Mud Sweat and Gears 2: Hylands Park

I am sick of these dry and dusty races!

I’d be worried if it had escaped your notice but it has been raining quite a lot recently. It doesn’t take a genius to realise that copious amounts of rain will probably lead to a muddy race so I had already prepared for this when I got up on Sunday before the Mud Sweat and Gears Eastern MTB race. Despite Emma suggesting it would be wise not to go (probably true) I ignored her, and was actually looking forward to it. The bike was prepped, cleaner than any bike I have ever owned, and there were no mud tyres in sight. As I said, I was prepared!

On the drive down much of the discussions followed the same lines: Is that meant to be a field or a lake? The swans and lots of water suggest lake, the trees and occasional cow suggest field. The same discussion could have been used for the course it’s self. Was that a puddle in a track, or a lake with a track through the middle of it, or in one specific case, a tunnel to Australia, filled with water? When I re-emerged from it I wasn’t sure whether to expect Bondi Beach or Chelmsford, it was pretty deep!

We wisely decided to do the practice lap immediately before the race so we didn’t have to try to stay warm for long. I can’t remember a single piece of track that was not submerged in at least an inch of water or mud but at least it was all sloppy and surprisingly firm under the surface. The singletrack was fast and mostly grippy with one twisty off cambered section next to a stream (I can’t guarantee it is always a stream or just for the day) proving very slippery. There were two sections through fields that resembled paddy fields which were quite draggy towards the end of the lap before some more singletrack and then out to the finish. Nothing technical and only one un-ridable section – not bad after that much rain.

My category was a combined Expert and Elite race so I was hoping to avoid coming last. We were also started with the Masters category as there were not too many in either category. From the gun I got a reasonable start and was 3^rd for the majority of the start loop until I got mobbed and made it into the singletrack in about 8^th following Trevor Allen’s (Ergon 24h) wheel. Andy Cockburn (Derailed Racing) got past me early on and then lived up to his team name by crashing on a corner and blocking the track, before getting tangled up in the course tape and blocking my path again minutes later! I dropped a couple more places here and by halfway through the lap I was in a group of 4 riders. I felt I was quicker on the singletrack than the rest of the group so I sprinted into the next woods and pushed hard. I quickly got a gap and it wasn’t long before I caught another group of 5 riders in front. This group dwindled over the next couple of laps until it was myself and masters rider Dan Howe (Trog), we started to work together to consolidate the gap. I was quicker on the singletrack and Dan was quicker over the fields. Early in the final lap Dan started to slow so I pushed on alone. Coming off the longest grass section I could see Andy Cockburn behind but I was confident I had the legs and the advantage to stay away. Unfortunately, this is where it all went wrong. I punctured in a puddle and the sealant didn’t do its job at all. I tried to use a canister to fix it but I think there was mud in the valve so nothing was getting into the tyre. I resigned myself to running the rest of the lap which meant I could only watch as a stream of riders came past me. It turns out running in mud with carbon soled shoes is not fun, and my calves did not appreciate the impromptu duathlon doing their best to cramp up. I got back to be told I would have been second but only lost 2 places and still finished 4^th. Both Trevor and Andy who passed me are in Elite so I will still get the same number of points for the Expert national rankings, which is at least a sugar coating on the bitter disappointment of missing out on a first podium of the season.

I have a lot of cleaning to do tonight to get the bike and kit restored for former glory so I won’t be doing any training other than riding home from work and eating lots to replenish my energy supplies. Next weekend I will hopefully be able to make the most of some Welsh mountains either side of the Dyfi enduro so I can try to build on what was the best ride of my year so far.