Event Details
Club: | SMBO |
Event Name: | Innerleithen MBO Score Event |
Date: | 05/06/11 |
Format: | MBO Score |
Mapping: | Ordnance Survey |
Time Limit: | 3 Hours |
National League: | - |
League: | SMBO Summer Series 2011 (Round 3 of ) |
Electronic Punch: | SportIdent |
Event Report
Last weekend I found myself blearily getting out of bed for yet another early start and the 3rd event in the Scottish MBO score series. This one was based at Traquair village hall near Innerleithen. I was treating it as a good training race for the upcoming Polaris Challenge and an opportunity to race with ‘new partner’ of the year number 2
Despite taking the scenic route to the event centre we arrived in plenty of time to study the map and compare notes for strategy. Luckily we were largely in agreement, so the only disputes before the start were over who was going to carry the shared kit. I did detect a hint of a suggestion that I was being over-meticulous with the number of plans for different race scenarios, but decided this was ridiculous and just ignored it!
We shot off at high speed for the first checkpoint. It really was high speed, so I was lucky that the second checkpoint we were aiming for was up a hill. A chance to catch up and give Dan a lecture on the benefits of letting me draft on the road sections! Half an hour in to a 3 hour race and my legs were getting that same feeling as they have on a 10 mile time trial.
Me: “Um, this is somewhat quicker than I’d normally go ...”
Dan: “Yeah, me too, but it’s only 3 hours so it’s supposed to be like that”
Me: (doubtfully) “I suppose ....”
The race went pretty well, notable moments being:
- A scramble up a rather steep embankment to get to a fort we’d approached from the wrong side
- The internal battle I had with myself to stop wasting time and just trust Dan’s navigation when I was confused
- Me trying to keep up on the downhills and a switch in my brain going ‘fun’ / ‘scary’ / ‘fun’ / ‘scary’
- Dan’s pinch puncture – just after the comment “this downhill’s going to be full-on!”
- Following a line only to find myself heading straight for overhanging tree branches - twice
Turns out Dan was right about the speed – I didn’t fade, yet finished the race with very little left and that wibbly-wobbly worked-hard sensation – just as it should be. Not sure if Dan agreed with himself though, since he had a sudden drop-off-a-cliff-like decline about 40 minutes from the end (his excuse reasoning was a recent cold taking its toll). I tried everything to keep us going fast, including goading (‘don’t let a girl beat you’), encouragement (‘let’s go! last push!’), fear (‘we’re going to be LATE!’) and eventually physical pushing (sorry Dan – but it happened!)
Great race, great result as we won the mixed pairs and were 3rd placed overall. Jon, who I raced with in Wales last month, was 1st, just 24 points ahead of us . Other club members competing included Rachel Henderson and Jayden, in what must be almost his last appearance before jetting back to a life in sunnier climes.
I learnt I can go faster in shorter races, that I can ride down hills faster and not die, and that Dan wasn’t so bad as a race partner. Even if he did try and swindle me out of my share of the prizes at the end .
Results:
http://www.smbo.org.uk/innerleithen/
Thanks to Andy for putting on another great event and sponsors Alpine Bikes and High5 for the prizes. Next Scottish race is in the Yarrow Valley and is on the national series calendar.
http://www.entrycentral.com/index.php?raceID=101040