Monday 2 May 2011

The Gorrick 100

This week end I raced in the Gorrick 100. I chose to race in the 3 lap race, mainly as training and a tune up before the big goal of the National 24hour championships next weekend.

Since returning from Spain I had done nothing more than a 30min spin on the rollers each day. My body was in such a state that I had to do the minimum of riding to recover in time. By the end of the week i was feeling a bit better so the race was used to jump my body out of the recovery mode it had slipped into.

The field in the 3 lap race was not the strongest which was good for me as I eliminated the temptation to dig deep the week before the 24 champs. On the start line I really wasn't in the mood to race. For the first part of the race i just sat in the wheels spinning my legs and freewheeling quite a lot! As we reached the first steep loose climb I decided to keep it in the big ring and grind my way up. At the top I suddenly had a gap.... whoops!

I still could get my head into race mode though so i continued cruising at a nice sustainable 24hour pace. Eventually another rider bridged the gap to me and we finished the first lap together. At the start of the second lap I once again sat on his wheel and soft pedaled/ freewheeled as much as possible.

Then as we hit the same loose climb which I gapped the field on a lap previously the same happened again... but this time my race instincts kicked in and I suddenly had my race head on again and pushed on trying to extend the gap.

I pushed fairly hard for the second part of the lap and entering the final lap I had a clear lead. On my final lap I once again settled into cruise mode, taking it easy on the singletrack, no point crashing now!

I won the race convincingly, but more importantly my body responded to the hard efforts and has now awoken from its recovery slumber. It was a soft win but hey... a wins a win!

Now all attention turns to the national 24hour championships next weekend.

Check out my race video...

The Gorrick 100 2011 from Josh Ibbett on Vimeo.

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