Category: Cycling

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Winter riding clothes in June !

Urghhhh, what a weekend. After the sunshine of Thursday night I just managed to get a ride in on the Chas

Normal water level
Normal water level

e with two friends on Friday before the rain started. My ride on Saturday was just horrendous, coming back after 5 mins to get winter gloves and overshoes before venturing out for a second try. A couple of hours out intervals training in the rain left me cold and hungry and had me undressing straight into the washing machine ‘winter style’. Sunday I had promised to go out with fellow GB Squad member Helen Clayton and her brother for some technique training on the chase. We went out at 11.30 when the rain was probably at its worst. Water was flowing in streams down all the major paths and the ‘stepping stones’ were brimming with the highest water level I have ever seen, winter included, flowing ovver the stones. After 2 hours we returned completely filthy and freezing cold, I even had to put the house heating back on as we cradled hot mugs of steaming tea after a welcome shower. What a difference to last weekend where sunburn was the problem.

Sunday afternoon did brighten enough to have a fairly dry and pleasant road ride, but I still had to negotiate my way through several flooded lanes.
Lets hope normal June weather returns for next weekends British Mountain Bike Orienteering Championships down South. Long on Saturday, Middle Distance on Sunday

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Event Report – National Trailquest #6 – Wark, Northumberland

I was up early on Sunday morning for the drive south through the Northumbrian Hills from Edinburgh, where we had spent the evening with friends after leaving Islay. There was no traffic on the roads, the sun was out and the scenery stunning along the A68. The event was based in the tiny village of Stonehaugh which is in the middle of nowhere near Wark. Close to Hadrians wall the event map covered mainly the surrounding working forests but did take in some of the surrounding high moorland giving fantastic views.
I practically bathed in factor 40 sunscreen before venturing out into the heat with 2 litres of fluid on my back for the 4 hour event.
The area was great with very little road riding but some of the control placing and descriptions could have been a bit better causing me to lose time on a few controls. I kept it going though and left a few controls surrounding the village for mopping up at the end and got in comfortably before the 4 hour time limit.
At present results are not available and I had to shoot straight off to pick up the family from Carlisle railway station so didn’t get to stay and chat or see any preliminary results.
Edit – results now out 3rd =

Stats – 4 Hours – 75km ridden – 380 points

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Wave, you are on Islay!

Our family half term holiday was to Islay on the West Coast of Scotland this year. Into the car went 3 bikes plus tagalong for the trip north. We caught the ferry over in somewhat breezy conditions and stayed in a cottage on a remote farm on the North West side of the Island. The cottage at Coull Farm even had a garage to keep all our toys nice and dry. 
Other than rides with Holly and Cath I trained most days on the quiet lanes, though something I noticed very quickly both riding and driving is that all the locals wave at each other. I can understand it when letting others pass at the numerous passing places on the rough single track roads but they do it everywhere, those friendly Scotts.
On my first ride coming back on the road from Port Charlotte I kept coming across groups of drunk Germans, all swaying down the middle of the road. The cause was obvious in the next village, Bruichladdich, whose distillery’s open day was just finishing.

I had a great ride on Jura following the only road on the island, but spent the afternoon hungry after the only cafe shut its doors minutes before we arrived, apparently sold out with the large numbers of people attending the whiskey festival !

For the rest of the week we struggled with high winds, in fact I had to abandon one recovery ride soon after leaving the farm, it just being too dangerous. In fact I didn’t really need to pedal back into the yard, I was just blown along !

My final ride on Islay was another recovery ride back from the Kilchoman distillery to the ferry port. We learnt that we had actually got one of the last ferries back from Jura on Thursday before it broke down after losing an engine. Apparently this then left lots of standed tourists on Jura with no way of getting their cars off. As we departed on our large ferry for the mainland we were treated to the sight of the little Jura ferry running the gauntlet against the tide using just its one engine but being shadowed by the Islay Lifeboat just in case on a rescue mission to get the stranded people off.

Islay is a great place for quiet biking though some of the roads are a little too rough for lightweight road wheels.

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Event Report – Dark & White Summer #2 – Calver

With tired legs from the weekend the thought of yet another 2 hour competition so soon made me think twice about travelling, but I know the area very well and thought it would at least loosen my legs up a little. It was good to tie up with GB teamate Killian Lomas before the start and talk about travel plans, clothing and bikes. The Weather although sunny at times was threatening all afternoon, and no sooner had I climbed the first hill the sky opened and it hosed down with rain. The already sodden ground became even worse and I soon found myself covered with muddy spray, with it getting under the plastic map cover and slowly making the map harder and harder to read.
I seemed to pick a good route and even ventured down a few muddy tracks that were new to me. I left the two controls on top of Baslow edge but managed with a huge effort at the end to get the rest. I really had to fly to get back from my last control near Baslow and got in just 1 min 50 secs over time.
Ben Plowman, a local who I managed to beat all weekend finally got his own back on his home turf and managed 12 points more, and pushed me into 3rd behind Mark McPhillips but I was really pleased to just pip Killian. I also ate a proper bar again (Eat Natural date and walnut, what else  🙂 ) and again felt much better than using the gels.
Results available here
Stats – 2 hours 1min 50 secs, 41.4 km

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Event Report – Trailquest National Champs – Helmsley

The Sunday of the National weekend was a 3 hour Trailquest. Based from Duncombe Park next to the lovely village of Helmesley and set in the spectacular North York Moors, the promised rain didn’t materialise and the scene was set for a cracking competition.
I travelled up with Helen, another SPLOT, who I stayed with in York the night before, and after apologising again to the poor chap I crashed into the day before I set off east. The map was a Jens Strain / OS 1:25,000 combo, which is much better than the standard OS showing lots more path detail, however I did find the marking of the rights of way using green corridors did obscure other useful detail.

After a little mistake on #1 pulling up a little short at a faintly marked track junction and a spectacular over the handlebars moment on a steep track on the way to #3 I got into my stride and really enjoyed the event. We were treated to lots of off road riding, and fantastic views over the moors.

I seemed to be always going in the opposite direction to Andy Conn and Charlotte Somers Cox, I was convinced they were using some form of teleport device and saw Andy at least 4 times. I decided to try and eat a solid Eat Natural bar rather than relying on gels, as I have done recently and the difference was amazing, I felt much less hungry and seemed to go better in the later stages and felt stronger on the hills.
The last few controls for me were in the Rievaulx Valley with lots of climbing in the forest that runs down to the river. I knew I was OK on time but starting to cut it a bit fine by clearing all the controls on the way in rather than leaving one. I pushed really hard up the hill back into the Duncombe estate and sprinted down the main drive thinking this is going to be a bit close on time. I punched the finish box thinking perhaps I was up to a half a minute late. Downloading later my time was 2:59:59, talk about cutting it fine.

I was very very pleased with my results for the weekend, 1st in Class (21-40) and 4th overall to some quality riders, all current or past British / Irish  Team members. Thanks to NYMBO for a cracking weekend.

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Event Report – MTBO Long Race – Gilling Woods

28km and a winning time of 90 mins, well perhaps in a flat Austrian hunting forest but I thought from the final details that this was perhaps a little optimistic, given the hilly nature of the North York Moors. I had spent the last week pouring over an old  Gilling MTBO map, even attaching a copy to the handlebars of my road bike and analysing it on a 1.5 hour recovery ride, so knew it was going to be steep.
The area surrounding Gilling is stunning, pretty villages nestling in steep sided valleys, with the moors looming above. There was a good atmosphere at registration and lots of familiar faces milling around with the usual psychology about picking a start time.
I started out hard but picking an ultra safe route to the first control, giving me time to plan ahead. My route choice from #2 to #3 probably wasn’t the quickest but I think many others also played safe avoiding the ‘difficult to ride track’ and riding back through #1. I then made my only mistake of the race, missing the tiny path the control was sited on, but soon realised and doubled back, only losing a minute or so, where some competitors lost lots of time. Not seeing the even smaller path down from this control on the map I again played safe by going fast and hard on a roundabout route to #4, also giving me a good look at the lie of the land for the rest of the race. On the course went control after control criss-crossing the steep valleys that make up Gilling Woods. Many of the paths were very slippery, some particularly so with many riders choosing to run down, rather than risking a tumble.
At the map exchange at  #15 I was still going well, but receiving the second map I knew straight away we were all in for a long race. Up we went again to a control near #1 but this time I climbed straight up, bike on shoulder, with the splits not yet available I’m not sure which was faster. A treacherous descent back down and a the course then wound its way around the valleys again, perhaps becoming a little tedious as the planner struggled to get 28km into such a small forest. At 2 hours I started to tire and found myself in lower gears on hills I had climbed earlier in the race. Then as Brian Singleton started to catch me I made a huge mistake on a fast corner, the front wheel washing out. Standing the bike back up I realised I was heading straight for an older rider coming the other way and unfortunately I hit him quite hard. We both seemed vaguely OK so after making sure he really was not about to keel over I sprinted off after Brian. The last quarter of an hour was really hard with one more climb back up to the top of the area and then a sprint for home from the last control.
So had I done enough for selection. I won the M21 -40 category and was 5th overall. A result I am very very happy with given the long and steep course. GPS showed 46km travelled and nearly 1000m of climbing.
So recovery drink inside me I set off for an enforced warm down, as I had offered to collect some controls, and had to climb that hill once more.
Great event if a little over planned – results available at http://www.nymbo.org.uk/events.htm

Mark Stodgell – Stodge
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NPS #2 – Dalby Forest

Round 2 of the British Mountain Bike Race Serieswas held in the huge Dalby Forset area of North Yorkshire this weekend. This event was run on the brand new World Cup 2010 bid course, built specifically for this test event and attracted a huge turnout of quality riders.
I had to go up on Sunday morning as Holly had a Greese show on Saturday. The race formed part of my speed training in the build up for the National Trailquest Champs and MTBO selection races on the 16th May.

When I got there I was warned by several people it would be a very good idea not to try and ride the course blind, in fact Mammoth Rider Darrell Upton indicated it would be dangerous. So baggy trousered, looking completely out of place, I set off between races for a quick look see at a couple of the more ‘interesting’ parts of the course. It immediately became apparent that this was a good move, it being the most technical course I have ever ridden, which I suppose it should be being a ‘World Cup’ Course. Right trouser leg tucked into my sock I ended up finding the best lines and practicing some of the drop offs getting more nervous about the race to come. With the thought of doing serious damage to myself the week before a selection race I made the decision there and then to get off and use my running legs on the two bonkers descents- the drop off into Worry Gill and Medusa’s Drop. Although both fairly rideable (although I’m still not sure I’d have the bottle to do the Worry Gill drop off – see You Tube videos below) in race conditions with other riders all around and particularly when tired later in the course, I’m not in the business of risking my neck to save a few seconds.

  

   
Videos from British Cycling website and You Tube

So starting well towards the back of the grid I had to queue quite a bit at the entrance to the first single track but the race thinned out quite quickly and I got stuck in. I had a huge moment on one drop off where I just recovered by throwing my weight back, and decided on the next lap to run that section as well.  With the heart pumping near max, the whole course was really exciting and other than having to pull over to let the leading Vets train pass on the second lap it was just non stop action.
Fellow British MTBO team mate Andy Conn was riding in the vets and I was interested to see how I would perform against him. Starting a couple minutes behind me he caught me on the climb after Medusas drop on the second lap, but it was good too see him wimping out on it and running down as well. I stayed with him up the big climb but he soon pulled away as I started to tire.

My last lap saw a few more mistakes as I grew tired, and was happy to be lapped just before the final section round the 4 cross track, meaning I didn’t have to go out for the 4th lap. My legs wern’t too bad but I was worried about making a technical mistake when tired and hurting myself properly, as I had witnessed some huge crashes during the event. The loopy 4 cross section  just before the end of the lap was great and I managed a strong finish to come in 50th in 90 mins about 8 mins down on Andy.

Full report and results available at the British Cycling website, here.

 

 

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Event Report – D&W Summer League #1 – Castleton

Driving over to Castleton from Altrincham is always a nightmare, trying to get through Stockport at rush hour, but the closure of Winnats pass made me very late, bringing with it a danger  finishing the event in the dark.
The wind at the top of the pass looked very strong and I made a mental note of its direction ready for a route decision at the start. Although there was a good turn out at the event centre, the public car park in Castleton, I didn’t have to queue and managed to get started by 6.30 in the end. Thinking of the SW wind I set off on a clockwise route clearing the controls as I went but decided to leave the one on Mam Tor itself, which perhaps was a mistake and as being worth 15 points I should have left a 10 pointer out instead. The wind on the tops was horrendous and at one stage I found myself leaning right over into it in order to avoid being blown off the bike. Coming down off of the last hill I decided I just had time to grab a last 10 point control If I wasn’t more than 6 mins late. Coming in at 2.05.35 I perhaps cut it a little close but still ended up 3 points better off.
With a week to go till the selection races for the National Team I deliberately didn’t push too hard on the early climbs and didn’t take any chances on the descents, so was quite happy with 5th.

Results available on Dark and White website –