A chance to ride a mountain bike orienteering event on my old home turf of the Quantocks, mixed with a weekend catching up with the family and a visit to Bridgwater Carnival was a perfect end to the half term holidays.
Bridgwater Carnival was fab, awesome huge articulated ‘floats’ interdisbersed with mad individuals in costumes, the odd majorettes band and of course a bit of wind, rain and the waft of sizzling sausages. I am not sure standing in the cold for 3 hours was the best preparation for a Mountainbike event but we had a great night. For those that don’t know about the Somerset carnival season, more info here http://www.somersetcarnivals.co.uk
The next morning dawned wet windy and with mist and cloud hugging the Quantock hills as I drove to the event, wipers lashing the screen. After a catchup with old faces and some general phaff about what to wear I rode the 20 mins to the top of the hill to the start.The clouds and rain had cleared to give fantastic views in all directions.
Even with the rain stopped there was standing water everywhere and lots of slippery slimy red mud. On the way to #1 I lost the front end of the bike and soon found myself in a slowmotion superman dive into a muddy puddle. In a way it spead me up for the day as already being cold and soaked I didnt mess about from then on!
I knew the key to the event was to pick a route which kept climb to a minimum. As I splashed through the mud I suddenly picked a route from the map that worked and went for it….
My legs are still struggling with 3 hours, the climb up to the top from my last checkpoint was narrow, steep and slippery, all too soon I was off and walking, craving some food… The minutes ticked away and it was only some bravery and a full suspension bike on the last decent that meant I only lost 20 points being 10 mins late.
However a smile soon formed itself on my face as I downloaded in third place
Thanks to somerset Mbo for an excellent event. Results and report here… http://www.bmbo.org.uk/results/report.php?event_id=597