Southern XC R2, Pippingford Estate, by Aidan Bishop

Mid April and the second round of this years Southern XC series was upon us.  With most rounds falling well for my racing schedule I decided to dust off my Cannondale scalpel and give my xc legs a workout.  The first round was held just outside of my hometown of Reading, which unfortunately I missed, this round was held on the Pippingford estate down in East Sussex.

The run up to the event and the weather was variable all week, would it hold off to give good conditions for the race or not?  A totally new venue to me, so I was looking forward to checking out the track and conditions of it.  From the line a fireroad littered with sharp hardcore rubble greeted you with a gradual climb followed directly into a singletrack downhill trail which was mostly off camber also, so getting to the front would be rewarded with a clear run down here. After a few minutes of undulating trail through patches of very energy sapping and sticky mud you arrived at a tricky and slippy bank before the first of three course splits where there were steep but faster ‘A’ lines or longer and less technical ‘B’ lines. A hardpack gravel road climb followed by a short sharp bank again and you were rewarded with a long bermed downhill run allowing some recovery time.  A steep descent and cross a stream then a near impossible muddy bank climb and along it’s side and you passed a pond.  From there you climbed slowly over marshland which had you fighting for grip just to keep moving forwards, all the time sucking the energy from your legs.  After another step drop and short road restbite another boggy climb awaited you then the going got a little more hardpack with a couple more short but draining climbs before you arrived into the finish arena.  A lap aiming to take around the 25 minute mark, and with the masters category lining up 4 laps, a long and tough race lay ahead!

Masters is run in the last block of races for the day,so first of were Elites then Experts, Masters and finally Sports, all separated by a minute gap.  Not having raced the first round I wasn’t gridded for the start, fortunately not all the names called out were present to line up so I managed to lineup on the second row.  The gun went and we set off up the first road climb at a fast pace, I positioned myself well quickly and slotted in around 4th place up here with first round winner Matt Stevens setting a fast start upfront.  After following another rider down the first section I opted to overtake to try and keep intouch with the leading two riders who were getting away.  I muddled through the ‘A’ lines and started the long climb focused on keeping Matt Stevens in sight ahead.  By the end of the first lap I had kept Matt just ahead of me, with another rider Crispin Doyle pulling away into a lead.  Turning down the first hill and unluckily for him I saw Matt walking up the opposite way telling me he punctured and with no spares his race was over.  This moved me up to second place, but with our category catching other riders finishing their races and some expert riders ahead I didn’t know how close other masters racers were behind me.  I concentrated on keeping a good tempo and kept looking ahead at the track to try and seek out dryer or harder looking lines inorder to make sure I could ride through sections successfully aswell as trying to conserve as much energy as possible.  From the mid point of the race to the finish it turned out to be a lonely race, I rarely saw another racer apart from a couple of riders finishing up their races.  By the end of the race I was exhausted, the 4 laps took nearly 2 hours to complete much longer than xc races I am used to of late.  I was happy though, I had finished in 2nd place with a comfortable gap to 3rd place.

I needed to have a good race to satisfy myself that my fitness was ok and that’s what I got.  I will aim to compete in more rounds of the Southern series and hopefully place well in the overall standings, a good objective in itself but will also keep me focused on maintaining good fitness for my gravity racing throughout the year also.

                                           Happy to make the podium after a long hard race.

Big thanks to Cannondale, Mavic, RRP, Crank Brothers, Giro, Maxxis for supplying the support with the racing.

UK Gravity Enduro Round 1, Scotland, by Aidan Bishop

Late March and the season kicks off already for another year.  Once again the season opener for the UK Gravity Enduro series required a trip north across the border, to the established and popular Innerleithen venue.  Last year the same venue was used and it turned to be a really tough race, not only was it the most downhill and technically orientated race of the series, it rained all night and intermittently all race, that along with the long loop including lots of climbing made for a big challenge.  Would this year bring the same fate for riders?  As it turned out all who entered and made the trip were rewarded with glorious sunshine and warmth all weekend, all was set for a great weekends racing to kick off the 2012 series.

With this discipline of racing still relatively new, especially in the UK, it’s very encouraging to see that the first round sold out weeks before the event and the second round also now sold out.  Proof that plenty of riders are keen to get involved and embrace this style of racing, including new faces on the start list in the Pro/Elite category with a number of top level downhillers. This first round even drew Jerome Clementz over from France and Tracy Moseley was also out to get some racing under their belts, this was going to be a fast race!!  This year I earnt a place up to the Elite category, so have been trying to prepare well through the winter and be a threat in the pro field. To date, my preparations hadn’t gone to plan with illnesses and mechanicals plaguing my training and xc racing I use to prepare for my endure season.  However, in the run up to the first gravity enduro all had come good, I received my new carbon Cannondale Jekyll, kitted out with top spec parts from Mavic, Crank Brothers, Maxxis and RRP, giving me an awesome race bike and all the tools I need to compete for podium places this year.

Arriving late Friday night, a cold night in the van, we then awoke to a misty morning with the sun trying to burn through.  I signed on and got my number board for the year, possibly the largest one I’ve used in a long time!  Proudly displaying the series’ new title sponsor Fetish bike company.  I then set out on the long route, to practice the 5 timed stages and try to memorize as much as possible, this year filming it all with my GoPro camera mounted to my helmet I played them back later on to analyse them which proved very useful for helping to memorize each stage a little more.  I discovered the route turned out to be approximately 20 miles long ascending around 2000ft; it conserving energy was going to be an important part to how each rider tackled the weekend.

30-40 mins climbing and you arrived at the start of stage 1. A generally tight technical downhill trail awaited you, taking in part of the 39 steps trail I raced on in previous national DH races through the years, and finishing above the finish arena.  Keeping smooth was key, being careful not to hit any trees and keep a good flow through all of the many loose and tight corners then keeping off the brakes when the trail opened out a little,  a 2 and a half minute run would put you towards the top of the race here.

Climb back up the same route and keep going past the start of stage 1 and right to the top of the hill for stage 2.  A longer stage this time, sub 5 mins was a good target. The top still greasy as you started on marsh land, follow the greasy singletrack littered with slippy rocks, roots and tree stumps.  Keeping the bike on the trail and keeping momentum going was a task, if you could pedal or push your speed more than that you’re going well here.  Once past the top section you followed some sticky mud ruts on and off of some breaks in the woodland. Finally dropping into a grippier, gravelly trail that steepened up before a pedal into the quarry to the finish…breathing hard!

Next a long pedal following the XC route out to the furthest point of the loop that seemed to take an eternity.  Starting out on a narrow trail between the heather, you quickly picked up a lot of speed before a right turn followed by a pedal section made trickier by the drying mud along it.  Down again through tight wooded rutted path, undulating along the hillside it was important to try and keep the bike rolling along this section with lots of dips and small rises.  Firing you out onto a long fire road pedal this time and then back into singletrack, tight between trees first then a succession of steep rocky chutes followed each time by naturally bermed right hand corners before you finished on another fire road, again under 5 mins was a good time here.

Make your way back around the hill and up to the start of stage 2 before turning left and down to the start of stage 4. Starting on some quite new trail, pretty loamy and tricky to ride clean and fast. Cross the fireroad and follow established trail on a loop with some rocky patches and tight corners to navigate.  Up a rock garden and onto some more wooded trail with greasy rocks in it then getting steep toward the finish, the most technical stage this one again around 5 mins.

Nearly done now, just left to ride the uplift road back to the top for stage 5!!  Pace yourself up here as you need some energy left for the final stage, the longest!  Starting in the quarry used so many times for the various DH races here, you dropped in from the side before firing you into the tunnel picking up good speed and enjoying flying off the jumps down here.  Out into the open and taking in some open corners and in and out of some more woods before dropping onto a road.  Very careful round the hairpin here due to the fresh patch of gravel, then get up to speed and burn your lungs trying to pedal as fast as you could manage along this section.  Drop left and thread your way through a tight section of trail through the trees, out of here and you joined the trail which brings you along Caddon bank to the finish along established trail with a lot of jumps, drops and compressions. Getting under 6 mins and you’ve put in some good effort to cross the line and finish the route….tired!

The complete lap here taking us over 4 hours of riding with tighter transition times this year, you definitely knew you’d been in an enduro race.  Saturday afternoon was time for seeding for Sunday’s race, run on stage 5 that finished in the race arena.  I watched as all the elite riders around me set off.  With the appearance of Jerome Clementz here I expected the two time Megavalanche winner to set the pace, he did.  There were also a number of fast Scottish downhillers riding that I knew would be tough to compete with at Innerleithen.  I rode safe and concentrated to not make any big mistakes, I missed a couple of lines here and there but overall an ok run.  Checking the times I had placed 7th in elite, satisfactory as I was only 4secs from 2nd place, Jerome was  6 secs clear of the pack in the lead, showing his impressive fitness and speed.
So Sunday morning and the sun came out earlier for race day, we had been blessed with sunshine all weekend.  Mid-morning and it was time to set off on the climb to stage 1.  Everyone in good spirits and lined up for their start times.  I had spent a little more time this year in trying to learn the stages more, especially stage 1.  I had some good lines down the stage and set off wanting a good start to the day, two corners in and I’m on the ground……bugger!  I get up as quick as I can and try to attack the rest of the stage, a few moments but I kept it together to the finish, not happy with the start I had made but I had to stay positive and hope the rest of the race goes better.  Stage 2 I wasn’t looking forward to as I always feel slow on the upper section.  I got through it fairly cleanly and tried to push on the rest of the stage, a way into it and I was catching glimpses of my 20 second man in front, Ben Cathro so maybe my run was going ok?  Then I sensed Neil Donoghue behind closing his gap down on me, all finishing in order but I knew I had lost time to Neil here.

The long pedal out to stage 3 was next and time for a bit of banter along the way.  More riders appeared to be queuing for their start here, we later discovered this was the start of timing problems later on as some riders weren’t getting there in time for their start times so manual logging had to step in. It was time to go for us, I set off keen to try and make up some time if I could. A little wobble in the first turn I had to settle into my run.  The track quickly gets fast and I was pushing it, then a slight lapse of concentration combined with trying to go as fast as possible meant I was drifting off the left off the track and into the heather.  Luckily I stayed on the bike but had stopped on a fast section of track, I jumped off the bike and back onto the track and tried to pedal away but then my chain was mysteriously falling off  the bottom of my cassette.  To my frustration Donoghue and then James Green passed me, that’s 40 seconds lost already. I got my chain back on and set off in hot pursuit of Green, I managed to close up to him after the muddy pedal and followed him through the singletrack before reeling him on the fire road and passing him back before we hit the next singletrack.  From there to the finish I was trying to stay off the brakes as much as I dare down the steep parts and try to carry as much speed through the corners without falling, by the finish I had pulled out a gap on James but I knew I had lost a lot of time and had blown any chance of a good result with it.

I stayed positive and decided to try my best for the last two stages and see if I could salvage some sort of result.  Stage 4 was clean but not blistering, finishing in order so I know it had gone ok.  The long pedal up the uplift road and back to the top for one last run down the hill to the finish, racing again on the stage we raced seeding on the day before, so everyone knew it a little better than the rest.  This stage I liked, fast up top before a lengthy fire road pedal, then some technical trail before some flowing trail down to the finish.  I raced it clean, hit my lines I wanted to and pedalled hard and managed to knock 11 seconds off my seeding time, turns out I was 4th fastest on this stage, so I was happy to have finished strongly at least.
We packed up the tent and the van ready for the journey back across the border.  I went to see if I could check the results, but none were posted and then the race organiser said over the mic they were sorting them but it would take a while, in my experience that would be a long while so we decided to hit the road!

Checking the web for results in the week I discovered them:

1st Jerome Clementz
2nd Crawford Carrick Anderson
3rd Gary Forrest
4th Neil Donoghue
5th Ralph Jones

So Jerome showed his class with a convincing win, being fastest on almost all stages he showed why is the one of the best in the world at enduro racing right now.  Tracy Moseley won the women’s race also showing her athletic ability to compliment her technical skills.  I had finished 13th in and elite field of over 30, and 15th overall out of 300 riders so I was content with salvaging an ok result and knowing a solid top 10 result was likely had I not had my mishaps, but that’s racing!!

All in all a really great weekend’s riding and racing and a positive start to the Gravity Enduro series for the year, just a shame the timings had their issue’s but the organisers know what went wrong so we can hope this will be resolved for round 2 in a few weeks’ time.  If so a good season of racing lies ahead for many as everyone came away with a smile.

Big thanks to Cannondale, Mavic, RRP, Crank Bros, Giro, GoPro, Maxxis, 661 for their support this season. Until next time………..

BMBS Round 1 - The Two Ronnies

Should I be a fan of cushions, cues, green baize and balls then the number 147 would certainly be one of the friendliest figures in mind to keep the world spinning in the right direction. The fact that snooker is an indoor sport, played in a climate controlled environment, means that there’s little to interfere with your potting pleasure throughout the year, albeit for a blown bulb at the Crucible or blue chalk on your chino’s. Cycling, on the other hand, is a whole different ball game altogether. So much so that it doesn’t actually feature any balls at all. Go figure.

Now I’m sure I’m not the only person to fall foul of the winter blues, when every hour seems to take infinitely longer than sixty minutes to go full circle. The days may be short but they drag like a black and white movie being played in slow-motion. In December some folk opt for an advent calendar to while away the time in the lead up to Christmas pudding. I think the point is being missed somewhat here. The countdown should’ve started last year on October 30th, when that precious hour of evening light was cruelly robbed from under wheel and given to the farmers of the north. One-Four-Seven. It may be known as a ‘maximum’ in snooker but, from these shores, it also happens to coincide with the number of days that it’s taken for dark to finally make way for light. I’m more than happy to relinquish an hour of sacred sleep (even if it is the night before round one of the British Mountain Bike Series at Sherwood Pines, Nottinghamshire) to make way for the extra breath of air that the nation can now look forward to inhaling as we turn the page and are greeted by a personal chum of mine known as British Summer Time.

An endless blue sky is always a welcome sign, yet on this occasion it did little to ease the tension as an eighty strong elite field started to filter into position on the start line. Familiar faces blurred by a heavy foreign presence - from Belgium, Scandinavia, France, Holland and as far flung as South Africa and the USA - painted a truly international picture postcard in Robin Hood’s forest. I’m seconds away from missing my grid position, sighting a last minute party in the portaloo as an imminent priority.

One final deep breath before an almighty canon blows every other noise out of the air as merry hell breaks loose and a trillion watts are fed into the rubber jaws of every tyre, instantly trying to rip up the dirt beneath them. I’m away cleanly, a revelation in itself, cleat engaging with pedal on first stamp. Within seconds I’ve somehow managed to thread myself from 45th to just outside the top 30. Like a pinball wizard I bounce off a few more riders as we funnel into the singletrack and the race finds its natural pecking order. Racing so close to the wheel in front means much of the first lap is nothing more than an oxygen deprived frenzy of burning muscles and blurred vision, all delicately held together by flatlock stitching and instinct, praying that the line that you’re following blind is a good one.

I survive lap one and begin to settle down into a more sustained effort. Half an hour passes before I get a proper chance to take on some fluid. In the middle of the day the temperature and conditions are perfect. Warm enough to be racing in the bare minimum of kit with a maze of intricately entwined trails to heighten endorphin intoxication. It’s my second race aboard ‘Bigfoot’ following my soiree into the world of 29ers last week. New dancin’ shoes fitted in the form of Bor rims laced to Industry Nine hubs, a significant weight shaving over the standard setup. It’s always slightly risky to get new tyres seated and sealed the day before a race but I had no choice on this occasion. By mid distance I’ve lost a significant amount of air from the front, making hard cornering more strategic than it otherwise should be. I remain light on the steering and hope that the larger volume of the 9er tyre can hold its breath ‘til the final flag. Seconds lost trying to re-inflate it would inevitably lose more positions than attempting to out ride the storm. It’s a calculated gamble and one that adds another dimension, making it a real race against time.

As a member of the Norwegian national squad and former junior olympian, Sturla Aune is a name I don’t normally have to worry about. A glance back reveals the Team Fokus Danica rider sporting race number 21, which broadly translates to ‘F.A.S.T’, hot on my wheels. I’m working together with Ben Sumner (Beeline Bicycles RT) another rapid rider that has just come up from the junior ranks. I’m conscious of not cornering too aggressively with a soft front end. Sturla seems content on sitting behind, which signals that we were still kicking out a good tempo.

On the penultimate lap I hit the main technical descent on the course at the head of our trio. With no space to pass I figure it’s the best position to be in as I could ride at my own pace without having to push too hard for risk of binning it on a bend. Surprisingly, by the next section of fire road I’ve pulled out a couple of seconds over Ben. Head down I give it everything in an attempt to snap the elastic that has held us together until now. The gap opens but there’s no time for complacency with the fast charging Lee Westwood (Torq Performance) and Daniel Booth (Team Hope Factory Racing) tearing up the last lap.

It’s not until the final section of woods that I feel relaxed for the first time, knowing I’m home and dry. Despite its moments I’d had a crash free ride to finish in 28th place. So, I may have to wait another day for the dancing shoes to settle before I can tap out the tango at full chat from start to finish, but I can live with that.

Now, I’ll confess, I’m not a snooker nerd by any stretch of the imagination but I do know that “The Rocket” Ronnie O’Sullivan is more than a dab hand when it comes to life on the baize - think under 6 minutes to clear the table in a perfect 147 fashion (I’d struggle to do it that quick using just my hands). Today was all about the sublime combination of 'Racing Ralph' up front and 'Furious Fred' out back. Even with a university edjumacation I've yet to fathom why Schwalbe named another tyre in their range after a snooker legend from the Midlands. Hey-ho, maybe I’ll find out later in the season when me ol’ mate Ron finally comes out to play. Until then, rack 'em up and ride hard peeps!

Southern XC 1 - The Birth of 'Bigfoot'

Little by little the room becomes more crowded. Cardboard clutters the floor as another polythene bag is filled with discarded packing material. A spin of the front wheel and the noise of the world is replaced by the sweet sound of silence. No skimming of steel rotor against organic brake pad. I wait, like frozen time, until the rotation finds its natural halt. Perfect. It’s late in the day, to the point that the hours ahead could now easily be referred to as ‘early evening’, but that doesn’t matter. A final 6 Nm turn of the T25 Torx wrench and I’m done. What stands before me now amidst the spotlights, in all of its resplendent glory, is like nothing else in the stable. A proverbial giant amongst its peers, seemingly invincible to the softly spoken whispers that circulate around its unique form. The cat amongst the pigeons expelled to make way for the lone dark horse come wolf in sheep’s clothing. Its matte grey and white livery subtly mask any form of emotion whilst a solitary hand on the top tube is all that is needed to feel the osmosis like connection of frenetic energy and anarchy that rage deep within its soul. I’m now only left with two questions. WTF have I created and HTF am I going to sleep tonight? My mind continues to cartwheel with thoughts of the unknown. Needless to say, it’s a long night.

It’s been six months since I touched a mountain bike, probably not the best preparation for the first round of the Southern XC series but, then again, at least jumping on a box fresh bike would feel as normal as it could do under the circumstances. Nervous adrenalin pulses to the fore from the pit of my stomach, bringing start-line flashbacks from as far back as the early 90’s. Why do the moments before the gun remain so nauseating despite years of sickly practice? It’s a question I’m sure I’ll never find the answer to.

Practice makes perfect and, with a serious lack of it, I’ll be the first to admit - my start sucked. Swamped by what felt like a sea of wheels rolling over my melon, from back to front, within seconds I was wallowing mid-pack. As we gallop towards the first long right-hander leaving the arena I see daylight and jump into a gap off of the racing line. With the horses starting to neigh I give an extra prod, steamrolling my way back into 5th place before the first section of technical. Hmm, initial impressions would seem that the new steed is pretty rapid in a sprint. It was only after the first lap, less than 20 minutes, that I’d come to realise that it had a whole lot more to offer than just straight line speed, and that life as I know it may never be the same again.

Whilst others wrestle to remain composed over the emaciated ribcage of exposed roots that littered every corner and berm I simply roll over them, poised and in control, with a devil-like grin from ear to ear. The combination of extra air volume and lower tyre pressures not only provide a ride feeling similar to when Aladdin last let me take the reigns of his magic carpet but, with a larger contact patch to chew into the dirt, traction far exceeds the toothy grip of a hungry pit-bull let loose on a Sunday night steak supper with peppercorn sauce.

Every lap just felt better and better, like Christmas and birthday coming within the same week. It didn’t take long to adjust my riding style to compliment its characteristics - cornering with no brakes to maintain fluidity through every bend whilst looking for the wider line to keep speed both on entry and exit. If anything, this is probably how I should've been riding my mountain bike all along, only now I have to adopt this technique to get the most out of it. Lessons learned.

You know you’re having fun when time seems to pass at the speed of light. Onto the fifth and final lap and I’m caught between thoughts of holding my position to the line and throwing it all away as I head off into the dwindling daylight never to be seen again. Maybe it’s the monster truck proportions and oversized wagon wheels that give the perception of being a twelve year old again, little more than two bricks high, and on a bike Dad always said “you’ll grow into son” but never quite did. Or perhaps it’s just the unequivocal feeling of riding a roller coaster of trails that made me smile so much today. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly, but what I do know is it’s an addictive combination that I’m already craving more of. I freewheel across the line in 3rd place. Not a bad start to the season but, if the truth be known, I wouldn’t have cared where I’d come today. The most important thing was the christening of the latest love of my life. Welcome to the world ‘Bigfoot’.....Kid you’re one of a kind.

Winter Racing & 2011 Review - Ant White

To be fair this winter has been soft, up until the last couple of weeks which is now “keeping it real”.  The worst racing weather was sprung upon me in the late Autumn.

Forest of Dean 4hr Enduro

It rained a lot.  A wonderful course was turned even more wonderful, super slippy fun.  My inner chainring was now struggling from a solid thrashing in Ireland the week before.  I oscillated backwards and forward within the lead group, chainsuck hell.  After lap two it was whittled down to Niall Frost (XCRacer) and myself. I started to fancy my chances as Niall is more XC than Endurance.  At that moment I ripped the mech off and snapped the hanger. 

The long walk back pissed off face. It was muddy.

Dusk Till Dawn 12 hour

We pulled together a strong team to see if we can dethrone the Kings of Thetford; The Fenboy Slackers (aka The Ashby family and Nigel Scott, aka The Forest Dwellers). 

Despite being one of the driest places in thE UK Dusk Till Dawn is starting to develop a bad luck weather reputation.  3 of the last 4 years has seen heavy rain. 2011 was shitty, but not as bad as 2010 and 2008 which was like something made up in the bible. 

Steve James (the elder), Craig Bowles & Ryan Henry and myself had an encouraging start and kept it very tight until the final 2 laps when the Forest Dwellers met dawn and saw their favourite lines.  

Top ride from the Slackers.  What does it take to beat these guys around Thetford?

Mtb Tour of Langkawi  

I then escaped. Race report here. 

Back in Blighty 

My objective for the winter to was to get a bit of random cross racing in on the mtb and use the 4 hour races to do some solid speed endurance work.  The cross racing was a bit flustrating as I just randomly picked regional races I was near at the weekend and found it difficult with so many riders starting together. 

Forget garlic bread the foot long bar is the future: 

I think it’s time some of the Categories are split up, starting the seniors, vets, women and junior together is good for the organisers but not the riders. Moan over.

Brass Monkey 2011/2012 – 4 hour races

Round 1:  Some wood in Surrey near an army camp

Not a great day.  My legs were fried from being on my feet working the previous day.  I barely kept the cramps at bay in the warm weather with the big wheels.  My Cannondale teammate Tim Dunford stormed away from the field, I won the Vets though. 

Round 2:  Some wood in Surrey, might have been near an army camp

A better day.  Tim stormed away again. I had all sorts of minor comedy incidents.  It was difficult passing the back markers as there a lot of tight sections.  Managed to come 2^nd overall and won the Vets.

Passing some backmarkers can be challenging:

Round 3: Some wood in Surrey near an army camp, with some hills.

Tim Dunford wasn’t there.  Ben Thomas (Mountain Tracks) was, and rode away from everyone to victory.  I won the Vets and came 3^rd overall , a minute down on smooth pedalling Mike Jackson (CC Luton). 

Photo: Cheers Joolz

All top courses.  

Thetford Winter Series 2011/2012 – 4 hour races

Round 1:  A flat wood in Suffolk

Paul Ashby (Fat Birds) disappeared into the distance.  Ian Mockett (Bike Art) held onto Paul’s wheel for a few laps before totally blowing up. Richard Jones (XC Racer), Nigel Scott and myself worked together for a while before Nige dropped off.  Ultimately Rich was stronger on the last lap.  I rolled in 2^nd Vet, 3^rd overall. 7 mins down on Paul.

Poor man's slalom skiing, love it!

Round 2:  A flat wood in Suffolk

Paul Ashby (Fat Birds) disappeared into the distance.  Mike Jackson (CC Luton)and I worked together well dropping Ian Mockett (Bike Art) who had forced the early pace. We rolled in together, joint 2^nd,  7 mins down on Paul.

Round 3:  A flat wood in Suffolk

Paul Ashby (Fat Birds) disappeared into the distance.  Ian Mockett held Paul’s wheel before the first of a multitude of puncture problems derailed his day’s endeavours.   There was a train behind.  I was pushing at the front but getting nowhere.  I fumbled with my steamed up glasses. Mike Jackson (CC Luton)made a burst for it and got on Ashby’s wheel for a few laps (well done).  Behind Richard Jones (XCRacer), Nigel Scott and I worked with Ian Mockett who had recovered from the first puncture.  I clipped a log with my pedal while negotiating a back marker and lost the group.  I chased and finally caught Nigel with an hour to go.  Rich Jones had caught Mike Jackson who had dropped off Paul’s wheel.

By this stage I was suffering with quite a lot of Thetford dirt clouding my vision and having to use my foot down braking technique ( I had lost all pressure in my brakes).  At a minute past 2.30pm I sprinted over the line with Nige.  Nige carried on. At first I thought he was spinning his legs, then I realised we had made the 4 hour cut off as the race had started a few minutes late.  I didn’t fancy another lap and Nige wasn’t in the Vets category.  Then 3 Vets came through, only Micheal Powell stopped. Hey ho. 4^th Vet for me.

Thetford is super good training.  You never stopped pedalling and small mistakes are penalised. 

Hit the North 3  Phillips Park, North Manchester

Winter firmly arrived.  The ground was rock hard and rutted.  300 brave souls turned up on a motley collection of bikes.  It’s a 2 hour race which is part cyclo cross part mountain bike.   I like a race which calls for some bike thinking and tinkering. I had a mutant rigid 29er which was spot on.  I really wouldn’t want to ride that icy course on a cross bike.

I was doing alright after a tentative start lying in about 6^th and 2^nd Vet position, but with half an hour to go I had a chainring implosion.   On subsequent inspection I had snapped the middle ring and lost 2 ½ chainring bolts.  Not sure what came first, my Cancellara like power or my shody bike maintenance?  It serves me right about being smug about getting through all the 4 hour winter Enduros intact.

Well done to Ian Taylor (Craven Energy) 1^st, and Adi Lawrence (BG Global) – 1^st Vet and 2^nd overall.

And then it snowed. And then it took along time to get home.

Ace race … I’ll be back.

2011 Review:  

I raced a lot in 2011 and had a strong year. 

Some notable  Race Results

Old Pueblo 24hr solo (Arizona)  – 1^st

UK 24hr solo champs – 2^nd

Erlestoke 12hr – 1st

Mountain Mayhem 24hr solo – 1^st

Midlands XC Hanchurch – 1^st Vet

National  XC Champs – 5^th Vet

Brighton Big Dog – 1^st Vet

Sudety Challenge Stage Race (Pol/Czech) – 7^th pairs

Kielder 100 – 2^nd Vet

Irish Marathon Champs – 1^st Vet

Dusk Till Dawn 12hr – 2^nd team

Mtb Tour of Langkawi (Malaysia) – 2^nd Vet

Brass Monkey Series 2011/12 4hr – 1^st Vet

Thetford Winter Series 2011/12 4hr – 2^nd Vet 

I used quite a few races as high intensity training as time was at a premium.   I hardly ever felt in the elusive superstrong sweetspot  though, three 24 hour races in the first half of the season somewhat saw to that. 

I think I’ll only be doing one 24 hour race in 2012 so hopefully that will leave me fresher for the shorter marathon stuff.  There’s loads I’m going to do in 2012, two key targets right now are the UK Marathon Champs (Vets) and trying to see if I can win Mountain Mayhem solo for the 5^th time.