Round 4 CHEC at Newbury

(click able thumbs)

Well everyone said the Newbury event was a hard one and it was, more so because my fitness levels are so poor than for any other reason! The track was well laid out and mostly consisted of a winding route through the woods and rhododendron bushes. There were a few tricky bits, the main one being a section that turned into a quagmire after the second lap. The mud and I became fairly well acquainted in this section!

Phill who was giving me a lift to this event turned up nice an early so we set off in good time, only taking one minor diversion due to chatting and not listening to the GPS. The morning started out a bit apprehensively as guys told stories of the previous year when many of them only managed two laps before pulling out. Seeing as the weather was on our side this year, I was hoping for a better crack at it. Now that I was at my peak of physical fitness, from all the training since the last round (yea right – if you believe that you’ll believe anything) I was once again hoping for a good result.

Phill

I set off fairly late in the field and took it nice and easy following the guy in front. If only he could follow the course markers we would have been ok! There was about three or four guys trying to get over a small gully, all had got stuck one way or another, so I hung back looking for a good spot. While I paused one of the riders bikes got grip while he was pushing next to it and it took off in a spectacular bid for freedom, launching itself into the air before turning onto it’s back and crashing back down to earth – luckily it landed on the outside of the ditch and didn’t come back down onto the owner. Clearing the ditch I had a look around only to see that there were no markers so I retraced my steps (back through the ditch) and picked them back up again. The going was fairly straight forward at this point as the section that was to get badly cut up was still to come.

Riding in woods is never easy though, as there are always loads of nasty ‘sticky up’ bits lurking around to remind you to take it easy. There was several times when I looked at a jagged stump and thought “oh I wouldn’t fancy falling on that”. Being a conifer wood there has been commercial logging going on, and that covers the forest floor in small branches just waiting to grab your front wheel unless they are hit at 90 degrees.
After the first woodland section the course turned into single track going through the rhododendron bushes. Next up was the first boggy bit, not too wet but it was very soft and bikes got stuck everywhere. I managed to find a way through the melee by sticking to the far left, however on subsequent laps I found the right hand side route was the best even if it did mean bouncing over some fairly major roots that seamed to just get bigger and higher as the day wore on. Luckily I always managed to clear this bit.

Me ...plus someone else getting it wrong on camera

After winding through more woods and single track there was a nice drop off followed by a steep climb that had many people off as well, but again I found this bit fairly easy. What wasn’t so easy was the next major obstacle – the bog! Now on the first laps this was tricky but do ‘able. However it quickly became a bit of a nightmare when the ground got churned up, turning into a mush. I’m not sure if I tipped off on the first lap or not. I think I cleared the first section then overbalanced coming out the second section.
The second lap was going fine but my recently injured thumb was starting to really make itself felt, especially on the few small gullies that you had to ride through several times a lap. There was one particular one that I saw a bit late and thought I’d jump it to save my hand a bit, but I wasn’t fast enough, so the front wheel dug in and I slammed into the bars before flipping over with the bike doing a 360! Amazingly I felt alright, apart from a bit of a jarred neck – thanks to the knox chest protector I was able to get going again fairly quickly.

oops!

sod this... i'm pushing

From then on the laps went ok as I was taking it very easy but each lap I was dreading the bog! It was getting harder and harder to get though cleanly as the ruts got deeper, exposing roots that stuck up a good ten inches in the ruts. I managed to get though most times but plopped over in the sticky gloop right in front of John the CHEC organiser and another marshal. Laying in 8 inches of sloppy mud, while pinned down by the bike was all part of the day! By now I had to take a little rest once I’d got out the muck as it was just draining me so much trying to get through it. It become pretty obvious that loads of guys had pulled in early, as the field had thinned out tremendously.
Lunchtime was a long way off, but eventually it came and I trudged back to the car hardly able to lift my boots. I had a few squares of chocolate and half a bread roll but it was too much effort to eat and the bread was making me gag. Fun, hey? – and we pay to do this to ourselves!

Most of the bikes appeared to line back up for the afternoon session and I took it nice and easy again. Thankfully the major boggy bit had been cut out for the afternoon but there was still a mud hole to get though before turning off to the right and going down a tight path between the rhododendron bushes. The last part of the lap seamed to have been changed as well. I carried on without too much fuss only having a small incident at the muddy bit where I failed to get enough speed to clear a root and tipped over getting my boot ridden over by a couple of guys. As I said earlier the bike was cutting out a lot and by now my thumb was so painful I had to use the palm of my hand to press the starter. There were about a dozen quick guys who where actually racing but the majority of the people were just riding round like me trying to finish.

rare shot of me standing up!

form an orderly queue guys!

To be honest I was telling myself to stop the whole way round but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Then I suddenly perked up when I noticed time was nearly up and I had time for two more laps. I pulled up next to my girlfriend telling her this would be my last lap then headed back out on the course. I started to get a loose feeling from the rear when I hit the gravel road and knew straight away that I had a puncture.

What a letdown!

Not to worry, all I had to do is nurse it round and that would be that. Clearing the first rutted semi boggy bit I suddenly found that I had no grip when trying to climb the slope/hill to the next section. I looked down and was dismayed to see the rim spinning up inside the tyre, the rim lock obviously not holding it now it was flat. Thinking it had worked itself loose I got the tools out only to find that the rim lock nut wasn’t a 13mm and I had nothing larger. So that was that, my race was over. I lay down for a while until two marshals helped me push the bike up the slope and I half rode, half pushed it along, cutting out of the course onto a gravel fire road. Again I got stuck and the bike wouldn’t move so I parked up again. Shortly three traveling marshals found me and one suggested cable tying the wheel on the rim. I had a few in the tool bag but not enough to hold it properly. With a bit of a push I set off again paddling along and eventually limped the bike back to the car, collapsing next too it too tired to talk. Boy was I glad I didn’t have to drive home! Thanks once again to the CHEC group for putting on a good day, Phill for the lift and a special thanks to the marshals for pulling everyone through the mud when they needed it!

pushing it back wasn't part of the plan!

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