10 more in the Moray

The forecast looked really gloom predicting heavy rain all day Saturday, it sure was sad to think that we were still in August and it seemed that summer had well and truly passed! However to our great delight Saturday morning was sunny and it lasted the whole day, what were the chances? So it was back on the bikes for another 10 hour event . . . . . I would like to say that I was looking forward to it but I do hate to lie. After a long discussion with Geraint as to why we actually compete in these gruelling events we decided it was mainly due to the enormous sense of achievement that you feel once they are complete, because it aint much fun out there (ha ha !!!!). The most surprising thing is that no matter how much you say I will never partake in any form of ultra-endurance event ever again, some how as the weeks pass and the painful memories fade you start convincing yourself that actually it wasn’t really all that bad and before you know you are standing in a line of people waiting to collect your race number. . . . . . . .

This was my first time mountain biking in the Moray. As far as a course goes for a 10 hour event the lap wasn’t too bad. It was deceiving at first as the hills didn’t seem that bad but my legs were screaming otherwise. The man made sections of the track were different, lots of humps and obstacles that weren’t tricky by themselves but sometimes their positioning on the track caused a few close ones. There was a lot of pedalling involved in the lap but I really enjoyed that aspect. The last section turned into a bit of a mud bath due to our delightful summer, it was really hard grafting through there and the hidden roots kept surprising you throughout all good fun really.

So for this event Geraint and myself decided to join forces, coach and athlete together would that ever work? Well there is a simple answer to that question yes it did, there were niggles about time taking to pass over the timing chip but I guess that says a lot about the kind of people we both are. We functioned great as a team and managed to churn out 11 laps in 10hours 23minutes finishing first senior mixed pair and 4th overall in the pair category. You see there is still life in that old dog (G) yet (ha ha!)

Another fine mess was back on form completing an impressive 8 laps in a time of 8 hours 37 minutes. Fergus Lamb decided to hang up his downhill bike for the weekend and try his hand at 10 hour events. In true downhiller fashion he had to make things a little more difficult for himself, only riding with a rear brake. That didn’t slow him down any on the descents what a surprise!

Lesley Ingram