2013 mudman off-road duathlon

November 7th 2013: Human race off road duathlon series, race #2. 4 weeks ago was the Wildman and I thought it was hard. Pah! The Mudman was on another level. I’ve since been told that this one would be the hardest of the series, so it reassures me that the increasing difficulty isn’t a trend as the season progresses, otherwise we’d have to prepare harnesses and ropes for the last one!

Bike: end of lap 1
(photo Simon Kibble)

Set on other MOD grounds than where the Wildman was, this race goes up and down a very steep ridge about 6 times on the run, and tackles it a couple of times on each lap of the bike. A course not for the faint hatred, but that many relish and come out of tired, but with the biggest grin ever.

This time I had company from my D3 Club members as Sarah, Christine and Dan were there as well, most of them not having ridden an MTB for ages, Christine even claiming her old one back from her children to do the race. What a fantastic bunch I have as club mates!

On my side, having re-started training properly a couple of weeks before this race, I was feeling a little more confident than on the Wildman, but I still don’t have great MTB skills, this race essentially being my second technical MTB ride ever. I managed to fall only once on a 90deg turn on sand. The front wheel folded. Splat! No harm, just a bit of sand to remove from the brake callipers afterwards.

Having sweated like anything on the Wildman, and (I think) paid for it on the second run with massive cramps, I elected to go a lot lighter this time. “Only” two tri shorts for padding, compression gear to protect a bit from the splashes, and only a long sleeve and my tri top. That worked perfectly well in the Wildman, but I did underestimate the amount of heating up that would go on during the first run. I never did proper duathlons either, so I didn’t know. Now, being a lot lighter without all those extra layers, it feels easier too!

The race was also pretty dry. It should really have been the “Hillman” rather than the Mudman. With the exception of one 50m trench filled with ankle-deep cold water, plus a couple of puddles here and there, it was all dry.

I started close to the front this time, but very conservatively. Having seen the gradients from transition, I wasn’t going to go nuts from the gun. There are 2 runs in a duathlon, and I now know I need to keep some energy for the second one! I walked most of the steep uphills, and controlled well the downhills, only letting things go towards the bottom. 6, 7 times? Who knows, it was steep, and there were lots of it!

Steep climbs
(photo Simon Kibble)

So like plenty of others I took relatively my time to go up, and controlled the descents trying not to twist my ankle again. It was with a bit of a relief that I reached T1, but frankly, I really wondered how I’d manage the second run after a 10mi bike ride over the same terrain!

The bike was I think a bit more technical than the Wildman, with, in places narrow passages, series of humps like on a BMX track, little ridges of single-track in the middle of puddles of mud, all punctuated with the same up and down than on the first run. And then there was the water…

I avoided it on the first run, but there was no other way on the bike than to ride through a 50m pond with freezing water. I had a thought or two of walking around, but then thought better of it and just went for it. Almost sprinting through it, the fat front tire was pushing the water aside a little, and I was moving fast. Only the last 5-10m was getting deeper, or with mud underneath which was slowing everything down. 3 laps = 3 ponds… I would be wet! Except the one super steep ascent I simply could not ride up, the bike was enjoyable and I liked the technicality of it. You just can’t get bored as it’s absolutely relentless! Richie from the RGActive race team passed me on the second lap, smashing through being in his element, and getting up all hills on the bike. Kudos!

I loved the atmosphere and the support in places on the course. The RGActive guys pushing you from the hill tops, and trying to spot my fellow D3 club-mates. It’s great to have friends around!

Starting my last lap of the bike, the front of the field was already on the run! At the time I thought that I was very far down the field, but in fact I wasn’t doing too bad. These guys were just tearing the course apart!

I took my time in T2 and set off on the second run knowing full well what was ahead, but surprisingly my legs weren’t too bad. I ticked the miles one by one, and ran through the water this time. It didn’t matter anymore, and I knew I’d get warm again very quickly. I caught up a lot of people on that run, and I trotted up all the hills. Didn’t walk any (I think), or very little, on this second run. It felt controlled and I although tired, I was happy and going quite well.

I had a little left to sprint for the finish, but didn’t manage to catch the last guy I could see ahead of me. It turns out he also had some left, but it was great to have this race over! I ran faster by 20s on the second run and that made me very happy to have stuck to a conservative strategy!

Dan, Christine and Sarah were also happy to finish it off, Sarah taking a 2nd spot in her category (how am I not surprised about that?!), but Christine taking a tumble on the bike which bruised her a bit so she didn’t have the type of race she usually delivers. But all of us were happy and cheerful at the end. Glad this one was over!

2 more races to go in the series, see you at the Iceman on January 25th!

Total: 2h14'53" (36th overall, 33rd male and 7th in M30-34)