With my entry confirmed last minute on Tuesday night I loaded up the car, set up my phones sat nav for Codham park. The sat nav in all it's amazing glory decided that the best way to go was via some unused, car wide back roads with crater like pot holes and branches hanging so low I could feel them taking the paint off my Trek (which was on the bike rack for a change as it seems most of the marks on the Trek are from putting it in and getting it out of the car. The irony ). After what seemed like an age of this craziness my sat nav spoke words I was less than impressed to hear. Network connection lost. Great! This is why normally I always have a map. I had no clue whereabouts my sat nav had stranded me, and with no sign posts it was all just guess work, fortunately I found my way onto some better roads where a guy on a road bike came to my rescue and had me heading in the right direction soon enough. Once in the car park the first group of riders were about to head out so I hurriedly jumped on my bike for a lap. Being unfamiliar with Codham park there were no preconceptions of what to expect, after lap one it was clear the guys who put the course together knew what they were doing. Starting on an inclined gravel road speed soon picks up as you blast through a very steep dip carrying your speed into a couple of really good off camber turns. These spit you out onto a wide grassy sections then a left turn into a drop with a tabletop (at least that's what I was using it for) into a berm, a quick climb leads you to some nice wide fast S bends before a sharp drop and onto the anchors for a sharp left hander. Note to self:- don't launch off the drop! A couple more berms and some rollers sees you out onto a grassy section with some climbing thrown in for good measure before dropping right over a fast but rough downhill turn. Finally a section to catch your breath, as you spin along wide grass tracks twisting through young tree saplings which climaxes with a couple of rollers and what can only be described as a kicker. Because if you go over it at race speed without braking you won't be keeping your rubber down, this leads into a dense wood section which goes on for some time with ups, downs, berms and bridges, oh and some trees which are just too close together for trail bike bars. This wooded section ends with a real nasty, long, sandy, leg sapping climb, there was talk of this being avoided in the race, fingers crossed. You've made it to the final section hooking a right off the gravel track and go round the picturesque lake and you're back on the start finish straight eagerly spinning your cranks for the next lap. Sounds easy hey. I was told it was 3.2 miles a lap but it feels longer, maybe because of the amount of variation. All in all I'm really looking forward to raceday but am under no illusion, it's gonna be quite a hard race. Bring on Sunday I look forward to seeing you all there.
Video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JximBpjH3d0
ReatinRides.
