Kielder 100 - 2010 Grand Finale

One Lap, One Rider, One Adventure, One Hundred Miles

The main question in my mind was had I recovered from the efforts of Sleepless? It is hard to get your head around the potential that 4 weeks is not enough for your body to repair itself after such a huge effort. I mean, if it took nearly 3 weeks for the skin to re-grow on my backside, so what sort of state was the rest of me in?

With almost two-and-a-half weeks completely away from any bicycle, I was becoming anxious that Kielder was rapidly approaching and at somepoint I’d have to do something.

It was summer holiday time for Lizzie and I, a full two weeks off work and our only plan was the trip to Kielder right in the middle of our holiday. Fretting (as I do) about a lack of preparation I decided to ride Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and then do nothing for the rest of the week. By Tuesday, I was feeling quite good and seemed to be going reasonably strongly, surprising myself by “worrying” Pinkie’s back wheel up the hills on our Tues night ride… noting that Rhys’s front wheel was never far out of the corner of my eye!!!

Kielder is a tiny wee village in the middle of the forest in Northumberland…Banjo-Country… No mobile phone signal out here!

The village is dominated by a castle that makes a stunning venue for what is sure to be one of the toughest mountain bike races in the world. As the title says, its one lap and one hundred miles. It was first run last year, and in weather that could best be described as “Scottish”, I finished in an uninspiring 12hrs 15mins and It was at last years event where I met Rich Holland and Shonah, Rich beat me by an hour!

The race quickly gained a reputation for “taking no prisoners”, with check points to reach within a certain time and the potential for plenty of weather, the list of entries had more than doubled from last years 200, to an entry list of 750 with 537 people actually taking the start line this year.

This is a serious undertaking, you have to be self-sufficient. There is a list of compulsory kit you must have, a space blanket, waterproof, spare inner tubes, spare brake pads, a whistle, tool kit etc. The little bag that I usually strap under my saddle decided it had had enough as the zip broke. So rather than buying another I decided I’d save weight by taping two spare tubes to the bike and chopped the space blanket in half (more weight saved) so it fitted neatly under my saddle.

A good group of us had gathered for this race and it had become fairly obvious over the last few weeks that there was a large target painted on my back for this one…

Rhys was the obvious challenge, and this would be the first time this year that we would compete head-to-head. 

Rich Munro, riding singlespeed was looking for a scalp, I know better than to write-off “PostieRich” especially when he’s  singlespeed. 

Mark, just back from completing Lands End to John O’Groats, should be feeling strong. 

Rich Holland, my Infinity Cycles Team mate, always competitive and 17 years my junior, had he recovered from his Solo effort at Sleepless quicker than me? 

Paul Bailey, our “ranked rider”, finished 10^th last year, shouldn’t see him for dust!

It was a cold and misty dawn and joining the growing crowds on the start at 6:10am I was really pleased to have Lizzie there to take my fleece just before we rolled-out behind the marshal’s van at 6:30.

This had been a real struggle. I didn’t know whether it was just pre-race apprehension or if I was feeling a bit jaded after such a busy season, but I had really struggled to summon-up some enthusiasm for this race. As the Marshall’s van pulled-off and the race was let loose, it just didn’t kick-in like it normally does.

Rich Holland caught-up with me after 10 miles and we stuck together until he stopped at the first water point to re-fill his bottle. 10 miles later and Rhys had caught-up. I wasn’t chatting much, in fact I felt dreadful. My back had started aching in the first hour and was getting worse, the only thing that was shedding a bit of light in this dark place that I was in, was that it was beginning to look like a sub-ten hour finish could be possible.

The midges weren’t doing much for my mood either!  Seemingly a penance for not shaving my legs, but you’d ride through a cloud of them and they’d all jump on-board for a good feast, meanwhile there’s nothing you can do about it other than add it to the growing list of things that just have to be suffered!

I was thinking about the top professional riders, and how they look when they are suffering…. Lance Armstrong, Alberto Contador, they’ve all got this poker face that barely hints of the pain they’re in. Andy Schleck has this fixed grin, the only indication that he might be trying is the occasional bit of dribble on his chin! Me… well… have a flick back to the “Dawn of the Dead” photo from Sleepless… you could never tell I was suffering could you? Maybe it’s the permanent stream of snot dribbling down my top-lip that gives it away!

Having something to look forward to is always worth having, the organisers had arranged a bag drop at each of the feed stations.  My halfway bag had some fudge and a peanut butter and jam sandwich, it also had a couple of the strongest over-the-counter pain killers that I could lay my hands on, it was these I was most looking forward to!

Having already decided to take my time at the half way feed station to eat some food and stretch my back out, about half way through my sandwich I noticed Rhys quietly slinking off.  It did cross my mind that I really should not give him the slightest hint of opportunity, but I didn’t want to panic.  It was better to finish doing what I was doing, after all I had 50 miles to make-up a couple of minutes difference.

Feeling a bit more renewed after the stop I set-off to chase down Rhys, the next 15 miles were to prove decisive! A fast descent became rocky and the track, made up of loose rocks about the size of Crown Green Bowls.  I was going as fast as I could. Speed is a good thing on ground like this until, that is, the rocks get the better of light and flimsy tyres and superlight super thin tubes! With a sharp hiss my back tyre was flat! Cursing my bad luck I set about swapping tubes as fast as I could, of course when you’ve taped the new tube to the bike what do you do with the old one? Err… something that’s not very environmentally friendly (I still feel bad about it now). Rich Holland, closely followed by Rich Munro went past, Munro taking the opportunity to loudly advocate the benefits of tubeless tyres!

All was not lost, anything can happen.  I just have to get my head down and push hard. Average speed had dropped to 10.0mph and the chances of a sub-ten hour finish were seeping away. It wasn’t long before I caught and past Munro and Holland, but a short while later the unthinkable happened… Hiss… The air went blue!… there was no catching Rhys now and by the time I’d fixed it Munro and Holland had past again. Rich Holland had asked if there was anything I needed as he went past… good team mate!

By now the red mist had fully descended, average speed had dropped to 9.9mph, Rhys might be gone, but I hadn’t given up hope of beating 10 hours.

A piper welcomed us at the Newcastleton feed station. A good few locals had turned-out to spectate and cheer us on our way.  There was hot food and baking and all sorts of lovely treats, but not for me.  A brief pit stop to get some proper pressure in my back tyre, some chain lube and away… re-passing Munro and Holland as they enjoyed the food stop.

A fast descent had brought my average back to 10.0mph, it was possible I could do this, but it would be tight. After a lap of the 7Stanes trail at Newcastleton, your on the way home.  I remembered well the 10 mile section to the last feed station from last year. What difference a year makes!  Last year at this point I had to get off and give myself a proper talking too, this year I’m cranking the Big Ring at 15mph… average clicked up 10.1mph.  I was feeling better at 75 miles than I had for the whole of the first 50!

A quick bottle refill and re-stock of Jelly Babies, grab a few jaffa cakes and away, just as Rich Holland arrived, he’s still nipping at my heels!

A long and fast descent and the average clicked-up again to 10.2… I was in with a chance now, it would all hinge on how far over the 100 miles the course was.

As the computer clicked-up 99 miles, I rounded a bend to find the 5 miles to go board… the swines!!! But now on full throttle I discarded all the remaining fluid from my bottles to save a bit of weight.  A couple of girls marshalling said something about another mile uphill then down hill all the way to the end… yeah right, maybe the way they came up here in the van!  For us it was more torture on the rough-as-hell Kielder singletrack.  I confess I am rapidly coming round to thinking that a full suspension rig is going to be the way to go next year!

Finally I got onto the wheel of the guy that had been dangling in front of me for the last hour, we were into the final sections of singletrack before the finish. Struggling to find a way past him, until a few meters of wider track give me an opportunity to sprint past.  I fully expected him to be after me but he dropped back, finally rounding the last bend, through the narrow gate with Lizzie, Shonah and Paul all shouting and cheering.  Just a short sprint for the finish and I cross the line in 10hrs 12min 10Secs.

Rhys had finished in 10:01:37, without my two punctures that would have been a good battle!

Rich Holland came in 10:20:08, 55 mins faster than last year. 

Rich Munro 10:27:11 a superb ride singlespeed. 

Mark Williams 11:11:28 obviously still worn-out from Land End to John O’Groats and 

Paul Bailey was forced to pull-out early in the race.

Of the 537 competitors that started, 103 abandoned and a further 81 were eliminated for not reaching the check point in the allotted time. 350 finished the race with me 65^th overall and 11^th in the Veterans Category. This years time was 2hrs 3mins faster than last year… I think you could say a reasonable improvement!

As it has turned-out that was this year’s finale, it’s been a busy year that I’ve really enjoyed… A big thanks to everyone who has helped and supported throughout the year and to all of you who have kept reading the Blog. 

Many thanks also to Mark at LEDgend Lights and Dave at Infinity Cycles for all your support and assistance.

I also have to say a very big and very special thank you to my long-suffering Lizzie for looking after me so well, feeding me (constantly), staying-up all night, washing all the muddy kit, and doing all the unglamorous stuff that has kept me going… you’re an angel!!!

So then… 2011, more of the same? Hope so!!!

Cheers

JB

Garmin Data Click Here

Pics by Joolze Dymond - Thanks Joolze your a gem!

Sleepless in the Saddle

12 months ago, sprawled on the sofa the day after my first ever 24 hour solo race, incapable of moving, yet incredulously plotting my return in 2010. This one race has been the focus of everything that I’ve done in the past year, which has flown by. So it came as a bit of a shock to find myself back at Catton Park (near Burton upon Trent), setting-up camp, pits etc and the focus of a whole year about to hit me.

Rich Holland had encountered a moment of madness too and had also entered as a Solo, with Lizzie and Shonah able to share pit duties was great news for us. It was also a huge benefit to have so many of my riding buddies there who were also there racing in various team combinations, so any mechanical issues could be dealt with.

A good result in a race like this starts with an organised pit strategy to minimise any time spent standing still. This means that you need someone there all the time (even if they have had a glass or two!), with food, drink and spare bike ready to go at any time and the girls did a great job sorting all the food Rich and I would need over the next 24 hours. We had also managed to bag an outstanding spot for our pit about 200 meters from the end of the lap.

Andy waves at the camera

The start of this race is a bit different, leaving your bike behind the start line, you have to run a loop that’s about half a mile, pick-up your bike wherever you’ve left it, then you’re off.

I had promised Mark during the dark winter months that I would be riding this one for LEDgend Lights and I wasn’t messing about, it had to be a front and centre for me on the start line and this meant that I needed to be there early , in fact I was the first to claim a spot for my bike… as the commentator pointed-out to everyone else that was there!

Front row for Rich and I... No Messin'

2pm, the horn goes and its time to run… With so many people starting this race its really important to avoid the log-jam that inevitably happens at the first bit of singletrack, you could easily lose 15 minutes and that’s 2 free rests! I’m not a bad runner, but I’m not great either its not something I’ve ever really done much of and the pace was quick, still I got back to the startline in good order and Lizzie was there holding out my bike for me to grab.

Go Go Go!!!!!

The first 7.5 mile lap went well, a sensible pace, no hold-ups or dramas, a brief pause by our pit for a fresh bottle, re-stock jelly babies and an energy bar in my pocket and its time to find a pace that’s going to work for a long time!

The only way to approach a race like this is to break it down into psychologically manageable chunks…

Phase 1, 2pm - 8pm. – Let the game commence

This was the non-stop phase, bottle swaps and food re-stocks all done on the move.

6:30pm bike swap

By 5pm I was 11^th and had started getting twinges of cramp in my Quads, my knees were aching and I couldn’t understand why, I was drinking plenty and had only been riding a few hours. We needed to have lights-on at 8, so a quick bike and helmet swap at 6:30 gave Lizzie time to fit lights to the bike and helmet. The moment I swapped bikes it was obvious that the seat position had changed on the other bike (hence the cramps)… Two laps later I swapped back to assurances that the seat height was fine but it looked a bit tilted back, the boys lept into action and fixed it whilst I did another lap on the Maxlight… and they had all laughed at my seat height notes on the white-board before the start!

That's a LEDgend Light on my head!!! :)

Phase 2, 8pm – 11:00pm. – Evening Shift

11pm and 10th Overall

Despite moving up to 10^th overall, things were not going well, I felt dreadfully sick and lethargic. I started drinking water instead of energy drinks and that did help ease the queasiness but was conscious that my pace was continuing to drop and I just couldn’t put my finger on what was causing the problem. It dawned on me that I hadn’t had a proper meal since my second breakfast at 10am, although I’d been snacking pretty constantly it just wasn’t enough, so it was a relief to place an order for some hot food at the end of the next lap.

A pasta pot and coffee has never tasted so good, helped in no short measure when Sascha and Anna decided to give my legs a rub… this is an image that will remain in my head for a long time to come! 

Feeling no pain

My lower back was absolutely killing me, and had been since the first lap, I don’t normally bother with painkillers much, preferring to just get-on with it but Sascha insisted that I take two of her magic green capsules, she’s a nurse so resistance was futile!

Phase 3, 11pm – 2am. – The Night Shift

Paul, Rich and Anna enjoying themselves

I’d moved up another spot to 9^th,and with a fresh set of batteries fitted while I was eating and feeling lots better for a stop that was less than 10 minutes, it was time to get on with the first half of the night shift. I enjoy night riding, and it was a pleasant evening. By the time I’d finished that lap, Sascha’s magic green capsules had kicked-in and all the current aches and pains all-but disappeared and my lap times had settled back around the 50 minute mark.

Phase 4, 2am – 6am. - The Graveyard shift

Rich "enjoying" a 2:30am food stop

Probably the hardest shift to deal with as your body thinks that it really should be sleeping and not hammering round an XC course, not that I felt sleepy, but it’s the sort of period that just needs a bit of grit, determination and sheer belligerence to keep going. By 5am the darkness was starting to lift and an early morning mist had settled in the frost hollows. The birds were starting to sing, it was so peaceful, its amazing how your spirit is revived as the weight of night is lifted with the sunrise. The course is noticeably quiet during these hours as the slightly more sensible get off their bikes for a kip… I came into the pits at 6am for breakfast and the news that I’d moved up to 6^th.

Phase 5, 6am – 10am – A lovely morning

As the sun started to show above the horizon, I had another problem, the bacon and egg butty that I had been craving for hours wasn’t going down well. My mouth was so dry and I wasn’t producing any saliva so it was almost impossible to swallow anything, even taking a mouthful of coffee didn’t help. I felt fine but knowing how important it was to keep the calories coming in I was worried that this could be a race ending problem if I didn’t find a way of managing it.

Never struggled to eat a bacon butty before!

I had been riding for almost 18 hours and the only mechanical issue I’d had was my seat, then a twang from the back announced that I’d broken a spoke. These weight weeny wheels are starting to become unreliable (note for Kielder). A wheel swap at the end of the lap, and a few mouthfuls of food and straight back out.

Final Phase, 10am – 2pm – Cracking & Paranoid

I had been going quite well during the morning, moving up another spot to 5^th. The sun was gathering some strength and it was going to be a hot day. In the most part that was fine whilst most of the circuit was in the trees or had a bit of speed, but there were a couple of exposed climbs and that’s where the heat gets you,  I needed to keep drinking.

The strategy machine had kicked into action, it was becoming important to know if I could catch 4^th or perhaps more importantly could 6^th catch me?

With under 3 hours to go and I was starting to crack, badly. Knowing that 6^th was a full lap behind and 4^th, a full lap ahead (more of that in a minute!) meant that it would be impossible to move up a place and as long as I kept going 5^th was reasonably safe. But the paranoia monster was in my head… knowing that the information was at least a lap old and because there were only riders names on the board and no numbers I had no idea who I needed to be looking for. 

"Dawn of the Dead"

The last couple of laps chatting to other soloists, the common question would be “How many laps you done mate?” my cagey and paranoid response would be “not sure, how many have you done?” this generally received an answer of 12 to 15, it was slightly embarrassing to admit that this was my 26^th or 27^th .

The team assured me that we were fine, I just needed to do a last lap and there was no point in trying to get across the finish line before 24 hours to do another lap, just finish after 24 hours had ticked-out. The rule is that if you cross the line before 24 hours is up, then you have to do another lap. This makes the last hour a difficult place to be with teams spanking round as fast as possible to beat the clock and get another one in, and those of us trying to make this one our last, I just rode it like I had been doing and opted for a spot of judicious lurking to time my arrival exactly at 24 hours.

"Lurking"

Crossing the finish line 10 seconds after the 24 hours had elapsed was an indescribable feeling, I was utterly spent.

27 Laps, 202.5 miles, 17000 Calories!!!

Rich Holland decided against lurking and carried on for a final 24^th lap… the nutter, finishing 11th.

So I took 1^st place in the Veterans category (by 3 clear laps) and the results sheets have me in 5^th place overall. Now I think this is wrong, 4^th place had completed 28 laps but did not cross the line after 24 hours and therefore in my view, did not finish the race. Poor chap was carted-off to hospital with dehydration! Surely that means I was 4^th?

Either way I’m happy, and what a great result for Rich in his first 24 hour solo.

I’ve got to say a huge thanks to everyone for all the help and support along the way, all the shouts of encouragement from all the boys on the other teams and all the people in the pits helping to keep Shonah and Lizzie awake and sane!

I also promised to give Felicia a mention, I had booked-in with her for a Sports Massage on Monday afternoon and she made me feel like a new man! If your near Handsacre and you need to sort out wrecked muscles I would highly recommend an hour's massage there. Give her a ring on 07523 089895.

So then… I guess next year starts here!!!???

Click here for 1st 12 hours of data from my Garmin

Midlands XC - Round 3 - Unstone, Derbyshire

“The Good, The Bad and the Downright Ugly”

There are two distinct sides to the people in my life these days, there are those who, if you’ll pardon the expression, “take-the-p**s” out of my lycra-wearing habits. Then there are those that are similarly amused because I don’t shave my legs!

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining, I’m quite comfortable with my lycra-clad caveman look… but I have been seriously contemplating reaching for the razor over the last couple of weeks, when you’re in injury management mode, hairy legs are fairly useless for massaging-in Ibuprofen gel or massage in general for that matter.

The last few weeks of ice, ibuprofen and much reduced riding, has meant that I haven’t been doing much (if any!) high intensity stuff, so I always knew I was going to suffer for it at the Midlands XC, and this was the last round I could attend and my last chance of getting a few more points on the board.

Just to help prove that Mountain Biking is becoming the new Golf… this round was held at a golf club and was organised in conjunction with the guys from OneFgear, and what an outstanding job. A delightful location, and a course that has to be one of the best XC Courses I’ve ridden yet. I had wanted to go to the OneFgear Singlespeed race on the Saturday, but I just couldn’t risk damaging my knee any more, not this close to Sleepless, and they would have forced me to drink beer, which always ends badly!

PostieRich and Martin in "his-and-hers" matching outfits!

It was a short but action packed lap of 3.5 miles starting with a long climb up the edge of the fairway then through the hedge and keep going up. A burst of twisty singletrack followed by a fast descent between the trees with some ditches and ramps to catch you out. A difficult and steep climb then led to a fabulous bit of downhill the A-line, steep and technical, but perfectly rideable and an easier option B, (no idea what that was like!) both culminating in a “Wall-of-Death” like berm which, I’m told rode beautifully, A hard turn left and back up the hill initially on some very slippery rocks then onto better but very steep ground, rideable, but only just. Another great bit of downhill and a fast flatish half-mile sprint back to the start… repeat 4 times.

The Race Commissaire was concerned that the start was a bit narrow for the hoard of baying “Old Gits” and stated his intention to have an orderly rolling start… yeah right! Apparently, after calling us forward, he would start the race with his “Big Horn” just after we turned the first bend, but only if we were in an orderly pack. So he called us forward and the baying hoard, as predicted, charged (in an orderly manner of course) toward the first bend, turned the corner and commenced the sprint up the first hill… I didn’t hear the Big Horn!

I got to the top of the hill in about 5^th or 6^th place right on Stevie’s back wheel, but I couldn’t live with the fierce pace and they soon eased away. Into the first section of singletrack, I caught a root badly and was on the ground before I knew it… the guy behind me nearly rode over the top of me. I’d done a good job in blocking the track so it didn’t cost me any places.

That bit of downhill through the trees nearly caught me out.  Whilst it was fine in practice, hitting it at race-pace was bit different.  I thought I’d just lift the front a touch before I hit the logs, but got it totally wrong. Launching it off the ramp, it landed front wheel first and rolled on the pivot point. Looking vertically down at the front axle, I had enough time to think that this could well the end of my season! Miraculously, instead of continuing over the top, the back wheel came down… luck boy!

From the point that we hit the slippery hill, I just started going backwards. At this same point on the second lap, a voice from behind shouted “JB, what you doing back here? You’d better get a move-on Munro’s not far behind!” Apparently at this I shot-off like a frightened deer. It was enough to hold them off for lap 3, but again, at the same point on lap 4… the voice of Munro boomed out from behind “Booookaan… I can see you!!!”, the boys were storming, and to make matters worse they were both Singlespeed (only one gear). Now I confess I might have decided at that I’d rather die than concede another place, and it did indeed feel like I was about to expire but held-on to finish 19^th with Martin and PostieRich line astern in 20^th and 21^st respectively. Postie’s secret training is paying off… as I said right back at the start of this year… you should never write-off The Postie!!!

The good news in all of this is that my knee held-up ok and whilst it needs to stay in intensive care this week, I’m a bit more hopeful for this weekend. I’m strugging to believe we are here already, a year of preparation is over and it’s the big race on Saturday. Have I prepared well? Am I ready?... No idea, tell you next week when I eventually get out of bed!

Race Stats/Data - Click here.

Photos courtesy of Rob Scothern

Tour of the Black Mountains - "Coming apart at the Seams"

The other thing I conveniently forget about being an “old git” is that I just cant recover instantaneously anymore. Kirroughtree took far more out of me than I had ever anticipated and for a good few days after, all I really wanted to do was sleep. Not that I took much notice of what my body was trying to tell me, so instead of resting-up, a Turbo session on Wednesday, mountain bike ride on Thursday and a 70 mile road ride on the Saturday, did little to help the tendonitis developing in my left knee.

The Tour of the Black Mountains is a 120 mile road Sportive starting-out from Abergavenny and does a big loop of the Black Mountains and Brecon Beacons via Hay on Wye, Brecon and Merthyr Tydfil. Featuring the Gospel Pass, the Fan Nedd Pass and Cwm Claisfer, its not for the faint-of-heart with about 11500 feet ascent that could be fairly described in the main as brutal. Click this for map & Garmin data

This was the last big effort before Sleepless in the Saddle and after my result at Kirroughtree, I thought that I should be able to sneak a Gold Medal time of under 7 hours or at worst 7.15 for a Silver. That meant I needed to improve on last years time by more than 1hr 10mins!

After a week of early starts and long drives the last thing I wanted to do on a Saturday morning was to be in the car at 5am… but that’s the trade-off for being able to have a night in your own bed I guess. It was the first proper day of the school holidays and even at that ungodly hour the M5 was busy with overstuffed cars, packed to the gunnels with everything including the kitchen sink and bored young faces gazing blankly out of the back windows… “are we nearly there yet?”…

Sholto (excellent Gaelic name!) was parked next to me and we got chatting as each of us faffed about with various clothing combinations, trying to decide just how warm or cold it was going to be and whether it was likely to rain, the looming blackness over my shoulder finally persuaded me to take a waterproof shell if only for a bit of added ballast.

Not Sholto(!), but one of those intriguing sites you sometimes see (at least he's out there!)...

8:30am and Sholto and I set off together, a sensible mid-pack start, swapping experiences of last year’s event. Our pace was quite similar and it was good to take the start reasonably easy, working our way steadily through packs of riders climbing gently for the 14 mile run to the bottom of The Gospel Pass where the real action starts with a 2 mile hard climb that gets steeper the further up you go. The descent to Hay-on-Wye was fast and sometimes narrow that needed a bit of care, suddenly there was a man in the middle of the road frantically waving his arms, just round the bend another rider had met a car coming the other way and it hadn’t worked-out well. There were a few others helping the guy out and as none of us has a mobile signal we made sure everyone had the right numbers and with little else that we could add, Sholto and I left a rather sorry looking chap sitting at the side of the road holding his shoulder in the way that usually spells Broken Collar Bone.

At some point on the rolling countryside to Brecon, Sholto disappeared off my back wheel, by now I was head-down chasing that Gold Medal time, that hold-up coming down from the Gospel Pass hadn’t helped.

It started getting hilly again as we skirted the Brecon Beacons, but the next big assault came at 70 miles, The Fann Nedd Pass. Whilst its relatively short at just over a mile, its an utter brute of a climb with two hairpin bends and gradient close to 20%. Even with my compact chainset, I couldn’t sit down it was full-on out-of-the-saddle all the way to the top. I remembered this one well from last year… it murdered me! No stopping at the top this time, just click-down a few gears and keep going.

At about the 90 mile point I began to realise that beating 7 hours was getting tight and it would really boil-down to how fast the descent from the final climb was and if I managed to get hook onto a group that would work together.

Having been out on my own now for the best part of 50 miles, you kind of forget that your out there with a few hundred others… it was quite a wake-up when the Rapha Condor team (and a few of the Endura Team), in a pack of about 12 cruised effortlessly past all chatting and laughing… this was an opportunity that couldn’t be missed and I managed to jump into the middle of the pack, suddenly we’re effortlessly cruising along at 24mph.

Now I know this, is what these boys do, day-in-day-out, but it was interesting to see just how comfortable they were riding at such close quarters, helmets hung on handlebars, no hands, taking off gilets, eating, chatting and all done mid-pack no issues… meanwhile I’m concentrating quite hard, didn’t want to be the one who brought down the Pro-Peloton! 

It was of course all going far too well, half an hour in the peloton, feeling great, the motorcycle outriders clearing the junctions for us, then we hit the slopes of the Cwm Claisfer, the final major climb of the day, 1300ft of ascent over 4 miles. I thought I was doing ok on the initial slopes but then the Peloton, gradually at first, started to ease away, chatting and laughing, making it look easy!

With that my hopes of a Gold medal time had vanished, but I was still on schedule for a Silver as long as I could keep my average speed up. 10 miles to go, and I misread the signs at a roundabout and headed-off the wrong way, it was a good mile before I realised. I was livid… I could just about squeak a Silver now if it was all flat or downhill. Then 4 miles from the finish, I looked up to see the “Sting-in-the-tail” another 300ft of steep winding ascent, I knew the time had gone now but was still mad enough to brutalise myself on this last hill.

The final descent was excellent, dropping virtually 1400ft at speeds hitting 48mph, finally crossing the finish line in 7hrs 27mins and good enough for 7^th (of 63) in the Veterans and 27^th (of 140) overall, not too bad a result after all I guess and big improvement from the 36th and 62nd place of last year and 43 minutes quicker.

So, I’m now on final approach to Sleepless, last Saturday didn’t do my knee injury much good at all, I’ve been looking after it this week and haven’t ridden since Saturday, plenty ice, ibuprofen and massage. I am going out tonight for a gentle ride with the Thursday night crew, and with the 3rd round of the Midlands XC on Sunday, lets hope it holds up!!!

Ten at Kirroughtree

This would be the longest race of the year so far, with 10 hours to complete as many laps as possible and, with it being the first official outing of Infinity Cycles MTB Race Team, Rich Holland and I really wanted a decent result. I’d been having a good old fret over the last couple of weeks and had convinced myself that my condition was dropping-off rather than improving and I should go out and WORK HARDER… This is, of course, precisely the wrong thing to do!

The only thing for it I decided, was to do some High Intensity sessions… these are either an hour on the Turbo trainer or a full lap of The Monkey & The Dog Trails at Cannock Chase… as hard and as fast as possible. I chose the latter, couldn’t really face an hour of sweat and pain in the garage and it turned out to be just the right choice, it was quiet and, without much “traffic” to deal with, I took just over a minute off my “PB”… and before you ask, it’s a secret. You’ll all be out trying to beat it!

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were studious carb-loading… whilst most of the country are examining the labels on their food in an effort to minimise their calorie intake, I don’t think I stopped eating for three days knowing I’d be burning something in the region of 9000 calories at the weekend.

Kirroughtree is one of the 7Stanes mountain bike centres in the Scottish Borders, a good hour due West of Dumfries, and one of the best. I’d taken Friday off work to have a leisurely start to the day, and get up there with enough time to set-up camp and go for a lap of the course.

Whilst the rest of England were basking in glorious summer sunshine, complaining about the heat… the monsoon season had arrived in Galloway. During a break in the rain I went out for a lap, and Oh Boy what a lap, 9.25 miles, 600m of ascent, 5% forest road, 70% Fast flowing hardpack singletrack with technical rock sections and 25% slippery, muddy, rooty Hell, some of it a steep slippery death!

Lizzie was away on her annual pilgrimage to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, so Rich’s partner Shonah was to be our "Pit Pixie" good practice for Sleepless. We ran through instructions the night before, how we like our drinks mixed, what food and when etc etc… no pressure Shonah!!!

All the competitors lined-up behind the Police Car that was to lead out the mass start, Rich noted “there are far too many shaved legs up here!“. 

9:30am on the dot we’re off, out to the road and up a long tarmac hill for 1^st lap only, to string-out the field. Rich and I had agreed to try and stick together for the first couple of laps, he was still there at the top of the hill, then after a section of forest road we hit the first bit of singletrack. Mission accomplished for the 1^st lap anyway, we were up at the front of the field and away from any potential hold-ups. I glanced back expecting to see Rich hot on my tail, but he’d dropped-in a bit further back and been held-up, so sticking together didn’t last long, but to be fair it is virtually impossible in XC Racing anyway.

With 10 hours of riding ahead of us, I really wanted to get into a good rhythm but keep the pace high, that's easy on the first couple of laps when you have plenty of other teams around you most of which are out for one lap before handing over to the next team mate. My tactic really was to see just how long I could hold-off the one-lap-heros, and surprisingly it was quite effective, most soloists say the hardest bit is being constantly overtaken by everyone but I still seemed to be passing plenty.

The rain didn't actually stop, it merely varied in intensity, but it wasn't cold and once you've been through a few puddles it didn't really matter. The muddy sections of track however were getting worse with every lap, one of the steeper descents became unridable and, to the disappointment of the growing collection of spectators, was eventually re-routed to take the pressure off the medics!

In races like this you really have to break the whole thing down in your mind, the sections you like, the bits you hate, the places to eat, tick them all off one by one and before you know it your back at the start looking for that poor wee soul standing in the rain waiting to hand you a fresh bottle and some food as you come past, always with a cheery smile and words of encouragement... 5 hours in and the words of encouragement were "Your 9th overall, Rich is 17th"... that stoked a dwindling fire!

There was little respite on this course, every descent was steep leaving your triceps burning, the rock sections wreck your wrists, your shoes, shorts, pockets and eyes all full of mud, there's a slippery descent that I fell-off every lap, on precisely the same bit of stripped tree root... but I was still enjoying myself, and at 7 hours I'd fought my way up to 6th overall and Rich to 9th. From this point I had worked out that I could get probably get 9 laps and as I came out of the trees at the end of the 8th lap Shonah said "That's it, its finished, that was your last"... I wasn't listening (shocker!), we still had 45 minutes to go, I could still get another lap, stuff the bottle, I probably had enough left anyway and charged off only to be greeted by Frazer at the finish with a miniature bottle of Benromach and the news that they had cut the race short by an hour because of the deteriorating conditions. Sorry Sho... maybe I'll learn to listen someday!

Can you tell which one of us had the good sense to put a front mud-guard on?

In the end Rich completed 8 laps in 9hrs 49mins, that gave him 6th in the Senior Male Solo  and 9th overall, and still looked full of life!...

As for me, well that was the shock of the day, 8 laps in 9hrs 14mins gave me my first ever podium, winning the Veteran Male Solo, and placing me 5th overall.

I might have been a wee bit excited about this...

It was the first "No Fuss" event I've been to and have to say I really enjoyed it, its yet another fabulously well organised event with a great atmosphere. Unfortunately Kirroughtree was never designed with enough drainage infrastructure to deal with so many people, I don't think anyone has quite foreseen just how popular mountain biking would become. Anyway, this little matter meant that there were no showers on site... so how do you get cleaned-up? Err a bit like this...

A final huge thank you to Shonah, for 9 hours of standing in the rain, just to keep us prima-donna racers fed and watered, never without a cheery smile and the highlight of every lap!

Photos courtesy of Shonah Dobson and 21CPhotos

Sorry there's not Garmin data this time, it's had another hicky fit and chose to reset itself! :(

CRC Marathon Round 3 - Grassington

It has been an eventful couple of weeks since we got back from Italy. It emerged that Jules had not yet sold his Lapierre Pro-Race frame and, whilst I had managed to stoically resist for a good few weeks, the temptation eventually became too great, all-of-a-sudden it became way too easy to justify. Having just shelled-out a bucket load of cash on sensible house, garden and furniture improvements, finances are a bit tight, but even this situation wasn’t good enough reason to overcome the “Good Sense” of “investing”… I had, at the very least, to go and have a look!

Of course any further resistance was futile, the second my eyes fell upon its naked carbon-fibre loveliness, I was doomed… I mean how else could I possibly make a 400 gram weight saving without spending a proper fortune!!!

A couple of nights later and My Lovely Little French Thing (she doesn’t have a name… yet!) is ready to rock, and the first ride doesn’t disappoint. The weight saving is obvious in the way it accelerates and climbs and it feels so much smoother than the Maxlight, clearly, a most sensible purchase.

A mid-day phone call from Piglet and an urgent  message to ring back… Thursday night was going to be a big-night, Joe Breeze was going to join us for our Thursday night ride-out.

Along with Gary Fisher and Tom Ritchey, Joe Breeze is considered to be one of the inventors of modern mountain biking.  He is also credited with designing and building the first proper mountain bike frames back in the mid ‘70s which he called, the Breezer Series 1.

The story of just how and why this came about is a bit unclear, but it had something to do with with a bike and the promise of a pint (if he were ever in the UK) about 10 years ago!

Joe and his son Tom, riding the first of the current spec Breezer Bikes in the UK, both gave a good account of themselves out on the trails too. Both punctured at the same spot, no worries though, when your Cycling Royalty you don’t have to worry about sorting stuff like that… even the puncture repairs became a race for glory between Piglet and SP!

What a great guy though, it was fascinating hearing about just how inventive those guys were “back in the day”, using a 1930’s factory trolley tyre,because it had an aggressive tread, and was wider than any bicycle tyre that could be bought at the time… is a stark contrast to our infinite tyre choices of today.

Note to self… don’t take your helmet off for photographs after a dusty ride!!!

Its not right having to peel yourself out of bed at 5am on a Sunday. I’m rediscovering my love of espresso at the minute, that helps keep me in trouble, the coffee grinder being one of Lizzie’s favorite early morning noises!

Sadly the lovely quiet sunny morning turned to cold and windy with a distinct threat of rain… but clearly not enough to stop me throwing by waterproof back into the car!

The Lovely Little French Thing all dressed-up for her first date... Kilnsey Main Overhang in the background... I still have nightmares about dangling upside down in a "fankle" of ropes & etriers one wet weekend eons ago, when we couldn't think of anything else to do!!!

After a bit of a warm-up I carefully selected my spot at the start, front & centre (of course) and whilst quietly wondering if I had underestimated my clothing again, memories of Italy still fresh in my mind… I noticed that the commentator was looking at me, grinning, and walking my way….

“What’s your name?”… mind goes blank… don’t think too hard JB it’s an easy question and there’s only about 600 people listening!!!! 

“…and have you been training for this event?” I babble something about 24 hour racing or something… fortunately, the only girl on the front row takes his attention away from me and he sets-off to ask her some questions for the benefit of the crowd.

Finally we’re off, and I had decided the narrow gate 100 meters or so after the start could be risky, and lead the charge to it, then half a mile down the road before turning sharp right and start the first of the big climbs of the day. Its not long before the pack starts to string out and I try and settle down into the 85km race.

The descent on the other side is fast but with difficult technical sections thrown-in that, you arrive at going way too fast, there are plenty of rocky sections too, something you don’t get much practice of around Cannock Chase. I get down it ok though and manage to ride the bit that a couple of guys in front decide to carry their bikes down.

Another long and steep climb before being thrown back down the other side and this time, I get it wrong, the front wheel didn’t quite stay on top of the rut and pitched me off into the deepest part of the ditch on my right. Felt like a long way to fall but, ok, I get up and crack-on until, that is, trying to cross a well concealed rut that, simply stopped the front wheel. Meanwhile, forward momentum is converted to perfect rotation around the front axle (!) and over the bars we go... ending-up in a heap in the softish grass. Didn’t hurt… really… but this second crash totally de-tuned me for a while.

By now the wind had really picked-up and the rain had started, a lengthy section of road where, with one of the Clee Cycles team, worked well together reeling back three separate groups in front before leaving the road and heading across the moor, right into the teeth of the weather… a properly “dreich” day as we say in Scotland. The second part of this long-course loop is up a hill that was simply unrideable and became a good 10 minute carry/push, that's fine though, I made a few more places here.

At the end of this loop we re-joined the people on the shorter courses for the last couple of climbs and descents. The last feed station at 65Km and I had no need to stop, still have about half a litre left in my bottles (yes... I know, still not drinking enough!). The final descents start to see my mojo returning a bit and i', a bit of a surprised to catch a glimpse of the campsite in the distance quite so soon.

The course turn-out to be a bit shorter at 77km and for me was 4hrs 47mins. 

To be honest I felt like it was a fairly lack-luster performance, particularly in the early-on but by the end I did feel like there were still a good few miles left in my legs, hopefully that could bode well for the 10 Hour race at Kirroughtree next weekend.

The published results are sadly completely haywire, a good number of people opted to cut it short in the rain, so its impossible to define final placings but it looks like it was likely to have been a 30-40 something of the 360 long course entrants.

Altitude data on the Garmin has gone loopy again in the rain!

Garmin Data Here

Joe Breeze Pics courtesy of Al Piggott

Action Shot by Jon Brooke www.rightplacerighttime.co.uk