Race 29: TransWales 4 - Llanidloes - Machynlleth, 17/08/2011

Today was the best ever! It was sunny and warm and we were on fire! Actually, when I woke up I wondered how I'd possibly get through another day. But it was most excellent because although we did the most miles so far and the most climbing, it was by far the easiest day. Mostly road and fireroads. With a couple of really technical bits and just one grassy climb.

The special stage was at 70km and it was brilliant!! I couldn't believe it when I saw the two Scottish girls lining up to do it. I squeezed behind them and asked the starting man to start me after 45 secs rather than the usual 30. As they are leading by 43 secs, all I had to do was catch them for a 2 sec lead :-)

The climax trail was way longer than I remembered. The start is really pedally too. I pedalled like crazy and caught sight of her on the rocks. I was gaining quite quickly.

Last year I scared myself in this race and vowed to never cycle that fast again.. But in the moment I seemed to forget and just didn't brake. It's funny how that happens only in a race whilst under pressure like that!

I was behind the Scottish girl and she wasn't letting me past. I was stuck for what seemed like ages and then spotted an opportunity and went off piste around a tree, one leg up at 90 degrees for balance screaming as I thought I was a gonner! I made it on to the trail in front of her and floored it. I did slow down for the corner where I went off the cliff last year. I almost caught the other Scottish girl but not quite. It seemed like ages before the one I did overtake got in.

Lisa seemed to take forever to get in and I thought we'd lost it but it turned out she started a whole minute behind me so that made me very happy!

I think we won the stage, unless one of the other teams turn out to be deamon descenders. There could be some new teams as the 2nd mini trans Wales started today. I cannot call it on the leaders jersey but I have everything crossed!!!

Guest blog from Lisa:

Fully agree with Miss Fountain, a brilliant day with the miles passing by with only the odd twinge or three of pain :) A cold start (hats on at the campsite in the morning and armwarmers to start), ending in a wonderful sunny afternoon.

Fantastic scenery today, plus 'the slab' which Steph fell on last year (greasy and steep!) which we walked today, watched by the field ambulance crew... But 'gramps' -74 year old - did it! Admittedly some of it sideways but all hail :) Special stage was excellent! The starter-man wouldn't let me ride down on the tail of Steph so just got to wait now and see how I did - loved it :))))

News Update:

We won! Got the stage and also the leaders jerseys! We made up the 43 secs and now have 21 secs in the bank :-)

Day 4: Llanidloes - Machynlleth	3rd Special Stage
Route Distance: 84km	Distance from start: 69km
Total Ascent: 2260m	Descent: Climax Trail 6km
Total Descent: 2440m	Descent: 290m

 

 

Race 28: TransWales 3 - Clun - Llanidloes, 16/08/2011

Trans Wales Day 3 - very tiring indeed! 99% of the day was spent on steep wet grass climbs. There were some downs but they were slippery mud and not the best. The best thing about today was lunch! It was most welcome after the energy sapping morning :-)

There was no special stage so positions unchanged. We did the most miles today but less climbing, even though we spent the whole day climbing, hmm...

Guest blog from Lisa:

Today started out as a knee warmer, waterproof  shorts and waterproof jacket day... Very pleased to advise that before the 9am off through the arches the jackets downgraded to gillets and by the first (sizeable!) bump the shorts and knee earners were off too :)  Drizzle and bright sunshine and lots of Welsh hills today, downhill plastercine mud in the woods being our preference today over the grass stuff! Added bonus of an ice cream van at the end after a rather rutty unnecessary cow field (we could see the finish in the other direction to their arrow... Most frustrating !)

Day 3: Clun - Llanidloes
Route Distance: 73km
Total Ascent: 2000m
Total Descent: 2100m

 



I caught some lucky heather



Lunch time with the oldest rider at 72 yrs!!!

Race 27: TransWales 2 - Knighton - Clun, 15/08/2011

A rather shaky start as I laid awake all night unable to sleep! I tried counting sheep but after visualising the 200th jump over the fence I gave up.. So completely shattered I lined up with everyone else and we began day 2.

The special stage was supposed to be 20km in but we came across it at just 8 miles. It was an interesting one as it had a steep technical descent full of tight berms, roots & jumps. I didn't do so well on it, didn't really get any flow and then got trapped behind a man who managed to take up the whole track and I couldn't get around him. In the end I went around a tree off the track to get past. Most odd he wouldn't move aside. After that it was a level fireroad then a climb, that part was fine with lots of room for overtaking.

The rest of the day passed without incident and it seemed a lot easier today. Probably because two of the climbs were on road rather than boggy wet grass! We met Mr Gore Bike Wear at the last food stop and he rode back with us, a nice tow home :-)

Tomorrow there is no special stage so all we have to do is get back within the time limit. I'm taking Nytol tonight! And it's raining..

Guest blogger Lisa:
Hmm Steph failed to mention the 'climb out' of the special stage in true colours; 'horrendous' would cover it for me! The downhill was great, tho I did need to stop and realign on one tight bend as I overshot! For once seeing Steph closer than before on the climb out I was filled with hope that I had much improved, to learn that it was due to above said man explained it! The climb that went forever! Grr! Sure it was longer than the down (which may help keep us off 1st on the podium as those Scottish ladies are climbers!!), a short flat and then up up, a corner, and up up up oh and more of it - some encouragement though from those finished and whizzing down, and another day of instant collapse once over the finishing mat and a feeling of overwhelming sickness. MmM nice... Rest of the day mostly sunny and fairly pleasant post 10hrs sleep for me ;)

Results are in, the Scottish pair beat us by 13 secs! We'll have them on Wednesday :-)

Day 2: Knighton - Clun	2nd Special Stage
Route Distance: 84km	Distance from start: 18km
Total Ascent: 2500m	Loop Bucknell Wood 5km
Total Descent: 2500m	Ascent / Descent: 250m

 

Race 26: TransWales 1, Builth Wells - Knighton,14/08/2011

And so it begins!...

The first day of the Trans Wales and I had 2 near death experiences before lunch! The first was a fast grassy descent that turned rocky & I was going too fast & got in a channel that had a massive rock at the end with nowhere to go. I thought I was a goner but I hung on over the back wheel and somehow the bike went up the vertical side and I just bruised myself bashing into the back of the seat. I slowed down a little after that!

The 2nd was on another descent where a family of sheep decided to walk out of the heather just as I was passing. I slammed on the brakes and did a rather stylish endo (my 1st one ever!) narrowly missing the 3rd sheep, luckily landing back down rather than going over the bars. The sheep seemed pretty unconcerned that they were a whisker away from death!

We took it a little easier after that and made it to lunch with just one more mishap, in that we (about 20 people) got lost! It was the garmin that saved us. We went down a bridleway and through a field with cows then popped out on the road, right by a Trans Wales arrow. The boys thought we were amazing, must be all that orienteering practice :-)

The special stage was before lunch after just 4 miles. I wasn't even warmed up. I quickly ate a gel and wasted time nipping to the loo to try and give it a moment to work. The special stage today was a 1.5km climb. We pedalled as hard as we could and I had a strange out of body experience with the effort. It seemed to go on forever! As I rounded a corner and saw the finish way up the hill, I wondered if I'd make it. Of course I did but had to  get off and lie down as soon as I'd gone over the timing mat. It took ages to return back to normal! Very hard indeed. My legs were pretty rubbish for the rest of he day after that. We were back an hour before the cut of time though so happy with that.

So far it's been brilliant! Sun shining, friendly people, OK food and a feeling of being part of a massive adventure. We'll just have to wait and see if we did enough to win the stage and get the leaders jersey!

News update: We did not do enough!!! 2nd place and lost 34 secs to the leaders. Let's hope they are bad at downhills as tomorrow's stage is half and half!...

Guest blog from Lisa:
I get to be guest blogger due to the fact I'm riding with Steph as the other half of the female pair under the Skedaddle banner, having been gifted a fantastic jacket by them... I'm cheap!! I can confirm the sheep nearly met his maker... Hysterical but scary at the same time, they just kept following their buddies-the endo was pretty cool from The Fountain-unsure the sheep learnt any lessons from the experience though. Today's special stage was horrible for me, quite near the start indeed - but after a very long slow pulse raising grass climb! My heart rate was already high before I started! Went over the timing mat just behind Steph but dropped slowly back. Watched with interest a mixed pair who had the (very large) man towing the (very little) lady on a dog lead, presumably as not stated as a 'no' in the rules that was ok-not sure of the benefit tho as it's the average time of a pair! And would you follow 2 females you have never met before when lost? Seems many would... interesting! A mostly sunny day, some gorgeous scenery, excellent banter and finishing with a 'proper 'shower at a football club was already very welcome (warm might have been nice ;) )

Route Distance: 81km	1st Special Stage (within):
Total Ascent: 2300m	Distance from start: 9km
Total Descent: 2240m	Technical Climb: 1km
Predicted Riding Time: 7 hrs	Ascent: 140m



Race 25: Ryedale Rumble Road Sportive, Ampleforth, 07/08/2011

Lisa and I did the 70 mile Ryedale Rumble, which is the middle distance. We have the Trans Wales  next week so didn't want to overdo it with the long one.. It was a nice day but windy. The route is hilly with 5000ft climbing and a couple of steep (20%+) banks. We set off pretty much last as I didn't want to get up early! So we passed the miles counting up the number of people we overtook.

By the first feed we'd got to 11. The feed was great, sandwiches, cakes & fruit - perfect! In the middle section we were tussling with the 13th as he kept re-overtaking us. But we got rid of him on Blakey Bank, where we were surprised to see everyone else walking. Two men had even taken their cycling shoes off as they were in it for the long haul! We reached 19 overtakes by the time we got to the 2nd feed station at Hutton Le Hole. There was a strong cross wind on the descent, it was a little disconcerting at speed, there were lots of sheep poised to run into the road at any moment too.

We didn't really eat at the feed station as it only seemed a moment since the last one. In the last 3rd we were up to 21 overtakes when we fancied a coke as we both got sore legs battling with a really strong headwind. We stopped in Hovingham and had a quick drink. Luckily, we only lost 2 places and overtook them when we got going again. On the approach to Ampleforth a group of 4 Rapha boys overtook us, they were the 1st group back on the long route, racing snakes. There was quite a climb to the finish and we got 3 more to finish at 24 overtakes and overtaken by 4. When we checked in we found we got silver and were 1 min 3 secs off gold - what a shame we stopped for that coke!!

Race 24: Brownbacks Round 2, Lee Quarry, 27/07/2011

This was the hardest XC race I have done so far, the course was harder than the one for round 1 but luckily I felt a lot better this time. It was in the same place, Lee Quarry, with the same start position and this time a 0.6 mile climb of 225ft straight off the blocks! I was right on the front row for the start. I felt a bit bad for the boys behind me but I couldn't get through and it's quite wide so they could get around..

I raced up the climb, trying to keep up with the fast boys and half killed myself in the process. I didn't think there were any girls in front of me but it's hard to tell as there were so many on the start line. I was actually leading for the 1st lap. I expected girls to come past at any minute but they didn't come. I slowed a bit and let my heart & lungs recover slightly, after that uphill sprint start, before pushing on. It was necessary as I wouldn't of made the 1.5 hours otherwise. There was literally no rest sections. Lots of really short sharp (practically vertical) climbs, fine for lap 1 but increasingly annoying and draining as time went on!

There were a couple of nice sharp descents, one I couldn't see where to go, the track just stopped and then I realised you actually went over the edge and that part literally was vertical! It was a surprise on the first lap. After that it was up, up and up again. One big rocky climb that lots of people walked, all the others short and sharp.

My legs felt great today, maybe due to the new Torq nutrition program? Not sure but it was my lungs and heart that were holding me back for a change! Maybe I got slightly unfit from not many miles in the last few months..

Anyway, a speedy girl in white and red came past & I lost her on lap 2 I think. I thought that was it but a couple of laps later I saw her again, then again on the following lap. I was gaining. Another lap, which I thought was my worst, I gained loads and got so we were on the same climb. The red & white girl was obviously tired as she was running up the climbs. I was almost empty and just couldn't catch her in time, I needed 1 more lap.

I thought I came 2nd but during prize giving it turned out she is TWENTY YEARS YOUNGER than me!!! I got beaten by a child! (A very fast one that is surely going places). But that meant I'd won the 'Racing Divas' (adult girls!) category. My first ever solo XC win. It was quite a climb up to that top step of the podium carrying the super cool massive rock / hope disk brake trophy that I thought I could only dream of! On top of that I received £25 for fastest lap and £100 for the win. It made the 1.5 hours of pain and suffering all worthwhile  :-) :-) :-)



Photos provided by Yorkshire Gallery



Race 23: Bearded Man Stage 3 - 65km XC, Brecon, 03/07/2011

Last night some scumbags raided the tented village and stole a load of bikes, including Annes. She was not happy for today's race, but we were good to go as she rode it on my Genius.

Straight out from the camp this race had an uphill start - why is that always the case I wonder? Anne was flying!! It was a fireroad climb that went on almost as far as the food stop. She was steaming along and I was chasing, we dropped all the boys and they all asked about the cause of Annes power spurt! I'd like to think it was the Genius but I think it was more frustration over her missing bike. Or maybe she is just really really fast! It was great because we were up and over the mountain in a blink of an eye.

My legs felt great today. I couldn't tell that I'd done yesterdays ride. In fact they felt better today than yesterday. I wonder if it was the magic powder, the compression tights or the big homemade burger that the lovely Ian made us on the Luff Bus, which I had as soon as we got back yesterday?! It could have been the banoffee torq gel that I managed not to spill everywhere today. I ate one when Anne started racing up the climb and felt immediately strong and kind of wired really (it's got a load of caffeine in it)

The descent was single track which was a stream of red clay water. Ruined my nice white Skedaddle kit as it didn't wash out! Then it was food. The 1st half was easy :-) we didn't spend long at the food station as we were fine. A bloke I know from Evans cycles in York got taken away in an ambulance as he'd gone all weird from a crash that happened yesterday!

The 2nd half had some great tracks in. Some open moorland lovely single track. Then there was a big climb up to 'The Gap' which was my kind of climb, enough rocks and things to make it interesting but not enough to make it too hard. On the way down from the Gap Anne was gone. A loose rocky descent that went on forever. It seemed like one you'd be more likely to find in the Alps! After that it continued down a really skinny snicket way of brambles, bracken and holly. The ground was loose rocks but you couldn't pick a line as it was only just wide enough to get down. So it was a case of just ploughing over all the rocks whilst getting torn to shreds by the undergrowth. That lasted forever too. I was not happy by the end. My arms and legs were stinging like crazy. Anne seemed to enjoy it, she was waiting at the bottom with 2 blokes she'd overtaken :-)

Then it was a bit of road and over some nice fields home. The ride was 40 miles with some serious climbs but it seemed fine and we were pretty fast. In fact we jumped from 6th to 3rd overall girls! Very happy with that, it was a proper long race and I've finally found my legs this season, hooray :-)

Race 22: Bearded Man Stage 2 - 65km XC, Brecon, 02/07/2011

Todays race was very different to yesterdays. It was very much an endurance stage at 75km with 7200ft climbing and hardly any road at all.

We got bused to the start and had a chance to warm up on the tarmac before climbing up and up and up some more. The sun was relentless and really made it hard. There was a pushing section (steep climb) out on the exposed land and I was literally dripping, there was a time when I could hardly see too because of the swarm of flies around us! Gross and I am sure they were biting my head. That was probably the low point of the day. It's not often I pray for cloud! When we got to the top there was a nice fast fire road descent which was super cooling and we burned off the flies too.

The food stop was amazing, they had sweets, crisps, cake, biscuits and coke! Also a load of fruit and torq stuff. I could have stayed there a lot longer than we did, so the lady gave me a pack of mini cheddars to take away with me.

After lunch there was lots of lovely singletrack and some nice rocky descents. Anne was really fast on those parts. She's a demon downhill! Then we had another climb which couldn't be ridden or even pushed so it was a case of carrying your bike on your back and trying to stop my legs from buckling underneath me! I am rubbish at walking up mountains, even more so with a bike on my shoulders!

After that is was downhill pretty much all the way home. Some lovely trails, which was good as my legs were pretty tired towards the end.

I visited the torq stand and got myself some caramel magic powder stuff that gets in your body through the roof of your mouth so you don't even need to swallow it. For recovery. More expensive than gold! So hopefully a dose of that and the 2XU recovery tights will heal me enough to do the same again tomorrow...

Race 21: Bearded Man stage 1: 10km XC TT, Brecon, 01/07/2011

The Bearded Man is a 3 day stage race in the Brecon Beacons, which starts with a 10km time trial and then there are two 75km XC races over the weekend. The time trial was about 6 miles from the tent village so that was a good warm up as I was a little bleary eyed after the long drive down.

I am in a team with Anne Woods. In this event you have to stick together as it's the slowest persons time that counts. Today was much more suited to me than the other two days and Anne is the other way around, she is great at endurance where as I tend to lose the will half way around!

Sometimes I can get a massive high for short races, that makes my legs go and my lungs scream. It's a sugar / adrenalin high that I don't think I've properly experienced this season yet. It's interesting because Anne is diabetic so under the same conditions her legs will not work at all. It's the complete opposite for us.

The start was a big fire road climb all the way to the top. I zoomed off on my sugar high and Anne chased with her non working legs. I realised and held back and when we got to the top there was some nice single track in the trees. There were photographers all over the place! They hopefully got some nice Skedaddle shots of us. We had to do two laps and they'd cut some bits out as they were too water logged. It was a lovely sunny evening and it was a nice time trial course. Nothing technical, one drop where the cameraman nearly got run over each time, and an off camber rooty corner that I messed up both times! that was it. Feeling good but a little apprehensive about the distance in the next two races. Haven't ridden that far on a MTB this year yet!


 

The drop

Race 20: Northern Rock Cyclone, Newcastle, 25/06/2011

My first long road ride for months and it was 108 miles with 7400 ft climbing. A nice day out for the Northern Rock Cyclone with the Skedaddle team. We all looked very smart in our shiny new kit.

It was raining when I arrived (at 06:50!!!) but luckily it cleared and had stopped by the time we set off. I had my raincoat, arms and gillet in my pockets as I have had some bad experiences with road rides this year! But it was really warm so I carried it all for absolutely no reason. When the sun came out it was rather too warm, we all got daft cyclist tan lines where we got burnt.

We set off in a pack at a rather brisk pace and were averaging 19 mph by mile 35. Then I got a puncture. Really annoying but given we'd passed about 20 people changing tyres, it was inevitable that it would happen to one of us I guess. I thought I was toast but Anne Woods and Ian Wingfield kindly stopped with me. Ian even did the pumping for me, how nice is that!

It took us ages to catch up to some of the other Skedaddlers after the puncture stop. We never did catch up with some of the boys as they were long gone. I was feeling OK until the middle section of the ride. I tend to get this on long rides. When there is no end in sight and your legs are getting tired I seem to lose the will completely. Anne was strong the whole way around, she is brilliant at endurance, didn't slow down at all.

So in that middle section I was feeling my legs, having not done any long rides for months, I could tell. It didn't help that my gears were a complete mess so I was trying to stay in the big ring the whole time, fine for a short ride but tires your legs on a big one! Miles 70 - 80 sometimes I had to shut my eyes and force my legs round up some of the hills. It was quite rolling so they were popping up all over the place. I hope there were no photographers on those bits! I did the counting thing too to make sure my legs kept their rythmn. In the end the gears wouldn't change at all so we stopped to have a look, it turned out that the front mech had slipped and it was bashing on the chain ring. We didn't have allan keys so flagged down some nice young men and they lent us some.

Then I ate a gel and it ripped longways, covering my arms, legs, shorts, bike and gloves in a sticky mess. It's amazing how much is in that little sachet when it spreads all over like that! I licked it off the places I could reach (even tried my legs but it's quite tricky licking your own legs whilst cycling!!) but there was a lot left over and I was a sticky mess for the duration. My hands sticking to the brake levers etc. The part I did manage to eat was really tasty, it was a bannoffee torq gel. Highly recommended. And it was like someone turned on the lights! All of a sudden my legs felt fine again and I was good to go.

We came storming to the finish for the last 10 miles, 20 - 25 mph on the flat. Our total average speed was 15.6 mph so not too bad given the lack of endurance rides this year! Everyone at Skedaddle had a great time. They had about 30 riders in total so a great turnout.



Time for a rest

Mingling with the best

Race 19: MTBO Middle, Rattvik, Sweden, 20/06/2011

The final race in Sweden and mine was a middle distance in the same area as yesterdays long. It was all good apart from the 3rd to last control which was a long and very complicated leg. I paused at just about every junction as I could hardly see the tracks on the map and there were about 20 junctions to get right. Talking to the others later, they said I should just go down any tracks and just use the compass to get there as there was a big 'catching feature' at the end. Then you'd just need to work out how far along you were and go in for the control. Given I took 10 mins my way and I could have done it in 5 I'd say it was good advice! Next time..

There were some parts of today where I got up to full speed, which was great. There were some sandy climbs and also I sprinted the last control and the finish. I had those worked out already though, the last control was under a ski bridge and then you got channeled to the finish.

I came 5th today, the Russian (a different one again!) beat me. Rubbish! Charlie got gold again so is double world masters champion!!!

The finish area

My route where red is stationary and green is fast..

Race 18: MTBO Long, Rattvick, Sweden 19/06/2011

A much better day, it wasn't raining! I got back almost as clean as I set off so much happier, also I could see which was a bonus!

I was 2nd starter, Charlie had the same start time too, of course I let her go in front through the gate as she was going for world masters. I wasn't as nervous today, didn't really get the dry mouth thing like I had yesterday. The map fit on my new big ass map board too so no re-folding required.

The route to number 1 was track central but it was surprisingly easy when I focussed, it was sandy and there were lots of steep ups and downs. To number 2 I had to descend all the way to the river, past a campsite and up the other side, so far so good. I saw a control and glanced at the number thinking it was way too soon to be mine. 30 secs later I looked at the map again and I could have sworn I read number 44, so I spun around and dashed back - it was my control!

I then spent probably a minute plotting my way to number 3, there was no direct route so I could do a big loop left or a big loop right, neither way was a nice main single track. I plumped for right as it looked marginally shorter, so it was back down to the campsite and up the other side again. It seemed to take ages to get there. I met Charlie coming out as I went in, she'd chosen the left loopy way.

Out of number 3 I was looking at the lake below and it didn't look like the right shape. Then there was a lake on the other side too and I knew that was wrong. I'd not made a turning and was about 1cm from going off the edge of the map! The junction was only a moment behind me though so not a big mistake.

The rest went without incident, until the end, which got very complicated so I slowed right down and made sure I took all the right turns through the mass of tracks. The commentator was very loud too so I didn't want to accidentally pop out and look all lost in front of everyone! All was well and I got the last two and the finish OK.

I came 6th, beat the Russian but it was a different one to yesterday. Charlie came 2nd and got on the podium again :-)




My route where red is stationary and green is fast

Race 17: MTBO Middle Rattvik, Sweden, 18/06/2011

It was spitting when I got my map and then it started raining really heavily as I passed the start triangle. My glasses steamed up and I couldn't see a thing! It was the first time it's happened on an MTBO. Luckily I hadn't done my bib shorts up so I could use the bib part as a glasses wipe. Although it made it all smeary, at least I could kind of see..

I messed up number 1, getting confused as number 6 was in the way! But I sorted myself out and didn't do anything else bad for the rest of the race. I wasn't fast, as I was being very careful, stopping to check at the complicated junctions. So no huge time losses but quite a few small stops. It was quite hard to navigate through the tricky bits on the move because of the rain and the slippery ground. Some bits were really sandy, very hard going. Also I went through a stream twice on an in and out control.

I passed Ifor, John R and Andy C coming different ways, it was nice to see them as I was completely on my own for the whole race. I have no idea where all the others in my class were!
I ended up coming 6th, 2 mins behind Olga the Russian. She keeps beating me, my new target is to beat her in a race, I'll try my hardest tomorrow in the long.

Today Charlie came first so she retains her title as World Masters Champion!!!

The last control

Me, Steve and Beth just before our first race

My route where red is stationary and green is fast

Race 16: Brownbacks XC, Lee Quarry, 05/06/2011

I was surprised at how technical this course was, rocky with some very steep loose climbs, some pretty serious cliff edges and a couple of steep and rocky descents, also some pump ramps and table tops. There was no time for resting, actually, I tell a lie, there was a 10 sec flat bit after a skinny rock bridge and before a steep climb. The other bits that might have been slightly restful were so windy that it was a challenge just to pedal!

The racing (top) category for both boys and girls set off at the same time. I had my eye on 3 girls, one had an assistant holding her bike and giving her bottles and things (she ended up winning), one had an England sticker and name on her bike, the other was in some team kit or other and looked pretty racy. Debs pointed out another girl who was towards the back, she was in baggies with an orange 5 and Debs reckoned she might win and that she would leave it until late.

The start was pretty harsh, we were on a loose fire road that must have been about an 8% climb. When the whistle blew I flew off with everyone else as it went to single track straight after the climb so I thought a good start was important. It was horrendous, I was nearly sick! From resting to max heart rate in 5 seconds!!



I thought my start was pretty rubbish, but actually I was in 3rd position, in front of Miss England and Miss baggy shorts. There were so many blokes around me that it was impossible to tell. I didn't pass the other two girls. Lots of boys passed me, it was a nuisance when they came barrelling up behind me on the single track along the cliff edge. I stopped a couple of times to let them past but actually why did I do that, I was in a podium position and they probably were not!

At the end of the 2nd to last lap, as Debs had predicted, Miss Baggy shorts passed me! I stuck with her for a while but didn't have enough to get back past and annoyingly she finally pulled away. I came 4th. 1.5 hours of full on concentration and leg screaming climbs!


Provided by Clear-Shot Photography



Provided by Clear-Shot Photography



Race 15: XC - 10 Under The Ben

A 10 hour XC endurance event at Ben Nevis in the cold, wind and pouring rain. I was racing in a female pair with Lisa B. We did 5 laps each of the 10 mile course (1200 ft climbing per lap). It was raining when we arrived and it was still raining when we left.

There were an awful lot of fire road climbs which went on forever, interspersed with some nice single track trail centre like sections and a couple of really muddy woody bits. I soon realised that jumping off my bike and running through the mud and sliding down the muddy cliff edge was by far the fastest way to do it. As the day went on the mud got deeper and the trail centre bits turned into streams and then rivers! Single track I was flying down in my hardest gear on lap 1 was a hard slog on the small ring by lap 5. It was pretty grim. On the bright side, the sticky mud on lap 1 (where I chuckled as a man lost his shoe) turned into watery muddy shin deep gloop by lap 3 and it was actually easier to run in.

Getting in from a lap and I felt quite warm, but 5 mins later and I was shivering each time. There was just an hour between each lap to change and to try and eat something. Then it was back out into the rain to wait for Lisa to return. I was rubbish at eating, I mostly ate fondants fancies! And a gel on each lap, I just couldn't stomach anything more. Probably due to getting zero hours sleep that night (we camped at the event).

I pushed myself on every lap, but the combination of getting more tired and worsening conditions made the times slower each lap. I started off at 56 mins 33 (garmin time), when I was fresh and the course was pretty fast. The 2nd lap was 59 mins 27, I lost 3 mins in the 1st half with most of the climbing in. The 3rd lap was 1 hour exactly, I was faster in the first half this time but my glasses were so steamed up and covered in rain and mud I literally couldn't see a thing in the woody sections. Wiping them just made it worse so I just had to use the force...

Lap 4 and I was really feeling it in my legs. No vision, caked in mud then swilled down with icy streams, 1 hr 3 mins. They'd cut out the worst muddy section now and so this lap was different, we did a load of trail centre singletrack instead.

I checked the results board after lap 4 as everyone was giving up and I wondered if it was worth putting my poor body through another lap when I was pretty much broken. But I saw we were coming 3rd!!! So I bounded back to the tent and tried to eat anything I could.

The answer was a pot noodle, a bag of monster munches and the last fondant fancy! Richard H made me a Horlicks too. I was all fired up and off I went. Lap 5 was a struggle, mile 40 to mile 50! I ate a gel and some Percy Pig and Friends sweets and forced myself to climb. There was literally nobody around, most teams had either given up or finished, we were in the hour of extra time, where if you'd already started a lap you had up to an hour extra to finish it.

I was very tired, had to run, OK walk / stumble up the steepest climb that I'd made on every lap before (the boys around me cheered every time!) Both really muddy sections were diverted this time so I had some new bits again. 1 hour 4 mins later and I'd made it.

And we did come 3rd! We very happily scrambled up onto podium and collected our medal! So it was all worth it in the end!

On the podium, it was all worth that extra lap of pain!

It was rainy and windy and Lisa almost got stabbed by the gazeebo in her sleep!

Race 14: Etape du Dales Sportive

This could have been a lovely ride out, where we could have raced to try for a good time. But it ended up being a windy, wet 109 mile endurance ride that tested our will power from about mile 10! It was spitting rain when we set off from Grassington at 7:30 am. The forecast was windy but no rain so I was just waiting for it to pass and the sun to come out. It never did! All the way to Tan Hill it was the same, the first descent I got frozen into position as I only had shorts, top, gilet, arms and fingerless gloves on.

At the first food stop I made myself some rather fetching gloves out of the plastic that the bananas came in. The lady tied it in knots for me and it made all the difference for the rest of the ride. In fact my hands were sweating in there, when I got back my fingers looked like I'd spent a day in the bath! My feet were also numb until Tan Hill, so I got the plastic that the paper cups came in, and used them as socks - they were perfect for the job. My feet warmed up straight away and weren't numb anymore but also not hot.

I got quite a few 'nice gloves' comments on the way, but I think those people wished they had made some too! The drag up to the Tan Hill Inn was pretty grim. Rain and wind in our faces. After Tan Hill it started pouring down and that's the way it stayed until the end. On one rather exposed part (can't remember where because I couldn't even see anything anyway) it was hailing and it really hurt my face.

Miles 60 - 75 we allowed ourselves some whinging time, as we were really very fed up. But mile 75 was sufficiently near the end that we perked up and became happy(ish). We finished the last 10 miles really rather quickly due to a handy tail wind and because we knew it was nearly over. My legs felt good all day, way better than the Pocklington Challenge last month, maybe  I could feel no pain because they were numb with cold!

In the end we did 109 miles and 10,000 ft climbing, mostly into a very strong headwind (never quite sure how that works when it's a circular route!) with rain in our faces. It took us just over 9 hours, that's how bad it was!!!

Lisa and I looking strangely happy

Race 13: MTBO Sprint National Championship, 08/05/2011

I was doing really well in the sprint prologue, so much so that I thought I'd try and plan ahead a few so I could finally step it up a notch. Rubbish idea! When I looked back up I took the next left like I was supposed to but... It seems I might have gone further than I thought whilst planning as I ended up lost! I was pretty annoyed because it was going just fine before I got overly confident! I wasted 11 mins in a half hour race and so rushed around the remainder of the course. The rest went well, I even took short cuts (it was allowed today) Strangely I wasn't last at all but unsurprisingly I got in the B final!

The final was probably a harder route, it went into a complicated bunker area and also I took a shortcut through some undergrowth where the paths didn't quite meet. It was good. I got a little confused at the spectator control. I drew a blank when I looked down at the map again, had to work out where I'd just been, where was next, it happened 3 more times, I was getting really frustrated! I needed my 3M tabs to stick on but didn't bring any. Finally got past it and rushed the last couple of controls to finish 2nd.

John H, the BMBO chairman, has given me some most excellent advice on how to get good at the map reading part, which is my weakness. I'm on it already :-)

Sprint Prologue

Sprint Final

Race 12: MTBO Middle National Championships, 07/05/2011

This race was in Hanchurch woods, it was raining like crazy when we arrived, a surprise after all the nice weather we've been having. We were sat in the car for ages and didn't want to get out! Amazingly, it stopped and when I set off the sun even came out. It made it really steamy.

I went on lots of single track, lovely trails, jumps and a downhill course, really nice riding. My navigation is getting better too I think. I made only one mistake which cost me probably 2 mins, where I got the wrong turning and went to number 8 instead of number 4. I found I couldn't pedal fast enough either - that's new for MTBO!

I was out for 1 hr 7 mins, I came 3rd in my class behind Emily Benham and Helen Clayton, so happy with that :-)