
It was certainly a huge learning experience and has given me plenty to think about as the winter season approaches but I’ll give a short wrap up a little go though so here are some key memories…..
First there was Giant/T-Mobile’s Mountain Mayhem (mud, rain, white tops, Jo in a dog blanket, tassels and custard) then there was Bontrager’s Twentyfour12 (glorious sunset, more mud, more rain, Jo’s boiled potatoes, slippery roots, Neill’s dedicated pit support, making the podium and getting on TV) and finally there was Kona’s Sleepless in the Saddle (really sore hands, sunburn, my only puncture all season, red wine, shaking Pat’s hand at the finish and the shock of being presented with a new USE Joystick - from Rory himself – for completing my epic trio and not dying in the process).
The after
It’s only since I’ve had a little break from the bike that I’ve come to realise just how spent I really was at the end of the season. I suppose somewhere along the line I reached the point where I was so used to riding with tired legs that I actually forgot what it’s like to have one of those rides where you burst out of the box like a coiled spring ready to maul. Thankfully I’m now starting to enjoy what that feels like!
Well that’s pretty much it for the MTB retrospective so I’ll leave you with another of Mr M’s fab shots of me pondering the November sunset from the top of Malvern in my new favourite winter essential the Gore Alpine jacket - it really is a revelation how little you need to wear under this jacket and still stay warm! Check back again soon to see what I’m getting up to in the off-season and what I’m looking at doing next year. I’m rather hoping that the next few weeks will include some adventures on two feet instead of two wheels as we all know that cleaning muddy shoes takes a lot less time than stripping down your beloved mud caked steed
