Today

I stumbled across this bit of north shore a month ago on my local trails, and was somewhat scared of it. Massively off camber, narrow and with at least 2-3 foot either side. But the fall is fine, as the tree stumps will break your fall. I remember turning the corner, and seeing it for the first time. The look of fear firmly planted on my face. I took the picture for inspiration, and said "One day, but not today". Four weeks later, and some serious skills practice under my wheels, we rode some good bits this morning, then ended up on a trail that lead to the start of the "bridges"! There was a quick exchange of glances, then we said "shall we?!". I was on the front - feeling the pressure, I kept the speed flowing, trying to avoid the increasingly-overgrown greenary. I turned the corner, got the race face on and locked my eyes on the other side of the ditch and I floated across. Felt great. The more I improve, the more I enjoyed it. Time for carbs, cinema, then time to take over the roads of North Norfolk for the Norwich 100. Or if you are Dean, the Norwich 200.

EACH Ride for Life

Another weekend, another set of ace mountain biking. This weekend, we did skills riding on Saturday at Bacton Woods, and today we did a very rapid blast around Thetford all in aid of the East Anglia's Children's Hospices (EACH). EACH as possibly one of the most popular charities in Norfolk, and I was really up for giving them some money all in the aid of a little cruise around the forest.

Expecting it to be a small affair, we were pretty shocked when we turned up and found the whole village buzzing with people up for some bicycle action! It was the sort of event I love - no pretentions and everyone having a go on all sorts of bikes. We had everything from tandems, cross bikes, tourers, supermarket-brought full sussers, little kids on BMXs, a very funky retro orange GT, and a middle aged lady doing the dirt tracks on her road-tyred Brompton! In fact, the BB has been "unwell" on my On One Whippet, so I have borrowed a mate's 150mm full suss trail bike. Probably not the ideal bike for 30 miles of fire roads, but when it's all you have, you just have to pedal harder!

Started off in a group of friends and friends of friends, so I was behaving an riding at a conversational pace. Then about half way round, it all got a bit rapid, so off we went. There was one open section where the headwind became a major factor. Never really had that in an MTB event. So we quicked away, and just kept kicking! Having spent the last 5 months struggling, I felt elated to be pushing a 2 hour XC race pace and still have enough power left in the tank to see it back to the finish line. In typical small charity ride style, the 26 mile route came back at well over 30 miles, so we felt it was great value for money!

A very medal, followed by some good recovery food and we hit the road back home. Having just ordered an On One Lurcher, I have a bit of bike planning to do. That's if I can stay awake.......zzzzzzzzzz

A Reborn Mountain Biker

Frankly, my start to the racing year has been completely rubbish. Strathpuffer delivered the grand adventure and endurance challenge I had been looking for, but it also killed my immune system. I have been suffering from chronic colds, sore throats, eye infections, and a nasty case of costochondritis which made breathing extremely painful. I had a month of solid training sometime between February and leading up to the Cheshire Cat at the end of March, but I've since been forced off the bike for a prolonged period, so only faded memories of that fitness linger. So, you can't train as you would like, you see all your friends riding faster and making exceptionally patronising comments about your fitness, and when you do try to ride, you have to come to terms with not having the power you had only a few months ago. It's demoralizing and makes you think about trying something else...for about a second.

I refuse to be beaten, and I have been doing everything I can do to make myself a better mountain biker. In the past few years of racing my focus has been on power and speed. That was a bit stupid! So I have been doing as much technical riding as I can possibly fit in, and I am loving it. I am now excited to see descents, jumps, super nasty sharp climbs and just trying to find more and more challenging terrain to attack and conquer. We had a fantastic play in the woods with some mates last night, and the old legs were starting to come back. Maybe the power is still there, just waiting to be jump started? This is a little video from my mate's Go Pro of our session last night at Bacton Woods:

Getting my skills sorted, I have been having some excellent coaching from Kate & Ian Potter at A Quality Ride. They have also been exceptional helping me sort out my health and rebuild my nutrition from scratch. Avoiding dairy and sugary foods/drinks is a challenge, but I am getting there. As a massively positive side effect, this morning, my scales said I was now below 76kg! They haven't displayed that number in a long, long time.

Events have been off my radar for a while, but I am planning to have a low key crack at the Thetford Summer Thunder Enduro at the end of June in a tag team with my cousin. Long term, Dean recently pointed out that the 24 world champs are in Fort William in 2014, which we are both really excited about. The Iditarod still remains the ultimate adventure to me, and I am finding myself thinking about it more and more. But first I need to get my health back, keep improving my technique and getting that grin only mountain biking can give.

But be assured - if you patronised me earlier this year, I will drop you and return the favour - maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon ;)

The Grinning of the Cheshire Cat

I had quite a fun day out on the road bike this Sunday. Iceni Velo, Norwich's finest cycling club had a mass exodus up to Cheshire to ride one of the most popular sportives in the UK. This was only going to be a training ride for me, and it was also my girlfriend's first ever 100 mile ride.

Considering we did our first road ride together in mid January which was only 30 miles to Aylsham and back (with a beans on toast stop off at her parents), and Rachel was destroyed by the two little hills coming into Spixworth. So to complete the Cheshire Cat a few months later is pretty hardcore in my book. Rachel's training was a mixture of increasingly long rides at the weekends (initially just 30 miles, 50, 60, then finally an 80 miler just 2 weeks before the event). During the week, she was doing either spin class, and 4 weeks leading into the event, we did a 2 week intervals torture session. Starting off with 20 minute efforts, then incrementally increased them over 2 weeks until it was 15-30 seconds of flat out sprinting with 2 minutes rest.

I had looked at the route map leading into the event, and could see that the first 40 miles or so was "pesky", then it flattened out after that. I didn't quite get a picture of just how much climbing there would be! My objective was to get up Mow Cop. For months people had been telling me to get either a compact chainset or a dinner plate cassette to get up it. I opted for a rare approach and just did specific training ;) Interestingly, a lot of riders I know seem to be immune to scientifically proven forms of training and use the "just riding" method. It's a brilliant way to remain at exactly the same level year in year out.

So Mow Cop hit us after just 15 miles. You go over a railway crossing, and the gradient starts to ramp up. The road twists round to the left, passing some trees, as the steepness really starts to bite. There were already "riders" getting off and pushing their bikes at this point. But I just kept turning the pedals, feeling the affects of my training (steady, measured 50-60rpm efforts). At one point, I got out of the saddle to make it a little easier, and the back wheel started to lose traction! We've all had this happen on loose terrain whilst mountain biking, but on a dry road - it was a little unnerving. I decided to keep my backside on the saddle. Once round the corner, the road started to ease off a bit. Rachel was doing well, and even seemed to be leaving me behind! She had been suffering from a chronic knee problem in the week leading up to the event, and wasn't sure if it would handle Mow Cop. So far so good! I eased off the pace on the slightly easier section and took it as a "recovery". Ahead, we could see all the crowds of spectators waiting to see the faces of pain as riders try to get up the 25% section past the pub. From the distance, it really didn't look too bad. But as you get closer, you see "the wall". But, I kept relaxed, and plugged away. I even switched to a higher gear, so I had somewhere to go. This was it - do or die! With the taste for the medal at the top, I was keen. So was Rachel. She said she wasn't too worried if she didn't get the medal, but her only concern was if she stopped, she might mess up someone else's chances of getting one. But so far, we were both going strong.

Then the 25% kicks in. I have never ridden so slow on a road bike! Got a few metres up. I kept myself clear of people in front, in case someone stopped. Then a clatter!! *Someone* fell off in front of me. Opps! Having pushed my legs this hard, I wasn't planning on stopping. On the 25% section, I was getting wheel spins whilst IN THE SADDLE! One section of the road was smoother than the others - didn't hang around on that too long! The road didn't just flatten out, it eased off to something closer to 10% and you had to still ride through it in order to qualify for the medal, but the work was done. The only problem was avoiding the spectators. Kinda felt like Alpe D'Huez in July :)

After Mow Cop, we had some very steep descents, then back on to a set of hills, a feed station just in time to get the energy to tackle Gun Hill. Made famous by recent editions of the Tour of Britain.

The views were stunning and I even have tan lines to remind me of how good the weather was. Highlight of the day for me was seeing Jodrell Bank Observatory, had wanted to see that for a while and didn't know it was on the route.

It was fun, but for some reason, I still prefer playing in the mud.

Audax For Beginners - Norfolk Nips 1 Report

Today was my first attempt at a proper audax, and I absolutely loved it! 100km around North Norfolk under overcast skies. The route took a decidedly "back roads" route, and what with us being under 40, we don't really have a thing for maps. So we were pretty rubbish. The start was a bit of a disaster, as the location of the start shown on google maps on the main page was actually about 2 miles away from the actual start. Fortunately Dean waited for me, ready with a loving of insults :) Starting by the time most of the group were about 15-20 minutes up the road, we were on full chase mode. Fortunately we had Mark "Pistons" Pearson with us to help hunt everyone down.

The typical image people get when you talk about an audax is that of touring bikes, panniers and leather pouches. Whilst we weren't disappointed, there was a lot of chaps and ladies from the local racing scene having a good crack at it today. Despite giving it plenty of kicks, we found that each time we came to a turning or crossing, we would stop, have a ponder, consult the directions list, then be caught by riders who knew where they were going, and then follow them. Give it another kick, hit a junction and repeat for pretty much the rest of the day! Surprisingly enjoyable way of riding, basically intervals. My legs got a real stinging, we got a bit lost, and rolled back into the HQ having clocked up over 70 miles. 160 riders were on the road, lots of banter and good cake. Ace. More next month and the month after. Get registered for the Norfolk Nips 2.

Suffering

Every Tuesday night, grown men, women and children all gather in a school hall in Yarmouth for pain, suffering and some serious sweating. The Great Yarmouth Cycling Club run one of the most popular indoor training sessions in Great Britain. They have a certain something that many cycling clubs don't have - friendliness!

I started doing the Sufferfest sessions in January this year, and they gave a massive kick to my fitness. As the nights are rapidly drawing in, the sessions have started. Now the real pain begins! In the run up to Strathpuffer, this is just what the doctor ordered :)

"If you're not sweating hard, you're not training hard enough"

Thetford - Just Like The Old Days

dAfter a morning of pure and utter faff and frustration so tedious it shall never, ever be mentioned ever again, we finally found ourselves parked up in deepest, darkest, sunny Thetford Forest. Today appeared to be England's first day of Summer, and despite losing the will to live at 11am, we were getting ready for hitting more trails. After last night's little ride over Thetford, I knew I was aching to let rip on some of the longer routes. The plan was to just go for a little ride...as in, not a long one. I have learnt that anyone who trains for 24 hour racing doesn't really understand the usual limits of a short ride. Including a trip to the bike shop and a shortish cafe stop (where I was starred at by a couple - unnervingly for the entire time we were enjoying a nice bit of bappage), d were on the trails for about 4 hours 30 mins. Great weather, good chat, some nice fast digs, including Dean defying gravity to fly up a steep bomb hole and jump over the hardest exit. Felt like one of those rides you do when you're first getting into mountain biking and it is all fresh. Loved it. Looking forward to D2D.