Category: Competitions

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Busy Weekend !

The last couple of weeks have seen me busily preparing for the National League Trailquest I organised this weekend. The specialist 1:30 thousand map of the Chase, originally developed by Peel Land Surveys needed extending into some new areas and lots of updating as the foresters have been busy doing what they do best: making lots of mess!

We had a major setback with our club laser printer on Friday whilst printing maps. A huge yellow stripe appeared on everything, so we made a decision to dive up to Altrincham to pick up the new laser we are purchasing off my employer. Unfortunately, this put me really behind with my control putting out. Holly and Cath kindly put out a few controls for me (Holly on her new Isla Bike, telling me the next day she pulled her first air on a rooty section), as did Neil (putting out controls, not pulling air), but this help still left me with 21 to put out. I ended up buying a weedy torch from a garage and took till 10pm to get them all into the forest.

Maps printed, everything in the car & it was a late night. Next morning I was at the Pine Cafe bright and early, the photographer was sorted, and competitors rolled up and started at minute intervals on their 3 or 2 hour challenge. I knew that we had 3 or 4 uber-fit individuals riding so designed the course as perhaps just clearable in good weather for the very best of them, however when the Whyte works rider Steve Heading turned up on a bike having ridden from home I realised it was unlikely he would do it. Steve is not really local, he lives in Matlock, and he rode home afterwards on a fully suspended knobbly tyred mountain bike: at least 45 miles each way plus the event – huge respect due!

The day was spoilt somewhat by one of the controls being vandalised and a couple of the older sportident boxes (used in case they went walkies) failing to register, but everyone seemed happy and I had some kind comments about the planning.  Controls in (thanks to those who helped), Cath had to put up with me & Jimmy Taylor (Whyte rider) talking bikes and geeky tech toys whilst we ate our well deserved curry before loading up the car ready to run the timing at Sundays foot orienteering event.

I managed to get a brown course run on Sunday (see event report) after setting up download, though returned to find I had forgotten to plug in the power for the server laptop, which had caused a few issues – whoops – but sorting it out got me so cold I had to sit shivering in Cath’s car for 30 mins until I warmed up enough to be a useful help again.

So overall a great weekend, and very rewarding to see people enjooying the fruits of the past few weeks work, but now I’m a little tired – early night tonight!

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Event Report – Dark & White #6 – Bakewell

An early start for me today as I had to be back to supervise fourteen six year olds at Holly’s birthday swim party this afternoon (more tiring than a 3hr trailquest I think). Bakewell was very quiet for this tourist hot spot at 9.15 as I set off on the 3 hour score.  The map looked to cover a large area so knew I would be missing out a few and decided a downhill finish would be good, as would getting the big climbs out of the way early on.

I made a silly mistake at the start not noticing a road route to #4 losing me a couple of minutes but I made the larger error of climbing to # 8 and then trying to get #11 and #12 before getting into the area with the bulk of the controls. Evening binning #15 I knew I was going to be very late.

Im not sure why I went up to #8 as it is always a mud bath up there and I have avoided it in the past. I also know from experience the steepness of the climbs around Birchover which should have set alarm bells ringing. I think it must be that I am trying not to let past experiences when I was not so fit cloud my views on potential route choices, however this time I should have listened to the demons.

Committed to my route I had little option but to continue or come back early with a low score and ended up just over 13 mins late back and even made a silly mistake in Bakewell, flustered on the way in. (you haemorrhage points in lateness penalties once over 10 mins)
Looking at the distance covered I think if I had left #8 I would have had time to get #15 and probably not been late as it took me 25 mins to bag.
So down in 10th place, not a good result but taking positives it was a glourious day in loveley Peak District scenery and I feel pleased with the ride covering a good distance and climb in the time, even if I could have got the same points with less effort and not been late back 🙁
Stats – 60.5km – 1400m climb – 3hours 13mins
Results available here…

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Event Report – Lickey Hills Orienteering Event (running)

My original intention had been to race a Dark and White Trailquest this Sunday (canceled due to snow), but thought that rather than 3 hours out in the cold on the road bike some technical training might be a good idea, hence the short trip down the M5 to Bromsgrove with the family.

Unlike most West Midland Orienteers I don’t know the Lickey Hills at all but was pleasantly surprised by this little wood, with lots of variation of terrain and lots of climb. The planner was from BUOC (Birmingham University) and I felt given the restrictions of the area she did a good job, however the map particularly the vegetation really needs some updating and is inconsistent.

I had a clean run with many fastest splits but my major mistake came at #12 when I came upon the top of a steep bank which I could just not find on the map anywhere, and wondered if I had really lost the plot. After following my mantra of ‘get out get back in again’ after a mistake, I came in again upon the same place, then noticing the bank marked under an out of bounds area, surrounded by a fence (which was missing on the ground) I quickly found the control –  3 mins lost….

I was fairly happy with the result of 7th particularly against some good competition but frustrated with my error, although the splits show that it is really my running speed on the hills that is losing me time.
Results here

Mark Stodgell (stodge)
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Event Report – Dark & White Winter League # 5

The weather forecast and note on the Dark & White website warning of snow, made me wonder if I’d even get to the event, but dawn brought good conditions for rnd #5 of the winter league, centred on Macclesfield Forest.
I decided to have a good look at the map rather than dashing off this time as there were lots of route options available.

Deciding I didn’t fancy riding into the wind on the open moor and wanting a downhill finish off I went up towards Teggs Nose on an a clockwise route. On the way to #10 I was so engrossed in sorting out the finer points of my route I wasted 2 mins by riding straight past it. The climb up Teggs Nose by #10 has some history for me. I bonked on it at the end of my first ever Trailquest back in 2005 and was late back, suffice to say the reason I missed the control was I climbed it much much faster this time 🙂

I rode well, keeping an eye on the time and really thought at one point getting all but one of them was a possibility, however on the way to #2 on a slippery singletrack I had a minor off and bent the rear mech hanger slightly. Other than not being able to get top gear and a bit of chain noise things seemed OK so I carried on.

The crosswind on the Cat & Fiddle road was scary, but it was more uncomfortable when I turned to face it on the way to #15.

Then came the nightmare every mountain biker dreads, a major mechanical miles from anywhere. At the top of a very steep climb out of a farm the chain sucked badly and the rear mech hanger finally broke 🙁 Arrowed on the map

As this is now the third time on this bike over the years it is lucky I carry a spare. It’s one of those irreplaceable get you home bits that is mostly bike specific, so you can’t scrounge one. The heart rate and GPS plot shows I lost 6mins 20 secs, which to be honest isn’t bad considering, although my hands were freezing when I finished.

So back on the bike I was then on a serious mission to get back on time. I did a fair bit of head scratching but decided to stick to the original plan and bag the points. I however stupidly wasted another 4 mins by playing safe on a map correction as I was unsure of a right of way, so rode around on the roads.

The final climb back over to the finish was painful with me giving it everything, I necked a gel just before I started up it and I think its what kept me going.

So I ended up just over 7 mins late, losing me 11 points after riding 49km with 1650m climb. Looking at the results, if I hadn’t had the mechanical I would have probably won. I am really chuffed with the result and now seem to be able to keep up with the big boys ! The hours of winter training now seems to be paying off.
Full results available here

Mark Stodgell ( Stodge )
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Event Report – Warwick University, League Event

I have thought for a while that sprint / street orienteering gives some of the best technical training for MTBO. The skills needed to navigate at speed in the complex path network of a campus university or old town are exactly the same as those needed on the bike.

The district foot orienteering event run by UWOC on their huge Warwick campus over the weekend therefore was an must. The forecasted weather did not materialise and though a little cold and muddy underfoot it was almost perfect for orienteering.

The map, drawn to sprint specifications at 1:5000 was extended out into some scrub parkland and a housing estate in order to give enough ‘room’ for the brown course (longest distance course available) that the West Midlands League requires.

I had an appalling start, running away from the startline I got about 30 metres before realising I should have run back through the start line to the first control. Flustered I then totally overshot the first track junction, not being used to the 1:5000 map, and was forced to run right around an out of bounds area. Luckily I only lost about 2 mins, but it is a lesson in preparation. If possible you should always watch the start area for a few mins to pick up what you can. I also should have focused before hand on being hyper aware of the map scale on the way to #1

The orienteering in the campus was amazing, with total concentration needed. We then had a bit of a slog through some grotty parkland and a long leg back through a housing estate, that to be honest I think the course could have done without. Another loop in the campus and a reduction in length would have made the course so much better. I made one mistake in the parkland, trying to cross a stream, well small river really, basically chickening out twice and then running round using the bridge.

Back in the campus I started enjoying myself again, but I had one frustrating moment losing about 20 secs waiting for a gap in the traffic.

Initially I was quite disappointed with my result, but if you remove my muppet moment on the way to #1 it was not too bad for someone who said they would be happy to jog round a green course if the operation on my foot worked !

Results available here…

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Event Report – WCH Club Champs, Brereton Spurs

After the long drive back from Dorset, I still had one event to go in the ‘mad weekend’, my club’s Annual Championships. This year its was held from the Style Cop Car park and used Brereton Spurs and Rawnsley. I had to run early as I was also responsible for producing the results.

My legs after Saturdays efforts were very sore, but after the first couple of controls they eased up a bit and I was running well. Brereton Spurs is actually quite tricky with quite a bit on contour detail on the steeply sided hill. There were lots of amused Downhill mountain bikers with the normal ‘witty’ comments as I ran past but I mentally took note of some of the tracks the trail fairies have been building that I must come back and ride sometime !

The planner then took us over the road into Ranwsley for a slog round the steep hills surrounding the main Chase Downhill area. I made a huge mistake when Myself and Ian Turner found a tag on a tree in the wrong re-entrant. (For non orienteers each control is taped with the code to be used in the weeks before the event and checked by a ‘controller’ for fairness). we assumed wrongly that the control had either been put out in the wrong place or nicked. When eventually we gave up and headed off for the next one it was obvious we had been looking in the wrong re-entrant. Note to self, look at the angle of the re-entrant next time !

The final pull back up the hill to finish just hurt and hurt, although I had some encouragement from the yappy little dog that chased me most of the way up it. In fact Dave Brown heading the other way thought I was taking it for a walk !

I was quite pleased with the result and without the mistake and Saturdays races in my legs would have been on the heels of the winner Iain Stamp.
Routegadget available here…      Results available here…..

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Event Report: ‘Inside Park’ MTBO – Blandford Forum

Leaving Lichfield at 10pm after the Watt Bike League and driving for 3 hours in freezing fog to Dorset probably wasn’t the best preparation for the first MTBO of 2009. Alan Hartley (of Autodownload and Sportident UK) agreed to keep me company on this mad weekend, of which the MTBO was just a part. Wimbourne Orienteers organised the day, which started with the MTBO. There was then a normal local foot orienteering event and then area was used again in the early evening for a night league foot score competition.

Luckily for us we checked the event website rather than straying out into the cold to the car for the final details. We learned the event had been postponed by a couple of hours due to a pheasant shoot which had been double booked on the area, so rather than dashing off to the event we enjoyed a lazy breakfast with Alans parents whilst mending some hair curlers.

Arriving at ‘Inside Park’, a country estate and camping park near Balndford Forum, it was bitterly cold, with frozen ground and ice shining on the ground. I decided that the winning time would probably be shorter that the 1hr advertised so went out really hard. I had a slow split time to #1 as I played it safe and went round the estate roads rather than cutting across the park as others did (which was OK, but I didn’t want to risk it). I then got into the groove and was riding well with good control flow. A mistake at #6 cost me about 1.5 mins after some confusion with a couple of indistinct paths. Looking at the splits, I think several others also had problems here.

Talking to Alan afterwards, we both had the same moment on a farm track. The bike went light as I crested a hump traveling very quickly downhill, the trouble was the bump was concealing a hidden dip which was covered in ice. We both did the same thing: kept the bike straight and closed our eyes…..

I needed a good result, and I got it winning by just over a minute so I was very pleased. However the day was far from over with two more events left to do. The 3 consecutive events really showed what was possible with a small area and 50 controls (even though visiting one control 3 times I still lost time twice, for example).

My lack of lighting power raised its ugly head again that evening, however, I take my hat off to my old orienteering coach, Dale Padget, who ran with his trusty old 80s Petzl Zoom making my old Mila look powerful. Driving back to Stafford that evening my legs were very tired and certainly not looking forward to the Club Champs the following day, but I was pleased with my performance in the two foot races, being placed 4th behind good orienteers.

Results available here

Mark Stodgell (Stodge)
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First Watt Bike League Event – Lichfield CCC

Friday night brought the first round proper of a phenomenon which hopefully will take the UK by storm and lead is to even more cycling success. As I have mentioned before the Watt Bike is a static bike developed in the UK along the same lines as the Concept 2 rower (ie accurate reliable data) in conjunction with British Cycling.

Lichfield CCCs Watt Bike league using The Friary Leisure Centre’s Watt Bikes  is designed to mimic a standard Club track competition evening. The 10 bikes are lined up in a row facing a wall on to which graphics, times and results are projected and a couple of Watt Bike employees were there to make sure the first session ran smoothly.

We were split into 3 divisions based on fitness and experience. The 3 divisions then took it in turns to race various track favourites.

First off was a 750m scratch race, ie all out sprint for about 45 -55 secs. I started poorly by managing to unclip by mistake, I then overspun the gear andwent anaerobic. The fastest time was put down by Steve Clayton in 46.6 secs. Lessons learned, we progressed on to the next race: an 1800m Devil, where competitors are eliminated at 200m intervals to leave 3 to sprint for the finish. With my feet securely tied in I was very pleased with a 2nd place, although my Quads were totally rigid when I finished. There then followed a 500m handicap which I won, then an 1800m points race (3rd) and a team sprint.

The finale of the evening was a 3km scratch race. The atmosphere was great with lots of encouragment and cheering, the racing very close, lots of tactics and a good deal of testosterone flying. I played it steady for the first minute or so and then slowly ramped it up, leading for the 3rd quarter. The pain then really started andI dropped to 2nd. I had fellow Chaser Neil Lawford behind me egging me on and managed to just pip another Chaser Stuart Clayton and retained 2nd.
Apparently I went purple and had huge pulsating veins pumping on my forehead. Its a shame I wasn’t wearing a HR monitor as I’m sure it would have made interesting reading. I now know the true meaning of Intensity 5 on my training diary, and all for a 4 min race.

It was a great evening and I have already signed up for next week, although I have a little way to go before being promoted into Div 1. Full details can be found at Lichfield CCCs website.

edit – Event report now on British Cycling Website here

     
Thanks to Neil Lawford for the photos.