Battle on the Beach 2018

A few weeks ago on the 13th of April we packed up the van and headed back down to Pembray Country Park for my favourite bike race. We had a good run down, better than last year when the exhaust fell off my Landy. The aged Defender has now moved on, replaced with a VW Caddy, much more practical and cheaper to run but a bit boring in comparison to be honest.

Our camp.

We arrived on Saturday afternoon in good weather, set up the tipi, got the bikes out (Dani raced as well this year) and headed for the beach for a practice lap of the course.

On the beach.

Dani enjoying the sand.

The first part of the course, down the beach, into a military compound (briefly), and onto the tank tracks, was the same as last year. The tank tracks, a double track section parallel to the beach, is easily the worst part, bumpy lumpyness that is difficult to get into a rhymn on. Then the course changed from last year, a lot of singletrack had been taken out, in fact we rode for about 9k before hitting any. This did make for a faster course with fewer bottlenecks, but at the expense of some sweet riding. There were a couple of patches of soft sand in the dunes, benefiting those of us that ride fat, and the singletrack when we got to it was pretty good. The course splits at one point, laps one and two follow the same route but lap three is on a different route, to make it easier for the front runners by keeping them away from the rest of us slower riders. It works well. We only recce'd the course of the first two laps.

Skirting through the military complex.

Besides the tanks tracks there's this.

After our recce we headed into the arena for food, pizza for both of us and a faggot butty for me as well. Which was rather tasty, and comprised of a faggot sliced and fried, onions and a slice of cheese. In the evening we watched the night race for a while, and were quite impressed to see the racers leave the arena and ride through a marquee, along the front of a stage where a band were playing. A great move by the organiser! Being the seriously hardcore couple that we are, we headed back to the tent, drank tea, and had an early night. I slept very well under canvas, perhaps due to the crisp night air, and the long drive down.

Race colours!

Morning brought rain. Quite a bit of it. Breakfast consisted of Aldi porridge pots, super easy (just add boiling water) and tasty to boot, especially the golden syrup variety. And more tea, for me anyway. Dani took the opportunity to test the coffee press attachment that fits her recently repaired Jetboil (it needed a new piezo igniter, a weakness in the design). Dani took Toby for a walk in the rain, and I took advantage of a break in the weather to go for a ride and an explore. During which my bike fell over whilst I took some photos, causing a minor problem...

Dani getting her race face on.

The race started at twelve. We headed off at about twenty to. As I rode away from the tent I noticed that something was wrong. When the bike toppled the fall knocked the bars out of line. So, back to the van, grab a multi tool and straighten the bars, then off to the start line. By this time the rain had stopped and the ground was drying out, to our relief, in fact the rain could have been a good thing as it helped bind the dry sandy sections together.

I got to the start a bit later than I wanted, and consequently ended up further back than I would have liked. However, unlike last year the organisers wanted everyone to start on the beach rather than have those at the back starting on the access road to the beach. So eventually we all moved forward onto the soft sand. Dani stayed fairly central but I decided to head left, a wise move as it turned out. My plan was much the same as last years, get a fairly good start and go wide on the sand as soon as I could, to avoid any carnage and get a clear run with few people around me.

At the start of the beach an all female steel band were drumming away, giving the event a real carnival atmosphere. The countdown began, a horn blew, then close on 700 riders headed down the beach together. A fantastic sight and an incredible experience. Some tried to ride, some simply ran with their bikes, and of course the fatbikers just rode off. There was some mild carnage, a few on the ground, probably only to be expected given the sheer numbers and amount of adrenaline flowing. I got my good start, and went wide on the left. Dani however got caught in the middle of the melee, a mistake which cost her dearly. Soon I was flying along aided by a tailwind, always wary of the riders around me, but making good progress (for me anyway), overtaking some, being overtaken by others. I've fitted Confucius bars to my bike, and have taped the sides of the loop for my hands to make it easy to tuck into an aero position, suprisingly effective even on a fatty. Off the beach, onto the tank tracks, and into a headwind which got worse as the race went on. All the time I kept a good pace, keeping an eye out for Dani who I thought might be ahead of me. As I mentioned above, there were fewer bottlenecks, which in a way was a shame as I quite enjoyed the banter as we queued last year. Through the dunes, into the singletrack, the sound of drums getting louder as I neared the arena and finish line. Through the arena, under the inflatable bridge, passed the drummers (big thumbs up!) and into lap 2.

By this time I was really in a good rhymn, tucking in on the beach, (at some point during the race I went over 25mph, which I thought was good until I found out that a lot of riders hit 30+, and the winner reached 36!), enjoying the dunes and woodland (but not the tank tracks!), my spirit only dampened slightly by the weather. The rain had returned, in time for lap 3.

Once more through the arena, once more down the beach, once more along the dreaded tank tracks. Then it came time to take the lap 3 turning, heading along that part of the course which we hadn't recce'd. The third lap was muddier than the first two, but still good riding even with a Jumbo Jim on the back, a tyre not renowned for good handling in slippery conditions (they are fast though!). Still, I kept my pace up, even at the finish line when someone tried to outsprint me (she failed, losing out by half a wheel). Then we were funneled into the marquee, handed in our timing chips, and were handed a nice slate finishers medal in return.

At the arena I looked long and hard for Dani, still convinced that she finished ahead of me. I went back to the van, she wasn't there, so back to the arena. Dani actually finished about 8 minutes behind me, getting caught in the middle of the melee at the start did her no favours. Still, she enjoyed the experience, and is looking forward to next year when she can compete on her fatbike. Assuming I get it finished by then (I'm building it at the moment, we have the frame which is a titanium Stooge, but the rest of the components are being bought one at a time as and when I can afford them).

Back at the tent we drank tea, cleaned ourselves with baby wipes, got changed and started to pack our camping gear up. Small Dog had a pigs ear to chew on whilst we broke camp, which kept him busy and stopped him getting under our feet. Then back to the arena for burgers before the long drive home.

How did I do? I finished in 410th place out of 661 finishers, and was the 22nd fatbike home. I came 158th out of 249 riders in my age group. My time was 2:00:39.6, it would have been nice to finish in under 2 hours but I'm not unhappy.

By this time in the year I've normally run a couple of fell races. That I haven't is down to my achilles tendon on my right leg, I'm getting a lot of pain where it attaches to the heel. I'm still running, but at a lower intensity around local fields, and in the Goyt if I'm feeling ok.

Paul.

Battle on the Beach!

Battle on the Beach (BotB) is a 45k bike race that takes place in Pembrey Country Park, near Swansea. The 2017 race took part on the 26th of March. The race is run over 3 15k laps, the first 5k of each lap being along the beach. There are 850 places, and the event usually sells out in 24 hours, entries open on midnight on new years day. So, guess what I was doing when others were letting off fireworks and steam! Its also the British Fat Bike Championships, however whilst there were a large number of fatties present riders could also be seen on mountain bikes of every shape, including a few really ancient frames (mid 90s Orange P7 for one) and a large number of cross bikes.

The week before I found rather stressfull. I had a lot of packing to do, not just sorting out clothes but digging out the tipi and camping gear, which was scattered about the house and loft as we haven't camped for a very long time. I also had to check the bike over, fitting new brake pads and stripping and re-greasing the rear hub, which really needs new bearings after a Peak District winter but I didn't have time to source any so a dollop of grease had to suffice. I also changed the rear tyre, swapping the On-One Floater for a Schwalbe Jumbo Jim, which is lighter and faster rolling (at the expense of some grip).

The journey down, although a steady drive, took us about 5 hours. Its at times like that when I start to think about selling the Landy and buying a small van. A van would be practical and cheaper to run, but I know that I'd miss owning a Landrover, even if mine is slowly falling apart.The Landy is happiest at 50-60mph on the motorway, so I'm losing about 15-20mph over a car or van, which adds up on long journeys.

On arriving at the campsite the first job was to let out the dogs! Then the important business of erecting the tipi could start, despite not having used for a few years we managed to remember how;

Kettle on, beds made then Dani had to disappear for a marshalls meeting. As she wasn't riding Dani decided that marshalling would be a good way to spend her time. So, tea drunk, biscuits eaten, camp set up, time for a ride, or in Dani's case a run along the beach and through part of the course. I went and had a play on the beach;

On Saturday night a time trial had been organised on a shortened course. I didn't take part but did watch the start where Dani did her first marshalling stint;

After a jolly nice wood fired pizza we returned to camp and rather boringly went to bed at 10. Well, we were both tired, too tired in fact to enjoy the beer that I packed. We knew the campsite would be busy and noisy, but in fact the revellers weren't overly zealous so we enjoyed a decent nights sleep under canvas.

Sunday morning started with Dani walking the dogs on the beach whilst I boiled water on the Trangia, ready for Aldi's finest instant porridge. which is actually quite nice. Dani dissappeared off to her marshalling position whilst I drank more tea and prepared myself for my race (which mainly comprised of checking tyre pressures, chatting to folk and drinking more tea). Then the time came to head over to the start.

Not knowing what to expect when 800+ riders try to set off at the same time I decided early on to stay near the back of the bunch. We were funneled between barriers on the entrance to the beach, and being close to the back I didn't hear the start horn. Some riders in front moved forward so I did as well, in fact it wasn't until I was nearing the beach that I realised that the race had actually started.

We moved off the hard path and onto the beach, through a patch of soft sand at first until we reached firmer ground. The beach for the most part was hard packed, and fast! As I moved along I saw a couple of early DNFs, one rider on the ground (broken collerbone apparently) and another sat watching who I later found out had ripped a tyre on a shell. According to my Garmin I was moving at 28kph on the sand, which I though was rather good until I later found out that the Dutch leaders were clocked doing 28mph!

Yes I was carrying a camera! Which I managed to use on the fly.
Coming off the beach we again hit soft sand, then onto grassy sandy doubletrack. This was actually the worst section of the course, being bumpy, lumpy and just generally uncomfortable. However on the first lap there was enough banter between us riders to take our minds off the ground. Into the woods we went, soon hitting the first singletrack section. Hitting is perhaps not the right word to use, it was in fact a queue as we hit a bottleneck. Still, we had time to chat, exchanging pleasantries with Team Sumo. Yes, 3 riders did the entire 45k race in Sumo suits.

There was plenty of singletrack to enjoy along with some short sharp climbs. I saw Dani at her marshall point, she had started to worry as I didn't come through as quickly as she expected and she'd heard on the radio about the accident on the beach at the start. Soon we were out of the woods and onto the grassy marquee area where we went through the finish line and followed tarmac back to the beach and onto another lap;

Did I mention that the race leaders, from Holland, lapped me whilst I was in the woods, still on my first lap? We heard the shout 'leaders' and then they were past. Of course I was lapped several more times, but without the shouting.
On the second lap I was riding well, the course and more importantly the ground conditions were becoming familiar, and I rode with a big smile on my face. Through the finish line again and back onto the beach I went for the third and last time.
The third lap took a different route about halfway into the woods, so that the leaders could have a clear run at the end. I crossed the line in 440th overall place (183rd in my class, vet male 40-49) with a time of 2:23:06, a result that I'm very happy with.

Afterwards I met up with Dani, and we ate a lot of pizza!

The drive home was rather tiring, and again it took us about 5 hours. My calves were burning from lactic acid, which made driving quite uncomfortable especially when you're holding the accellerater in the same position for hours on end. Still, we eventually got home, emptied the Landy, drank tea, ate more pizza and went to bed for a well earned rest.

Would I do it again? Yes yes and yes again!!! I had a fantastic time, well you would wouldn't you, riding a bike on the beach and through the woods in superb weather with loads of other like minded folk. I'll be back next year for sure.

Paul.