Ocasta

The Montane Kielder 100 was the first UK based 100 mile MTB race. I’d never ridden 100 miles before, not even close. Last year I did two 12hr races solo but the muddy conditions had ensured that I covered no more than sixty or so miles. Completing those races had at least proved to me that I could keep going when things got tough.

The only hiccup in my race preparation had been the fact that my Jones had not returned from it’s long soujourn in the USA in time for the race and that I had broken my pink Solitude four weeks previously. Luckily for me my new Banshee Paradox frame arrived a week later. This would be my ride for better or worse.

It had rained in Kielder the entire week before the race but the morning of September 5th it was clear and would remain relatively dry all day. We would only have to face the mud, puddles and slippery trails it left behind, not the rain itself.

Getting up at 5am gave me plenty of time for breakfast and last minute bike prep. My food plan consisted of Jaffa cakes, Honey Stingers and Torq Pink Grapefruit drink so I planned to carry all my supplies and loaded up my pack and bar mounted feed bags.

By 6:30am I gathered in front of Kielder Castle along with the other competitors The incesant midge attacks fuelled our eagerness to start. Shortly after we were underway. No turning back now. While we snaked our way along a gentle track behind the lead out vehicle I soon linked up with fellow Solitude owner Mike McTimoney. For the next 30 or so miles Mike and I would ride together. He was faster on the long climbs and I was quicker on the downs and the singletrack. We were both singlespeeding and both knew that we needed to preserve our energy for the long ride ahead. We were both happy to get off and push when pedaling was harder and slow. Together we worked our way past a number of geared riders and were keeping ahead of the schedule required to avoid the cutoffs. Then I lost him. There was a short fast downhill were I shot ahead but he didn’t reappear when the trail started to climb once more. I wouldn’t see Mike for another ten hours. Now I was riding alone.

The course from 30 miles to halfway was perfect singlespeed territory with excellent gradients for hauling in some more riders and maintaing a good pace. It was here that I started seeing riders I would pass and be passed by for several hours. The rocky singletrack cost me a few places as I erred on the side of caution. Better to be passed than crash and not finish.

Around forty miles I picked up Sheldon Kilroe another SS 29er rider. This was a welcome interlude to riding alone. Sheldon was a faster than me on technical sections but handicapped by slow puncture. When he did pull ahead it was only a matter of time before I caught him up again when he stopped to reflate. We rode together to pretty much half way. Then I lost him too.

It had taken me a little over 6hrs to reach halfway. There had hardly been a section of the course in the first 50 miles that wasn’t up or down and my legs really needed a rest. There was one part that might have been a pleasant traverse but the previous week of rain and had turned it in to a mudbath.

Overall though I still felt confident of reaching Newcastleton well ahead of the cutoff time. After all it was only another 15 miles. But what a 15 miles it was. I thought at 48 miles we were at the top of the hill. I was wrong. The route went ever up. The was a horrible, steep sandly climb/push; a rocky, bumpy singletrack and a headwind. The wind hit as I rode out on to the top of the moor just before the border. It carried snatches of the bagpipes through the mist. Eerie, lonely and suddenly very tired. I struggled across the border paying the piper as I went and fought my way to the crest of the hill. I was rewarded by wonderful views of sunny Scottish valleys and a largely pleasant downhill to Newcastleton, hot soup and sandwiches.

Me on the left

As tempting as it was to stay the thought that only 35 miles remained spurred me on and out of the cosy cafe. Just before I left Paul Myers pulled in I asked if he had seen Mike and he had but he too had pulled ahead leaving him behind.

As I climbed the short hill from the cafe I rediscovered Sheldon inflating his tyre once more. We linked up and started to enjoy the fun Newcastleton swoopy singletrack. Somewhere in the depths of this I bonked.

I had been careless on my fueling intervals between 40 and 60 miles and had run out of umph. I couldn’t find the energy to attack the short sharp ups. I should have picked up on the warning signs earlier but I didn’t. My response was to down two gels including an emergency caffeine one and ensure that I downed further gels at 30 minute intervals. This seemed to work and would have been a good plan if I had had enough gels to last another 5 hrs but I didnt. The end of the ride was going to be a struggle.

With renewed energy I discovered that the next section was a gentle climb along a river valley. Perfect conditions to nurse my tired legs. On every long straight I could see Sheldon about 250 yds ahead of me. I would catch him again just after we re-entered England as he was once more reinflating his tyre. We rode together until the final food stop. Sheldon decided to put a tube in his tubeless tyre. I set off alone and pushed my way up the climb straight after the stop.

The final 22 miles started with a 15 mile loop. While I couldn’t handle the steep or slow climbs most of the loop consisted of sections I could ride at a good pace. In the last 22 miles I passed three riders who were even more tired than I was and hadn’t been caught by anyone until Paul Myers appeared by my side. He had good tidings of Mike. He’d pulled into Newcastleton just after I had left and was still ahead of the cutoff. We rode together although I was getting off and pushing more and more. I think Paul was taking it easy. With a mile to go we were faced with the steep, sandy climb/push once more. Paul scooted up (damn that Alfine hub) while I pushed. This time I didn’t catch him again.

Across the final boardwalk and down some singletrack reaching the end was starting to feel like a reality. One last challenge remained. Finishing a singletrack section I came out on to fire road and was faced with yet another sharp climb. I really didn’t want to get off and push so near to the end. There was just enough flat to attack it with momentum and so I did using my last vestiges of energy. I crested the hill and entered what turned out to be the final descent.

At the bottom I was once more greeted and congratulated by friendly marshalls. All I needed to do now was pedal over to the castle for food and drink and a chance to catchup with friends

I finished the race (approx 102 miles and 11000+ feet of climbing) in 12 hours 50 minutes, 28th of 37 finishers in the Vet. Male category. 23 riders didn’t finish. Overall 200 riders started and 130 finished. Happy to have finished, disappointed I didn’t ride quicker. My bike performed flawlessly all day and certainly proved itself as All Mountain. To top off a great day I won a prize in the spot draw.

The lead image for this article was ‘borrowed’ from http://www.joolzedymond.com. I shall get round to buying it the next week.

This post is tagged k100, kielder, mtb