Kielder 100

Eskimo427

I managed to complete it in 12:26 with only one brake for the second 50 miles. Althought everything aches I think the course would be quite good on a nice dry day however, as it wasn't it was 'challenging'. If I hadn't had some luck with a brake pad someone thought was U/S my race would have been over just after to half way point.

I'm glad I did take part and managed to complete the course, however I'm not sure if the 4.5hrs there and back and the £150 to fix my bike are worth it. I'll see next year.

Big thanks to all the marshals and helpers as they were very good.

Jon8a

were you running down the last hills to the finish?

I was number 201 and finished within seconds of you. I had to walk/run down everthing at the end and ran most of the lonesome pine with someone.

I did it in 2010 in 11h15m this year in 12h26 my bike is a mess, it was much harder because of the conditions. 177 finishers out of about 800 starters says it all. I was surviving (barely) not racing.

xcmad

Finished in just under 13hrs

Started really well and well placed but came off a cropper just before 1st time check on shoulder and side (prods brusing) so decided to rest and change pads - they were worn after 30m. Got going again and ran out of pads before tech centre at 60m, I packed a spare pair (all I had) at the last minute back home, but not a set so just did the fronts. However the hydraulics had gone and brakes had to be bled. Queued up and managed to convice the diamond boyo mechanic to get them done (top man, he was at the finish too so gave him a firm hand shake). Total stop over an hour and evetually got going 15mins before cut off

Race was on, feeling good, then....BONK. Stupidly forgot to get any food at tech stop and felt ruined. Somehow managed to blur myself to next check point with 3MINS TO SPARE! Grabbed some nuts and orange looking stuff (fruit I think ) and got going. Looked around and I saw the 1st guy stopped for being 5 seconds past cut-off - harsh. Kinda felt at that stage I was home and dry, then realised we had another 20m to go, mid bonk. The chat between the riders got me going again, awesome bunch of guys and somehow found some legs with 5m to go and kicked home.

Most memorable moment came when crossing the bordercheck with the bagpipes player..... Came through the mist all alone, hurting, hating the trail, hating the wind & rain in the face. Saw the tent in the distance and he saw me at the same time, the bagpipes came on. They were beautiful. Queue instant sobbing. To make up crying to the Scots song I sang my own (Welsh) anthem out loud and it spurred me on.

What a day.

Eskimo427

Jon8a wrote:

were you running down the last hills to the finish?

No, I was lucky. The brake pad I scournged was a sintered one and on the front so I was able to tackle all but one of the descents carefully. It was a little frustrating pulling over to let guys pass for the downhill bits due to not having 2 brakes. Thinking about it though maybe my lack of speed could have contributed towards not punctures and little transmission issues.

rickyrider

Eskimo427 wrote:

I managed to complete it in 12:26 with only one brake for the second 50 miles. Althought everything aches I think the course would be quite good on a nice dry day however, as it wasn't it was 'challenging'. If I hadn't had some luck with a brake pad someone thought was U/S my race would have been over just after to half way point.

I'm glad I did take part and managed to complete the course, however I'm not sure if the 4.5hrs there and back and the £150 to fix my bike are worth it. I'll see next year.

Big thanks to all the marshals and helpers as they were very good.

Sounds like a pretty expensive w/e then... by the time you've paid the £50 entry fee, accommodation for a couple of nights, a wedge of petrol money plus £150 to get bike fixed up... crikey! Having said that, I was still gutted not to be able to do it due to work. Top effort to all who took part, whether you finished or not!

skaffen

rickyrider wrote:

Sounds like a pretty expensive w/e then...

Oh, just a bit, I ended up with a hole in my chain stay around 40 miles and had to retire, having that sent over to Calfee for a repair as it's cracked the carbon

Still, great fun, was pushing it for the 50 cut-off but was out of pads anyway. To think that I was wondering if two pairs was overkill!

My wife had fun as well, she was marshalling at the 50 mile checkpoint/feed station and seemed to have a good laugh encouraging people on (and giving away my food bag once she knew I'd DNF'd!).

Going back next year with a bag full of brake pads and a bit more training on the power side of things. Endurance was fine but I wasn't getting up the hills quickly enough!

bluehelmet

Skaffen - MudX's would've been perfect. Sorry for the crap advice - wasn't expecting the weather to be as crap as that.

So it was your wife I can blame for telling me I'd got 20 minutes to get to the first cutoff at that feed stop then when in fact it was about 5? My fault really - should've checked the watch and had less of a chat with other riders and I'd have made it: missed the cut by about 30 seconds with 4 riders in front of me missing it too. Mind you it was a bit of a blessing as my gears were completely screwed and brand new pads were down to metal and I couldn't get the pistons back far enough to change them.

Only 177 finishers - huge respect for all of you.

Google: 'Killer Kielder' :shock: my sources tell me he did it all in just over 18 hours... Respect.

boneyjoe

Chuffed to bits with my 70th (26th in Vets). Though can't say the same about my time (11:38), or the state of my bike!

Managed to get round on one set of pads, but totally blew out the rear one with about 3 miles to go, and the front is also looking pretty sad - may need some new pistons... Also had horrid chain-suck in the granny ring, leaving a very nasty scar on the chainstay. Hope I can get the drivetrain working again with some tlc this week.

Still can't believe Ben Thomas got round in 8:01. Saw him on his bike the next day as well! Though for dad points, I did 2hrs with my 5yr old on a tag-along along the (surprisingly undulating) lakeside path!

Huge thanks to all the organisers and volunteers for all your efforts on such a very challenging day. Hope to be back for another, dryer go next year!

skaffen

bluehelmet wrote:

MudX's would've been perfect. Sorry for the crap advice - wasn't expecting the weather to be as crap as that.

No worries, I put them on in the morning when I saw the weather and they were spot on, definitely made it easier on the single track sections in particular. Surprised how many people were on Rocket Rons and Racing Ralphs still to be honest!

bluehelmet wrote:

So it was your wife I can blame for telling me I'd got 20 minutes to get to the first cutoff at that feed stop then when in fact it was about 5?

She's denying all knowledge so we'll just blame it on the other person there One thing she thought was a bit cruel that being 1 mile away from the cut-off, loads of riders arrived thinking they'd made it in time, only to discover they had another mile to do and weren't going to make it. I couldn't quite work out why they put them that close together.

bluehelmet wrote:

Only 177 finishers - huge respect for all of you.

Indeed, that would have been a hard run in the dry but in the conditions on Saturday I'm amazed that even 177 managed to finish. Very impressive.

ACDCwmb

Since returning from Kielder this is the first day that I haven't felt or been ill having spent most of the last few days in bed or on the toilet, so here's how the day went for me...

A fresh, cool early morning breeze blows into the open garage as I stand gazing out at the already packed car, the aroma of fresh coffee from my thermos mug and the jubilant melody of the birds dawn chorus throughout the sunrise is a relaxing start to the impending anxiety of the coming weekend. Soon I will be departing home, heading north towards Kielder Forrest to take part in the Montane Kielder 100 mile mountain bike race. All the training that could be done has been done which leads me to the conclusion that the best that I can be, is the best I can be.

I had been checking the weather the week before the event and it varied between sun and heavy rain depending on which weather report you looked at, but as the day drew closer it looked more like rain (puts fingers in ears) nah nah nah nah.

At the 2100hr rider briefing was coming to an end at Kielder Castle it started to rain, then when I looked out of my hotel window in Newcastleton at 0400 it was still raining and heavy too I looked at my bike in the hotel room and the tyres it had on, o dear! As it happens the 2.0 Raceking supersonic I had on the back was ok and rode ok in the wet but the 2.1 Racing Ralph I had on the front was utter shite and it gave me no confidence on the fast downhill single track sections when I kept washing out all the time, luckily there was always plenty of rocks to land on!

At the start line at 0630 it was still raining, the top ten slots where reserved for the pros and past winners etc the next 500 spots where for past finishers dependent upon their times, having never entered before I got to start near the back. We rolled out over a few miles of tarmac during the neutral start before the hammer went down and racing started, however being so far off the front there was no real distinction and we rolled steadily along shoulder to shoulder. As soon as we hit a long section of fire road visibility was reduced to zero as my glasses became caked in gritty mud forcing me to remove them only to get an eye full of gritty mud.

I like to think that the trail conditions would have been pretty good for the faster riders at the front but by the time 800+ riders had been over them it turned into a mud fest. The pace was very slow at the start and ground to a halt when we hit the first uphill single track sections which involved a lot of walking, any thoughts of completing this race in a sub 9hrs now completely disappeared and I started to wonder if I would make the cut off points in time.

There was a lot of climbing and I mean a lot, and a lot of fire road sections which I expected and sometimes I was really glad to see a fire road, the mud was bad everywhere not like Wolds mud but a really thick gloopy grinding paste and lots of knee deep puddles along the way.

My pace was ok, not as fast as I was hoping for but I started to make good time especially as it started to thin out around 20miles and I stated to pick off a lot of riders on the long climbs. When I hit the first Red descent I had problems, no rear brake que lots of OTB moments, mainly into rocks, fantastic.

I started out with new pads and after 20miles my back pads where gone and so had half of the backing and my front ones looked pretty much the same, when I got the chance I stuck in some new pads and I got a whole 12 miles out of the back pads this time!

At about 55miles, still raining, I had an off on a long section of twisty boardwalk which was like ice when wet and managed to snap off my front brake lever I knew this section of trail and after the climb there was a long section of downhill single track (which is great fun) that takes you across the boarder into Scotland, the next tech station was miles away and I now had no front brake and no pads in the rear and no spare pads (I thought 4 pairs of pads would be enough) As I stood on that high section of exposed boardwalk, soaking wet, freezing with the rain coming in sideways and the blood starting to seep through the mud on my legs I thought f**k it and started the walk back to the 50mile check point and call it a day pretty gutted really I knew I was good for the distance and my legs felt good as I was climbing well where almost everyone was walking and due to the slow start I had loads left in the tank and my eating and drinking was going great (apart from everything I put in my mouth was covered in mud) Anyway for me the race was over, the conditions could only be described as epic and by far the worst I have ever rode in. The worst thing was that the escape route back to Kielder castle from the check point took in a lot of the trail centre red descents which I couldn't ride as I had no brakes!

The bike now needs some work, new free hub bearings, new shock bush ring, new front brake & pads, new mount for my Garmin Edge, BB needs a clean & service, so along with entry fee, travel costs and accommodation it has turned out to be an expensive weekend. The winner came in just over 8hrs which I find amazing in those conditions. Only 177 finished out of over 800 and I spent most of today in bed feeling like shit with stuff coming out of both ends, until there was no more stuff to come out! Would I do it again, hmmm, feeling battered and sore I can't help thinking that I am getting too old for this and when my thoughts start to turn towards sun, tarmac and a nice road bike my 14yo daughter gave me some sound advice...

"man up dad"

boneyjoe

Interested to hear you've not been well ACDC. I felt great for about 2 days post event, but have now had 3 days of the most horrendous runs I've ever experienced. I know its a bit grim, but would be good to hear if any others have been affected. I expect the organisers will also want to know if its a widespread problem, as it can get pretty serious in some cases.

bluehelmet

Given the amount of mud we ate from spray / on your water bottle I'm surprised I've not felt bad to be honest. Especially when you consider the amount of animal crap / urine that was probably mixed in with it...

Sorry to bring that to your attention if you've not thought of it before...

Nice write up ACDCwmb.

Oh yeah, I'm in the Kielder Trail reavers and we're after feedback on the trails only (not the fireroads / organisation, etc) so if you can give feedback on here or on the KTR Forum that'd be great.

Cheers.

Broonster

Interesting to hear other people's sickness stories - I thought it was just me!

I was fine during the day on Sunday but I had to have the day off work on Monday - I was up half the night on Sunday night with the most horrific diarrhoea I've ever had, whilst being sick out the other end. Had something to eat Monday afternoon and felt much better, but still had a spot of the runs on Tuesday. Feel almost back to normal now.

I, too, had put it down to picking up a bug from the grit & muck that I was getting in my mouth, either from the spray or from drinking from my manky bottle.

Wasn't pleasant

boneyjoe

Point taken bluehelmet, but I'm sure the organisers would like to know if there are many cases, so they can try ID the problem and take evasive action in future. Like this event in Wales a couple of year ago - http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/c ... ers-19514/. I think it really can get quite serious from a health and safety perspective if large numbers of people get ill during an event.

bluehelmet

^ Totally agree with you boneyjoe. Was just pointing out a possible source for peoples illnesses.

Hope you've all sent an email to SIP: info@sip-events.co.uk

boneyjoe

Thks BH. Have just e-mailed them.

Tank-slapper

No runs here, just tired...