Dusk til Dawn 2008 - Here Comes the Rain Again!
4-5 October 2008, Thetford Forest
Images/Report: Joolze Dymond
Results: Timelaps
Reporter Joolze Dymond writes "All I can say is, if Dusk till Dawn was a movie it would have been an all action disaster movie full of heroes and heroines?"
Dusk till Dawn is traditionally seen as the season ender, a low key relaxed 12 hr romp around he fabulous trails in Thetford at night. What could be a better way to wind down from a hectic season before taking out a long winter rest ready for the next season. Another one of the great things about Thetford is that it always seems to buck the trend with regards to its weather system: it's said to have its own micro climate and for the last 7 years riders have enjoyed a dry and pleasant event.
However 2008 is quickly gaining the reputation as the year that we'd most like to forget and as a season ender D2D summed it up perfectly. Over the years we've come to ignore weather predictions, as it seems it's all guess work. Such was the case with this edition of D2D with the Beeb randomly suggesting it might rain at some point somewhere in the UK.
With this in mind people came prepared just in case the weather came, but as they rocked up over the day in preparation for the event, both the trails and the skies were still dry and optimism was rife as the record 1,000 entrants piled into the campsite. By 6.30pm and it was raining, slightly, with riders crowded round the arena as organiser Paul Hore went through the rider briefing before the 8pm kick off. 
By 7.30 pm riders starting gathering for the race start, knowing that being in the front half of the race would make a huge difference. The event attracted the biggest solo field for an enduro event with over 200 male and female riders keen to get their hands on the rich purse on offer, with a cool grand the reward for top soloist of the day (night?).
With the racing ranks being swelled by so many soloists and the field itself containing record number of teams and pairs, the course on offer was extended to a long and winding 12.3 miles. I'm sure that Thetford miles are longer that usual as the course wound itself round around the arena, dropping into a number of bombholes and incorporating some wicked soul-sapping draggy climbs with a couple of slippy bottomless puddles of gloom thrown in for extra measure and my experience of the course was at least in the dry!!
Come 8pm and the rain was gently covering rider and trail alike with a moist coating as everyone headed off into the night. The first part of the course took the riders behind the lead quad around a mile extension with the hope of thinning the field out prior to hitting the first of miles of singletrack. Marin's Billy Joe Whenman riding in the 4 man team for Whyte Racing was first to burst past the start line on the lap proper, sprinting into the arena, before plunging off into the depth of the dark trails followed by stream after stream of brightly lit riders all ready for this end of season adventure.
As the race unfolded the drama of the cracking racing was almost overshadowed by the increasingly worsening conditions: light rain was replaced by heavy rain, which in turn was replaced by torrential rain. Occasionally the rain would stop and audible rider sighs of relief could be heard and then the rain would return with a vengeance and the groans from the riders were louder! But still the spirit and the enthusiasm for the event persisted nearly as much as the weather and it soon became clear that the race was not just a competition against other riders but against the weather itself. The only bonus was it wasn't cold?
By all accounts the last lap was the worse with lap times increasing from a fluid 52mins up to a depth dragging 1hr 22mins and that was for the fast boys! The course was now literally 'flowing' as the trails just turned into a muddy river, the bomb holes become a mission impossible for many and as the clock edge closer to 8am the dark wetness was replaced by a grey wetness, and riders started discussing which swimming stroke would be best to complete the course! Even Thetford, which prides itself as all weather course, was defeated by the conditions and riders were reduced to walking some sections, as it was quicker than slipping and sliding sideways around the trails!
Despite this the racing continued, battles were fought, with some breath taking close shaves. As anticipated some of the best and nail biting racing came from the soloists. Anthony White was first from the blocks keen to add this to stack of enduro wins. Out to stop him were Josh Ibbett and last year's winner Matt Page. Page had a less than perfect start with grit playing havoc with his eyes making him take his eye of the ball so to speak, leaving Ibbett and White to forge ahead. 
Undeterred Page ploughed through, and was soon back in contention with the two front-runners. Lap after lap just seconds separated the 3 contenders; it was anyone's guess who would take this one. Then with roughly half the race completed Page moved into the lead: despite colliding with a tree, a seemingly common occurrence in this race for Page, he kept pushing on, finishing with 11 laps and a cushion of over 19 mins to take probably the hardest race of his career. Ibbett managed to overtake White to claim 2nd.
In the women's solo race, it was another hard grind for all concerned. Single speeder Jenn Hopkins, fresh from her epic challenge in the States, was first to question her race and deciding she had nothing to prove climbed off after 3 hideous laps, leaving the rest to get on with it. Jen O'Connor in a class of her own punched out an incredible 10 laps to take the win with Fi Spotswood racking up the same laps but nearly 45minds adrift took 2nd while Mel Alexander picked up 3rd.
Another major battle taking place was for the overall win and on paper seemed an unfairly balanced one as the teams in contention were the might of Whyte Racing against the family run 3 man team of Fat Birds. After an epic 12 hours where both teams racked up 12 laps just 1min 33secs separated the Winners Whyte from the Fat Birds!
Needless to say Whyte Racing took the honours in the 4-man team, with a comfy 1-lap lead on the next 3 teams. The race was on between these for the remaining podiums, and it was the Salsa Factory Racing team, that just managed to squeeze out the Dysons All Stars who took 2nd.
The women in the Salsa factory racing 4 women team did one better than their male counterparts by taking the win in their race, 1 lap ahead of the ladies in the Thetford MTB Racing team, while another lap down, the 3 Monkettes no Chimp took 3rd. Torq/Kona took the honours in the mixed team with 11 laps, while Torq fuelled competitors AQR racing took 2nd ahead of WVCC MTB team.
As mentioned earlier the Fat Birds 3 man team was a real family affair with Dad Paul Ashby roping in his two sons James and Shane to take their team to victory and what a victory! Not only did they give the Whyte boys a run for their money but they claimed a comprehensive win in the 3 man team category racking up 12 laps 1 lap clear of rivals Team Milton Keynes, who narrowly came through to take second from Cambridge CC.
Probably one of the most sensible decisions had to be to enter this race on a single speed! That's exactly what committed single speeders Phil Moore and Anja MacDonald felt as they ground their way to victory in the mixed pairs, whilst all around they suffered crunching, slipping gears, the hardcode duo could concentrate on just keeping those pedals turning. Though they didn't have it too easy with juts 3 mins separating them and XCRacer pairing Nadine Spearing and James Hampshire as an exploding tyre coupled with a pesky chain dented an impressive lead. Keeping calm the experienced duo carried on churning out the miles to rack up 11 laps leaving XCRacer in 2nd 1 lap adrift, while Team Chance took 3rd.
Having ridden his first 12 hr pairs just weeks previously Christian Aucote took a last minute decision to pair up with Yeti's Martyn Brookes to complete another winning pairing partnership taking the win with 11 laps and just over 7 mins to spare over the Peak Mid Week pairing while Gerald Tudor and Nick Evans took 3rd.
Finally there was a shake up in the women's pairs as the usual dominant 2 Activ Trek Birds had to settle for an unfamiliar 2nd spot as a new set of victors took the honours. After the lengthy battle, constantly looking over their shoulders it was Team Milton Keynes who took the top step. The Cambirds claimed 3rd.
So after 12 long and wet hours the race was finally over and yet the rain continued to pile on the misery. If the xc/enduro race season of 2008 were a wine, it would be one that would be poured down the drain. Fine on the day but definitely not one to talk about or remember! Fingers crossed that next year will be a 'vintage year. See you in a not so damp ditch in a race near you soon?hopefully. Think I may just investigate some sub aqua gear just in case?.
Post-Race Rider Reaction
Phil & Anja - Mixed pairs (single speed)
Great race, we're over the moon, it was tough out there but I guess we had the 'dream' single speed team, which I'm sure, helped us out there. It was fine when we started it wasn't raining too much and then the heavens opened and it just became horrific absolutely hideous. Being on the single speed helped to a degree and then it just got so muddy it just didn't matter what you were riding, you were grinding up the climbs and sliding back down.
The two of us just worked well and despite a few mechanicals, such as Anja blowing a tyre and my chain deciding to explode, oh and we both lost the use of out brakes and spent the last couple of hour's pinballing through the trees. It was fun though, well it was when we started, the last 3 laps weren't so much, it was just a war of attrition towards the end. We'd managed to build up quite a good lead at one point from our challengers, but when Phil's wheel came out after he unshipped his chain, he ended up doing 2 laps but only one counting so that was a real set back, but we had enough of a buffer to keep the lead.
Andrew Barlow - Whyte - 4-man team
That was a brilliant race, absolutely fantastic, for me it was just like being at home with all that rain, yeah I felt right at home here! The team worked perfectly, we all had our own strengths and weaknesses but we worked well together to get the job done. Our tactics were just to try and keep up with the pace set by Billy, he was the star of the show, the rest of us were just trying to keep within a couple of minutes of him! We did well with the bikes, no mechanicals; plenty of mud clearance so we were lucky to get 'clean' laps so to speak. By the last lap though the course was so cut up, it was virtually game over, up till then it had been okay, but by that last lap it was unbearable.
I have to say hats off to the girl that was part of the winning mixed pairs, she actually turned in a quicker last lap on her single speed than I managed, I sure she wasn't even trying that hard! The whole race we were really racing against the 3-man team, the Fat Birds, for the overall win. They had a great race, a brilliant start and we had to keep sneaking back at them, it was inevitable that we would overhaul them in the end as there were only 3 of them but in the end I think there was only a minute in it, so well done to them that was a great ride. Right now off to the back of the van for a kip before starting the long journey back home. Despite the conditions, it was still a brilliant event and we'll be back next year.
Paul Ashby - Fat Bird - 3-man team
The team did a brilliant job, we were racing the Whyte boys all through the event and I reckon if Shane hadn't got held up in the accident in the bomb hole, they stopped everyone while they cleared the rider from the course, then I reckon we might have got them. But we don't mind to be honest safety has to come first whatever you're doing. My boys got involved, as the two guys in the team last year, well Adi (Scott) wanted to ride solo and go for that big prize pot, and Ben's gone to Australia. I entered as a four man, and convinced James and Shane that's what we do, but our fourth man got injured so we ended up as a 3 man. Did we enjoy it? Um I'm sure the first half of the race was fine, but I'm not sure if any of us enjoyed the last couple of laps, but looking back it was fun and we did well. It was hard out there but when it rains like this in some ways its better than if it rains and stops. With so many people riding it just churns up and gets really heavy going but wit the rain it makes it a bit easier. We'll be back next year, if the boys will do it, I'm up for it if they are, I think they did a great job. With all that rain, well it doesn't matter does it, once you get wet you just get stuck in and have a go.
Christian Aucote/Martyn Brookes - men's pairs
I decided Friday that I'd be doing pairs with Martyn (Brookes), now I wish I'd kept my mouth shut!! We had a great race, we led from the front, it got a bit close at some points, I did the last 4 laps with no brakes, had a few face/tree interfaces but its all good fun really! We managed to get a good lead, but at one point like I said the gap between second spot and us was just 3 minutes. I think we managed to pull that back out to 30 mins over the last couple of laps. The course was great as always, well it was better when we started but it flowed, quite literally towards the end! You just had to attack it and keep the momentum going, it was a long course and I reckon that a Thetford mile is much longer than standard! It's so hard riding pairs, much harder than any 12hr solos that I've done. You go out for your lap, come back and by time you've washed your bike, changed your brake pads cleaned your self and had a quick bite you're out again, there's just no time to rest. Did I enjoy it? Yeah, it's always nice to win after all isn't it!
Team Milton Keynes - Women's Pairs
That was a good result but so tough, that was not fun, well the last lap certainly wasn't! It was a tough race, especially knowing that you were being chased so hard and you just had to give it your all to try and stay in front, it was horrible just having to keep one eye looking over your shoulder all the time. Great teamwork, we worked well as a pair, it was so hard, but the girls from Trek Activ just kept us on our toes, they always beat us normally so at last we've got one! Bizarrely yes we enjoyed it but we're so glad it's over now. The course was great, even in the wet but in the end it was just gruelling getting round it, very tough.
Matt Page - solo men's winner.
It was epic, I don't think I've ever pushed myself so hard, the pace was just relentless from the start, it felt more like a XC race than an enduro, everyone was just going for it from the very first lap. I had a problem in the first lap I got some grit in my eyes, I lost about 4 or 5 minutes just trying to get it out so I could see. On the second lap I thought I'd pushed too hard, I was so tired bit I managed to catch the leaders up again. Anthony and Josh pushed me so hard; we had a brilliant race out there between us. Josh had a fantastic race, he seemed to be pacing it really well and I think I just had that little bit extra in the tank. I seem to have a good finish. I hit another tree out there, a different one to last year; I just rode straight into it.
All 3 of us were falling off all over the place, you just couldn't steer in those conditions, it was so hard. I can't say this is the worst I've ridden in but it was one of the toughest, the competition and the conditions combined just made it so tough. We were just pushing it so hard out there. The worst bits for me had to be the first lap, as I felt the race slipping away from me and then the last lap, it just seemed to go on forever. The best bits for me, had to be my support crew, Ben and Nia they kept me going and I guess the very end of the last lap when I looked behind me and didn't see anyone. That last lap, every chance I had I kept looking behind me.
That has to be the closest and hardest fought race I've ever done, it was a great challenge against some of the UK's top riders. Next year holds a lot more adventures but I'm not sure which direction I'll be going yet, now all I want is a bit of a rest time to reflect and then it'll back to training and we'll see what happens.
Jenn O'Connor - solo women's winner
That was really tough probably between 2am to 4am I was thinking to myself actually this isn't all that bad, it wasn't raining too heavily and it wasn't cold and the course was holding up really well and even the bomb holes were still ridable, I felt good and I thought well if this is as bad as it gets I can live with that. However it wasn't the worse, it got a lot worse and especially right towards the end and to be honest it could have been a lot worse than it was. I had a reasonably good lead out there, I was about 5 - 10 mines faster per lap than my competitors, I was able to use that extra time to come in and have a wash and eat after every lap and that helps not just physically but mentally too.
It's a shame we had this weather as D2D is regarded as reliably dry! But it's a reflection on the season as a whole; it wasn't that bad, we've had it worse. We've got nearly 100% muddy race record this season. This weather just makes me optimistic that next year will be better! I'm looking to do some more international races abroad next year just to hedge my bets that I get to race in some dry warm conditions for a change.
By the last lap I was thinking, if he conditions had been like this in the middle of the night I'm not sure how I would have kept going, the last lap just took so long to get through each section. When it's good and fast and dry these big solo events are still a challenge but they feel more satisfying, where as this is just a battle that you just want to end. Fortunately this one is well rewarded, it helps to get something back for all the effort you put in, that was the reason I came to do this. That made it worthwhile and there is good money down to third so it makes it worthwhile for the other girls too.
Matt Hart - Torq/Kona -Mixed Team
I thought it was fantastic, I think Thetford can be a bit boring in the dry, but from a purely riding point of view whenever I ride here in the wet it such good fun, it's really slidy, but I'm a bit weird like that! Great result for the team they did well and it's good to see so many riders here at the end of the season is brilliant. Great to go away with a win.
My challenge was the climb out of the last bomb hole, it didn't look like it was ridable, but in fact it was so grippy it rode really well, oh and I just liked riding through all the puddles. It's always a great event as always, despite the weather, this is just the story of mountain biking in the UK in 2008. Perhaps when the economy improves the weather might follow!
Salsa Factory Racing -Women's team
It was pretty miserable out there; I wanted to get my laps out the way quickly so I did double laps, which worked, well for me. The girls worked really well and did great in some grim conditions. It just got wetter and wetter and the course got harder and harder. We had quite a safe cushion and just had to concentrate on getting round in one piece, thanks to Nick for looking after the bikes, he kept us moving. It didn't look like it was going to be that much fun, but once you were out there you got stuck in and knew you were helping your team keep in the lead it perversely became fun.
