In the words of the event organisers, "Badlands is an unsupported ultracycling gravel race covering 800km with 16.000m elevation gain across the only deserts in Europe, the wild coast of Cabo de Gata and the highest Col in the continent".
For Simon Mcnamara, a rider with a background in road racing and time-trialling, and lead of the Rider Experience team at HUNT HQ, this seemed like the perfect event to dip his toes into ultra racing. However, in need of some expert guidance to get him round his first ultra, he asked Rider Experience colleague Claire to enter the pairs race.
Claire said:
“Badlands is known as the wildest ultra in Europe and the thought of crossing Europe’s only true desert in temperatures of over 40 degrees was filling me with fear. I'd ridden ultras before but this one was different. I was riding pairs with Simon McNamara, one of The Rider Firm's strongest riders. He is a road racing and TT specialist who lives to train and race, whilst I enjoy the non competitive side of cycling through mountain biking, gravel riding, bikepacking and exploring. I’ve known Simon for years through work, but coming from different sides of the sport, we’ve spent very little time together on the bike. This was all to change with a800km, 16000m slog through southern Spain: Simon's first ever ultra with me recruited to show him the ropes…”
So how do you end up choosing Badlands as your first Ultra race? Simon picks up the story:
"I'd watched a Badlands video on YouTube and really liked the idea of riding it, however my complete lack of experience of doing an ultra or even having bike packed before led me to nagging Claire until she agreed to enter as a mixed pairs team. What could go wrong right?
Fast forward 10 months and we're on the start line rolling out of Granada early morning on Sunday 1st September. On the first day alone, I spent more hours in the saddle in one hit than I had ever done. I also seemed to be constantly eating, fuelling the ride but also eating for the days ahead. The course was pretty epic, we encountered canyons, creeks, dried up river beds, deserts and of course some awesome fun gravel trails. The scenery was absolutely stunning which was a good thing as it maybe took your mind off of the searing temperatures that we were riding through.”
Riding as a pair can be trickier than it may seem, with differing energy levels, speeds, motivation not to mention twice as many tyres to puncture! So it makes sense to do plenty of riding together pre-event to help things go smoothly, but Claire and Si’s prep wasn’t quite by the book…
“We should perhaps have done some practice rides to get to know each other better, or for Simon to try sleeping in a bivi bag and packing his kit, but our only test run was a 60km cafe ride the week before the race. It was too late to worry by then, it was happening.
The day came and we gathered at the start. Simon had been bitten by a dog the previous day so I was hoping his calf injury might slow him down a little, but it seemed to make no difference. He was immediately ahead of me but as agreed we would both settle into our own paces on the climbs and regroup along the way. This is something I thought would become tiresome for him but each time we met he was positive and cheery.
The ride wasn’t without incident. Simon soon found that navigation isn’t his strong point after a series of wrong turns, and I struggled with heatstroke and fuelling in the heat. But we got through it and being able to share the experience, the ups and downs and spectacular landscapes of Badlands with a colleague and friend is something I’ll never forget.”
They say it’s best to learn from your mistakes, and in the world of Ultra racing that is certainly true. No ultra ride goes without problems, but that’s part of the whole experience as Simon reflects…
“For me, riding Badlands was everything I'd hoped it would be, it was brutal, beautiful, emotional and genuinely one of the best experiences on or off the bike that I have had in my life. A huge thank you to Claire for helping guide me through my first Ultra, solo next year...… maybe?”
