Merida mountain bike marathon

A change of event yesterday, as I completed my first mountain bike marathon. I rode Merida's Ruthin event, which is close to home and therefore lacked surprises in terms of the route - but it was really a matter of curiosity. I wanted to find out what these events are all about, and enjoyed it a lot. I went for the 75k course, with around 2400m of climbing: quite enough to be getting on with, particularly as I could still feel last week's Jungfrau marathon in my legs. But it went well - an amazing start with 1000 mountain bikes heading through Ruthin. The rest of the day was an epic blend of hard climbing and exciting descents, almost all of which I'd done before but never in such a long day (didn't stop me going over the bars above Cilcain and breaking my helmet). Finished in just under 6 hrs. Some running last week, recovered OK from the Jungfrau - which is still fresh in the memory. Now I need to start upping the running again for the forthcoming Cardiff and Snowdonia marathons, as well as some local 10k's.

Jungfrau marathon

Back from the Jungfrau marathon which was, as expected, a stupendous outing. I had high expectations, but they were exceeded by the magnificent scenery, support and organisation. Got round in less than 5 hours - 4.56, which almost put me in the top quarter of finishers for a race with 1829m (6000ft+) of climbing. The weather was superb - it had started to clear up the day before when we (Dave, Neil and myself) went up the Schilthorn (3000m) for superb views of the Bernese Oberland in a classic cloud inversion. But the day itself dawned crystal clear and stayed that way - couldn't have been better. The course is wonderfully varied and challenging - flattish to 25k, then very steep zigzags to Wengen where the atmosphere and crowd is like nothing I've ever experienced. There follows a gently inclining section to the incredible denouement on the very steep Eigergletscher moraine ridge, the glaciers towering above topped by the Monch and Jungfrau, followed by the steep downhill last 1km to finish at Kleine Scheidegg at the base of the north face of the Eiger. Quite a day.

Sychdyn to Moel Famau and back, Clwydian MTB trailquest

My last long run before the Jungfrau marathon was home (in Sychdyn) to the top of Moel Famau and back - about 75mins each way. Two days later, did the Moel Famau race in 35mins (finished 35th) and last Friday did a final 10 mile run by way of fine tuning for the Jungfrau. Yesterday, rode the first Clwydian trailquest, around 50km around what is essentially a mountain bike orienteering course spread out across the Clwydians. A fascinating blend of hard riding, route planning and navigation. Being local helped, but we were still only able to get around 17 of the 27 checks within the 5 hour limit.