I'm not even half way through washing the dust off everything I had with me this weekend at the Original Source Mountain Mayhem but I thought I would type some words to let everyone know how we got on. The Bike Mechanics had a great race this year, finishing in 26th with 24 laps, out of 200+ teams, our best result yet.
During our practice lap on Friday afternoon the heavens opened and I can't say I was that eager to get going on the Saturday. The course designers had been busy this year adding new sections and bringing in some old ones. Being so fresh, these sections had no chance of holding up in wet weather with thousands of riders cycling over them, and I thought if it was going to be wet, this year would be tough.
However, the forecast looked promising so we crossed fingers and hoped it would dry out and stay dry for the weekend, and thankfully it did. We stuck to our usual strategy of Mark doing the run and me going out second, followed by Jon then Andrew. Mark had a good run, starting at the front of the pack, even though he tripped and fell on the start line (I just wish I'd had a video camera), and he finished with a quick first lap.
It all went pretty smoothly for us all, no mechanicals or any major dramas, and we kept putting in consistent laps throughout the day. The course this year ended up being fantastic. Some of the new twisting sections through the woods were great and made the course far more interesting than previous years. This year also saw the return of the "land rover climb", a long, grassy track, which last appeared in my very first Mountain Mayhem, and my first 24-hour event in 2004. Back then all I remember of it was slipping, sliding and dragging my bike up a long hill of greasy mud, thinking "what the hell am I doing here?" but this weekend it was dry and dusty, and all part of the fun.
Being a normal training week for me (i.e. not a race week), I already had over 280km of riding that I'd done during the week in my legs before the start of the race, and I wondered how I'd cope with racing. I'd made sure I only did endurance rides during the week and kept the higher intensity training for the weekend. Luckily it paid off and I felt strong on all 7 of my laps.
This coming week is a rest week for me, with just some easy rides to do, for which I'm grateful for, as I feel like I need a rest. Then I'll be going in to my final 4 weeks of training for the Twentyfour12. I could only admire and respect the guys that were soloing this weekend, and many of them riding more laps than some of the teams. I just hope that I'll be one of them crossing the finishing line in a few weeks' time.
Monday, 21 June 2010
Wednesday, 9 June 2010
BRISTOL BIKEFEST 2010
The team were out in force at the Bristol Bikefest last weekend with Jon and myself entered in the men's 12-hour pairs, Andrew and Mark in the men's 12-hour pairs singlespeed, and Scott and Zoe racing in the mixed 12-hour pairs.
First off, a huge congratulations to Mark and Andrew for finishing on the podium again in 3rd place with 24 laps! Apparently, the course didn't really suit singlespeeding this year (so I'm told), what with the relatively short sharp climbs and long pedally sections. On top of that the ground was hard and unforgiving with roots and rocks and allsorts. They both did it with rigid forks as well as only one gear. I prefer gears and suspension myself, far more sensible.
They beat us in 2009 by 10 minutes, but thankfully Jon and I were a lap up on them this year with 25 laps. Heh heh heh, sorry, had to get that in somewhere, not that there's any competitiveness within the team, honest.
Scott and Zoe came in 7th in their category with 22 laps, and Jon and myself finished 11th in our category with 25 laps.
This year was a tough event, a shorter but much faster course than the previous year and in hot, dry and dusty conditions. Jon and I put in a good effort to stay in the top 10 pairs from the start and we were doing really well and looking comfortable until I came back from one of my laps about 4 hours in to find Jon was missing!
Unfortunately he'd punctured and had problems with his brake pistons so while they frantically tried repairing it all at Team HQ, I had to go out for what I thought would be a few laps on my own. Luckily I only had to do an extra lap before Jon was up and running (or rather, riding) again, but we'd lost a fair bit of time, in what was already a very close contest for top 10.
Annoyingly on my next lap I punctured twice, so it lost us even more time. However, we battled on and fought our way back to 11th, and we finished just 20 seconds behind 10th.
There was a great turnout of friends this year racing in the solo, pairs and team categories, so there was a great atmosphere all around the course and plenty of people to talk to and encourage. On top of that the weather was great, which made the event one to remember.
As I've mentioned many times before, this was another "training ride" for me, albeit a rather intense one, and another opportunity to tweak my bike setup, drinks, nutrition etc in preparation for my 24-hour solo attempt at the Bontrager Twentyfour12 in July. Overall I was happy with everything. I seemed to be drinking enough fluid and getting enough energy gels and solids down me between laps, with very little ill effects.
I was even happy for the whole event, something which doesn't always happen. I had a surprised comment from Jo, Mrs Dave Buchanan, when I went to say hello between one of my laps, "What's wrong with you? You're happy!". Thanks Jo. And thanks for the mouthful of peanuts I had off you, I was still chewing them half way around that lap. Kept the cramp off though. But seriously, we're always grateful for the support and encouragement you give us at the events, top stuff.
Look out for us at the Original Source Mountain Mayhem at Eastnor Castle where we'll be racing in the Men's 24-hour Team category.
First off, a huge congratulations to Mark and Andrew for finishing on the podium again in 3rd place with 24 laps! Apparently, the course didn't really suit singlespeeding this year (so I'm told), what with the relatively short sharp climbs and long pedally sections. On top of that the ground was hard and unforgiving with roots and rocks and allsorts. They both did it with rigid forks as well as only one gear. I prefer gears and suspension myself, far more sensible.
They beat us in 2009 by 10 minutes, but thankfully Jon and I were a lap up on them this year with 25 laps. Heh heh heh, sorry, had to get that in somewhere, not that there's any competitiveness within the team, honest.
Scott and Zoe came in 7th in their category with 22 laps, and Jon and myself finished 11th in our category with 25 laps.
This year was a tough event, a shorter but much faster course than the previous year and in hot, dry and dusty conditions. Jon and I put in a good effort to stay in the top 10 pairs from the start and we were doing really well and looking comfortable until I came back from one of my laps about 4 hours in to find Jon was missing!
Unfortunately he'd punctured and had problems with his brake pistons so while they frantically tried repairing it all at Team HQ, I had to go out for what I thought would be a few laps on my own. Luckily I only had to do an extra lap before Jon was up and running (or rather, riding) again, but we'd lost a fair bit of time, in what was already a very close contest for top 10.
Annoyingly on my next lap I punctured twice, so it lost us even more time. However, we battled on and fought our way back to 11th, and we finished just 20 seconds behind 10th.
There was a great turnout of friends this year racing in the solo, pairs and team categories, so there was a great atmosphere all around the course and plenty of people to talk to and encourage. On top of that the weather was great, which made the event one to remember.
As I've mentioned many times before, this was another "training ride" for me, albeit a rather intense one, and another opportunity to tweak my bike setup, drinks, nutrition etc in preparation for my 24-hour solo attempt at the Bontrager Twentyfour12 in July. Overall I was happy with everything. I seemed to be drinking enough fluid and getting enough energy gels and solids down me between laps, with very little ill effects.
I was even happy for the whole event, something which doesn't always happen. I had a surprised comment from Jo, Mrs Dave Buchanan, when I went to say hello between one of my laps, "What's wrong with you? You're happy!". Thanks Jo. And thanks for the mouthful of peanuts I had off you, I was still chewing them half way around that lap. Kept the cramp off though. But seriously, we're always grateful for the support and encouragement you give us at the events, top stuff.
Look out for us at the Original Source Mountain Mayhem at Eastnor Castle where we'll be racing in the Men's 24-hour Team category.
Tuesday, 1 June 2010
7.5 WEEKS TO GO
The last 4 weeks seem to have flown by and preparations for the Twentyfour12 24-hour solo seems to have turned into an obsession. That's all I seem to think about these days although I try not to!
I've enjoyed following the first month of my three month training plan from Chris Eatough and I've managed to stick to it pretty rigidly so far. My time on the bike has increased and the various exercises I do during the week, although painful sometimes, seem to be paying off.
I raced at the Margam Big Welsh Weekend on the 30th May and entered the full 75km Marathon. It was meant to be a training ride for me under "race" conditions just to see how things were progressing and what needed working on still. I was very pleased with my 4 hours and 4 minutes and 20th spot amongst a field of very fast XC racers. Full results are available on Timelaps.
Zoe also raced the full 75km Marathon and a massive congratulations for getting onto the podium in 3rd place in the women's category.
The next month on the calendar looks interesting, even more hours riding (about 56 hours) and also the Bristol Bikefest this weekend and OS Mountain Mayhem on the 19th June.
Good luck to Mark and Andrew who will hopefully be out defending their crown in the 12-hour Men's Singlespeed category at the Bristol Bikefest, Zoe and Scott in the 12-hour mixed category and myself and Jon will be riding in the 12-hour Men's category.
I've enjoyed following the first month of my three month training plan from Chris Eatough and I've managed to stick to it pretty rigidly so far. My time on the bike has increased and the various exercises I do during the week, although painful sometimes, seem to be paying off.
I raced at the Margam Big Welsh Weekend on the 30th May and entered the full 75km Marathon. It was meant to be a training ride for me under "race" conditions just to see how things were progressing and what needed working on still. I was very pleased with my 4 hours and 4 minutes and 20th spot amongst a field of very fast XC racers. Full results are available on Timelaps.
Zoe also raced the full 75km Marathon and a massive congratulations for getting onto the podium in 3rd place in the women's category.
The next month on the calendar looks interesting, even more hours riding (about 56 hours) and also the Bristol Bikefest this weekend and OS Mountain Mayhem on the 19th June.
Good luck to Mark and Andrew who will hopefully be out defending their crown in the 12-hour Men's Singlespeed category at the Bristol Bikefest, Zoe and Scott in the 12-hour mixed category and myself and Jon will be riding in the 12-hour Men's category.
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