Just over a week ago I entered my 1st ever Gorrick (Brass Monkey) race. Encouraged by my friend Iwona I decided it was about time I gave one of these events a go.

With all the rain we have had this year the local trials around Dorking are in the worst conditions I can remember and with reports from Charlie & Antony of the Gorrick area trails being far dryer I was further inspired to take part.

A third reason to enter was the thought of riding new (to me) trails which I keep hearing about being very singletrack based which appeals to me very much.
Being my 1st race I opted for the 2 hour category to give me a taste of what to expect. I drove over there in plenty of time for the 12 start and was registered and ready  by about 10.30. Matt had also entered the race so we decided to wait for the 4 hr riders to come past the start finish area to try and gauge just how long a lap would take us

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Well the front riders came through at about 40 minutes, we were guessing for us it would be nearer the 1 hour mark for a lap and when our friend Antony came through to complete his 1st lap in about 50 minutes that confirmed what we thought

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We stayed to watch a little longer and saw Iwona come past in 2nd place having taken about 1 hour for her lap. After this we went back to the cars to prepare for the race.

We were on the start line in plenty of time but were about 3 rows back from the front and in the middle. The race was led out by a quad bike around a large sports field area and the usual manic start ensued - being in the middle of the pack was so good, we kind of got boxed in and took a while to work a way out to the side and pass riders. As soon as we hit the singletrack it was mayhem as everyone slowly sorted out into single file and hold ups occurred at every little obstacle.

Eventually the field started to spread out but the front runners must have gained at least 5 mins on those further back within the 1st half lap. The course itself was very good, lots and lots of singletrack with tight corners, the odd roll in and muddy/rooty sections - lots of small sharp climbs and a few wider sections to make overtaking easier.

As the first lap progressed I felt I was gaining more places than losing but was also struggling to get rhythm. I have to admit to seriously calling it a day after just one lap as I felt like I struggled my way around. I think towards the end of the lap I managed to persuade myself to clear such thoughts from my mind and and give the race a proper go and get on with it.

On crossing the start line for the 2nd lap the field had certainly spread out a lot more and the start of lap 2 flew by no without all the traffic jams of lap 1. I felt stronger and much happier to carry on and also as you do the course a 2nd time and start to recognize features it becomes a little easier.

I carried on with the aim of trying to finish lap 2 inside of 2 hours to give myself an option of a 3rd lap should I feel like it. As we approached the finish I passed Iwona (she was on her 4th lap) and got over the line in about 1.56 so could, and probably should have done a 3rd lap however I decided that I’d done enough for my 1st race.
Matt who was in the same category as me (Vet Males) and riding singlespeed came over the line just a few minutes later at about 2.03 so just missed the cut off.
All in all it was good fun, really enjoyed the course and now I'm more aware of what to expect from these races I'm looking forward to having another go on the 13th Jan.
Just for the record our results were as follows.

Antony was in the Vet Male 4hr race and he managed 5 laps and came 15th out of 77 on his singlespeed.
Matt was 52nd out of 93 on his singlespeed in the 2 hr Vets and in the same cat I came 38th which I was quite pleased with.

Iwona did well as she always seems to and came in 2nd place in the 4hr Ladies so I waited with her for the podium presentation. All good fun and well organised, the trails were certainly a lot dryer than the Surrey Hills and the riding well worth the trip for