On the domestic front Ben, Chris Rathbone and Nick Popham were all at the NPS XC at Sherwood Pines. Racing in his first masters race, Ben managed 19th. Mr Rathbone started at the back of the vets grid and came through to take 10th and Nick P took 27th
Unsurprisingly Chris Rathbone has now also won the FNSS vets overall(!)
Nick T meanwhile had his sights set further afield - Austria!
Nick: "As a so called 'endurance' mountain biker I try to schedule an alpine mountain bike marathon race into my summer race plan. Not to get a result I add, more to soak up the immensity of racing up and down huge mountains. It's fair to say that us UK based enthusiast racers just don't get the opportunity to train fully for hour long, 1000m climbs, so I enter these races with an open mind. Enjoy the scenery when you get the chance and put in a respectable time!
I competed in the 2012 edition of Craft Trans Alp, an 8 day Alpine stage race, the 2013 CristAlp Grand Raid, with Rich and this year entered Salzkammergut Trophy European Marathon Masters Championships in Bad Goisern, Austria. It's the biggest mountain bike race in Austria and incredibly the whole town centre closes to traffic and the scene is that of a Tour de France depart or finish town. It was a carnival in full swing as I arrived the day before! At 119km and 3800m climbing plus the added challenge of racing against Europe's best amateur marathon racers, I knew I'd be competing for a respectable time and not a position. About 150 starters in the championships start grid and in the region of 1100 right behind us for the non-licenced 'standard' race. My BC race licence categorised me for the championship race. Imagine a pick up truck on the F1 start grid and you get the picture!
As with all but one (seriously) of my races this season the weather and conditions were grim! It rained all night before the race and rained up the start of the race. It then carried on raining all morning. At least I was prepared! From the start gun the whole grid seemed to sprint the 1km long 'neutralised' start towards the first climb. It's the way it is Europe. '90mins XC pace, followed by several hours of clinging on' is how I've heard these races described. I had an alternative plan however, that would assure I'd 'enjoy' the pain and survive the distance. Basically push just beyond threshold for the first hour then settle in at threshold for the rest of the race, keep hydrated and nourished. Oh and don't overcook the 70km/hr gravel road descents!
Up the first 900m climb I quickly went backwards through the by now combined field. No worries as I knew I'd settle in, find my position and keep chugging up. I do find it a little stressful being dropped by scores of racers early on, but the trick is staying on plan. That way you don't burn your matches too early. There are always going to be those who ride off fast and stay fast - I'll never catch them unless they 'mechanical', and those that go off too hard and blow. I'll catch those later in the race. Using a bit of a broad brush, the average European racers don't do technical. Be it up/down or along - the going gets technical Mr Euro either slows down to walking pace or just walks. In the entire race I was only passed twice on anything technical. Proud of that!
After an hour I crested the first climb. I'd found my position now, toing and froing with the same racers. Stress receded. Then a fast but short descent of about 5kms - short in local terms - before hitting the next climb. Another beast of 45mins leg pain! The rain was still making everything tricky - do I wear my glasses and forgo being able to see for steamed up lens or do I go without and forgo seeing because my eyes are full of grit? Do I wear my race jacket and boil in the bag or do I take it off and get wet and cold. We've all been there!
This is pretty much how the race went for the first 5 hours......long climbs taking a long time to get up. Long descents all over in flash. I made the 5 hour mark and the sun finally came out. Much better. 75kms of 119 completed and I'd got that fantastic feeling of 'camp site legs' (going home!) and only 2 monster climbs to go. With the sunshine came some fantastic vistas over the valley area we were racing. I can't say I stopped to look, but the odd glance away from my bars/stem confirmed I was a long way up!
Yes those last 2 climbs were long and painful, but every km on the clock was one closer to the finish line. As I topped out over the last climb in a bunch of racers you could feel the euphoric sigh of relief. I was able to a good gap on the descent with only one hairy moment approaching a gravelly hairpin. A bit of drifting never hurt anyone!
The run-in into town was incredible. The streets were lined with people cheering the racers home, handing out cups of 'finishing beer' as we raced by, TV helicopter overhead, banners, Oompah band you name it. It was like Harrogate or Sheffield a couple of weekend ago, but for dirty mountain bike racers!
Quite a feeling to finish in such an atmosphere after such a tough race. I stuck around for a while, had a beer, chatted to fellow racers and started to address the calorie deficit profusely! It was a bit of a whistle stop tour flying in on the Friday, racing Saturday and flying home Sunday, but it was brilliant from start to finish. I even tolerated the rain!
So stats for the race;
- target time 8hrs, actual 08:03:56 - spot on!- Championship position 115th from 150 starters - not brilliant but refer to pick up truck comparison!- Overall position - 485th from around 1200 starters - better than I expected!- Calorie burn - 4450Kcal - time for a burger and a beer!"
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