The Merida Marathon has been part of the British Mountain Biker’s staple diet for about 5 years – up to 100km of climbs, descents, mud, midges and the occasional water splash will always bring riders to the small Borders town of Selkirk.
For the first time ever, I thought I would give it a go and see how I’d stand up to the more seasoned mountain bikers. That, and to make sure my much-faster-than-me friend, Anja, would actually make it to the event. Yes, I am a Designated Driver!
Personally, I’ve been having a rather mixed year on my Gary Fisher Paragon (29ers rule, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!). The Wild Boar 24hour at Grizedale was great fun and I managed to put in some decent laps; 10 Under the Ben was my favourite as I managed to finish 20th in Solos; then it all started to go a bit wrong. A big ride up and around Glen Ample resulted in me being very, very drained; 10 Under at Kirroughtree left me with a rather bloody and painful knee then a road-ride to Edinburgh made me want to give up riding! So, it was fingers crossed for Selkirk…
I signed up on the Wednesday before the race then kept an eye on the coming weather. Oddly enough, the forecast was heavy showers broken up by nice periods of sun. So, too warm to wear a jacket, too wet to not wear one – otherwise known as the Scottish summer! I collected Anja before first thing on Sunday morning and started the two hour’s drive to Selkirk, passing through some truly biblical rain storms.
The event started at 10am with a mass rolling start behind a Police escort which made you feel that wee bit more special. The noise coming off the big fat off-road tyres was deafening and definitely brought goosebumps to the back of your neck as the riders charged towards the first of four major climbs. And it was horrible. My lack of riding over the past few weeks suddenly became noticeable as I struggled to even spin up the climbs. Unlike Anja, however – I wasn’t seeing her again till the end of the race!
The first descent was very welcome and set the tone for the remainder of the course – flowy and natural with some rather nice rocky rooty bits thrown in. I was finally smiling! After the first hour, my legs woke up, I found a pace and everything was good again. Even the constantly changing weather didn’t phase me and the fact that I had completely inappropriate tyres just added to the fun!
The third climb was a welcome sight – the mass of bikes had made it to Innerleithen and were pounding their way up to Minch Moor. This course is probably one of my favourite places to ride in Scotland and, even after three hours of riding, I was happy to be there. The groups all seemed to close up as we tackled the more challenging terrain on rather beaten legs, but everyone was smiling. Well, I say everyone – Lady Luck was about to leave me again for some other guy further down the trail.
The Marathon Course had split from the usual Cross Country Course and I had been too tired to pay attention. I charged into the spilt too fast, grabbed a handful of back brake and slid right into a rock. Then came the hiss followed by the low rumble of a flat tyre (followed again by me swearing at the ground, the tyre, my brake and the course designer. It couldn’t possibly be my fault. Ahem.). Running tubeless, I stared intently at my tyre willing it to seal up. It didn’t – I had managed to tear the bead - so I swore again then started to fit a replacement tube. Luckily for me, the valve decided that it wanted to exit stage left and left me with yet another flat. Fortunately, after many years of experience, I now bring two spares.
The second spare failed. Yes. I love mountain biking.
I began the long trek back to the last marshal point to get a lift back to Selkirk. On arrival and perfectly on queue, the heavens opened for the final time but by that point I had pretty much stopped caring. I called myself as a DNF and looked round to see my poor friend shivering away in the rain. It was time to go home.
Looking back, it was good fun – the course was brilliant, the weather added to the challenge and I had managed to get myself riding distances again. Plus, I didn’t actually hurt myself this time, so can’t complain there! Of course, there’s always next year…