Coming Out To Play
It'd been just over 5 months since my last proper exertion at the Stanmer Park 'cross race. I'd been looking forward to this date for quite some time. Not only so I could experience the thrill of racing once more but the Muc Off 8 would be the starting point for our new collective – The Kinesis Morvélo Project. As usual the preparation for everything was down to the wire. From installing brakes at 1am in the morning listening to some god awful experimental jazz on 6Music, to faffing for days with tubeless tyres only to revert back to tubes and finally the new team kit arriving just a day before. Team Sky we're not.
But I was buzzing with excitement. New bike, new kit, new season and the sun had been out all week! Turning up on the Saturday it wasn't long before I heard the unmistakable sound of Phil's old army Landrover. Cue a welcome beer and lots of chatting and fettling. How we joked how it should be renamed the Dust Off 8 with all this sun and dry trails we've been having. So my first outing on the new bike and kit and I remained resplendent for all of 5 minutes before we hit the first bog. I don't know how but the course found the only mud in South East England, and lots of it. I appreciate mountain biking is susceptible to weather conditions and I'm a big fan of getting myself broken and filthy but the course just exchanged some sweet singletrack with lineless bogs with alarming regularity.
Fellow Brighton resident (and eventual solo winner by a heafty margin!) Ian Leitch joined us for this Saturday ride after he produced his trademark 'tiny towel and dropping shorts' carpark changing routine. He echoed our thoughts and we were left scratching out heads about some of the course. Flat out downhills into unmarked ditches, a tarmac downhill, the regular bogs all meant the course lacked any flow. A challenge certainly, some lovely singletrack and a cracking doubletrack climb to the top of the course but after finishing the laps we all lost motivation to ride it anymore despite the glorious sunshine.
Back at the shanty town of Upgrade Van and Army Landrover we got stuck into a lovely assortment of ales, some wine and some food and come 1am negative thoughts of the day ahead had been replaced the our mantra 'Toughen The Fuck Up' so we quit our whinging and headed into our tents. Well, I did. Phil slept outside with his head on a toolbox I think.
Come early Sunday we faffed a lot trying to get our pit area ready, which possibly included the largest amount of cable ties used on an EZ-Up. Everyone turned up in good time and Lea's enthusiasm at turning up first meant he had to do the run. I love being Directeur Sportif. Frazer was next up which gave myself and Phil some precious time to weasle out the hangover. Alongside our 'team of four' we also had a 'team of three' made up of Paddy from The KMP and Tom and Matt from Upgrade as well as the hot pairing of Paul and Nicky in the Vets Pairs. It was awesome to see all the new kit being worn and I had a real sense that The Kinesis Morvelo Project is the start of something special. Relaxed attitude, lots of heckling and a desire to race bicycles as fast as we can, no matter where we end up. The need for speed.
Seeing the condition of Lea, Frazer and Phil come back I was shitting myself with pre-race nerves. They all looked broken from the tough and relentless course. My turn. The sprint with fresh enthusiasm lasted all of the first downhill and was replaced quickly by leg burn and rapid breathing up the sticky first climb. I felt far behind on my form coming into this race so wanted to not let the team down. This meant I was full gas all the way round even clinging to the super fast Stuart Bowers all the way up the big climb. I felt I properly buried myself but at the cost of smoothness. Wrong lines, uncommitted descending and indecisiveness at the boggy areas meant my lap had no flow and I heavily handily bludgeoned my way round. Crossing the line it took me a good half an hour for the sickness to subside and for my appetite to return. I hadn't done that for a long time.
Having all decided that it was better to view the course as a cyclocross race we all eased back a touch on our second laps. However my second lap wasn't much slower than my first despite being considerably less effort. Picking smoother lines, running with the bike through all the bogs and having clear runs at the singletrack meant i was only 45 seconds slower and I didn't feel like passing out!
It's amazing to see how everyone digs deep in races and that's why I love it so. Not just The KMP, but all riders. Giving it their best and finding that inner strength and resilience. It's times like this that I find it an honour to be called a cyclist. As the 8 hours drew to a close our persistence paid off. Our Team of Four won and was a lap ahead of second place and finished second overall just ahead of the amazing Ian Leitch who blitzed the course and field in the solo cat. His laid back, joking demeanor hides a seriously fast racer, plus he always heckles us as he passes :-) Paul and Nicky took the Vet's Pairs by a couple of laps and the Team of Three held firm in second after a narrow gap with the third placed team in their category.
Overall, quite some outing, laughing, joking, racing, catching up with friends and enjoying a sunny day in spring. Oh, and we did alright in the racing too :-)
A note of the new kit – The new bike was awesome and got me out of some serious strife and flattered my riding. Two months off the MTB and my skills are rusty but the KM810 welcomed me back with open arms. Not sure how Dom at Kinesis has done it but the KM810 handles just like my old Santa Cruz Chameleon but with a racing slant. It just begs to be thrown around yet still climbs amazingly well and mixes pure speed with pure fun. The Manitou R7 remained plush and predictable despite some dodgy line choices and the the TRP brakes I didn't notice. I didn't notice them because they behaved impeccably. Smooth, good modulation, consistent and above all, light. Any help getting me up the climbs is always greatly appreciated. Can't wait to try all this on some local trials like The Brighton Big Dog. Then I can really measure the difference.
