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!

Spain Calling

Well on the eve of the European national 24hrs up in Newcastleton I’m sat on a balcony a good 2000 miles away on the south coast of Spain. On the plus side I’m surrounded by mountains, unfortunately there is not a bike to be seen for miles…

Unfortunately family issues have dragged me out here, missing a week of school free riding days and the nationals all at once. But then again I can’t really complain at a few days eating, drinking and sleeping (Lots of sleeping) in the sun! Haven’t really got a whole lot to say, riding has been curtailed while On One sort me out a shiny new frame to try (VERY EXCITED) but with any luck normal service will be resumed next week. Now all I have to do is hope the French don’t go on strike again before I land…

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.

Famous last words

With last weeks closing words berrating my hill climbing abilities fresh in my mind it was with a small amount of fear that I agreed to join LOCO engineering’s Gareth Hayes and Johnny Williams on one of Gareth’s infamous Margham/Afan rides, the last time I rode with these two was up in the lake district in January and it would be fair to say that we were fairly evenly matched – Gareth has had a winter spent training hard, and I well, haven’t. It was going to be an interesting ride for sure…

Bright and early we set out from a small village that I cannot pronounce, after a week of trepidation the weather was actually looking good for once (I think we got rained on once in 8 hours which has to be a record for Wales…). Having lived in the area I roughly knew what to expect but too long spent in the flatlands of Bristol has obviously made me soft...

57 miles, just under 3000 meters of climbing and a whole bag of Haribo just went to prove how soft I have become, something tells me I should be spending a bit more time in Gods own country from now on!

Wentwood 50k Race Report

Honestly that was one of the best events I have done for ages, the combination of warm sunny weather and one of the best endure courses this side of the channel and it was bound to be a bit special.  Being just over the water between Chepstow and Newport meant a nice (relativity) lazy start for me, the 10.30 start meant we had time to waste in Ian’s Dropoff bus, although the bacon and egg butty would come back to haunt me it was certainly exactly what was needed at the time…

Lining up near the front of the line with Rickie Cotter and last years joint fastest rider (The sprint finish was agreed to be a dead heat by all involved) Bikeshed Wales’ Simon Smith I was a little concerned as to whether I had the legs to be this far up – glancing back down the country road it was clear that being any further back would have involved some rather enthusiastic overtaking before having a clear run at the descents. As the gun went off the sun broke through the clouds and a long and rather fast spin up through the village ensued, within a mile or so all the riders had strung out with Si and the Torq boys charging off into the distance and me playing cat and mouse with the following group, catching them on anything that wasn’t a hill (mental note. Must do some hill reps)

Petty soon the tarmac broke away and we were on to some of the nicest single-track this part of the world had to offer, being fairly near the front I had a pretty much unimpeded run at most of it, the new Planet X Dirty Harry frame being thrown from line to line with very little complaint. The size of the event meant that some very nice and quite cheeky trails could be used, something that I think can be lacking from some of the larger event – this did mean you had to stay on your toes making sure to catch all the signage arrows (More than once we would take different lines only to re-emerge at the same spot) but as far as I’m concerned this is how mountain biking should be!

Just over three hours later I rolled back into the carpark, most race courses you can look back on saying you enjoyed it; this is one of the few where you couldn’t help but whoop and holler on the way round – I don’t want to go into detail about every thing that will stick in my mind simply because id be here all day! Suffice to say it’s already in my diary for next year and I think it should be in yours to.

The official photos should be out soon but just to give you a taste of what it was like - heres an image from last years event...

Two things that became very apparent during the race is how fast the Harry is when climbing, and how good the brakes are – the new hope evo’s are absolutely stunning even with the 160 rotors and bigger wheels. The other and slightly more worrying thing is that I seem to have lost some of my hillclimbing nouse, I’m blaming not living in Wales anymore although some might say it’s the lack of time in the saddle…

Next big race will be the Gorrick 100 in may although before that I have a charity 24hr ride taking in the whole of the Wessex way, that’s now a little under three weeks away, to say were a bit unprepared would be putting it politely but knowing the lads like I do I’m confident we’ll pull through, ill be putting some words down about that soon so watch this space!

http://www.wentwood50.co.uk/

A week of christenings

Well its here, and by golly is it light…  A Planet X Dirty Harry frame with full XO and some spangly bontrager scandium wheels was never going to be heavy but even I was surmised when the Mud Dock scales registered a scant 23lbs!  First ride was last Sunday around the wilds of Cambridge a combination of back roads and bridleways proving just how fast a lightweight 29er can be!  Tuesday evening saw her maiden off road voyage and again rapid is a very apt word, taking Ashton court and various other local bits in her stride only really getting over faced at the things you really shouldn’t take a 23lb carbon hardtail down.  Oh and she’s been christened ‘Faline’ after Bambi’s girlfriend…

Working in Glouster is giving me a very nice commute back down to Bristol, ranging from 35 to 60 odd miles depending on which way, the one constant is the headwind – I’ve named her Harriet. I don’t like Harriet. She is however is giving me a good workout which to be honest with the shocking amount of miles ive been getting in of late I need!  Im supposed to be racing on Sunday at Wentwood (Just outside Newport), I say racing its more likely to be a lesson in how busy/lazy/pathetic ive been. Oh well whats the worst that can happen!

Ill let you know how it goes ;-)



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