As we rolled out of the ceremonial start I was feeling rather apprehensive about this marathon race. I’ve only done one
The real start was a lot more hectic. I’d started pretty far forwards and thought since we were going up the road for at least the first few km I’d try and stay in a bunch near the front. I saw my HR shoot skywards immediately however and knew that the front group were gone including Chris, local Brit James Ouchterlony and the top girls. I found myself in the tail-end of the second group. I was able to draft these guys for a while but found that as soon as the road hit steeper switchbacks the pace was too high. I dropped off the back with a couple of others and found my own speed.
Hitting the dirt roads on the other side of an amazing stone paved bridge I started to move forwards in the pack – this is a good sign I thought. This climb seemed to go quite quickly and before long I found myself on a very fun dirt road descent. Compared to those around me I found I was much more confident at riding these roads at speed, floating over the occasional rocky patches and generally keeping a very good pace. My Moda carbon frame and reba forks soaked up the biggest of the bumps whilst also being stiff enough for me to get some good acceleration over the odd short climb.
I grabbed a bottle of water and downed a cup of coke at the next feed and got stuck into the next climb. This was more undulating than the last and the ups were steeper. Having rehydrated somewhat I found that I was again passing lots of people who had zipped away from me at the start. I had already seen the front men on an earlier section where the route crossed itself, but had not seen any of the women. I wondered whether I might be able to just sneak into the prizes. It turns out this might not have been a good thought!
On the descent back into Maspalomas for the first time (we were doing two loops because of earlier weather destroying some of the ‘extreme’ route). I passed one of the girls who had looked very ‘pro’ at the start. She had punctured on the descent and was pumping away at a new tube. Knowing there was still a long way to go I didn’t get too excited at this point, but did put my head down to make sure that I did not waste the advantage that the 40psi in my tyres and smooth riding (thanks Chris for the instruction in this) over the bigger stones gave me.
Hitting the road climb for the second time I was not feeling so good however. My right leg intimated it might cramp and I realised I had been drinking lots of water but had hardly touched the Torq energy drink in my camelbak. I guzzled as much of this as I could manage and like magic the cramp never set in properly. Hitting the dirt track again the unfortunate lass with the puncture passed me. I tried to jump on her wheel but she was clearly able to go too fast for my tiring legs so I told myself not to be silly and got back into my rhythm.
By the time I had done all of the climb-descend, climb-descend bits on this lap I was getting a bit bored. I had no one around me and had been riding for around 3 and a half hours. As I came down one of the rocky sections I saw that the same girl I had passed earlier with a puncture was fixing her wheel again. Reinspired I pushed hard again and it took her a very long time to get back to me this time in fact until just before the final descent. I felt pretty good about my descending by this point and decided to push her as much as I could – bad plan! On a right hand corner I lost traction with my front wheel and came down hard. I didn’t slide too far thankfully but my foot did not unclip and got twisted under the bike as I landed – ouch. I got up tested my weight on it and although painful I was still able to walk so I hopped back on the bike determined as ever. Cycling on it was actually ok until I hit left hand bends. Where I would normally put down my left leg and use the weight to turn myself I was unable to because of the pain in my left ankle. This meant I became the master of braking well before such turns so I could gingerly get the bike round with my right leg down – not ideal.
The worst section however was the river bed crossings. I could no longer get enough speed up to push through them so had to get off the bike and limp, very slowly across. I must have looked a sight, grimacing in pain but refusing to stop. By this point though I was so close to the finish there was no way I was stopping. When I finally saw the overpass which indicated I was on the edge of Maspalomas I was elated. A little prematurely it turned out as the final section into the Parc turned out to be a wasteland scatted with blocks of concrete which required hopping onto and sandy sections – I would normally be fine with this but just could not push hard enough to get though it.
When I finally crossed the finish line to see Chris grinning at me I was done. I told him I needed ice for my ankle and his face was a picture (I have had a number of accidents due to my competitive nature when MTBing in the past). So he and a lovely girl from the organising committee helped me hobble to the medics. Despite my protestations, lack of any money or any form of ID they insisted I go to hospital for a check up. Chris was left to find a taxi for himself and the bikes and I was panicking because I had the apartment key. It turns out Canarian hospitals are more efficient than their taxi firms however and I was able to beat him back and finally collapse on the sofa.
So what have I learned from all this. I needn’t have been worried about the distance, coach Jenny has prepared me well. I probably would have done quite well (5th place), but that I should not go crazy trying to compete with people and ride beyond the limit after 70km in the mountains.
Thanks to Trevor and Keith and the WXC Mountain Bike team, to Moda Bikes, American Classic wheels and USE components. Also thanks to Goodridge cables, Torq nutrition and Daisy Amelia clothing.
