Hi
Given the rain the clagfest was inevitable. The trails were really fun though – it’s a fun course.
On the fatbike it was all rideable apart from the 2 steep sections out of the field into the fire road, so about 50 yards of a 7mile lap which, given the weather, would have been the case anywhere. I let some air out of the tyres after lap 1 and the grip was immense. It must have been 7ish psi. I was on Dillingers though – I think anything else apart from Nates would have struggled in that mud.
I think most of the fire road ended up attached to my bike. It looked like it had been pebbledashed. The bike didn’t clog up at all to the extent that it stopped the wheels going round, but it must have weighed about 40-50lbs at the end of the race. I could barely pick it up. Clean, it’s 26lbs…
Couple of things re the event – the entry info said there would be limited drinking water available. I needed to refill one drinks bottle prior to the start and asked 3 different people where the drinking water was and they all said there wasn’t any. The lack of results updates either on paper or via a PA was a shame as we had no idea where we were in relation to other racers. I had no support at this race so the only reason I thought I was winning was because I knew who to look out for. Having positions called as you come through the start is really useful when you’re on your own. A friend’d dad tried to find out the placings and time gaps during the race but I think he got a frosty reception.
Still, I’ll be back next year – this is definitely an event that should be bigger. It’s a really fun course – the final sections after the road climb were excellent.
GB