A little report from this excellent event… I saw Graham was there on his belt drive bike – did anyone else do it?

Sunday was the Gorrick 12:12, a 12hr enduro run midday to midnight at Minley Manor which is 10mins from my house so I thought it would be worth a go – if it started to rain I’d just go home!

I raced pairs with Wiggle’s Matt Page after a last-minute entry. With the torrential rain on Saturday round here it started out pretty slippery and splashy, but within a couple of laps a dry line had formed and the course was riding really well. The trails were fantastic and really good fun – this, along with the Brighton Big Dog – gets my vote as the best enduro venue. It got faster as the race went on. We led from the start and ended up lapping 2nd place (Josh Ibbett of USE and Craig Bowles) towards the end, so we won the pairs category and finished 3rd overall, only 2 teams of 4 managed to beat us. It was a fantastic race in perfect weather – finally!! – and Matt’s lushly converted Transit campervan made it a delightful experience all round. We were both running Exposure lights and managed not to crash into any trees or holes so they must be good. A great way to end the competitive race season for 2012.

Matt’s blog entry is here: http://mattpageracing.blogspot.co.uk

GB

Great result! I’ve just read Matt’s blog too, which was good! Certainly an event I’ll be doing next year.

Awesome race wasn’t it? Course changes worked really well and it coped superbly with the previous day’s deluges – a bit draggy in places for a while but nothing to worry about.

Didn’t feel remotely fit enough for the race, but entered solo anyway through inertia. Felt an almost overwhelming desire to quit from about 3 hours in, but forced myself onwards and eventually outlasted the pack as the night laps wore on. Lap and a half behind Rich Rothwell though – he’s a bit handy :-p

Great event……all seemed to go smoothly and the course rode really well. My first 12 hour solo (vet)…I was chuffed to come 4th. I guess that means I now have to do another one to see if I can go one better 😉

Just in case he is on here, I got a lot of moral support from a team rider on another Yeti5 on my penultimate lap – he was a top bloke, and really encouraged me to go out for a last lap to see if I could push for 3rd. it turns out there was a miscalculation from my ‘pit crew’ (wife and our camping neighbour) and I never could have got it, but at least I went out for a last lap – truly solo…i left at 11.58 and didn’t see another rider the whole lap! cheers to everyone on the course who was offering soloists such encouragement…really made things easier.

It was indeed another great event with a really interesting and fun course. Well done to Gee and Matt on their result, but also to all the other riders for making it a lot of fun with a great atmosphere.

Thanks to the Gorrick/ACU guys for putting it all together again, and to the caterers – good food and drink at reasonable prices.

I was only there as pit crew, but it did seam like a good event. And will be looking to ride it next year. Every one looked they they enjoyed themselves 🙂

“good food and drink” – really? Grudge burgers? You must live somewhere without an M&S. Or even a Sainsbury’s.

The steak baguette was yummy actually so maybe I’m being harsh.

GB

Yep fantastic event, came in 22nd in mens pairs, not bad for our first ever endurance event. You’ll be the chap in the green salsa kit who went past me like I was stationary then… Really memorable bits with the dj, glow sticks and people clapping / honking horns every lap.

One negative was the random bit of metal that I and several others punctured on. It had been removed by our lap 8 so sorted quickly. I was also expecting 2 hrs in the evening with some music and beers but it was more like a school prize giving day!

I,ve got to do some research on what to eat, ended up with massive tummy cramps around 10pm and been feeling sick most of today. Lots to learn.

Anyone know exactly how long the laps were?

A little shy of 8 miles.

I have done this every year, and I thought this was the best course yet. Excellent to do a long race in dry conditions for once, we were very lucky with the weather as Saturday and Monday were both wet.

I was solo, and raced on a new bike I bought on Wednesday, and only rode for the first time on Thursday, so wasn’t really sure how the race was going to unfold. In the end very pleased to clock up 15 laps and finish 4th in Solo Male. Nice to occasionally bump into the endurance legend offthebrakes. Only mechanical issue was a bottle cage working loose after 7 laps or so. One minor crash when I clipped a tree in Banksey, but apart from that the race was fairly uneventful. I had a quick chat with belt drive Graham on one of the climbs. I think Gee passed me twice.

I thought Quavers were good, for outside caterers they provide decent fast food without much waiting. The two egg and bacon rolls I had this morning were great.

Commentary was much appreciated, nice to hear where you are in the race as you finish a lap.

Excellent effort by the three girls cheering people on in Olympic Ridge, they were there for 14 of my 15 laps.

Rexated – the guy on the Yeti who provided the moral support was Andy Guerin (owns/runs Purple Bike Shed). He mentioned it when he got back and we all thought he had been sadistic to make you go out again 🙂

Jason – you too will be old enough for the legends category next year 😉

Thanks for keeping me motivated, even though I’m sure that wasn’t your intention. And you bagged Four4th place to keep our sponsor happy!

Great event great venue, I really miss having that as my back yard! Anyway stepped out of a solo ride into the fairly handy Mixed team of Four4th lights at short notice, having raced the national xc on Sat, all went well apart from a puncture early on and we eventually shook off competition from the Gore team to take a comfortable win!

We came a modest 8th (out of a field of 11) in the mixed pairs and thought it was a great event – very enjoyable course and decent weather in the end.. the course got quicker as I got slower!

Great effort by all those involved – riders, helpers and organisers.

🙂

Excellent event on a really good course – thoroughly enjoyed it

My first ever event as a pair and i was really pleased to come in 14th – my team mate rode an epic race after a couple of days off work sick during the week.

Great event with some wonderful things around the course to keep you going – but big hats of to anyone completing the solo event – very impressive

I might just have a go next year 😀

Great event and the course was spot on, almost fell off when I took hands off the bars and shouted “shabba” at the disco under the bridge, gets better each year as an event.

Team Possum Power managed a respectable 12th out of 24 in the mixed team. We had an emergency replacement girl (due to injury) who was racing in an endurance event for the first time. She loved it by the way and is talking about doing the women’s pairs next year!!

Great course though. Thoroughly enjoyed it, and a really friendly atmosphere.

btw, we were the “motivators” with the two horns cheering everyone on. I hope you all got a honk at some point!

Had a fantastic day there as well.
I’ve not been a fan of some of the Gorrick races in the past but this was something else. The organisation was great, the course was excellent and the facilities were pretty good to boot.

It was my first endurance event, done off the back of no training as I never got round to it, but despite this I still managed my 8 lap target and finished in 37th!

There was a brilliant atmosphere at the event with plenty of support round the course from spectators. I was also really impressed by the encouragement given to myself and other solos by some of the fast boys as the night went on.

@sam_underhill, the ‘motivation’ with the horns was great, made me chuckle every time I passed you guys!

Well done to Gee and Matt for the win, one thing though, Matt really needs to sort out the squeak on his bike, the two or three times he passed me I could hear him coming from miles behind 😀

Huge thanks also to the three girls who were sat in the trees on the Olympic Ridge section for virtually the whole race clapping and cheering on every rider who passed. They must have been frozen by the end of the night 😯

Roll on next years event 🙂

I was there as pit crew, have ridden it the last 4 years but taking a break this time.

I did take some photos will pop a link up later in case any of you appear in any

Brilliant event, well done Gorrick! Good organisation, good course and good weather helps – my first dry race in the UK this year!

Atmosphere on course was brilliant, DJ, glow lights, horns and bells and lots of people cheering you on.
Everyone on course was great too, which can be a problem on courses with so much singletrack.

Great to race with George, happy with our lap times (all 20 sub 40min!) and how we did overall compared to the teams.

Well done to Gee and Matt for the win, one thing though, Matt really needs to sort out the squeak on his bike, the two or three times he passed me I could hear him coming from miles behind

I had a small stick stuck in my back wheel for almost a whole lap, it was VERY annoying! Didn’t want to stop though 🙂 My brakes are also a little noisy, but that can be helpful at times.

Had an ace time, friendly and fun. Usually on holiday this time of year and miss out. Thanks to the Army for the use of the land and well done to Gorrick and ACU for organising the event.

I had a small stick stuck in my back wheel for almost a whole lap, it was VERY annoying! Didn’t want to stop though My brakes are also a little noisy, but that can be helpful at times.

Worked well for me, it gave me plenty of warning to pull over for you!

I reckon I must’ve been the most passed rider on the course 😆

What a brilliant weekend! We were racing male pairs and came 13th out of 45 teams. Pleased with that really, as I think we both rode well (for us) and (most importantly) had a great time – and some good banter on the course.

I have to say, that course was CRACKING….Absolutely loved it!!! Hat to whoever worked on that 🙂 (especially the sandy, pineforest, berms on a slope section after the “your 1/2 way round sign” – what a blast!)

Not sure about the marshalling system though? (same as AYTE with guys on motorbikes) seems like it could take them quite a while to discover an injured rider?…

Really liked the DJ, grotto and some great supporters all around the course, thanks a lot guys! Also, nice to see a covered transition (listen up, Mayhem!) Catering (Quavers) was good but really, it would be nice to have something a bit healthier (Falafels, Tarquin?) To cap it all there was some lovely real ale at the end. A big thanks to all the organisers and other riders who made it such a fun weekend.

I agree re food options – Catering was good, but understandably limited in what they do.

Tunnel of rave was ace, and the glowsticks and horns were cool too…and the weird sirens near the end: “oi, soloist, do a skid, do a skid!!!”

Entered in a team of three, two of which pulled out midweek so I paid my fiver and attempted my first solo 12hr. 😯

Enjoyed it immensely, especially the brilliant course. I thought that much singletrack for 12 hours would get a bit harrowing but not at all (although a dry course may have helped too).

10 laps, 2 hours off the bike 9-11pm with cramp, 31st in male solos. Work to do but I’ll be back fitter & cleverer next year. 😀

My only complaint is that the course was too good.
I got a bit carried away enjoying myself on the first few laps when I should have been thinking more about pacing myself for 12 hours.
I always have trouble with pins & needles and neck and hand pain on long rides. Usually I can do a bit of stretching & shaking while riding to get rid of it, but it all got a bit too much and, after a minor crash on slippery roots and hearing that I was only 13th, I lost motivation and gave up at about 9pm.
Still got 18th/42 Solo Veteran.

Well done to Hanneka, who I shared pit space with. With no separate veteran’s class, she took the women’s solo win by over a lap at the age of 47 on a Qoroz 29er.

And I’d like to apologise for my poor memory.
I must have had about 20 people shout “Well done Graham” as they overtook, only for me to reply, “Who are you ?”

You’re a celeb, Graham. 😉

I only put two and two together when I got home – I should’ve realised when I saw the belt drive. I was in the red & yellow jersey in the camp next to yours.

So you didn’t get any little stones stuck in the belt this time then? 😉

Oh, familiar faces on here 🙂

I had the same problem as Graham, liking the course so much I got rather carried away! And rode probably a bit harder than I should have done. But it really was ace and remained so for 12 whole laps! I am very very pleased with my first MTB race win in my young career, this being my first season of MTB racing… Considering the fact that until a few weeks ago I didn’t actually even own a mountainbike, that is not bad going 😉

I started racing in April, on a borrowed demo 29er from Qoroz. I was only ever going to do Mountain Mayhem, as I got dared into it by a mate. Remarkably, it didn’t put me off… so I bought a bike after that and kept racing. Loving it!

Loved the special effects in the trees, the dj under the bridge and the motivators with the horns who posted earlier but especially those girls under the trees! As someone else already said, amazing how long they stuck it out there!

Great event, course was fantastic. Weather was perfect! 2nd 12hr solo this year. Thanks to the rider who helped me up the last climb on my last lap with a hand on my back.

Some photos courtesy of Kevin Sheldrake.

Here is the link for the photos on Flickr :-  http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevinsheldrake/7882211204/in/set-72157631294882904/
 
Non water marked versions are available for free by email to kevinm.sheldrake@tiscali.co.uk each photo is numbered

Great event indeed. Everyone seemed to enjoy the racing, good trails and dryish conditions.

I was’nt riding but was one half of the duo spinning the tunes under the bridge with buddy Alex (DJ Alfresco, who wanted to combine riding/DJing but came to his senses in the end).

Well done to everyone involved.

Thanks zbonty, you guys were superb! Its that kind of thing that keeps weary soloists plugging away on the graveyard shift 🙂

Brilliant event. Did it as a team of four old blokes. Such a good course that find myself having to remind myself that I’m supposed to be “racing” rather than enjoying a fine bimble on some great singletrack.

And well done rexated steve – bloody good result. Oh and Hanneke and everyone else whose acheivements were mammoth

zbonty yeah the tunes gave a me further reason to smile even more as I rode past 😀

zbonty, it was my son that asked for AC/DC to be played… next year maybe 🙂

Here are some pics from me, they are probably a bit more family/us orientated but some night shots I am pleased with

really enjoyed it solo and thanks to everyone who encouraged me as they zoomed past, gr8 music too, did my 8 laps and have defo got the buzz back after years of metal knees and being critically ill when pregnant, not sure what my little one will think about the trailer doing some enduro training lol!! The girls who cheered at olympic ridge were really fab and its nice to do an event where u can ride at your own pace, well done Gorrick gr8 course too!!

Great event. Friendly and well organised. Enjoyable course and courtious riders. The DJ under the bridge, the guys with the horn and the megephone crew on top of Pheasant Plucker Hill with their inspired heckling. Cant wait for next year…

Second year for me, although I’ve done Gorricks other events for 19 years. Always well organised and sensible pricing on courses that don’t fall apart as soon as it rains. Puts some “bigger” events to shame.