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News › Matts dusk2dawn 2006 report |
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Matts Dusk2Dawn 2006 Report
It can be hard to transfer a set of experiences, sensations and emotions from the psyche to a series of paragraphs - and my experience at this years dusk2dawn 2006 Is no exception to the rule - but I will try In my clumsy manner to convey them as best I can....
I guess the thing about extreme ultra endurance sports Is the personal challenges that an Individual participating In such an event will face. It can define who we are on a very raw and honest level. Physical pain, mental pain, self-management In crisis, deep exhaustion and our ability to function whilst experiencing this tiredness on both a mental and physical level, then add the art of pacing, feeding strategy, night time riding, and all while attempting to compete against others participating In the same event Is quite a challenge for anybody... and perhaps a chance to express ourselves In a way that modern life doesn't really permit... hence the growing popularity of marathon and endurance racing over the last few years.
Dusk2Dawn Is the original and first of the night time enduros - starting at dusk and riding twelve hours through the night until the glorious sunrise the next morning.
The traditional thetford setting Is well known for the swooping singletrack and back pounding whoops, which a few hours It can really start to get you!
This years course has been touted as one of - If not THE - best dusk2dawn course In Its four year history...
much has been said already In other reports about the course and Its various attributes - what I will add Is that the course, In my mind, seemed to spend the first half of Its 9.1 miles gently descending, and the second half gently climbing. The singletrack flowed like only good, naturally bermed rolling singletrack can - Interspersed with a few sections of linking fireroad. Several log jumps kept riders on their toes and gave the opportunity for some air If so Inclined. After seven miles, the course passed back through the arena and gave the solo riders access to their pits by branching off to the right down the pit lane, while the course carried on for a hundred yards to a left turn. Pitting solo riders rejoined the course at this point, and the course returned to the woods, then up the plumbuster climb and up the final fireroad climb back to the arena for just over 9 miles of sweet riding pleasure!!
Arriving at just after midday on saturday - I found the arena starting to get busy, and the carpark guides pointed me In the direction of the solo pits, where this year solo riders were to park In a 100metre section of the arena In a herringbone style, with the pit lane running down the middle, and riders could actually pit from the back of our cars - excellent! much easier than humping gear to a 6 foot pit half a mile away!
Signing on followed by a quick hello to some familiar faces, then I headed back to the car and made friends with my neighbouring "pitsters" - Lee - a triathlete on one side (his first off road enduro - tho he'd done the Ironman before!!) and Andrew (the eventual solo mens winner!! ).
Note: During the race, Dusk2Dawn solo riders are recognisable to each other by the green glowstick that we are given at signing on. This Is attached to our seatpost - otherwise how would we know who we were riding against? a great Idea as at other events It Is hard to spot rivals amongst all the other categories...
Off for my recce lap at race pace 80% max hrm - 45 mins - no worries!! my aim would be to complete as many 45 min laps as possible, luck and the mechanical gods permitting - hopefully 15 or maybe 16 laps If all went well...
After changing, eating and making some adjustments to my bike, I managed to get my head down for a few hours In the afternoon - seeing as I would be up all night!
At 5.30pm the riders briefing went without a hitch - and we were all back at our cars by 6pm making final preperations for the 7pm start.
The start would be at the bottom of the gravel climb at the end of the lap, so as to give the field a chance to spread out before it hit the singletrack a mile or so after the start finish line proper. With this In mind, I decided to head down to the start a little bit early and try to Insert my self Into the line not to far from the front. I didnt want to get caught up In any crashes or singletrack bottlenecks - even though I planned a very steady start - consistent laps being the aim - fingers crossed!
Standing In a massive crowd of bikers with so much light Is a great experience - and especially seeing the stream of riders riding down the gravel climb towards us - looked like a snake of light winding Its way down through the forest In best "thirteenth warrior" style... only problem being that that new riders kept joining the front of the line, meaning I had to keep moving up through the gathered riders to stay nearish the front.
As time approached, excited chatter and laughter were the order of the day (night!) and at just 7pm, the lead out quad bike pulled away and the 2006 d2d had started!
I got away smoothly and In the first 50 or so riders, avoiding trouble and settling Into my rythym as early as possible - with the obviously faster team and pairs riders steaming past before we hit the singletrack - all going to plan so far.
The first lap went to plan - 47min - slightly slower due to the Increased distance of the gravel climb and my making a deliberate effort to hold back from the excitement... my Lumicycle Hid lamp lighting up a large area In front of me really helped - allowing me to concentrate on riding and not worry about the darkness... the halogens and LEDs used by other riders seemed dim by comparison!
Heading Into the second lap the field had thinned considerably and I could let go In the singletrack without slower riders holding me up - feeling good and nicely warmed up - a 43min lap...
lap three no problem - 44min
lap 4 no problem - 45min
lap 5 Included a planned pit stop to refill my hydration system and take on more food - I had been eating one torq bar per lap - 54mins.
At that point I probably should have swapped batteries - but Instead carried on with the same battery till the next lap and pitted again - lap 6 - 52 mins - not Ideal - had lost several mins by the time I had swapped batts over - but hey ho!
It was around midnight by now and for me quite a mentally tough part of the ride - 5 hours In - not quite half way - starting to tire and back aching - and knowing I still had seven hours to go was a bit demoralising - but I find counting down Is a good way to manage the hours/laps - and a bit of "non-thinking" and focussing on riding, breathing, trying to spin the gears and maintain as fluid and efficient a style as possible - maximum gain for minimum effort If you like. The fact that I was still traveling quite rapidly and passing lots of other riders motivated me quite a bit - although I didnt have a clue as to my position!!
Anyway - recharged and refuelled I banged out three consecutive 46 min laps without any problems - then lap 10 was another pitting lap to take on food and drink again - 58mins.
I followed up with two 47 min laps - 11 and 12 - but this Is where I ran Into a feeding problem - namely being physically sick due to the force feeding. I really struggled at that point - and mostly kept going through sheer willpower. The main obstacle being I coudn't keep any solid food down without vomiting, so spent almost 2 laps without taking on food - which led to a forced stop to grab an emergency mars bar when I finally ran out of energy at around 5am, so lap 13 was a 53 min lap Instead of the 47 min lap I would of done. I managed to stomach food after this and recovered some strength. Unfortunately, my second battery finally gave up the ghost(after 7 hours!!) which meant a trip to the pits to change over to my spare bike/light system towards the end of the penultimate lap 14 - 57mins... more time lost by poor pit strategy.
Through the timing chute and onto the last lap at 0640 and I felt ok - tired but rejuvenated by the slowly returning daylight to record a 48min final lap without really pushing too hard.... as i approaching the finish the crowd was pretty big, bearing In mind It was around 0730 on a sunday morning - and It was a great feeling tanking up the finish straight knowing It was over - Its funny, but all the tiredness and fatigue seemed to lift on the last lap... was very relieved to finish though and no major problems to complete a solid 15 laps - and I still didn't have a clue how I had done! (timelaps had a computer glitch during the night and the lack of updates meant that nobody really knew much about their positions at any point through the night...)
....staggered back to the car and sat down for the first time In 12 hours.... slowly!!
arse very sore, knees shot, back stiff and dog tired..... finally got changed and put bikes away, headed down to the burger van for three cheeseburgers and a jacket potatoe, 2 flapjacks and a strong cup of coffee or seven!!
timelaps put the results up at around 8am, and I was pretty happy with 5th place...
4 mins behind 4th, 6 mins behind 3rd, 15 mins behind 2nd ;-( - the winner was a lap ahead - I dont think I could of matched his pace to be honest - not this year anyway.... next year... who knows?
So - analysis of performance and how It could of been Improved? well - I reckon with a better pit strategy I might of held second place - some of my stops could of been avoided - Ie on consecutive laps - which I estimate lost me maybe 15 to 20 mins.... which would of put me up to second place. most of my laps were faster than all but the winner - It was the time I lost pitting that was my main problem., so next year I will aim to reduce my time In the pits somehow...
Next year I will use two lumicycle endurance batteries, which will mean only swapping batteries once - and work more on my feeding strategy so I dont get sick to the point of not being able to eat!!
Absolutely great fun and a fantastic and highly rewarding experience. Anybody fancy giving it a go next year ? 
matt
Posted by getcarter on Wednesday, November 01, 2006 (20:41:55) (584 reads)
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