I did the Penrith Merida last year, so had a fair idea of what to expect. Or so I thought!

This year I got onto the front row, so as to avoid the three minutes waiting to get past the finish line. Conditions were wet under-tyre, but sunny, and thus dry from above.

The first main climb was the same as last year, about an hours worth of granny ring climbing up a bumpy grass , followed by a great fun descent. The second main climb was a reverse of what we did last year, complete with the stolen signs at the top. I made it all the way to a summit with one other guy ahead of me before we realised the error. There was about 20 people following us. 20 minutes wasted.

From that point on I was pretty demoralised, the walk up to even the point of the missing sign was a bit OTT for a mountain-bike race, and it was followed by a walk down too! The remainder of the route consisted of about 50% road, and a little bit more walking.

I soft tapped for a while, and chatted with Stu. Then I got a second wind and put the foot down again, totally motoring the last 10k.

I enjoyed the mud, but not the walking or road so much. Steven Hallsal entered on his ‘cross bike, finishing about 10 minutes behind me due to a puncture, so it wasn’t really a proper mountainbike course.

On the plus side, I did get a small t-shirt at the end for the first time ever (which was conveniently in a paper wrap so I didn’t get it muddy like the last 6 times), and a Gore Sportive Buff.

I might go back next year, but I’ll need to be pretty keen. Or take a ’cross bike.