El Extreme '11

This is the third year that I've entered the Extreme and from the registration form I can see something's changed. In order to compete in the Extreme event you now have to be federated, which I take to mean have a racing licence. I do not possess a licence so the alternative is a secondary race for non-federated competitors - same course, same distance(65km), same rules. Being stingy by nature I'm loathed to shell out for a licence that I won't need or use other than for this one day so the marcha turista event it is, the only other difference is that there is no 40+ catagory so I'll be mixing it with the youngsters. Raymond has a race licence so has entered the federated race in the 50+catagory. One advantage this has is that Raymond can now ride his own race without feeling obliged to stay with me. We pick up our goody bags and dorsales: yellow for la marcha, red for federated girls and oldies and green for the senior blokes

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Race morning dawns with clear blue skies and we drive to St Josep and gather in the campo de futbol, after a few warm up laps we group ourselves at the start line, the federated race was due to begin at 9am with the non-feds starting at 9.15 so Raymond moved forwards and I hang back with the yellows. The obligatory firecrackers denote the start and it's once around the campo before hitting the main road into town. It soon becomes obvious that us yellows will be in the way so we just tag on the end and just keep going - it seems the staggered start idea has been abandoned. Fortunately Raymond doesn't realise this. I settle in for a steady-fast Sunday Ride, working hard enough to be breathless but keeping out of lactic territory. This pace is fast enough to overtake many people on the initial road section and meant that I had a fairly clear path down the first rocky descent. Somewhere in the past few months I've grown to love loose rocky trails and I begin to pick people off on the downhills, something of a novelty:) All too soon the path starts to climb and deposits us at the start of the first climb - a steep hike-a-bike to wake the legs and lungs up, I am blessed with 7 league legs and pass quite a few people here too. The descent is a steep gravel hairpinned camino and to my surprise I'm not retaken by all the guys I've just passed.
Undulating rough caminos lead onto the next climb - a fairly technical drag to reach the first avituallamente. It's on this climb that I pass Maria from Mallorca, I think this disturbs her as she squeezes past at the crest of the hill but I blat past her on the fast rocky downhill. we trade places again as the descent turns to fine gravel fireroad but she's looking on the limit and as we reach the bottom I tell her that I'm in the other race and not direct competition, I offer her my wheel on the tarmac section, through the rivebed singletrack and then she passes as I grab an energy bar. Too busy eating I miss a turning and by the time I've backtracked she's out of sight. The next climb is one of my favourites Sa Capalleta, it rises in steps then gets steep but has a good line as long as no one gets in your way and it leads to the second stop and signature control. Next comes a wide gravel track descent with a sneaky sharp left, up and you are thrown into a rocky gulley and some fast furious singletrack which spits you onto a fabulous downhill road section of swooping bends - I pretend I'm Valentino Rossi but then decide that I should probably be Jorge Lorenzo, grinning widely.



Police stop traffic on the main road and it crosses into undulating gravel tracks interspersed with rocky singletrack and the odd bit of tarmac. Suddenly I'm powering through the lanes in Kent and really enjoying the ride. I've had someone on my wheel for ages and here I turn to see it's Senor otra vez! I smile and say hello we chat a little then he pulls away on the flat section, he's a powerful bloke! As I try to keep him in sight I notice my bike feels a little wayward and to my dismay my back tyre is soft, I pump it up and ask a marshall how far to the next stop - only 3km, it might make it. The route drops down to a notoriously wet riverbed crossing which given all the recent rain is inexplicably dry and a short hike-a-bike climb. My tyre is soft again so I set about changing it, I expected a pinch from my bonkers descending but it was a hole worn through by the tyre liner (my last 3 or 4 punctures at home have been identical) my spare has been carried around with me for probably 5 years as I've never before punctured in Ibiza, the valve was sticky and making it hard to inflate, some MasterGym guys offered to help and one squirt from a CO2 canister and it was up and running.
Back on track it was a smooth road down to the 3rd check and chip timing zone. I grab a drink and squeeze my tyre, not quite as hard as it had been or am I paranoid? I pump it to bursting point and set off up a rough narrow track with some little drops and nasty sharp ups that sap legs and burn lungs. Then it's the climb that provokes fear in the most hardy minds: Puig D'en Serra a ridiculously steep and interminable rippled concrete climb. Towards the top I pass Jo we are both surprised to see each other. I am pushing it a bit as I think if I have got a slow leak the quicker I can get to the finish the better, after the climb is another technical descent and again I feel a bit insecure, at the bottom I pump my slightly saggy tyre back up and tackle the next climb over a chain fence and the fast descent to the 4th and final checkpoint. Another re-pump and it's the final S'attalaya climb , a wide camino with the most spectacular views and a gradient to tempt you into the middle ring and graunch away. Once at the top it's just a matter of a bonkers downhill course to the finish, a very narrow, rock and root infested trail with a vertiginous drop to the right - completely off camber for me as I tend to get my right foot out if stopping suddenly. I ride some, scoot some, and walk some, aware that my tyre won't like much rocky impact. Two 6 foot rocky steps to negotiate and then it's downhill on smooth tarmac for the last kilometre to the campo. I have to take the bends with care but the tyre gets me home in a time of 4.32.



I've lost at least 10-15mins between punctures and wrong turns but it's enough to be first girl in the non-feds and I get a podium appearance and trofeo. It would also have got me the top step in the 40+ federated competition and to my chagrin would have placed me 3rd girl overall which came with a £100 cheque prize. On the other hand Raymond raced his own race, had I been in the same race he would have felt encumbered and he finished first in his catagory beating the Balearic 50+ champeon into the bargain. That meant a lot to him, would I have swapped the money for the smile on his face? every time. Memo for next race - take a spare tube that hasn't passed it's use by date!

Juanita