We got an escorted start from the local police and then it was up and into a muddy chute, which lasted for ages and ages! We climbed and we descended, climbed some more and descended some more. I remembered parts of the route from last year, but this time it took way more energy due to the high volumes of mud everywhere. Some sections we were just slipping and sliding for what seemed like hours!
There was only one food stop, if I'd realised I'd of taken some sarnies as I was absolutely starving for the whole ride. The food stop didn't do much for me either, I had 3 kit Kats, a handful of Jaffa cakes and some jelly babies. I could of done with something a little more substantial!
We plodded on and I thought we must be back at any moment so I looked at the garmin and we had another 11 miles left rather than the 1 mile I thought we had!! I was not pleased because I was on my knees with hunger by this point. We reached a road and the bearded man himself was there. I asked if he had any sweets and he told us to wait a sec and ran off. A min later he came running back with a 4 finger Kit Kat each. That was very nice of him!
It was easy from there too, not much climbing and not too much mud. I learnt something from this ride, always check how many food stops there are before you set off! It was a nice day out though and it was well organised too, there were marshalls everywhere.
The Anthem 29er seemed good but I was weak, from lack of food, so it was hard to tell if it's faster than the 26" version or not. I did feel very tall all day!
 |
| Gill Crane |
