'Man v Bike'

RichT

Retro Guru
Did anyone from here enter it???, as there was a few 'old-school' bikes in it.
If you didn't, you missed some good fun

But, I had been told though (by a friend who's a previous double winner) that since he won the course has been redrawn & is now virtually impossible for a rider to get anywhere near winning


Up until yesterday morning, neiother of us was 100% as to how we'd compete :?
A near-neighbour (& running club-collegue) Craigs MTB had front brake problems, so I'd offered to lend him my Trek (a 2007 model '6000'), & if he accepted, I was going to use my cross-bike, but we both decided to run - if only on the grounds of simplicity



Text copied/pasted from another forum I use
No!, not the big one in Wales, but a local-ish varient that's been going for a few years

This one's courtesy of the 'Denby Dale Travellers'
http://denbydaletravellers.org.uk/

It took place this morning, leaving the Pie Hall at 11:00


Course details/map http://denbydaletravellers.org.uk/ESW/F ... E_2011.pdf


Craig was the only club-member to come over with me.
Despite a weeks notice on the Club FaceBook pages - guess most people are back at work for a couple of days??
Craig had raced Boxing Day ('Chevin Chase' - Jonathon Brownlee won!) & Tuesday too!!!(Ribble Valley 10K), so wasn't at his best? - or was he actually race-fit?


It was a bit of a blustery day, and quite 'claggy' in a lot of places, almost enough to clog my Roc-Lites (such as up rom the railway bridge not far from start)

The start was simply a mad dash from the car-park, both Craig & myself took this easty to avoid getting our toes run over, & instantly losing places :roll:

Then the ways split, we had a slightly easier ascent into a housing estate.

I got a bit lost in there, where you 'pop' out of the ginnels (Inkerman Way, if I'm reading 'MultiMap' correctly?), as the 2 in front had disappeared round a corner, & I had to wait a minute or so for the lady behind me to tell me where to go.

The eroded/gullied track from Upper Denby towarrds Ingbirchworth was good fun, but must have been a nightmare on the bikes, with the gulley-sides waiting to catch pedals

The 2 ahead of me were maybe a field ahead at the 2 mile mark, but I just couldn't get up to them, try as I might!

With a lot of effort, & psuhing it on a couple of the climbs, I caught up the two in front of me, well... closed to about 10 yards when the first bike came past on the downhill, very leafy/tractor rutted track (after the climb from the farmhouse/converted barn with the mill-pond)
Finally catching them at the 5 mile mark

I know it has to equal out for the riders & runners to be fair, but there was a lot of road to be run upon


I think I placed at about 58:40?, having just been outsprinted by my counterparts
I believe I came home as 5th, or 6th runner?? (behind them by about 2 seconds), and then Craig was roughly 1.06:00???

The first bike came home after me, but before Craig

Also, it was a bit evil having us crossing the River Dearne at the bottom of the last little hil (Cuckstool Road??)l, & 300 yards from the finish
I realised there was a footbridge, once I was in the water

(still, there's deeper water in a lot of fell-races)


Oh! &;
Craig's left this comment on his FaceBook page

Another day,another race,....well,sort of......Denby Dale Travellers,Runner v Bike.
Steep,hilly and very muddy and also very enjoyable,especially post race. A few detours,wrong turns,poor navigation,gave myself and Richard T a 7.2 mile run.
I think I finished sometime just over the hour and Richard just under,in a small field of runners and bikers which was basically just a good fun run.


Personally, I didn't get lost after that housing estate, as I had the 2 in front in view, & had heard them say they'd run it a few times



Plus;

Richard A Thackeray":243bhwyt said:
The eroded/gullied track from Upper Denby towards Ingbirchworth was good fun, but must have been a nightmare on the bikes, with the gulley-sides waiting to catch pedals

This is the gate we dropped down to (towards the camera) http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1840519 before a trudge over a set of fields, through 6 gates (OS 1/25,000 is so handy, as it shows field boundaries!!!)


Prior to that gate, we'd run through this wood (again, towards the camera)
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1840541

And, past this farm/barn (up the path rising to the north-east)
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/934957

Tip, if you click on the OS map, it opens into a 1/25,000[/quote]
 
RichT":aqzbygly said:
But, I had been told though (by a friend who's a previous double winner) that since he won the course has been redrawn & is now virtually impossible for a rider to get anywhere near winning

I'm surprised at this; quite a few times, I've done the Man v Horse marathon which is a race over (approx.) 22 miles (almost all off-road) and has about 4,000ft of climb.

The race has been held for about 30 years and only twice have runners won the race outright. Previously, MTBs were allowed in the race, but they were so successful, that they are now no longer allowed - they consistently beat all the horses & runners. The horses got closer to the bikes than did the runners - the best bikes would be about 45 - 60 seconds per mile faster (on average) than the best runners.
 
lastpubrunner":2tabns05 said:
RichT":2tabns05 said:
But, I had been told though (by a friend who's a previous double winner) that since he won the course has been redrawn & is now virtually impossible for a rider to get anywhere near winning
I'm surprised at this; quite a few times, I've done the Man v Horse marathon which is a race over (approx.) 22 miles (almost all off-road) and has about 4,000ft of climb.
This is due to divergant courses, & a large amount of climbing for the bikes (runners have it steeper, but shorter)

'Old Ned' on here can vouch for the climbing ability/speed/'palmares' of the cycling winner I mentioned (Nedly!, I mean Nick G, as if you didn't guess)
 
Got the (provisional) results today

33 finishers in total, I placed 6th (23 runners) @ 59:40

The first bike back was @ 1.01:37, almost 2 minutes behind me


I reckon on getting a 55:00 this year!, if I can get a return trip
 
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