Five Go Camping: Dusk To Dawn 2012

'Dusk to Dawn' is a twelve-hour mountain bike race taking place each October in Thetford Forest, starting at eight in the evening and running through to the following morning. There are a number of entry types, from solo to four-rider teams. Given that I haven't the faintest chance of sustaining any sort of race pace, or even non-race pace for twelve hours (two usually being my maximum), I entered in a group of four, VC Les Poubelles, comprising Gawain (the organiser), Brendan (the triathlete) and Antony (my brother).

D2D 2011 

The misery of 2011

It wasn't our first foray into this race, the 2011 event providing a baptism of fire, well, more one of water. On Saturday, a band of rain moved over Thetford in the late afternoon and stayed in place resolutely, only increasing in intensity, until it was time to pack up the following morning. Thetford is normally sandy and well-drained, but on this occasion, became a complete and utter mud bath  On my first lap, I was even fishtailing on the fireroads due to lack of traction and getting any grip on the singletrack sections was only possible by riding up the sides of the puddles in search of any patches of grass. My second lap was a complete disaster, my lights battery dying halfway round the course. I guess that's what happens when you don't charge them between laps! I can't convey the misery of having to push a bike through a sea of mud in zero visibility and it was only with the first glimmers of dawn, at around 7 am, that I could remount and continue riding. That lap took over two hours, twice that of my previous one and guaranteed a low placing; the team only managing seven laps completed.

We just weren't prepared for the conditions and I spent most of the night wet and miserable, desperately trying to absorb some of the meagre warmth of a camping gas light. The conditions ware so muddy, that in addition to needing to jet-wash the bikes after our laps, we had to jet-wash our legs as well! We vowed to return, prepared for all eventualities, in 2012.

Glamping

Camp butler (Not a reference to a flamboyant demeanour)

A key to success in this type of event is a good base. With each rider doing one lap of around one hour, there are three hours between laps to maintain fitness, well-being and enthusiasm  Nothing was left to chance this year. We had a large tent, an 'event awning', generator, electric lights and battery charger, jet-washer and a gas stove for food and coffee. Our rabbit-in-the hat this year however, was our fifth team member, Andy, who for some reason had volunteered to be a sort of 'camp butler', that is to say, chef, bike cleaner and general dogsbody. What a star! I had a good feeling as we set up camp in the late afternoon sun (no rain in prospect this year) and indeed, indulged in the odd spot of relaxation. It was promising to be an enjoyable event.

Contrast to 2011

The race

While still muddy in places, due to rain the day before, the course was a joy to ride, unlike 2011. The course can be seen in my Strava plot of lap 2, above, and was  a nice mix of fast fire road, wooded singletrack and the odd bomb-hole. For Thetford, which has a lot of stutter-bumps on the singletrack, it flowed pretty well and we put in laps at around the hour apiece. The organisers even put on nice little touches, like playing classical music over speakers and hanging little fairy lights in the trees with about a mile to go which lessened the pain a little at that point.

The race etiquette this year was excellent, with everyone calling which side they were going to pass on, no abuse and just general good manners all round, which improves the feel-good factor. Change-overs were amusing: some riders seem to like clanging the anchors on, sliding, speedway-stylee, to a halt millimetres from the barrier, while bellowing the name of the next rider at the top of their voice. It wasn't difficult to spot your team-mate in the transition area and hand-over the team wristband without the drama, but it takes all sorts I suppose. Most of them did go a lot faster than us, to be fair.

My lap times were 01:01:47, 01:03:23 and 01:05:16, increasing progressively as expected. They felt very different though. Lap one was painful, although it felt fairly fast as I managed to overtake quite a few people. Lap 2 felt fantastic and I thought at the time that was going to be faster than the first. Maybe it was because the course was more familiar, but it did seem to flow better. Lap 3, in contrast felt awful; I just could not seem to get any speed up and was continually being passed by faster riders. I was convinced that it would be at least 20 minutes slower than the last. Funny how feel doesn't reflect the actual speed. I'm always amused at how I handle the bumps on successive laps as a result of exhaustion:- Lap 1: flowing over them in a supple manner, legs complimenting the suspension; Lap 2: letting the suspension do all the work; Lap 3: crashing into everything, while just about managing to hold on!

End of final lap

Overall, our performance was much better than last year, with 11 laps covered in 11:59:22. Yes, we could have done another lap which might have pushed up our position a couple of places above our overall 36^th in the four-rider category. Mind you, that was SEVEN laps down on the winning team. The fast guys really are impressively fast.

So, was the experience better, given the improved logistics? Yes, certainly, yet this year's weather problem was the cold. We had a cloudless sky all night and the temperature dropped to around freezing by morning. I tried to get some sleep between laps 2 and 3 and despite wearing my riding gear, my jeans and fleece, jacket, woolly hat and wrapping up in a sleeping bag, inside a car, I was frozen. By morning, fog had rolled in, adding to the feeling of cold and keeping the course slippery until the end. We could have done with a wood-burning stove in the tent, but I think that would would have been a step too far. It would have been nice to have had some source of warmth for getting changed and sitting around between laps, though.

Cheerful younger brother enjoying fog

The 'butler' idea was a mixed success. Yes, he did make the odd cup of coffee and clean a couple of bikes (mainly for other teams), but then he locked himself up in his Lexus, heater on, for most of the night, emerging only for breakfast. You just can't get the staff! Still he did make some decent bacon and sausage sandwiches which redeemed him, I guess...

Overall, I'd have to say we had a pretty good time, but we don't think we'll do it again. There's that awful doldrums period in the early morning that is just plain miserable, if it's cold and/or wet and we're just getting too old for all that. We might have a go at a daytime enduro or perhaps a midday to midnight race next year, but we'll have to see.

Standout kit

Lumicycle lights

The LED lights are fantastic. Lots of light and good battery life  With a bar-mounted and helmet-mounted light combination, operating from the same battery, visibility was excellent. Having a generator to allow between-lap charging meant that there was no anxiety over battery life this year.

Bontrager Mud-X tyres

While there was still a degree of slithering around, these tyres grip brilliantly, don't clog and run tubeless with Stan's. I wouldn't race in mud now without them.

Thetford MTB Racing

Dusk2Dawn 2012 Results