Race Report | UKGE Grizedale – A New Level of Gnar
It had a been a long six week wait from round one at Triscombe to the second round, held up in the picturesque lake district. As the sun had been beating down all week and the season had just gone over from the end of spring to mid summer, it seemed strange we were only at the second round of five. You tend to forget about the bigger looped races if you don’t keep your eye in on them, so with another annual visit to the northern territory known for the big climbs, we knew it was going to be a bit of a tough wake-up call.
I had finally persuaded my best mate Stu Hughes to sack off the over-priced under bike-riding-timed NPS (National Points Series) DH racing, to throw his hand in at a proper UKGE race, although I knew I would be doing myself out of a position on the leader board! We headed up Friday morning fore-armed with the Met Office weather report giving Friday wet, Saturday dry and Sunday very wet. I had opted for a cut down Michelin mud front with a Shwalbe Hans Damf Super Gravity rear, if the weather was as expected, then no tyre changes would be needed.
Last year saw Grizedale come up with some of the rockiest tyre killing stages of the whole series, plus a mix of fun fresh cut stages ending right down by Coniston Lake, we knew we would be in for a treat. As we arrived at around Friday lunch time, we set up the Enduro Mag EZ-up in the parking/podium area, this time this was split off from the separate field of the trade stand area, which was a tad unfortunate I thought, as over the weekend it kind of deterred people from milling around the pits as much as usual. As the weather went through batches of drizzle then rain, it wasn’t till late afternoon that we finally set off for a look at some stages when the rain finally subsided.
Stage 2 and 4 were a good distance away, so we headed over in the van to give them a blast first, rather than a 15k jaunt; well it was Friday, so not official practice! These were the two fresh cut stages from the previous dry race of 2014, now ridden in by locals. As they wound there way through the trees with some new bits added, they sure were difficult in places as water was added to the equation making traction an issue. My little Marin had been fully kitted out with Fox 36 Float X and a one-degree angleset, and although it was a vast improvement, it really was like getting used to a new bike again!
We spent a fair bit of time practicing these stages, especially the very tricky steep rooty section at the start of stage 2, where Ed Roberts came through at one point with such style it was embarrassing, flicking the back end around corners like a boss! The top of stage 2 was great fun, loamy, slick woods with the bottom half being flat out stone stuff; here Stu was just getting away from me, as he applied what he called the ‘death grip’ not covering the brakes for maximum speed! Stage 4 was similar up the top, tricky woodland stuff when you exited the woods then rode across open tricky sections of off-camber roots, rocks and ruts; all willing the bike to drop down off-line into the giggle weeds and end your flow.
We had come with the plan to ride it all on the Friday like our earlier arriving mate Coop had been attempting, but that went well and truly out of the window as we checked the time and headed back over to the arena area for a proper pasta feats laid on by Coop the cook himself. The late evening sun was out, as were the fuckin’ midges (aka the fun police) but what a great social evening we had, just mates talking shit about bikes and racing. This was extra special for me, as I had finally got my old mate Stu (we were joined at the hip back in the old DH days) to come over to enduro. Its funny because no matter how old you get, with me now 44 and Stu 40, when you do these events with your mates it just all seems timeless, like we are just kids muckin’ about on bikes again, that shit is priceless!
It was camping ‘a la van’ that night, after a bit of a lie in, we all arose to glorious sunshine, that was to last the rest of the day, slowly turning the tracks from mud to sticky loam again. A hearty feast from the Billy Can (one of many over the weekend) and we were all on our way, Coop had left early, he’s too full-on in practice, 100 miles per hour and over practicing every section like a man possessed; us older lads choosing a more sedate style of stage exploration. We hit up stage 1 next, short but sweet, no pedaling to speak off, just a fast blast across many a tyre-killing rider-breaking rock section. As we were there we saw Ed Roberts again, this time having had a big off and in lots of pain with bruised or fractured ribs. We got down it, but it really felt like a lottery stage, either a crash or a puncture could end it so easily. Stu had punctured and had turned into Mr Angry for a while, pretty standard for Stu!
As we rode on, we met up with several people giving it the big un’ about stage 5, apparently it was the gnarliest stage yet, steep, slick rocky and scary; I have learnt to ignore the scare mongers nowadays until I see for myself! As we approached stage 3 we caught up with Coop, he had had a big crash, landed on his head and was about to be carted off to hospital, where it was obvious he needed stitches. He was sure he would be back to qualify later in the day, as the marshals took his bike and he headed off, not seeming to know his arse from his elbow in a mild state of concussion. I thought his race was well and truly over, yet again my aggressive style riding mate had given it 100% instead of 80%, got carried a way and paid the price.
Stage 3 was as expected, the same as last year, just try and avoid the tyre killing big rock sections at the top and ride with rubber preservation till you hit the long and pedally halfway fire-road section. The bottom section of 3 was fast and flowing single-track stuff, with the odd nasty rock and root to avoid or jump till the end. At this point Myles and myself seemed to loose Coynie, Alec and Stu, so we headed over to see what all the fuss was about with stage 5, worried we may not get enough time to practice it before seeding later in the day. As we went on through the day we kept hearing stories of broken riders, this place was taking its toll, I knew it was going to be a self-preservation ride, ease off and get through it being the key.
Rolling into the top of stage 5 and I didn’t know what all the fuss was about, a bit of a pedal to begin then fast open stoney turns greeted us to start, the Michelin mud was struggling to keep its grip in these sections. Next up we hit the gnarly stuff, and man was it tricky. Steep high and low lined off-camber root and nasty slick rock infested turns. It was so tricky to get the bike around some of the tight corners, over a broken wall and stay on track without the natural slope sending your bike sliding off into the undergrowth as we headed down towards the finish arena. I managed to get through it first time quite well, then walked up and gave it another final blast in pretty much the same fashion. I rode it ok, but knew it would be carnage in the race if the weather was to turn as expected.
As we sat and chewed the shit about the day’s events with around 40 minutes till end of practice Coop appeared after a £40 taxi ride back from the hospital and six stiches later. He seemed ok, but desperate to find his bike, as he still hadn’t practiced stage 5; he virtually ran up to the top of the stage and got a bit of sectioning in prior to seeding. Before Coop got back we headed off up for seeding, with news of another hurt rider, top Vets rider Marcus Jones also did some ribs in the same spot as Ed (he found out they were fractured on the Monday after the event) but he was still up there giving it a go, doubled over in pain. This stuff amazes me, people who don’t race will never understand the want and the will of a born racer, we don’t like to be defeated by injury and that kind of stuff commands respect in my book!
Seeding went ok for me, I’d bent my Time pedal and struggled to keep clipped in, but managed 9th. Marcus Jones looked in such agony at the bottom, but still brought her down to 3rd, Coop managed 9th with an extra head hole, Ed Roberts was fastest Elite with his bruised ribs and Stu had managed to blast down to fastest Veteran. Another great eve was had, lots of fettling of bikes as Stu fitted two Maxxis DH sticky tyres for the next day, much to our piss take; we were sure the big 40k loop would finish him off the next day!
At around 12 am tucked up in the van I was awoken by the first pitter patter of rain on the roof, it went on all night, never really letting up. The forecasters were right and as the alarm went off at 8am I really didn’t want to get up to the rain, but a small part of me felt a bit smug about keeping the mud tyre on the front. We were soon suited and booted ready for the off, as we left the arena after the usual Steve Parr interview, this was it, the big loop, which we hadn’t yet done, all 40k of it.
To start with all riders around us adorned the standard waterproof jacket, heading off up the road into the rain, but by around midday the rain stopped and the sun made an appearance, although the damage had been done to the tracks, making all stages ride completely different to the previous day. Stage one actually seemed easier, as a few nice soil cut lines appeared around the nasty people-breaking rock sections. Other stages got worse through the day, as they went from slick to sticky wheel stoppers for the later riders to tackle; we heard reports of all elite riders having to cyclocross bikes through certain parts like in stage 2. Stu and I battled on together with the other Vets, nearly all had stories of crashes, including myself with an ‘over the bars’ in stage 2’s infamous ditch. We got red-flagged at one point, as we raced down stage 4, Jack Peden, one of the junior riders had nailed himself with a big crash (heal up fast fella) so an extra short climb was on the cards for our re-start.
The final transition from stage 4 to 5 just seemed to go on forever, Stu really feeling it on the super-glue tyres! The relief as we had got through the line and finished off such a tough day’s riding showed on every competitor’s face, just to get through it un-scathed was a result in itself.
The young Martha Gill (Marin/Stan’s No Tube’s) took the Woman’s win, as did Helen Gaskell (Scott UK) in the Elite Women. Junior winner was Ruairi Phelan (Kreek Racing). Howard Stuttard (Ride-On/Muc Off/Mondraker) was fastest Grand Vet as ever! Stu Hughes (Decade/7idp/Royal Racing) took the win in Veterans with some blistering times, one of which was 4nd fastest overall, I brought her home a bit too cautiously in 8th. Aiken Collinge (One Planet Adventure/Morvelo) was fastest Senior, Coop battling his painful head through the day for a respectable 7th. Ian Austermuhle won the Masters. It was all to play for in the Elite Males, last year’s winning Junior Leigh Johnson (Marin/Stans No Tubes) took a well deserved 2nd place after crawling back from his 20th placed seeding run. Third Elite went the smart yet powerful and posh rider Sam Shucksmith (Pro Ride Guides) but top spot went to a fellow Shropshire rider with his first UKGE win, well done to John Owen (Pivot UK) sporting some proto Vee Tire rubber, which after those conditions may become hot property when finally released on sale!
A massive thanks to Steve and all the crew for putting on the ‘most technical by far yet’ UKGE event, a real test. Also the paramedics, kept busy over the weekend and to all that were hurt, heal up fast and see you at the next one.
For full results, visit: scribd.com
Words: Jim Buchanan Photos: Doc Ward & Jim Buchanan
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