Duncton 100 off road enduro: Alan 3rd & Lynne 2nd Lady
Alan Coldray Reports
On the hottest day of the year May 10th, Lynne and I set off on the Duncton 100. 100km of road over the South Downs, when we entered we knew it was going to be tough but we didn’t expect the heat.
With a gentle start on the road then onto a long steep loose uphill climb, which went on forever, I knew it was going to be hard.
At the top of the first climb one guy went left instead of right so I shouted him back and we started to ride together.
After a long descent my rear tyre punctured luckily the sealant did its job for a while but it kept letting me know that there was a problem by leaking every now and then.
Then we managed to get stuck behind 100 sponsored walkers on a small piece of single-track arrrrrrrrrrrrrhh (Lynne avoided them as she was slightly behind me)
After 10 miles I had to stop and pump up the tyre and the other rider stayed with me.
The day just got hotter; we were first to the feed stop. With further relentless up hills and some fantastic long descents, we got to the final check point first but then my tyre decided to go flat (tubeless ----) this time I had to repair it, on doing so a lonely rider who was going well passed us!
Off we went again really pushing to get in front, we caught the rider up as we descended a brilliant hill to cross a river. We was sitting behind the rider when my tyre started playing up again and I had to pump it up this time they were gone.
It was then a quick ride to the finish for a bottle of water and some well-earned food.
In the end I was 3rd back in a time of 5hours 17 mins. Lynne had a good ride although managed to add a few miles and an extra hill on by missing a sign she was back after 6hrs 30 mins coming in second lady. A great friendly event one we would certainly recommend.
