No Fuss Wee Tri 2

Last weekend I headed north the Fort William to take part in my second ever triathlon. My first being somewhat 'in at the deep end' the Half Big Ben Triathlon last September. So I thought that the No Fuss Wee Triathlon aimed at novices was more of a sensible event to enter.

With the entry list for the Saturday race bursting at the seams, No Fuss put on an additional race on the Sunday to accommodate the demand.
I headed up on Saturday morning to cheer on some friends who were competing that day and also to scope out the course for the Sunday.
The race format was slightly different to other triathlons (so I'm told!) where the competitors go straight from the water and onto their bikes. The No Fuss Wee Tri way is much better! The swim leg was done in heats to get everyone time gaps to start their bike leg on. This meant there was plenty of time to get a shower and changed into dry bike clothes. Nice.

We were then allocated our race numbers in order of our swim placings and then rode in convoy round to Glen Nevis for the start of the bike section.
The bike course was a short sprint on the road then onto the fire road along to the end of Glen Nevis, then back in along the road. Riding my cyclocross bike really paid off here as I was able to make up about 5 places. But I was soon cursing my non-mtb gear ratios as we were diverted off of the road and up the steep loose climb at the back of Cow Hill. My beefy 53-39 chainset was maxed out as I grunted my way to the top!

href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv4yAsS4bjbmOcGRbnMr16bCsa7ri0OJK1yjXi56EsxFBN1BzPji_tKxVTRwPOBLHbs8c-bZmdUmFwHGDKMA9Rkokj0gZULoNwZNtnMUdA7cRPmfUoiRWtCcNG0MohO_Iy95JTSV_DGJY/s1600/photo+3.JPG">(Photo: Frazer, No Fuss)

The trail stayed high above the town, before dropping us down at the leisure centre and our trainers for the start of the dreaded run lap.
As it happens, I actually felt pretty good going into the run and I headed out feeling strong. I mean don't get me wrong, I'm still more Eamonn Holmes than Kelly Holmes, but its all relative!


(Photo: Frazer, No Fuss)

The run leg wasn't too hilly and was a mixture of road and off-road. I managed to make up another place on the run and I was told that I was first lady. Trying not to hyperventilate with the pressure of such an unusual occurrence for me, I plodded on and managed to cross the line before the super-fast Julie Wilson caught me.


(Photo: Frazer, No Fuss)

Thanks for another fantastic event by No Fuss. Just the right mix of challenging, great fun and sociable.

Well done to Highland girls Marie Meldrum, Fiona Beattie, Emma Holgate and Jo Cardwell who were all on the podium on Saturday's race. And congratulations to Ewan Thorburn who's winning time on Saturday was the fastest all weekend.

FBROTY, Lyndsey Wins and my FTriOTY

Sky by Marty

I have relaxed my deathgrip on the clipboard and slammed shut the netbook after an amazing Scottish CX season, looking on from the timing sidelines.

Time to ride bikes!

Muick by Marty

One of the few things I'm planning on doing this year is the TransProvence [why] as such I decided I needed a training plan:

1: Read "Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes" by RLS. [The one where our Robbie simultaneously invents bivvying and the literary sub-genre of quirky travelogue].
2: Go do some big rides in the hills.
3: Do something else. [It is a long time until September and I needed some more immediate goals]

One big ride I have had in mind for a while is a high level loop around the Lochnagar area - just so happened that Marty had the same idea for the weekend just passed so an early start saw us at Glen Clova basking in almost-warm sunshine. We ticked off 4 Munros, intruded slightly on a plane wreck, were mesmerised by rocks that looked like massive jobbies, and [I] failed yet again in the 'pack correct sized tube for bike wheel' test.

First Big Ride of The Year!

Carn t-Sagairt Mor by Marty

Something else? I decided to try this triathlon thing, not for the competitive-ness, nor the wetsuits but because I am crap at running and swimming - so they are effectively new things to learn. The "Craggy Island" tri later in the year sounds fun, it is all off road [swim included] to or on the Isle of Kerrera near Oban.

The No Fuss Wee Triathlon presented itself as a good introduction and would give me some decent feedback on stuff I need to learn or get mo'better at.

The first learning point was that the place to get a takeaway pizza between Glen Clova and Fort William is Victoria's in Pitlochry. Now you know.

Second learning point was that I am not as slow at swimming as I thought. It is unfortunate that almost everyone else is faster.

Third learning point is that 5" travel trail bikes are not the ideal when the course is a 50/50 split of gently undulating fire road or tarmac.

Seems like Lyndsey had the right idea with her cross bike allowing her to crush all her female competitors and all bar four boys. Well done that woman!

Victorious Carson photo pinched from Frazer

And yes, I need to finish that book...

Time to pull my finger out

(Not from anywhere it shouldn't have been I hasten to add.)

I've been riding and racing bikes for a fair few years.  I've always done ok.  Particularly considering how much effort I've traditionally put in the results have had a tendency to be surprisingly above average.  A naturally beneficial strength to weight ratio and having a fondness of riding hard meant that I've historically been able to punch above my weight, getting the better of guys that clearly take things a lot more seriously than I do and drink less than I do.

That may well be about to change.  I had a really encouraging cross season, definitely upped the ante on myself and pulled off some good, consistent results.  I thoroughly enjoyed being involved in the sharp(ish) end of the races.  I've also increased the miles I do.  Since changing jobs I'm able to rack up a healthy amount of time on the bike with the additional commuting.  Those two factors got me thinking about making a concerted effort to get faster - if I used my time on the bike more effectively and efficiently I should become quicker shouldn't I?

So that's the plan this year; race more and try harder.  The wheels are in motion.  I had a fitness test (which also came out with some encouraging results) to establish my starting point & I've called in a few favours to come up with a training plan that suits the time I have.  I even snuck off to the Algarve for a spot of warm weather training.  Although to be fair the training:beers ratio slipped a touch out of kilter.  My first XC race is only two weekends away now & to make things even more challenging I'll be jumping in at the deep end by racing masters; the most unnecessarily competitive category going.  I'm certainly not expecting to get anywhere near the podium, but the goal is to enjoy being in the mix of things, feeling competitive at the heart of the racing.  Let's see how it goes.  First things first, I'd better buy an XC bike to race on.

A day of three halves

Maths was never my strong suit.

In December, my friend Jo suggested that willing parties might consider a 12 in 12 challenge; a century each month in 2012. Why not...?

January's was knocked of early one Saturday on a clear and icy day.

February arrived and then very quickly came close to passing (a combo of work and playing in the snow number among my feeble excuses for letting the month drift by).

Old friend Justin suggested I ride with his club (Henley) on their 56 mile reliability trial. A quick bit of Google maps scouting suggested that riding over and back would come to something a little over the required ton. Hmm...

Up before dawn (those who know me will know what an anomaly this is) and out at the first hint of light on the horizon. Recent warm weather had informed my kit choice, but of course, I had not considered the unfamiliar early start.

Shivering past frost-covered cars, I was treated to a colourful dawn and mist hanging over the Thames as I neared Henley.

After espresso and friendly chat we were set to leave. Obviously I'd made the optimistic choice of riding with the fast group of the the three on offer, after all I'd had a warm up ride hadn't I?

This being a reliability trial we had a set time to complete the loop (a mix of some of the longer Chiltern climbs in the area and some flatter Oxfordshire roads). We'd need to average over 20mph which is unknown territory for me, but with a large group there'd be plenty of wheels to follow.

After the initial blat up Pishill (yes you do pronounce it like that - something to do with horses stabled at the pub at the top I'm lead to believe) and descent from Stokenchurch some order was applied and a regimented pace line formed.

The rouleurs of the group (of which I was not one) kept us at a high pace as we rolled around the lanes of Oxfordshire at a not-entirely civilised pace. Passing Chalgrove with my eyes on stalks I glanced down to see 31mph - eep!

Discipline was abandoned as we approached the biggest climb from Watlington and one rider clipped a wheel to forward-flip into the verge. Fortunately he was fine, if a bit embarrassed and we dragged ourselves into the Chilterns and back down to the Thames for fine coffee and apple strudel at the rather lovely Chocolate Theatre cafe.

I still had 25 miles to pootle back and took the route past Stonor and on-looking deer in time for chocolate milk and soft-boiled eggs on well-buttered crumpets.

What's for dinner?

British Fire Service Cyclo Cross Championships

Its a while ago now but I started my cross season waaay back in October, Not in Scotland but over the Border at the Fire Service Sports and Athletics Association National Cyclo Cross Championships which were hosted by Tyne and Wear Fire Service at Temple Park, South Shields. The Fire Service Champs were incorporated into round 4 of the North East CX league which was being held the day before the First National Trophy round. There was a massive field in the mens race with British Champ Paul Oldham and a host of Belgian and Dutch riders checking out the course for the Sunday. This made for super fast racing on an almost exclusively grassy course which was rather alien to me coming from a diet of technical Scottish race courses. The course wound it's way back and forth so it was easy to keep a check on where you were in relation to other riders throughout the race. VCM were represented by me and Local Paul Errington, I wasn't too fussed where i ended up in the race overall as my main goal was the Fire Service Champs.

Anyway after a frantic hour of racing(hanging on) I finished in 38th place overall with Paul taking 43rd overall. Most importantly for me though was that I had managed to finish 2nd firefighter to take the Silver medal. The Gold medal was won by an incredibly fast Alan Nixon(Durham FS) who placed a fantastic 8th overall.

2012

2012 has started already, hasn't it? Precious little 'cross under the belt for me, but some fine performances by an ever strengthening team.



I think i might have finally pushed the rock i have been hiding under aside.

It is time.

Dig In Around the Dock- Bo'ness

Scotlands crossers converged in Bo'ness on the Firth of Forth recently for the Dig In Around the Docks cross race which was organised by International cyclo cross legends Jon Mcomisky and David Hamill the team behind the successful Dig In series that documented this years Scottish cross series.

The course had been set out in parkland in and around the now empty docks, It was a relatively flat course with the addition of a bitingly cold East wind blowing in off the Forth. The course was quite traditional in feel with a set of hurdles, steps and a bonus cobbled section on the home stretch.

One hundred riders lined up for the start with six Moulineers making the start, Addy Pope, Chris Duncan, Davie Graham, Gordy Mackenzie, Maddy Robinson and Simon Muir. With the whole field starting at the same time it made for some exciting early moments until everyone sorted themselves into a rythm. I had decent start and first reeled in Addy, then Simon came past on a charge which he kept on right to the finish coming in first Moulineer, I eventually made up part of a trio which was a big help on the headwind sections of the course. Spectators were treated to some close racing and with almost three quarters of the course visible from the dock area they were kept well entertained. The crowd were fantastic cheering on every rider and with nearly everyone having a cowbell (thanks to VCM) to ring it was all the encouragement needed spur you on.


The first bike race in Bo'ness for fourty four years was a great sucsess with everyone having a tale to tell from the day and loads of muddy smiling faces at the finish, I'm still buzzing from it even now.

So how did the Moulineers do? Well we all finished all pretty muddy but in one piece. Maddy was the standout of the day taking second place in the ladyeez race. Simon showed the way to the boys on his new Ridley painted in VCM team colours no less. Me and the rest of the boys followed in closely bringing a great race and Scottish cross season to and end.

Now if every race could be like this...................................................................................................

Brrr !!!! Hit the North 2012

Hit the North is an event I will never miss .. ever .. I love the course and the atmosphere .. even the organisers are alright :)

The event is 2 hour long affair and is always a battle between cyclocross riders and mountain bikers or more importantly cross bikes and mountain bikes .... last year the event was muddy and a cyclocross bike was the weapon of choice .. this year I gambled on more mud so the cross bike was chose.

The trip down started at 5am with Cross Club riders Adam Cooke and Rob Walker also racing .. soon as we arrived the cold was evident.

Signing on there were alot of familiar faces .. always good to catch up with people that you really only see at races.

Getting ready and 'warming up' (unsuccessfully) I couldn't feel my fingers ... the start was for the first time right at the lowest part of the course leaving a longer climb ahead right from the gun .. on the start line I was on the front row ..

after a bit of shuffling around I found myself 6 or 7 rows back .. right behind Guy Martin of Isle of Man TT fame ... straight off from the gun the ducking and weaving started to try and get on ...

alot of people I think underestimated the climb and there was alot of people fading before we got to the singletrack.

The course was rock hard frozen .. cross bike getting a little bullied on the frozen ruts .. the descents were a little cheeky and I opted to run a few sections ..

what time I was loosing on the downs I felt that I was more than holding my own on the climbs ... the lower part of the course was fast flowing singletrack and a lovely descent with berms .. lots of fun !!!

I managed to get away relatively unscathed until on consecutive laps I slid over smashing my bottle cage and then the following lap shoulder charged a tree .. donated plenty of skin to the cause.

Towards the end of the race although I was still catching and passing the back markers there was a sizeable gap to the place in front and behind me so I got to ride at about 80% effort and enjoy the singletrack... I even managed to get through the time cut off and get another lap in.

I finally finished 21st ... not a fantastic result but what I took away from this event was so much more than a result ... I thoroughly enjoyed racing my bike ... I lost nothing on the flat or the climbs so my legs are good even if my bike handling needs some work ... I now just need to build this comfort and effort over 200 miles and at around 40 degrees hotter.

Bring on June and the Dirty Kanza 200

All pictures courtesy of Ed Rollason Photography

Hup Hup

Cowbells at the ready? Come and make some noise for the VCM massive.

Starring VCM's Addy Pope, Chris Duncan, Davie Graham, Gordy Mackenzie, Maddy Robinson, and Simon Muir.

Dirty Kanza 200

I got an entry for the Dirty Kanza 200 !!!

This is my primary goal for 2012 ... the event sold out after opening yesterday in 3.5 hours !!!

200 miles of Kansas gravel await me ... time to increase training miles, build a bike, book flights etc.

Gonna be a great year.

No Fuss Winter Duathlon

With a couple of triathlons in my sights this year, what better way to spice up training than with a wee early-on duathlon fittingly called 'The Appetiser'.

After taking part in my first ever triathlon in September, the No Fuss Half Big Ben Triathlon, I knew that this off-road duathlon would be right up my street.

So I packed my VCM kit, running shoes and bike gear and headed up to Fort William on Saturday morning.

Sign-on and the race start, finish and transition area took place the picturesque Lower Falls at the far end of Glen Nevis. It was the ideal setting for the event with stunning views of the Ben, very little traffic and a pleasant feeling of remoteness.

The race format was a 4km trail & road run, a 12.5km road & off-road bike, followed by the same run again. 

I did a bit of a warm up jog and some self-conscious lunges, then No Fuss Fraser gathered us round for a pre-race briefing. 

Then it was 12noon and we were off! Heading up the road I tried to settle into a rhythm and not panic about how quickly my heart rate was rising! After a short distance we were off the road and onto a gravel path which follows the Water of Nevis. I had been trying to keep pace with the guy in front by watching his heels, and when I looked up, I saw the front runners winding their way a bit of a sharp hill. Telling myself it's not Ben Nevis, I vowed not to slow to a walk and I made my way up with short strides. The trail wound on a bit farther and eventually came to a road which we blasted back down to transition area.

I lost some places in transition while I seemed to take ages getting myself ready. Well, it wouldn't be a Sunday bike ride without some pre-ride faffage! I jumped on my bike and beasted it (well, 'my' version of beasting it) down the road to try and make some time up. Luckily the winding road was quiet and I was able to overtake quite a few folk. I only got overtaken by a guy on a road bike with slick tyres on, but by the time we got to the turn off to the fireroad I'd caught him again. I've no idea how he got on on the rough fireroad with those tyres but good luck to him!
I peddled as hard as I could along the fireroad & a female came into view in the distance. I tried my hardest but could not get any closer to her before we dismounted and went back into transition again. 
Helmet & bike ditched and soggy trainers back on, I was back on the road trying to work out why I had swapped legs with Charlie Chaplin. I soon settled back into a rhythm and vowed once again not to walk at any point - even on the dreaded Ben Nevis Junior!
Soon enough the No Fuss flags came back into view and I even had enough energy for a sprint finish with a couple of guys.

I hadn't a clue where I'd finished and was so chuffed to find out at the prize ceremony that I'd finished 2nd Senior Female. A No Fuss medal and well cool Big Bobble Hat was dished out as prizes (not to mention the free Endura socks we got at registration). 

The Appetiser was the first in a series of 3 winter duathlons put on by No Fuss. Looking forward to the 'Main Course' in February.

Tod cross

Lovely little video of the Tod cross race:

Todcross from Benjamin Haworth on Vimeo.

It was the 4th edition of the race, puts on by Chipps and co at Singletrack, 9th round of the Yorkshire Points Series and the first time i've been able to make it along.

Super course, muddy lower half, just rideable cobbled climb and fast swoopy trails higher up in the woods, brilliant atmosphere, cheers and heckling, brass band, friendly folk at sign on/coffee van/food wagon. Oh and a Duval beer at the finish for each rider!

Quite a euro style course, taped nice and wide for hassle free passing and line choosing but deceptively technical in terms of the number of dismounts and remounts required per lap and deciding how much of the muddy sections it was quicker to run.

I wasn't doing much passing, didn't have much zing, but thoroughly enjoyed the race. Will definitely be back next year, in better shape and with more running in my legs. Finished up 16th with a slight name change, Ag came in 25th, maybe suffering a mechanical (?) as he was catching me rapidly early in the race. Jack Clarkson won and was flying, Lewis Craven in 2nd is possibly the most polite cross race i've ever been passed by.

Report and Results

Chapeau to all involved in organising the race.

Spot the VCMer

Nice little video from one of the recent North West League rounds (if you can stomach the license free music).

Auchentoshan by Shand Cycles

A great wee film by Shand Cycles.


Scottish Cycling Cyclocross Championships 2011 from Shand Cycles on Vimeo.

back cross racin' (about time lad)

It's been 4 weeks (4 flippin' weeks) since I last pinned a number on my back at Mugdock and that was a disaster which had me just about ready to give up 'cross racing afterwards...sorry Simon, Gordy and Maddy for my post race grumpiness! What I learnt from that was if you wake up on the morning of a race and are questioning whether to even bother packing the car and feel knackered/run down/mojo less, listen to your body and give yourself a break..

Fast forward to Sunday morning in Crosby, Liverpool at Ros's folks house and the good fortune of visiting on the very weekend the NW League have a race on a mere 25mins drive away at Stadt Moers Country Park.

A 2am turn in and slightly fuzzy alcohol induced head is perhaps not the best pre race prep, but coffee seemed to fix that. Signed on and kitted up, I spotted fellow VCMer and NW League regular Alex who has been ripping it up this season. Randomly both of us managed to ride through fresh 'brick orange' dog turd... pre riding the course. Non plussed.

Still the course was a good 'un, with a healthy mix of grass, tarmac, brick paving (!), rougher paths, trails and short, steep ups. All rideable in the big ring with no dismounts needed.

The start was a bit wild with Vets, Juniors, Women and Seniors all off together. Alex was off like a scalded cat near the front, my start was 'um rubbish. Never mind, the first few laps were fun working my way up the field a little. At race pace the whole course flowed really well with plenty of zip, a little slick and sticky in places but far from a mud fest.

Passing through the finish with what I thought was around 15 mins to go the laps to go board said FIVE! Cue (wry) smile and curse at the same time. Time to dig in princess! Dig I did, albeit with rapidly tying up legs.

Update: I finished up 13th, ~1hr 14 of racing! Happy with that given 4 weeks of hit and (mostly) miss training, poor start and rubbing rear brake...(oh the excuses)...but it was ace to get back racing again.

Report & Results

BUCS CX

I did a cross race at the weekend and it was a lot of fun, made me wonder what I have been doing messing around riding on the road! It's been a while since I got on my cross bike, and a very long while since I did a cross race, but the Uni cross champs were a great reminder of how much I enjoy it. Riding my bike around the practice lap I felt as though the 'race' was going to be a bit of a joke, as I could barely ride around the corners without feeling as though I was going to fall off...pretty sure I didn't look all that pro. A friendly spectator saw me stopped looking down the off camber descent trying to decide whether to ride down or not, and told me which line to ride. I kind of had to ride down after that, as he was stood there watching, I was thankful for the push as it wasn't actually that bad!

I think there were around 20 women racing, which is a good sized field for a women's race. Despite protestations, the organiser decided to set the women off with the men, so it was difficult to tell where you were in the women's field when the race got going, with girls getting mixed up among the men's field. I had a lot of laughs while actually racing, with people wiping out on corners as the course got more and more slippery throughout the race, and just generally laughing at my own lack of bike handling skills. The broad north east accented commentary was also a point of amusement - hearing 'OOoooo, Ross Creber's come a cropper!' made me feel slightly better about my granny like cornering.

Anyway, I've got the bug and am now looking for more (un-technical) cross races to do! Oh dear...not sure the student loan can stretch to this!

new rider

Welcome our latest recruit Addy Pope, who has recently moved back to Scotland after 10 years in exile (lets not ask, it sounds mysterious). A bit of an all rounder, this is his first proper season of cross so lets make him welcome, he plans to do as many of the SCX races as he can and head to the odd cross race in N England, beyond that, more road races, some mtb enduros and a couple of triathlons. 

Addy above the Skipton Alps

In his own words.

"Hi everyone, i nearly joined the VCM ranks a couple of years back but lost sight of what was important and fun.  But I have refocused and got myself sorted.  I met Andy W at uni many moons ago and marvelled at how clean his bike always was, this hasn't changed.  I rode with the EUCC boys while at uni and then moved south to South Wales to pursue my other love, Glaciers.  However, there don't seem to be any glaciers in Wales so I did a stint in the high Arctic.  Since then I have been working my way back to Scotland having lived in Skipton for a few years.  Somehow I never managed to get round to doing the 3 Peaks race, although I did support for a few people. 

I have biked pretty much my whole life, mainly mountain bikes but dabbled with the dark side of road bikes while in Yorkshire.  In a normal year I will try to get a couple of road sportives in, either the Fred Whitton or the Etap Du Dales and a few mtb marathons.  I also really enjoy 24hr races, but have yet to "go solo". Teams seem more fun and less painful. I try to head to the alps each year to ride, usually with Sam at BikeVillage and rode the TransProvence last year, an epic event but a bit prices (note - I was setting the course so saw none of the gourmet food and survived off pasta and sauce for a week sleeping in unheated caravans and carrying all our kit rather than having a cook, mechanic and porterage of all your clean clothes).  Arriving in Monaco in clothes that you had been riding in for 7 days was a bit of a shock for the locals..... Apparently we were not the kind of people they wanted lounging in the Casino gardens.

I have a wee blog(building it at present) and flickr site "

October in the North West

Time to ramble...

It's been a busy month of racing round these parts with 5 rounds of the North West CX League crammed into October. I'd missed the two opening rounds through being away in the equally exotic climes of Italy & Leeds, so rolling up to the start line at round 3 in Bolton I was shoe-ed towards the back of grid having amassed a sum total of bugger all series points. A reasonable start & a mass pile up meant I squeezed my way up into the top 30 by the first corner. It was absolutely lobbing it down making the going fully wet & slippery but not boggy. For a few laps I had a good tussle with Velocake's Tim 'tubs & turbo trainer' Kershaw, chasing each other down & picking our way through the field. Tim finally got a gap on one of the descents that I couldn't reel back in, staying just out of reach until the end. I just scraped my way into the top 20 (that'd be 19th) & got my first league points of the season on the board. Not overly blown away with my performance, but then it was my first cross race for a few weeks & having been doing loads of long steady rides I was expecting it to take a couple of weeks to get up to speed again.

Next stop was up to Winderemere for round 4, incorporated into the Rapha Super Cross. Good to see Rapha making a bit of positive input, giving people who aren't the begrudging other halves a reason to take a look at what was going on. A Superprestige it wasn't, but with hundreds of free cow bells handed out, Duvel being served by the pits & a commentator that seemed aware of what was going on in the race, it was certainly substantially more spectator friendly that usual.

On pre-riding I rather liked the course; there was a stiff little climb in there & some relatively techy bits. The one thing that did stand out was how short the lap was. That caused a bit of an issue at the start - impressively over 150 were on the line but with just 50metres of open field before a hairpin it got a bit sticky. I like a bit of good humored argy-bargy at the start of these things, but that many people manically trying to find a line just causes some to get a bit panicked & others get a bit too aggressive, shitty & plain rude. I can do without that, so decided to calmly pick my way through when the opportunities presented themselves.

All was going pretty well with that tactic for a few laps, eventually getting a pretty clear run at the course. Then two things went wrong.

1: It got claggy. It had been wet, then it was warm & dry. All those wheels churned the mud up pretty bad. As a one bike competitor I felt the effects. Wheels didn't go round very well. Then not at all. I ended up having to stop twice a lap to pull handfuls of clag out of my frame & forks, loosing places every time to those that were able to grab a clean bike from the pits.

2: My gears went all clunky. Just out of alignment enough that whenever I stood on the pedals the chain chunked about over two cogs. It was then that I realised that blundered into a schoolboy error, having built my one & only race bike without any barrel adjusters on the gears. I felt like a tit for that. Quite grumpily I finished a lowly 40th on the day.

Then a change of fortune :-) The following day was round 5 at the fantastically named Boggart Hole. It's properly ace there, one of my favourite courses with loads of off-camber rooty bits (for a cx course), singletrack & a long climb. I rode well there last year, so I was hoping to finally get the season up & running. Another big field started, but thankfully starting around a suitably big field before dropping into the woods. Still un-gridded I managed to razz my way round the inside corners to get into the first singletrack section towards the front of the pack. Stomping on nicely I had time to look up & gauge roughly where I was in the race - further up than I was expecting. Pushing on I was waiting for a stream of riders to come passed, but whenever I caught a glimpse behind no one seemed to be closing. Perhaps I was on for a good one. Eventually Roy 'still amazingly quick for an old fella' Hunt crept through, but that was it. I stayed strong & picked up 10th on the day. It was yet another strong turnout, so I was really chuffed with that particularly after the previous day's frustrations.

Roll on another week & it was back oop north to the home of Hope Technology, Barnoldswick for round 6. A new course to the league & one that rode ok, but when hit at race pace became great fun. A kind of classic British cross course with 5 dismounts a lap: 2 sets of boards, 1 set of steps & 2 slimey banks to run up. Plus a sandpit. And a barbecue, although that wasn't actually on the course.

Once again, missing those two opening rounds meant I was hidden in the bulk of riders on the start. Thankfully I was catching up with my old compadre Ian Wilkinson before the gun went & managed to jump on his wheel for the first couple of hundred metres, getting dragged passed many riders, escaping the inevitable bottleneck at the first corner. Needless to say that was the last I saw of Wilks' wheel as he buggered off to the front of the race. Once again I felt I was riding strongly, right in the mix with a few of the handy NW league riders, jostling for positions, putting in little digs where possible & picking up positions. I struggled a bit on one long off-camber bank, trying to ride it & failing, then trying to work out the best way to run it & failing. Yet I seemed to edge out the others on most other sections of the course managing to stay away & finish 13th. Another good result for the likes of me.

End of the month was racing at a classic NW venue, Otterspool Park. Another course I enjoyed last season, usually really fast going with a good amount of woodland tracks, plus a cobbled climb that is permanently wet. Pre-ride went well & I was looking forward to getting stuck in after the performances I pulled out in the last two rounds. Then.... NIGHTMARE!... In the mad dash of the start loop a rider somehow managed to clip my rear QR. The wheel now loose in the dropouts was forced into the non-driveside chainstay where it wedged & stopped me from going anywhere fast. By the time I'd got off & sorted it all out the whole field of over 110 riders was in front of me. That wasn't the plan. For a moment I pondered sacking it off for the day, by instead I decided to HTFU & get on with it. I spent the next hour riding out of my skin. I ripped through the back makers now thinking that any league points were better than none. After a few laps I started spotting some of the usual suspect I end up racing with. That gave an extra bit of impetus to keep on top of the gears for the last few laps. I wound up moving from DFL to 13th rider home, just missing out on 12th in a sprint for the line. Mathematically not my best result, but definitely my best ride turning round a crappy bit of luck. I feel like I have now earned the right to don the new VCM skinsuit.

It's comforting to know that I didn't have the worst luck of the day... One guy forgot to charge the battery for his fancy-dan Di2 gears!

zonhoven

Irvine doesn't look so hard anymore.

Zonhoven

Indian Summer in the city

This weekend had been ear-marked for a while. Two very different cyclocross events, both individually very exciting and both in London. It was also to be my first cross racing of the year.

First up was Muddy Hell in Herne Hill on Saturday night. Sponsored by Knog and run by the Rollapaluzza guys, this event already has a big reputation for being fun, tough and entertaining. Racing begins around dusk with a flood lit section in the middle of the track and riders wearing lights. It's runs on a unique course that featured a sand-trap, steep drop-ins and steep ups (one very dusty one requiring bike-shouldering) a little tarmac, the ubiquitous barrier, quite a lot of twisting singletrack, a hosed muddy corner (required what with London basking in hot and dry conditions and the course mostly throwing dust up into the riders lights). The most unusual features were a wooden wall-ride and a steep-sided bridge that led straight into a tabletop that the more skilled riders could get some impressive air from (step up friend of VCM, Phil Moore).

Having left entry a bit late, I ended up in the catch-all novice class, but the racing remained hard, hot and fast (especially as I was in a full-body skeleton skinsuit with mask that frequently obscured at least one eye, restricted breathing and kept getting caught on the saddle). Great fun to ride with my good friend Andrew Diprose in his Spidersuit, heckle Mr Blobby and soak up the atmosphere at what is a fantastic event. There was kids' face-painting, roller-racing on mountain bikes and plenty of beer. Make a note for next year. I ended up 18/75.

Sunday was to be treated a little more seriously. The third (and final round) of the Rapha Supercross series held at Alexandra Palace in North London. The weather was highly un-cross-worthy being sunny and very warm with views from the top of the course across all of London and beyond (there's a reason the BBC transmit from here). Ominously this also meant a fiercely climby course. I began to regret bringing the singlespeed as soon as we arrived.

Gareth raced in seniors and I raced vets (my inaugural year among the gnarled and grizzled). Only in Roubaix have I seen a better attended race (I'm sure the weather and views won't have done any harm) and a large group of friends were there to heckle us on our way.

The course was challenging, but fantastic fun, featuring very little flat and a lot of 'interest'; steep tarmac up, loose and fast singletrack, steep and sharp hair-pins, one corner littered with acorns like natures ball-bearings, proper tall barriers, a set of stairs and a looooong grassy climb that left me feeling like I had heat-stroke and T-rex arms.

Despite all of this the course was very compact and with the 'firm going' we did at least 10 laps (I lost count). The hurdle section at one point became almost a tunnel of heckling with friends screaming and cow-bells shaking - I had to smile despite the pain.

The singlespeed worked out for me, I think as the climb remained rideable and there was so little straight that there was little disadvantage to not having a taller gear.

Gareth shot past me first time up the climb and was not seen again, racing whippet that he is and the race passed in that odd way that cross races do feeling both interminably long and over in a flash all at once. Small battles ensued and the camaraderie of the battle-worn was shared at the finish as we saw our own pain reflected in the eyes of others.

Really tough and fantastic fun at the same time. Results aren't in as yet.

Plans are already afoot to do the full series next year.