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Preview – Strathpuffer 24

In a moment of madness a few months ago I agreed to ride in a Team of 4 at the Strathpuffer 24 hour MTB race near Inverness. Unfortunatley for various reasons this is now a team of 2, Alan Hartley and Myself riding as ‘bmbo.org.uk’  (British Mountain Bike Orienteering

Held just outside of Contin about 25 miles north of Inverness the Strathpuffer 24 is known as the most challenging 24 hour enduro race in the UK, as being in January there is often snow and because of the latitude not much daylight so lots of night riding. The big question over the weekend was ‘is it still on’ but the organisers have had teams out clearing the snow from the single-tracks and it is, as long as we can get there.
So Alan and I are currently getting our kit together and talking about the relative merits of spending £80 each on ice tyres (we aren’t and will just wing it but to be honest we cant find any in the UK anyway)
Our current plan is for me to start and do 2 or 3 laps and then settle in to 3 to 4 lap stints depending on the laptimes. As you tuck yourself into bed on Saturday night, please spare a thought for us camping in the snow !

Throughout the event Sportident UK will be displaying live results at
http://lappedenduro.sportident.co.uk/home/event/publicresults.html?&eventid=906b739d-b5c2-4b38-a255-3373ba5f2567

so you can see how we are doing……..

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XC Skiing

stodge, xc skiing

With boredom setting in using the turbo trainer for hours on end and the roads being so dangerous I came up with a great alternative to the long ride this weekend. A long ski! Before Holly was born and my foot injury we enjoyed several XC skiing holidays in Norway and on our last trip bought touring skis which have sat in the loft ever since.
The skis use different waxes to get grip for propelling yourself forward dependant on the temperature of the snow (unless it is warmer than -1 when they don’t work particularly well).
The weather was fantastic, clear blue skies and -4. I had to watch for stones penetrating the surface but managed a 10km loop out to Chase Road corner, bringing a few bemused looks from various dog walkers.
Returning to Milford I came across a gent in his 70s sledge in hand looking for a good slope. No grandchildren with him, just out on his own for some fun. Fab !
  

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Garmin Edge 500

Broken Edge 305A couple of weeks ago an innocuous fall on my Edge 500 & 305singlespeed resulted in a smashed screen on my trusty Garmin Edge 305. A quick email to Tris of ‘The Heart rate Monitor Shop’ who helped me last year when I lost my previous Edge gave some great advice and I decided to upgrade to the new EDGE 500 which as well as being better all round with regards to battery life, weight etc is also ANT+ compatible so if I ever want to add a power meter I can now do it, anyone want to give me a second hand power-meter wheel 😉
Garmin Edge 500Many thanks to the Heart Rate Monitor Shop who again gave me a generous discount, it even arrived 19 hours after I ordered it. The Edge 500 can use my existing Cadence and HR strap and it is a doddle to set up. Garmin seem to have looked at the failings of the Edge 305 and corrected them for the 500.
The buttons are now on the side and will not clog up with mud, it is smaller and lighter and the GPS signal seems to be picked up better. The mounting is much better too using rubber rings and a twist on lock to attach it to the bike.
Bizarrely my first use of it was Cross Country Skiing (more of that later). The only problem I now have is compatibility, I have to export it to GPX to get it into Sport Tracks or up to my online training diary, rather than direct as I did with the 305. I’m sure there will be new releases of the software soon though.
The Edge 50o is really a step forward from the 305 and I’m glad I went for it power-meter or no power meter. I think I can also rig something up to wear it on my wrist for running !

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Smugness is snow chains !

It was with much smugness that I fitted snow chains under a motorway bridge on the way to work this morning (Tuesday)  and then promptly weaved my way past countless people stuck on hills on the approach to Altrincham where I work.
However, more annoyingly, like many people, my training is being affected by this cold weather forcing me on to the turbo trainer more and more. I also have two events coming up, a Dark and White MBO score event on Sunday in the Peak District and the Strathpuffer 24hr race in Inverness the following weekend.
Will they be onn and will I be able to get there ? I don’t fancy 24hrs on a turbo trainer 😉

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New Years Day Score – Rough Wood

After a late night of partying (including Wii Fit at five minutes to midnight for some reason!) the thought of running around a West Midlands grotty country park for an hour wasn’t especially appealing, particularly given that the area description in the advertising was hardly flattering, but I de-iced the car and headed down to Walsall as it was only 30 minutes away.

After registration the 25 minute walk to the start, next to a frozen canal, was also not inspiring. The local youth have spent the Christmas break seeing what bizarre objects they could try and throw on to the canal to smash the ice. I think those who tried the rolled up carpet or the loaf of bread didn’t quite have the right idea though!

Onto the area and things started to look good, lots of semi-open heathland, a bit of contour detail and, of course, the canal, separating the two halves of the map. The format this year was to get as many as possible on the first map before exchanging for a second. With an A4 1:5000 map I went out with the strategy of clearing both. After a slightly disorganised mass start, approximately 140 orienteers dived off in various directions. I went hard and fast for the nearest control and, turning after punching, was pleased to see a huge crocodile stretched out behind me. It then settled into a good race with me and a chap in a  SHUOC top (whose name currently escapes me). I lead through the first 14 controls until he passed me as I lost Roughwood Map 1about 1.5 minutes stupidly faffing about around an unmarked track junction when I should have just looked at the contours. I then just dug in on my own and was surprised at the map exchange to be back in the lead, probably having passed him in the low visibility light green areas of the map.
I then made another silly error which cost me 30 secondss and got confused by the control code which lost me another 20 secondss. Just still in the lead I then Roughwood map 2managed to let “SHUOC top” catch and pass me at number 2 and he pulled away from me on the next two long running legs. I ran the rest cleanly and managed to clear up with 4.5 minutes to spare.
I thoroughly enjoyed then event, but it did turn into an hours hard running and I’m sure I’ll suffer in the morning as the last time I ran was back in late November! In fact it would make a cracking little sprint/middle race area.
I then did the decent thing and collected some controls to warm down and then chatted to “SHUOC top”  as we jogged back collecting in the tapes back to the car. No results at present as HOC were having computer issues (they need to get AutoDownload, plug plug!) but, as far as I know, I was second. A great start to the year.

Happy New Year – may you always ride/run in sunlit forests!

http://www.harlequins.org.uk/

 Rough Wood Country Park

Oh, and “SHUOC top” is also known as Andrew Llewellyn – well done to him, good race!

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Bye bye to ‘Trailquest’ and the TCA, Hello to MBO Score and BMBO

At last, the words that bring looks of confusion from anyone you tell what you are doing this weekend are gone. At last, we ditch that Dungeons and Dragons, Beard and Lemon Curd branding of ‘The Trail Cyclists Association’. At last, the governing body of the sport I love is brought up to date with a great new image and a fantastic new website.BMBO website At last, foot orienteers will sit up and take seriously this growing discipline. From now on all ‘Trailquests’ will be known as ‘MBO Score’ and all MTBOs as MBOs (but I suspect MTBO will stick). The new website masterminded by BMBO Chairman John Houlihan is slick, provides all the information needed by riders and also behind the scenes makes the life of an organiser much easier.
Launched on the 1st of Jan 2010 the site may take a while to fill out with events and content (Iv’e got a few bits to do yet on MTBO) but it looks fresh and the new name ‘British Mountain Bike Orienteering’ follows the trend of British Cycling and British Orienteering, its closest stablemates.
Oh, and yes, I know the acronym is going to be shortened to Bimbo, but why not !  www.bmbo.org.uk

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Snowy Stafford….at last

Stafford missed all the snow everyone has been stuck with all week until Wednesday night when we got a couple of inches. I managed 30 minutes on the turbo trainer after getting home from my works Christmas do, but my heart wasn’t in it and I came in with cold feet. I had originally planned to have a few hours out on the bike on Christmas Eve but the snow meant sledging and snowballing with Holly was much more important. I’d also promised her a snowy ride on her tag before lunch. A 40 minute outoing on the tag was enough though, bouncing between being too hot and sweaty on the climbs and too cold on the descents, so we escaped back to a warm fire and hot chocolate.
My coach is suggesting combinations of pre breakfast and sweet spot turbo sessions whilst the weather is bad. Is a pre-breakfast session on Christmas day a sign of commitment or being antisocial……?
Christmas morning will bring the traditional Chasers club run from Milford common before returning to play with Holly’s new toys, or will Santa bring me any new toys?

Merry Christmas to everyone !

        

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Race report -Military Challenge

The Military Challenge is an annual event using training areas closed for the Christmas stand down. This years was back in the Aldershot area after a couple of years further south. The event allows mountain biking or running or if you are completely bonkers both in the same day. I was worried the event might be canceled due to the weather but the website assured me this morning that it was on and the morning dawned with clear blue skies over the frosty ground, in fact it was -8 as I defrosted the car to head south. The access road up into the event was very slippery and as I parked I wondered how on earth we would get any traction on the 40km course.

At registration I was given a GPS tracking unit to try and after picking up my hire E Card I had a look at the 10 yes 10 maps that would take us on our journey !  I had a late start which didn’t particularly help much as there were lots of other MTB tracks around. I fluffed #2 losing a couple on minutes, confused by the transition into the OS portion of the map taking a wrong track but talking to others there is something not right with the north lines mapping in this area, perhaps the OS being stretched to fit the O map?
On to the more urban part of the course and the conditions were treacherous with ice covered roads making this a Military skating challenge. Scared off by the slippery roads I took a bad decision on #4 and took the path option which had countless gates, boardwalks and doggy walkers to contend with. To top it I cocked up coming out of #4 getting stuck the wrong side of a one way street and lost a few more minutes. Onto map 3 and I passed a very sore Jon Marsden who called out that he had tumbled 4 times already on the ice. Through maps 4 and on to 5 and I was flying, confidence building in the bike and keeping the nav together. On the way to #12 I took my only tumble, a spectacular over the handle bars dive as I broke to avoid missing a track junction on ice. I had a very near off as I turned an icy corner near #14, but mostly if you were careful you could keep going fairly quickly on the edges of the roads. I lost a bit of time on map 7 taking a safe option round a round about and over a bridge to avoid a level crossing which I was stopped at for 5 mins a few years ago but was still riding well through map 8.
Looking back I think I was tiring at this point probably needing some food, I then made two stupid mistakes, a 180 coming out of #19 and a rubbish route choice along a fence after #21 giving me a huge rollercoaster climb rather than a simple singletrack around the top, which probably lost me the race, they certainly lost me 2nd place. On to map 10 then and the last  few controls. The route to the last control was down a snowy land rover track, the difference between the ‘season mountain bikers’ and those not so used to it the very obvious as I and several others screamed past a few riders picking their way gingerly down the hill. Unfortunately due to my lack of granny ring I had to run up to the finish. Results and GPS tracking are not out yet  but I was 4th when I left, having compared splits, burger in hand on patio chairs in the snow with Alan (2nd place he beat me by 26 secs). The event was not as good as previous years with probably too much road and not enough controls in the technical areas but I enjoyed it all the same. Andy Conn was 6 mins clear of three of us all within 30 seconds showing  my mistakes were costly. Looking at the Splitsbrowser graph I probably could have just won, but its a good result at this point in the season which I am pleased with.
stats – 40km course – 52.8km riding, 600m climb – 2 hours 46 mins
results here

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