Everything you need to know as a Climb On Bikes rider
B.D and Moakes fettle and fix lights in preparation
A record number of entrants turned out for this years season-closer - the 12 hour night time enduro round a tough 11 mile Thetford course. Climb On were out in force too; enduro stalwarts Tracy and Warren Miles making up part of a mixed trio and last years mixed pair runners-up Ickle Paul and Sara out to go one better, joined by 'Dawn Virgins' Luke Moseley and Ben Dale teaming up for a formidable mens pair and Paul Gibbons, Mick Stephens and Dave Gale forming a mens trio.
"Anyone who says Thetford isn't a proper mountain bike course, isn't trying hard enough"
Occupying the middle of the front row, Ben, Gibbo and Paul lined up to show they meant business and lead out the pack into the first couple of corners at such a pace that the lead quad-bike was struggling to stay ahead! As the hundreds of riders filed over the start line and bunched up around the first corner, the obvious floor in the 'start loop' plan became apparent - the lead riders were going to come back round and catch them up! A minute later and Ben came hurtling down the finish straight with an American solo rider to start their first lap properly, with the back-markers barely making it out of the way in time.
Mmmmm, cake!
Thanks Ben's Mum!
Racing then settled down into its normal state. Moakes and B.D were riding strong throughout to hold onto their first place. Gibbo, Big Dave and Mickey the Fish were also riding brilliantly and found themselves lying 3rd. A tough field in the mixed pairs meant Ickle Paul and Sara were fighting for fourth and a good show from the Miles trio had them in fifth.
Luke after his double lap
As the night wore on, the mist descended and brought freezing temperatures. Injury and illness saw Ickle Paul and Sara drop out around 3am. B.D's double starting laps at lightspeed, combined with the short rest periods in between laps, were starting to show and Moakes went out for a double lap around 4am to allow him to get some hot food.
An eventful race was had by the trio of Gibbo, Big Dave & Mickey the fish leading to Dave's first podium appearance EVER!! I'll leave it to Gibbo's entertaining account below to fill you in on the details. Meanwhile Waz & Shelly were putting in strong, consistent laps throughout to stay hot on the tails of 4th place, missing out by only six minutes!
"Imagine sitting in a muddy puddle in November whilst being beaten with a stick and tearing up £20 notes"
The daylight brought with it slightly warmer temperatures and sighs of relief. Exhausted riders finally put on warm, dry clothes and ate hot food, satisfied they had completed one helluva tough race in style. Congratulations to all who finished!!
Gibbo looked a little squiffy
after his epic event
Here's Gibbo's event filled account: "I teamed up Mick Stephens and Dave Gale and knew that we would give a good solid performance through the night. Things started well, all there with plenty of time to prepare before the start so the usual last minute maintenance was taking place. Mick found a loose connection on his lights so a rewiring job was carried out just before the start. Anyway with bikes and lights all ready, dark was now upon us. Don't know if I volunteered or was nominated for the first lap but it was now time to get ready.
So lining up on the front row with Ben and Paul was good (no photo opportunity missed!). The race got under way on the stroke of 20.00hrs. Ben, Paul and myself chased down the quad, having to slow up and avoid the quad in the first turn then after a lot of shouting the quad took off again only to spin around on 2 wheels in the 2nd turn with Ben and me alongside (quite scary!). The quad started to get away from most but Ben was still tucked in behind.
Climb On hogging the start line
Photo: Joolze Dymond
The first lap settled down after about a mile, Ben out in front, me about 10th and Paul in shouting distance behind. We all got away in good positions so all we had to do was keep up a good pace. About half way round the lap on a whoopy downhill section and moving quite quick all I can remember is seeing the bike coming over me, twice! Trying to get up before I had hit the ground, I wasn't feeling too good but I knew I had Mick & Dave waiting so no point feeling sorry for myself, just get back on. Felt a bit groggy for a mile or so, but then got going again and made it back for Dave to take over, lapping in good time to handover to Mick. This was the running order for the event.
My 2nd lap had more excitement tangling with a backmarker and breaking a spoke in my back wheel. Got back to Dave for changeover then back to the van for me to check out the damage. Broken spokes and no spare meant it was time for my trusty singlespeed. Sara was putting in good times on her singlespeed so I thought "give it a go". Going from super comfortable Giant Anthem to a fully rigid singlespeed as Chipps was doing the exact opposite I thought "oh well, here goes!" Big Dave and Mickey the Fish kept going, putting quick and consistent lap times right the way through the night. At about 01.30, a ground frost! No one had told us about that! Still lying in third there was no point looking at the results, just go out and ride hard and that is what we did. Now coming around to 07.00hrs, me and Big Dave were waiting for Mick to come in, Big Dave was calculating that if Mick was in before 07.10hrs then he might have to go out at about 07.58. Another good lap by Mick coming in at 07.14. I knew this was the last lap so gave it my all. Coming back around to Mick and Dave in the arena was a great end to a great race.
Thanks to: Mick & Dave for partnering me for a great podium finish; Ben Dale and Luke Moseley for good team spirit throughout; Paul for persuading us to be there and setting up camp, Warren & Tracy Miles and Team Sludge. All that was left to do was have a bacon sandwich and several coffees before the long trip home. What a weekend!"