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Spring ?

Is the worst of the winter weather now behind us? I even rode in shorts and normal shoes this weekend!

Well what a weekend of diverse riding:

First on Friday there was a 2 hour blast around the mountains south of Abergavenny with a friend who is moving there, checking out his riding options. The climb up the ‘Blorenge’ is not for those who shirk a challenge and I’m sure Fraser will be a mountain goat on a bike once it becomes his local haunt. GPS indicated 500 m of climb in two goes!! Great riding though and I’m looking forward to lots of weekends sampling those Welsh delights.

The rest of the weekend was spent in the Peak District at the AGM of our ex-university orienteering, ‘SPLOT’,  catching up with old friends, avoiding committee positions and enjoying the hills around Gradbach YHA.

Saturday morning, however, I first had a quick hours ride near Stone on the road bike whilst Holly was at ‘Little Luvvies’ before fighting my way back up through Leek for an afternoon walking. I managed to grab a quick MTB ride from the YHA at dusk. From the photos below you can probably see I was treated to some amazing vistas as the sun slowly set.

     
My route took me up out of Gradbach on a permissive Bridleway (Oooooh! It was nice to politely put the lady who challenged me about that one right) then down into Wincle before climbing back over to Allgrave and along to Gradbach. It all went horribly wrong, however, when my right pedal fell off about 2 miles from home. It seems to have threaded on the outer edge of the crank. With no phone reception I just pedaled one legged as best I could (very hard work though). With a few decent tools back at the hostel I have managed to get it back in for the time being but I think the crank has had it.

The next morning I took Fraser and his fiance, Kate, on a 3 hour bimbly ride up to the Cat and Fiddle for a hot chocolate returning via Macclesfield Forest and Wincle again. The weather was not so great and there are still some huge snow drifts in places which made riding interesting, but it was nice to be riding in that area and actually take time to enjoy the views, stop and chat and generally enjoy the recreational side of the sport for a change.

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Event Report – Dark & White MBO Score – Linacre

I woke to a surprising inch of snow this morning and, for about 30 minutes, wondered if I ought to attempt to get to Chesterfield for the event. A quick look at the traffic cameras on traffic England for the M1 showed no snow so off I went but some of the roads, particularly the A38 near Burton, were treacherous until I got north of Derby.

I have ridden here twice before and knew a few of the tracks but the area to the south was new to me. I decided to head north first after clearing the centre. After a scrappy start getting into the map scale (I had been riding on 1:15,000 for the previous two days mapping) and making a couple of daft errors I hoovered up the central controls so as to keep my options open at the end. I think perhaps I should have left #6 as the tracks were awful and it involved a stiff climb back out. A particular problem in this area is the horses and the way they churn up some of the tracks. They were everywhere, and I spent a couple of frustrating minutes getting past a particularly large group on a lane going to number 4. I was going to leave number 21 but decided at the last moment to blast up and get it, which lost me about 4 minutes, as I had to double back. My route then took me up on to the moor where I was treated by amazing views in all directions and fast riding with a small tail wind. After being worried I was biting off more that I could chew I started to cover the ground much more quickly and had lots of options on the way in to get the timing right.

In the end I was 3 minutes and 1 second late and in 5thplace, but was very pleased with my ride overall, particularly the way I was climbing the hills. It seems the winter strength training is starting to pay off.

Stats – 55km riding, 1100 metres climbing.

results available here….

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Anti Doping – Good News for Athletes with Asthma

After several months of aggro and general anxiety I have finally got to the bottom of the use of salbutamol with regards to drug testing, and the rule change which came in on 1st Jan, 2010, is also going to save me lots of money!

Last year I had some TUE (Theraputic Use Exemption) forms half filled out (£25 to the GP) prior to the Europeans and essentially didn’t use my blue inhaler for several months. However the day in Israel when the start was next to a field of horses put paid to that and I would have had to risk a post drug test provocation test if needed.

I never completed my TUE application as I was struggling to find someone to do the required provocation tests for a sensible amount of money (one quote over £300) and have been trying to persuade the GP to refer me for some NHS tests with no success.

Since Christmas I have been making a renewed effort to get it sorted for the new season and eventually found an approved testing facility in Newcastle that would do it for £150, but today Dr. Martin from Leicester responded to a request for a test quote to say it was probable I didn’t need a test as the rules have changed.

I’m not going to try and explain the new rules here and anyone this affects should really get some professional advice but essentially if you only use brown (Beclometasone) and blue (Salbutamol) inhalers you just need to make a declaration on 100%me  and then use them within certain defined limits.

https://www.ukad.org.uk/forms/declaration/

Dr Martin was very helpful on the phone giving me lots of advice about my asthma in general and if you are under the age of 35 he would be happy to consider you for inclusion on his trials. “There is a lot of confusion out there about the new WADA rules and I am always happy to recruit new test subjects,” he said.

Dr. Neil Martin
Clinical Research Fellow, Institute for Lung Health
Glenfield Hospital, Leicester
nmartin@doctors.org.uk

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Event Report – Worcestershire Beacon – Malverns

Straight away I’ll point out this is a bit of a strange posting as I retired, so for a change the map below is my 6 yr old daughters yellow course…..
The mist cleared as we headed down the M5 to Malvern for the National Interclubs – Compass Sport Cup qualifier, held on Worcestershire Beacon. I had a very early start and after a quick bus ride to the start area, a very steep climb brought an exposed start area and cold hands. I started ok but after 4 controls of contouring my old right foot injury started to hurt, so much so it was also distracting me and I made a couple of daft mistakes. Knowing there was good representation from other club members on the Brown course and I still had most of the course ahead of me I decided to retire and jogged back to the finish.  I then shadowed Holly round her Yellow course which enabled me to enjoy the awesome views to the East and West from this ridge.
Retiring is always something difficult to do, particularly when representing the club but I could not risk another long term foot injury. With some good results under my belt in foot orienteering recently I was being tempted to do more and more but I have decided to reign in the running and get back to the bike which has to remain my core focus this year.
Unfortunatley Chasers did not qualify in the end but hopefully the new crop of very young juniors will start to come through over the coming years and we will regain our strength in depth.

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VJs in the Pink = run fast!

UltrasportAfter finally throwing my 5 yr old VJ Falcons in the bin after the sole eventually fell off (Ive been gluing them since the summer) and the National Compass Sport inter clubs competition this weekend I thought Id better purloin myself a new pair rather than running in 15yr old fell shoes.

Luckily UltraSport,one of the UKs major Orienteering and Running suppliers is only 15 miles away in Newport so I called in on Friday to try a few pairs on. I quickly decided that having run in VJs for the last 20 years or so I’d stick with them but would try their latest shoe the Supra. (Although all comparisons with 1980s Japanese cars end here)

Even better was that Ian of Ultrasport was kind enough to offer to start supporting me with some generous deals on kit going forward. He has just had lots of Craft clothing delivered that seems incredible value (see website for details)

So whats with the pink then ? Well Cath and Holy bought me a Pink Canterbury thermal base layer long sleeve top for xmas, and Cath dared me to wear it for a run on The Chase(normally hidden under biking gear). So feeling I’d better at least try out the new shoes before trying to race in them off I went for a 20 min run up to stepping stones and back on Saturday afternoon.

So here comes the top training tip, wear pink and run fast. The looks you get as a bloke running in an ultra tight pink top encourage you to run quickly to justify the wearing of such colours to stop the cat calls, mind you I should probably of picked somewhere less public to run, but I can think of a couple of car parks on the chase I certainly would not wear it in !!!

Anyway back to the Supra’s. Older style VJs although lasting forever, being tough as nails , giving huge grip from the ‘dob’ spike sole have always been very hard on the feet, with what seems only a bit of cardboard between your foot and the sole. The Supra’s however have a proper trainer style mid-sole and give a level of comfort. Everything else is traditional VJ, hard wearing and loads of grip. Lets hope they do the business on Sunday and help get Walton Chasers through to the final.

http://www.ultrasport.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=50_52&products_id=429

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Strathpuffer 2010 Photos

Jon Brooke of Right Place Right Time Event Photography who covered the event has kindly given some images for my blog. His site has hundreds of images taken from various parts of the course in very challenging light conditions and give a great feel of the event. He covers various adventure races throughout the year.

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Event Report – 2010 Strathpuffer 24hr Winter Enduro

The Strathpuffer 2010 24 hour mountain bike enduro race is branded as the worlds toughest. Taking place in the depths of Scotlands winter it brings extreme weather conditions and lots and lots of night riding. The event is based in the forested hills above Contin approx 25 miles north of Inverness and this year with the long spell of sub zero temperatures and heavy snow fall running up to the race there was a question as to would it take place. The organisers pulled out the stops in the week before the event however digging out the 10km loop of fireroads and singletracks and the internet forums were buzzing with discussions on tyre choice…..

Originally entering as a quad  (4 riders taking in turns for the 24 hours) Alan and myself eventuallyStrathpuffer Camping ended up as a pair. This saw us piling 4 bikes, camping equipment, toolboxes and bags and bags of clothes and food into a focus estate on Friday lunchtime in Shap before driving the 300 miles up to the event. After a quick stop for Haggis and Chips in Aviemore we arrived to a very frosty, snowy campsite (well side of a forest road really) and made our base about 200 metres from the start / changover.

The first thing we learnt about the Puffer was the infastructure some of the teams bring. We took a while to get used to the constant hummmmmm of many generators powering the old caravans, gas blower heated easyups, covered service areas, braziers and general scottish banter about tyre choice, mudguards 29ers and singlespeeds (especially at 3 in the morning).

Start - Finish area Stathpuffer 24Saturday morning brought a final bike fettle, porridge spilt on the floor and decisions on what to wear before all too quickly it was 10am and time for the Le Mans style run from the start to the bikes (only at Le Mans they dont tend to have ice on the road).

Riding first I intended to do two laps so Alan could support SportIdent’s Martin Stone on the timing system as the first riders came through. I deliberatley held back on the run but soon found myself slicing through the field on the first fire road climb, even though I was keeping my heart rate in check . Then on to the first of the single tracks where immediatley we were off and running with the bikes in the sugary slush, it must have been carnage further back in the feild.

I nearly came off three times on that first lap, hitting unexpected ice under the snow but I managedStart - Strathpuffer 24 to recover it somehow, but others were not so lucky (including the presenter of the Scottish Adventure show, who ended up in hospital). Down into the finish for the first time and then back up the fireroad after punching in to record the lap whilst eating an Eat Natural bar was something to do again and again and again, the laps taking about 1 hour.

The second lap was much quicker, with less traffic, the course starting to cut up and the worst of the snow and ice starting to clear off the racing line.

Alans lap-times were faster again for his two, and by the time I completed my 4th the course was completely ridable for the brave, though I chose to run one rocky section throughout as it was quicker overall than messing about trying to ride it on a rigid bike. 

The course has some very technical sections, and with the added complications of snow and ice it was very challenging. Towards the end of my second stint (doing 3 laps ) I started to get tired, and on top of this my rear brake failed completly. As darkness fell I struggled down the icy, treachourous descents into the finish with copious amounts of scootering and handed over to Alan for his 3 lap stint. I was not in a great state. Looking back it was lack of food and proper rest. Alan did not fare any better and our brake pad situation became critical, even though we had 6 pairs with us. Alan ended up using his spare bike to complete his 5th lap whilst I ate and bike mended and unfortunatley punctured as well. I headed out onto another 3 lap stint whilst Alan retreated to the tent to warm up. I backed off a bit up the climbs and felt much better, the proper food inside me and the drying conditions making the laps quite fun. At 10 o’clock there was a huge bang which nearly made me fall off as a firework signalled the half way point. There are several marshalling points around the course and the music blaring, braziers blazing and shouts of  encouragment were most welcome and thanks to all those manning them, particularly the last one before the short steep climb that never beat me beacuse of the shouts and whoops everytime I came at it.

Unfortunatley, Alan at this point was at a low point both in food and bike maintenance and we decided that, although we were running in a24 hours Up battle for 3rd place, a sleep was sensible and we accepted that we could not keep up that sort of pace and look after ourselves. Though sleep was interrupted and uncomfortable, it was the right decision to make.

Alan started a lap at 5.30am and then I went out for two glorious laps and saw the dawn rise over a fantastic snowy landscape. At 8.30am I’d had enough and let Alan do the last two laps, which he really enjoyed with full daylight and the course in its best condition, feeling better after a tasty quiche for breakfast !

We ended up 11th out of about 40 teams which we were quite pleased with considering of our 18 laps only 5 were done in the second 12 hours. In fact my 10 laps would have placed me 18th on Solo!

The learning curve with this event is enourmous, and really it is obvious now that to compete at the sort of level we were trying to, you need a support team to keep your bike working and to feed you to enable you to just concentrate on recovery. 

Three memories stand out for me: riding fantastically difficult icy conditions with practically no brakes (character building!), the clear frosty, star-filled skies of 11pm as I really enjoyed a couple of laps, and, finally, changing brake pads with a torch between my knees and a cheese roll balanced on the seat in the dark at -2 centigrade.

Oh and I rode the whole thing on my Hutchinson Pythons, phaaa who needs ice tyres…..

Results available at 
http://lappedenduro.sportident.co.uk/home/event/publicresults.html?&eventid=906b739d-b5c2-4b38-a255-3373ba5f2567

Lots of Photos available below by Jon Brooke who braved the cold :
www.rightplacerighttime.co.uk

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