I had wanted to enter a mountain bike race in 2010 but I had been unsure what type of event would be an exciting challenge yet at the same time be within my own limitations.
2011 brought with it the Whinlatter Mountain Bike Challenge at Keswick in Cumbria which looked right up my street. Entry paid for and with a buddy to share the experience with; myself (AC) and Adam (oodboo) arrived at Whinlatter Mountain trail centre on Sunday March 20th with excitement in our bellies.
The first challenge of the day began with finding a parking space. There were very few, if any signs directing people, who were resorting to parking on one side of the forest road, anywhere they could.
Once we finally managed to get parked, we got kitted out and headed off to registration and the starting point for the event. This took a bit of time due to the lack of directions and the event marshals who didn't know where the event was starting from...we managed to find a couple of riders with race numbers already, who pointed us in the right direction, some 15 minute ride away from where we had had to park. On the up side, this did give us the opportunity for a warm up prior to the actual event.
The race was due to start promptly at 10:30am next to the popular Altura trail in Whinlatter. Prior to the start of the event, there was a quick pre-race brief which detailed the route, what to follow, do's and don'ts as well as the health and safety details etc for the event.
As the excitement and atmosphere was building and the base of the music increasing, just as the race was about to begin, the large inflatable Shimano start line suddenly deflated. At first, being XC riders, we just thought this was the first obstacle, however, within a couple of minutes the organisers had it back up and the start line was clear for the race to begin.
Being new comers, we kept to the back to see who did what and to get a feel for the event. It also gave us a good opportunity to compare our skills and techniques with others. I was also interested to see how the trail would hold up with the some 500 riders partaking in the event.
After the first five miles of fire road, the mass of riders began to hit the single-track. This proved problematic with a lengthy queue of riders forming, all being forced to walk with their bikes if they wanted to continue in the event waiting for everyone to space out a little. As we were standing waiting, we could sense the atmosphere and excitement changing to more of frustration amongst the riders, all of which were there to ride and do the best they could, not stand walking with their bike along a trail.
After the bottle necks began to clear; the hills began, these were certainly a test for a lot of riders, demonstrating some who were clearly out of their depth with the terrain and the type of riding required to negotiate the course; even though a lot of the course was XC blue graded. As a result, a lot of riders were choosing to dismount and push their bikes up and down areas which on most occasions, would have proved easier to simply ride.
As competitors began to space out that bit more, it was finally time to get some action on some nice fast, flowy, sweeping sections of single track. Just as I was getting into it and being relieved I could finally ride my bike in this event, I managed to live up to the good old saying off "If your not crashing, your not pushing yourself enough" and did just that, crashed!
With the handle bars straightened, my pride slightly less intact than before along with some layers of skin on my arms and shins, we carried on.
We then hit a series of hilly fire roads which really sapped the energy, even though, after looking back at them from half way up the climb, they really didn't look that bad.
After the 18 miles of the half Enduro, we finally crossed the finish line. Now it was time to go looking for some kind of recognition for completion of the event other than a receipt with our time on it. This turned out to be a bit of an anti-climax, as nobody new what was happening next. We asked a hand full of marshals, not one seemed to know what was happening after the race, as at the beginning, when asked where the registration point was.
Given a lot of pushing and walking and nothing more than a till receipt at the end, it would have been nice to get something for the £25 per person entry fee for the event. It would be interesting to know how the £12,500+ which was brought in by the entry fees was used in relation to the event also?
So, with our legs aching (mine bleeding and some sore ribs), we carried on back to the car for a well earned cup of tea and some flapjack.
Overall, given the Whinlatter Challenge is in it's third year now, both myself and Oodboo feel it has a lot to be desired with regards to the actual organisation of the event. The mass start and continuous bottlenecks around the course simply sapped passion, excitement and the atmosphere for the event from the riders and when you have marshals who know as much as the participants, it does raise concerns. It would appear that the deflated start line was just a sign of things to come.
The course overall coped very well offering good drainage on most of the course given the drizzly and windy conditions and proves why Altura is such a popular trail at Whinlatter.
Many thanks to Sport Sunday Event Photography for the photos, you can view and purchase photos from the event by clicking here
Words:
Adam Robson
Did you enter the Whinlatter MTB Challenge? Please let us know what you thought of the event below.
