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  • Event reports from Dirty Reiver and Tiliment UCI World Marathon Series
  • gee
    Free Member

    I know it’s a bit late, but here’s a few thoughts from two fabulous events I’ve done the last two weekends.

    Last weekend was a new type of notarace for me. I had heard about the Dirty Reiver 200km gravel notarace on singletrack, and after a little bargaining I managed to get an entry from someone who couldn’t go. I had no idea what to expect other than 200km off-road round Kielder forest on a cyclocross bike. I’d just treated myself to a new Pivot Vault with Di2 and all the trimmings, so this would be a great test of the new frame and build. I rode my Salsa Warbird off-road quite a lot – the N Downs trails are well suited to nipping in and riding a few before popping back onto the road again. This however, was slightly different. Comfortably the furthest I’ve ridden in a one-day event (not counting a 24hr solo – I did 407km at Mayhem 2006), I had no real idea of the level of challenge this would be. I know I can ride 100miles off-road on a mountain bike comfortably enough, I know I can do that much climbing, but the cross bike and the general bleakness of Kielder added a lot of guesswork to my preparation. It took me 9.5hrs to drive up on the Friday night. If I’m ever in charge of this country I’m doubling the width of the M1 and banning anyone who lives in Rotherham from owning a car. There was so much traffic and there were so many accidents – granted it was raining but even so. The drive up took me back down memory lane from my time at Durham Uni – driving through Tow Law in the snow certainly brought back memories!

    The morning of the notarace was bitterly cold, barely above freezing but thankfully it was no longer snowing. The start was neutralised, and so after about 10km we set at it. I did my usual thing of attacking up the first hill to see what happened. All the best laid teamwork plans Matt and I had went out of the window. Sorry Matt… Pretty quickly it was down to myself and Jo Norledge; not someone I really knew but it was great to have a chat. Turns out Jo beat me at the Nat Champs last summer by one place – small world. After 60km I noticed Jo was slowing a bit on the climbs and so put the hammer down climbing out of feed station 1. I got a gap of about 5 mins through feed 2, but then the somewhat inevitable happened and I got a puncture on the rocks. So much for smooth gravel – these fire roads were really rough! Just as I was setting off, Jo went past. We rode together again until it was his turn to get a flat, then I was on my own for the last 40km or so and ended up
    being first home by about 10mins after getting dumped on by a passing snowstorm for the last 15km or so. Nice. The route had some stunning views across the countryside, some epically bumpy fire roads and was right on the limit of what a cross bike could be ridden on in places. In terms of kit; the Di2 was flawless and a real benefit when I was totally ruined and couldn’t concentrate any more – so much better than shoving a shift lever in that sort of situation. The Reynolds black label wheels put up with an absolute hammering and are still round and crack free. Phew. The Pivot Vault frame coped similarly admirably; although I must say I was very jealous of Jo on his front suspension mountain bike! It was a great event, brilliantly organised by Paul Errington and co, and certainly one I’ll think about doing again. Gravel riding seems to have finally made it to the UK.

    This weekend I was in Spilimbergo, Northern Italy, for the UCI Marathon World Series Tiliment Bike Race.

    Most importantly I got snowed on AGAIN.

    It was an amazing, mad, mad race here in Spilimbergo for the UCI Marathon World Series. It’s not every day you get to race against half a dozen National Champions and the World Champion – who Ben and I ended up having gnocchi with after the race. What nice blokes Alban and his mechanic Pete are. The race covered 104km of brilliant trails, really fast and flowy on the whole. We’ll forget about the 20 minutes of abject terror descending a 1200m mountain in the snow on slippery muddy trails and (remarkably) even more slippery cobblestone singletrack. I don’t think something that slippery has been known of since before someone invented ice. The first 30km and last 30km led me into a false sense of security as the trails were a lot like the Surrey Hills; really fast, dry given the rain yesterday and some nice little jumps. The middle 45km involved riding up a mountain for a little over an hour, getting snowed on in shorts and a short sleeve jersey, getting so cold I couldn’t work the brakes or gears then getting cramp on the way back down as I was soooo cold! Luckily a friendly marshal was there to sort me out. Only lost about 5mins as to the group I was with looking at the results, so not too bad. I ended up 51st overall and 34th in elite men, so maybe some points for a decent gridding at the Houffalize round of the UCI World Marathon Series next weekend where, unbelievably, snow is again forecast. Anyone who says “global warming” is a liar of the highest calibre!!

    Ben had a great ride to finish 20th against some top international riders, including national champions and the World Champion.

    thestabiliser
    Free Member

    Chapeau

    boxelder
    Full Member

    Coming to the Kielder 101 gee?

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    gee
    Free Member

    No – it’s too far to drive up there twice a year. Plus I don’t really have a free weekend between now and the 17 August. Sorry!

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