|
|
Event report – Dark and White Winter League rd 3 – Grindleford
My training diary on Saturday showed no training for 10 days due to a cold I picked up off of Holly. With the cold still there I wasn’t sure that I ought to race today really. Manic bike maintenance on Saturday night after driving home from Somerset didn’t help either but I put the bike in the car anyway and decided to make a decision on Sunday morning.
Trips up through The Peaks are always a pleasure early on Sunday mornings with no traffic on the road and this morning was no exception. Arriving at the event centre in Grindleford it was good to see Emily Benham, Britain’s current MTBO superstar who bagged a silver out in Lithuania, though being a poor student she was forced to cycle to and from Sheffield to take part. After my last effort at a Dark and White Event I spent a good 1.5 mins having a look possible routes and realised that again it was not going to be possible to get them all.
I decided to leave the lower value controls around Eyam to the end and headed out up on to Baslow Edge, with stunning views out to the west. The day was characterised by vicious climbs and very fast descents, but as I am still without a replacement for my GPS I didn’t get a total height gain or max speed.
I decided to put a physcological demon to bed my diving down into Cressbrook and attacking the long climb out after bagging a control. A bad experience in the past given me the knowledge that the climbs are much bigger than those indicated on the map and I was a little hesitant at going back down there.
Looking at my watch I was ahead of schedule so a quick bit of re-planning brought in another huge climb at the end up through Eyam to Sir William Hill, again with stunning views back across the valley. However the climb told and I arrived at the control with no time left so I let rip on the final 250m decent into Grindleford.
A mistake on a road junction added to my lateness by a minute or so but I was only 51/2 mins late in the end.
Now full results are published and I was 3rd (several Vets upgraded themselves into Open) which I am very happy with.
Mark Stodgell ( Stodge )
  
With no competitions this weekend, a house full of visitors, and a cold which started on Wednesday night I admitted defeat and chilled out for a few days this week. The upshot, however, was I ended up having three fantastic recreational mountain bike rides on Cannock Chase with various combinations of friends, bimbly walks with kids and, finally, a trip to Wolf Mountain.
Cannock Chase was gorgeous on Saturday with hardly anybody about (off Christmas shopping no doubt), with lots of frosty vistas and long reaching views under clear blue skies. I lead John and Nicky on separate rides (they have a 4 month old) & tried to take them to little used parts of the Chase where the local trail fairies have been busy. We had a great time crunching along the icy tracks.
Sunday brought more of the same. Following an early morning walk with the kids around Oldacre with chilly misty views out towards the Wrekin, Nicky & I had another ride, but this time with Fraser in tow on his trusty Cotic Soul. There were lots more people about so we avoided the busy areas by nipping over to Abrahams Valley and did some old singletracks I’ve not been on for ages.
Sunday late afternoon was spent at Wolf Mountain Indoor Climbing wall in Wolverhampton. This superb facility encourages all ages and the kids had a great time scaling the walls and bouldering on the side of a continuous overhanging slide nick named ‘Spider Pig’. My old ~1988 climbing boots brought a few smirks from the better climbers but they still seem to work OK!
I think the few days relative rest has done me good and I should be back on the drive steaming away in cold evening air on my turbo trainer on Monday night.
        
 I’ve been looking forward to this event for weeks. I don’t do as much foot orienteering as I would like, mainly because we can’t be bothered with running on poor quality West Midlands country parks etc when we live right next to some of the best terrain in the region and are so busy doing other things. We tend to prefer to compete less often but don’t then mind travelling further to get the quality.
Living on the map should obviously give me quite an advantage, and calling in to the house for a quick hot ribena and buttered crumpet on the way to the start was a treat you don’t normally get at an event.
I basically had a cracking run. I was unsure whether I was now ready to tackle a M35Long course but I’m glad I did, winning by 8 mins, although still making a minute or so of mistakes. The course was very well planned, the weather lovely and a great atmosphere at the finish. Results here.
So it now looks as though I am now officially back to full length orienteering courses after 6 years in the injury wilderness. To say im chuffed is a bit of an understatement, and am looking forward to it hurting getting out of bed on Monday morning as its a feeling I’ve not had for a long time. I really feel like I can draw a line under my whole sesamoiditis injury episode and move on.
Mark Stodgell
Monday night is normally my fast long road ride with a group from Mammoth but as Cath had to go to an Orienteering Club Committee meeting I had to miss out this week and stay at home. I needed a session so I dragged out my little used turbo trainer and gave it a go.
Cath suggested just before she left that I borrowed her ipod Shuffle which is crammed with her ‘running  tracks’. After a few adjustments I started my session outside on the drive in front of the garage, temperature -1 degrees, shorts and winter shoes, what I must have looked like to passing motorists!
After warming up I switched on the shuffle and decided as I don’t currently have a heart rate monitor or cadence meter I would just pedal at the speed of whatever was playing.
The first track was ‘end of the world’ REM – talk about going straight up to max effort - 105 bpm
then Green Day’s American Idiot – 96bpm after that Green Day again – ‘when I come around’ – 50bpm – up through the gears and out of the saddle it being a bit slow
Robbie – Hot Fudge – 100bpm, and so it went on, not much rest but I was having a great time and dripping all over the tarmac even with the low temperature.
After 40 mins on came ‘Walking on Sunshine’ Katrina and the waves. I got stuck in remembering it was the ‘first dance’ at out wedding where we just grabbed everyone out of their seats and on to the dance floor (Cath and I don’t do that whole smoochy dance stuff). I then thought this is quite quick, then the turbo trainer collapsed and started squirming side to side. I stopped mended the turbo trainer, reset the shuffle to the start of the song and started again. I only just made it through the track, legs and lungs burning with the effort of trying to stay with the beat.
I warmed down to Supergrass’s ‘alright’ and then went to go and find out what cadence I was trying to achieve for 4 mins – 118rpm
I now need to put my own realistc spinning music together, anyone any ideas……
Mark Stodgell
I nearly didnt get to the race. A huge pile up on the M6 Toll in the horrendous weather completley blocked the motorway. It must have just happened as I was one of the first cars in the queue that quickly built up. As I didn’t witness it and there seemed plenty of people milling about getting things sorted I got going as soon as the motorway was partially clear. The weather all the way down was a combination of hail, lightening and torrential rain, but it eased off a little as I got to the event. The Vets/Ladies/Youth race was still in progress, so after I signed on I watched and cheered on my new clubmates. After lots of pondering I have finally decided to join Lichfield City CC. I can’t wear my own sponsors logos etc at Cyclo Cross and other British Cycling events once I get a racing license for various reasons, so I thought I’d join a club where I already know a few people.
Donning the club Jersey, quite a few club members introduced themselves and seemed to know who I was, I made to feel most welcome, and am glad I’ve joined.
The race itself was a bit star studded. Liam Killeen was in attendance (watching Mammoth’s Mechanic Darrell competing at cross for the first time on his old bike), and a Columbia Rider Roger Hammond. The mud was sticky and disgusting, the course tough with lots of running and huge head winds, plus the rain started again. I enjoyed the course, particularly outbraking the cross bikes on the slipperly decents, and other than being laped by Hammond mid race I only got lapped by the other top riders on the last lap. The gears just about held together only causing me a problem on thr last lap, but I didnt lose any time to them. I ended up 18th ( out of 44) which I am very happy with, I’m not sure how much quicker I would be on a cross bike, but I have decided to finish the season on the mountain bike. Results
  
|
|
