The one that got away!
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Gorrick Enduro: 4th May 2008
To be honest I felt a bit of a fraud and can promise, hand out heart that I never tampered with the course tape! I should never have found myself in 1st place at the end of the first lap of The Gorrick enduro and was surprised ( but delighted!) to be in that position for the first 4 laps when the inevitable happened and I conked out like so many of the old cars that I once owned back in college.
The Gorrick Enduro is, I think one of the most underrated rides going. The singletrack is awesome and despite it being in
The 7 lap race kicks off at 8.30am and I found myself arriving a little later than normal to set up and drop my bottles off in the start/finish area. I was still fiddling with the bike at 8.25am (and too busy chatting) and got to the start with minutes to spare and positioned myself at the back of the grid. The plan this year was to start slowly and build up from there. At just after 8.30 we were off and I was sticking to my plan, riding the short, sharp hills nice and steady and not going too excited.There was one section of the stuff just after that wall of fireroad that was great fun, all man made and totally new to me. I’ve ridden in Swinley for a number of years and never found some of the stuff that was used in the Enduro. It would make a good Olympic venue but that’s another debate I suppose. Does anyone know where it will be?
It was, however, in this first section on the first lap that I ground to a halt because the course arrow had disappeared and me and a few riders didn’t know which fork in the singletrack to take. For those enthralled by the suspense of this it turned out to be the left one! By this stage I guess I was just inside the top 10 and found myself riding with Nick Pullen and Matt Zalewski. Nick was on a singlespeed which struck me as madness on this course. Anyway, due to the lack of gears for Nick, Matt and I were able to pull away on the flat stuff and open up a bit of a gap. I found myself riding with Matt for the remainder of the lap (I went off course at one stage and it was Matt that gave me a shout and a point in the right direction. Cheers!) and we rode wheel to wheel over the fabulous singletrack which would, eventually spit us out back at the start/finish area.
Coming through for the first lap, I nearly fell off my bike and veered into my bottles when the commentator told us that we were in 1st and 2nd position. I naturally assumed there was some admin error, it was still after all, very early on a Sunday morning and eyelids were still needing cups of coffee to open them up. Beginning the second lap I was still wondering how on earth we were in this position. My mind started wandering. At one stage I almost convinced myself that something sinister had happened to all of them some axe-wielding anti cyclist madman.
Riding with Matt for lap 2 we briefly chatted about the missing riders and decided that it was best to have a word with the
At the start of lap 3 is where I made my mistake and embarrassing as it is I just got plain excited about being at the front of the race! I felt like a bit of a hare and the pack of greyhounds had the scent! I kept a pace which I knew was too high for me to maintain but nevertheless pushed on. Unlike Matt who had taken the decision to ease off a bit and plan for the remaining 4 laps.
It was coming in for the start of the 4th lap that to compound my problem I had 1 bottle left and realised that I had been making myself drink at least 1 bottle a lap, if not 2 and I hadn’t thought that I would’ve been drinking that much! Stupid.
It was on the 4th lap that the first of the greyhounds caught me in the form of Sylvain Garde of Addiscombe CC. A pocket rocket and a regular face from the Beastway series. He caught me on the wall of fireroad just as I had over-enthusiastically jumped off my bike to run/push/crawl up it when the first of the dreaded cramps hit me. It was one of those cramps where I had to stand motionless for a minute, it always seems longer for the pain to dissipate. Mr Garde left me and entered the singletrack and I decided to try and keep up with him and a km further on got back on his wheel and rode with him until he promptly dropped me towards the end of lap 4!
Towards the end of the lap Mattias Kunz of Ride Beyond caught me up gave me a friendly slap and told me to keep going- it didn’t work Mattias. You must slap harder next time!
By now the cramps had spread to my calves and around my left knee and I was considering the wimp’s option of bottling it. Which, of course, is exactly what I did when I got back to the start/finish zone! It felt very wrong stopping since I was in 2nd place at the time and although I’m sure I would’ve been caught by, certainly Anthony White; the eventual winner and others I could’ve held on maybe for a top 15 placing.
Having only 1 bottle left though and knackered calves helped me make my mind up. I’m writing this on Wednesday and the left calve is still not right! Never mind. Well done to all the finishers of the 7 lap race it is easy – I know- to underestimate this race. The 7 laps are brutal. Having completed the Cristalp last year I would put this race up there maybe not alongside it but in the same league. It really is that stiff a test.
Well done to Antony White. Also Sylvain Garde and Rick Fetherston who finished 2nd and 3rd respectively. Also Matt Zalewski who held on to finish in 5th place, that was a good ride. Nick Pullen who went onto finish in 8th place on a singlespeed, he must’ve been the first singlespeeder home all had good rides.
I’m now going to get my calves sorted and pester Charlie for some more water bottles! Thanks to Martyn and the sponsors for their help and support over the past few months.
All the best to everyone for this weekends racing up in
Matt Lewis
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