2009 Marin Dusk til Dawn (D2D) at Thetford – a summary
This weekend as you know was the D2D at Thetford, our first team race although a handful of us have raced bikes in the past. I’m not one of them.
Despite all that I think we put up a creditable performance in no small part thanks to everyone’s impressive efforts. Team Muddy Moles One (myself, Barrie, Colin and Jem) came in 29th in the men’s four-man category of 70 teams while Team Muddy Moles 2 (Mark, Lee, Tony and Dave) placed 62nd.
Jez was in a class of his own and ended up 65th of around 130 solo male riders, managing 8 laps which equates to around 85 miles of the taxing Thetford course. Serious respect to Jez our walking zombie, and respect to Mark too for doing much more than he expected with limited training.
Some initial thoughts:
- That was hard work!
- No matter how fast you go, it hurts just the same
- We are a relatively closely matched bunch of riders
- Thank you to Barrie for actually going out on that last lap!
- Passing and dropping riders is a thrill even if they’re solo-ists and you’re on a one lap special
- Contrary to what you’d think, the time you go out on the course and the time of night it is does not have a big effect on your lap time
- Pre-race anticipation levels are amazing
- The race is both great fun and the most miserable time you’ve ever had on a bike
- We got lucky with the weather; sunrise made it worthwhile
- Jem’s caravan, van and sundry equipment was a God-send. They’d have arrived quicker if they hadn’t stopped to tarmac a few driveways on the way up mind you
- We have excellent catering staff!
There’s loads more but we’ll follow all this up over the next few days. For now, thanks to all for a great weekend and some great laughs (photos of Thetford D2D 2009 are on Flickr).
Race laps and times
Courtesy of Timelaps who provided the race time management.
| Lap | Position | Time | Rider |
|---|---|---|---|
| Final position: | 29 of 70 | ||
| 1 | 48 | 01:05:28 | Colin |
| 2 | 41 | 00:51:33 | Jem |
| 3 | 34 | 00:50:41 | Barrie |
| 4 | 29 | 00:53:09 | Matt |
| 5 | 33 | 01:01:11 | Colin |
| 6 | 38 | 01:09:35 | Colin |
| 7 | 38 | 00:55:16 | Jem |
| 8 | 38 | 01:00:12 | Jem |
| 9 | 35 | 00:51:19 | Barrie |
| 10 | 34 | 00:53:14 | Barrie |
| 11 | 31 | 00:55:55 | Matt |
| 12 | 31 | 00:54:51 | Matt |
| 13 | 29 | 00:52:45 | Barrie |
| Lap | Position | Time | Rider |
|---|---|---|---|
| Final position: | 62 of 70 | ||
| 1 | 66 | 01:20:51 | Mark |
| 2 | 68 | 01:11:40 | Mark |
| 3 | 64 | 00:52:20 | Tony |
| 4 | 58 | 00:54:15 | Tony |
| 5 | 57 | 00:58:09 | Lee |
| 6 | 56 | 01:04:43 | Lee |
| 7 | 54 | 01:02:05 | Dave |
| 8 | 55 | 01:04:51 | Dave |
| 9 | 57 | 01:16:04 | Mark |
| 10 | 56 | 00:55:52 | Tony |
| Lap | Position | Time | Rider |
|---|---|---|---|
| Final position: | 65 of 130 | ||
| 1 | 46 | 01:05:10 | Jez |
| 2 | 38 | 00:53:53 | Jez |
| 3 | 29 | 00:55:45 | Jez |
| 4 | 44 | 01:20:06 | Jez |
| 5 | 42 | 01:12:44 | Jez |
| 6 | 33 | 01:05:35 | Jez |
| 7 | 54 | 02:13:39 | Jez |
| 8 | 65 | 03:13:13 | Jez |
About the author
Matt is one of the founding Molefathers of the Muddymoles, and is the designer and main administrator of the website.
Having ridden a 2007 Orange Five for many years then a 2016 YT Industries Jeffsy 29er, he now rocks a Bird Aether 9 and a Pace RC-627.
An early On-One Inbred still lurks in the back of the stable as a reminder of how things have moved on. You can even find him on road bikes - currently a 2019 Cannondale Topstone 105 SE, a much-used 2011 Specialized Secteur and very niche belt drive Trek District 1.
If you've ever wondered how we got into mountain biking and how the MuddyMoles started, well wonder no more.
There are 24 comments on ‘2009 Marin Dusk til Dawn (D2D) at Thetford – a summary’
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KC says:
Well done guys! Great results. Hope that you are all injury free apart from the inevitable sore parts!
See you soon
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Posted on October 5, 2009 at 8:58 am
Jez says:
I think you’ve summed it perfectly Matt. Particularly the best/worst comment!
Base camp was a heaven of luxury compared to last year. Thanks to Jem for bringing all that stuff as it made such a difference. Returning to the heater in the gazebo really made me feel better at some miserable moments.
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Posted on October 5, 2009 at 9:41 am
Colin says:
What an amazing weekend guys and a great team effort. I really emphasise the word TEAM. If something like this doesn’t make you bond as a group, nothing will.
My first lap was 230 out of 411 riders on course and bearing in mind Mark and I were very near the back of the pack at the start line, I was really pleased with myself to get the team off to a good start.
Disappointed my back slowed me down a bit on my later laps but enjoyed that whole mind against body battle nonetheless.
Full of respect not only for the guy who did a 41:10 lap but for our very own Moles who all battled valiantly against the clock, the course and their own bodies/minds.
Big thanks to all but particularly Jem for the logistical support !! As Jez rightly points out, base camp was an oasis in the forest.
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Posted on October 5, 2009 at 10:34 am
Marko says:
Well done guys! sounds like you had a great time.
Any initial impressions of the nukeproof?
MM recommended bu?
Marko
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Posted on October 5, 2009 at 11:01 am
Dave says:
Wow, what an experience that was! I think I’m less tired than I thought I would be and my thighs ache big time. I found the course very, very draining, physically, mentally and emotionally. I actually wished we’d had a bit more rain to bind up the dust a little. To think I’d been agonising about the lack of a mud tyre and mud clearance on the Spider! Sand tyres hadn’t come into the equation!
But I think the results are excellent given it was the first experience of racing for some many of us. Also as already mentioned the team effort was great. Facilities were top notch in the Mole Hill.
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Posted on October 5, 2009 at 11:17 am
DaveW says:
Excellent effort people!
(I virtually ended up doing an all night enduro of my own, trying to get home from my mate’s 40th in Hampshire by train and then bicycle…)
Might as well capitalise on all that training and have a bash at Bordon Enduro on the 1st of November then?
http://www.xcracer.com/jn_raceentry/viewevent.php?event_id=59
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Posted on October 5, 2009 at 11:22 am
Matt says:
Just to prove we were actually there, here’s third party photographic evidence.
A great one of a suffering Jez:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/davefranciosy/3980016152/in/set-72157622387717543/
And one of Colin. Love the shoes!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/davefranciosy/3980053294/in/set-72157622387717543/
Yes, I really did trawl through 70 pages of photos. Might have missed others. Hey, there’s no ‘I’ in ‘Team’ you know!
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Posted on October 5, 2009 at 11:27 am
Toby says:
Hello, Toby here from Dorking Cocks. Sounds like you all had a good time and did well at the event.
Not sure which of you guys it was we saw as we finished our practice lap but thanks for saying hello and having a chat. I mean’t to come over to your ‘camp’ at somepoint and say hello but for one reason or another just never got around to it.
We really enjoyed the course and were pleased with our finishing position.
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Posted on October 5, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Colin says:
Hi Toby, it was me who said hello. Well done to you, Charlie, George and John (?). You were certainly Team Consistent.
I slowed our team down a bit but loved every minute of it and have got the bug to compete again and get a bit quicker for next year.
Bring it on
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Posted on October 5, 2009 at 1:16 pm
tony says:
Great effort all round especially Jez. After the collar bone break I can’t tell you how glad I was to get around and be part of the team MM effort. I can’t think that we could have done much better. Great weather, organisation, chat, but maybe we better reduce the carb content in the diet next time. 5am in the morning it was an “interesting” experience to enter the caravan.
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Posted on October 5, 2009 at 8:33 pm
ian says:
Bloody well done!
Sounds like a good time was had by all
Impressively consistent lap-times esp. from collarbone tony…..
ps – the ‘action’ photos aren’t very blurred are they…..?
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Posted on October 6, 2009 at 1:42 pm
Matt says:
Hi Toby, pity I didn’t get to see you guys but glad some of us got a chance to say hello. Your result was excellent and it was agonising to see that we were within spitting distance; having said that, we did everything we could so it was a well deserved ‘victory’ to you!
Ian, blurry photos? Yep, but those were the leaders on the opening lap – they were going fast!!
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Posted on October 6, 2009 at 3:30 pm
Muddymoles says:
Ride report: Sunday 1 November – Bordon Enduro
One Vet riders view of the 2009 Pronghorm Bordon Enduro which featured rain, mud and pain in no particular order!
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Posted on November 2, 2009 at 9:54 am
Muddymoles says:
Veteran Moles: Gorrick race report 8 November
Jem’s thoughts on his first daylight XC race in Crowthorne Woods near Swinley for the November Gorrick race
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Posted on November 9, 2009 at 11:02 pm
Muddymoles says:
A quick round-up
A summary of what’s been happening on the website recently and a look ahead
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Posted on November 26, 2009 at 7:06 pm
Muddymoles says:
Looking back – 9 for 2009
A look back at the highlights of Matt’s MTB’ing 2009 and a summary of his stats.
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Posted on January 13, 2010 at 1:27 pm
Muddymoles says:
Motivation
Motivation comes from surprising places. Who’d have thought the least keen Mole racer we know could change our outlook on things?
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Posted on February 17, 2010 at 7:53 am
Muddymoles says:
Dusk til Dawn (D2D) 2010 is on the way
Time to turn our thoughts to the 2010 Marin Dusk til Dawn (D2D), with a list of this year’s riders and a look back to last years event.
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Posted on September 14, 2010 at 2:12 pm
Muddymoles says:
Ride report: 2010 Marin Dusk til Dawn? More like rain til morn…
Team Muddymoles experience the lows and highs of racing at Thetford in the 2010 Marin Dusk til Dawn (D2D)
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Posted on October 3, 2010 at 9:47 pm
Related: Ride report: Sunday 1 November - Bordon Enduro | Reviews, Racing | Muddymoles: Mountain biking (MTB) in the Surrey Hills and Mole Valley
Related: Ride report: Sunday 8 November - Veteran Moles at Gorrick race in Crowthorne Wood | Reviews, Racing | Muddymoles: Mountain biking (MTB) in the Surrey Hills and Mole Valley
Related: Looking back - 9 for 2009 | Mutterings, Trends | Muddymoles: Mountain biking (MTB) in the Surrey Hills and Mole Valley
Related: Motivation | Mutterings, Lifestyle | Muddymoles: Mountain biking (MTB) in the Surrey Hills and Mole Valley
Related: Ride report: 2010 Marin Dusk til Dawn? More like rain til morn... | Reviews, Racing | Muddymoles: Mountain biking (MTB) in the Surrey Hills and Mole Valley