BM MBO 2018 Event 3 - Devauden (Small Area Format)
There was a short (1 hr I think?) mid-week event here in 2017 and I knew it would be hillier than most might think.
Having looked at the map I thought it was clearable so I didn't spend any time on deciding on whether I'd do the reds or blues first. I saw a doable loop on the red and decided to do it.
S>17: Down a narrow steep slippery lane - OK
17>15: Met a pissed off equestrian! 'Why are there so many bikers on this road today?' she shouted!
15>13: Road climb - OK
13>11: Network of muddy lanes/tracks so took it slow
11>09: OMG was that muddy. Had to push the bike downhill!
09>07: OK
07>01: Gradual climb - half road, half forest track
01>03: Decided (& regretted) to take the more direct muddy track. Ended up pushing the bike. :-( Should have taken the longer route on forest track.
03>05: Generally a descent - OK
05>23: Description was tree on bend but there were loads of tiny bends! Lost 2mins as I went past it.
23>21: Fast descent - OK
21>19: BIG climb - seemed take forever. Got the final red CP with 1:32:00 on the stopwatch I think. I hoped to have enough to clear the course.
Switch to Blue
19>18: Steep drop to CP - OK
18>20: Climb out from 18 was a bike push. Then steep descent on slimy narrow lane. OK
20>22: Two route options to this 10 pointer. I took the slightly longer option with less climb. [In hindsight, should I have dropped this ten pointer?]
22>06: Climb out from 6, flat road then forest road climb - OK
06>04: Climb - OK
04>24: This is the point in the race where I lost third place (with 480 points). My initial plan was to drop 24 (30 pointer) but get all the others. But I decided to drop 08(10 pointer) - which wasn't too far out of the way - and try and get all the remaining ones. As a result I tried to do too much and arrived back 9 mins late.
24>10: BIG climb out from 24 (30 pointer) and was eating a lot of time. Arrghhhh!
10>16: I misread the countours on the off-road option and thought it was all downhill. There was a 300m section from Fairoak Pond where I had to push up a muddy track. I should have gone back to the road from 20. To add insult to injury, I couldn't see CP16 which was a sapling south of the track junction. I was looking for the black/yellow tape but there wasn't any. I eventually saw it - wasn't happy. :-( Lost 2 mins. Grrrrr.
16>14: I had a decision to make here. Either go back to the Finish and probably arrive on time or go for the 20 pointer and try and arrive back in under 10 mins to make it worthwhile. I did the latter (& it just paid off). Lost 30s trying to find the CP as was looking in wrong area.
14>02: The first part of this was OK.
02>F: OMG this was steep out of CP2! The a flat section on the road and then a steep section on road to the Finish. Was pooped at the end!
1. Ifor Powell - 510 (cleared the course in under 3 hrs)
2. Ian Cartwright - 483 (dropped 1 CP, collected 490 - 7 for being 6 mins late)
3. Mark Morgan - 476 (dropped 2 CPs like me, collected 480 - 4 for being 4 mins late)
4. Michael Holloway - 470 (dropped 2 CPs like me but back in time)
5. Gary Davies - 457 (collected 470 - 13 penalty points for being 9 mins late)
6. Tom Hards - 440 (dropped 3 CPs)
Water - only took a 500ml bottle of water with Nuun which was fine for a cold winter's day
Food - 2 packets of CLIF Shot Bloks. Ate them all and was fine.
Clothes - Wore too much to start but was OK after taking off ear warmers and neck buff. W/p socks, overshoes, bib tights, MTB top, arm warmers, gilet, lightweight coat (UD).
Gear shifting was much better than the last race after i changed the big chainring to the correct one. Also adjusted the limiter on the rear derailleur to stop chain going above larger cassette ring and getting lodged between spokes and cassette.
Had new bike tool bag too.
I felt as though as my fitness has come on from the last event. I seemed to be able to hold higher intensities for longer. I just need to stick with the training plan and it should come on some more before the OMM and Exped Africa.