After a pre race meal of toast, cheese and ham (very Belgian) I went outside to get the bike ready to realise it was bloody freezing. Nick Smith had offered to give me a lift ad we made it to the start in good time.
A quick change and we headed out to pre-ride the course. It was awful, we could barely ride half of the course as it was so peaty and muddy, there would be a lot of running with the bikes.
We had a quick team chat at the start (Steve Burgess, Nick and I with the additional extra of Doug Gardner) and it was decided I would start on the front line (yikes) with Nick and Steve starting 10 feet behind.
At the start shout (the commissaire forgot his whistle) we were off, the lightening quick start I visioned didn't happen and I went backwards very quickly, inevitable if you start at the front I suppose.
I was swamped by the riders, the start loop was that horrible wet muddy muck, we then headed out onto a field and I chose the wrong side of the path and got swamped more. Frustrated I dug in and after 1/2 lap I started to pick off a few riders and was amazed that at 'race pace' most of the course was indeed rideable and dare I say very enjoyable.
Most of the climbing was on fire roads and the descents were slippy, it was a little bit like riding a road bike with a puncture. There were plenty of hairpins that began rideable but as the race matured there was more and more running, which I unusually seemed to cope with well. The long climby bits soon became a ride through mud that developed the consistency of quick sand.
Given the heavy nature of the course it didn't take long to start to catch and lap riders, this proved an interesting challenge as most corners had one line in and out and the relentless nature of the corners meant if you lost your line you were in the wrong place for the next corner.
I spotted a Wanderer up ahead and closed on Doug Gardner just in time to see him grind to a halt, put an arm out and fall in a heap, I checked he was okay as I passed (good job he was as I wouldn't have stopped).
Next on my radar was Nick who had had a couple of falls, I passed as he dismounted and tried not to fall on my arse, at about the same time the leader caught and lapped me. Its great seeing the fast guys in action, they seem to make effortless progress across the tough conditions.
Now on my final lap I caught Doug one last time before taking the bombhole for the final time, I overtook a rider going into the bombhole and was following another rider closely, who promptly stopped dead at the top and we all crashed into each other.
I slid back down the bombhole and was forced to climb back out, pleased not to lose any more positions I rode round to take the finish.
We hung around for the finish, had a quick team photo and swapped stories.
Doug had a tough time, having a number of crashes, but certainly looked like he enjoyed the fun. Steve had a cracking ride and didn't seem to have any dramas. Nick had 2 or 3 crashes but once he was going made good progress catching plenty of riders.
I'll post results when I get them.
But all that's left to say is a MASSIVE thank to the Crawley Wheelers for putting on an excellent event, particularly the marshals for standing around in the freezing cold and wet conditions.
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