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Gritfest, June 23 and 24
![Senecio [Daniel D]](https://forum.ccashwell.co.uk/uploads/userpics/691/nAAIKVAJWITJP.jpg)
Gritfest is a two day event of off road racing and is perhaps best described as an MTB Enduro event. The format is like a car stage rally wherein there are a number of timed stages on an overall route. The consequence being a very sociable occasion allowing all out racing in the stages and a sort of club run from the end of one stage to the start of the next.
5 of us (Mark and Stevie Wyer, Dave Hadsley, Richard Lawrence and myself) travelled up on Friday to the HQ and event site which was a farm near Llandovery in west Wales. We struck camp in the balmy afternoon heat, made final tweaks to bikes and enjoyed Dave’s excellent chili.
Saturday was a long day, comprising 3 stages within a total distance of 90km and 2400m of climbing. Stevie had decided not to race and joined us on the climb to the start of the stage. Stage 1 was around a reservoir on a gravel road. Undulating this was a furious pace being only 11km. Safely through this we rode onto stage 2 which was 31km and also undulating. As with the previous stage Dave and Mark lead ‘the boys in blue’; sadly both Richard and I punctured which obviously delayed us massively. The others waited for us at the end of the sector and we proceeded on with good humour.
Well good humour until we had to ride up the ‘wrong side’ of the Devil’s Staircase. I say ‘ride’ as one of our party decided, despite being on a mettled road, to push their bike. The rest of us chose not to ignore this indiscretion with Dave unable to offer proper account of his actions.
Sadly half way up this ramp Richard suffered another puncture. We waited patiently at the top debating if one of us should go down to help or simply roll and inner tube down the road. However the grade of this hill is such that none of us wanted to ride it again and the debate about if and who should go was still in full flow when the distraught Richard appeared. We thoughtlessly pressed him for information as he gasped for air which prompted one of the Welsh Mountain Bikers to ask if we were really his friends or not. (The phrasing was a bit more, how shall I put it, ‘direct’ and will stay with us as an hilarious memento of the race).
Once again messers Wyer and Hadsley flew ahead down stage 3, which was largely as descent on a fire road. My mind had ‘gone’ and I was worrying about the dent in my rear rim which had caused the flat on stage 2. Whilst stage 3 was short the ride back to the HQ was long, yet delightful in warm sun. The final off road section was a thrilling fire road descent on course gravel. Poor old Richard punctured again. Whilst Dave and I waited at the bottom we realised stage 4, the next day, was to climb the track we had just plummeted down; neither of us said much for a bit. Our contemplation was interrupted by the jolly Welsh MTBers arriving to laugh at ‘the blue puncture brigade’. Helpfully they suggested we get proper bikes with 29er 2.4” tubeless tyres. Thanks guys, really helpful.
Mark and Richard arrived and we fitted the last of our inner tubes to Richard’s rear wheel. The ride from back from there on was on the road and puncture free.
We ate, we showered, we straightened rim edges, we changed tyres and we patched inner tubes. We were all very tired when we crawled into our sleeping bags.
Sunday dawned as roasting hot as the previous day and we set off feeling nervous after such a hammering the day before. Stage 4 was the now known climb of 10km. It was hilly to get there by road, but this was a good warm up. Now previous stages had perhaps favoured mountain bikes, this one favoured our light cyclocross bikes. It started with the familiar pattern of Dave haring off with Mark in pursuit and Richard and I trying to hang on. It was a long out climb and we all found ourselves passing riders. Quite soon I had lost sight of Dave and after a lull in the gradient Mark also disappeared from view. I didn’t look back but Richard would have been in sight. Near the top I passed Dave, laid lame by a puncture. I pushed on to cross the line to find Mark (expected) and Richard (not expected). ‘When did you pass me?’ Well it seems Richard took and inadvertent short cut having missed a sign, so sadly for him had not completed that stage. As Dave was not far down the path I did ride down to offer assistance. Whilst we got one of the repaired tubes from Saturday in and pumped the tyre up we did not mage to do this before the creep of Welsh Mountain Bikers came round the corner. Much laughter was concluded by a reminder to get proper bikes and some big tyres. Once again, thanks guys.
Stage 5 was short, steep, downhill and terrifying. Less said about that the better.
The ride to the final stage was idyllic. Now in the lush valley we chatted away and enjoyed each other’s company and the joy of simply being alive and riding our bikes on such a glorious day in such a wonderful place. Fox glove stood tall as if to assert, totem like, the fact that this was a perfect summer’s day in Wales.
Stevie greeted us with smiles at the start of the final stage. This turned out to be a really hard hitting section of single track. Imagine on of the Tetford Forest trails but inclined by 45 degrees. Not knowing what was coming you just had to hit every new climb with full power and hope. It suited CX bikes and we all flew, though I think Mark got held up by some riders on 29ers with 2.4” tubeless tyres (yup, the Welsh boys again). The final grovel to the end of this twenty minutes of fun and lactic endeavour was a long drag – this was so cruel!
So just a short ride back to the HQ and what we expected would be the normal tense yet uninspiring display from the English football team. Funny thing is we heard nothing from our Welsh MTB pals!
Overall this was a really brilliant event. So friendly with everyone helping one another out. I am so grateful to my friends, Mark, Stevie, Dave and Richard for putting up with me for the weekend; it really was excellent.
Dave is absolutely flying. I am proud of how I rode and I hope Richard is happy with his performance too. Mark though was utterly brilliant finishing 6th overall in the Grand Veteran class. WYER is on FYER!
Daniel
5 of us (Mark and Stevie Wyer, Dave Hadsley, Richard Lawrence and myself) travelled up on Friday to the HQ and event site which was a farm near Llandovery in west Wales. We struck camp in the balmy afternoon heat, made final tweaks to bikes and enjoyed Dave’s excellent chili.
Saturday was a long day, comprising 3 stages within a total distance of 90km and 2400m of climbing. Stevie had decided not to race and joined us on the climb to the start of the stage. Stage 1 was around a reservoir on a gravel road. Undulating this was a furious pace being only 11km. Safely through this we rode onto stage 2 which was 31km and also undulating. As with the previous stage Dave and Mark lead ‘the boys in blue’; sadly both Richard and I punctured which obviously delayed us massively. The others waited for us at the end of the sector and we proceeded on with good humour.
Well good humour until we had to ride up the ‘wrong side’ of the Devil’s Staircase. I say ‘ride’ as one of our party decided, despite being on a mettled road, to push their bike. The rest of us chose not to ignore this indiscretion with Dave unable to offer proper account of his actions.
Sadly half way up this ramp Richard suffered another puncture. We waited patiently at the top debating if one of us should go down to help or simply roll and inner tube down the road. However the grade of this hill is such that none of us wanted to ride it again and the debate about if and who should go was still in full flow when the distraught Richard appeared. We thoughtlessly pressed him for information as he gasped for air which prompted one of the Welsh Mountain Bikers to ask if we were really his friends or not. (The phrasing was a bit more, how shall I put it, ‘direct’ and will stay with us as an hilarious memento of the race).
Once again messers Wyer and Hadsley flew ahead down stage 3, which was largely as descent on a fire road. My mind had ‘gone’ and I was worrying about the dent in my rear rim which had caused the flat on stage 2. Whilst stage 3 was short the ride back to the HQ was long, yet delightful in warm sun. The final off road section was a thrilling fire road descent on course gravel. Poor old Richard punctured again. Whilst Dave and I waited at the bottom we realised stage 4, the next day, was to climb the track we had just plummeted down; neither of us said much for a bit. Our contemplation was interrupted by the jolly Welsh MTBers arriving to laugh at ‘the blue puncture brigade’. Helpfully they suggested we get proper bikes with 29er 2.4” tubeless tyres. Thanks guys, really helpful.
Mark and Richard arrived and we fitted the last of our inner tubes to Richard’s rear wheel. The ride from back from there on was on the road and puncture free.
We ate, we showered, we straightened rim edges, we changed tyres and we patched inner tubes. We were all very tired when we crawled into our sleeping bags.
Sunday dawned as roasting hot as the previous day and we set off feeling nervous after such a hammering the day before. Stage 4 was the now known climb of 10km. It was hilly to get there by road, but this was a good warm up. Now previous stages had perhaps favoured mountain bikes, this one favoured our light cyclocross bikes. It started with the familiar pattern of Dave haring off with Mark in pursuit and Richard and I trying to hang on. It was a long out climb and we all found ourselves passing riders. Quite soon I had lost sight of Dave and after a lull in the gradient Mark also disappeared from view. I didn’t look back but Richard would have been in sight. Near the top I passed Dave, laid lame by a puncture. I pushed on to cross the line to find Mark (expected) and Richard (not expected). ‘When did you pass me?’ Well it seems Richard took and inadvertent short cut having missed a sign, so sadly for him had not completed that stage. As Dave was not far down the path I did ride down to offer assistance. Whilst we got one of the repaired tubes from Saturday in and pumped the tyre up we did not mage to do this before the creep of Welsh Mountain Bikers came round the corner. Much laughter was concluded by a reminder to get proper bikes and some big tyres. Once again, thanks guys.
Stage 5 was short, steep, downhill and terrifying. Less said about that the better.
The ride to the final stage was idyllic. Now in the lush valley we chatted away and enjoyed each other’s company and the joy of simply being alive and riding our bikes on such a glorious day in such a wonderful place. Fox glove stood tall as if to assert, totem like, the fact that this was a perfect summer’s day in Wales.
Stevie greeted us with smiles at the start of the final stage. This turned out to be a really hard hitting section of single track. Imagine on of the Tetford Forest trails but inclined by 45 degrees. Not knowing what was coming you just had to hit every new climb with full power and hope. It suited CX bikes and we all flew, though I think Mark got held up by some riders on 29ers with 2.4” tubeless tyres (yup, the Welsh boys again). The final grovel to the end of this twenty minutes of fun and lactic endeavour was a long drag – this was so cruel!
So just a short ride back to the HQ and what we expected would be the normal tense yet uninspiring display from the English football team. Funny thing is we heard nothing from our Welsh MTB pals!
Overall this was a really brilliant event. So friendly with everyone helping one another out. I am so grateful to my friends, Mark, Stevie, Dave and Richard for putting up with me for the weekend; it really was excellent.
Dave is absolutely flying. I am proud of how I rode and I hope Richard is happy with his performance too. Mark though was utterly brilliant finishing 6th overall in the Grand Veteran class. WYER is on FYER!
Daniel
Comments
This was indeed another fantastic CCA weekend away. I loved the format of racing/riding, I was unsure of how hard I'd actually race given the overall toughness of the day ahead but once you cross a start line you know it just has to be full gas. The format does mean you can take the unimportant transitional road sections at walking pace if you want, or even ride them at slower than walking pace!
Like Battle on the Beach I'm still not sure if Mtb or cross is best suited. Most MTBers were amazed we'd take some of the descents on rigid bikes with skinny tyres, and we were amazed they'd drag their relatively heavy bikes up the hills. A mixture of the two would probably be the best choice, 40mm plus tyres on a cross bike or lightweight hardtail.
My weekend nearly fell apart on the Friday evening. I had decided to have a gentle spin to stretch my legs after the journey and ripped my rear mech off the hanger before I got out of the field. Thank goodness for Daniel's engineering skills as he proceeded to fashion a temporary hanger out of a coke can and other old bits and pieces in his tool kit! Thanks to Tacsi John as well for the loan of his stand.
Dave and Richard were amused to hear me in the shower queue comparing mutual aquaintances with a local whom we had just met. Yes West Wales is a small community! That Saturday evening we were treated to a Tug-of-War competition (we were too tired to enter a team) and a local band. We could have indulged (as some did) in the bar but we just satisfied ourselves with Wood Fired Pizzas and chips. So thanks to the team for a great weekend.
I'll let everyone know when next year's entry opens!