So the morning of the race arrived and I (Des Pugh) could hear the rain lashing at my window, so any hope of the forecasters getting it wrong were dashed. After a hearty athletes breakfast of a tin of rice pudding and a choc muffin I picked up John Harbour and Chris Roberts and we headed off….the further west we went the harder the rain seemed to get. We arrived at event centre at Corris craft centre near machynlleth to a surprisingly quiet car park at 9.30 am….and after getting our numbers a cup of tea was in order…it was there where we saw Alun Roberts and Bryn Davies and after discussing race tactics (or lack thereof) we headed back to the van to put our numbers on and shelter from the precipitation. The car park was now full and the atmosphere was buzzing. At 10.55 we final climbed on our steeds and headed to the start where we queued up alongside Neil Vose, Conrad Taylor and Nathan Seymour. The start commenced and the familiar sound of 250-300 riders clipping into pedals resonated as we headed down the road. Being in the middle of the pack with the spray off the wheels in front made visibility tricky especially with my glasses steaming up and as we turned left over the bridge and past the caravan park I discarded them, we continued along the road and then turned left up the forest road and onto the long first climb…with a right turn at the top the wind was now behind us as we headed up again and on towards the left fork that led to the singletrack going and the lap proper where the riders began to thin out. After a while I overshot a right turn and ploughed into the undergrowth and approx. 10 riders went shooting past amidst many shouts of ‘are you ok’ one of which was Alun Roberts. After re-mounting I got into some sort of rhythm and after many hairy moments on some gnarly downhills and much puffing and panting on the uphills I finished the first lap and headed past the feed station to cheers and shouts of ‘well done’ from the spectators who braved the elements. As I started the 2nd lap I came upto Bryn who informed me that Neil was somewhere in front….Chris was way up front and I knew that Alun was in front of me….as for Conrad and Nathan I imagined they were in their element being keen mountain bikers. I rode the majority of the 2nd lap with Bryn until another minor incident and burning lungs caused me to lose sight of him and as I approached the feed station at the end of the 2nd lap the lure of the sausage rolls and flap jacks proved too much for me and I stopped and then decided that 2 laps were enough for me and my freezing hands. I headed back to the car park as Bryn started his final lap alongside many others. On arriving back to the van I discovered a dejected John Harbour who had to cut his race short due to a mechanical it was then that I realised I had done my 2 laps on locked out front forks!! (no wonder I was getting double vision on the descents) after a while a grinning Chris Roberts came back covered from head to toe in mud and had apparently finished in a fantastic 8th place overall and that Sean G had finished in 4th. I’m not sure where the rest of the Hafren riders finished but the general consensus was that everyone seemed to enjoy what was yet again a very well organised event in adverse weather conditions. Next year I will do the full 3 laps…..I will unlock my front forks…..and the weather will be kind to us but hey…..it’s only a ‘WARM UP’!!!
Full results will be posted once available.