Race Day - not in the script....

Well these are the words that I didn’t expect to say by we’re sadly out of the race.

The day had started very early with a 4am call and the hotel managed to put on a fine spread for the Epic Racers. We were then shuffled on to buses and transported to the start a good 2 hours before the start.

Everyone was busy doing bits and pieces to themselves and their bikes and the Bigman and I were pretty relaxed. The start gates opened and joined the chute about half way up. There was still an hour to go. Behind us we had an entire Indian family in the chute with the racers, shooting video’s and photo’s. it was a tad chaotic.

We were entertained by a helicopter filming from the skies. The pilot was simply outstanding swooping this way and that. We all waved in regulatory manner as you do when a film crew point a camera in your direction.

Then we were off. The race started and as usual the pushing and shoving began. The start soon led to the first hill. Immediately we were backed up and everytime someone in the group stopped everyone stopped. It was frustrating and very stop start. It was also very technical with lots of difficult rocky outcrops and loose stuff. But we made it and with a sense of relief the pack began to thin out.

More people were still flying past on the descents and I almost wiped out on bump on the track. I was lucky.

We were then faced with a really technical single track section. Some steep drops on very loose gravel. We were going well but our progress was halted with a puncture. I was about to turn the bike over when a guy mentioned about the snakes and suggesting it wasn’t the wisest place to stop.

So I grabbed my bike and ran the next few km – think it was the best option as the stuff Bigman got over was really challenging!

The trail kept backing up and we were forced to wait continually. Everyone was chatting and having a laugh. The guy in front of me was called Andrew and it turned out his granny was a Macleod. Obviously that was the side of the family from which he got his bike handling skills cos two minutes later he went head over heels into the bushes!

We fixed the puncture in double quick time and set about making up lost time. Sadly I then encountered my next problem and was forced to run the next few km with one gear. Fortunately it was a hill so it was fine and a fellow racer shared some lube with me and the gears loosened off.

The next section was tar and we flew. We climbed with ease passing many bikes. Stopped at the water stop and fuelled up and blasted our way down the hill to the next section. This is where is got tough again. Sand. Lots of it nd it was like glass. We kept up a steady pace overtaking more and more bikers.
This is also where things started to go wrong. Bigman’s back wheel was unintentionally clipped and he took a big fall. The damage to bike and body wasn’t good. A medic patched him up while I fixed the bike.

We set off once more but it was obvious Bigman was in pain not only was he cut from the fall but his arm was badly jarred. We ploughed on but it wasn’t long before leg locking cramp set in. I think this was a reaction to the fall – a form of shock.

We fought on. The miles passed slowly with many bouts of cramp. He was in agony. I would have given up but Bigman kept going and going. We climbed hill after hill some walking some biking but with a steely determination he fought the pain and kept going.

The support crews were immense but eventually they caught us up and told us our time had run out.

He was awesome today. In agony there were no complaints. I learned do much about a man of character and commitment.

I tell more tomorrow. One thing I will say is that he did us all proud today and it’s an honour to be his teammate.

So we’re out – we’ll need to sort out things in the morning but until then……