Wednesday 26 May 2010

Midlands XC - Round 2 Mansell Lacy



 Sometimes I need to remind myself that there is a bigger picture to think about, this is made even harder when you’re met with the raised eyebrows of those you find yourself chatting to before the start of a race. So whilst it may appear to be sheer lunacy to go for a 70 mile road ride the day before an XC Race, or to ride every day for a week after a tough event, the greater plan suggests otherwise!

I’ve been fretting about not doing enough miles or spending enough hours in the saddle for the big 24 hour solo in August, so I’ve come-up with a schedule to try get me to August with some element of structure, and to incorporate all of the other events in the calendar as part of an overall plan! The hard bit about this for a competitive wee soul like me is that there are certain events that I will inevitably find myself rather more jaded than I’d otherwise like!

Unlike last weekend’s Friday night shenanigans (pics of the pole-dancing incident fortunately too poor to publish…), I’ve been quite a good boy this week, I did try to take-it-easy on Saturday’s road ride and I succeeded in restricting myself to a couple of beers at Postierich and Sacha’s barby.

Mansell Lacy is a few miles outside of Hereford and deep in the heart of “Banjo Country”. Its been over 10 years since they hosted a Cross Country race. We got there just after 9am and with the race due to start at 11 there was plenty time to mess about and do a couple of laps of the course.

At 3.4 miles it is a short lap, but with 650ft of ascent in each lap brutally packed into a couple of short sharp hills and one big one, it managed to encompass everything I’m good at, everything I’m hopeless at, and throw-in a couple of eyeball-poppers for good measure!

The Veterans race is again the most heavily subscribed of all the categories and arguably the most fiercely competitive race of the day. I’d got enough points from Round 1 to be allocated a 3rd row grid position, leaving all the other nutters to fight for their spot on the grid behind me.

So with Big-Ring engaged, we’re off… a mile of up-hill sprint spreads the field out a bit before turning hard right off the estate road and dropping steeply to cross a stream with a 4ft muddy bank to get back out. I’d tried this several times in practice and still couldn’t get it, finally figured that the pressure of the race would carry my through it, wrong! I stall on the bank get passed by 4 others as I’m flailing about trying to clip back into the pedals! This is almost immediately redressed as the track kicks steeply up-hill and I regain my original position.


Again we drop steeply off a short bit of estate road and rip across off-camber roots, and trees that get harder to avoid every lap. There’s a horrid root section that despite the lovely dry weather had retained plenty very slippery sticky mud. My cunning plan was simply not to fight it, leaping off the bike and carrying it over the mud and slippery roots, kept my tyres dry and mud free, it was a good plan and rewarded me with a couple of places.



Flying past the other side of the main arena, hit the short but very steep wee pull as fast as you can before dropping down to start “The Big Hill”. A long, long ascent up a dirt road with 5 steep hairpin bends, and in the 28 degree heat, it’s brutal, and it’s the bit that suits me best! A short little respite at the top, before plunging very steeply into the darkness of the trees some good momentum is needed here to get up the vertical wall on the other side! A fun little roller-coaster section followed by a fast bit of dirt road followed by a good wiggly bit through a big bed of nettles (so nearly fell-off here), over a log, round some trees and we’re back at the start!

With every lap that goes past I get to enjoy riding this course but it would be a very different proposition if it were wet.
After the usual full throttle start, I find myself battling with a couple of others, fighting for position we swap and change several times a lap before finally on the third lap I pull enough of a gap on the big hill, to take me away from the fight. 

It’s yet another new feeding strategy, carrying half a bottle of drink saves 250 grams of unnecessary weight (that’s lots!), so Lizzie has to work a bit harder today in the feed zone, passing me a fresh bottle every lap. I’m also taking a gel every lap and that does succeed in making me feel sick by the time I get to the last one! 

Starting the last lap I’ve got a sufficiently comfortable gap behind (as long as I don’t do anything stupid) and the next place up the road is too far out of reach, so I just have to put in a steady but careful lap to protect my position. I spot Lizzie cheering me on as we rip past the other side of the arena, her feed station duties done for the day, but I’m too focused on my line and speed to wave! The heat is getting to me, particularly on the “Big Hill”, I’d been getting that shivery/tingly sensation that meant I was overheating… and not drinking enough! But I’ve mixed my drink a bit too strong and that’s not helping!  

Crossing the finish line, Lizzie’s there to meet me and confirms that I’ve finished 15th of 44… the day’s objective was to finish in the top 20, so I’m happy with that, a good improvement from last time out and a few more championship points on the board too.

It’s starting to emerge that there is a little feed zone community forming these days, our little helpers need to go and fight for their spot, retrieve the empty bottles we throw at them, and shout the right encouragement in the brief moment that we flash past and snatch a fresh bottle from their outstretched hand. They are utterly invaluable.

I'd better get Lizzie a proper bottle carrier… I think she’s getting bullied by the others for not having one!

Click here for Garmin Data

Photographs courtesy of Roy Bevis

Thursday 20 May 2010

Midland Monster 100 mile Sportive










Sportives… its not a race... But it is really! It's a canny way around all the daft rules associated racing on public roads and offers an opportunity for those without a British Cycling Federation Licence to get out and have a damn good thrash round some of the best cycling roads in the country with the spirit of competition.

Its against the clock, so position on the road is almost irrelevant as you're given a window of about an hour to start the ride.

I don't do many of these events, but they are a great training opportunity, so there were some objectives for the day, ride the 100 miles non-stop in somewhere near 6 hours and try-out a new feeding strategy. I struggle with gels at the best of times and the thought of eating 12 of them was enough to make me feel queasy… not to mention the horrid sticky mess I always seem to end-up in! So the plan was to split it, mini-flapjacks every 45 mins for the 1st half and 6 gels for the 2nd half.

We had agreed to meet at JC’s, Paul, Mike, JC and I would ride the 8 miles to the event and meet Mark and Leigh over there in time to sign-on, fiddle with timing chips and be ready for the off at 8am.

The start opened promptly at 8am and we rolled-out with the first group, minus Mark and Leigh who were somewhere in the car park trying to sober-up after a wedding the previous day. It was really nice to have a relaxed start for a change, rather than the usual Zero-to-Redline in 10 seconds.

A bit of a delay at some traffic lights saw a split in the group and being the ever competitive wee soul that I am, took up the chase. We caught them after a bit of effort and I hooked onto a couple of lads that seemed to be pushing on at a good pace. It wasn’t long before it was just two of us and then as my new partner eased away on a gentle rise and, disappearing into the middle distance, his tanned, shaved calf muscles like knotted ropes, hinting at his 1st Category (elite) Road Race status (he was 1st home in 5hrs 14mins) it was time for me to settle into a 50 mile lone battle into a difficult headwind.

I’d been out in no-mans-land for a long time with only the occasional glimpse of the next rider a good distance ahead, and no-one behind for ages until I spotted another lone figure crossing the gap, steadily hunting me down! I tried so hard to stay with him when he passed, and did for a good few miles but fact is, he was stamping on the pedals so hard that it was as much as I could do to stay on his wheel on the flat(he finished 2nd in 5hrs 21mins!).

The biggest climb of the day came just before the halfway point heading out of Thorncliffe almost 900ft of steady uphill followed by some wildly fast descending… my bravery running-out at 48.8mph!

Finally the route turned around and the headwind I’d been cursing for the last couple of hours started blowing me in the right direction… head-down maintaining 25ish mph, it’s still hard work but psychologically easier to have a bit of pace. A difficult descent into the Manifold Valley followed by a vicious 1:4 climb back out and we’re head back towards Ashbourne and I’m back on roads that I know quite well.

Finally outside of Ashbourne, I team up with another chap and we work well together for the final 20 miles. The finish line appeared a couple of miles earlier than I’d expected and I crossed the line recording a time of 5hrs 48mins 5secs. That translates to 18th of 232, I’m quite pleased with that, and that’s the longest time in the saddle non-stop this year with no real issues other than aching shoulders etc.!!!

Still need to work on an effective feeding strategy, it was ok, but as expected I was a sticky mess by the end!

Interesting to find out that a few Cycling stars turned-out for the event. John Perks who turned 80(!) earlier this year and a bit of a cycling ledgend did the 70 mile course in 4hrs 43mins. Martin Earley, stage winner in the Giro d’Italia and winner of the mountain stage into Pau in the ’89 Tour de France.

It was also great to see Paul and JC get home in 6hrs 19mins with Mike following a few mins later having broken a spoke early in the ride!

Back to proper racing this Sunday with 2nd round of the Midlands XC at Mansell Lacy, near Hereford, lets see if I can write-up the Blog a bit earlier!

Oh and sorry for the lack of pics with this one!


Click this for Ride Data



Sunday 9 May 2010

The Dyfi Enduro







I'll apologise now for this rambling-on a bit, but I've got an 8 hour flight to kill, and I'll be too knackered to do anything else but sleep on the way back tomorrow night... Ash clouds permitting!

I did The Dyfi for the first time last year, and loved the impeccably relaxed, almost hippie fest atmosphere. With a band playing in the marquee on Saturday night, plenty of beer and food, battered overstuffed sofas and the coolest Rasta DJ easing you into a comfortable daze and allowing the wee small hours to creep-up on you all too quickly... it doesn't encourage nazi race preparation!

This year was no different, entries were limited to 650 places and were sold-out within 5 hours of the on-line booking opening up!

Looking back at last year's results, I finished 148th of 665 overall and 25th of 184 40+ male entrants, not too embarrassing a performance, but this year's objective was for a solid top 50 finish.

I'd been struggling to prepare for this event over the last couple of weeks, the crash at Hanchurch had left me with some really painful ribs. Stupidly (normal for me), I continued to ride everyday in that first week, and it was only the following Saturday when I conceded that I’d better take a few days off to give my body some chance of healing, and I should really go and see a doctor!

By Tuesday, although still rather tender, I was feeling much better and feeling a bit of a fraud sat in the Doctor's surgery on Wednesday morning. The Doc was pleasant chap and after having a good old poke about, announced that he was happy I could race on Sunday.

Arriving in the campsite at Machynlleth at 4, it was already packed with tents, but Rich Munro’s lovely 1971 VW Camper does stand out from the crowd. By 4.30 the tent was up and Rich Harris has thrust the first beer in my hand... I suspect this could go badly if I'm not careful!

Paul and son Alex (18) arrive soon after.  Alex and Rich M had bravely entered this event in the Luddite Singlespeed class... So one gear only and these boys had opted for no suspension either, a brave call for the big hills of Wales!

Rich Harris's bike however looked like it had been built by Orange County Choppers... complete with Ape hangers! Its a full carbon S-works and probably the best full-on race bike between us by far. Now I generally think that if it looks wrong, it probably is... So cue the Bike Doc and half an hour later with a bike that now fits, Rich is happier than a fat-bird with a Gok Wan makeover... ;)

We finally retired sometime after midnight... Hmmm what was that bit about preparation?

I'm sporting the new LEDgend Lights top for this race, and freezing down at the start in minimal clothing! I usually plan to start near the front but today, I'm on the front row (almost) next to ex-olympian and Scott factory team rider Nick Craig again, I seem to be lining-up with him quite often these days! 11am and it’s me leading-out a Peleton of over 700 riders... "Don't look round"! The marshall’s motorbikes lead us through the town centre which is lined with loads of people clapping and cheering... Fantastic!

As the tarmac turns to dirt at the bottom of the first big climb the marshalls pull-off and the race starts in earnest, a young lad in Mammoth Kit (15 years old, and apparently a real emerging talent) jumps off the front and it takes a few minutes before the pack decide to chase him down, its not a pace I can live with this early-on (if ever), we've got about 30 miles to race so I settle into a pace that's going to get me to the end!

This first hill is one of the longest ascents of the day, there's a band playing at the hairpin bend 3/4s of the way up, and later a group of cheerleaders to welcome you over the top... This is The Dyfi... It’s different!

It’s a mix of long long forest road ascents, (Lady Gaga’s “Telephone” on a loop inside my head… not sure I should admit to that!) followed by screaming down loose slate and narrow ruts followed by more big long up-hill (more Gaga)… my specialty!

A new addition to this years course is the World Cup descent, taking a long and extremely steep line down a spectacular ridge... It’s awesome and terrifying! Have a look at this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUtSJTIUkMc its way steeper than it looks on here!

I'm amazed to reach the bottom alive and surprised to find a marshall telling me I'm 29th! Wow… but my chain is hanging loose, snapped! How do you snap a chain going down hill??? The fast link that joins the chain, normally the subject of much cursing in the garage when you need to split the chain, had somehow come apart and disappeared! It’s a frustrating few minutes listening to the marshal counting from 30th to 43rd places while I'm fixing my broken chain!!

The Red-mist descends... 15 miles to go and I'm going to bury myself to make as many places back as I can! There are a couple of guys that as much as I can reel them in and pass them going uphill, with full suspension bikes, they're way faster downhill leaving me to do it all again. Eventually getting the better of one, the other disappears on a very fast descent.

Another fast, loose stone shoot spits me out at the finish, 5th 40+ Male and 35th overall... Really pleased with that, even with my mechanical, I've been lucky to not puncture, many people having 2 or more punctures, only had 1 spare tube with me!

Congratulations to Alex and Rich Munro on finishing 94th and 74th on their Rigid Singlespeeds!


Click on the Link below to see Race Data from my Garmin.