14C and a 45% chance of rain! That sounds worse than Ireland.
Reports from the last two weekends of racing on the way soon - damn my busy life - 'off-season' will be here soon.
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Weather in Ornans
14C and a 45% chance of rain! That sounds worse than Ireland.
Reports from the last two weekends of racing on the way soon - damn my busy life - 'off-season' will be here soon.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Slow Punctures...
Ever wonder how those punctures happen where the bike is perfect all ride, you put it away, still fine but the next day the wheel is flat... I found the problem...
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Saturday, September 13, 2008
June in September
I was out on a pretty long spin this morning in what could only be described as Californian weather - the weather in Ireland has been mad this last while, hot, cold, wet, windy, dry... You never know from day to day.
When I was out, I took a spin down tomorrows Epic Blast course - this is the view from the top.
When I was out, I took a spin down tomorrows Epic Blast course - this is the view from the top.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
2008 Leinster Road Championships
My first road race since March was a DNF (mechanical) for me but Mel got to ride and win her first road race. She has some reports about it all on her blog here, here and here.
I gave her lots of advice (yeah, yeah - I know a lot - I have taken part in 6 whole road races!) and one bit was, don't look too strong coming towards the end of the race - save it for the end...
I gave her lots of advice (yeah, yeah - I know a lot - I have taken part in 6 whole road races!) and one bit was, don't look too strong coming towards the end of the race - save it for the end...
With one lap to go, somehow I don't think she was listening... :)
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Monday, September 08, 2008
War Hill Today
An early morning spin in great conditions - you can't beat it. I climbed up Maulin (I think that is it's name) for the first time - a great rocky descent off it.
The peaks are Three Rock, Prince Willies and then Maulin followed by a blast home on the roads.
Friday, September 05, 2008
Tire Tear
It went straight to the bin afterwards though!
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Exposure Lights
I love when new boxes arrive :)
Just in time for the winter darkness, a bunch of Exposure Lights have arrived - Mel and I now have a Enduro and Joystick Maxx each. As I mentioned before, Mel and I used them in Bontrager 24/12 and I fell in love with them. So compact, simple, light and above all else, bright - oh, and the battery life is great too.
I'm still waiting on the delivery guy for my new burr grinder though...
Monday, September 01, 2008
2008 National Marathon Championships
I have competed in a lot of marathon type races so far this year, three UK 100km NPS Marathons (another in two weeks), the World Championships, Bontrager 24/12 and Mountain Mayhem so I went into our National Marathon Championships pretty comfortable with the idea that I could go and win the race if I pushed hard and wasn't too unlucky. This is the story of the 2008 Nationals...
The course was going to be two laps for a 31km course that included 850meters of climb. The 850 meters really does not tell the full story as there was very little easy meters gained – almost all of the climbing was tough off road with the major ascent (up Sheahan) being only the second time in the last 2 years that I acutally had to use the granny ring!
After the hill climb champs and all the driving I was pretty tired when I got to Dublin and set about getting ready for the race – getting the bike ready (changing a rear tire - to a previously used, known good one), getting food ready and trying to relax a little took me to midnight – a little later than I wanted with a 7:30am wakeup call for the race.
The Seahan Climb
Race day arrived with blue skies and my brother Mark arriving at my place. He had given up his day to give me some support (mental, food and mechanical) during the race. We arrived and signed in – there was going to be around 100 starters for the race. Shortly after 10am we rolled off. The first 5 minutes or were on a slightly rolling tarmac descent to the first climb – a really beautiful single track climb. James McClusky, Evan Ryan and myself went to the front and kept the pace pretty steady, that is until about 500 meters from the single track entrance. I didn't want anyone holding me up on the technical climb so I had all the motivation I needed to go quickly. The first 7-8 got in clean anyway (Joe McCall lead us in with me on his wheel) and we all settled into a high tempo pace. After the first singletrack climb I went to the front and tried to control the race from there. Due to the nature of the terrain, speeds were not going to be very fast here so I rather control the tempo from the front. A group of 6 (I think) of us rode the first 15km to the feed zone together where flying Junior, Liam McCreavy and myself broke off the front. This carried on around the open mountain traverse and then up the difficult ascent of Seahan. At the top of Seehan, I had about a minute on James (in second position for the senior race. The junior race was only 1 lap so I was not too bothered with them). I was enjoying the descent being pretty careful not to clip anything and go easy on the bike and I started to think to myself – this isn't too bad. I blitzed down a section of fireroad that lead to a road section when I heard a massive pop – damn! My rear tire was sliced open – on a fireroad. I was actually pretty calm, spun around the bike and started going about throwing in a tube (I use tubeless). For the race, I had everything planned very well but I forgot one vital thing – my CO2. I only had a tiny mini pump with me that I brought only if everything else failed. I continuted to put in a tube as I watched all my competitors fly by. I knew that I could be strong on the second lap so I didn't want to make any mistakes so I was very careful putting in the tube (no more spares) and pumped the tire to a high preasure. Eventually I got going, about 5 minutes behind the lead. (Tubeless is amazing – but you do forget how to change tubes quickly!)
I got back to the start/finish for the first lap cleanly and went about changing the rear wheel to one of my spares – I flaffed around at this and ended up wasting a bit more time (Thanks to Mark and Sean for handling me :)). I hit the road and knew I was about 7 minutes behind James. I knew that I could make that up in the 31km lap but it was going to be tough. With that, I sped off (being careful not to go too hard). As the various climbs came, I picked off people until I saw James on the Seahan climb. At this point, barring mechnical problems, I knew that I would catch him. A few minutes from the top of the 20 minute climb I caught and passed him and worked hard to distance him a bit before the descent. With the lead secured – I was very careful descending. I did not mind if he caught me as there was enough climb at the end, and my legs felt good enough that I could attack again if I had to. I rode the rest of the lap well and arrived at the finish line with a 6 minute lead over 2nd place and my first Elite National Championship.
James, myself and Evan
IMBRC hosted and ran the event (with a little help from EPIC on the day) and it ran perfectly. The course was challenging and super well marked with marshals at lots of locations along the route. Food, tea, showers etc... after the race went down well, and they even managed to organise some sunshine for the day!
So, with the National Champion jersey for the year, I guess that means I will have to do a few more marathons next year :)
Many thanks to Shane in Cycleways (bicycle support etc.) and my brother Mark and Sean for helping me out on the day.
There is a report and results available here as well as some photos (two in this post) here.
The course was going to be two laps for a 31km course that included 850meters of climb. The 850 meters really does not tell the full story as there was very little easy meters gained – almost all of the climbing was tough off road with the major ascent (up Sheahan) being only the second time in the last 2 years that I acutally had to use the granny ring!
After the hill climb champs and all the driving I was pretty tired when I got to Dublin and set about getting ready for the race – getting the bike ready (changing a rear tire - to a previously used, known good one), getting food ready and trying to relax a little took me to midnight – a little later than I wanted with a 7:30am wakeup call for the race.
The Seahan ClimbRace day arrived with blue skies and my brother Mark arriving at my place. He had given up his day to give me some support (mental, food and mechanical) during the race. We arrived and signed in – there was going to be around 100 starters for the race. Shortly after 10am we rolled off. The first 5 minutes or were on a slightly rolling tarmac descent to the first climb – a really beautiful single track climb. James McClusky, Evan Ryan and myself went to the front and kept the pace pretty steady, that is until about 500 meters from the single track entrance. I didn't want anyone holding me up on the technical climb so I had all the motivation I needed to go quickly. The first 7-8 got in clean anyway (Joe McCall lead us in with me on his wheel) and we all settled into a high tempo pace. After the first singletrack climb I went to the front and tried to control the race from there. Due to the nature of the terrain, speeds were not going to be very fast here so I rather control the tempo from the front. A group of 6 (I think) of us rode the first 15km to the feed zone together where flying Junior, Liam McCreavy and myself broke off the front. This carried on around the open mountain traverse and then up the difficult ascent of Seahan. At the top of Seehan, I had about a minute on James (in second position for the senior race. The junior race was only 1 lap so I was not too bothered with them). I was enjoying the descent being pretty careful not to clip anything and go easy on the bike and I started to think to myself – this isn't too bad. I blitzed down a section of fireroad that lead to a road section when I heard a massive pop – damn! My rear tire was sliced open – on a fireroad. I was actually pretty calm, spun around the bike and started going about throwing in a tube (I use tubeless). For the race, I had everything planned very well but I forgot one vital thing – my CO2. I only had a tiny mini pump with me that I brought only if everything else failed. I continuted to put in a tube as I watched all my competitors fly by. I knew that I could be strong on the second lap so I didn't want to make any mistakes so I was very careful putting in the tube (no more spares) and pumped the tire to a high preasure. Eventually I got going, about 5 minutes behind the lead. (Tubeless is amazing – but you do forget how to change tubes quickly!)
I got back to the start/finish for the first lap cleanly and went about changing the rear wheel to one of my spares – I flaffed around at this and ended up wasting a bit more time (Thanks to Mark and Sean for handling me :)). I hit the road and knew I was about 7 minutes behind James. I knew that I could make that up in the 31km lap but it was going to be tough. With that, I sped off (being careful not to go too hard). As the various climbs came, I picked off people until I saw James on the Seahan climb. At this point, barring mechnical problems, I knew that I would catch him. A few minutes from the top of the 20 minute climb I caught and passed him and worked hard to distance him a bit before the descent. With the lead secured – I was very careful descending. I did not mind if he caught me as there was enough climb at the end, and my legs felt good enough that I could attack again if I had to. I rode the rest of the lap well and arrived at the finish line with a 6 minute lead over 2nd place and my first Elite National Championship.
James, myself and EvanSo, with the National Champion jersey for the year, I guess that means I will have to do a few more marathons next year :)
Many thanks to Shane in Cycleways (bicycle support etc.) and my brother Mark and Sean for helping me out on the day.
There is a report and results available here as well as some photos (two in this post) here.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Summer in Ireland
It was funny - very misty up in the mountains but pretty nice once you got back down to sea level. The pictures really reminds me of the riding that I did in New Zealand.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
2008 National Hill Climb Championships
Last weekend was a pretty big weekend of racing for me as there were two National Championship events being held. On Saturday, the National Hill Climb Championships were being held in Linsfort, Donegal over the Mamore Gap, while on Sunday the National Cross Country Marathon Championships were being held in the Wicklow Mountains.
In this post, I'll just focus on the National Hill Climb Championships. Preparation began for it (outside of training!) in the leading week when I started to try and shed a little weight from my road bike. A super light set of wheels and full carbon saddle brought my bike weight down to 6.9kg (including pedals and the Garmin Edge bike computer).
My 'pimped' 2008 Specialized Tarmac Expert
Next hurdle was actually getting there. The race was about 5 hours drive from my home in Dublin so I staged it in two sections with my Dad kindly offering to cover most of the driving. (Driving takes a lot out of me and with the marathon on the Sunday, I was trying to conserve as much as possible). Due to the distance, I was not going to be able to have a look at the climb before the race so this is all I knew.
After a very friendly signon we all headed over to the bottom of the Gap – it was at this point that the rain and wind really picked up. The climb was going to be wet into a strong headwind – as if the elevation gain was not enough to contend with!
I got on the Turbo Trainer to warm up (something I don't use very often but found it perfect in this case) and got to the start line ready to go. To save weight, I didn't use my power meter for the climb but I had practiced pacing on a climb this length a few times recently so my basic plan was go a little easier (from a perceived effort point of view) then I think I should for the first two minutes and then pick it up – hopefully my power output would be pretty well averaged out over the climb.
5,4,3,2,1 and I was off up the hill. The next few minutes were mostly a blur with the odd self questioning - “why am I doing this?” - usually, this is a good sign – it means I'm pushing hard. The climb was very very steep – the hardest I've seen in Ireland by a long way and my 39x25 was two high a gearing for me to ride the hill the way I wanted. In general, especially more recently, I like to spin while climbing. About 80-90 RPM while seated and around 80 while standing. I basically had to stand almost all the climb, using all my mountain biking smooth pedalling skills to not spin out the rear wheel on the slippery tarmac while only pedaling at about 50rpm. After a lot of pain, I looked down at the Garmin to see I covered 1.55km – only 350 meters to go, but those 350 meters were like a wall. Already far into oxygen dept and a huge headwind I hit the final section which averaged out at a 19% gradient – I wish I had lower gears. I kept pushing and the crowd cheered me on as I made the final push. I crossed the line, placed my bike carefully at the side of the road (making sure not to damage the super expensive borrowed wheels) and promptly collapsed. I had no thoughts in my mind that I could have pushed harder – better gearing would have helped a lot, but I really did give it everything.
Looking down the climb
I don't even remember this bit!
The prize giving was held back in the Laurentic Bar in Linsfort where the supporting club (North Pole CC) put on a huge spread of food - the race was super well run by North Pole CC. The poor bar staff looked on at is as if we were a pack of locusts :) and it was not even a long race!
In the end, my time up the climb of 8:50 which was enough to secure second place – missing out on winning the Championship by a mere 7 seconds! (If only I was a kilo lighter...) Ronan Mc Laughlin who rides for the Pro outfit AnPost/Sean Kelly won the event – he looked smooth as I watched him pass as I returned down the hill.
There was only 14 seconds in the top 3 places
Results and a report are available here.
After all this excitement, it was a return drive to Monaghan with my Dad and then I drove back up to Dublin to start preparation for the following days marathon. It was a busy weekend.
I have to say a couple of big “thank yous” from this weekend. I really appreciate the support from Shane Connaughton from Cycleways, Eoghan (sorry – I need to get your second name) and Ross McClure. They helped me out with seriously lightening up my bike, Eoghan and Ross giving me the use of their mega light Lightweight wheel-set. Those things are ridiculous! I would be getting a pair if I did more road racing to warrant such an expense! Also, a big thanks to Dad for driving me to and from the race and supporting me around it - it was a huge huge help!
So next year – 7 more seconds... I'm getting closer :)
In this post, I'll just focus on the National Hill Climb Championships. Preparation began for it (outside of training!) in the leading week when I started to try and shed a little weight from my road bike. A super light set of wheels and full carbon saddle brought my bike weight down to 6.9kg (including pedals and the Garmin Edge bike computer).
My 'pimped' 2008 Specialized Tarmac ExpertNext hurdle was actually getting there. The race was about 5 hours drive from my home in Dublin so I staged it in two sections with my Dad kindly offering to cover most of the driving. (Driving takes a lot out of me and with the marathon on the Sunday, I was trying to conserve as much as possible). Due to the distance, I was not going to be able to have a look at the climb before the race so this is all I knew.
- A very tough climb – maybe the toughest in the British Isles
- 1.9km long with 250 meters of climb
- 10 bends and 4 switchbacks
After a very friendly signon we all headed over to the bottom of the Gap – it was at this point that the rain and wind really picked up. The climb was going to be wet into a strong headwind – as if the elevation gain was not enough to contend with!
I got on the Turbo Trainer to warm up (something I don't use very often but found it perfect in this case) and got to the start line ready to go. To save weight, I didn't use my power meter for the climb but I had practiced pacing on a climb this length a few times recently so my basic plan was go a little easier (from a perceived effort point of view) then I think I should for the first two minutes and then pick it up – hopefully my power output would be pretty well averaged out over the climb.
5,4,3,2,1 and I was off up the hill. The next few minutes were mostly a blur with the odd self questioning - “why am I doing this?” - usually, this is a good sign – it means I'm pushing hard. The climb was very very steep – the hardest I've seen in Ireland by a long way and my 39x25 was two high a gearing for me to ride the hill the way I wanted. In general, especially more recently, I like to spin while climbing. About 80-90 RPM while seated and around 80 while standing. I basically had to stand almost all the climb, using all my mountain biking smooth pedalling skills to not spin out the rear wheel on the slippery tarmac while only pedaling at about 50rpm. After a lot of pain, I looked down at the Garmin to see I covered 1.55km – only 350 meters to go, but those 350 meters were like a wall. Already far into oxygen dept and a huge headwind I hit the final section which averaged out at a 19% gradient – I wish I had lower gears. I kept pushing and the crowd cheered me on as I made the final push. I crossed the line, placed my bike carefully at the side of the road (making sure not to damage the super expensive borrowed wheels) and promptly collapsed. I had no thoughts in my mind that I could have pushed harder – better gearing would have helped a lot, but I really did give it everything.
Looking down the climb
I don't even remember this bit!
The prize giving was held back in the Laurentic Bar in Linsfort where the supporting club (North Pole CC) put on a huge spread of food - the race was super well run by North Pole CC. The poor bar staff looked on at is as if we were a pack of locusts :) and it was not even a long race!
In the end, my time up the climb of 8:50 which was enough to secure second place – missing out on winning the Championship by a mere 7 seconds! (If only I was a kilo lighter...) Ronan Mc Laughlin who rides for the Pro outfit AnPost/Sean Kelly won the event – he looked smooth as I watched him pass as I returned down the hill.
There was only 14 seconds in the top 3 placesAfter all this excitement, it was a return drive to Monaghan with my Dad and then I drove back up to Dublin to start preparation for the following days marathon. It was a busy weekend.
I have to say a couple of big “thank yous” from this weekend. I really appreciate the support from Shane Connaughton from Cycleways, Eoghan (sorry – I need to get your second name) and Ross McClure. They helped me out with seriously lightening up my bike, Eoghan and Ross giving me the use of their mega light Lightweight wheel-set. Those things are ridiculous! I would be getting a pair if I did more road racing to warrant such an expense! Also, a big thanks to Dad for driving me to and from the race and supporting me around it - it was a huge huge help!
So next year – 7 more seconds... I'm getting closer :)
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Pain in the butt...
Literally - I was doing a few preparation drills for this weekends Hill Climb Championships (checking equipment, checking body - both good) and when I was descending back down after a run I felt a massive sting on my inner right thigh (the bit that rubs, or is close to, the saddle). I looked down to find a honey bee stuck to my shorts.
Panic mode started - two days before an important weekend of racing and I just got stung by something that I have a known very bad reaction to. In August 2006 I got stung on the face (turned into a "Mars Bar Head") and again in July 2007 I got stung on my forehead (another "Mars Bar Head" incident). The second reaction was much faster so I knew time was crucial. I headed home as fast as I could and started to call Cycling Ireland and the Irish Sports Council to find out what I need to do as I was pretty sure I would be getting an injection of Solu Cortef. I was doing all this as I was getting dizzy and in a lot of pain. With the documents I needed I visited the doctor and got sorted pretty quickly. (The receptionist remembered me from the last two times and pulled me straight into the Doctor)
Now, I'm pretty good and the doc said I should be okay by the weekend - fingers crossed.
Panic mode started - two days before an important weekend of racing and I just got stung by something that I have a known very bad reaction to. In August 2006 I got stung on the face (turned into a "Mars Bar Head") and again in July 2007 I got stung on my forehead (another "Mars Bar Head" incident). The second reaction was much faster so I knew time was crucial. I headed home as fast as I could and started to call Cycling Ireland and the Irish Sports Council to find out what I need to do as I was pretty sure I would be getting an injection of Solu Cortef. I was doing all this as I was getting dizzy and in a lot of pain. With the documents I needed I visited the doctor and got sorted pretty quickly. (The receptionist remembered me from the last two times and pulled me straight into the Doctor)
Now, I'm pretty good and the doc said I should be okay by the weekend - fingers crossed.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Crazy!!!
I did a loop of the upcoming marathon course yesterday morning. The course is pretty good and reasonably weather proof. One of the climbs is a killer and I suspect that unless it stops raining for the next few days (currently raining) I'll be walking sections. It is not very long though and the rest of the course more then makes up for it...
Anyway, getting back to what I thought was crazy - I stopped off at a part of the marathon course where I joined in to drop off a bottle and some extra clothes I didn't want to carry (hidden nicely in the trees). I rode for two hours (the loop) and arrived back to find this:
Seriously - who the hell does this? I'm in the middle of nowhere and someone dumps all their crap (There is a link to report such things). The recent weather is bad enough to push me out of Ireland let alone this type of thing! It's not even that unusal. I also passed a truck pilled high with 5 burnt out cars that they just picked up from the forest.
Seriously - people in this country (any country) that cause any issues should have to do a mandatory 500kms a week on a bicycle - then they wont have any energy left to get up to badness :) Grrrr
Anyway, getting back to what I thought was crazy - I stopped off at a part of the marathon course where I joined in to drop off a bottle and some extra clothes I didn't want to carry (hidden nicely in the trees). I rode for two hours (the loop) and arrived back to find this:
Seriously - who the hell does this? I'm in the middle of nowhere and someone dumps all their crap (There is a link to report such things). The recent weather is bad enough to push me out of Ireland let alone this type of thing! It's not even that unusal. I also passed a truck pilled high with 5 burnt out cars that they just picked up from the forest.
Seriously - people in this country (any country) that cause any issues should have to do a mandatory 500kms a week on a bicycle - then they wont have any energy left to get up to badness :) Grrrr
Friday, August 15, 2008
Fuel for a 100km marathon
This is the fuel I used during the marathon in Drumlanrig. 8 bottle of TorQ (about 500-600ml in each) and 8 gels... Yum yum :) My saddle time was around 5 hours.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Spot the difference
1
2Number 1 was yesterday, number 2 today... Seriously - it's the SUMMER time... Grrrrr
Met Eireann proubly anounces todays weather as "Showers or longer spells of rain, with some very heavy or thundery downpours." - that has been the outlook for the last week. I can deal with training in crappy weather all winter - that's fine - but the summer has to be a bit nicer! It's warmer, yeah - but much wetter.
Met Eireann proubly anounces todays weather as "Showers or longer spells of rain, with some very heavy or thundery downpours." - that has been the outlook for the last week. I can deal with training in crappy weather all winter - that's fine - but the summer has to be a bit nicer! It's warmer, yeah - but much wetter.
Monday, August 04, 2008
2008 Bontrager 24/12 Report
I should have written this ages ago but work has been busy... Anyway...
In 2006 I took part in a race ran by Epic called the Epic Blast, I wrote about it before but it was basically a sprint run down a long downhill course that also had XC type sections. The reason I bring this up was that this was the most fun day I had racing since I started... Bontrager 24/12 has given that day a run for it's money!
It all started a few months earlier when Matt from TorQ asked us if we would be interested in taking part in the mixed pairs category of the 12 hour race. Apparently, this was going to be the 'big' category as most of the UKs leading couples were going to take part. The sound of all this (and the fact that it was not 24 hours) intrigued us so we agreed to take part.
Roll on a few months and Mel and I found ourselves outside Plymouth on the grounds of Newnham Estate in glorious sunshine. A preride of the course brought huge smiles on our faces so no matter what happened, we knew we would have fun. (It also helped that if it did rain, the course would be pretty weather proof – unlike Vietnam... I mean, Mountain Mayhem...). After a few false starts we eventually found some accommodation (don't even ask about the original one we booked) and ate a great Indian meal.
Birds eye view
Morning arrived with blue skies, a bone dry course and a high probability that we wont get rained on. (There was a deep river crossing to keep the dust down though!)
At the start, Mel and I decided that I would do double laps and she would perform single ones until I started to slow. This would hopefully equal out our energies over the event (having done a couple of adventure races, one of the most important things is to always make everyone equally tired). That didn't mean Mel got to chill out for an hour at a time though, as we had no support, she was going to be prepping for me as much as she could when I was riding, the plan being that all I had to do was sit down when I got back, eat and before I start my next lap fix anything on my bike (mostly, this was just oil the chain... but I'll get to that later) grab the bottles she prepped and go.
Ian and I at the start of the race
At 12pm the race start. A short start loop brought us around onto the lap proper. I spent most of the first lap telling myself to take it easy – it's easy to get carried away but when I'm going to be riding close to 8 hours I had to really hold back at the start. My plan was to ride well within myself for as long as possible and much further into the event (8 hours or so) put in a few fast laps if needs be. I have done a lot of long races recently so I thought that I should be strong enough at the end as long as I take care of eating and drinking. I also knew that Mel would be fresher so that we can also switch to single laps.
Coming around after the start loop - Ian on my tail
Our competition in this race was going to be tight with Kate and Ian Potter, Jenny Copnall and her partner Richard as well as Phil Morris and Madie Horton. The four main teams stayed pretty close throughout the first few hours but it was the Potters who we had the main tussles with. (They were having there own inner competition too to find out who the fastest Potter is – Kate's blog has all the gory details :)) There was never more then a minute or so between us and 6 hours in, I was really starting to wonder if they would ever slow down! Kate was as fast as normal, but Ian was really pulling off a blinder. I was most impressed with Kate in one of her laps though, I started a little behind her and caught her on the climb, I contemplated in trying to get her to hang on to me and then try to up the pace and get her to follow but I threw that idea out and rode my own lap. I arrived into the arena after my lap to turn and see her just behind! Impressive stuff.
Fortunately, we didn't have any mechanicals that caused major problems but I didn't get away scot free. I started my 3rd lap (about an hour into the race) and noticed I had very little travel on my front fork – as the next few laps progressed, very little turned to none. So I did another 5 laps without any travel – although the course was not technical (and my high volume Racing Ralph tires were amazing) my hands and wrists were really starting to get sore. This was until I rode through the bomb hole section and heard a massive pop and loads of liquid in my face. My heart dropped thinking that I just sliced my wheel and the liquid was the Stans fluid in the wheel. The feeling of riding on the rim didn't arrive but the front felt spongy – I looked down to find a chunk of the left leg of my fork missing – I actually felt relieved – I was 5km from the finish and didn't fancy running or changing tires. The compression and lockout adjustment was gone (litrally) but I now had a full 100mm of bouncy travel again! (Oh, and a fresh oil shower every-time I hit a big bump)
Anyway, back to the race – everything was neck and neck until around 8 or 9pm when we started to edge ahead of the Potters, not much, but a minute or two per lap and we also switched to single laps. The night laps came and I got to do some of the most enjoyable night riding I'd ever done – it was my first time using our Exposure lights – they were amazing – so light and bright. Mel seemed to be buzzing after every lap too (according to the people at the TorQ stand).
I finished my last lap (13) at about 11:50pm to find Mel waiting to go out on her last lap. We probably had enough time that we didn't need to ride another lap but Mel had the biggest smile when I seen her that I knew she wanted another lap. I handed over the baton and headed to the TorQ stands were Matt and Sasha prepared diner (YEAH – real food - thank you, thank you, thank you!). Mel finshed her lap (8th for her) and we all sat around chatting, eating and enjoying a glass of wine till late. The end to an amazing day of racing. Perfect weather, competition, course, organization and company...
With a little bit of sleep, Mel and I got up the next morning to blue skies and decided to head out for another 'recovery' lap (you would think 21 laps between us was enough!). The fact that we were doing that, after so many laps really shows how much we loved the course – it was so fast and so much fun, the weather was perfect and we got to cheer on the 24 hour folk.
Mel the next day when we went out on a 'recovery' ride
I know I have gone on a few times before about this but the TorQ nutrition products are simply amazing for this type of event. I've raced a few long races recently and know a few things about nutrition but I was still amazed that I came in after my last lap feeling better (with more energy) then I had 12 hours earlier – incredible.
The mixed podium (Maddie and Phil had to leave early)
Both of us have to thank TorQ for their support and encouragement during the event, our competitors (especially Kate and Ian) for giving us such a nail biting race and Martin (InEvent) and Keith Bontrager for putting on the event – you'll see use there next year.
There are lots of photos available here and here and some we took here as well as some reports here and here. Results are here. As usual (and she beat me to it this time) Mel's report can be found on her blog...
In 2006 I took part in a race ran by Epic called the Epic Blast, I wrote about it before but it was basically a sprint run down a long downhill course that also had XC type sections. The reason I bring this up was that this was the most fun day I had racing since I started... Bontrager 24/12 has given that day a run for it's money!
It all started a few months earlier when Matt from TorQ asked us if we would be interested in taking part in the mixed pairs category of the 12 hour race. Apparently, this was going to be the 'big' category as most of the UKs leading couples were going to take part. The sound of all this (and the fact that it was not 24 hours) intrigued us so we agreed to take part.
Roll on a few months and Mel and I found ourselves outside Plymouth on the grounds of Newnham Estate in glorious sunshine. A preride of the course brought huge smiles on our faces so no matter what happened, we knew we would have fun. (It also helped that if it did rain, the course would be pretty weather proof – unlike Vietnam... I mean, Mountain Mayhem...). After a few false starts we eventually found some accommodation (don't even ask about the original one we booked) and ate a great Indian meal.
Birds eye viewMorning arrived with blue skies, a bone dry course and a high probability that we wont get rained on. (There was a deep river crossing to keep the dust down though!)
At the start, Mel and I decided that I would do double laps and she would perform single ones until I started to slow. This would hopefully equal out our energies over the event (having done a couple of adventure races, one of the most important things is to always make everyone equally tired). That didn't mean Mel got to chill out for an hour at a time though, as we had no support, she was going to be prepping for me as much as she could when I was riding, the plan being that all I had to do was sit down when I got back, eat and before I start my next lap fix anything on my bike (mostly, this was just oil the chain... but I'll get to that later) grab the bottles she prepped and go.
Ian and I at the start of the raceAt 12pm the race start. A short start loop brought us around onto the lap proper. I spent most of the first lap telling myself to take it easy – it's easy to get carried away but when I'm going to be riding close to 8 hours I had to really hold back at the start. My plan was to ride well within myself for as long as possible and much further into the event (8 hours or so) put in a few fast laps if needs be. I have done a lot of long races recently so I thought that I should be strong enough at the end as long as I take care of eating and drinking. I also knew that Mel would be fresher so that we can also switch to single laps.
Coming around after the start loop - Ian on my tailOur competition in this race was going to be tight with Kate and Ian Potter, Jenny Copnall and her partner Richard as well as Phil Morris and Madie Horton. The four main teams stayed pretty close throughout the first few hours but it was the Potters who we had the main tussles with. (They were having there own inner competition too to find out who the fastest Potter is – Kate's blog has all the gory details :)) There was never more then a minute or so between us and 6 hours in, I was really starting to wonder if they would ever slow down! Kate was as fast as normal, but Ian was really pulling off a blinder. I was most impressed with Kate in one of her laps though, I started a little behind her and caught her on the climb, I contemplated in trying to get her to hang on to me and then try to up the pace and get her to follow but I threw that idea out and rode my own lap. I arrived into the arena after my lap to turn and see her just behind! Impressive stuff.
Fortunately, we didn't have any mechanicals that caused major problems but I didn't get away scot free. I started my 3rd lap (about an hour into the race) and noticed I had very little travel on my front fork – as the next few laps progressed, very little turned to none. So I did another 5 laps without any travel – although the course was not technical (and my high volume Racing Ralph tires were amazing) my hands and wrists were really starting to get sore. This was until I rode through the bomb hole section and heard a massive pop and loads of liquid in my face. My heart dropped thinking that I just sliced my wheel and the liquid was the Stans fluid in the wheel. The feeling of riding on the rim didn't arrive but the front felt spongy – I looked down to find a chunk of the left leg of my fork missing – I actually felt relieved – I was 5km from the finish and didn't fancy running or changing tires. The compression and lockout adjustment was gone (litrally) but I now had a full 100mm of bouncy travel again! (Oh, and a fresh oil shower every-time I hit a big bump)
Anyway, back to the race – everything was neck and neck until around 8 or 9pm when we started to edge ahead of the Potters, not much, but a minute or two per lap and we also switched to single laps. The night laps came and I got to do some of the most enjoyable night riding I'd ever done – it was my first time using our Exposure lights – they were amazing – so light and bright. Mel seemed to be buzzing after every lap too (according to the people at the TorQ stand).
I finished my last lap (13) at about 11:50pm to find Mel waiting to go out on her last lap. We probably had enough time that we didn't need to ride another lap but Mel had the biggest smile when I seen her that I knew she wanted another lap. I handed over the baton and headed to the TorQ stands were Matt and Sasha prepared diner (YEAH – real food - thank you, thank you, thank you!). Mel finshed her lap (8th for her) and we all sat around chatting, eating and enjoying a glass of wine till late. The end to an amazing day of racing. Perfect weather, competition, course, organization and company...
With a little bit of sleep, Mel and I got up the next morning to blue skies and decided to head out for another 'recovery' lap (you would think 21 laps between us was enough!). The fact that we were doing that, after so many laps really shows how much we loved the course – it was so fast and so much fun, the weather was perfect and we got to cheer on the 24 hour folk.
Mel the next day when we went out on a 'recovery' rideI know I have gone on a few times before about this but the TorQ nutrition products are simply amazing for this type of event. I've raced a few long races recently and know a few things about nutrition but I was still amazed that I came in after my last lap feeling better (with more energy) then I had 12 hours earlier – incredible.
The mixed podium (Maddie and Phil had to leave early)Both of us have to thank TorQ for their support and encouragement during the event, our competitors (especially Kate and Ian) for giving us such a nail biting race and Martin (InEvent) and Keith Bontrager for putting on the event – you'll see use there next year.
There are lots of photos available here and here and some we took here as well as some reports here and here. Results are here. As usual (and she beat me to it this time) Mel's report can be found on her blog...
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Simple pleasures
...sitting down, after the days chores are done, with your girlfriend and watching the highlights of the days Tour de France stage on a huge projected screen...
The ITV 3 highlight show is pretty good.
Some more interesting info about it all here.
I know it is the 'smarter' move - but I wish Cadel would attack properly at some point.
The ITV 3 highlight show is pretty good.
Some more interesting info about it all here.
I know it is the 'smarter' move - but I wish Cadel would attack properly at some point.
2008 National XC Championships
Last weekend saw me take part in one of my goal events for the season – the Irish XC Championships. Since the World Marathon Champs two weeks earlier, my training has been all about resting up and peaking for this race A few days before hand I put in a couple of very hard (but short) efforts and my body seemed to be reacting well so I was pretty confident that I was well prepared for the race.
The race itself was being held in the Kilruddery Estate near Bray, the same location as the first round of the K-Capital series this year and last year. However, the course was going to be very different. No significant climbs (boooo) – just lots of long kickers. A 5.5km lap had around 120 meters of climb. On the preride, I tried to learn as many of the sneaky lines (there were a lot!) as possible and prepare mentally for the super fast start the next day. About 100m after the start, we hit singletrack with no opportunity for passing for over half a lap. The course was 95% super fast singletrack and a lot of fun to ride – they need to make this place into a bike park! The rest of the day I spent relaxing watching movies.
Race morning arrived to find a perfectly dry course (2 or 3 puddles) – there was even dust in places. Around 1:30pm we all lined up – I knew the first 30 seconds was going to be crucial and as it happened, I think I had my WORST 30 seconds of any race this year. My UCI points had given me a nice front row ticket but missing a pedal and various other mistakes meant that I hit the singletrack in close to last position. The next lap I spent panicked trying to pass people and bridge back to the leaders (where I hoped/expected to be) but it just did not seem to be working out. By the start of the second lap I had caught up to Lewis Ferguson and we rode the next few laps together. He was riding the fireroads (not much) strong but sitting up in the singletrack which was pretty frustrating. A massive sprint was put in each time getting into the singletrack, but once there the pace dropped – he would eventually drop out after the 4th of 7 laps.
I think with my start and the resultant frustration I was never able to raise my game properly to start pulling back major time and work my way up the results. I did push hard on the final lap though to catch Joe McCall and pull myself into 5th but it really was not a ride I'm proud of. My body was well rested (first time I did a 'proper' taper/peak) but things did not seem to fall in place for me – I would love to rerun the race again this weekend!
Results are here and there is a short report here.
Anyway, I have already hit a good few of my season goals this year, and there are more big events coming up for me to focus on so I'm not too down about it all!
Not really a major event, but something I have been looking forward to is the Bontrager 24/12 race this weekend in the UK. Mel and I are taking part as a mixed pair – hopefully both of us will be able to show good form and get a good result.
The race itself was being held in the Kilruddery Estate near Bray, the same location as the first round of the K-Capital series this year and last year. However, the course was going to be very different. No significant climbs (boooo) – just lots of long kickers. A 5.5km lap had around 120 meters of climb. On the preride, I tried to learn as many of the sneaky lines (there were a lot!) as possible and prepare mentally for the super fast start the next day. About 100m after the start, we hit singletrack with no opportunity for passing for over half a lap. The course was 95% super fast singletrack and a lot of fun to ride – they need to make this place into a bike park! The rest of the day I spent relaxing watching movies.
Race morning arrived to find a perfectly dry course (2 or 3 puddles) – there was even dust in places. Around 1:30pm we all lined up – I knew the first 30 seconds was going to be crucial and as it happened, I think I had my WORST 30 seconds of any race this year. My UCI points had given me a nice front row ticket but missing a pedal and various other mistakes meant that I hit the singletrack in close to last position. The next lap I spent panicked trying to pass people and bridge back to the leaders (where I hoped/expected to be) but it just did not seem to be working out. By the start of the second lap I had caught up to Lewis Ferguson and we rode the next few laps together. He was riding the fireroads (not much) strong but sitting up in the singletrack which was pretty frustrating. A massive sprint was put in each time getting into the singletrack, but once there the pace dropped – he would eventually drop out after the 4th of 7 laps.
I think with my start and the resultant frustration I was never able to raise my game properly to start pulling back major time and work my way up the results. I did push hard on the final lap though to catch Joe McCall and pull myself into 5th but it really was not a ride I'm proud of. My body was well rested (first time I did a 'proper' taper/peak) but things did not seem to fall in place for me – I would love to rerun the race again this weekend!
Results are here and there is a short report here.
Anyway, I have already hit a good few of my season goals this year, and there are more big events coming up for me to focus on so I'm not too down about it all!
Not really a major event, but something I have been looking forward to is the Bontrager 24/12 race this weekend in the UK. Mel and I are taking part as a mixed pair – hopefully both of us will be able to show good form and get a good result.
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