After a fairly long while without anything to report, the Kilbroney challenge was last Saturday, organised by the good folks at Not The Sunday Run.
Our last race was April 12th and since then all my running training has involved thinking "I should do some running" while on a bike! Given that we where starting at sea level and the route profile peaked twice at about 450M (strangely enough the same as Slieve Martin!) I knew that I may be in trouble on the run.
No bike issues this time as I recently purchased a shiny new one that matches my "Oscar the Grouch" jersey nicely. I was not fully used to the bike yet but fingers crossed. At this point I need to say a tearfull word about my Klein. In short this bike was perfect and the Cube is simply the closest I could get to the feel of the Klein. I have been nursing the Klein for a while now but it is 10 years old and has done who knows how many thousand miles. It needed an entire drivetrain change including the shifters and the hydraulic rim brakes where falling apart and becoming dangerous (dangerous in a held on with cable ties kind of way). The headset was starting to move a bit and who knows what else was about to go. The forks didnt take disks and either did the frame so with much regret it has been left to the side for the moment hopefully to return at some point as a single speed. RIP Calvin (yes I named my bike - the new one is called Boyd).
Anyway, when we set off from Lisburn nice and early, the weather was a bit cloudy but not too bad. By the time we hit Rostrevor it was raining fairly steadily and there was a fair wind - hmm the mountains where going to be fun. A quick look at the route told us that the cycle was going to be roughly the same as last year with an extension out past the red bog and then back through it. The run as promised was an open mountain afair. As per last year, our goody bag was brilliant with plenty of energy stuff, a t-shirt, info leaflets etc. Purchasing this on your own would eat a fair bit into the £30 entry fee which highlights just how good value this race is.
There was lots of "can every body leave their bike to the lorry" being ignored by people who no longer wanted to do the race but eventually they where all weeded out and herded into the yacht club for the briefing.
Highlight of the briefing was the "unfortunate" mentioning of 4 girls in a tent waiting for us at the top of the mountain. Whoops of delight where mixed with calls of "is that the special task." Briefing over, we headed outside for an 11am start.
On the sound of the horn, it was a brief run from Carlingford Lough Yacht Club along the beach to the mad dash for a Kayak. This is always our least favourite part of the races so it was interesting to have it first while we where still fresh. It was also shorter than usual (2K) , there was not too much in the way of waves and the wind was at our back. This also gave us an indication of how we fare in relation to other folks in the kayaking. Having all started together, we finished somewhere between 1/2 and 2/3 down the field which is usually roughly where we finish overall. We both enjoyed the kayak more than usual since we where fresh and would look forward to another race with the kayak first.
At this it was up onto the pier and onto the bikes. We where using the sport ident tags for checkpoint marking and I found these to be great. The beep is very reasuring in the middle of a race for some strange reason. From here it was into Kilbroney Forest Park where I knew the real pain would start. I know this forest well and the only way is up and up and up... After about a kilometer there was a short reprieve along a nice bit of single track where I had my first big off on my new bike. We where all cycling in a big line too close together and so when someone about three bikes in front of me braked fairly hard so did the folks directly in front of me. I hit the brakes hard and got myself off balance. My front wheel caught a tree root and sent me directly into the blunt end of a cut down tree. I went over the handle bars and as my feet did not unclip from the pedals the bike landed on top of me. I was unhurt but had difficulty getting myself untangled from my bike.
From the end of the single track it was uphill again for what seemed like an age picking up checkpoint three under a bridge on the way. Finaly we got to checkpoint 4 where there was a short (1-2K) run for checkpoints 5, 6 and 7. Along with some other teams we completely missed checkpoint 5 - no idea where it was but as far as I know with the electronic checkpoints, once you miss one its tough so we didnt bother going back for it.
Back onto the bikes for a short climb to the red bog and what turned out to be the best cycling of the day. I had never been through here on a bike before and it was great. I also had another over the handle bar incident when my front wheel suddenly got bogged down. I missed the mud with my face but my hand splashed muck all over me so might as well have landed face first in it. I really should think about getting contacts as this meant my glasses where a mess and very difficult to get clean so I couldnt see properly for the next hour until I found a fast flowing stream. As I said the single track through the bog was great with simple sleeper bridges over streams and some well made north shore sections over the really mucky bits.
The last section of this was a push up a trail (would be a great ride the other way) up onto the open mountain, There was a barely discernable sheep trail for about a kilometer back down to the path. This was fairly rideable with care but it was very easy to go off the trail. At this point we where back on the course from last year, a few ups and downs on forest roads then onto the open mountain for a hike-a-bike through a bit of a bog and up almost to the summit before the short cycle to the mast. Up to about 350m it was wet and windy but above this the weather was mad. The wind became really mad and made the rain hurt if it hit bare skin and you couldnt see your hand in front of your face. We met a group of about 5 other teams at the turn for the mast, unsure of what direction to take. I knew which path it was so we took that and after changing into our runners we decided to stick together for safety. My only issue with this was needing to keep up.
For some reason, however, this was by far my best run to date. The next three checkpoints where a blur of whiteness untill we headed down for the checkpoint at a bath in the middle of a field. From here we where running diagonally across and down a field and it was killing my ankles so we droped the pace now we where out of the cloud and wind. It was down to the archery task where my main memory is of being freezing waiting our turn. We each scored 4 so it was 8 minutes off our time.
We started the long climb back to the bikes at a steady pace. I didnt want to push it with my ankles so we kept it to a brisk walk which I could keep up without having to stop for a rest every now and then. For the next checkpoint we had to go past the bikes to the other summit and on approaching the top we could see the grass disturbed by the 40 or 50 pairs of feet veering off the main path. We followed this but how the first folks knew exactly where they where I will never know. Soon enough we saw the fence we needed to cross but where met by two marshals who said the race was being stopped so we headed straight for the bikes.
I must say that I agree with the decision to stop the race short 100%. Enough teams had finished to sort out the prize positions and the risk of people getting hurt/lost or worse was far too great to risk. I know the decent they had planned well enough to know that we did miss one of the best decents in Northern Ireland, but I also know that it would have been madness in those conditions.
In the three minutes it took me to change into my cycling shoes and get a drink I had gone from feeling good to shaking almost uncontrollably and following the (still pretty dangerous as it was easy to pick up huge speed) rough road down I could only tell my fingers where on the brakes because I was slowing down. The difficulty of this decent was demonstrated by Chris having a high speed off near the top but luckily surviving unscathed.
And so it was all the way back to the yacht club to try and get warmed up with a shower and COLD!? salad (I must say though it was probably the best salad I have ever eaten). I didnt fully warm up until half way home.
Despite being called off we still got in all three disciplines, got to the main special task, covered a fair bit of ground and had a great day at a perfectly organised race. We never intended to do the orienteering anyway and the ride back down was almost as long as the intended route anyway so the only major thing we missed was the second paddle.
A huge thanks to all the folks at NTSR and all others who helped this to be such a good race. Hopefully thats the race stamped permanently on the calendar each June.
Mark
Our last race was April 12th and since then all my running training has involved thinking "I should do some running" while on a bike! Given that we where starting at sea level and the route profile peaked twice at about 450M (strangely enough the same as Slieve Martin!) I knew that I may be in trouble on the run.
No bike issues this time as I recently purchased a shiny new one that matches my "Oscar the Grouch" jersey nicely. I was not fully used to the bike yet but fingers crossed. At this point I need to say a tearfull word about my Klein. In short this bike was perfect and the Cube is simply the closest I could get to the feel of the Klein. I have been nursing the Klein for a while now but it is 10 years old and has done who knows how many thousand miles. It needed an entire drivetrain change including the shifters and the hydraulic rim brakes where falling apart and becoming dangerous (dangerous in a held on with cable ties kind of way). The headset was starting to move a bit and who knows what else was about to go. The forks didnt take disks and either did the frame so with much regret it has been left to the side for the moment hopefully to return at some point as a single speed. RIP Calvin (yes I named my bike - the new one is called Boyd).
Anyway, when we set off from Lisburn nice and early, the weather was a bit cloudy but not too bad. By the time we hit Rostrevor it was raining fairly steadily and there was a fair wind - hmm the mountains where going to be fun. A quick look at the route told us that the cycle was going to be roughly the same as last year with an extension out past the red bog and then back through it. The run as promised was an open mountain afair. As per last year, our goody bag was brilliant with plenty of energy stuff, a t-shirt, info leaflets etc. Purchasing this on your own would eat a fair bit into the £30 entry fee which highlights just how good value this race is.
There was lots of "can every body leave their bike to the lorry" being ignored by people who no longer wanted to do the race but eventually they where all weeded out and herded into the yacht club for the briefing.
Highlight of the briefing was the "unfortunate" mentioning of 4 girls in a tent waiting for us at the top of the mountain. Whoops of delight where mixed with calls of "is that the special task." Briefing over, we headed outside for an 11am start.
On the sound of the horn, it was a brief run from Carlingford Lough Yacht Club along the beach to the mad dash for a Kayak. This is always our least favourite part of the races so it was interesting to have it first while we where still fresh. It was also shorter than usual (2K) , there was not too much in the way of waves and the wind was at our back. This also gave us an indication of how we fare in relation to other folks in the kayaking. Having all started together, we finished somewhere between 1/2 and 2/3 down the field which is usually roughly where we finish overall. We both enjoyed the kayak more than usual since we where fresh and would look forward to another race with the kayak first.
At this it was up onto the pier and onto the bikes. We where using the sport ident tags for checkpoint marking and I found these to be great. The beep is very reasuring in the middle of a race for some strange reason. From here it was into Kilbroney Forest Park where I knew the real pain would start. I know this forest well and the only way is up and up and up... After about a kilometer there was a short reprieve along a nice bit of single track where I had my first big off on my new bike. We where all cycling in a big line too close together and so when someone about three bikes in front of me braked fairly hard so did the folks directly in front of me. I hit the brakes hard and got myself off balance. My front wheel caught a tree root and sent me directly into the blunt end of a cut down tree. I went over the handle bars and as my feet did not unclip from the pedals the bike landed on top of me. I was unhurt but had difficulty getting myself untangled from my bike.
From the end of the single track it was uphill again for what seemed like an age picking up checkpoint three under a bridge on the way. Finaly we got to checkpoint 4 where there was a short (1-2K) run for checkpoints 5, 6 and 7. Along with some other teams we completely missed checkpoint 5 - no idea where it was but as far as I know with the electronic checkpoints, once you miss one its tough so we didnt bother going back for it.
Back onto the bikes for a short climb to the red bog and what turned out to be the best cycling of the day. I had never been through here on a bike before and it was great. I also had another over the handle bar incident when my front wheel suddenly got bogged down. I missed the mud with my face but my hand splashed muck all over me so might as well have landed face first in it. I really should think about getting contacts as this meant my glasses where a mess and very difficult to get clean so I couldnt see properly for the next hour until I found a fast flowing stream. As I said the single track through the bog was great with simple sleeper bridges over streams and some well made north shore sections over the really mucky bits.
The last section of this was a push up a trail (would be a great ride the other way) up onto the open mountain, There was a barely discernable sheep trail for about a kilometer back down to the path. This was fairly rideable with care but it was very easy to go off the trail. At this point we where back on the course from last year, a few ups and downs on forest roads then onto the open mountain for a hike-a-bike through a bit of a bog and up almost to the summit before the short cycle to the mast. Up to about 350m it was wet and windy but above this the weather was mad. The wind became really mad and made the rain hurt if it hit bare skin and you couldnt see your hand in front of your face. We met a group of about 5 other teams at the turn for the mast, unsure of what direction to take. I knew which path it was so we took that and after changing into our runners we decided to stick together for safety. My only issue with this was needing to keep up.
For some reason, however, this was by far my best run to date. The next three checkpoints where a blur of whiteness untill we headed down for the checkpoint at a bath in the middle of a field. From here we where running diagonally across and down a field and it was killing my ankles so we droped the pace now we where out of the cloud and wind. It was down to the archery task where my main memory is of being freezing waiting our turn. We each scored 4 so it was 8 minutes off our time.
We started the long climb back to the bikes at a steady pace. I didnt want to push it with my ankles so we kept it to a brisk walk which I could keep up without having to stop for a rest every now and then. For the next checkpoint we had to go past the bikes to the other summit and on approaching the top we could see the grass disturbed by the 40 or 50 pairs of feet veering off the main path. We followed this but how the first folks knew exactly where they where I will never know. Soon enough we saw the fence we needed to cross but where met by two marshals who said the race was being stopped so we headed straight for the bikes.
I must say that I agree with the decision to stop the race short 100%. Enough teams had finished to sort out the prize positions and the risk of people getting hurt/lost or worse was far too great to risk. I know the decent they had planned well enough to know that we did miss one of the best decents in Northern Ireland, but I also know that it would have been madness in those conditions.
In the three minutes it took me to change into my cycling shoes and get a drink I had gone from feeling good to shaking almost uncontrollably and following the (still pretty dangerous as it was easy to pick up huge speed) rough road down I could only tell my fingers where on the brakes because I was slowing down. The difficulty of this decent was demonstrated by Chris having a high speed off near the top but luckily surviving unscathed.
And so it was all the way back to the yacht club to try and get warmed up with a shower and COLD!? salad (I must say though it was probably the best salad I have ever eaten). I didnt fully warm up until half way home.
Despite being called off we still got in all three disciplines, got to the main special task, covered a fair bit of ground and had a great day at a perfectly organised race. We never intended to do the orienteering anyway and the ride back down was almost as long as the intended route anyway so the only major thing we missed was the second paddle.
A huge thanks to all the folks at NTSR and all others who helped this to be such a good race. Hopefully thats the race stamped permanently on the calendar each June.
Mark
