Entries open 01/07/10.
http://www.3peakscyclocross.org.uk/entryform.htm
Get them in sharp.
A touch under 3 months, plenty time to get some form together!
New training philosophy- push the pedals harder and the bike goes quicker. Keep it SIMPLE.
Wednesday, 30 June 2010
Tuesday, 29 June 2010
Nocturne Race
I've put my entry in for the 4th cat race, but unsure how the Parmigiano-Reggiano will handle on the first section of cobbles.
Maybe the best idea would be to stop first at Iain's to enjoy some Belgium beer.
Cheesy Nocturnal Nibbles
This Saturday sees the return of the Edinburgh Nocturne and to celebrate in true continental style Mellis Cheesemongers will be sharing some cheese love and a tipple on the side, pop along, introduce yourself and say hello. They are also perfectly situated on the apex of the cobbled climb, don't forget your cowbells!
is anyone riding?
Monday, 28 June 2010
Torridon Throw Down
..::Update::..
You snooze, you lose. It was ace! ; )
Bone dry trails, light cloud cover dappling the blue sky, lots of wee frogs, dragon flies dancing the dance of love. No photos [or words] can adequately describe a good day out riding, particularly one in the mountain-scape of Torridon.
There may have been a puncture, enough trackless portage to make a two rides old pair of Sidis look as tatty as their 3 year old predecessors and a disappointing mini pork pie choice but none could detract from quality technical riding both up and down on a stupidly capable* 'modern mountain bike'.
The final few kms of descent from the Coulin track to the Portal gate at Lair ... Oh yes.
Anyhoo, a quick pint and bite to eat at the Torridon Inn and I pointed the panzerwagen back in the direction of Contin to get away from the midge and see how Moulineers past and present were faring at the puffer-lite.
Quite well as it turned out - Gordy Mac and his other musketeers top-stepped the mixed trios, and Jac did the same for the female solo event.
*all bikes are capable of stupidity...
Top Step
Saturday night was Puffer Lite, A Le mans start got us off to a flyer with Donnie being a pretty handy runner, we settled in well to the race and being graced with good weather the course remained dry and dusty allowing the lap times to remain constant throughout. Cherie turned in a good penultimate lap to return inside the cut off time which allowed me to go out and do a lap of honour, We finished 1st mixed trio(2nd overall trio) with 19 laps of the 6.5 mile puffer course in a time of 12:21:40.
L-R: Winning mixed trio- Donnie Macdonald, Cherie Pumphrey, Gordymac.
Photo: Claire Wilby
L-R: Winning mixed trio- Donnie Macdonald, Cherie Pumphrey, Gordymac.
Wednesday, 23 June 2010
Time Travellers
I took part in my first ever 25 mile time trial a few weeks ago at the Ross-Shire roads Garve 2up. I was riding with work colleague Donnie Macdonald. On a windy night we headed West towards Achnasheen sticking to our pre race plan of 30mph with the wind behind us and 20mph on the way back with the wind in our faces.
Photo: Eric Sloane- Cromarty Firth CC
We posted a 1:02:36 which gave us second place in the mixed team category only narrowly missing out on top spot.
John McCallum has also been in time trial action at the Forres cycling club weekend, John posted a 25:18 in the Saturday 10tt and was going well in the Sunday 25tt when he went down on a roundabout along with quite a lot of other top contenders.
Photo: Eric Sloane- Cromarty Firth CCWe posted a 1:02:36 which gave us second place in the mixed team category only narrowly missing out on top spot.
John McCallum has also been in time trial action at the Forres cycling club weekend, John posted a 25:18 in the Saturday 10tt and was going well in the Sunday 25tt when he went down on a roundabout along with quite a lot of other top contenders.
Monday, 21 June 2010
Tuesday, 15 June 2010
Sxc Champs
Fort William was host to the 2010 Scottish Championships on Sunday. Gordymac, John Mcallum and Simon Muir took to the start line for what was to be a damp and mucky race.
Johnymac was holding a place in the top five before he was caught out on the descent on lap three, a coming together of manhood and bike saw him doubled up in pain when i passed by, Even my words of encouragement weren't enough to get him back on.
Pacing myself well i spent the next couple of laps yo-yoing with a few riders and reeling in those that had gone off too fast. 
I had a last lap charge that saw me catch a few riders and with less than half a mile to go and enough left in my legs for a sprint i took 7th place Master.
The pace was frantic as usual with riders keen to stay near the front along the fire track before the turn into the narrow and steep Lazy K climb. Once out of the singletrack climb riders were faced with more climbing on firetrack up to the highest point of the course, the descent by now was a muddy root infested drop which caught out many a rider.
Johnymac was holding a place in the top five before he was caught out on the descent on lap three, a coming together of manhood and bike saw him doubled up in pain when i passed by, Even my words of encouragement weren't enough to get him back on.
Pacing myself well i spent the next couple of laps yo-yoing with a few riders and reeling in those that had gone off too fast. 
I had a last lap charge that saw me catch a few riders and with less than half a mile to go and enough left in my legs for a sprint i took 7th place Master.Simon got round without putting a foot wrong and finished 12th in Vets.
Sunday, 13 June 2010
Bristol Bike Fest ~ 12 hour solo.
After running around and hurriedly gathering clothes, bikes, tools, food and camping gear, we made the long drive to Bristol for the excellent Bike Fest event. Last year i had entered the open class and pulled in a fifth position on my single, so i was hopeful of doing well and entered the single speed solo category. The long drive often leaves me feeling a bit crunched up but a quick beer while we put the tent up helped. By 1 am i was cocooned in my kip sack.
Saturday morning was an early start. I woke up sweating in the sleeping bag at 6 am, got some coffee on the go and reached for the hydration products immediately!. After signing on i broke out the new Endura kit - comfort is imperative when the dust is going to invade every body crease for a 12 hour ride!.
The start was a Le Mans style. I lined up with Dom from team Singular Cycles and after the gun fired, ran uphill with a degree of hurry. The course bottlenecks into the first singletrack and you can wait minutes if you are too slow. Fortunately, i made it in decent time and got going pretty easily. The legs felt good: the climbs were no issue, but the course was baked concrete hard by recent sun, and a section had been removed due to fear of racers crashing in the rain-rutted sections. The laps were 25 minutes and that would become a factor as the race wore on.
Very quickly i settled into a good spot in the singlespeed/solo race, punching out the first 9 laps in 4 hours. The downside of this was that my upper body, back and hands were taking a lot of punishment. The total climbing gain was accruing as well. There were very few recovery/smooth sections and at the rate we were riding another 14 or 15 laps would be a real killer.
As ever the rocks and hard ground took their toll on all the riders. After 5 hours it was everything i could do to not throw in the towel as my back became one giant muscle spasm and blisters appeared at an alarming rate on my hands. The top 3 were lapping in very similar times: it would take a herculean effort for me to catch Dan Treby (of Buff - Feel the Ride) in first place. Meanwhile, Matt Carr of Trek bikes was around half a lap down but riding strong.
The hours ticked by slowly. Our lap times stayed stable but the number and length of stops increased. In the open race, the geared riders were flying and began to lap us rapidly. Suspension forks and gears must do something, but those guys were pumping the big meat.
With my last lap finishing at 20 minutes before the 12 hour deadline, and any laps finishing after the cut off not counting, our placings were set.
I was happy to finish in second: I reckon my legs had a first place in them, but my back and hands werent cooperating.
Despite Matt and a few others getting bikes stolen overnight saturday, the event was excellent: great organisation, course and the food and coffee avaialble was second to none. Well worth an entry.
Saturday morning was an early start. I woke up sweating in the sleeping bag at 6 am, got some coffee on the go and reached for the hydration products immediately!. After signing on i broke out the new Endura kit - comfort is imperative when the dust is going to invade every body crease for a 12 hour ride!.
The start was a Le Mans style. I lined up with Dom from team Singular Cycles and after the gun fired, ran uphill with a degree of hurry. The course bottlenecks into the first singletrack and you can wait minutes if you are too slow. Fortunately, i made it in decent time and got going pretty easily. The legs felt good: the climbs were no issue, but the course was baked concrete hard by recent sun, and a section had been removed due to fear of racers crashing in the rain-rutted sections. The laps were 25 minutes and that would become a factor as the race wore on.
Very quickly i settled into a good spot in the singlespeed/solo race, punching out the first 9 laps in 4 hours. The downside of this was that my upper body, back and hands were taking a lot of punishment. The total climbing gain was accruing as well. There were very few recovery/smooth sections and at the rate we were riding another 14 or 15 laps would be a real killer.
As ever the rocks and hard ground took their toll on all the riders. After 5 hours it was everything i could do to not throw in the towel as my back became one giant muscle spasm and blisters appeared at an alarming rate on my hands. The top 3 were lapping in very similar times: it would take a herculean effort for me to catch Dan Treby (of Buff - Feel the Ride) in first place. Meanwhile, Matt Carr of Trek bikes was around half a lap down but riding strong.
The hours ticked by slowly. Our lap times stayed stable but the number and length of stops increased. In the open race, the geared riders were flying and began to lap us rapidly. Suspension forks and gears must do something, but those guys were pumping the big meat.
With my last lap finishing at 20 minutes before the 12 hour deadline, and any laps finishing after the cut off not counting, our placings were set.
I was happy to finish in second: I reckon my legs had a first place in them, but my back and hands werent cooperating.
Despite Matt and a few others getting bikes stolen overnight saturday, the event was excellent: great organisation, course and the food and coffee avaialble was second to none. Well worth an entry.
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