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Breakneck Bracknell – Final 1-Day Ace Race

Robyn Ferrar / 17.08.2007

The atmosphere at the Bracknell Ace Base was already pretty festive by the time we arrived on Saturday morning, and driving down through the parked cars gave us glimpses of many teams in various states of preparation. With the day ahead looking like the scorcher we were promised, most were already slapping on suncream, which was definitely the hot commodity of the day. In fact, one concerned racer appointed himself guardian of our lily-whites and went about squirting dollops into every up-turned hand in sight; earning himself a well-deserved spot prize afterwards for his efforts.

Just getting to the 3rd and final race of the season proved to be challenging enough for some; an 'incident' on the M25 meant that several teams left the start line as pairs or solos, to be joined later in the race by their team mates when they eventually arrived. That didn't seem to dampen the mood, and by race briefing we were all itching to get going.

Course planner Anthony Emmet once again warned us about the unmarked tracks, although most had been filled in using satellite imagery. Bracknell however, is covered in tracks going in all directions, and picking the wrong one is easily done. He also introduced us to a new discipline: combat biking (getting yourself and your bike over unrideable terrain), a first for the 1-day races. To finish, he alluded to the battle going on for the series rankings, "particularly between 2nd and 3rd place". That was Tea & Medals and ourselves, Moxie Crew.

After a poor performance in Ashdown, not only would we have to beat Tea & Medals this time, but we needed another team to finish between us as well. The one team we thought was up to the task was Team Sleepmonsters; the only problem was they were plenty strong enough to beat us too. The inevitable banter was the easy part; the battle was about to begin.

At 11am sharp we were sent on our way on the first trail run. Initially Anthony lead the way on his bike, so there was no need to search for markers. We wanted to put as much fresh air as possible between us and Tea & Medals. This we managed a little too well (along with Aberdeen and Sleepmonsters), so Anthony soon abandoned us to bridge the gap between us and the rest of the field.

The three leading teams worked well together to find the route without going wrong, but perhaps we're just getting used to the surprises Anthony throws at us in his trail runs. These included blazing trails through the Bracknell undergrowth, impromptu mud baths and a shorter than expected route. Not everyone was so lucky, as a large chunk of the field picked up the wrong markings and had to find their own way back to transition, ably led by Ian McNab of Team Cotswoldsoutdoors.

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