Right then.... First things first: I survived.
It was good, very good.
And, it certainley wasn't the sort of "enduro" racing I'm used to. Saturday (8th) was practice and seeding day.
I arrived early, having stopped overnight at Carlisle to break up the drive, and signed in.
The only thing then on the schedule was the alphabetically ordered seeding runs at 3pm. So I set out for a few practice runs on the seeding (and special stage(SS)#1) course and then a loop of the Ae red route. Most of the special stages were simple taped and marked sections of the current red route around Ae forest sio I fiugred a loop would warm up my legs and jog my memory of the trails (I've only ridden there during TransScotland in 2007)
SS1 was essentailly the first climb on the red route in reverse, nothing too technical only one steep chute and a whole load of off-camber switcbacks.
The others (SS2-SS5) were, as I mentioned, part of the red route sored grade trails only made more difficult if you ride them as fast as you can ;o)
SS6 was on The Shredder, one of the 2 downhill/freedride trails at Ae: Fantastic, drops, berms, rocks, jumps , bigger drops and bigger jumps. They had closed the road gap jump after some poor chap tried to roll it and mashed his face on the fire road, and to be honest I'm not sure I've had the guts to hits hit either (definitely one to go back for and build up to though)
SS3/Seeding saw me placed 126/260 riders. I was then given a start time of 9:01 the next day.
Sunday: Race Day
The race was format was to be 2 riders at a time going head-to-head over the Special Stages. Everyone was wary of this and there was lot of speculation abouit how it would/wouldn't work. I was paired up with #125 (Liam from Ireland) and we rolled up the first link stage to SS1 in low gears and saving our breath and legs for the rest of the day.
SS1 I got the jump out of the start and managed to hold the lead doan all the singel track only to be pipped to the finish by a cheeky line choice from Liam on the 2nd to last corner. That'll learn me not to practice ride more :o/
SS2 Again I made it away first and it was in this stage that the benefits of head-to-head racing came into their own: you know when your riding and a faster rider comes up behind? Normally you'd pull in and let them by. Not if your racing though. Instead you go faster and try to get away from them, you stay off the brakes for the next berm and straight line a few steps and drops and you can't hear him anymore. As you line up for the next corner though, you hear him bearing down on th trail behind you again. So you go even faster for the next bit, and repeat until the finish. Wicked :o)
SS3 I was too slow on the start and had the pleasure of trying to buzz Liam's rear tyre for 2m17s of singletrack peddling
SS4 was the longest stage and invovled some climbs and a lot of peddling. I thought I'd do quite well on this stage. I think Liam did too as he flew out of the start! I managed to catch him up and was wondering how we were both going to keep the pace so high for 6mins when he messed up a big step-up jump. As I cam e over the top he was driving his face and body in to the drainage dithc at the bottom of the other side in a cloud of dust and rocks. I slowed and stopped as it looked bad, I turned round thoughand the medics were at the trail already. Them being more qualified than me, and it being and race, I left them to it and tried to et back up to speed. I nearly caught the guy who left 30s before me and made it to the finish in 6m3s. I found out later he had broken his humerus, hopefully he's on the mend now.
SS5 and SS6 were a little wierd after that. I was riding on my own now and didn't have the same race pressure keeping me on edge all the way down. Good riding yes, but I really missed the 2-up format there.
In the end I raced for a total of 26m8s 11 time world champion and eventual winner Nico Vouilloz was only 5m2s faster with a finish time of 21m6s ;o) (5minutes faster over 26mins of racing!! that ~ 40s quicker on EVERY stage!)
I finished 100/254 overall and 53/122 in my category. Not bad for a first time and it should be possible to do better next time ;o)
Overall a highly reccomended event, relaxed link sections mixed with intense trail centre riding, what's not to like?
Next up: Mega...
Full results are here: http://avalanchecup.com/enduro-avalanche-ae-forest-uk-resultats-2010.html
Photos are here: http://www.olivercoats.co.uk/index.php?option=com_g2bridge&view=gallery&...