Contest
at this point i know i cant quit (by danny walden - United kingdom)
the place thetford forest in suffolk england, the race the marin winter race dusk til dawn. 6 months before the race i was asked if i wanted to enter a four man team with my friends from retrobike.co.uk to race the retrobike colours. having never done an enduro race before i had know idea what to expect and left my training late and did it wrong, so come race day october the 4th i get packed up and my gear ready, and get the train from my town to thetford where my team leader phoned to say he would be late. the race starts at 8pm but we agreed to arrive around 11am to set up camp and have a look round the course. fnally the last team rider arrives at camp at 2pm and we sit down too discuse the flight plan for the 12 mile course and who was going on what lap. some time passes i have a little sleep and then its 7pm and theres an hour to go before the race and the heavens open and the rain is the heavy cold october storm rain that stings then sends your skin numb with cold, also at 7pm all riders had to walk down to the organicers area to get a brief on the nights procegers and race safty, with all that done it was time to get my race gear ready and walk down to watch are team leader set off on the first lap. its 5 mins before the start and everyone is hyped up and rearing to go on the start line and the atmosphere is great and everyone is just itching to go (iv'e never felt anything like to this before) me and the the other two team members are watching out for are team leader somewhere on the startline and befre we find him its go time. we finally see him about mid pack and the concetration on his face is that of a man possesed trying to take hold of and control his own fate. just after an hour and a half are fearless leader is coming over the line reader to hand over to the next rider covered in mud,sweat and soaked to the core all he has to say is the "the course is a mud bath already lads enjoy" and so it begins. The second rider go's out on his lap and we start to guess on what time he's gonna get (im was the last rider out of the four of us to go out on his lap) the second rider comes back after only an hour and eleven minutes a really fast time to say the least, and the third goes out and comes back after only and hour twenty, and so its my turn. I headed out over line as fast as i dared my heart was really pumping i thought it was gonna pound out of my chest, and so it started my first lap i took it a little slow for the first ten minutes as i wasn't to sure about riding at night only using goodish quality home made lights. it didn't take long for my confidence to come back and i was soon racing the guy in front of me as i over took each person i made it my mission to try and atch up with the person infront of them and so on this work ok till the pro's show you how its done and leave you so far behind you want to just brake down in pain. the couse even thought it was really muddy was resonably covered from the elements so the harsh rain didn't sting to much in the tree's but on the fire roads it was like riding into small sharp bits of glass each one getting more and more spitful til your skin turned numb. it was really unusal riding in the woods at night three or four times i found myself on my own and that irriasional fear that you only get as a child of the dark set in to spur me on as fast as my legs would go. after an hour and twenty two minutes i roll up after nearly coming off and slipping all over the place in the mud completly shattered i handed over the baton and went back to camp to let the other two knew how i got on and grab something to eat. after a couple of hours sleep i was ready to go again for my last lap i got ready and waiting at the hand over point. my lap was to be the final lap for are team and i was starting to hurt all over as my mussles where a little crapped (ow boy did they hurt) but i had to do it, twenty minutes of waiting and my last team mate was handing me the final run baton and i was off i had to give it my all it was six something in the morning and i was really feeling it the rain was going for it as well letting every rider know it was there in its own october cold way, the mud was at its thickest and was cloging everthing up with its goey tar like stickyness. about half in was starting o feel my legs wean off and the pain i ws feeling i really dont want to feel again (but you know i will as iv'e got the cycle racing bug now) it was as if someone had beaten my legs with big sticks with every pedal stroke at this point i wanted to quit but i couldn't not after all the effort everyone else had put in alrady. the final push was on the last three mile marker was in my sight only a quater of the race left to go and i could hear my shower and bed callng me to me, i grit my teeth and just push as hard as i can my back wheel is sliding all over the place and i was struggling for grip, within twenty mins i could here the cheers of the people at the finish line and that was it i knew all i had to do was just grit my teeth a little longer and i could get over that line then home for a shower and sleep. i dont remeber going over the line i was so tired but i remeber the lads saying "good effort my boy fancy racing this race next year as well" all i could think of saying was "yeah why the hell not". since then iv'e lost two stone in weight toned up and have been training hard, as this time i wanna get into the top twenty placing with the lads from team retrobike.
