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News › Thetford WS1: Gray's Report |
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The weather and surface conditions were good for the first round of the Thetford Winter Series. After meeting up with Ham and a quick coffee at his Abbey residence we bombed up the M11 with only one wrong turn in Brandon to meet a smiley (but visibly recovering) Matt at the race site.
The weather and surface conditions were good for the first round of the Thetford Winter Series. After meeting up with Ham and a quick coffee at his Abbey residence we bombed up the M11 with only one wrong turn in Brandon to meet a smiley (but visibly recovering) Matt at the race site.
The course was generally in good shape and the long section of fireroad before the first singletrack section had the benefit of sorting things out much better than in the same event (run the other way round) last year. The course also seemed much more flowy and I (mainly) enjoyed the characteristic woops, really pumping into them and feeling the benefit of the full susser. The second bombhole had a great bermy bit that really worked if you took at nearly horizontal! The main problem coursewise was having the bombholes so near the start of the race. A smally queue had formed when I got to the first bombhole but as I came out of it I could see about thirty people waiting to go down. It must have been a nightmare for the 200 odd starters in the two hour race.
Matt did a fantastic job as team manager, handing out bottles and food, carrying out running repairs and cheering us on with information about lap times and a rousing “bring it home Gray” in the last lap. Normally it’s only the top guys that get that kind of support and it really boosted us to feel looked after in that way. Also not having to carry an extra 1 ½ kilos of weight through the first half of the race undoubtedly helped.
In terms of my own ride, I tried to keep the tempo high for a bit longer than I had managed in the past and indeed did very consistently quick laps for the first four laps. However, psychologically I’d prepared to slow down a bit on the fifth lap and judging by my times, probably slowed more than I should have done or needed to do. The fifth (and oddly) seventh laps also saw me accelerating a bit too much on the FR, and although my HR was higher for those laps I wasn’t faster. Learning points: avoid really peaking on the HR, keep it simply consistently high and the riding smooth. On the solid food side, I’d been taking on fig rolls. They were certainly nourishing but hard work to get down and as a result I probably didn’t eat as much as I should have on the earlier laps. Switching to a banana on the last two laps gave me a real boost.
As for the racing I had a good battle against a couple of guys, both of whom I managed to beat in the final two laps. It was a real game of ping pong with the guy from Edinburgh RC who hitched a lift behind Luke Smith and Paul Ashby on the final lap to get past me. However, he seemed cooked by the experience and I had the energy to get past him again. In the end he also got passed by the guy from Dior XT so that short high speed burst probably didn’t help him in the long run.
My time overall was really satisfying especially to come in effectively only 30 minutes behind Luke and Paul (for their 8 lap time). Last year they’d been beating me by an hour or so. I also did much better relatively to some of my regular opponents (Chris Nightingale and Daniel Wood). Having done so many Beastway events I also felt psychologically strong and well prepared in a way in which I didn’t last year. My key area of weakness in race preparation is probably now clothing. Not having a long sleaved top definitely meant I felt the cold and my ten year old flappy leggings are beyond a joke!
Finally, it was great at the end to cheer Ham home in the gathering gloom with the broom wagon buggy following him back along the course, its white light beaming out behind in. Ham did a great ride and considering his back wasn’t in good shape a brilliant one, only just down on his own target of 58th overall in the 16-39 and over 40s combined.
Vital statistics: 13/52 16-39 age range, 18/89 all ages, av heart rate first four laps 168, av heart rate overall 164. Time 4 hrs 19 mins for 8 laps = 52 miles.
Posted by gray on Tuesday, November 13, 2007 (08:30:29) (739 reads)
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| "Thetford WS1: Gray's Report" | Login/Create an Account | 3 comments |
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| The comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content. |
Re: Thetford WS1: Gray's Report
(Score: 1 )
by hambones brokenbones on Tuesday, November 13, 2007 (11:23:43)
Great report Gray. I won't post a full one of my own since it will for the main mirror what you have written.
I will say though that personally I was very pleased with the number of laps/distance this time compared to last year. The mental torment a had on lap 6 as to whether to get round in time for another lap was quite a struggle and I am very glad I did even if it hurt like hell.
Things to note - do NOT ride for 4 1/2 hours XC with a hard race saddle!!! Do NOT get stuck behind a nervous female rider at a bombhole - on the first lap said lady held up over half of the 4 hour field and she got some terrible abuse! She just froze at the top (think Shoot Your Load into slightly muddy ruts at the bottom) and finally after much heckling got off and scrambled down.
A thoroughly painful yet enjoyable experience - looking forward to Round 2 already!
Re: Thetford WS1: Gray's Report
(Score: 1 )
by hambones brokenbones on Tuesday, November 13, 2007 (11:26:39)
For the record I did 7 laps covering 45.5 miles - as ever with my race style there was a gradual decrease in speed lap on lap - I need to think more about pacing. HR for the first 2 laps averaged 169 but by lap 7 was down to 154 - giving an overall average of 160. Speed also dropped from 11.9mph Lap 1 down to 8.8mph last lap!
Re: Thetford WS1: Gray's Report
(Score: 1 )
by getcarter on Wednesday, November 14, 2007 (17:56:03)
great fun to watch the guys racing for a change - well done to both!!
more support at the next rounds would be a bonus 
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