The V stands for Video

Strictly Local from martin steele on Vimeo.

First trial of editing software and a couple of hours shooting. More to come, including much more radness.

Updates

Lets start with the latest bits and bob I've been doing. Been in France the last couple of weeks, no real races but up a few cols, Col L'Izoard being the biggest one. Early start to avoid the really hot sun, lovey ride nice and quite ride passed a few other early birds on the climb, alway makes you feel good to pass folk. What a decent, open roads I was going like the wind.


Not just road cols, was up over 2500m for most of the day on some brilliant alpine rides with some fab views out over Italy and France. Lined up the rides for next year, road and mtb.

Had a bit of a mix of different stuff in the early session bit Crits (3rd over all) TTs, 10 under the Ben (3rd), Scottish Road race (25th, last but 10 people didn't even finsh!! Hit a few Highland games too.

Looking forward to the cross session and some mud love :)

tweedlove 2010

Last night Marty, Andy and myself attended the Celluloid Tweed film night in Peebles. It was great to see the theatre packed and to witness some great movies, none more so than Andy's winning CX film. It was a pretty inspiring evening all in all, so much so that in my lunch break today I made a little film.

A big shout to al the folks at the Hub for such great vision for the festival.

Now back to the editing suite.




buddy's trail from chris Duncan on Vimeo.

getting back to it

Although I've been to or around a lot of bike races this year, I've barely turned a pedal in months. A mixture of being away with work,weather and, um, laziness mean that the mileage column for 2010 is way down, whilst the waistline is way up.

It's a horrible vicious circle. Lack or riding > lack of fitness > loss of motivation > lack of riding. And it spirals onwards.

Stop.

Restart.

Ridden quite a lot this weekend at Tweedlove, probably more hours in the saddle in two days than I've managed in the last two months. 6 hours of mtb around the Tweed Valley yesterday and another 3 on the road bike today . Far too much pushing yesterday (and a spectacular bonk climbing up through Cademuir that required emergency rations to get me the couple of miles back along (the road) to The Hub). Far too much swinging off the back today.

Back
On
Track

3 Peaks

I guess we* better start running up big hills with cross bikes on our backs.

*We being Gordymac, Steven Halsall, Iain Mellis and Miffae de Muir.

Eddie Morgan RR

At the race briefing the race commissaire, was saying how he and Eddie were great rivals on the bike and great friends off the bike. Saying how he raced hard and loved to attack, so don't sit doing 18mph blethering along, race like eddie.

The race was just outside perth at luncarty, and headed west on back roads i have no idea where they were but i did recognise a couple of farms where i have delivered tatties and sheep.

The race certainly lived up to his memory, the attacks were coming thick and fast on the twisty lumpy bumpy roads with a good high pace. I was sitting in the middle of the bunch getting pulled along quite the thing. Towards the end of the first lap i started to move forward thinking there's going to be a split with the strong winds and the fast pace.

The second lap slowed down a lot, with people looking at each other to see whos making the moves, i was sitting in a nice position in the top 10 feeling quite strong. I saw one that i thought looked good with a guy from bicycleworks and guy from a glasgow club; it didn't really get going, i think they just wanted to get the pace up again.

With the wind behind us the speed shot up to the high 30s, i took my eye off the ball and lost a few positions. Then some car was blasting his horn behind us and trying to overtake, he pushed his way in and caused a split in the race, i was on the wrong side of this. The speed increased on a slight downhill, with about 3 miles to go. I was doing 43mph and couldn't catch them, it was only a couple of bike lengths, but i couldn't bridge it. I kept my speed well into the high 20s early 30s on the flat but the gap was getting longer.

I was happy with the way i rode, but not with my position, i would of liked to finished in the peloton. Maybe next week at Meigle.

My fault for sleeping Zzzz.

(Phlegmish) Green with Envy

After my latest acquisition, I'm no longer in the position to ever feel bike envy again. Last week I became the very proud owner of a spanking new Ibis Hakkalügi. And I know I'm not the only VCMer to be lucky enough to forge bonds with one of these works of art, but I'm so happy I need to share it.


I've never had a road/cross-type bike that I've felt properly comfy on. I put this down to my short stature. This bike has somehow done away with that sensation of over-extension, despite it's top tube being slightly longer than that of my trusty Surly Cross Check's. I've equipped it with Campag shifters which seem to fit my hands better. Despite using those nifty shims for small hands, Shimano hoods have always felt like more than a handful for me, and the more delicate Campag hoods just feel right.



The Dugaste Tubs aren't mine - They're my house mate Kashi Leuchs'. He wasn't around to ask permission to use them, so I took them for a proper rip around on some rocky trails anyway. But he doesn't need to know about that...


Some consultation with Dr Jon about the appropriate breaks (which are amazing, I must add) and Andy about the suitability of the bike for the job, and I've got myself one hell of a nice ride.
However, the travesty of all this is that the 'Lugi is going to be a road bike, more or less, because there isn't a cross league within a 1000km of my home!

Incoming: 10 at Kirroughtree

Its been weeks since Bristol Bike Fest. Time to look ahead and what i see there, looming ever closer - like the proverbial elephant in the room, is No Fuss events '10 at Kirroughtree'.

Last year this same combo kicked my sorry ass. i never really seemed to recover from the battering i got in Bristol and with the kirroughtree course being technical, hot and dusty and with a few short/sharp climbs that unhinged my legs, i felt like the wind had been let almost entirely out of my sails. Confounded by ridiculous and pervasive cramps in my hamstrings, quads and calves (which i would swear on my Endura pro-inserts were caused by my wrongly choosing medium over large bibs) i was left a sorry state for some time after that race.

This year its time to box clever. I'm going to have a go with the Vertigo. I suspect the extra weight of the suspension and gears will be a happy trade. It will be my first ever endurance race with gears. I'm also going to pay much more attention to my hydration and feeding and im also going to get a leg massage before the race.

One would be forgiven for thinking that this will be a pleasurable experience. The last one i had (before Bristol) hurt like razor blade infused kidney stones. No doubt, cyclists never really straighten their legs and my hamstrings are almost certainly tuned to a high pitched scream.



Now all i need to do is get the callouses on my hands off, so i can get some new ones in place...

N.B: Damn well done at the nocturne, chaps!

Nocture 2010

Edinburgh Nocturne

From The Sports Desk:

VCM riders packed the top 10 in the 4th cat race in the Edinburgh Nocturne yesterday:
Read all about it

3 Peaks Entry Open Tomorrow

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.

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?

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.

Photo: Claire Wilby

L-R: Winning mixed trio- Donnie Macdonald, Cherie Pumphrey, Gordymac.

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.

Strathpuffer 12

Mixed team of three for the puffer 12 on Saturday.

Watch this space...............

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.

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.

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.

Time Trials, Road Races and Lakeland Hills

 Photo: James Ruskin

The last couple of weeks have contained some annoying distractions for me, meaning I couldn't ride my bike as much as I would have liked, exams I think they are called, and I wouldn't recommend them. However, I've still been riding a bit, so here is a little picture update of me riding in the sunshine. 










University 10 mile TT Champs

I travelled down to Cambridge to do the uni time trial champs, it was really sunny and warm and I had the loan of a disc wheel. I rode to the start line, got there ahead of time and heard the noise no one who has just drive for 5 hours to ride 10 miles wants to hear; my back tyre going flat. They let me start later on but I didn't get an official time. I was in no way frustrated. Moving on...

Ingliston Criteriums

There were five criteriums being run at the Royal Highland Show ground at Ingliston, which Maddy and I both took part in, they were a lot of fun, and provided a very welcome excuse to not revise.

Lakeland Sportif

On Saturday I rode the Lakeland Sportif, I really enjoyed it. The route was 65 miles long, and was kind of like the Fred Whitton Challenge with all the easy miles taken out. It went over Whinlatter, Newlands and Honister from both sides, in a figure of eight loop which my anti-sense of direction would on no account have allowed me to ride if there hadn't been signposts telling us where to go the whole way around. The route was pretty spectacular, I hadn't ridden in the Newlands valley before, and was really pleased this gave me the opportunity to do so without getting completely lost on the way there. My Polar tells me that the maximum gradient was 28% but I think you can see from the route profile below that some sections are quite clearly overhanging. 

I've also done a couple of road races, the Cheshire Classic in which my chain dropped off the first time up the hill, I rode around in a group of around 15 and got pulled out before the finish by the organiser. I also rode the first couple of stages of the Bedford 2 Day but got ill probably due to trying to revise in between pedal strokes. All fun and games.