Beastway 2009 - Round 1

[Andrew G]

First trip for me to Hog Hill, for round 1 of Beastway. Yoinks that’s a nasty finishing hill on the crit circuit, I’ll be steering well clear of that one.

Everyone lined up for the start – row 1 for Experts, that’ll be 3 skinny blokes in skinsuits…plus Grahame and myself . Operation Reverse Sandbag begins this evening.

The first part of the lap went up the hill by way of a circuitous route with a couple of dips down which meant you had to climb back up. Lots of loose surface, and a couple of sharp turns up big ramps made this hard going to start with. After a couple of laps of 100+ riders marauding over it the ground firmed up a bit so less dust was thrown up and it was a bit easier. Serge said he enjoyed the climb and would have liked to just go up and down it all race, I was less keen on it but just kept grinding away to the top.

In part it was down to the sun and heat as it was very warm out there to start with. The last couple of laps were much easier with the edge taken off and it a bit cooler, although I still found it pretty hot right up to the end on the last section to the top of the hill as the sun was setting here and you seemed to ride right up to it.

After the climb was a nice, but all too short, narrow downhill through the woods before cutting out on to a singletrack shingle/cinders track around the edge. This was fun big gear speed stuff with some fairly large, and great fun, woop-de-woops. I enjoyed these sections and was pretty fast through them.

After that there was some very tight twisting through some trees, which got a bit blocked a couple of times but it was so tight I was hardly slipping through like a greased weasel myself so I just followed folk through here (fortunately don't think I held any fast folk up either). The last quarter of the lap was flat alternating between the cinders track and cutting across really bumpy ground in a bendy swath cut through the thistles. I found it difficult to keep any form of speed through these bits as I was bounced about like a bucking bronco. What’s the best technique for this sort of surface (very bumpy grass), spin a lower gear as smoothly as possible or power roll a bigger gear? Logic tells me a bigger gear and that seemed a bit smoother but still bumpy as hell on a hardtail.

Anyway, bloody good fun and same again for the next three weeks . No idea where I finished and don’t care [edit:results at bottom]. Hopefully it will be a bit cooler next week and now I’ve done the hill a few times I should have a better idea of how to ride it and meter out the effort.

I couldn’t find you at the end Grahame, how did you find it? Serge was going well in his natural environment.

114 finishers (8 DNFs).
20th Serge Hunt
69th Andrew Green
87th Grahame Baker

[Grahame]

I want to go back to the old Eastway site - there's just too much gravity out there. But, it is nice to not be organising a homeless series anymore.

Once I'd decided to ride (this was by no means certain, as I've recently concluded that I really do not like racing), it was just a case of riding round enjoying the bits I could enjoy and sucking it up on the hill.

The course will develop as Ray and I start to find our way around and work out the best way to link the features together.

Anyway back to the race - I just didn't get into it, I was comfortably following Andrew on the first lap when I got a big lump of vegetation stuck in my front wheel. I took that as a sign, and settled in to try to enjoy the ride if not the race. The atmosphere was good, especially with a crowd on the main climb and a few familiar faces in the crowd heckled with comments like "Expert men? that's pushing it a bit isn't it Grahame?" Without letting on that that is what I used to race (16 years ago!), I replied with "I've 42 years experience, if that doesn't make me an expert, what will?" A fair point I thought, and (truth be told) I was just grateful to have enough breath in me to reply. Maybe I'll put a bit more effort in next week?

At the end of the race, Andrew, I tend to go straight through the finishing area and start to dismantle the course. It's a task that needs doing before the dark descends, and I find it gives the opportunity for a warm down, and to scour the course looking for dropped water bottles, tools, pumps, etc. (a poor haul last night, only two tubes).

122 participants for the first ever offroad event at the Redbridge Cycling Centre, and already the record for most entries in an event there!

Serge was flying,

[Andrew G]

[quote]there's just too much gravity out there

[Grahame]

I think we are planning a shorter climb and more twisty, protracted descent for next week

[Grahame]

With Marco on this one. weight up and forward - let your arms, legs and (most of all) the bike's forks do the bump eating work.

Big gear makes it easier to stand up and "power" across the top of the bumps. I used to be able to reach a sort of "critical speed" on most bumpy cross country sections where the bike just sort of skips along the tops rather than falling into each dip. Life gets much easier if you can reach this speed.

Now that I am old and slow, I have a full suspension bike to make life a bit more comfortable.