Oi Legs... Shut-it!!!

Montane Kielder 100, the only 100 mile (one lap) mountain bike race in the UK and I suspect could/should be lauded as one of the hardest MTB races in the world!?


Ok, I admit I'd been taking this one seriously, even taking a week off work to concentrate on getting a solid block of training in. So there had to be some objectives, beat 9hrs (which would mean taking 30mins off last year's time), and put-in a solid performance for the Team at Go Run and Ride who I was really chuffed to be riding for at this event.

Everything about this race is tough and lining up on a cold morning for a 6:30am start is I guess just part of the fun! The competition was as strong as ever with South African National Champion and World Cup racer Rourke Croeser, Giles Drake, Tim Dunford and Ben Thomas there to battle it out for the overall title. Meanwhile, the Vets Race would be fought out between Rich Rothwell, Ant White, Adrian Lawrence, Rhys Lodwick and me (it would seem).

A few miles behind the lead-out van had to suffice as a warm-up before the race kicked-off for real. Rich Rothwell set a strong pace at the front so it didn't take long for the lead group to thin-out to a few riders before hitting the first bit of singletrack after 2 or 3 miles.

I guess a combination of it being a bit cold and no real warm-up meant that after only 10 miles my legs started cramping. You know your in for a long day when you find yourself in a dark place 10 miles into a 100 mile race, but suffering is what I’m good at so best just get-on with it then!

Lee and Dave were manning the 1st Tech station and had a bottle for me, but I hadn't drunk enough to take it, another mistake! The cramp was getting worse, and there was a point when both Quads and Hamstrings had gone at the same time… That initiated a bout of shouting and maybe a wee bit of swearing!

Matt had some fresh bottles for me at the next tech station around 40miles and rightly gave me a good-old rollicking for not drinking enough...

This year, the introduction of the Kielder 50 presented another challenge. At 50 miles you’ve got the choice of straight-on for an early bath, tea and cake, or turn left for another 50 miles of err fun! I think that is the closest I've come to "packing"... But quitting isn't really me, so my legs were just going to have to shut-up. Rhys was back there somewhere motivated by a promise of free beer 'til Christmas if he beat me!

Actually, when my legs were working they were working quite well and the periods of cramp were getting further apart. Finally I hit a sweetspot around the 65 mile point, and the two lads that I'd been struggling to shed finally disappeared.

Lee and Dave sprung into action as I approached the final feed/tech station at 80miles and what a welcome sight they were! Bottles replaced, chain lubed and away quickly.

I did have a little plan to turn myself inside out for the last 10 but I'd being doing that from the start and there wasn't much left to give, the 9hour target wasn't going to happen this year.

The finish was a very welcome sight and great to see Lizzie, Matt and Rich Munro waiting there to cheer me in at 9hrs12mins and 4th Male Vet (23rd overall).

Tim Dunford took the overall title this year, with Giles 2nd and Rourke 3rd. The Vets Title was won for the 2nd year by Rich Rothwell with Adrian 2nd and Ant 3rd.

Full Results Here

A big thanks to Matt, Lee & Dave at Go Run and Ride for looking after me so well on the day, Lizzie for generally keeping me and my legs in decent shape www.vivifymassagetherapy.co.uk (sorry love but you've got some damage to repair!) and to Rhys, who's always there to keep me honest… he looked as fresh as a daisy at the finish, annoying!

I should also say big thanks to Sarah & Paul and the team at SIP Events for putting on such a great and well organised event, it gets better every year and the course marking is the best, so good even I couldnt get lost!!

So there are only about 8 of us that have completed 4 out of 4 Kielder 100s... I guess i'm going to have to make it 5...

Photos courtesy of Joolze Dymond

20%!!!

There is a school of thought that suggests the "science" behind the sort of bathroom scales that tell you how fat you are is fundamentally flawed, and such devices are therefore quite useless.

There is some logic to this, I mean I struggle to understand how a whacking electricity into the soles of your feet can differentiate between amounts of fat, muscle, bone and water with any meaningful accuracy.

But when the same set of scales that told me in June I was a mere 10% bodyfat suddenly suggest that the effects of Christmas has turned a svelt cyclist into something more resemblent of a Darts Player at 20%!!! That's just offensive, even if it is wrong...

Well that was Christmas, now though the critical number is still wavering about the 18% mark and I'm starting to hear myself say things that are normally reserved for the local "Fat Fighter's" Clubs...

But all this is about to change! A recent visit to see those nice people at Torq Fitness has been a bit of a revelation, and I'm about to enter the Brave new world of Power to Weight ratios!

The expense is monstrous and unjustifiable but never the less it looks like a Powertap needs to added to the armoury!

Being the obsessive that I am, I doubt I'll be throwing away those dodgy scales, although I will try and be less concerned about the "fatness" percentage.

Montane Kielder 100

4:30am, never a good time to have an alarm ringing in your ear. Rain pattering on the roof of the tent had constantly filtered in and out of my sleep since I’d gone to bed making it even harder to leave my sleeping bag. The coffee pot on the stove was to be my only luxury that day.

I’d spent Friday evening as Cycleshack’s newest top salesman, well maybe if I’d spent less time chatting and more time selling, and had some ability with the most basic mental arithmetic (I get other people to do that for me these days…).

Dave at Infinity Cycles had done a tremendous job sourcing a new set of wheels for me and Rich and Sho, along with the rest of the Infinity Cycles Team, had very kindly collected my new race wheels and brought them over. All this meant that I had spent the whole evening on my feet and didn’t get the bike finally ready to race before 11pm, not the most restful evening, but good fun all the same.

Over the last couple of weeks Rhys had been quietly winding me up over the beating he dished-out last year. He sidled over and gently asked if I’d been seeded this year “err no”, to which he beautifully delivered his cous-de-gras “oh, I have” and wandered off… By 5:45am I had my place at the front… just behind the seeded riders (Grrrrrr).

The race started at 6:30 with the first couple of miles neutralised behind the marshall’s van. The strategy was simple, start at the front and stay there for as long as possible. As the van pulled over the pace instantly kicked hard and a group of about 15 quickly formed, I felt able to stick with the pace ok, the group was shedding riders pretty quickly. Then we started to climb and the pace kicked again and my heartrate shot well into the red, it was time to back-off and watch the “fast lads” gently ease away up the hill.

I was working on the basis of a Zipvit gel an hour, four Zipvit energy bars and grab a handful something at feed stations should be enough to keep me fuelled to the end. At the first feed, Rich Munro was manning the Tech Station so I took the opportunity to ditch my outer jacket, gambling on the conditions not getting any worse.

It was a truly horrid day, whilst it never rained hard, it was constant and the Kielder sandstone/grit was getting into everything. By 50 miles I was beginning to wonder if there’d be any of the bike left to ride! I’d been having a good battle with one of the guys from the Morvelo Team, finally getting the better of him when he stopped for a pee.

The Bloody Bush trail takes you to the Scottish Border, a great point in the race where you cross between two stone pillars on a Drovers road in the middle of nowhere. The lone piper and the singularly “Scottish” weather all making it feel particularly atmospheric!

A fast descent on gravel gave me a big moment, feeling quite at home on this surface after the Transalps I was pushing it and drifted a bit wide on a right hand bend, the front started to slide and at something getting on for 40mph I really didn’t want to come off. Luckily I somehow caught it and stayed upright, that had me spooked for a while!

Rolling into the final feed station at 78 miles intent on a quick pee and a bottle top-up, before I was even off the bike someone was already sorting my bottle, and whilst I was sorting myself out, the guys had set the bike in the right direction, put it in the right gear for the hill and gave me a mighty push off… outstanding service! I’d thrown a couple of handfuls of salted peanuts and a handful of jelly beans in my mouth, an interesting combo that your not likely to experience most days!

I would occasionally get a glimpse of the guy in front and that was just enough to keep my internal Terrier yapping and growling… not that I seemed to be bringing him back much.

A final bit of technical descent brought me to the finish in 9hrs 28mins, 5^th in the Vets and 16^th overall. I even had a sliver of brake pad left, rather miraculous when many people went through 3 or even 4 sets of pads to get to the end. Of the 600+ that started only 177 made it to the end with the last lunatic rolling in after 14 hours of misery, there’s nothing like a bit of misery from time to time!!!

So a seeded place for next year, a score settled and a new target set.... next year should be fun!

 Click HERE for Garmin Data


Photos courtesy of Joolze Dymond

Transalps - The Cold, Hard truth... Links to Garmin Data

I'm working on photos and should have a selection of the best pics up on the blog in the next few days or so but for now have a look at the cold, hard truth! Links below to the Garmin Data recorded for each Stage...

Stage 1 Mittenwald to Weerberg

Stage 2 Weerberg to Mayerhofen

Stage 3 Mayerhofen to Brixen

Stage 4 Brixen to St Vigil

Stage 5 St Vigil to Alleghe

Stage 6 Alleghe to San Martino

Stage 7 San Martino to Trento

Stage 8 Trento to Riva Del Garda

Stage 8 - Trento to Riva Del Garda - Team Zipvit Sport

Team Transviamala had 6mins on us, it was possible we could beat them. So part one of the plan was to bag a spot on the front row. An even earlier alarm at 5:30, breakfast and drive back into Trento, and a bit of European style queuing got our spot front and centre, perfect.

I was expecting today's start to be a bit manic and we had spotted a very tight left turn into a very steep and narrow lane, that was going to be a fair bottleneck. The gun went off at 9 precisely and the pack charged out of the square to chase down the leaders group that always gets a 10 Second head start on Block B.

Supposedly a neutralised start, it was still at top speed through the centre of Trento, using either side of roundabouts and traffic islands... Just like they do on The Tour de France!

We got to the bottleneck in good shape and pretty much got straight through, that was the start of todays longest climb. The pace more like a short XC race as everyone fights for final positions, we're no different pushing on as hard as we can.

At the 2nd feed station there was a horrid muddy push up a steep hill, Stevie's knee was giving him some grief... Didn't drug him up enough this morning, I grabbed his bike off him to push both up the hill and rather unsympathetically told him that he could or rather should destroy himself today, we had a whole week to rebuild him!

The final climb of the day took us up a road cut spectacularly into the edge of a cliff and at the top provided a stunning view down to lake Garda... But the finish was still a good 30Km away. Dropping quickly to the valley floor it was a fast run into Riva on tarmac and gravel cycle paths. We were with a small group of 6 that we soon rode off our wheel but then a fast moving group caught us and guess who was at the back... Transviamala!

We jumped on the back hoping to at least best them in a sprint for the line but fate had different cards to play for us... We overshot a badly signposted right hand turn and as I hit the brakes I realised there was no way of avoiding the Transviamala guy in front, plowing straight into him we both went down hard. Fortunately both ok but I'd shipped my chain and twisted the seat which allowed the group to get away from us.

Red mist... All we could do was hammer it back to the finish on the final few ks of road, head down, forearms on the bars, legs burning but there was no backing off, I knew we were dragging a few with us but didn't care. The SRAM Team went past but poor old Stevie's legs couldn't make the jump across to them.

We finished in 4hrs 8mins and took 24th place on the day. Not enough to move us any further up the GC so we stayed 31st overall.

Of the 220 teams in the masters category that started the race, only 120 made it to the finish.

Its been an awesome week, and a huge challenge that somehow we've got though. It would be easy if it were only about the racing, but its not, its about the team and not just the riders either!! I'm really proud of old "Bird Bones", he so easily could have given-up in his darkest moments but didn't and came out fighting everyday since.

Thanks to all that have helped and supported us through this, especially Lizzie and Gina for all your hours of feeding, massaging and generally putting up with a pair of prima-dona racers. Also a huge thanks to Zipvit Sport for your support and keeping us fuelled along the way.

Now for a week of rest, eating badly, drinking too much and sleeping... Oh and Piglet, just in case you think your life is about to get easier, better think again ! ;-)

Transalp Stage 7 - San Martino to Trento - Team Zipvit Sport

Everytime Stevie has a moan about the organisers and route setters being complete B*****ds, I've got to remind him that this race is one of the hardest races you can do and it doesn't earn a title like that for nothing!

Its fitting I guess that we should follow the 2nd hardest day with the longest, and slightly disappointingly cut a little short because of a 24hr public transport strike so the Police wouldn't allow us to race right into the centre of Trento. Our real finish line was a rather less spectacular layby off a road about 5km out of town. Although we did have to ride into the finish in the centre anyway, race-heads switched off!

We've made lots of friends in the peloton, and it this that makes you realise the truly international nature of this race. There's a couple of lads from Wisconsin, the Rocky Mountain mixed team that we see everyday, a couple of Spanish lads that we have a daily sign language conversation with. There are teams from Cuba, Peru, Venezuala, South Africa along with the inevitable smattering of Aussies and Kiwis etc.

Another hot day today although it was freezing on the start until the sun came round. I was a bit concerned about the early part of the race, hitting a fast section of downhill gravel I wanted to get through as much of the slower traffic as we could. It worked well and by the time we hit the gravel everyone was moving at a good pace.

Then we hit a great section of singletrack we'd been told about in the briefing, a cracking bit of narrow downhill through the trees with tight switchbacks "that you will have to walk your bike around"... Not if your from Cannock Chase!

One big climb today, not steep but steadily up for 20km with a rapid descent to the valley floor and 40km of flatish tarmac cycle track. Sadly my hopes of a good sized group to work with were just a bit too far out of reach leaving me to hammer myself to bits into the wind. We worked well for a bit with a couple of other lads but the accelerations out of some tight bends soon did for Stevie and we had to let them go (to be honest I was barely hanging on myself).

The final climb although short was hard and I've got to confess to reading the Garmin wrongly and convinced Steve the finish was at the top... Err but it wasn't, it was another 10km down the road (Doh!). Time for Steve to get the bit between his teeth, I'd virtually blown myself to bits getting us to that point.

We crossed the line in 5hrs 18mins which was good enough for 22nd place on the Stage. This has moved us up again in the GC to 31st overall, 6mins behind the team infront... I can sniff a top 30 finish if we can keep it nailed tomorrow.

Transalp Stage 6 - Alleghe to San Martino de Castrozza - Team Zipvit Sport

I've got to start this today with a huge thanks to everyone of all your messages of support last night, it did the trick and by the time Lizzie and I came back from the Pizzeria, I had my team mate back!

All your support and the mere mention that Rich Munro would likely be wanting an explanation galvanised Stevie into action... Rich we may have taken your name in vain but it was all in a good cause, thanks mate!

Several good feeds a couple of massages and an early night, coupled with clear skies this morning and spirits were much lighter in the van this morning.

I'm down to my last 6 Pro-plus tablets so I donated todays ration to keeping Stevie up and running... For those of you that know Steve well... Can you imagine what he was like on the start line drugged-up on Pro-Plus and Ibuprofen!

Today was the last of the big climbing days another 3100m to get up and over. The roll out was fast with 5km downhill before hitting the first climb, steep and long, and halfway up we went straight through the centre of a tiny hamlet and single file through a steep,narrow tunnel/walkway between the houses, with what seemed like all of the locals above and below cheering us through.

The riding then became very much more "British" short steep climbs on singletrack with roots and mud... Stevie happy with this... Much less like yer foreign riding!

We were going well at last, moving forward and riding with a bunch of people that we haven't seen since stage 1.

Each day we head out with a bottle full of Zipvit juice, a couple of energy bars and 3 or 4 Gels. Its the first time I've really had an opportunity to try the full suite of Zipvit stuff and tell-you-what it sure works, not having too much trouble stomaching it either. Liking the bars too!

The last feed station was set right at the bottom of a spectacular part of the Dolomites. The route climbed up and through the most awesome rock architecture before dropping off the back down to San Martino.

A few k's of fast gravel led to a road of perfect tarmac and twisting hairpins before diving off the road and dropping straight down to the town through the local bike park.
5hrs 21mins ride time has brought us our best result, 28th on the stage that has moved us up to 35th Overall.

The bike is with the Shimano guys getting some new cable and the gears set-up again, 20 Euros but I expect well spent!

Longest stage tomorrow at 122km, I'll be donating my last Pro-plus again... Hope the sun still shines!!!

Transalp Stage 5 - St Vigilio to Alleghe

This morning was a test of mental fortitude. The promised sunshine never materialised and the rain battered off the roof of the van as Stevie and I forced our breakfast down. Normally porridge, followed by eggs, bacon and coffee wouldn't be a problem but the quantities of gels, energy bars and drinks during the day then all the lactic acid in our systems at night is just making us feel constantly sick. The hidden pleasures of endurance racing!

Down at the start we're all shivering under the canopy of a cafe. Inside the espresso machine is working overtime and there's a steady stream of people heading for the loo, the cafe owner is too busy to notice or is simply resigned to his fate for the next half hour.

I find Brian and Martina hiding in a corner. They're from Stratford on Avon, although Martina's Dutch. They are racing as a mixed pair and doing pretty well, 18th yesterday and only a few minutes behind us. Its a great excuse to hide in the warmth for a few minutes having a chat.

A few minutes before the start its announced that the weather conditions above 2000m are pretty bad, 2 degrees C and snow. The organsisers are considering finishing the race at the 2nd feed station at 50km to avoid going over the highest point of the route at 2400m.

Stevie's head has been down all morning, he's rather out of sorts at the minute, his left knee is hurting, but the daily battering is taking a greater toll. I'm bearing up ok, its a Scottish thing, never properly happy until there's a bit of misery involved!

Whilst I'm happy to push Steve along for as long as I can, its bloody hard going. Got to take my hat off to the guys in the mixed pairs you see pushing their partners along for most of the day. Not only is there a skill involved but its really difficult to gauge the amount of effort to put in. I usually have to give-up after a bit and go and recover on my own.

If your on Facebook, go and find "Craft BIKE Transalp" there's loads of info, links to results and photos of each stage.

At the 1st feed, we were told that the stage would finish at the 2nd feed station in 20km. Got to admit I wasn't even a little bit disappointed although we did still have to ride down to Alleghe, but hey, twisty alpine roads, on a bike with disc brakes, and cars to overtake and outbrake into the hairpin bends... Well you just would, wouldn't you!

Again we've finished 44th today, but have moved up in the overall standings to 39th.

Tomorrows a tough day with 3100m of ascent, I fear that Stevie is on the brink of abandoning. Hoping we can re-build him again tonight... The 6 million dollar postie!

Transalp Stage 4 - Brixen to St Vigil

We've finally established a bit of a routine but God its a busy day. Alarm at 5:45 and Gina gives me about 2 seconds to get out of bed, having complained about this she has relented a bit... Get nearly 5 seconds grace now.

Breakfast, pack-up and check-in at the start for 8:15, then have at least 5 nervous pee's before the start at 9. Straight after the finish its into recovery drinks and food, then bike washing and prep for the next day, massage, then food and by then its time to go to bed.

Anyway, todays stage started with another 20Km of climbing, after a decent start Steve was struggling again and we started slipping back, or so it seemed. I have my first proper experience of overheated brakes, pulling them on as hard as I could but I was no longer slowing down, was lucky to get away with that one!

Another hard stage with some really brutal climbing that eventually got to everyone with just about all getting off and walking.

Just when we thought we'd cracked it with only 8km to go the track crested in a tiny hamlet, I'd just changed to the big-ring ready for another screaming descent to the finish when the course turned hard left and up for another 500m of height to gain!

We did have a great section of technical wet singletrack descent that was great, as most things round here, it went on for ages leaving hands, arms and shoulders screaming.

A final couple of miles flying downhill on tarmac (70kph today) to another town centre finish.

In all today racked up 10000ft of climbing over 72km, and just as I was thinking we'd had another bad day, seemingly everyone else did too again finishing 44th in 5hrs 51mins.

Now somewhere in all of this Stevie found his turbo button (or his missing stash of EPO), he went flying past me and kept on going, and was still going at the end. He's been bouncing around like a demented Zebedee tonight... Hopefully this bodes well for tomorrow!

A quick note on today's winner...

Todays stage winner in the Masters category was Udo Bolts, remember him? Jan Ullrich's old team mate... He was only the 1 hour ahead of us!

Transalp Stage 3 - Mayerhofen to Brixen

It rained last night, then it rained a bit more and when the alarm went off at 5:45 it was still raining and just to make the day a bit more enticing it was cold too!

Today vee go up und then vee go down... 32km of up to be reasonably precise followed by 65km of down...ish!

As Stevie and I shivered on the start in full winter kit (God Bless Johnny Darroch for the loan of his waterproof jacket by-the-way)... "Arnie" the commentator announced that it was snowing above 2000m and the temperature was barely 2 degrees C... Ahh Scottish Weather we should do well, as long as " bird bones" could stay reasonably warm! Clearly feeling fine as he chatted-up the two girls that went on to win their class today.

This is such a fabulous event, the roads are closed for the all the starts and at every point you cross a road, pavement or whatever there's a marshall or policeman to stop the traffic! Everyone is just so into what we're doing, people out walking in the hills step out of the way and shout and clap as you go past... Don't get that in the Peak District!

The rain eventually turned to snow as we hit the point on the ascent of the Pfitscherjoch that we had to start the 30min carry over rocky sections... For those that have done the coast to coast, think Blacksail pass... In Winter!

We crossed the border into Italy right on the top and started to hurtle back down and on the wettest day ever... And we're clocking 80kph in places.

The final run-in to Brixen was on cycle paths and old ladies sat on benches enjoying the sun clapping and cheering as we charge past. Entering the centre of town at max effort, the course barriered-off from packed cafes and loads of spectators, a couple of tight bends and we burst into the town square and the finish. 40th and we've move back up the overall classification to 44th.

Glad to have my old Stevie back today, well 75% of him anyway! We've been force feeding him tonight so hopefully see a bit more of the old Tigger tomorrow.

The girls are doing a awesome job looking after us, driving from A-B, finding campsites and still getting to the finish line in time for us to arrive... Sometimes only just!

Transalp Stage 2 - Team Zipvit Sport - Report

Climbing way to hell and back! On todays menu, a shorter day at 69km, the highest point of the race at 2296m and a mere 2900m of climbing over 3 big hills.

It was properly hot this morning and the 1st of the hills was right from the off and a steady hour and a bit to the top.

The longest climb of the day was next, just over 10km long and 1000m of up up up and more up!

Stevie was having a bad day, struggling with the pace from the start this 2nd climb really got to him, perhaps it was a bit of altitude, perhaps (probably) a bit of dehydration from yesterday, but he was suffering. Now I've noticed that one of the first signs that Stevie is starting to suffer, is when he stops shouting "Alright are ya" to any girl that happens to be near... He'd gone quite pretty quick today!

The climb was a killer and I was wishing for a triple chainset, the 2x10 whilst ok, was just that bit too long to push Steve although I did try a bit.

The descent was mental, more 45mph gravel with hairpin bends... More of Harry's braking technique coming to the fore!

A brief stop at the feed station before the last climb and I'd been taking this one a bit less seriously, its not that big... Err but yes it was as it zigzaged up and up and up.

The reward for all of the hard work was 20km of the most awesome screaming downhill. Some really steep gravel to begin with, then onto narrow twisty tarmac and speeds hitting 50mph, overtaking cars and motorbikes all the way down to the valley floor.

The last 5km was flat but into a headwind, Steve glued to my back wheel I tried to bang this out as hard as I could. To finish in 5hrs 01min and 47th for the stage. We're now lying 47th overall.

I broke a front spoke today, and typically my super new Easton wheel has a type of nipple that's different to everyone else... And of course as nothing is ever simple... I'm going to have to ride my spare bike, whilst I do love the S-Works hardtail, I can't help thinking that it'll be fab on the 35km of up, but not so good on the 65km of down!

Its going to be cold and wet tomorrow... A scotsmans speciality, need to make sure "Bird Bones" is properly dressed! ;-)

Transalp Stage 1

Darn cold this morning when the alarm went off at 6am, misty, but by 8 the sun was burning it off quickly and it promised to be a nice day.

With it being so cold over the last few days we had a real clothing dilemma, it could do anything. I opted for a bit of Deep Heat on the legs. I'd bought some German stuff that didn't really seem to do very much.

The published start line procedure of placing you in a box according to your number, 343 we weren't looking forward to starting 2/3rds of the way back. Fortunately it didn't work out like that, there was a grid for all the international licence holders then everyone else and managed to get reasonably close to the front of the B Grid.

Everyone had been saying the start was mental and usually lots of big crashes. In reality it wasn't that bad, no worse than an XC Race.

We bashed it out pretty hard to begin with to get as far up the field as we could before the start of the 1st real climb, tomorrows grid is determined by where we finish today.

The 1st climb went ok 7km long, the Euro-machines making it look all too easy, Legs burning now... With a screaming fast descent, 45mph on loose gravel, even me passing slow Euros who can't descent for toffee! Harry if you get to read this, I did remember your lessons of the other week! The lesson in braking now making perfect sense!!! The 2nd big hill came at 45k and 10k long, and the heat of the day building... Legs burning madly!

From the top it was steep loose and technical down to the road then a 30k generally downhill or flat before kicking hard up for a very hot steep 5k climb to finish in Weerberg.
We got in with a good group moving fast and working well when the bike started handling like a pig. Back tyre had gone soft, not punctured, must have burped it on the last bit of rough descent. Then the cramp hit home, both legs! Desperate... Steve having to push me along for a while until it subsided. We hooked up with a couple of Americans and worked well together to the last climb. That's where Steve cracked, his turn for cramping legs!

So we finished in 4hrs 51mins and 44th place. Happy with that, hope we haven't gone off too fast, with 2300m of ascent,that was the easy day!

We're sat in the campsite at Weer, had a lovely long shower, shaved the legs... And they are still feckin, burning... Don't buy German Deep Heat!!!

A very long journey!

Its the little things that you always forget or underestimate... Like just how long will it take to get there! Err 885 miles and 25hrs of relentless travelling.

Finally got to Mittenwald at 8:30 last night with the need for sleep completely over riding everything! We headed straight for Registration which was of course closed and really couldn't be bothered to go and find a campsite so we parked in the school carpark along with a few other vans and slept for 11hrs solid!!!

This morning we've moved to a campsite... showers, toilets etc... Feeling a bit more human now... And the Sun is starting to make an appearance.

So there are only a handful of UK competitors here, and we've parked next to a guy from Stratford upon Avon... Who had even heard that there were a couple of guys from Lichfield competing!

Have to say... There are some exceptionally fit looking people here... Feeling nervous now!

JB

Midlands XC Round 3 - Hanchurch

I'd been thinking that a full-on XC race the week before the Transalps could be a bit fool-hardy, particularly on a technical course like Hanchurch, but its just too good a race to miss.

It was also great to see another member of the Infinity Cycles Team there too, a rare sight outside of the North East! Good to see you Ray.

Steve's previous placings earned him a front row start leaving me to fight it out with the rest for the 4th row.

The course was a bit different to last years, still the same brutal sprint up a fire road but instead of continuing up the hill it was a tight left had turn onto singletrack. It was quite muddy in places but I thought the Rocket Rons should be ok.

The start went well, getting to the turn in good shape and made a good few places on the brakes up the outside... A favourite tactic harking back to my motorbike racing days.

The first lap is always so frenetic it takes a while to calm down and concentrate on staying smooth. Opting for the "safer" B-line lost a bit of time, and a couple of places but probably the best decision as I found later that Steve went clear over the bars on the 1st lap!

Things were just fine until the start of the 3rd lap when my legs seemed to decide they'd had enough... Even a gel didn't really bring them back much. I could hear I was getting reeled-in and soon he was chewing on my back wheel. I had enough to gap him a bit up hill only to lose it on the downhill. He made his move half way round the last lap, gambling on a cyclocross style jump-off and leap a log, neatly just beating me through.

The gap opened quickly and he had about 200yds on me at the top of the bombhole and the closing section of the lap, but he was slowing and slowing enough to convince me that now was the time to bury it! It worked, legs came back on-line and I sprinted past to rescue 13th place (turbo trainer magic!).

Disappointingly out of the top 10 but happy to be in one piece. Steve had crashed a 2nd time overtaking one of the younger riders and had damaged his rear disc... There's going to be some frantic spannering in that household tomorrow so its ready to travel on Wednesday!

Team Zipvit/Lichfield CCC news... and last minute panics!

Great news... Zipvit Sport have agreed to support us for The Transalps (You might have noticed the subtle change with the website!).

Many thanks to Ben and all at Zipvit Sport for your support, we'll do our best to get a great result for you guys!

There are plenty of last minute changes and panics happening... our kit has been a bit delayed in Italy, hopefully be here on Monday (sweating a bit about that one!)...

We have both been running Schwalbe Rocket Rons this season and whilst I really like them we have both been struggling with punctures despite running tubeless, and losing loads of hard-won time sat at the side of the track faffing about trying to fix things. So in a last minute change of tack we've gone for Continental X Kings, sacrificing a bit of weight for a hopefully a more robust tyre.

The bikes are in bits and we've got the 3rd Round of the Midlands XC tomorrow at Hanchurch...

Better go and get busy! :-)

Mayhem...

Its all getting a bit last minute.com but we are almost ready to hit the road to the Alps this coming Wednesday.
Its been a dramatic few weeks. I turned-up at Mayhem to ride in the Veterans Team for Cycleshack to find that the rest of the team couldn't turn-up till much later, or couldn't turn up at all. A very quick reshuffle of the teams and Matt Williams joined me and between us held it together till 7pm when Matt Barratt arrived at that point we were still in 3rd place. I was so relieved to hand over to Matt B and then Ian Wright so I could get some food and a rest.
Ian is struggling with an injury so he was a limited resource that we had to use sparingly and strategically (not that its slowing him down much). By the wee small hours we had moved up to 2nd place and the battle for 1st truly began.
At 4am we were 3mins behind, but a dreadful lap from me followed by a change-over cock-up dropped us to 15mins.
At 8am I went out for the 8th and last time and put-in my 2nd fastest lap of the race at 1hr 1min, but then the real boys went for it with Matt B and Ian putting in two stunning sub-54min laps.
Matt Williams was last man out, this was his 8th lap also and he utterly buried himself with a 54min lap. I'm sure I detected murderous look in his eye when I announced that we'd won, with 10mins to spare, fortunately he could barely stand at that point!
A great result and a real kick in the pants for me finding that I was the slowest man on the team... Not used to that these days! Just going to have to get quicker then.

Its "The Final Count Down"

Here we are then... 4 weeks to go until the Transalps so I thought I'd better resurrect the Blog!

I've been rather remiss with this this year but rather busy times at work along with finding, buying and moving house, training etc etc etc have all left me with barely enough time to sleep...

The other news so far is a change of bikes, and many thanks to chaps at Infinity Cycles for sourcing one of the first 2011 Cube AMS HPC SL's. What a stunning bike, in Matt Black and 21.5lbs out of the box (a bit lighter now) with full 2011 XTR, its my Euro-fighter (!), should be great for the Transalps and will be perfect for Kielder later in the year.

The Stable has been further strengthened with the arrival of this little beauty...

Anyway, now I've got this going again will keep it updated with our progress as the Transalps looms!!!

Better go and pack for Team effort at a muddy Mayhem this weekend... 

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