January 15th, 2006
Strathpuffer 2.0 - Trees 1, Nick 0 (Two falls and a submission)
Shaggy has pulled out with a broken knee. Riding 39:16 fixed will do that to you.
I am the lucky chap with the 4 a.m. lap.
Joy.
While I have been fitfully asleep the night sky has clouded over and the temperature has risen. We are now in the middle of a thaw. Tales of the course are that the mud at the far side is now a bit more rideable as it becomes thinner.
Twenty five minutes into the lap, riding through the hobbity singletrack, I make a sudden lurch towards a tree on my left and come to a crunching halt. Inspection on subsequent laps confirmed that to be anywhere near said tree my line choice must have been absolutely bobbins. I gather my wits and bike computer, check that everything is in place and nothing is broken and carry on. As I ride the next section of Singletrack (stopping only to text a friend the simple message “uh-oh, thaw”) I feel a warm trickle under my chin. I am bleeding. Damn. Still, I have a lap and a half to do before I can be seen to.
Once finished I head over to first aid who patch me up. There was a day it would have been stitches but these days it’s steri-strips. I am advised to attend A&E on Monday for an X-Ray as my cheekbone is very tender in just one spot and he can “feel a ridge”. A possible fracture.
What I need right now is a bacon and egg roll. Thirty minutes later the steri-strips have pulled free.
According to the team lap times I am due the honour of the glory lap. Excuses are being made on my part by the others for not going out (am I that slow?), but I would feel like I’ve let them down. (At some point in the night I have apologised for being “fat, slow and english”).
Alpine Dave gets back with an hour and ten to go and sends me out. If I pull out my fastest lap we’ll manage another. I am possessed. My heart rate for this lap averages 10bpm higher than any other. Dawn has broken so I can finally pick lines through the mud. Well, aim for the less deep and/or gloopy bits. Much more of the course is rideable now, especially where the combination of a BBC camera crew and my pride forces me to ride sections I might otherwise have walked/run.
I hit the top of the last descent with 15 minutes to go. Body English goes out of the window and in comes body swearing as a I hit every corner without touching the brakes. By the time I hit the final singletrack I nail every corner and ride the steps with the rear wheel barely touching the ground.
At 09:55 I send dR j0n out for the final lap.
Team Naegears managed 25 laps and 20th place.
I did 1/4 of the teams laps in 1/3 the time.
Same time next year?
Bring it on!
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January 17th, 2006 at 5:16 pm
Good effort Nick, must be good to be riding (almost) properly again :)
Glad I wasn’t there though, *way* too much darkness!
January 17th, 2006 at 10:30 pm
hats off to you all for doing this, I thought long and hard about it but was too scared in the end and a works xmas do was just the excuse I needed
January 18th, 2006 at 10:21 am
Aye. I only really rode properly on my last lap when I knew it wouldn’t matter if I broke. It was surprising how soon it felt like we had started ‘yesterday’. About 8pm I think. The DarkMarquis has the race diary which should make it into the Outcast or be the basis for a story elsewhere. It’s fab reading and a lesson in how reality alters on these things.
One of my favourites:
October 4th, 2006 at 7:39 pm
[…] I’d best pack a full facer. […]
December 13th, 2006 at 1:52 pm
[…] Best watch out for the trees. […]