So, I’ve entered No Fuss Events’ 10 Under the Ben. A mere week and a half away and I’m pretty excited about killing myself under Ben Nevis, Scotland’s highest mountain!
I decided at the start of the year that I was going to try a few races this year. I’ve been biking loads over the winter, more than I ever have, so I thought it might be a good chance to try to exercise the demons of a disasterous Scottish Cross Country Series appearance I made about 2 years ago. Back then – the spring of 2006 I believe – I thought I was in reasonably good shape. Leave it to 20 guys in lycra riding £2000 hardtails to shatter my illusions. As I was panting up the first hill at the Laggan Wolftrax watching the disturbing sight of 40 straining buttocks disappear into the distance I thought, “So, biking once a fortnight really doesn’t make you that fit…”
This year though I’ve been out to the trails about twice a week, and cycling to work every day so I’m feeling good. Not good enough that I’m gonna be anywhere near the top of the leaderboard of course, but good enough I’m hoping not to embarrass myself in the shadow of Ben Nevis! I’ve entered the trio category anyway so it’s actually not that much of a marathon event, but it still involves at least three hours of cranking through the forest as fast the little legs will go. For those that don’t know the event, it’s one of the series of Scotland based 10s run by No Fuss Events. It runs over a 10 mile long course at the base of Ben Nevis and the object is to complete as many laps as you can in 10 hours. Some lunatics do it solo, sitting their saddle for the full 10 hours, but the more sane compete in pairs, and mere mortals such as myself can do it in threes.
We’re camping over on the Friday night anyway so hopefully we’ll meet plenty of fellow masochists and get a bit of banter. If you’re heading that way drop me a comment below, it’d be great to meet up with any regular readers. I’d also be interested to hear how many people enter 10 Under the Ben with any intention of doing anything other than completing it. I’m sure there’s plenty of racers around aiming to break the lap record though so if you’ve got any experience of how it is let me know.
Looking forward to seeing a lot more of the Scottish (and further afield I’m sure!) mountain bike community there!
[tags]10 under the ben, ben nevis, mountain, bike, biking, race, scotland[/tags]
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