Brighton Big Dog

Last weekend I had the task of defending the Brighton Big Dog title I won last year. A long day on Saturday began at 5am to fly over to Gatwick, arriving in Brighton just in time to start warming up for 6 hours of racing around Stanmer Park.

A mass start with several hundred people meant I got stuck queuing in the first bit of singletrack, so had to put in a few little sprints to make the most of any passing opportunities that came up after that. Eventually I got into a good rhythm in a group of riders going at a similar pace. I did have to stop myself from going on all out attacks on the climbs as I knew I’d be better saving my energy for later, it was a long race! The course was similar to last year with loads of tight, twisting singletrack through the woods, but damp ground and wet roots made it a bit more technical.

After about an hour it started to rain, just drizzle at first, but the trails began to get muddy, slowing the pace down and requiring more and more energy to ride. A first it actually made it more fun with lots of sliding around at high speed. By the third lap I knew I had a good lead and was able to relax and enjoy myself, using the race as a bit of technical practice. Hours 2-4 are a bit of a blur, I was just chugging along getting gradually wetter and more caked in mud, as the rain got heavier and the effect of 200+ people riding began to destroy the course. Especially in the first half the mud was really thick and heavy, sticking to the bike and making it really tough to pedal around, and the steep climbs really hard to ride up. Luckily at that stage the second half, which was mostly descending, was still easily ridable and good fun.

3.5 hours in, lap 5 and things got nasty. The rain changed to a heavy downpour and the already muddy trails were completely destroyed. A long, steep climb at the start of the lap was barely walkable never mind ridable. It was all off camber so a fight not to slide down the hill with a heavy bike crashing on top of you, and the mud was so thick that I had to stop ever minute or two to pull huge fistfuls of mud out from the frame or else the wheels wouldn’t turn. Even the descents were tough on the legs since the thick mud meant lots of pedalling and no recovery. It takes a lot to make me want to quit but I was pretty close, I kept myself going by thinking of the experience as a test of mental strength where I needed to prove myself. Not fun though!

Heading into the last lap my energy was running low and the thought of getting up that climb again was horrible. I tried to focus on the trails and forget about what was coming up. Then miraculously the rain stopped and the sun came out for a while, drying things just enough so that you could at least walk up the hill and pedalling vaguely got you somewhere. That gave me a second wind and I started to enjoy it a bit more. I psyched myself for the last climb, got to the top ok but then I was gone, completely drained of energy. There was only 10 minutes or so left on the best part of the course but that didn’t help. I should have put an emergency gel in my pocket to get me home but instead I had to struggle along for what seemed like an eternity. Needless to say I was pretty happy to finish! Results are here with changes in lap times reflecting the weather! and loads of photos

The sun came out for the podiums where I got a cool new jersey and some more champagne spraying practice before heading into Brighton for pizza, recovery beers and an after party by the beach. Bed at 3am, up 7am for the plane home – a hungover zombie in the airport! Shame about the weather but it was still a great race despite a few miserable moments. Thanks to Morvélo and all the organisers for putting on such a good course and event, the 2010 Big Dog Ian Leitch for the use of his sofa and Keith of WXC for the support.

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