South Downs Double......nearly!

Ever since reading about the south downs way a couple of years back, I have wanted to ride it. This became more of a possibility when Mark joined the team as he lives close to the start at Eastbourne.
So with about 6 months of planning last weekend saw my first ride and Marks first attempt at a 24hr ride.
Mark is by no way a endurance virgin but he mostly rides 12hr events and he had rode parts of the SDW but only as part of a BHF ride, of one way split over two days.
We planned way back to do the event on the longest weekend of the year and as a result this meant missing Mountain Mayhem (given the mud not a bad year to miss) and a planned early start of 4/5am was planned but in true "King of Faff" style Mark was still building his bike at 11pm on the Friday night. Those who Know Mark wouldn't be surprised by this as he has even had the start of races delayed for his benefit.
So with a later than planned 9am start we parked up at Eastbourne and with a bit more faffing we were ready to roll. A quick photo opp from a local who proceeded to advise us that her husband was planning the same ride but over "5 days" this did start alarm bells ringing......
And off straight into one of many climbs it was slowing going due to a massive crosswind, so strong that I was able to lean into it and it pushed me back upright!. With a average speed of about 9mph and it was about 3hrs plus until we had reached Brighton which was about 30miles in and this then showed the enormity of the ride as we had another 70 to go until we reached Winchester the halfway point.
I had decided to not use any energy gels or drink on the ride and stick to zero tabs and real food, which lead to a noticeable lack of speed and the difficulty of keeping fed but was much easier on the stomach.
Ian had kindly leant me his small block eights and these were the perfect tyre for the ride as very fast rolling and a godsend of the hard-pack/tarmac sections, Mark was also running these but in their 29er guise.
Just outside of Brighton we found a BP garage with a Marks and Spencer's and a wild-bean cafe, this was a awesome refuel stop and was only metres of the trail, a great spot for pasta, sushi and a coffee and muffin!
We plodded on and eventually came closer to Winchester but the heavens had now started to open and by time we reached the town centre we were soaked. Mark had researched and found a Subway about 50m from the finish so this was our goal. So bikes outside and inside I go to order to foot long meal deals. It was most amusing being on Winchester High Street eating subway and dressed in racing lycra with all the party-goers leaving the the pubs! but oddly no comments maybe too shocked or used to such nutters.
We sadly decided at this point not to ride on has we didn't have the waterproofs/kit to ride safely back for 12hrs in the mud and torrential rain. We tried to get a hotel but decided this would be near impossible given the state of us. So luckily Marks brother who lived nearby picked us up and gave us a bed for the night and we planned to ride the return leg in the morning.
With a few hours sleep and more faff we finally got going about 2pm missing a 20mile section out. As soon as we started we were confronted by loads of riders nearing the end of a 42mile Wiggle ride on the trail and they looked knackered/mud caked from that!
Over the weekend we also saw many riders from "company85" who were completing a 2day event on the trail riding from London to Brighton.
We rode on and managed to get back to our garage to stop for some more real food at a late teatime, this time scotch-eggs is what I craved!
As the light faded we used our Hope LED 4 Epic lights and were really impressed by the spread of light even on the lowest setting on such a open trail.
Lots of strange sights were witnessed over the hills including a couple eating their sandwiches in a transit van in white chemical suits at 10pm, Mark dubbed them "GM crop terrorists" and also a few vehicles grouped together with one having steamed up windows!?!
We eventually arrived at Eastbourne 11:30pm got changed and headed to the McDonald's drive through and enjoyed a late supper with the Chav's.
Drove back to Marks and it was 2am Monday morning and the Goodman family had to be up for the school runs and work at 6:30am.

Shame we didn't manage the Double in one shot but Im sure we will be back soon for another attempt ;)

UK/European 24hr Champs

Last Thursday saw our journey up to Newcastleton begin with a drive up to Newcastle for a brief stop en route and a meal out at the Metrocentre to celebrate my stepsons's 16th birthday. Ideally, he has quite a appetite, like myself, so this doubled up as a carbo loading session at the Big Luke's All You Can Eat @ the Metrocentre. A few post meal drinks, some bowling and amusements with the kids finished off the evening.

The next morning we left our Travelodge and headed off the Newcastleton which was about another 2hrs drive. On arrival we unpacked and Lily was straight off on her bike enjoying the beautiful surroundings of the Rock UK centre.

I went off for a reccie lap that afternoon of the 12.5 mile course which at the time was very dry compared to previous rides. The rain started in the last 30 mins of the lap, but not too heavy.

Back to camp to get Lily ready for her first ever MTB race, the "12 Mins of Exposure", for the under 8's.

I was chuffed to see Lily racing and given that she has only ridden her bike about 3 times, she gave it all she could and looked quite worse for wear at the end. She was given a medal for her efforts and it didn't leave her neck for the rest of the weekend.

A early night for me pursued as I wanted a decent amount of kip for the next day. One of the funniest and painful moments of the weekend came when I decided to put mine and Becky's beds together to make a double but on turning the light off I forgot I had done this and dived onto the space where the bed was and landed on my hip on the wooden floor. (This is still hurting 4 days later!)

So, up saturday morning, showered and changed into the kit and milled around contemplating the next 24hrs of riding.

My form was not going to be great, as I had come down with a cold 3 weeks previous and it was still lingering around. I had considered changing to the 12hr but thought I would still give the 24hr a go and take it easy.

Met with Mark and we both were told separately that we didn't have our timing chips on! That could have been interesting if we had forget!!!!! Thanks Rob.

We headed down the the village centre of Newcastleton, met our families and enjoyed the locals support at the start. 12pm came and the usual following of the piper began.

Mark decided to head off further to the front as he was in the 12hr event and every minute counted.

We got about a mile into the course, just up the first climb and about to enter the first singletrack section, when I couldnt believe my eyes, seeing Mark walking his bike back down the course. Mark will explain this further in his blog, I'm sure.

So off we went, lap after lap with most of my early laps spent chatting the Jamie Willetts and enjoying the club run pace. I lost him on the climbs and he dropped me on the descents and this continued for a few hours. I got to about 6:30pm and had been thinking about the benefits of picking up my Exposure Sixpack and Joystick lights from the pits but forgot!! As it got dark about 7:30pm and my laps taking about 90mins this lap entailed a fair amount of riding using only "the force" to guide me. I was thinking at this point if there really was any benefit of eating more carrots and was wishing I had.

As I rode the final descent in the dark into the arena I heard a couple of familar voices and it was was local Norfolk riders Ollie and Alex who had came up for a look whilst camping at Kielder.

They followed me to the kitchen where I had a brief chat while stuffing my face with Becky's lovely chilli she had made that evening.

I went and changed into suitable night kit and headed back out out for another couple of laps. After this I hit a bad patch and decided to have a sleep for a hour and head back out. This didnt really happened due to a combo of kids and and energy gels and I keep extending the hour!!!

Got showered and changed into fresh kit, then got back on the bike with revised energy and proceeded to get my groove on and ride about 7 laps with minimal stops right up until a very painful last lap at 9:30am.

Rolling in about 11am with no time for another lap and a lovely greeting by my family - my 24hrs was over.

21st position was a lot down on my first ever 24hr and last years event with 16th. A combination of fitness levels, a lot less training and a far too slow pace and too many breaks contributed to this but still another 24 under the belt.

Not my best result but this was the most battered my body had ever felt with my lower back going into spasm on the final two laps.

I headed back to the cabin for a coffee and full English, then proceeded to lay flat on the bed for the next 20hrs.

Movement in my body is not much better 4 days later.

Given all this, will I be back next year?..........you bet your life I will ;)

A big thanks to our sponsors Cycleaid for funding this madness and I will ensure my continued efforts and a attempt for a top ten position next year.

A special mention need to be made to the Hope Race X2 brakes which we are riding this season as I fitted a pair of the sintered to my bike before the Strathpuffer 24hr solo rode that and then two 4hr enduros and various long training rides. Checked before this event and decided to run the same pads and unbelievely they lasted the full 24hrs!! And this event required a fair amount of braking.........Hope, you rock!

Thetford Winter Series Final round

Sunday saw the last round of the Winters series at May day meadow Thetford. With an amazing week of weather the weekend was hotting up to be more of a summer haze than the usual mud of ice fest.

I hadnt planned on riding the final round but given I had a 8th position overall and the missus had a days holiday I thought I had best dust off the disco slippers.

Plenty off training miles had been done as I was deep in my training plan for the 24hr solo champs so I should have had the legs.

Rolled up Sunday nice and earlier an got out for a lap of the quite short 6mile lap, but happily was much more technical than the last round taking in parts of the black route and the always entertaining double shocker (which had already caught one victim laying holding his head on the practice lap).

With sub 30 min laps is was looking like a 10 lap day. So headed off to the start and as gridded this was a causal affair. We were off a pretty fast xc pace averaging around 16/17 mph for the first few miles I backed off knowing that 14/15 was more my pace over 4/5hrs. Got Chatting to Mike @ HMF Fitness and we got a train going for a couple of laps but he dropped me when I stopped to collect another bottle.

My race was going well and it was the strongest I had felt of the whole series as I felt finally rested from the Strathpuffer. The at the start of lap 7 disaster struck my seat clamp gave a snapping noise and the nose of the saddle went skyward. I stopped got the multi tool out watched lots of places disappear past me! and had a play round with the double clamp and thought it was fixed but as soon as I sat on it back it went again. Deciding I couldn't lose any more time I round the remaining 5 miles or so on the pedals which was quite amusing as back markers were laughing that I was overtaking them without a seat.

Pulled into the pits and had a proper tinker and after dismantling the clamp got in back on and back out for another couple of laps. By the end of 9 I was still going strong and a few places ahead of me had been back in grasp. a uneventful sprint with 14th left me rolling in 15th. The little incident cost me about 10mins and possibly the chance of a 10th lap with would have given me the top ten I was after. Nether less the riding and company was fantastic and the weather was better than most of the summer events I had done last year. Long live the the Thetford winter series the best reason to get up early on Sunday morning ever invented

Seatpost or Saddle?

Sunday saw round 2 of the legendary Thetford Winter series, a race series which I first rode back in the very early nineties under the management of Pro-Circuit MTB. I had a 16 year break from the sport and came back in the 2008 winter series, now my 4th year and I can only say they get better with age and maybe my riding is maturing also.

An early start sunday having to drop the sprogs off at their Aunties for some babysitting duties, for a change this didnt involve waiting around for Dr Read to get out of bed! as he made his own way down.

Got down to Mayday farm just after 8am for a 10:30 start enough time for a last minute tinker and waited for Read (who was on time for the first time ever) and we went of on a reccie lap of the 6.5 mile course, at a steady pace this was around 35mins. So over the 4hrs we were looking at 8 laps.

As I was 13th in the last round had the bonus of being gridded at the start which always leads to amore relaxed start so you can concentrate on the 4hrs ahead.

We were off settled into my planned 13mph average and enjoyed the flowing course, the whole race was incident free for me apart from nearly washing out at the entrance to the MX trail.

The Course flowed so well and even the bombholes were all easily rideable in big ring and the double shocker was a treat as long as no one failed to get up the ascents!

Saw numerous people laying in the bush on those sections, with bikes on top of them, moaning in pain, should confess to laughing at their misfortune but this made me giggle thinking - how on earth do you bail on a ascent!!

Another strange incident was a tussle and fall between a Fatbirds rider and a Numbpluz rider - Numbpluz tried to overtake me and took out fatbirds and I ooked back to see him on the floor.

Fatbirds "what did you do that for?" and Numplumz "We are all in the same cat!"

Who knows what was going on their but YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!

Unfortunately, Dr Read's race wasnt as incident free with a snapped seatpost after 5 laps, so his Winter Series is not happening this year but hes ensured a stellar performance at the Puffer and im sure incident free once his On-One Whippet is unleashed.

This was my first ride with my uber light Hope Race X2 EVO brakes and they didnt dissapoint pure xc speed item and once the pads had bedded in a lovely modulated feel. Anyway as planned 8 laps and a excellent little burn up on the last lap with a CC Luton - Eddingtons - Bandon rider on the last lap - to take 3 riders at the end but these turned out to be Vet riders so no places gained - 12th place! So with that and last months 13th an overall top ten thus far i guess. Right now some more training and two top tens in the last two races.