Welsh XC Series Round 3 and Welsh XC Championships: Gimme a brake!

Star date: 18 May 2014
Location: Fforest Fields
Event: Welsh XC Series Round 3/Welsh XC Championships
Weapon of choice: Carbon hardtail 29er with 20 gears
Greatest achievement: Not stomping off home in a strop
Greatest weakness: That pesky little matter of speed
Result: 6th in race, 5th in champs

I seem to be cursed in this year's XC series:

• Round 1: Two flats
• Round 2: One flat

So round 3 was very much last-chance saloon territory. If I didn't have a decent race without mechanicals, that was it. I'd stick to endurance events in future, no more XC for me.

I haven't had much luck in past Welsh XC champs either:

• 2011: Pedal disaster
• 2012: Saddle disaster

Admittedly I still bagged bronze medals in both of those years, at a time when I was, frankly, still a bit crap, but that just made it all the more frustrating last year when I only managed fourth place despite being way fitter and faster and nothing actually going wrong. Anyway, this time I was really fired up and determined to get back on the podium.

So what did round 3 and the 2014 champs bring?

• One brake

Yep, no sooner had I hopped on the bike for a warm-up than the rear brake locked on with the lever dangling uselessly in need of an urgent Viagra infusion. Apparently it was something not readily curable to do with seals and return springs. Likely cause (get this): overheating in the back of the car. All I can say is don't ever let me get a dog! Anyway, big thanks to Gareth Rowlands from Cycle-Tec for the diagnosis and for helping to run round trying, in vain, to find someone with a suitable brake to borrow.

Decision time. Drive straight back home cursing and crying and maybe squeeze in a consolation ride locally on the singlespeed - or man up and race anyway.

• Me: "Do you think I'll be OK with one brake?"
• Consensus: "Not on that course, you'll die."

So I decided to give it a go. Fforest Fields is always a climber's course anyway, and I could always run/abseil the scariest bits. But any chance of a result was gone. I surprised myself by cresting the first big climb in the leading group with relative ease, so I do now wonder what might have been... But then we started to head back down again and that, basically, was that.

Note two-fingered death grip on front brake.

Great photo by Roy Bevis while taking a break from heckling me.

The problem with having only a front brake is three-fold:

1. Brake too hard and you'll fly over the bars, with potentially dire consequences
2. Brake too gently and you just don't slow down, with potentially dire consequences
3. Brake moderately and it still messes with the bike's handling, with, er, potentially dire consequences

And that's before you consider the effects on the mind - and I find descending fearlessly a challenge at the best of times. My initial approach was therefore to creep along at such a low speed that I wouldn't ever need to slow down. Which worked pretty well in terms of keeping me alive but had its disadvantages. Not only is going slowly not the ideal race tactic, but there were spectators and photographers on both descents, making it deeply, horribly, cringingly embarrassing.

Luckily the leafy loam and myriad roots were bone-dry and full of grip, so I was able to speed up somewhat each lap as I grew more proficient at hanging off the saddle to drive weight down behind, rather than over, the front wheel. I only went over the bars the once, and bounced well. The course was more tricky than scary anyway, so in the end I was happy riding everything apart from one short drop on the first descent (having gone arse over tit running down it on the first lap, I opted for riding the longer but easier B-line after that).

I felt really strong on the uphill sections, easily passing people on both climbs every single lap - only to have to let them past again on the descents. Come the last lap, though, I was so fed up with this pattern that I decided to lose the two guys I'd been playing cat-and-mouse with for the last hour by red-lining up the hills and easing off on the brake (sic!) on the descents. I even managed to pass another rider on the final climb and almost, almost caught one more in a lactic-tastic sprint finish (turns out he wasn't in my category anyway, so I was, like, whatever). All this made my last lap as quick as my first, which is unusual and testament to the power of bloodymindedness.

On the first lap I was even scared on the flat bits.

Photo by Roy Bevis.

Sixth in the race and fifth in the champs was disappointing, but looking at the times even with three brakes I don't think I could have stayed with the top three. Even so, I really enjoyed the ride. Dry trails always help, but against expectations it was a gem of a course. I found it a bit dull last year, but a new rooty descent, a carpet of bluebells and a bit of tweaking worked wonders.

So, am I now going to flounce out of XC racing for good? Well, I'm still thinking that 70-80 minutes is just too short. By the time you've driven there, faffed, raced, faffed and driven home, you could've had a whole day's riding from your door - and unlike in longer races it's nigh-on impossible to recover from a puncture or mechanical. On the other hand, a really good course like this one can still make it worthwhile. I also have unfinished business - I'd love to have one clean XC race this year to see what level I'm really at. I feel faster than ever.

So, one more race, a really good course, let me think... Seems all roads lead to the British Series race at Margam on 15 June!

Before that, though, I have a big wilderness ride lined up in the form of the Red Kite Events Devil's Challenge 130km on 8 June. I probably won't come out of that one complaining it's too short.

1	01:13:23	Roy Davis, Roy Davis Cycles	00:17:39	00:18:26	00:18:19	00:18:59
2	01:14:15	Christopher Kay, Wrexham Roads Club	00:17:27	00:18:24	00:19:06	00:19:18
3	01:14:54	Mark Spratt, Cardiff JIF	00:17:34	00:18:29	00:19:34	00:19:18
4	01:17:37	Timothy Davies, CC Abergavenny/JP Signs	00:18:01	00:21:19	00:19:06	00:19:12
5	01:21:33	David Watt, Team Elite	00:18:19	00:20:25	00:20:54	00:21:55
6	01:28:38	Chris Schroder, Sarn Helen	00:21:06	00:23:11	00:22:39	00:21:43
7	01:29:10	Richard Bowen, Gateway Racing	00:19:48	00:21:47	00:22:42	00:24:53
8	01:30:36	Andrew Gibbs, Cwmcarn Paragon Cycle Club	00:20:37	00:22:29	00:23:08	00:24:22
9	01:33:08	Simon James	00:21:01	00:23:14	00:24:24	00:24:29
10	01:39:29	Jon Howes	00:22:34	00:24:25	00:26:25	00:26:05

No Strava today - stupid Garmint packed in as well!

Welsh XC Series Round 3: Flat course leaves me cold

Star date: 21 Apr 2013
Location: Fforest Fields, Builth Wells
Event: Welsh XC Series Round 3
Weapon of choice: Carbon singlespeed with suspension forks and dropper post
Greatest achievement: Staying strong
Greatest weakness: Falling off
Result: 8th veteran / 1st singlespeed

Struggling to find much to say, for once, so I'm going to keep this one short and sweet, unlike the race (ho, ho). Not that there was that much wrong with the course, the organisation, the bike, the weather or my performance. It was just nothing special. I rode up and down some hills as fast as I could, fell off a few times, got a bit muddy, all the usual stuff, end of story.

In fact, it's tempting to limit this to a photo feature, courtesy of the wonderful and nigh-on omnipresent Mr Bevis, a man with an peculiar fetish for spending whole days lying around in muddy places:

"OMG, if I get stuck in this mud I'll end up in the stream!"
(It was muddier than it looks)

"OMG, if I don't change direction fast I'll end up in the stream!"
(It was tighter than it looks)

"OMG, if I don't make it up the bank I'll end up in the stream!"
(It was steeper than it looks)

Cheeky rear view of the same section

However, there are just a couple of things I need to get off my chest:

1. Cold start

For once I warmed up properly. I arrived at the start exactly one minute before the allotted kick-off time, stripped down to an admittedly optimistic short-sleeved top and shorts after spotting a ray of sunshine - and proceeded to spend more than 15 minutes being shunted back and forth like Thomas the Tank Engine's grumpy coal trucks as the commissaires organised and reorganised and gridded and regridded all the different categories. By the time us wrinklies started, my heart rate had pretty much flatlined and I was shivering like a jelly on a wobble board. Not good.

And what exactly was the idea behind gridding us five across on a track only wide enough for three abreast? Given that we then headed straight into an open field, we might as well have lined up there 50 riders across. What difference can a five-second head start possibly make over a 90-minute race?

All the difference, it would seem. As soon as we got off the track, nearly the entire field went sprinting past me in a desperate lemming-like urge to get a good start. Only when we then turned onto the inevitable fireroad climb, the ol' singlespeed rhythm kicked in and I promptly sailed back past most of them without any increase in my effort. Why sprint all-out for 400 yards and then drop into granny ring as soon as you hit the hill? Madness. But then who am I to lecture anyone on pacing? 

2. Flat course

It was billed as a course for climbers and there was indeed one very big hill (which was as quick to walk as to ride), but somehow it still seemed rather flat. The climbs were a bit dull and, aside from the first muddy slide back down through the woods, the payoff was limited. The level section at the bottom seemed to go on forever, and the endless roots at the far end of the course got on my nerves after a while.

The bloggers and forumites of xcracer.com (the only place to go for XC and endurance racing news, results, reviews, debate, spares and so much more) seem to have loved the course, however. It was proper old skool, apparently. Meaning what - dull? If this was old skool, give me nu XC any day.

Originally the course was supposed to have even more climbing but the descent was deemed too slippery on the day. An interesting decision which kind of says it all for me. The course definitely felt bowdlerised.

Of course, it might have been a very different story in the wet.

The technical challenges were limited to the likes of this monstrous three foot drop.

 
As for my performance, I didn't run out of energy, I only hurt myself once and I went pretty much as fast as I could the whole way round, which was faster than most but not as fast as some. Given that the guy I was battling with until I fell off was waaaaay out of my league two years ago, and the guy who finished two places behind me lapped me in Crickhowell last year, I suppose I did quite well. It just didn't feel like it.
 
Next up, my two big target races for the season: the Dyfi Enduro on 5 May and the Welsh XC Champs on the new World Cup course at Margam Park on 19 May. Can't imagine either of them being flat!

1	01:22:44	Brendan Murphy, Mondraker UK	00:19:18	00:20:20	00:21:04	00:22:02
2	01:22:56	Lee  Hayward, Southfork Racing.co.uk	00:19:45	00:20:51	00:21:20	00:21:01
3	01:23:48	Mark Spratt, Cardiff JIF	00:19:42	00:20:44	00:21:23	00:21:59
4	01:24:06	David Watt, VC Melyd	00:19:58	00:20:56	00:21:33	00:21:39
5	01:26:35	Nick Butler, Southfork Racing.co.uk	00:19:56	00:22:19	00:22:22	00:21:58
6	01:29:05	Christopher Taylor, Wolverhampton Whls	00:20:01	00:21:36	00:22:58	00:24:30
7	01:31:43	Ross  Porter, Cwmcarn Paragon	00:21:47	00:22:48	00:23:14	00:23:55
8	01:33:49	Chris Schroder, Sarn Helen	00:21:44	00:22:55	00:24:35	00:24:36
9	01:34:19	Robert Orr, Matlock CC	00:22:05	00:23:11	00:24:29	00:24:35
10	01:34:48	Terry Breen-Smith, mtb-marathon.co.uk	00:22:04	00:23:43	00:24:45	00:24:17
11	01:37:09	Philip Bromwich, Evesham & District Whls CC	00:23:03	00:24:09	00:24:42	00:25:16
12	01:37:21	Paul Gibbons, Climb On Bikes CC	00:22:32	00:24:46	00:25:16	00:24:47
13	01:38:04	Jason Tompkins, Cycle Coaching Wales/Lodge Cycles	00:23:14	00:24:22	00:25:17	00:25:11
14	01:48:39	David Davies, TRCC (Towy Riders Cycling Club)	00:24:23	00:27:36	00:28:11	00:28:30
15	01:51:14	Steven Higgins-Worrall, Abergavenny Road Club	00:25:26	00:28:03	00:28:53	00:28:52
16	01:53:10	Alan Gardner, Bi-ped cycles	00:26:28	00:28:14	00:28:27	00:30:01
17	01:29:17	Sion Clarke, Onit Sports	00:27:34	00:30:06	00:31:37
18	01:36:10	Arwel Ace	00:29:27	00:33:27	00:33:17
19	01:43:24	LEYTON SHILLIBIER, RHIWRCIELIOG RIDERS	00:31:36	00:34:41	00:37:07
20	01:43:27	Ricky Macgough, mtb-marathon.co.uk	00:31:34	00:35:02	00:36:52
21	01:47:47	Gerwyn Evans, West Wales Cycle Racing Team	00:30:53	00:38:17	00:38:38

Series standings:

1 Lee Hayward	Southfork Racing.co.uk
2 Mark Spratt	Cardiff Jif
3 Nick Butler	Southfork Racing.co.uk
4 Chris Schröder	Sarn Helen

Strava and out.