You can tell this is the start, everyone’s clean (Pic: Simon Kirk)

“It’s getting worse out there, most of the climbs are almost unrideable…” Gary utters as we do the changeover yet again, and I set out. It’s raining now (just my luck) and the course’s personality is changing as frequently as the drops are coming out of the sky.

When the weather is being kind, Cheddar’s a great venue for XC racing. But as the dreary summer continued its long run, rain and wind were dominant throughout the weekend of the 2004 Cheddar Challenge, and a typically fast and enjoyable course now looks like it’s had a run in with a hurricane. Nearly all climbs became impossible to ride and the descents equally as difficult to negotiate, and with no flat sections the course was a mix of walking, riding and lots of falling of.

In its 16th year, the organisers raised the challenge with the Cheddar Crunch, a six hour enduro/night time trial combination, on Saturday. Sunday saw another six hour enduro, which if you added it to Saturday’s events made up the Triple 12. Meanwhile, traditional XC racing was the mainstay of Sunday’s action.

Back to Saturday’s enduro, and we’re reportedly in third place in the Sport Pairs category. Adding pressure like that isn’t something you need when it’s already a struggle just to keep the bike rolling through the thick gloop that’s covering the course. I’m cursing my shoes for their lack of studs and my back tyre for its inability to provide any amount of grip. I’m not used being this high up the rankings, so I try and raise my level and make sure we at least remain in this position. With a little luck catching the second place team might be a possibility. I know that there’s a pair of Chodskis not far behind us, so for the pride of the team we’ve got to make sure they stay there. With these conditions though, nothing is guaranteed.

Squelchy (Pic: David Arthur)

Despite the pretty horrendous conditions, many riders seem to remain fairly happy while some have clearly reached the end of their tether. Cursing can be heard under the breath of frustrated riders whose gears have decided that now would be a good time to slip and crunch. Tyres transforming into three inch slicks made even the slightest gradient a challenge.

As Tim Flooks rings the bell signalling the end of the six hours of punishment, we’ve managed to bag 14 laps, enough, we hoped, to keep us near the top. Going into the night time trial, the outcome would be decided over the two mile lap, a shorter version of the enduro course. Having no idea what position we currently occupied, the consensus was to give it everything and hope it would be enough for a top three finish. Riders set off at 30 second intervals departing from outside the bar – a great conclusion to the day.

Watching the other riders leave, I’m getting nervous. Gary’s just set off and now it’s my turn. The light flicks from red to green and I’m off, down the start ramp and ripping up the road through the campsite into the darkness. My Vistalite’s beam is dancing around the trail, weaving a wiggly line up the hill. Turning the right hand corner into Hells Hill and I can see Gary, not that far up ahead. Click up a gear, increase the revolutions and I manage to drag myself onto his back wheel. Turning right into the field and slide across an off-camber section, dropping down into the woods and weaving through the trees, a new section for 2004. Out into the field and the track turns left 180 degrees and into up the least ridable ascent of the day.

I’m nudging closer to Gary’s wheel just ten metres up the trail, and then he’s off his bike and running up the climb. I lose traction and jump off, dragging the bike up the hill, frantically trying to avoid slipping over. Turning into Hell’s Hill for the second and last time and I manage to pass Gary. On to the rocky fireroad and I pass a few more riders, taking a glug of water from my Camelbak and trying to keep the pace high. The gradient levels out slightly and Gary crawls past. Son of a…, I thought I’d got clear. At least it’s all downhill to the finish, and in team formation, we pass yet more riders as we drop down into Witches Wood.

The chase is on (Pic: David Arthur)

Witches Wood has always been a Cheddar favourite, but the conditions turned it from the sublime to the sticky. Rocks, roots and mud all congeal together to give riders a nightmare of a time descending the half mile to the finish.

I’m chasing Gary now, and it looks like being a team finish. Then without warning his bike breaks left and dives into the undergrowth, and I’m past. It’s all getting aggro now, fighting the bike to keep it going in the direction I choose, not that which the mud favours. Bouncing through a rock garden I get a slide going, carry it into the next corner, out the other side and into a tree. With a loud CRACK! the saddle breaks off. Adding insult to injury, Gary rides past, and my advantage is lost.

Pocketing the now useless saddle, I drop the seat post safely out of way, jump back on the bike and rush on. It’s not far to the finish and if I’m lucky I won’t lose too much time. Across the finish line, and luckily the damage is no more than a minute. Phew!

We both rode well today, but neither realised it would be good enough for second place. Bonus! We finished a close five minutes off the leaders, Red Planet Bikes, and MTB-Wales.com were chasing our heels into third place only five minutes adrift. It turned out to be the closest fought category of all.

Other mentions should go to Stuart Ross of EMBC, completing his first six hour race, fighting the course to complete nine laps. Riding for the Chodskis, Joey Deacon managed a fantastic 12 laps in the solo category, putting him in 4th place. John Morse, the only entrant in the singlespeed solo category, managed 12 laps too. The Chodski pairs entrant, at one point quite close to us, fell back to a still-impressive 6th place.

The Cheddar Babes pairs category was won by the Garland Cycles duo, coming home with 11 laps. George Budd took home first in the Solo Sport class, Sam Humphrey in the Solo Expert class and Nicky Hughes in the Solo Cheddar Babes category.

Sunday: Even less dry (Pic: David Arthur)

The fastest times of the day were posted by the Sport Men Teams, of which there were 25. Pedalon.co.uk and their two teams took first and fourth place, with the fastest lap of the day at 16:38! Tyrone Tyrants took second and Cyros Fools third place.

Sunday

Racing started early Sunday morning for those taking part in the Triple 12 event, which added another six hour enduro to the previous day’s racing. It was raining now, and the sticky, clay like consistency of Saturday’s mud turned into something akin to Campbell’s vegetable soup. Rivers of water were carving ruts across the course, lines were getting chewed up by the barrage of riders and it was still raining, getting heavier by the hour. This didn’t stop many of those racing from putting in some stunning performances, but a lot of riders found the course unbearable and wilted early. I didn’t blame them, that’s for sure.

The completion of the Triple 12 event saw Sharon Laws easily taking the victory in the female Triple 12 category. Easy in the sense that she had no rivals, but still completed a staggering 20 laps. The men’s category was more closely fought, but Anthony White eased two laps clear of Mike Wheatly on 20 laps. Jon Goodman took third another two laps down.

Full results available at www.timelaps.co.uk. More photos available here, and more Team JustRide stuff at www.justride.co.uk.