MMM 2011 - Medieval Marathon Medias 2011

I was a bit lazy so I'm writing about this race after a month :)

It was a very hard race again (like last year). There was a lot of mud so it was hard. The mud was sticking to the tires and the tires weren't spinning anymore so I lost a lot of time cleaning the bike. The mud also ruined the shifting so it was very nice when the organizers were washing the shifters, and I even used a biker trick that I read about, pissing on the shifters :D

I felt down 4 times and I had to carry the bike a lot. It was nice that the organizers changed the course a bit and the first climb from last year was replaced with an easier, drier climb. It was a very hard race but I was very happy when I crossed the line. I couldn't stand on my feet because of the cramps but I was still smiling, this smile represent the satisfaction of finishing the race, this is why I like to race:

A few pics from the race:

the bikes

on the first climb

down from the hills

in to the village

getting dirty

why is the bike stopping, I'm not using the brakes :(

carrying some mud

some racing

still on the bike, but after this I lost about 10 minutes cleaning the bike

 after the last feed zone

YES, I've finished the race :D

I have finished in 44th place overall  from 170 riders and 16th in my age group. My time was 3:55:55 :)

Stats:
    - time: 3:29:24 (on my cyclocomputer)
    - distance: 46,06 km
    - average speed: 13,1 km/h
    - max speed: 45,5km/h

Westend pics

Yesterday I bought some pics from Westend from the Medieval Marathon from Medias:

Pics from MMM

Here are some more pics from MMM (Medieval Marathon from Medias) where I've finished 36th (72 riders finished) in my category and 88th in general (212 riders finished, 108 riders did not finish).

All the pics here.

MMM 2010 - Medieval Mud Marathon 2010

Saturday was race day. It was a very hard race so it was a big satisfaction to finish it.

I had some bad luck before the race but I was glad that I could get there. It was raining a lot before the race  so I had to buy some new tires. I bought a pair of Race Kings (2.2) which are not exactly good for mud but they are better than my old tires. When I was changing the tires the tube from my back tire had a hole. I had two spare tubes but both had holes. :(


I wanted to go to Tarnaveni and from there go to Medias the next day but it started raining and I had a flat tire. My father came after me and took me home :)


Saturday morning I bough some tubes after I got my race number and I fixed my tire. My bad luck didn't end there, I left my bottle in the car so I had to buy a new bottle.


It was very hot when the race started and a thunderstorm was coming :)


I started the race on the back of the pack but the first kilometers were in the city so I passed at least 100 people. Then on the first climb we got muddy. The mud was so bad that even if I pushed the bike it stuck to the tires and the tires were getting blocked so I had to carry the bike on my back. When I got to some grassy roads I cleaned the bike and got on it. In the forest I tried to push the bike on the leaves so the tires could spin. I had to clean the bike a few times and I was getting tired of pushing. When I finally got to the climb on the field where the road was on grass I was very happy that I could ride on the bike. People were amazed that I was still on the bike because it was a hard climb but I was just happy that I could finally stay on the bike. The mud wasn't so bad after the first climb, there were some nice road on grass and some roads  in some villages and I really liked my tires, they were great on grass and country roads and even on light mud. The Race King is a very fast tires and it gets clean very fast in light mud. But on heavy mud it's not good so I felt down in a muddy corner :(


At about the half of the race some small muscle cramps were starting to bother me so until the end of the race I had to stay focused to avoid some serious cramps. I had to clean the bike a few times but the mud wasn't so bad and I could go fast. At the last checkpoint were we could get some food and water I had some serious cramps but after a short rest and a lot of glucose I could attack the last climb. The last climb was another pushbike section but it wasn't so muddy so I only had to fight my muscle cramps. I finish the race about 10 minutes before the thunderstorm started :)


Stats(these are not exact because I carried the bike a lot):
    - time: 3:54:29
    - distance: 48,7 km
    - average speed: 12,4 km/h
    - max speed: 49 km/h

   - actual time: 4:24

   - average heart rate: 176 bpm

   - max heart rate: 201 bpm

It was a very hard race, the hardest so far but I was very happy when I crossed the finish line. I will be back with more pics.

Preparing for the Medieval Marathon from Medias

This weekend I'm going racing to the Medieval Marathon from Medias (also known as MMM).

The 2009 edition was my first marathon. It was a very nice race, the view was beautiful and the weather was great. I wasn't going so well because I didn't have enough training but I've finished in 32th position in my age group (crossing the finish line as a knight :D)

I like this race because it is close to my hometown and it was my first marathon. Last year was very hot and I got a little dehydrated and I had some bad muscle cramps too but this year I'm feeling more confident, I have more experience and more training. It looks like this year the track will be a little wet.

My goal is a top ten finish :) I think It will be hard because it is a very famous race and there are already more than 300 people who have already payed the fee, this is a first in this country, and they are expecting about 400 racers :)

You can find all he pics I have from last year here.