This weekend Team UK-Biking.net returned to Newnham Park, Plymouth for Soggy Bottom Round 3.
The course had been altered since the previous round, removing one of the killer hills and going the opposite way up another hill. A couple of river crossings had also been included this time!
It had been raining in the days leading up to the race, which had left the course extremely muddy and the rivers where very high with quite strong currents, but at this point was all ride-able (for the determined).
Veterans start grid
First up was Garrett in the Grand Veterans race, looking to carry on his good form from his win in the previous round.
A long race was anticipated. So off the start he tucked in behind the first 3 racers, to allow him to figure out the form of the competition. However, upon reaching the first river crossing the two riders in the lead tangled and fell, leaving just one rider in front of Garrett.
At this point the desire was to stick to the plan, so he continued to shadow the leader. However, after completing the second muddy section Garrett felt the rider in first place was struggling, giving him some confidence. Coming on to the downhill that followed Garrett decided it was time to take the initiative and went in first to gain the lead.
Garrett rides the river crossing
Finding good grip with the Nobby Nic tyre on the front, he pushed his advantage on the slippery roots that followed, to gain valuable space over the rest of the field. Upon meeting the main hill on the course he found he had good traction and climbed at a good pace to the top, further extending the gap.
On the second lap it was more of the same, but feeling he may have eased up a bit allowing the followers to reel him in a bit, he put his foot down again on the third lap to increase the gap again and give him some breathing room.
Soggy Bottoms all round!
Things weren’t being made easy by the mud and by this time it was starting to get very ‘claggy’, making progress much slower but with a skinny tyre on the back he was still able to pedal through it. However, the mud was starting to affect the gears, and by the second half of the third lap, Garrett was left with only the top 3 cogs on his cassette. This forced him to resort to changing gear on the front chain rings more.
He was also starting to suffer with a bit of pain in the knee and some leg cramping. So upon reaching the main climb again, which was now starting to get very greasy, he got the bike in the lowest gear combination possible and spun it up, just about reaching the top.
Holding his line well on the last downhill, Garrett went on to take his second victory in a row, finishing one minute in front of second place Steve Whitehouse.
Another over-the-top celebration
I (Rich) arrived just in time to see Garrett take his win as our Master race was on much later in the day.
The day before I went on a mission to take some weight of my hardtail, sticking on some Ritchey Flat Bars, awesome silicone ESI Racers Edge Grips and wishfully thinking, some Rocket Ron summer tyres. However, after speaking to Garrett after his race, I was glad of my boy scout attitude and stuck on the spare Nobby Nic tubeless tyres I had brought along on my other wheels! This was also the first outing for my new Garmin Edge 500 super computer 
After a quick cup of pre-race tea (I’m a bit addicted at the moment!) I went for a quick warm up lap with Mike, who was racing in the Veterans category in race 3.
Bike wash
The sun had decided to come out and this wasn’t helping with the mud, which was now like glue, requiring massive effort to maintain any sort of speed and some parts were now even impossible to ride. Half way round the lap I decided to immerse my bike in the river to get all the mud off again and take a short cut back to the start. It was going to be a long race…
Pete and I headed for the masters start line and Mike joined the other old chaps ready for the Vets race. I was still feeling the effects of the Labyrinthitis virus that I had been suffering for the past 4 week. as a result my plan was really to finish the race more than anything. The conditions were getting worse by the minute and I knew that what was to follow would be more about being consistent and determined, rather than my position going into the first corner.
Masters start line
The race started and the pack flew down the first straight towards the first river crossing. The ground on this part of the course was basically one big thick muddy puddle. So following twenty riders though it was a messy affair and I reached the river hardly able to see though the mud in my eyes.
The river caused a bit of a bottle neck and most people had to jump of their bikes and slowly wade though. This thankfully removed a bit of mud. A couple of bright sparks took the normally slower bridge alternative and gained around 10 places. I jumped back on the bike and pedaled hard through the following small streams to try and keep a good position.
Upon reaching the lane leading to the barn, we were met with a sticky mud corridor of doom. Tried to ride it but it was impossible and had to jump off the bike and run the next 300 metres to the field. This was causing my heart rate to fly up. I’m not built for running!
Possibly the leasy muddy section
At the end of the top field we turned right onto a small drop down onto slippery rooty singletrack, which would us round to the start of the main climb. I managed to pedal up most of the hill but was getting barged around by people running beside me (I may have shouted at one chap that I had priority as I was still on my bike! lol). At this point I realised I had got sucked along at quite a fast pace and remembering my plan I let my heart rate drop a couple of beats. So I dismounted and took the rest of the hill on foot.
As the hill started to level out I jumped back on the bike again to ride to the top. To make my way to the second river crossing, which I managed to cycle though, with a fair bit of effort. Following this was a slippery single track climb up to a very slippry downhill bend that caused me no end of problems in the previous race. So I decided to try a different approach, stuck my foot out and took it like a downhiller. Worked nicely!
From there it was a matter of a fast downhill back to the start, where I collected a fresh bottle of Matt and may have used a few swear words to try and explain how hard the course was as I passed. Thanks to my Sister Sarah who told me I had a long way to go yet. Just what I needed to hear!
Pete on second river crossing
On the second lap conditions seemed to have got worse and I found myself pushing the bike quite a lot. The mud was very very energy sapping and I was having to stick my fingers between the top of my front wheel and the forks every hundred metres otherwise the mud would cause wheel to totally jam. This was a bit dodgy at higher speeds!
I was now starting to settle into a pace I could just about live with for another 3 laps, but at the end of lap two I had so much mud in my eyes, I had to stop at the bottle change and squirt water in my eyes, so that I could see again. A few people that I had previously overtaken flew past me as I was doing this, which was a bit disappointing. However, the stop had also allowed me to get my breath back a bit and I set back off at a good pace to try and gain my place back.
As I started the fourth lap I saw I was gaining on a a group of riders in the distance, but I just didn’t have the legs on me to catch them by the end of the race, where I finished in 24th. Although it was probably one of the hardest races I have done I feel that it was definitely one in the bag for my fitness and should get a few nice national ranking points too. Pete finished in a respectable 38th position.
Hard work!
In the Veterans race, Mike was having an equally hard time with the mud. To make matters worse he had to deal with a broken saddle clamp, causing the seat to be unusable and was also struggling to change gear due to lack of grip on his grip shift. He finished in an excellent 19th position.
That just leaves me to say Well done again to Garrett on his second win and thanks to the support crew on the day: Sarah, Tracy and Matt & Sarah (who in addition to doing my bottles, kindly drove me to the race and back!)
Team UK-Biking.net Results:
Garrett Hill - 1st Grand Veterans
Richard Lang - 24th Masters
Peter Hall - 38th Masters
Mike Radburn - 19th Veterans
