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 :-)

Race 11: Pocklington 160km Challenge, 30/04/2011

This was a sportive rather than a race, We had timing chips but I know it wasn't a race because we stopped for a quick pie half way around. It was the Royal Wedding Weekend so I was wearing my patriotic GB MTBO top and union jack socks.

The town crier shouted a lot and rang his bell and we were off at a cracking pace of around 20mph. The wind was so strong it was ridiculous. I thought this isn't going to last for 100 miles, so after about 15 mins we slowed and waited for Ginnie. I thought maybe we'd catch the rest up again later when they burned out.

It was an interesting route that resembled Mr Messy, I guess that is how you get to do a 160km ride in the wolds! We always seemed to be either 4 miles to Thixendale or 2 miles to Pocklington.. After passing through Thixendale for the 2nd time I began to wonder what was going on. Then we got lost! There was no arrow at a T junction and we (about 15 people) all plumped for the road that went the wrong way. We did few extra miles, realised we'd gone wrong, so made our way over to the 2nd feed station, I couldn't help wondering if the GB MTBO top is actually cursed.. Good job we are getting new ones for the next international race. Better to be safe than sorry!!

At the 1st feed station we were allowed two bars and a fig roll. I was a bit concerned that this would not be
much food for 100 miles, so later on when we passed through Stamford Bridge, I suggested a quick pie stop to top up the tank. Everyone agreed rather quickly I thought. So we ate pies and watched a whole load of people go through.

After 70 miles my legs went tired, I don't know what was wrong with them (probably all that battling against the wind), but it wasn't pleasant and every time we passed the '2 miles to Pocklington' signs and turned the other way, they felt worse! I ate marshmallows and even a gel that we got given and it was fine. I was a bit slow on the climbs towards the end but then with 10 miles to go I got a 2nd wind and rushed (kind of) to the finish.

All in all a pleasant ride in nice sunshine but very windy indeed (the weather not me!)

Race 10: MTBO World Cup Open Elite Middle, Tapolca Hungary

T-1 where's the triangle?!

An OK race, I knew where I was at all times :-) but did nothing spectacular. Oh I did come joint 1st with Stodge on the last control to finish sprint!

It was quite suited to me as there was lots of pedalling between controls, and there wasn't any complicated forest tracks either!

I did a few short cuts for the 1st time (allowed in this race) once I went through some bushes to reach a parallel track in the other side, another time I scaled a cliff, got the control at the top, then slid down the red mud on other side which was pretty much vertical. I got cut on some brambles and my camelbak got snagged on a tree, but all was well.

I passed a fly tipping area and the track I needed was completely covered in litter (lorry loads full!) so it confused me and I took one to the right instead and ended up a lot further on than I wanted to be! I realised when I came across a lake and a water tower, pretty good for establishing my exact position! Probably best as I think going through the rubbish would have been a bit grim! There was glass everywhere too.

Coming in to the last control

It was an hour but it didn't seem anything like that long! My last international event for a while :-)

Finished!

Race 9: MTBO World Cup Open Elite Sprint, Tapolca Hungary

I had an amazing race compared to the training camp ones! I came 11th of 21 so pleased with that.

It was a 1:5000 map of a derelict army base, which was pretty cool. There were 28 controls in a 1/2 hour race so it was pretty full on from start to finish. No let up at all.

I didn't get lost, which I think is a first for me in MTBO. There was a control on a bridge and one under a hanger type building, the rest were hiding behind buildings and things.

The spectator control

I tried to look cool coming into the spectator control and was happy to see the GB's cheering me on! I got around the corner and then had to pause to check the map - I wasn't about to do it at the spectator control! Then it was full throttle through the last 4 controls to the end.

My amazing claim to fame today was being the fastest girl in our team to control 28 and then around the running track to the finish! Because I knew where to go by then and because I'd got around OK. Shame I can't nail them all like that hey :-)

Getting the last control

Race 8: ultra long, Denmark MTBO camp, 10/04/2011

I came 14th of 23 in an elite (best in the world) MTBO!!! Yeeeeeeeeeeeee haaaaaaaaaaaaaa...

It was really really long too, ultra long actually! I did 38 miles and it was tough. It was my first mass start event and I didn't like it one bit. The map was A3 and I couldn't find the triangle, so when the start went I had only just got my map on and hadn't even folded it so it was all flapping around. But I zoomed off with everyone else and stayed with them until the queue at the 1st control. Then it was a bit much so I paused to look at my map and fold it properly, I let them all go, much happier chasing on my own.

It was going well until I got lost. I went down lots of wiggly tracks and in the end the control wasn't at the junction I thought it would be. I had no idea where I'd gone wrong as there were so many junctions, so I finally employed the ride away technique! I rode to a clearing that I could see through the trees and relocated pretty easily from there and found the control!

Feeling pretty pleased with myself I then found myself riding with 2 other girls, not sure what nationalities, we were all together so the nav was much easier so I started taking different tracks to them, sometimes I'd get there 1st, sometimes they did. We picked up our 2nd map and I never saw them again, no idea where they went.

The 2nd half was hard on the legs. I rode exactly where I wanted to for every control apart from one, number 19, which again was down a maze of dotty paths. I came out, went back in again, went wrong again, faffed around for ages before finally working it out. I seemed to forget the ride away thing and wasted lots and lots of time, probably because by now my brain was like mush from the hours of concentrating like crazy.

It was 14:15 and we were supposed to be back for our flight, I didn't know if I could make it to 26, 27 and 28. Luckily i bumped in to Dan and Alan and they said get them because they were! So I pedalled like crazy and did the next one in record time, they caught me and towed me back (not literally) through the last 2 controls to the finish. We caught our flight but Stodge had to drive like a maniac to get there in time!


It turned out that lots of the elites gave up hours ago. Give me an ultra long any day of the week :o) :o) :o)

Map 1

 

Map 2

Race 7: middle, Denmark MTBO camp, 09/04/2011

I had a good race apart from a nav issue on control 1!!! and a massive confusion at the end. Control 1 wasn't where I thought it should be. I wandered around a bit and found Dan wandering around too. We were going different places though. I made my way to a main track and came at it from the other side and was away.

The rest of the race was OK until the last control. I was cycling properly fast at some points and was getting them with no problems. There was one where I came across one of the fastest girls (don't remember the country now) but she turned down a track where I was going to turn, but then must have got confused as she stopped to look at the map. I knew it was right because I could see it curve round at the end so I went for it and got to the control before her :-) a pretty big deal for me racing against these very fast elites!

There was one control where I had to climb over about 6 trees on their sides. They weren't even marked on the map either. But I jumped over them with my (luckily pretty lightweight) bike and managed not to mess up.

I got to the final control and it was number 100 - the finish! There were 2 controls instead of 1 and no flag too. There was supposed to be one just before so I was a little confused and couldn't punch as I'd not got the last one first.

I actually read the control number on my map as 99, the 1 was obscured and it was printed over a contour so I read the zeros as 9's! So I examined all the tracks around as I thought maybe the centre of the circle was actually not the track I thought it was, but nothing. I had no idea what to do! I looked around a bit more and was at the end if my tether when Alan came by and he got what was going on, there was another finish just up the track, it was my last control!!!! I was so mad with myself, I knew I was in the right place, so wasted all that tine for no reason. Really unfair when I'd actually done well in this one!

Race 6: middle, Denmark MTBO camp, 08/04/2011

All the GB's finished this afternoons middle race :-) The course was like a beach, sandy trails everywhere. We had a 100 mph wind too, it was freezing when we were practicing but the sun came out during the race.


The tracks were very twisty and seemed to be everywhere. I got confused on 2 controls and rode with a nice chatty Czech girl for 3. It was great because we kept swapping over who was leading and we both went the same way. I felt quite brave taking the lead but it was fine.


I worked out what I did wrong at the 2 controls and if I'd implemented the ride off in a chosen direction and wait until you recognise something technique I'd of done well. Hopefully tomorrow! Fingers crossed...

Race 5: middle night, Denmark MTBO camp, 07/04/2011

Night orienteering, who's idea was that?! It was as hard as I suspected! Heading into the forest with a map and compass and about 2 metres of vision, not something any sane person would do..

I was doing surprisingly well, just a few unsure moments, until I messed up at control 17. Then I struggled and was lost and it was so hard to relocate. 24 mins it took to find! Not good but I wasn't going back until I'd done the whole course. Thick trees, thin trees, ponds, marshes, none of it was any help as I really could not see any of it.

I finally found the control and managed to get the last one just as my daddy maxx faded. How long are they supposed to last on full power anyway? Not long enough to get lost in the forest!

An interesting race, not one I'll ever be repeating in a hurry. On the bright side, tomorrows race should seem like a piece of cake after this!

Race 4: super sprint, Denmark MTBO camp, 07/04/2011

The first race of the training camp and it was a super sprint, quite an interesting one as it was just 3.3km. Emily B had kindly spent the morning coaching me and it was the first time I enjoyed MTBO!


I got a little confused at the 1st control as the tarmac road was black on the map and they are normally pink. But I was in the right place and did the 1st 4 OK. Then I accidentally went to the wrong one and did the next 2 backwards! I realised my mistake and went back and did them all again in the proper order and luckily didn't get disqualified!


My last 3 controls were excellent and I kept up with some Italians, which I was really happy with. I finished down a flight of steps which was brilliant too.


We got a high five goody box :-) 6 hours to wait until the night middle race.

Race 3: Gorrick XC, Swinley Forest, 20/03/2011

My 2nd ever XC race, it was fun! I was tired from yesterdays MBO ordeal, a birthday meal with my PhD friends last night and little if any sleep. My legs were a bit like lead weights all day. I presume that was due to the above, i hope so anyway...

On the horn I went flying off in 3rd place for the first corner and downhill. Didn't hold it long before another girl came past, wasn't happy about that, thought I'd get her back later when I found my rhythm, but that was wishful thinking on my part! Those 3 went off and took the podium positions, the back 3 had much more of a battle on!

A girl called Kim gave me a run for my money, she overtook me, I was down to 5th - she pulled away too, but I caught her again on a downhill and then got a bit carried away and got all wrapped up in a tree! So she took me again and it went on like that for the whole 2nd lap. Each time one of us made a mistake the other would nip past. When I overtook her she said "well done!" which was a little strange but very nice so I said it to her each time too! Very British.

Whilst all this was going on the other girl slipped past us both. We all finished within a minute of each other and luckily for me Kim didn't get up a short sharp climb near the end so I got in front and managed to hold her off until the end. Just! My breathing was really odd, wheezing for the full 8 miles like I've been smoking 40 a day or something. Ave heart rate was a racy 178.

The course was up and down through the trees and a kind of clay surface which drained all your power. It was smooth though so was quite nice to race on. There was nothing very technical, a few rooty bits and some muddy off camber corners. A drop off near the start that caused a few accidents too. All in all a fun race and lots of top XC riders there.

Race 2: MBO, The Lookout Bracknell, 19/03/2011

I messed this race right up, which was unfortunate as it was a World Championships selection race – trust my luck! It wasn't even one thing, it was lots of things...

I’d been warming up for about an hour whilst the GB people got going, I didn’t want the added pressure of them breathing down my neck. When I finally got started, within 5 mins my mudguard worked loose and got all caught up in my wheel. I swore a bit and yanked the whole thing off, threw it to the side and tried to locate it afterwards but, unfortunately, it was the last I ever saw of it. It had a whole hour to do that before the race! Why now?!

I was struggling to read the map and cycle because the ground was consistently rough and so I couldn’t make out the tracks on the map as they were jangling around too much. So I found I had to stop every now and again to make sure I was seeing right – I have never had to do this before but really had no option given I couldn’t see properly! Anyway, I was doing OK for a couple more controls after the mudguard incident, and then my front wheel plunged into a bog whilst I was engrossed in the map and I went flying over the bars – still attached to my bike! I wasn’t happy. The levers all got out of line but I couldn’t move them so after kicking them a lot to try and get them back, I recovered myself and continued on my way. A little bruised and quite dirty by this stage.

All was well again, I saw lots of people wandering around aimlessly, some asking if I’d managed to find the control yet. Then something strange happened, on a seemingly easy leg, 15 – 16, I passed a lot of walkers and I must have got momentarily distracted (I remember thinking what’s with all these walkers on this section) because I reached a junction and the path I wanted was not there. I searched around, then decided I must be in the wrong place, got all confused with the hundreds of paths everywhere around me and no identifying features, and realised all was not well! I was going to retrace my steps but when I turned around I had no idea which of the paths I’d actually come from. So I cycled around a lot trying to match things up and finally pinpointed my location because there were two parallel paths, one with open ground around it (yellow on the map) and one without. I still missed the entrance to number 16 but saw where I now was and looped around to get it.

The rest of the race passed without incident but I was traumatised by my getting lost and all of a sudden had the biggest headache ever! I was losing the will and finally made it back in 1.5 hours, it should have taken me an hour best case and 1 hour 15 worst case. Oops.

Talking to the GB bods afterwards, the correct thing to do in such situations is leave the area entirely. Pick a direction and cycle in it, e.g. go North. Then, apparently, you recognise something on the map ‘within a minute’, rather than the 17 mins it took me to get between 15 and 16! Top tip duly noted.

Race 1: NYMBO Trailquest, Sutton Bank, 12/05/2011

My first race of the year was a 3 hour NYMBO trail quest, which started at Sutton Bank Gliding club. The first of the league, and the first on my brand new Giant Anthem X Advanced SL1 race bike (very exciting!). I was a little apprehensive as I normally do these races with a partner. I've only done a handful on my own. After a whole lot of faffing and a lemon muffin & cup of tea from the gliding club cafe I was ready for departure. I set off with two blokes I know from CliftonCC, one was my partner last year. We disagreed at the very first control and he went off to get one that I thought would be more suited to my return leg. I was just behind the other one for a while but we must of gone our separate ways early on as I didn't see him after the first three controls.

I had been a little cold whilst waiting around so was wearing winter boots, tights, gilet and arms. After about 5 mins of racing I was boiling hot! I got my arms off OK and undid the gilet but wasn't about to stop and take off my tights so I rolled them up above my knee and did the rest of the race looking very stylish indeed!

I did my usual calculating and plotting en route (on the road sections anyway) and was happy with the route I selected for the first two hours. There was an obvious loop but some of the control ordering required rather too much brain power. I went down the bank (a pleasure on the new bike), collected a load of points then along and back up again. The third hour I was less sure about. I spotted a lucrative loop which was hilly and had a long section of 'invisible' bridleway. But I went for the safe option which was longer but much flatter and mostly road. I wasn't sure if I'd make it around the other loop in time and didn't want to risk losing everything by being very late back. I was a little worried as the Giant suspension doesn't fully lock out like the Scotts, but I got no bobbing at all as I climbed on the road so was very impressed with the design. My choice of route (and super racy bike!) got me back just 1 min 20 late and gave me 413 points, which I believe is my highest score ever!

I ate marshmallows on the way around as I lost my Dextrose (later found it on my driveway) and I just needed sugar. I felt reasonably strong all day but could still tell I was tired from my training in Gran Canaria last week. The last 30 mins I had to shout at myself a lot to get pedalling! I had tried spin on Wednesday and gave up after 10 mins as I just couldn't, so I was pretty pleased with my improvement from Wed - Sat!

There were over 100 riders in total and I came 1st out of the girls and 8th overall so very pleased indeed with my first race of the year! Might of set the bar a bit high for the rest of the year though...