Man V Horse V Bike
Phil O'Neil / 15.12.2008
I bought my first MTB in 2005 and the first 'race' I did was the Man v Horse v Bike event hosted by Triangle Triathlon Club in Cam Forest. I rode a 30lb+ Commencal Meta 5.2 with 2.3" Nokian Gazzaloddi tractor tyres! I also packed a backpack full of clothes, lunch, drinks and tools ... all a bit overkill for a 1 hour race!This year's event was held on a wet and cold morning but a good turnout of around 25 bikes, 25 runners and 5 horses made the trip. Horses and bikes had to do 3 laps (approx 15 miles) and runners 2 laps (10 miles). The race started at the bottom of a hill which helped split the pack and at the top I was sitting 7th which was better than last in 2005!
I found the next 15 minutes hard going as I struggled to recover from the climb and I lost pace with the front of the pack and was overtaken half way round the lap to slip into 8th. Just before the river splash at the end of the lap I moved up to seventh again and I could see 3 other riders on the big hill as I reached the bottom. I felt sluggish on the climb but managed to catch the nearest rider who quickly stepped up a gear and opened another 100ft gap, catching the rider in front of him. The two of them then had a nice wee battle while I sat in behind. At the halfway stage of the second lap I finally got my second wind and set about trying to catch the two in front.
I moved into 6th about 1 mile from the end of the lap after a short dual and passed one of the early leaders who had flatted out on his cyclocross bike to move into 5th. I caught the 4th placed rider at the bottom of the hill on the final lap and the two of us rode together for the remainder of the race unable to shake eachother off. We passed another rider from further up field who had flatted on one of the rocky sections of the course and we seemed to be getting faster as the lap progressed.
On the final straight we spotted the 2nd placed rider who looked shattered. He was struggling to pass 2 runners and we caught them all as we approached the bend to the final river splash. We charged through the river and I finished 2nd following my first sprint finish, which I quite enjoyed!
I finished in 1hr 16, the winner was a runner who completed in 1hr 01. The winning lady finished in 1hr 04 (she's a 2hr55 marathon runner!) and the first biker came third overall at 1hr 04. He was a young lad called Marcus Christie from Usher IRC for whom the race organisers have high hopes at the next Olympic Games, so no shame there!
Geoff made the trip with me and came home about the 1hr30 mark. All in all I was pretty pleased given I took 1 hour to do 2 laps last time out!
