For the uninitiated – that was me at the start of this journey – a mountain bike marathon race is simply a long-distance off-road race. The race distance varies, but typically it’s over 50km, with some races as much as 100km or more. And rather than riding multiple laps of a shorter loop – as you would in a traditional XC (cross-country) race – the organisers mark out much longer loops than can cover big distances.

Because you head out into the wilds, away from the start/finish arena, it feels like a more adventurous discipline, where you never really know what’s coming around the next corner, and you’ve got to solve any problems that befall you along the way. Like heavy, unrelenting rain and a course that’s slipperier than a bar of soap…

Looking cheerful and clean before the slopfest

“A slip and slide has more traction than this trail”

Fast forward six months and it’s a Sunday morning in late May, and I’m stood at the side of a trail somewhere on the Birdsall Estate in Yorkshire with a stick, trying to scrape out as much mud as I can from between my tyres and the frame. For lack of a better descriptor, it’s absolutely belting it down with rain. A typical Yorkshire spring day, you might think. Perhaps so, but the weather had been really very nice for the few weeks leading up to the day of my MTB Marathon event and I was woefully underprepared for riding in the mud.

“A slip and slide has more traction than this trail right now,” I grumbled to myself – desperately trying to muster up a smile, that ended up looking like a wince at Mick the poor photographer who’d agreed to come and take pictures of me for this piece. I envied his Canyon e-bike, with him gracefully whizzing past the crowds of riders, all struggling to stay upright through the mud trenches.

Perhaps that’s what I should have done – used an electric mountain bike. But I didn’t, and me and my borrowed Specialized Epic 8 Comp suffered on into the mud. This is the story of my first attempt at a MTB marathon event, and everything I learned leading up to it (and on the day itself).

What the hell am I doing?

It was around February time when I decided to whip myself into shape and explore new avenues on the bike. I’ve typically done time trials on the road, but every year I get to about June and I lose interest, usually coming up with the same excuses, that it’s a sport that relies too heavily on money to go fast, rather than looking at myself and the fact I’ve done 10 hours of training a week, 9.5 of which are in Zone 2 and accomplishing nothing.

Since starting working with MBR late last year, I’d been keen to get put some more time in on my MTB – writing about awesome bikes all day will do that. So I decided I wanted to train towards an event, something that would push me out of my comfort zones, but not quite as much as an Enduro event would. I would describe myself as a semi-competent mountain biker. In my personal bike collection I have a Whyte S-150, which is and always has been far too much bike for me, but at the time I wanted something I’d progress into, and spoiler alert: I haven’t.

The Wahoo Roam V2’s waterproofing was thoroughly tested, and it lived up to its IP rating

I’ll blame Covid and a couple of life upheavals since the bike’s purchase for the reason I haven’t really gotten past anything beyond Gisburn Forest or Dalby in terms of riding progress. But, now that I’ve come to accept my limitations when it comes to anything remotely technical or terrifying, I realise that a cross-country, short-travel bike is far more appropriate – and enjoyable. I discovered that while I am not that strong, it’s not all my fault that I struggle to whip the bike around and feel fully in control of it. It just goes to show how much confidence can be gained by having the right bike for you. And there’s nothing inherently wrong with my S-150, in fact, it’s brilliant – it’s just not right for me.

So with the idea of doing ‘something’ on a mountain bike this year set in my head, I decided to have a go at what I assumed would be a relatively tame introduction – the Yorkshire MTB Marathon. I signed up for the 65km option, which took in the 25km and 40km loops. The longest option was the 80km, but even with my aerobic base I thought it would be too far too soon on a MTB. And I was right.

The flowy trails in the estate’s woods are private unfortunately, but definitely worth doing this event for

The training

I decided to take this stuff seriously and hire a coach, as I’d signed up to the 65km route which was a tad more than I’d ever ridden on a MTB in one go. A somewhat paltry distance to roadies or long-distance bikepackers, perhaps. I asked local coach and racer Will Thompson if he’d take me on – he didn’t realise what he was agreeing to and said yes. He’s been as patient as a saint, helping me juggle a few early season time trials (when will I learn?) with more MTB specific training.

When I asked him what that might look like, he said:

“The key to endurance mountain bike success is building consistent training volume on the bike, with intervals designed to improve the riders physiological limiters in relation to the specificities of the given event.”

Essentially, my training was about building my aerobic base by doing some longer, less intense riding, with one or two harder rides with intervals a week. I ended up averaging about 8-10 hours per week, and the interval sessions were generally on the turbo trainer. Oh, and the tests Will made me do at the start of our ‘plan’ – which I wouldn’t wish on anyone.

Staggered starts meant groups of riders went off together, but this often meant there were bottlenecks in narrower or technical areas

I’m a Wahooligan now

If you think back to February onwards, the weather was pretty terrible – at least in my corner of the country. And so I was incredibly grateful to have Wahoo send me some of their indoor training kit to try and ease the turbo training pain. I think turbo trainers are a lost tool among some mountain bikers – yes, the act of pedalling indoors is incredibly dull on the surface, but it does serve a purpose and allows you to ride targeted sessions that might otherwise be difficult to do outside.

I tried the Wahoo Kickr Core Zwift One. Essentially, this is a smart turbo trainer (it can give power readings to Zwift or whatever platform you use) comes with a single cog instead of a cassette so you don’t need to buy a new cassette to ride it. This, and the fact it is thru-axle and quick-release compatible means you can use literally any bike you want – including a mountain bike. I didn’t get my demo bike until the beginning of May, so I stuck my old Bianchi road bike on there until then and did the majority of my training with that.

Turbo training is horrible, but the Wahoo setup certainly made it more enticing

As a quick mini review, the Wahoo Kickr Core worked pretty seamlessly. It also came with a Zwift controller which I mounted to my bars, and which controlled the gears when I wasn’t in ERG mode (where the turbo sets the difficulty based on power rather than you doing it manually through your gears). Once I set up the correct gear on my bike for the ‘cog’, I didn’t need to do much else, except ride and suffer.

Wahoo were also kind enough to send me a Kickr Headwind, which is their fan. It’s a tad on the expensive side, but it reacts to either your heart rate or ‘speed’, and gives you enough airflow depending on how hard you’re working. It’s the first time I’ve been able to ride the turbo trainer without ruining my bar tape with sweat. It works through Bluetooth, so you know it’s fancy, and honestly it’s so much better than a regular fan – and so it should be for the price.

The Specialized Epic 8 Comp didn’t let me down

The bike and kit

Specialized also got on board, after wise man Danny (the editor here, if you didn’t already know) suggested my S-150 might be a bit too much for a MTB marathon. They very kindly send me a size small Specialized Epic 8 Comp, which came with full a RockShox setup, a SRAM GX mix 12-speed groupset and SRAM Level Bronze Stealth brakes. Unfortunately, I knew from about the 10th pedal stroke that I’d not want to give it back. So, Specialized, if you’re reading this, I’m sorry I don’t know how that S-150 ended up in the return box, I absolutely, definitely did send back the Epic 8 and it’s not still in my house.

Joking aside, it rides incredibly nicely. The lack of pedal bob almost surprised me, and the three position lockout works incredibly well. I even had the confidence to try riding clipped in, and thanks to an impeccably timed review pair of the Favero Assioma PRO MX pedals, it meant I could keep an eye on my power while I was riding off-road. Even in the mud, the bike was a dream – but it certainly didn’t finish the day the same colour as it started.

Game face on, and getting to grip with the er…well, lack of grip

The MTB Marathon

The weather in the weeks leading up to the MTB Marathon had been by any standard, pretty good. I even got to wear short sleeves at some points, and perhaps optimistically brought out the Factor 50 lest I catch some rays. But, the day before, the rain began. And it didn’t stop. So combining the fact that it’s been dry for weeks on end with a sudden downpour of rain, what do you get? A lovely mix of slippery tarmac, leaves and mud. Mud everywhere. Honestly, the local spa should have come along to Birsdall Estate and scooped some of it up to put in their baths and charge people for the pleasure of sitting in it with all its skin improving properties…or something.

The organisers sent out the numbers and information packs prior to the event, so all I had to do was turn up at the start, and set off. So after a few pre-mud bath shots with Mick, I packed some gels in my vest and off I went. Instantly I knew this was going to be a slogfest. I tried to keep as much of a gap between myself and other riders as I could, so that I didn’t hold anyone up, but also because I was getting fed up of riders stopping halfway up a climb and then having no option but to unclip and push myself as there was little space to go around.

Keen observers among you will realise I’ve said this was an ‘attempt’, rather than ‘I completed a MTB marathon’. And that’s because I ended up doing the shorter, 25km loop only. On the day, the going was a lot slower than I’d imagined or planned for. Not just because of the swarms of other riders, but because apparently I’m about as competant a rider in the mud as a Formula 1 car would be.

“People pay for these kind of mud treatments”

A Yorkshire Spring Mudfest

After several discussions with Mick, which were getting more and more towards “what the f*ck are we doing?!” I decided it would probably be best if I didn’t do the full 65km. Full respect to anyone who did the longer distances, it was hard going and I really regret not doing it now, but on the day I lost my head and the idea of facing a couple more hours at least in the rain on terrain that was just getting worse wasn’t really appealing.

Plus, I had people waiting for me at the finish line – admittedly this was the biggest thing in my mind. If it was just me there, I’d have been more inclined to stay out there all day. I was having fun, maybe type 2 fun, but I do love the feeling of finishing a ride when it’s been horrible weather. But, in that weather, standing around with not a lot to do and the prospect of having to do that for a few more hours didn’t feel very fair. In hindsight, perhaps I should have waived the support squad’s offer to come and ‘watch’, but now we know for next time.

Digging in for the final climb, and showing off just how black my socks were

I made it to the first feed point, which I used to gleefully get under cover to text my support squad my decision to stick to the shorter loop. A cheery response helped my motivation to ride a bit faster. Mick decided he’d make a move at this point too, having gotten about as much as he could without his camera equipment failing in the wet. He went the escape route back to HQ, and I, the short loop.

I felt a bit more at ease at this point, and really began to enjoy it. The rain didn’t subside, nor the taste of the horrible gel I’d taken, but my mood shifted and I really began to enjoy the bike and the route. I hooned it through a nature reserve and began climbing back towards the estate, when I caught up with a woman I’d previously ridden with earlier in the event. She’d made the same choice as me, and we rode back into the estate together – she was an excellent guide, and pointed out what obstacles were coming up, including the final grassy climb back into the HQ.

Ralph the support dog was dressed for the occasion, but less than pleased he wasn’t allowed to chase the resident peacocks around the estate

Naturally, my competitive instinct took over after I realised the support crew were looking on from the top of the hill. So I switched into attack mode and powered up the climb to show off. We rolled back under the finishing banner and grabbed a warm cup of coffee, which had never tasted so good.

The organisation of the event, even in the May-tober weather was excellent. The routes were well signposted, and the actual trails were fantastic. I really want to come back and ride them when they’re running a bit dry. And I’d recommend it, too – there’s nothing too technical in there (at least, in the 25km loop). Although, I’ve been told there are a few steep descents in the longer 40km loop.

So would I do it again? Absolutely. If anything, this has ignited a fire. My advice? Get a bike that actually fits you and your ability. If you’re never going to ride downhill, don’t go buy a big burly bike that you can’t wield. I’m still being coached by Will, as I’ve got some other planned events and I quite enjoy the structure. I’ve also booked a coaching session with a local guide so I can really start to progress on the MTB. And I’ll be back at the Yorkshire MTB Marathon next year, come rain or shine.