Josh Ibbett before the start of 12 hours
One of the Whyte team riders catching a quick nap
The annual Marin Dusk ‘til Dawn 12 hour night enduro took place at its home in Thetford Forest recently – here’s two rider reports.
IronHorse-Extreme rider Josh Ibbett
For me DtD was the most important race which I have taken part in. This season has been extremely important to me as a rider. After a few years of difficulty due to overtraining (both physically and mentally) I finally managed to sort myself out and have a good solid winter of training and began racing consistently again. However my break though came when I won the Torchbearer 12 hour race at Bontrager Twentyfour 12 (my first 12 hour race). This was a major achievement for me as I finally began believing in myself as a race winner although admittedly the field at the Torchbearer wasn’t the strongest. Dusk till Dawn represented an opportunity for me to take on the best Enduro riders in the country and see how I faired.
So there I was sat on the front line at the start of the race. I had worked out a race plan in my head beforehand. I knew that I needed to get close to the front and get clear of the pack to avoid bottle necks at the start. I also figured that it would be better to be near the front and drop back then start at the back and fight my way up. The favourites for the race were defending champion Matt Page and my former IronHorse-Extreme team mate Antony White. My plan was to start fast and then tag on to one of their wheels as they have much more experience than me. If the pace was too fast then I’d simply let them go and ride a pace I knew was sustainable.
At 8pm the start gun fired and we set off on the short start loop paced behind the quad bike. I managed to get right to the front early and set a quick pace off the start, and about halfway round the first lap a group of four was established including Matt, Antony, Adi Scott and myself. Adi punctured at the end of the lap and Matt had some problems and had to stop in the pit leaving me and Antony out front. We stayed together for two laps, although he was faster on the first half of the lap I caught him by the end of each lap. By lap four Matt had caught us and we cruised around together for a while.
At the halfway point we were still together but I had to make a pit stop to change lights. Matt and Antony carried on through so I decided that I’d settle in at my own pace and not dig deep to try and catch them, after all there was still six hours to go! So I cruised around for a few laps at a sensible pace expecting Ant and Matt to be battling it out for the win. I was quite content at this point as I was in third place and had been setting the pace for the best guys in the country in only my second 12 hour race. Imagine my surprise then when I caught Matt with three hours to go followed by Ant ten minutes later! We were all back together entering the final phase of the race.
By this point the consistent rain had caused the course to deteriorate rapidly. Every lap was getting worse and some sections were hard enough to stay upright on let alone go fast. By now I was setting the pace for Ant and Matt again, as I was feeling strong. Half way through the lap Antony dropped off the pace, although it took me half a lap to realise he wasn’t actually there.
However near the end of the lap a lapse in concentration in the worsening conditions caused me to make a fatal mistake. The course was changing all the time and I managed to hit a rut which had developed sending me sprawling into the bushes. Matt saw his chance and took it lifting the pace. Entering the last two laps I was a minute behind and furious with myself for my schoolboy error. I gave it all I had to catch Matt but unfortunately it wasn’t enough.
By the last lap I was totally spend and I had to focus on getting to the finish rather than trying to win. After what felt like the longest lap in history I finally crossed the finish line over 13 hours after we began. Congratulations to Matt for winning, his speed over the last two hours was impressive and I’m sure he would have won anyway but I wish I could have pushed him further. Also congratulations to Antony, the three of us had a great battle and it was a pleasure to race them.
Thanks to my pit crew for looking after me all night and especially thanks to my team IronHorse-Extreme who have helped me so much this year and also Thetford MTB Racing for organising a great event. I’m glad the year is over, it’s been a long one and I’m looking forward to a bit of time off and a few beers.
Whyte take Marin Dusk ‘til Dawn crown for fourth year running – Tony Harris reports
The Whyte Racing UK Team – with a little help from Billy Whenman – has won Marin’s Dusk ‘til Dawn event again. The all conquering foursome – Andy Barlow, Jimmy Taylor, Ed Toogood and Billy Whizz – won the men’s fours race and scored the best overall time for the 12 hour event.
Thetford forest, flat as a pancake but damp as a soggy day in Blackpool, cut up rough with some extraordinary horizontal rainfall, the worst the area has seen for some time. The big field of riders in every category slowly dwindled as more and more people couldn’t hack the elements.
And after a superb start with all four Whyte racers going great guns, a migraine and other troubles forced Andy and Billy to alternate laps in the wee small hours to secure the win. They did the job handsomely.
Andy Barlow, fresh from his success on his Whyte 19 as Scottish XC champion, rode like a demon and 19 year old Billy Whenman, who usually rides for Marin but guested for Whyte under the ATB Sales banner, was like a man possessed, off the front row of the fast grid start like a rat out of an aqueduct.
The several hundred starters did a short lap behind the quad bike of organiser Paul Hore before being given their head and Billy needed no other invitation to shoot away and come home ahead on the first lap.
Andy Barlow was next out and performed equally well and Jimmy Taylor and Ed Toogood, who also rode for Whyte in Mountain Mayhem, turned in superb times as the lads piled the pressure on. It was only the three-man Ashby Clan – dad and two sons – who could stay with Whyte and their ding-dong battle throughout the night ended with the Whyte team victorious by just under a minute with 13 laps completed.
New Whyte brand manager Justin Stevenson, who stayed up all night to watch the drama unfold, said: “It was extraordinarily close and very exciting. I haven’t seen rain like that for some time.”
Organiser Paul Hore said: “It was a great event. Thanks to all our sponsors and particularly Marin for their help and support. Shame about the weather but, hey, you can’t have everything in life.”
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