British XC Series Round 4: Cooked

Star date: 7 July 2013

Location: Margam Park, Port Talbot
Event: British XC Series Round 4
Weapon of choice: Carbon singlespeed with suspension forks and dropper post
Greatest achievement: Descending confidently
Greatest weakness: Coping with the heat
Result: 28th vet 

Last time I reckoned Margam was the best XC course ever. This time it was even better.
It was the same as at the Welsh Champs in May, but with one significant addition. For convenience, let's call it the Double Drop of Death.

As I happened to be passing through a few days before the race, I decided to squeeze in a cheeky practice lap to check out this new section. Although it's only about 30 yards long, this turned out to be a very good idea, as half-way through I had another of those you-gotta-be-kidding moments. No way am I riding off that bloody cliff!

A muddy 20-foot drop in two parts, it started with a short sharp sheer drop, levelled out just enough to scrub off a bit of speed, and then finished with a much rougher drop complete with rogue roots and a nasty-looking step. For added spice there were also various stumps and low-flying rhododendron branches throughout to catch out the unwary.

The only photo I can find of this bit, and I can't remember the source, sorry.
As usual, it was steeper than it looks, honest.

After about ten minutes walking it, rolling the bike up and down and checking out angles and lines in an attempt to overcome my fears through science and logic, I finally concluded that I probably wouldn't die as long as I didn't go too slowly or do anything silly. That said, there was nobody else around and I was still feeling very nervous. A few deep breaths to try and quell the shakes and generally man up, and off I went, duly making it down in one piece. Result!

These things are rarely as bad as they look - unless you do actually fall off and die. The challenge here was mostly in the mind but also about the change in body position required between the two halves: arse back for the first drop, and then more weight on the front so that the bike actually went where you pointed the front wheel rather than bucking you sideways.

So what about the race itself?

Archive shot from the Welsh Champs. No front row for me this time though.
Photo: Mountain Bike Photography

In theory it was a reprise of the Welsh Champs in May, only with more of the very best racers from Britain in attendance. Not having done previous rounds of the British series, I was gridded about two-thirds of the way back, and I soon lost further places in the sprint start. This is clearly an area I need to work on, because although I then regained a load of places on the fireroad climb, the singletrack climb after that was massively congested and s-l-o-w. Geared riders ahead also then kept robbing me of the momentum needed to get up the little rooty climbs and the steep bit at the very top of the course.

Despite being held up so badly and so having a very easy ride on the first lap, by the second lap I was finished. It was oppressively hot with temperatures up in the 80s, all the climbing was out in the sun, and I struggle in conditions like that even when I'm not racing up and down hills like a mad dog. But I don't think that was the whole story - perhaps I had overdone things on a mini-roadtrip to the South Wales trails earlier in the week. I just didn't have the strength in my legs for the steeper climbs and had to walk. Gears would doubtless have helped, as maybe I could have pootled up the climbs in granny ring and generally done the whole race at a lower effort level. 

Whenever I was riding, though, I was gaining places both uphill and downhill. I was descending more confidently than ever and even managed my first ever overtake on singletrack. The Descent of Doom that so freaked me out at the Welsh Champs didn't spook me at all this time. Partly through familiarity, I suppose, but partly because the line was so much wider and better worn in. I should, however, confess that on the aforementioned practice lap earlier in the week I somehow forgot to brake at the bottom and ended up ploughing straight on into the bracken and going arse over tit right in front of a team of lads clearing the trails for the weekend. Oops...

Another archive shot from the Welsh Champs - me remembering to brake after the Descent of Doom. Photo: Mountain Bike Photography

The Double Drop of Death, on the other hand, still scared the life out of me every time. On the first lap I was surprised to find the back of my saddle nuzzling my navel at one point, so the second time I took it slower - too slowly. I started to veer sideways on the first drop and had to bail out half-way down. But the next three goes went fine as I gained in confidence (or grew too tired to worry).

The official course preview video. Double drop is at 7.20 but totally flattened out by the video. Source: Welsh Cycling

This was the story of my descending in general. As the race went on, I relaxed more and more and began to explore and experience the benefits of descending faster and literally flying over many of the bumps and rocks on the trail. I was really surprised by the number of riders walking descents and taking the easier B-lines in the race. As previously documented at some length, I find these drops pretty terrifying, but I always give them a go.

That said, I don't suppose I'll ever make a downhiller.

I soldiered on for 90-odd minutes and was eventually lapped by the leaders, which was quite possibly a life-saver, sparing me from a final sixth circuit of the course. I was a complete zombie all evening and didn't feel much better the next day. I have no idea how I managed to drive home. 28th out of 47 wasn't too bad, all things considered. Note to self: Never race when it's so hot you've finished your first bottle before you've even started.

1	01:29:00	407	Marc Chamberlain	00:13:47	00:14:29	00:14:58	00:15:10	00:15:21	00:15:11
2	01:30:11	403	Crispin Doyle	00:14:27	00:14:40	00:14:53	00:15:08	00:15:17	00:15:45
3	01:34:28	421	Steve Calland	00:16:24	00:15:28	00:15:30	00:16:19	00:15:55	00:14:49
4	01:34:28	427	Simon Willats	00:15:20	00:15:11	00:15:41	00:16:05	00:16:26	00:15:43
5	01:34:29	409	Mark Spratt	00:15:19	00:15:13	00:15:35	00:15:55	00:16:12	00:16:12
6	01:35:12	404	Mark Chadbourne	00:14:57	00:16:03	00:16:02	00:16:06	00:16:07	00:15:55
7	01:37:11	419	Darren Shepherd	00:15:18	00:15:23	00:15:45	00:16:43	00:17:25	00:16:35
8	01:37:59	406	Adrian lawrence	00:15:29	00:16:39	00:16:16	00:16:26	00:16:37	00:16:30
9	01:38:51	412	Lee Hayward	00:15:22	00:16:12	00:16:15	00:16:29	00:16:59	00:17:32
10	01:39:12	408	Dan Howe	00:14:56	00:15:41	00:16:40	00:17:25	00:17:23	00:17:06
11	01:40:32	405	Anthony White	00:14:44	00:15:24	00:15:45	00:15:59	00:16:56	00:21:41
12	01:40:33	414	Brendan Murphy	00:15:21	00:16:40	00:16:53	00:16:59	00:17:29	00:17:08
13	01:41:35	417	Lloyd Bettles	00:15:37	00:16:28	00:17:07	00:17:23	00:17:18	00:17:39
14	01:42:00	411	Andrew Peace	00:15:29	00:16:26	00:17:26	00:17:40	00:17:28	00:17:29
15	01:43:01	422	Chris Walker	00:15:31	00:16:51	00:17:06	00:17:38	00:18:00	00:17:54
16	01:43:52	428	Andrew Parsons	00:16:31	00:17:14	00:17:05	00:17:40	00:17:43	00:17:36
17	01:44:06	430	Alex Slaven	00:16:03	00:17:00	00:17:44	00:18:09	00:17:56	00:17:12
18	01:44:14	432	Nick Butler	00:15:53	00:17:10	00:17:26	00:18:13	00:17:55	00:17:34
19	01:44:52	424	Sean Scott	00:16:31	00:17:21	00:17:46	00:17:43	00:17:36	00:17:52
20	01:45:23	444	Ross Porter	00:16:25	00:17:29	00:17:36	00:17:29	00:18:38	00:17:44
21	01:46:33	429	Christopher Taylor	00:16:06	00:17:02	00:17:40	00:17:40	00:18:29	00:19:34
22	01:48:28	423	Nigel Brown	00:16:01	00:17:27	00:18:19	00:18:36	00:19:02	00:19:02
23	01:51:38	431	Alan Colville	00:16:36	00:16:49	00:17:12	00:17:29	00:17:47	00:25:45
24	01:30:47	418	David Wadsworth	00:16:04	00:17:36	00:18:14	00:18:59	00:19:51
25	01:32:18	434	Chris Hunter	00:17:11	00:18:40	00:18:40	00:19:27	00:18:17
26	01:34:20	435	Patrick Stokes	00:16:49	00:17:55	00:19:17	00:19:53	00:20:24
27	01:35:44	445	David Shaw	00:16:44	00:17:41	00:19:38	00:20:19	00:21:20
28	01:36:22	442	Chris Schroder	00:17:01	00:18:04	00:20:19	00:20:04	00:20:52
29	01:38:26	452	Richard James	00:18:10	00:19:29	00:20:07	00:20:10	00:20:29
30	01:42:48	451	Michael Radburn	00:19:03	00:19:22	00:20:26	00:21:55	00:22:01
31	01:43:05	456	Gary Strickland	00:17:47	00:19:22	00:20:24	00:21:34	00:23:56
32	01:43:09	459	Bryan Preece	00:18:48	00:22:00	00:21:07	00:21:23	00:19:49
33	01:45:17	449	Nick Welsh	00:18:55	00:20:06	00:21:27	00:22:13	00:22:34
34	01:45:31	439	Ronald Barker	00:18:23	00:19:07	00:21:43	00:23:42	00:22:33
35	01:46:39	448	Philip Bromwich	00:19:04	00:21:01	00:21:31	00:22:10	00:22:52
36	01:46:49	453	Mark Webb	00:18:03	00:20:06	00:21:35	00:23:14	00:23:49
37	01:51:26	446	Andrew Ward	00:19:46	00:22:07	00:22:49	00:23:16	00:23:26
38	01:06:53	410	Peter Dawe	00:15:17	00:16:35	00:16:53	00:18:07
39	01:16:16	436	Daniel Wood	00:19:02	00:21:42	00:35:31
40	00:31:49	425	Nicholas Popham	00:15:09	00:16:40
41	00:34:52	415	Jay Horton	00:16:43	00:18:08
42	00:14:00	402	Ian Taylor	00:14:00
43	00:14:21	401	Paul Hopkins	00:14:21
44	00:15:23	413	James Metcalfe	00:15:23
45	00:17:00	440	Neil Hendry	00:17:00
46	00:19:58	454	Leigh Harris	00:19:58
47	00:20:57	447	Paul Brown	00:20:57