Ben Simmons Blog: Kona Mash Up
Kona Mash Up – I was very excited about this race as it is a unique event in its second year and after getting second place in the Enduro event last year I was hoping to go one place higher and get the win. The event took place at Afan Forest that consisted of 5-timed section on the ‘Whytes’ and ‘July’ trails for the Enduro category. There was also a Technical Category that consisted of 3 timed sections on ‘Whytes’ level that included the black run. I got there early as I had to catch a flight to Mallorca in the afternoon so only had one chance to do the sections.
I was one of the first rider up the ‘Darstardley & Mutley’ climb so had a clear run and I put every last pedal stroke I could to put a good time in. The second timed section was ‘Windy Point’ which was a fast flowing decent but after putting in an almost perfect run I had a rear wheel puncture and finished the section on a flat! So I plodded up the fire road on my flat tyre to the feed station to put a tube in my punctured tubeless tyre, once all pumped up I was ready to roll again.
I decided to then come back to the ‘Windy Point’ section after I had done the timed sections on the July trail as I was pushed for time. The next timed section I completed was the ‘Joyrider’ section that I smashed and felt that I had a good time. This section was followed the ‘Jetlag’ section which is also the final decent of the well know Skyline trail. I started hard and fast and pedalled at every opportunity all the way until the end and was happy I couldn’t of gone much faster.
So it was time to pedal back up to the top to finish off the ‘Whytes’ trail and also had another go at the ‘Darstardley & Mutley’ timed climb which I gave 100% for the second time much to the massive burning sensation in my quads! Then to attempt the ‘Windy Point’ Section for the second time that I am pleased to say was successful with only one more timed section to go. The last timed section was ‘Darkside’ the final decent of the Whytes level trail that went really well until the last quarter of the section where I noticed I had a slow puncture but carried on to finish the section with some air in my tyre to spare. Now that all the timed sections were complete I had a quick interview with the commentator before shooting off to catch a plane.
When I returned from Mallorca I was pleased to of found out that I finished 4th overall in the Enduro category, was the fastest up the ‘Darstardley & Mutley’ climb and 2nd fastest on the ‘Joyrider Section’. I also finished all the other timed sections high overall but am a bit sceptical out one of my times for the ‘Jetlag’ decent as they put me a minute down over my closet rival which does not seem correct in my opinion!
Overall I enjoyed the event even though I was on a tight time scale to finish the race and was extremely pleased with my results especially riding the race on my Focus Raven Pro HARDTAIL. The majority of all the other rider were racing on full suspension bike which I think would of definitely given them an advantage over the super rough rock terrain.
Link to event website: www.konaworld.uk.com/mash-up/
Ben