Eastern League 1 2 3 and other notes

Right, Cross is on. Three Eastern League races plus the Thetford Cross Enduro and it's not even the end of September! All good so far, top courses, high level of organization, close racing- job's a good un.

A slightly different start to the cross season this year- the 3 hour Thetford Cyclocross Enduro. Pretty good fun really, nicely in the lead group of 5 till a flint ripped a big gash in my tubeless tyre- rubbish. A further puncture ended any chance of the podium but all in a nice day out and good to get in a solid 3 hour race effort ahead of the main job at the end of the month.

1st Eastern League was blazing hot, nice up and down course round a park in Basildon. A front row grid spot and 1st into the first bend was a nice bonus but the legs weren't quite there to keep on it for the full hour, happy enough with 6th at the line. 2nd round a bit steadier of the line and caught up in a few skirmishes meant the leaders were away but a nice race with Martin Carter for 6th spot was good fun. 3rd round; pretty nice and consistent throughout, again still not up with the leaders but a cracking course round Hoghill was great fun to ride and another solid top 10.

A big thank you to all involved with the Eastern League, the first three races have been great and I'd recommend the League to anyone who fancies some cross action in East Anglia.

Some other (random) thoughts:

The Cambridge CC chaingaing is fun and a good workout.

Tubeless tyres aren't great for cross. I was hopeful tubeless might be a good way forward but so far I'm not convinced- burping problems at 30psi suggest tubs are still the way to go. Looks like you can now get a Schwalbe Rocket Ron tubular, keen to try these, should be the business.

TRP CX 9.0 brakes are fantastic, if you want better brakes but don't want to change to discs get these, night and day better than cantilevers. Discs for cross? Could be a game changer, not so much for the braking power but for the ability to run one bike for a whole muddy race with no clogging issues. At a pro level this isn't such an issue (as these guys have multiple bikes and a pit crew) but for the amateur on a budget one nice super light disc equipped bike could be a viable alternative to needing two bikes and a pit crew- I'm tempted.

There are some awesome bikes around these days! Seriously tempted to get a shortish (100mm) travel 29er like the Specialized Camber or Santa Cruz Tall Boy, in one go you have a bike you can race competitively in xc and enduro events and ride fast on pretty much any trail in the UK- what more can you ask of an mtb?

Important things for cross season are: some good cd's for the car journey to the race; a slow cooker so you can get a tasty meal on the go before heading off to the race and have tea waiting when you get in- winner! Aims for the season are; to win a round of the Eastern League and get round a National Trophy without getting lapped!

Looks like plenty good cross races on over the next few months, hopefully see some VCM  folk at a race or two somewhere around the UK and with some luck up home at an SXC round- looks like it should be another strong season in Scotland- pedal hard!

Well, nearly time for the biggest, baddest cross race of them all. Come on weather do your worst, it's going to be EPIC!

Tour de Ben

No Fuss events Tour de Ben is billed as a 'must do' race. I will not go into too much detail about it as the details are on No Fuss' website. Let me just say that i was looking forward to a long loop race in challenging terrain: i've had enough of the 'multiple little loop' endurance races for a while. The concept is one big loop with 4 special stages that make up a points race within the overall. This adjusts the standings once it is all added up. So, after a cold night under canvas in the Glen Nevis campsite i popped various food products into assorted pockets and wee bags, not forgetting a tube or three, and set off for the start line.

I had signed on the evening before in the Nevis Centre which gave me the opportunity to chat to Greig and sort of compare notes. I know the area pretty well from a riding point of view, though i havent spent much time around the Mamores or Grey Corries for a couple of years. Essentially you drop south from Fort Bill, joining the West Highland Way and then take one of the choppy descents down to Kinlochleven before climbing back up towards Loch Eilde Mor and returning by climbing over and cutting west into Leanachan forest. The mystery for me was the reported hike-a-bike from the Abhainn Rath up and over into Lairig Leacach. At 10 am we were led through the high street by a posse of pipers before the hammer dropped. I hung around the first bunch and made good time on the tarmac climb up from town. It seemed from the chat that the pace was perhaps being pushed pretty high, pretty early, in comparison to years past, but you can't read too much into these things until the race establishes itself. Continuing in the top 10 group Greig and myself shared a few more words before we hit the rocky trail south to the old shielings on the WHW. Unfortunately, as i flew through a water bar i square edged a sharp rock and blew my front tyre out. This early in the race, that was a bit of a bummer: I had sort of expected the possibility of a puncture at some point, but not before we hit the rougher stuff. I knew my choice of a rigid bike was a little at odds to the smorgasbord of full bouncers around me and it would cost me on the techy descents, but i had hoped to offset this on the climbing. Hmmm!

A quick fix with extra psi added courtesy of a C02 canister got me going again and i overhauled a few of the folk who had courteously checked my well being as they passed before the descent to Kinlochleven. This was rougher than i remember and the lower section was essentially a stream. I knew i was losing time on this special stage, but as i passed Iain Nimmo battling with what looked like a shredded tyre and a couple of other riders with mechanicals, i was happy enough with my conservative approach. The next climb gave me the chance to catch a few other riders. It was amazing how swiftly some folk were ascending on their tiny stemmed/big travel bikes. On flat pedals even! However, i knew the fast guys were well away by now. The trail around Loch Eilde mor is quick and it takes you back into the heart of the mountains. The sun was still shining and despite some puddles, you could be forgiven for thinking it was summer. The last time i crossed the Abhainn Rath, i lost a sock in the fast flowing, cold waters that inspired a barefooted, yelping run down the river lest i be blistered and limping. This time, rather than removing my shoes, i just waded through and assumed the position for the hike-a-bike. It actually wasn't too bad. Certainly i've done more irritating portages. All too soon, it was time to tackle the trails down the Lairig Leacach. At first it was really rocky and broken. I was still pretty concerned with puncturing and i was getting a little beaten up on the rough, water damaged trails, but i made it down without losing too much time and as i entered Leanachan forest it was time to engage the afterburners. I had taken in calories well and 4 hours of riding meant i was pretty warmed up. Other than a boggy (ok, VERY boggy) section in the midle the dry smooth trails let me hunt down at least 5 fellow racers before the Blue crane descent and a short run in ended the race. I was relatively pleased to come in at 4.39 and some change, as 14th rider over the line. I knew that once the points were added up i would drop places due to my DH mincing, but i'll admit a smidge of disappointment to lose 7 places. Oh well, the message is clear - the DH counts on this one. I was also gutted to see Greig who came in a few places in front of me seemed to have missed a dibbing point on one of the special stages that had left him way down the standings - a most unfortunate situation that doesnt do justice to his very strong ride. Will i be back? maybe! it *is* a must do event and we need to have more like them. I would like to see it a bit longer though - not just because it plays to my (imagined?) strengths, but there are better trails that could be added in potentially if it could be pushed out to 100 or even 140km. As it stands, for the 400 or so entrants, this was a great race and a jewel in the crown of No Fuss for sure.

A long time coming.

Tour de Ben this weekend coming. I see some other VC M names on the start list.

It has been a year since i raced at least. i've been spending a little time out n the road bike and towing Daisy on the xtra cycle, so i'm not expecting implosion. The legs are not as strong as previous years, the resolve patchy like the weather, but prepping the bike and kit today lit a fire somewhere deep inside.

Yes i will give it everything i have. Looking forward to lining up...report to follow.

Good luck to my team mates.

cross is coming

ride tough

party tough

there will be winners 

there will be losers

bikes will be broken

bikes will be loved

curse

curse again

scottish cyclocross

3x3



Three weekends and Three time trials.  I've never done so many time trials in my life before.  Anyway first off was the Black Isle grand prix.  This event is not your average tt with a distance of 38 miles involving four crossings over the spine of the Black Isle.  There was no gentle breaking in either as the start was straight into the climb up the Fairy glen taking riders to the furthest East point at Cromarty.  Next was Mount High and at over two miles distance this is a mean climb.  Third kick was a very short but steep Mount Eagle.  A well needed descent over the other side to Culbokie had me overtaking the commisaires car as he hadn't quite realised my speed on the descent!  The last climb over Knockbain had me cramping up which wasn't the best but thankfully I managed to get rid of it pretty quick.  All that was left was to gun it along a slightly uphill stretch to the finish in Fortrose.

 

This was my first time at the BIGP but it all seemed to fall into place for me on the day and I was good enough to take 8th place and a cheeky wee win in the handicap.

 

 

The following weekend was the Iain Longbotham Memorial 25 mile tt.  Iain was a Firefighter with me in Inverness and a very good time trialist. Sadly Iain passed away eight years ago with a rare form of cancer.  I've always said I should ride this race because of the link but I've never got round to it until this year.  Quite shocking but I'm no flat time trialist as I was about to find out.  Conditions on the morning were glorious with not a breath of wind on either leg which didn't make things easy.  I turned in a 1.05.15 for my first ever flat 25 which I suppose isn't too bad considering the other eighteen riders in front of me were all on tt bikes.  It's not my scene though,  Too painfull!

 

As is customary now is the presentation to the fastest Inverness Firefighter and this year I managed to take it by the very smallest of margins(only two seconds in it) from my old gaffer Ross Nixon who took great delight in presenting me with the Highland Firefighter polystyrene cup.

 

It was back to the Black Isle for my time trial farewell at the Munlochy two up.  I paired up with my usual time trial partner Donnie Macdonald.  We were pretty evenly matched after only seven seconds seperated us at the recent BIGP.  The course was two and a half laps around the Munlochy area giving a distance of 21 miles.  Again we were lucky with the weather it was cool with only light winds and this no doubt made for good going. 

 

 

We kept it steady to finish in 6th place behind winners and former Commonwealth games riders Kenny Riddle and James Millar and there was another bonus waiting for us in the second handicap prize.

 

It was good fun and hopefully good training for the upcoming cross season but I'm back to riding the dirt now and thankfully I've not experienced any withdrawal symptoms yet.

 

See you out on the trails...........



Trophee de l'Oisan

This summer I once again ventured to the Alps to ride the Trophee de l'Oisan. My winters training had mainly been focused on shorter events (by which I mean it was really cold so I only rode my bike for short periods of time), so I wasn't sure how I was going to fair, but things went pretty well. First event was La Vaujany, 109 miles with 4000 metres of climbing. For me, it was an awesome day. It was just one of those days where everything turns out right. I felt great all day, with only one black spot climbing across the front of Villard Reculus. It was a wet, cloudy day - and I loved it (no pollen when it's raining, so I could breathe!). The first climb felt good, going up through the cloud, you couldn't see 10 metres in front of you, riders appeared out of the mist, and those coming past disappeared quickly. My descending felt great, I was able to ride with groups rather than just having people go past me all day, and on the flat/rolling sections I was in groups riding a good pace, and was able to come through and pull equal turns to keep the group moving. 

Ali panicked because he forgot he was cameraman and Jim was bottle holder man, and this picture was the result. 

 Riding over the top of the Sarenne (above Alpe d'Huez), I was told by the officials that I was premier femme, after that I was just riding along thinking 'don't puncture, don't puncture, don't puncture, stop thinking about puncturing, don't puncture, why do you keep thinking about puncturing??' Got to the bottom of the final climb up to La Vaujany, where Ali was reclining peacefully in the back of the car waiting for me to come past, probably having finished the race himself about 5 hours previously (slight exaggeration, but honestly, I think if you can ride La Marmotte in 6 hours, it can't actually be that hard a ride can it?). Anyway, I yelled at him to follow me up the climb as I was paranoid about getting a puncture and losing my lead. I got to the top, and was indeed premier femme. Prize was a stay in a chalet in Vaujany for four people this winter, so if anyone has a penchant for skiing/cycling in snow and wants to buy it off me let me know as I'm going to be in hell (fourth year uni=in lab) so can't go. 

Recovery position. 

 I was staying with Ali and a really nice guy from New Zealand who Ali coaches called Ryan, and Ryan's friend Jim. We were in a chalet in Bourg, it definitely had character...the day after Vaujany we all slept in until 12pm, which was awesome. Not even the dredging pump in the bathroom which pumped water from a the river next to the chalet for our taps/shower/toilet could wake us up. I felt a touch of a sore throat, but decided not to talk about it as I didn't want to be made to sleep outside, or admit to myself I might be getting ill. Tuesday, definitely had a sore throat, gargled with lots of bacteria-killing things and ate lots of fruit. Wednesday, Prix des Rousses, time for damage limitation as my throat was burning and I felt like crap. Managed to come 4th, and first out of people who had done Vaujany. 

Thursday, Friday, still feeling bad but managing to keep full blown cold at bay. Saturday, La Marmotte - perfect illness cure. This was not an awesome day. Well, it was, but it wasn't in terms of performance, or how I generally felt about being alive. Serious damage limitation mode (DLM), or at least trying to. Was still faster than last year, but not by anything like the amount I was in La Vaujany. I was 11th in my category, and 2nd out of people doing the whole Trophee. Didn't have internet so couldn't check exactly where I was in the overall standings. 

Next day, definitely had a cold! Raced up Alpe d'Huez. Horrible. Felt sick and horrible beforehand, and during. By this point for me the worst part is forcing yourself to eat, my body was repelling food and the mere thought of porridge was giving me waves of queasiness. Managed to ride up and beat closest overall rival by 5 minutes, but I wasn't sure how much she'd put into me during La Marmotte, and whether I was leading overall. 

Standing waiting for results felt like the worst kind of waiting to get exam results, but obviously a lot more important than those! My main emotion when I found out I had won (just before getting on the podium) was just relief. 

All done, waiting for results. Jim on right.

Warm up and breakfast in one go before final race. 

 The week after this Ali and I went to stay in a fully catered hotel I'd won a 7 night stay in during this event last year. It was amazing. I was ill, and Ali had had a slight run in with a cliff after a rear wheel blow out on the second bend of the descent of the Glandon during the Marmotte*, meaning he had a knee which didn't like bending, so we just chilled out, ate lots of really nice food, sat by the pool looking at the mountains, watched the Tour on TV every afternoon and on one particularly strenuous day went to the Col d'Madeliene to watch the Tour go by in person. 

Recovery food. 

Currently I am at my Mum's place in Cumbria. The car I normally use to get to transport myself has died, but I needed to see the physio in Edinburgh about my shoulder (which I dislocated the week after the stay in the hotel, another story, with one lesson: don't dislocate your shoulder, it really hurts. Lesson could also be translated as: you know those shoulder stability exercises the physio told you to do four years ago? Actually do them). So, I decided to ride up to Edinburgh, it was awesome, 120 miles of fun. Yesterday I came back via a different route, through Innerleithen, then down the B709 (I think), through to Langholm. The road is awesome, despite the constant head wind I was fortunate enough to encounter, and I got to make friends with a toad which I moved off the road. 

In Langholm I stopped for a coke, as I came out of the shop a friendly local guy asked me if I was riding far, as people are want to do. I told him where I had come from and where I was going, and his kindly smile soon turned into a look of anguish, he said 'you'll never make it there tonight though...', I was like, 'hmm, I think I'll be fine', he reiterated that I was never going to make it, I thanked him for his positivity and said I'd be fine, to which he said 'well, all the very best to you, and take care', in a way which clearly showed he thought I was definitely going to die that day, but there wasn't anything he could do about it, which made him a bit sad. I was cackling quite a bit about this as I rode the next few miles home, which I'm sure didn't help in my bid to convince people that cycling 120 miles with a bag on your back to visit the physio is perfectly sane. 

*Without making it any more dramatic than it actually was, he crashed off the road due to a rear wheel puncture in the middle of a hair pin, his leg got caught on a wall which stopped him going any further over the cliff, but bent his knee the wrong way. The ambulance people put an inflatable cast on him, he made them hide his bike so that when I rode past the ambulance I wouldn't see it and stop racing. I actually saw the ambulance, looked to see if his bike was outside it but it wasn't so I carried on without a care in the world (apart from finishing La Marmotte, and not running over the guy who crashed right in front of me in one of the tunnels, and trying to disguise my sobs of self pity at how horrible I felt as intimidating heavy breathing). They took Ali to the hospital, wouldn't let him go, so he escaped and hitched a lift to Alpe D'Huez so he'd be there when I finished so that I wouldn't worry about him. He had to leave his bike because they wouldn't give it to him, but luckily it turned up in Alpe d'Huez the next day and was returned to him unscathed(ish).

Velo Club Moullorca

I've been going to Mallorca on and off for the best part of thirty years now and when this years holidays were being organised I made sure I had a bike booked on the flight along with me and the Family.  On my last trip to the Balearic Island five years ago I had travelled with my mountain bike and although it was good this time I couldn't resist taking the road bike to take advantage of the endless kilometers of smooth tarmac.

As any of you that have been to Mallorca with a bike will know there are plenty of hills and mountains to climb in the North of the Island giving more than enough roads to keep you interested.  As always we were based in Pollensa which gave me great access to the roads heading West towards Lluc and Soller. 

My favorite climb during the two weeks was from Inca up over the Coll De Sa Batalla(576m) towards Lluc.  I did this route from both sides with the Coll de Femenia(515m) side being slightly shorter but feeling slightly steeper.  The experience of climbing for 10 km on beautifully smooth tarmac is one not to be repeated in this country that is for sure!

One of my rides took me out to the lighthouse at Cap Formentor, the most Northerly point on the Island. One of the challenges in getting to and from the Cap was safely negotiating the tunnel on route.  The road out here is very well used and as such felt like riding at home apart from the fact that every car that passed gave you plenty of room.

Having endured the persistent Scottish rain throughout June and the start of July it was a delight being able to ride in dry warm conditions without having to worry about what extra layers and jackets that may be required.  I didn't really get fed up of cycling in blistering heat and I don't think I ever would.

But as ever all good things must come to an end and so it was back to the Scottish wind and rain.  It hasn't been easy coming back and having to plan rides around the weather again but at least I have the miles in my legs now and the memories of some great cycling.

My count for the two weeks stood at 220 miles which for a family holiday wasn't too shabby at all.  So if you are planning heading away make sure to pack a bike!

 

Gas Gasp Hill Climb

Over a year since my last post, not very good really. All the usual excuses- work etc etc! Mainly though the lack of postings is the result of a lack of anything positive to report. A good winters training had me fired up for a season of XC racing, this lasted 3 races till frustration at lack of results made me jack it in for the year. A sad but familiar pattern from the last few seasons- some changes needed! Perhaps I need to reign in my ambitions a bit. Anyway, a good few months off the bike and my mind made up that I DO want to keep riding bicycles got me checking the listings for a race to enter. The Gas Gasp hill climb took my fancy. A hill climb on a summers evening in the nice wee city of Norwich, sounded good and not too serious.

Not sure what brought that face on- a friend commented he hadn't seen that side of me before.

A cracking event, made better by the sun being out. Britain's cities need more events like this, not particularly big or fancy but a packed crowd and a great atmosphere, bikers and non-bikers all enjoying an ace little event.

So with my head screwed back on it's time to TTFU and get on with some training in time for the 50th 3 Peaks- it's going to be a belter! Anyone else in? Updates on training to follow over the next couple of months- there's going to be some pain involved.

Keep on it. Stevo.

XC Season in Short

I've been out & about a bit over the last few months racing bicycles.  I should have been more diligent at scribbling things down about them more regularly to give a more lucid & interesting account of what’s been going on, but I haven’t so instead here’s a summary of what I’ve been up…

March – Kicked off with the Midlands XC at Cannock.  Decidedly rusty on the skills side of things meant it took a lap of mincing and a spot of inadvertent tree hugging before I started to remember what to do and get into the swing of things regaining a modicum of riding ability.  Good to open the legs and lungs up fully, eventually finishing 9th.  Then lined up at the back of 70-odd Masters (due to no national ranking from last year) for the opening round of the Nationals at Sherwood.  Once I got through the traffic it was ok.  Getting 24th was not an amazing result, but I felt competative, so it’ll be filed under ‘satisfactory’.

April – Things went well in April.  6th on an ace course for the next Midlands round – long grassy climbs rewarded with lovely natural woodland descents with the odd jump & drop thrown in for good measure.  Then picked up 9th at the Nationals held at Dalby Forest.  Really horrid wet conditions made it nasty to wait around in but great fun to ride.

May – May however was less good.  At the final round of the Midlands I started well, then faded, then faded some more, then crawled my sorry ass round to the finish.  Shame, as Hanchurch is a killer place to ride.  The disappointing theme carried over to the 3rd round of the Nationals at Hopton.  A classic 1 massive hard climb, followed by 1 long downhill kind of course.  The climbing was fine, but for some reason I was doubly rubbish at descending on the day.  In a nutshell, I was 4th at the top of the first climb & finished 18th.

June - Thankfully things were back in order for the next Nationals at Kirroughtree.  Again there was some hard climbing & thanks to all the persistent rain some nicely squirmy, techy descents.  This one went more to plan, really enjoyed the course & finished top 10 again.

July - And finally, on to the National Champs to finish off my xc season.  A highly competitive field turned out, as you’d expect, to contest the champs.  Finally the rain had stopped & we were treated to glorious sunshine & a super-fast course.  Nothing particularly technical, but loads of corners & lots of roots which were tricky enough when ridden at pace.  Pretty happy with how it went, good consistent laps and winning a long sprint at the end for 13th place.

Now, time to start thinking about getting a new cross bike together.  Any suggestions?

Haughcross

Raced at Haughcross on Sunday eve, a summer cyclocross race put on by the good folk at Ronde as part of the Aberdour Festival.  Bringing a bike race to a mini festival with live music, beer tent and non cyclists made for a great atmosphere and event - a stroke of genius i'd say.

Heavy legs most of the week following a few big days of trail work (excuses!) had me expecting the race to be a grim, painful affair.  A few laps of the course before the vets/womens/juniors race though had me smiling as I pedalled - the course was a belter - short and compact with lots of turns, flow and rhythm.  A well though out euro-esque circuit with sections to go hard on but also sections to recover, oh and lots of turns of all types, plus 3 sets of uphill barriers a lap.  And a whisky short cut.  

Turns out the course was set out by Helen and Stef Wyman, up supporting the event and having run a successful cross clinic earlier in the day.  Just before the open race start I also had a lovely wee chat about bikes with Roger Hammond. Roger flippin' Hammond!  Almost had to pinch myself!  

A 5-4-3-2-1 start caught me napping a little as the front row jumped on about 2!  Far too gentlemanly into the first turn I ended up quite far back.  I was able to move up though and a few laps in got into a great wee battle with James McCallum, he stronger on the straights, me a little quicker through the turns.  For several laps I resisted the whisky shot short cut, but with Jamesy gaining a good 10secs a lap through here I bit the bullet and got stuck in.. with varying results.  

A while later thanks to more whisky short cutting, good advice from Davy Graham through the muddy bit, careful metering out of effort, surprisingly good legs and some slip sliding through the turns, I was up into 3rd spot!  Not sure quite how this happened but here I stayed 'till the finish.  Craig Hardie took the win with Dave Lines in 2nd.

Thanks to everyone who helped put on the event, it was super.  Ace to see so many VCMers out racing too.

http://jerryballoch.tumblr.com/ pics' capture the spirit of the event nicely, oh and a pretty shonky whisky grab by number 32...

cheers,

andy

Something's brewing........

we ride bikes, remember?

A long, dark corridor...

I think i'm ready to open the door and step out...

..the road miles have been short and punishing. I need to run to the hills.

Race Reports 2 & 3. by Beate Kubitz

Race Report no.2Do not attempt Tod cobbles in 34 x 25. Even if it is your lowest gear.That is all.

Race Report no.3The learning curve of a cx novice (aged 40 and a bit years old) part the third

Armed with lower gears and a lighter bike and on a relatively easy course I made a good start. Chipps made sure I actually lined up near the front row rather than my usual lackadaisical 'anywhere will do' place. He may have regretted this generosity when I passed him on the first bend. The ground was close mown and not as soft as I had feared and I realised I was keeping up a fairly good pace and opening up a gap over the nearest girl. It wasn't a very technical race with only one steep uphill bank made more difficult to ride by a couple of small ruts near the top which caused me to stall if I didn't judge it completely correctly. I ploughed on, noting that I was gaining seconds every lap and feeling great. This was surely how it was supposed to feel?Just over half-way, however, chasing down a bloke who had just passed me, I followed him up the steep climb. Maybe stupidly, as I knew I was climbing more quickly than he was and the firm line on the track was pretty narrow. He skidded and slipped just ahead of me, somehow rolling backwards into my bike. As I tried to climb back onto my bike to make up the lost time, there were shrieks from the sidelines.'Don't, your rear mech is off'.Thankfully they reached my dazed brain before I could try and do anything that would ruin my wheels as well. I couldn't quite believe that the race was over. I waited for perhaps a minute for my nearest rival to pass. And cheered her on.

Then I turned to Chipps to cheer him up the hill (and woefully display his lovely bike, in bits). He stepped off the Kinesis he was riding and handed it to me. I would love to say that I repaid his chivalry by going on to chase down nearest rival, but I managed to get within 20 seconds of her before realising that I wouldn't catch her and settled to a more sedate pace. I had lost my momentum and besides was slightly unnerved by his DI2 gears. At least it was relatively easy to correct mistakes (once I had noticed that being in the big ring was making the going a bit tougher than necessary). But I finished - and I learned what a difference a good start could make. And also not to ride too close to other riders on tough hills. Tomorrow I will learn how much a rear mech hanger costs.

The worst race so far…. by Beate Kubitz

Firstly hello to new new teamster Beate and her first season of cross, I'll let her do the rest of the talking. chrisd
The worst race so far….
I didn't expect it to be the worst race. I have only done four others so I suppose that's not much to go on, and despite my inexperience I've done reasonably well. Not anywhere near last, at least. This 'success' led to Chipps' boast that VCM would get a top three from me every race (at least on the basis that there aren't that many women vets racing). Ho hum, maybe it's the pressure of expectation that led to my monumental lack of focus.
Just to put racing into context. I ride pretty much every day - a 12 mile commute  - on my Jake the Snake. Usually with a couple of extra miles thrown in to visit my sheep. Sometimes I take the off-road route of 5 miles over the tops from gorgeous Mankinholes, one of the hamlets under local landmark Stoodley Pike, to Hebden Bridge. This is the kind of route I love - mainly firm stony going with quite technical stretches, water bars and a fast-as-you-dare cobbled descent or two. Made more interesting by the fact that these cobbles were last maintained about a hundred years ago.
We're now into a (rather late) lambing season so every day is prefaced and ended by the lamb round up. To get to Keighley last night meant I had to leave my shop at 5.30pm exactly. Ride about 6 miles up to my sheep fields, ending in a steep valley floor to top climb, as fast as I can without getting too out of breath so that I don't build up lactic acid in advance of the race. Walk and run about a mile round the fields checking on the new arrivals (two lots of twins and a single since you ask). At which point Chipps collected me and bike in the car to dash to Keighley.
We reached the race with about 30 minutes to spare. Amazing how quickly it goes - just enough time to stumble round a practice lap and get to the start line right at the back whilst still removing non-essential clothing. This less than propitious start led to me being bang last out. Oops.
I hauled a few places in on the first straight (grass, a bit soft but not the end of the world) and then we hit the singletrack section. Which turned out to be 'make your own singletrack on our nasty, wet, slidy, hummocky, grass/bog'. Suddenly daunted, I got off my bike and jogged. For ages. Over the one obstacle, round another nasty slidy corner until there was a clear downhill bank. Back on, down and survived the steep off camber, off at the bottom ready to push back up. More slopping through mud. Another waddle along an off camber bank. Don't get back on too early - the flat bit at the top is actually a deceptive bike-stalling sand pit. Down again. Up and onto a fast concrete path. Totally grumpy by now at losing my early gains I cheered myself up with a perfect rolling dismount for the flight of steps. Little things. The next section was a swooping grassy downhill chicane and suddenly it was not quite so awful.
As I rinsed and repeated I began to realise that I actually could ride most of the nasty muddy sections and that I wasn't actually bang last. The downhill became fun and something to look forward to - I passed a few people on it which was immensely satisfying.
Then I tried a bit harder on one bit of mud and fell off. The one girl I was certain was still behind me crept closer. She caught up with me on one of the banking sections and passed. Disaster. I kept right behind her, realising that if she got ahead for the downhill I would be slowed to her pace so had to overtake before then.
Right at the top of the bank, carrying my bike, I turned tighter than she did, squeezing ahead. Put the bike down, rolling, ahead of me (and the nasty sandpit) and jumped on. A proper cross mount under pressure and it worked, I was ahead with a straight, narrow, section in front of me. Not something I've done before. The fact that it worked spurred me on to mount properly at every opportunity. I only learned to mount and dismount in January (thanks to the combined forces of Chipps and Nick Craig - it was my birthday treat!) and I knew the theory - it creates easy momentum and will save energy - but this was the first race where I could put it to the test.
After that I just had to keep ahead - easy on the downhill, I seemed to be pretty good at that, and by trying harder on the mud. I didn't come off again so kept my lead. By the end I was exhausted but well ahead.

It wasn't great being in a battle to not be last but I managed it. On the up side, a couple of the things I have been working on - the cross mounts and a bit more bravura on the downhills - came good. On the down side, being daunted by the course on the first lap really lost me time and places. I need to practice on mud so that I have a bit more confidence and do a bit more work on powering over the slushy stuff. Oh, and apparently my tyre pressure was all wrong.

10UTB 2012

It's almost 14 years since I first took part an endurance MTB race - when the Psychonauts took on Red Bull Mountain Mayhem in 1998. The Psychonauts became TSPC and then were bought out by VCM. RBMM became SSMM and then GT-MMM. SITS, 10UTB, 10@K, BBF, G7 all taken on in a mix of fours, pairs or solo. 21 races for a conservative estimate of 142 hours of racing.

I have never taken a wrong turn before. But I did on Saturday at 10UTB.

Someone up front went left rather than right when we hit the Puggy Line and a whole herd of sheep rode past the arrow pointing the other way chasing the wheel in front. I was about 15 back from the front of this peloton of twats when we hit the railway at Alcan (i.e. almost into Fort William) and collectively realised that we'd fucked up. 4 miles and 20 minutes gone on the first lap...

Breathe. That's that. I've dried my eyes.

Niall (McDougals RT) and I paired up for the 2012 edition and it was a scorcher. One of those unusually warm spells that we sometimes get at the end of spring and which gets hopes up for long, hot summer.

The course was different to my last 10UTB - alongside young JohnVCM - in 2008. Based on the Relentless course apparently, which seemed to involve slightly more fireroad, but a included a hoot of a rarely used singletrack section at the tail end and two fairly steep singletrack climbs to completely blow the legs to bits.

After a couple of sweltering laps, I turned to a 2 Calipo per rest period strategy and then latterly 1 Calipo, 1 Becks, 1 jammy pancake to supplement oodles of gels, bars and water. This worked well, but should have introduced the Becks earlier.

9 laps in total for us meant 5th in Male Vet Pairs. Nae bad. Plans for slightly less pre-race refreshments, fewer amuse-bouche (in Fort William!) and even the T word have been mentioned for 2013.

Tweedlove King of the Hill

Dust photo pinched off of Alpine Bikes Facebook - ta! 

VCM minor royalty of The Hill  ; )


There was a trio of VCM representing at the TweedLove King & Queen of the Hill Enduro this weekend.

Firstly, the format of the event:  Go for a ride around Glentress from Peebles, rag it around fun bits of old and new trail, suffer on the fire-road climbs, eat cake, get timed.

7th(16th) , 13th(31st) and 16th(36th) in class (and overall) for Andy, Grieg and mysel' respectively.

Not forgetting Mr Walker getting the fastest times on both of the climbing stages...  : )

Winners Crowns went on the nappers of some locals - Andy Barlow and Katie Winton.

A different feel from the Innerleithen MTB enduros, with the climbing stages and because the temperature was in double figures and the dust! I also think the  trees are planted closer to each other further down the Valley as I did not feel the need to hug one at any point on Sunday...

Highlight of the course had to be the final descent from the end of the red singletrack climb all the way back down the ridge to Race HQ on the putting green outside the Peebles Hydro. Flat out rooty rocky madness of Ho Chi Min, sinuous Zoom or Bust for a turn every 2 pedal strokes then a red-line beast of a wee climb by the fort to drop into some ace 'built by kids' singletrack to be spat out at the bottom of Janet's Brae and back to the Hotel.  A little bit of eveything and a whole lot of fun...

Hats off to the event crew for a good do - hopefully it will be back again.

let the monuments begin

Moulineers in the Meldons

Recently, Maddy and I took to the hills of the Meldons to try and be speedy in the pursuit of the fastest time. I think some people call it a time trial. We both rode last year too, but the route was significantly different due to road works, so there can be no comparison of times.

This year, I rode fastest of all the fearless females (I added fearless just for an extra ‘f’...it’s probably inaccurate, I was probably fearful at some point*), and I believe Maddy rode 8 minutes 47 seconds faster than 2010 (it was the same route then), which is pretty good, I’d say. Although I might have got that wrong because it’s late, I’m supposed to be revising so my brain is full of meaningless phrases and words which I’ve read today, and maths has never been my strong point. Unless any prospective employers are reading this, in which case, although I have never pursued maths as a direct subject, I have always performed strongly in both exam and project based tasks. Especially if my friend Mary is sitting next to me. And Zoe is sitting next to her.

It was quite fun actually, I got passed by my minute man after about a minute, but I used his disappearing figure to pace myself up the first climb. The main road section was super fast, tail wind, but difficult to tell if you were actually trying because even if you’d free wheeled you’d probably still have been moving quite fast. The last climb was horrible for me, and there was a little cyclocross section where we had to go off road because of a broken cattle grid. I reckon Maddy probably got a couple of seconds on me there. I was bumping along the un-surfaced section thinking things about southern softies, them not doing TTs offroad down south, should we be doing TTs off road up here? Am I going to crash into that sheep? Are deep section wheels like this made for this terrain? Are aero bars? Should I wear an aero helmet next time I do cyclocross? Before it was back onto the tarmac, head wind slog, draggy uphill, I felt as though I was doing about 4mph. I probably was.

The finish is up a little hill to a big house in Eddleston, I went too hard too soon and cracked about 50 metres before the finish, which is where Ali (to whom both Maddy and myself both owe having well-maintained, actually built up from a pile of parts, bikes to ride at all) passed me for 11 minutes...I’ll take that.

*See section in paragraph three with regards to sheep.

A Wednesday in Belgium

ok so I haven't been riding this week, but I still feel a little weary.