I have completed my first ever 12 hours race yesterday. My friend and team mate Richie Felle and myself raced the 2011 Bull Raid 12 hours XC mountainbike race as a 2 male team. The event was in Bellurgan Park wich is perfect location for a race like this.
After all the preparation we left Dublin and after a quick enough drive on the M1 motorway we arrived at about 7 pm. Picked up our registration pack and got the ThinkBike Team Camp set up for the weekend. We have picked a nice spot on the field to be close enough to the start/finish area.
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| Team ThinkBike HQ :) |
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| My shelter for the night |
By the time we got eveything ready it was about 9 pm so it was pretty much dark, we decided to skip our plan to discover the course. It was time to have our meal so we got a lovely chicken pasta for dinner that was cooked by the organizers. It was super tasty and the portion was huge. Well, we needed to fill up with carbs indeed. :)
After this we fired up our mobile grill that we bought on the way to the race and had some sweet grilled bananas with Nutella to have the dinner perfect! :)
The night was good, luckily I could get a proper sleep. I only got up once 'cause I felt cold but I had my other sleeping bag handy so I wrapped myself up and ended up to sleep in a double sleeping bag combo.
Next morning we got up at 6:20 am and started to get our gear transferred from the camp site to the team support tent in the start/finish area. We did have plenty of room, so we could set up everything the way we wanted.
After the short breifing we were ready to start. Between the two of us I was the one who started the race so I lined up with all the racers at the start line. Start at 7:30 am sharp!!!
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| Ready for the start |
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| After the start (photo by Aidan Stewart) |
After a short run I got on the bike and I was on my way to complete my first 2 laps on the 10.5 km long loop. Our team tactics was to ride 2 laps each and then swich. This way we can have a good enough rest and get back on the bike fresh.
After I've completed my first 2 laps I arrived to our tent where Richie was ready to go. I gave him the timing chip and off he went. I got changed to nice and warm, dry clothing and started my recovery until he was out on the course. I wanted to pay attention to eat and drink properly so I started to fill my stomach straigh after I got changed.
I took a seat and for the forst time I had time to think about the race course. It was superb: perfect mix of forest trails, tight and narrow switch backs, steep climbs, technical descends with savage drops, roots and rocks, rough fire roads with tyre marks. We have crossed fields with golden colour barley as high as the handlebar. This was my favourite sector of the race!
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| The barley field sector (photo by Aine Conneff) |
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| Our team tent in the start/finish area |
By the time Richie got back I got ready for my turn and after I got the chip back I was on my way again. I felt great on the bike and I really started to enjoy the race. Until the complete disaster happened...
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| I did not need this... |
I got my dropout broken during my third lap, a big piece of wood bounced up and didn't show mercy on the back of the bike. I had to walk back to the start/finish area and figure out what to do next. Luckily I did get an absolutelly incredible offer from Ciara McManus: "...We have a spare bike, you can use that if you like!..." I didn't even know what to say I was so happy to realize I don't have to abadon the race.
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| The best bike I ever got as a loan (Carbon Specialized Stumpjumer) |
So after a super quick pedal fitting, race number replacing, bottle cage fitting and seat hight adjustment I was ready to rock again. I went back to the point where the technical trouble happened and finished my third lap to get the time registered. Of course I wanted to gain some time and wanted to stick to our plan so I went out for another lap and I pushed it as hard as I could.
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| Push it hard over the bridge to make up some time I lost. (photo by Aidan Stewart) |
In the main time Richie was waiting for me all ready to go. I am sure he knew we lost good bit of time because of the mechanical problem and he really wanted to make some time up too.
Not long after this photo I arrived and he took his part hard to fight hard for a good result. :)
We were over the hard part of the day indeed and we just got into the routine: ride, rest, ride, rest... The hours were quick, we got to the afternoon in no time. About half way through the day the weather started to get a bit more grumpy and we got rain good few times in the second half of the race. The heavy traffic on the race course and the rain started to turn the technical sectors even more technical. The roots were shiny and super spillery and mud started to build up at some places. So the exciting course got even more exciting and challenging. I loved it! :)
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| During some of my many laps (photo by Aidan Stewart) |
Head down all day long push the pedals hard. After I have completed my 8th lap I have seen the timer over the finish line: we have still time to ride one more lap. Quick chip change (the last one) and Richie left the tent with full steam. He went off like a rocket! I have seen him dissappear in the forest and I knew he has one more final effort to do. But I also knew this is it. It is over, I have done my part for the day. I finished my first 12 hours mountainbike race! :)
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| Elevation graph (1 lap is missing due to manual error) |
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| Course map |
I did race 6 hours and 45 minutes and completed 8 laps in this time. Covered the distance of 85km with 1450m total elevation gain. It took 3950 kcal to finish the race.
We finished 4th (out of 12 teams) in the 2 male team category and considering the time loss caused by a mechanical problem and the fact I raced 5 laps out of my 8 laps on a borrowed bike, I can say that I'm very happy and satisfied with our result.
I would like to say thank you to Ciara and Conor from Team Summit Mountainbiking for borrowing me the bike, without their help I couln't finish the race.
Thank you for the organizer crew for all the hard work during the weekend and for putting on a very well run event. Thank you for John Clarke at ThinkBike for supporting our travel to the race.
This race was an excellent experience and I am sure I will give it a go again next year. I was so much fun to ride and such a nice achievement I might even try the solo in 2012! :)
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