Category: Mountain Biking

Posted on

British MTBO Long Champs – Mabie

7stanes logoThe British MTBO Long Championships were held just SW of Dumfries at Mabie, one of the 7 Stanes Mountain Bike trails, famous in the Scottish Borders for their tough mountain bike trails.

Driving back to Shap on Saturday night after the middle race I wondered if we were doing the right thing not camping, but once settled on a comfy sofa with a plateful of pasta and feeling decidedly rough, I knew it was the correct decision. I got a better nights sleep getting to bed early, but on Sunday morning I still felt bad. The rib didn’t really hurt that much, but I was coughing and feeling pretty grim.

I decided after making the long drive North I should at least attempt to race, but decided before I started I would bin it if I wasnt up to it. Mabie’s forest roads and one way tracks meant that there was lots of long route choice decisions to be made, ideal for a long race.

I started quite strongly up the first hill feeling OK, quickly pulling past some B course riders who had started in the minutes in front of me, and nailed the first control. Again, riding off track was allowed and I made good use of this coming down hill out of number 1. Number 2 was fine but I picked a duff route choice to number 3, losing some time, but after that things started to go wrong. I found I couldn’t concentrate, and then found I could not read the map whilst riding, it looked fuzzy. I then made a small error missing a very insignificant track, as many did, but I then took a bizarre decision to do a huge cross country ‘short cut’ over a hill to the control rather than doubling back onto my intended route. I then started making school boy riding errors, culminating in me nearly coming off on a corner when my crank arm hit the floor. The next tiny hill then seemed to zap all the strength from my legs so I decided after looking at how much I had left to throw in the towel and ride in. I even picked a rubbish route choice to get back to the finish.

Retiring from what, for me, was an A race this year and risking my selection for the British Team on one race (Foxley) was pretty hard to take but getting back to the car I knew it would have been foolish to carry on and was even  struggling to pick route choices for some of the legs I didnt get to whilst “armchair riding”.

At least I started, though.  Unfortunately, Mark Nixon didn’t even make it to the start line, the muppet took a huge tumble on the skills loop whilst warming up. He had some really nasty gravel rash all the way up his spine: get well soon, but I bet it will smart in the shower tonight!

After a rest and some food, I went back down to help Janine with the results and watched a close set of results come together in the Men’s race until Ben Plowman came in several minutes clear of everyone else to take the British Crown, a fantastic achievement in this his first proper year of MTBO. Em Benham, as expected, took the Women’s title. Congratulations to the British Champions!

So time to take a break, get well, make sure the bike is in good condition and look forward to the next World Cup Race in Poland, though to say I’m disappointed would be an understatement 🙁

results http://www.janineandjase.plus.com/british2010.html

Posted on

British MTBO Championships-Middle-Drumlanrig

The British MTBO champs moved back up north to Scotland this year. Ex-British Squad riders Phil Winskill and Janine Inman planned and organised the Middle race held at Drumlanrig Woods. Drumlanrig Castle and Country Estate is set in the beautiful rolling Dumfriesshire hills and was bathed in sunlight as we arrived. The views out from the castle over the estate’s parkland and forests were spectacular as a good turn out of Britian’s top riders met, awaiting their start times.

Following my crash two weeks ago, whilst competing in Hungary, my ribs had not really got any less painful (probably an indication of some cracks rather than bruising) and post British Orienteering Champs fatigue had left me feeling not in the greatest shape. A lurking chesty cough then materialized on Thursday, adding to the woe.

Starting the race I rode strongly up the first two hills, not feeling too bad, although splits show that those thaking the risky route along a difficult-to-ride track on the way to number 1 had much faster times. I rode cleanly until a mistake on an unmarked track at number 4 cost me perhaps a minute but it was after number 5 that I started to feel the effects of my chest. Splits show I lost time on the climbs up to 6 and 7, and I made a small, silly error on the way to 8 costing me another 30 seconds. At this point, eventual winner Killian Lomas came past on a mission. I managed to stay with him for a couple of controls but he slowly pulled away and, although my heart rate was not that high, there was nothing I could do about it.

The course dropped down into the parkland for the last few controls which took us through  grassy hollows off-track via some controls on ‘proper’ orienteering features to the finish. At the end my legs were like lead and I really struggled into the finish feeling quite downhearted at my performance, in fact my split to the finish from the last control was one of the slowest. Downloading although obviously disappointed with 8th I was cheered by the fact that I wasn’t too far behind and given my condition.

I went back out for a bumble warm down to collect controls and enjoyed the lovely scenery some more, before heading back down the M6 for a comfy bed rather than camping,  to get ready for Sundays long race……

results http://www.janineandjase.plus.com/british2010.html

Posted on

Event Preview – British MTBO Championships – Scotland

This weekend will take the cream of the UK’s Mountain Bike Orienteering competitors north to compete in both a middle and a long distance race in the Scottish Borders. Organised by club FVO, the Middle race will be held at Drumlanrig, an area new to MTBO, and the Long on the Sunday will be held at Mabie, part of the Seven Staines group of forests famous for their mountain biking trails.

The British Championships are also the final selection race for the British Team, so competitors will also be looking to the results with interest to see who will be picked to represent Great Britain at the World Championships in Portugal in July.

http://www.bmbo.org.uk/calendar/details.php?event_id=78

http://www.bmbo.org.uk/calendar/details.php?event_id=77

Posted on

Cannock Chase Monkey Trail Review

The long awaited new Mountain Bike trails on Cannock Chase were finally opened in mid April. Having been away racing abroad and embroiled in the organisation of the British Orienteering Championships, May Bank Holiday Monday morning was the first opportunity for me to get out and explore the new route.

Riding from home in Milford, two of us on hard-tails decided to ride the new trail as the designers intended from Birches valley so after a 25 minute warm up ride out we started on the first part of the trail, the existing Follow the Dog section, though tweaked at the beginning to try to separate bikers from the many other users of the forest centre.

Saftey improvements are noticeable all round, with better signage, but the first rock garden before crossing the bridge over the brook out towards the black graded ‘log’ is a little difficult for beginners early on for those just doing Follow the Dog. The original single plank over the marshes also seems to have been changed to make it easier now, though.

The turning off the Follow the Dog route to get over the Rugeley to Cannock road comes off half way down a section that opened a couple of years ago. The new paths immediately benefit from machine built fast flowing bermed corners that sweep down hill to exit at the bottom of Kitbag Hill.

The railway crossing is fine but the road crossing is an accident waiting to happen. Cars really speed along this stretch and, although visibility is good, it is very difficult to judge how fast they are approaching. Although I’m sure it would be difficult to arrange because of land ownership, some warning signs would be useful for those new to the area.

Cannock Chase Monkey TrailGood to see once across onto Rawnsley it is a technical singletrack ascent that winds its way up the first ridge before cascading down the otherside rather than the classic trail-centre norms of long fire road climbs. This just repeats and repeats in a seemingly never ending series of switchbacks and swoops. The trails are very narrow, with fairly steep drops to the side and at times the distance between handlebar and trees is very small, but commitment rewards with the bike going light over the many humps and bumps.

There is only one fire road climb on the route, which is fairly gentle taking you up, before a series of fast crests leads to more of the same. Every so often a small rock garden can take you unawares, but the single tracks keep on coming. My guess is that of the 19km total of Follow the Dog and Monkey Trail, at least 15 kilometres must be on single track.

After a final climb the route seems to crescendo. A black rock garden option (we bottled that bit) starts a series of descending swoops that seem to build getting faster and faster, before having to brake to stop at the bottom to negotiate the “anti-chav” gate before returning back across the road and railway line.

Then the sting in the tail, known locally as kitbag hill (so named by the men who stayed at the RAF national service training camp that covered the area in the 50’s). This climb saps any remaining energy before returning back onto the classic Follow the Dog route until the second major change in the new route’s design.

The Forestry Commission, quite rightly, has tried to keep the various pedestrian and family users of Birches Valley separated from the MTB routes. Hence the original sections of Follow the Dog from the early noughties have now been shelved in favour of a new route down through Takeroo. These single tracks again build and build swooping and looping tightly through the trees, but we did feel that the technical drop off towards the end needs a chicken run option (edit -now a little easier), as both of us decided it was not worth risking our necks on and it came up as a shock with little warning.

A series of large rollers finish the lap which the Garmin 500 indicated at 19km with 470 metres climb. It took us about 1.5 hours to ride but we only stopped once for a couple of minutes for a drink and a bar after an hour, riding straight through the groups congregating at the tops of the climbs. I would expect that a leisurely group stopping regularly to chat could easily double this time.

We finished off with a spin out for home chatting about the route.

Both of us thought it a big improvement on the original follow the dog which although graded red was really blue in standard. In fact, rightly or wrongly, I have ridden the original Follow the Dog with my baby daughter on a seat on the back a few years ago. Monkey trail is a red-graded route for all its length and is way out of baby seat territory. It is a proper MTB route

I expected it to be busier than it was. In fact, after we pulled past a few groups at the beginning it was fairly quiet. Being so narrow I expect that the single track climbs could be a bottle neck and frustrating for stronger riders, but as long as people are happy to stand aside, I’m sure it will be fine.

The new surfaces seem to be standing up well with no real erosion kicking in but the underlying ground on this area of the Chase tends to be fairly gravelly anyway.

So congratulationss to Chase Trails and the Forestry Commission for providing the Midlands with a top class trail route that has now also addressed many of the safety and user conflicts of the original route.

http://www.chasetrails.co.uk/

http://www.forestry.gov.uk/cannockforest

Posted on

World Cup MTBO Hungary – Long Race

Long Map Part 1After a fitful nights sleep on bruised ribs and scraped arms and legs, I decided that I just wanted to finish the long race and not come last.

The start finish area was the same as the middle distance race, so up the hill again on the ride to assembly, but it seemed to take longer and felt tougher this morning. The weather was, again, glorious sunshine and blue skies as the riders lined up for the mass start with a plane circling overhead to film us. We were wearing DAG timing chips on our shoes as well as the usual SI and these were studiously checked by marshals on the way in.

We dumped our bikes in predetermined zones by race number and then walked back about 75 metres to the mass start line, where we lined up next to our upturned maps waiting for the countdown. On “Go!” all 70-odd of us careered over the meadow to our bikes and we were off. There were a few elbows but we all got away cleanly towards the start flag some 400m distant. At this point tLong Race part 2he gaffling (gaffle is the Swedish work for forking) took over, and the pack split in to 3 streams of riders to the 2 first controls via various route-choices some 3km distant uphill all the way.

I settled into a steady rhythm for the 15 minute climb tucked in behind a German, and apparently Andy Conn was the rider tucked in behind me the whole way up. On the way to number two my horrendously squeaky front brake unfortunately scared a group of horses we came across. The riders quickly brought it under control and we were off again but I decided on a route to number 3 avoiding another encounter. The tricky ‘dangerous’ descent from the middle race featured again today twice but a good line was forming on it and I rode it cleanly without incident. Out of number 5 I opted for a navigationally dangerous cut through which paid off fantastically, bringing me ahead of a group of top 20 riders who had just Long Race final Loopdropped me. Then it was a blast downhill towards the village. Unfortunately, Andy and I plus about 5 other riders started racing at this point forgetting the gaffleing and consequently everybody made a mistake. Mine was probably worst losing perhaps a minute as I relocated and found the control, but It was my only mistake of the race.

Andy pulled ahead at this point as I had a leg which took slightly longer but it was neck and neck.

We then looped through the start finish area and changed maps before attempting the other gaffled course first control, again a 15 minute climb. I started a cat and mouse game with a Russian who kept pulling ahead on the climbs only to make little errors allowing me to catch up. I’m sure I saw him thump the handlebars when I over took him again at one point 🙂

From 3 to 4 on the second loop, I again chanced a big forest cut though contouring and, agai,n it paid off pulling back in some riders who had just dropped me after I stopped to “mark my territory”.

I started racing again when I caught a small group, and was replaying a mantra in my head ‘ride your own race, ride your own race’ which seemed to work and I managed to overtake them and pull away without incident.

Turning the map over again as I punched the last control of the second loop I noticed two things: one, the last loop was short and technically difficult in terms of navigation, and two, Andy Conn was 10 metres in front of me!

I knew this was my chance and luckily I held it together in the complex network of tracks and open areas and managed to cleanly ride the next 4 controls pulling ahead of him by a couple of minutes.

Finish Area LongThe planner had an ace up his sleeve, however, with a really tricky second last control, which had people riding all over the place. I ended up half running half falling down a horrendously steep bank in a bid to stay ahead of the chasing pack which seemed to work. I had a final wobble on the way to the finish when, frantically trying to read the map at speed, I finally wiped a blob of mud away from the map-board to diLong Resultsscover the location of the last control and the taped finish funnel, though lost about 20 secs in the process.

I gunned the run in and practically collapsed over the line to download thinking I was racing someone for the line (I wasn’t I suspect my shadow was tricking me). Considering my state at breakfast I was very pleased with the way I rode and was elated with 38th place.

Em had a fantastic ride to take 7th. Andy lost nearly 3 minutes to me on the last few controls and came in 43rd. Sarah came in a very tired 42nd.

After packing our bikes we all headed for a well earned Pizza on the lake front before driving for our flights with very tired legs.

Posted on

World Cup MTBO Hungary, Middle Race

An early slot in the start lists meant I was one of the first up to the start/finish area, situated on a grassy plateau a few kilometres above the town.

The map for today was a continuation of yesterdays sprint map, but this time at 1:15,000. We started in grand style on a podium with Maria commentating and the off was straight into the most technical area of the sprint map. I immediately made a small mistake which, unfortunately, probably lost me nearly 2 minutes as I faffed and took the wrong track descending to far down towards the houses and on the way to the next control saw my 3 minute man (the next rider in the start list) coming the other way. I focused and didn’t let it affect me though and rode strongly to the next, though a wobble in the circle lost me a few precious seconds in the dense network of tracks.

FinishPlanning ahead it was obvious this wasn’t going to be a classic middle race, more of a “short long”, with lots of climb and big route choice legs. I started riding quite well after the wobbly start and pulled in a group of early starters. I think made some OK route choice decisions, though its difficult to tell until the splits are available later tonight.

We had one very steep descent which had caution signs, and we had been warned about it in the team briefing the night before as being dangerous. I was skidding down it wondering what the problem was when at the bottom saw there was a drop off through a drainage ditch across the track ! I threw my weight back and hopefully the watching photographer got a reasonable shot of it, though I suspect he was looking for fallers!

I rode the next 4 or 5 controls cleanly but chose the long rSarah Baylissoute choice option round on the long leg, avoiding the climb (as did Andy Conn). I’m sure the really strong riders would have gained time on this leg by going straight, but, for me, I think it was the right decision. Then came my “highlight” of the race….

Going flat out on a level landrover track I had a massive accident. I think my crank/pedal caught on a strand of fencing wire which was strung across the track in the grass. Needless to say the bike stopped but I didn’t taking a huge dive, superman style, over the handlebars to land some 10 feet away from the bike in a crumpled heap. For about 10 seconds I though I’d really hurt myself, winded and struggling to move, but as seems to be normal on these occasions I tried first my arm then my head and then finally I staggered back to the bike to disentangle it from the wire.

Wiches Goulash !A bit dazed I cruised the next two controls fairly slowly and carefully before opening up the legs heading for home crossing the finish line and into quarantine where early starters have to wait until all other competitors have started. By this time the blood from a small cut on my chin had made me look probably far worse than I was, and organiser, Sandor, lined me up in a row of three riders, all waiting for the doctor to patch up. He looked at all three of us and decided I warranted attention 2nd, triage being what it is! After cleaning up my various cuts the spray he applied to the scrape/lump on my arm hurt more than the original injury !

I felt a bit groggy for a while but after quarantine was opened I had a big bowl of goulash (served from a huge witches style cauldron) and bread which seemed to sort me out.

Although I felt I didn’t have a brilliant ride (the hills certainly favoured the stronger riders) I am fairly satisfied with 48th, 4 minutes up on Andy (53rd), who unfortunately punctured. Sarah was 43rd, Em 14th.
The afternoon was spent skyping home and relaxing watching the world go by on the hotel terrace seeing the braver Swiss and Austrians taking a dip in the lake, but it will be an early night for the team as tomorrow the mass start long race starts at 9am!
 
 

 

 

Posted on

World Cup MTBO Hungary – Sprint

The sprint race was held 2 km from the event centre, in the low cultivated hills and urban edge of the town. A stiff climb up to the start meant that there was a significant net descent on the course, which finished with a mad dash through the streets.

I got a great start and nailed the first control, but lost loads of time on the second. Thinking I had overshot after blasting down a road, I went in too early on an unmarked track but relocated very quickly after spotting a very small quarry. I still lost perhaps a minute, though.

I was good through number three, confidently riding the rocky ‘dangerous’ descent for the TV cameras, but lost time near control 4, again taking an unmarked track which I should have noticed was wrong. I eventually extracted myself from the undergrowth (with a great big stick through the front mech) and headed out into the grassland section where I picked up some time riding and navigating well. I made one final error before the sprint for home, missing seeing a fence on the map and tried to cut through to a road, only to be forced back round losing time.

I rode the town section cleanly and avoided mispunching the control that caught so many others out.

I sprinted for the line overcooking the braking and managed a spectacular punch with rear wheel still in the air.
Looking at the results I was pleased to see I was well inside the top half in 30th position, my best international result to date.

Em had a solid ride to take 12th, Sarah, 36th and Andy Conn beat me by 40 seconds, making only two small mistakes to take 25th.

Results should be available at www.mtbo.hu