Middle Pack

My 3rd race in 4 days was always going to be a painful experience. the Calder Valley Reservoir Bogs was made even more so by the sadistic nature of the course. The route is only disclosed on the day and generally althought navigation to the checkpoints is easy, choosing the best line through the bogs and heather is the real key to a good or a bad race. I set off at a reasonable pace and as soon as I hit the first route choice option, my choice just crumbled. Some shot off to the left of the hill, some went for the direct appoach. My initial choice was the the right of the hill but didn’t see that many people taking it so I went a bit more direct.

That was my first error as some people behind me had taken what was my initial choice and were now running on good paths ahead of me whilst I was trying to pick up small feint trods through the heather. The leading group were going fast and on remembering a thread on the FRA forum about setting off too fast and finishing strong I decided to slow right down to a comfortable speed and see if it works?

The rest of the run to checkpoint 1 was uneventful albeit a guy got close behind me then just stayed there. I was picking good lines and paths through the worst of the terrain, more by luck than judgement so he was content in beliveing I knew what I was doing. Checkpoint 1 to 2 was probably the worst terrain for me. I may just not have seen a path but it was just large tussocks all the way. Stopping any running rythm and then it became about finishing with my ankles in one piece. Only occasionally tussocks would be broken up with a bit of bogs.

2 to 3 was fine! A bit of track, followed by cutting across some short heather, picking up a small trod then bashing over boulders and heather to a small path direct to 3. Then drop down a hill where I just slowed right down. Wanting to get to the bottom in one piece through these head sized tussocks, only for it to the develop into steep sided heather, with a stone wall hidden in the heather. Up the other side and fern up to the chest, again no paths in sight, until a Calder Valley Runner went past us on the smallest of trods and I decided to follow. He eventually decided to cut up a clough but me thinking I would continue, kept on the path, only for it to disappear within seconds so I also made the choice to go up. Eventually getting on a decent path and overtaking a few people who had chosen the bottom route. We were now heading home. A good path until the Calder Valley runner runs off and I decided following was the best option. I knew where I was but this trod we were running on was not on the map so I was staying close. Annoyingly for the 2nd time in a 6 mile race my shoe lace came undone so I had to stop and tie it up again. This lost me a few places but they were not too far so I pushed on. It seems that at the end I was able to push a bit faster, there was some left in the tank to keep pushing. So starting slower was a good thing as in the final 1km I overtook 3 people to end up in 10th position. I was either 10th or 11th at all the 4 checkpoints and the finish so I think the pacing was correct, alebit a bit too fast at the start.

Final results 10th out of 67 runners

Great race! Although local knowledge is the difference in this race.

What better way to spend a sunny bank holiday than riding the Mary Townley Loop!

I was invited along on the loop as a way for a friend to celebrate his big four o. I am glad I accepted as it was a great day out. He had invited a few others along that seemed to know each other and it was also good to meet come fellow keen cyclists.

We met in Hebden Bridge at 8.30am. I had caught the train there so had warmed up with a 4 miler to the train station and maybe a mile wandering round Hebden Bridge looking for a bacon sandwich (I failed). But the others soon arrived and the thought of bacon sandwich was put away for later.

A great collection of bikes were put together. 3 hardtails and a couple of full susses. Nice to see two of the three hardtails were Rock Lobsters! My Aluminium and another Steel one.  A quick apply of the sun cream as it was already getting hot and off we went.

It was decided on clockwise and the long drag up towards Stoodley Pike. Three of us ahead and two a bit further back. This was to be roughly the order of the day, but as speed wasn’t the name of the game then it just meant the faster ones had more of a rest when holding gates.

I had never ridden around Calderdale, but had gone running many times. I knew that bikes would be fun but I have to say that the riding was first class! Great both up and down. The terrain really had a bit of everything. From good tracks, to boulder strewn singletrack to sharp ascents and swooping descents. A real mixed bag (as you would expect from 47 miles of riding.

We stopped for lunch briefly in a pub but were soon on our way again. The second half was starting to show more. It seemed that we were constantly going uphill, like an Escher Drawing but still the riding was great.

Some cloud cover came over in the afternoon which I was thankful for as we continued on our way. Forever upwards!

Before long we were at Widdop, the towards Blackshaw head and then with a ting of sadness I always feel on finishing an adventure, the long fast descent back into Hebden Bridge.

After managing to catch the train, I had to contend with someone nicking the signal cables in Pudsey so I had to bike across Bradford to swap trains and then bike the final 4 miles from the train station to my house. They must have been the longest 4 miles of my life and also the longest section of road I encountered all day.

All in all a great day out. Thanks Andy for the invite. It has wetted my appetite for all day epic rides so watch this space as I have some other 40+ mile routes already sorted.

Some fell races you are flying, hills are a breeze, the legs feel silkly smooth, the downhills are like lightening with no thought, no effort or concern about saftey. You are invincible as you skim across rough ground. This wasn’t one of those races!

Arriving at Ogden Water for the 14th Ovenden Fell Race, I was feeling quite good. My injured foot had been rested well since the Calderdale Relays 3 weeks previous. I had not done any running whatsoever in an aid to sort my foot out (and ensure I could stay drunk throughout Christmas). This I think was my undoing. Going up the first slight incline my legs felt like lead, my breathing laboured. I was just waiting for a bit of flat ground so that I could get some rythem and start pushing forward. Unfortunatly as soon as I hit the flat ground I realised it was going to be a slower race than I anticipated. The legs were still laboured. The ground was frozen as hard as concrete and I was struggling.

At this point I decided not to beat myself up about it and thought of various excuses to my already poor performace. I have settled on two excuses. First is lack of training due to injury, second is that it is better to get the shocking races over and done with early on in the year. Happy with these I settled in and tried to just enjoy it as a training run.

I do belive there were some points that I was enjoying it, unfortunatly these were all too late in the day. Maybe I am just suited to longer races where I can get settled in for the first 8 miles as opposed to the race being 8 miles?

Two worrying things came from this race (apart from the result) first was the foot was in agony the next morning and second was on the final descent I had real trouble catching breath. My chest felt tight and I had to slow down and take big deep breaths to control my breathing. This isn’t the first time this has happened so off to the docs with this one. Still no excuse as this was on the final descent to the finish.

All in all a cracking race, a good course but I felt like I could have done better. Final result 32nd out of 137 in a time of 66.33. Winning time 53.42 by Karl Gray of Calder Valley.

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