Diary of a Mountain Biker

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23rd February Keef and Richard - Kakatak Challenge

The Kakatak is similar to an orienteering exercise but on bikes. There are 10 checkpoints to find within four hours each with varying points values. Unless you are very, very fast though, you ain't gettin to all of them, so pick your checkpoints and then go for them. That's the idea anyway.

We set off from Westcott in deepest Surrey at 10 a.m. and a good bit of road work gets us to the first couple of checkpoints. My bike is sweet as a nut as I tinkered with the front mech yesterday to get all the chainrings working properly and also replaced my headset that has been ropey for months. This has obviously removed all the play that I had on the front with a noticeable improvement in performance.

A mass of riders collecting inside and out of Nirvana Cycles

We meet up with some of Keef's work colleagues and work our way around our chosen checkpoints.

It quickly becomes apparent that I am lacking match fitness, not having cycled since 26th January. This is my longest lay-off for almost a year and it hurts as I really start to struggle on the climbs.

There are no waymarked trails on this challenge, you just examine the large scale laminated map provided with the entrance fee and pick your best route to the next checkpoint.

However, this soon shows just how good the riding is in the Westcott / Leith Hill / Holmbury Hill area as it seems that whichever way you go there are some great trails to follow.

Keith manages to overcook a particularly greasy corner on the road and just manages to jump clear as his bike ploughs into a bank.

Keef and co had to dismount on the hairy downhill

Studying the map at checkpoint 3

We got chatting to a couple who had made a special trip up from Dorset to compete (sorry, didn't get your names). Now that's what I call committment.

Lunch was provided at Peaslake and was greatly appreciated. After lunch we had a long hack up to Holmbury hill and I was blown out the back of the group and quickly lost touch.

Keef waited for me and despite catching the group later on, the rest of the event was a constant battle to stay in touch.

Checkpoint 10 - Holmbury Hill

Tim and Jez

We made it back to Nirvana at 1:59 p.m. with a whole minute to spare thus avoiding any penalty points. We had made it to 6 of the 10 checkpoints and collected 210 (thanks Jez) out of a possible 300 points. A respectable score but I don't think we will be troubling the judges.

We covered 25 miles during the four hours.A great day but I will make sure I get out every week from now on as I have a weekend in Wales planned for the middle of March.

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