The Bike Mechanic Blog

2011 TEAM NEWS

2011-01-12T16:18:00.006Z

First things first, Happy New Year! It's been very quiet on here for a few months since the end of the 2010 season but behind the scenes it has been very busy indeed.

The Bike Mechanic racing team is to be re-branded for the 2011 season, and along with an exciting sponsorship and support agreement with Loco MTB Suspension Servicing and Tuning, will be reborn as Loco BM Racing.

A huge thanks goes to Simon, owner of Loco, for the time and support he's giving the team. Simon comes from an engineering background and has worked in the industry for over 10 years. During this time he's spent several years as a Fox Racing Shocks technician and has a wide knowledge and experience of other major brands. Loco Tuning is based in New Tredegar, Gwent, South Wales, and comes highly recommended.

The Bike Mechanic will continue as normal, but I felt, with the continuing success of the team at events in 2009 and 2010, it was a good opportunity to set the team up as a separate entity, whilst keeping a close link with The Bike Mechanic.

The team also has support from Clee Cycles and their KCNC range of products, Harris Active Sports for our sports nutrition needs, as well as training plan support from Chris Eatough, professional mountain biker and 6-time 24-hour Solo World Champion.

Joining us for 2011 is Dave Buchanan, bringing with him his rugged good looks, humour and valued friendship. He's also pretty good on a bike too. On March the 22nd 2009, Dave became the pioneering rider of the first offroad Welsh Coast 2 Coast ride (WC2C). A fully unsupported winter ride that took 22hrs 24min and 49secs.

This wasn't enough for Dave so for 2011 he plans to attempt "The Hobbits' Tale", a massive and scary undertaking which should be the longest ever non-stop offroad ride. The Guinness World Record™ will be for "The greatest distance covered on a mountain bike in 48hours." The official guidelines are based on flat distance and ignores height gain. It's also suggested that it be done on an athletics track.

So...

...This will be a solo ride (supported by his friends, sponsors and believers) through Wales' toughest singletrack and climbs. The data collected indicates that it is a 630Km, 22300m ascent, and it *should* take 48-52 hours.

Also joining us will be Jonny Williams, from Beyond925 fame, already half a member from previous years, and Scott's partner in a few pairs events last year, but now has officially joined us.

2011 should be a very exciting year for us and we are already entered into a number of events, some as early as February.

This will probably be the last team entry here, and further team news will be posted up on the Loco BM Racing website at www.bm-racing.co.uk once it is up and running.

MACMILLAN AFAN MONSTER 100KM

2010-09-28T12:32:00.002+01:00

I've been away working for a few days so haven't had a chance to post the outcome of this. Well, I won it with the fastest time of 6 hours 8 minutes, which was quite unexpected, but I am very happy about it. Not sure whether I should use the word "win" as it was all for charity, but it felt like a race, and I rode it as if it was a race, and I crossed the line first so, yeah, I "won" it.

The organisers, mostly from Rush Cycles promised a monster challenge and it was the hardest 100km I've ridden so hats off to them for delivering what they promised. On top of that, they couldn't have asked for a nicer autumn day, with stunning clear views of the whole of the Brecon Beacons in the distance.

The ride started at The Bryn Bettws Lodge and I rode the first 40 to 50km with Dave and it was a pretty sociable affair, happily chatting away on the flats and climbs and it seemed to be going well for us both. I'd leave Dave on the longer climbs while he'd catch me up on the downs (the boy's too fast on them sometimes. I think it's his shoes, or glasses, or gloves, or something), but overall we were riding together.

The route took us up the first of many climbs for a bit of a warm up, before looping back onto the Wall descent, past start at the Bryn Betws Lodges and down the final Wall descent before crossing over the valley to the Afan Argoed visitor centre and a nasty technical climb out onto the moor towards Cymer. I'm not fond of hike-a-bike action and prefer the challenge of impossibly steep climbs. I rode most of this section apart from a couple of stretches, while most pushed, so although it probably wasn't the best thing to do during the first 10km of a 100km ride, I had some satisfaction out of it and it got me properly warmed up and settled for the remaining 90km.

The next challenge was the long climb out of Blaengwynfi, making me shudder with the memories of the last time I was on this fireroad when I got my work (Forestry Commission) van stuck on a site visit, with no mobile phone signal, 5pm on a Friday night with darkness fast approaching....It's scary out there! Anyway, I digress. It was a long climb. At the top we were rewarded with some Skyline singletrack.

Dave and I at this point were both convinced we had punctures, but it was the slightly damp sandy ground that was making things somewhat draggy. That is until Dave did actually pick up a tear in his back tyre. Running a tubeless there was no way it was going to seal, even after repeated attempts of stopping, pumping it up and riding on. The inevitable eventually happened and Dave had to stop to put a tube in. I didn't know this at the time as I'd headed down the last descent of Skyline, on a roll, as I was really enjoying the ride. At the checkpoint I hung around for Dave but there was no sign of him. With the clock ticking I headed off convinced he'd eventually catch up with me. But unfortunately the rest of the route was a pretty lonely affair. I'd been told I was the first to have passed through although I had no idea at that point I would actually be the fastest through as well (it was a staggered start between 7.30 and 9ish, so I assumed there'd be quicker guys coming up behind me).

Onwards and upwards I went, out from Abercregan onto the climb that crosses Whites Level and eventually reaching the 75km/100km cut off. There was no way I was going for the shorter option so rode on to get treated to some excellent descents on the 100km loop. But as they say, what goes down, must come back up, and up it went, up, and up and a bit more up. I cursed after passing the marshall point for the second time only to be told I was 60% up the climb, after I'd been climbing for what seemed like an age. I cursed. Twice.

The final few kilometres were a bit of a blur as I felt like I was just surviving, although according to my GPS and stats from it, I kept up the same pace I'd been doing throughout the race, if not a bit faster. I didn't feel like it, and by the time I was climbing back to the Bryn Bettws Lodge and the finish line I was hanging off the bike. But funnily enough after I got off and had the chicken sandwich I was looking forward to for hours (half of which Hamish the Hound stole) I felt fine.

We were treated to some excellent trails both known and unknown to me, joined together with some brutal climbs, that really did make this event a monster. I hope it stays a regular fixture in the MTBing calendar and it is also for a very good cause (Macmillan Cancer Care and Support Charity).

DUSKY VALLEYS 12

2010-09-06T15:22:00.000+01:00

Mark and I scooped the win at the Dusky Valleys 12 hour race last weekend, held at Bryn Bach Park, Tredegar. Not only winning the Men's 12-hour pairs category, but the overall win as well, with 33 laps.

This was the event's first year so we had no knowledge of what the course would be like. The event didn't disappoint and the course included some great climbing sections and some fast natural and man-made singletrack descents to make the climbing worthwhile. The course was very fast and short, so Mark and I were lapping in just over 20 minutes. We decided to stick to a one lap strategy which seems to work for us, even though it meant very short stops, just enough time to get back to camp, oil chain, eat and drink something before lining up to go out again.

Having been training for 24-hour soloing this year, and still recovering from my 24-hour solo at the Twentyfour12 and also recovering from a chest and ear infection just 2 weeks before the event, I didn't hold much expectation from the event but after the first couple of hours I found myself at the front, leading the race, having started out at a very fast pace (for me). I wasn't sure whether I could keep the same pace going but found myself lapping consistently in 20 - 22 minutes and I didn't seem to be tiring. Mark was also in high spirits and lapping in similarly fast times so we just kept going, and got into the "rhythm" of racing as a pair.

Within a couple of hours we realised we had a race on against the team from M&D Cycles in Abergavenny. They were on a one lap on one lap off strategy like us, and after a while they were taking the lead during one lap, only to be overtaken by us on the next. The gap between us stayed at 30 seconds for the first few hours, but the pressure and distance seemed to start taking its toll on them and our lead got progressively larger to about 5 minutes. At this point, I had a quick word with Mark at the changeover to keep our pace up, not do anything silly, and to quote "Show no mercy!". Five minutes was a good gap, but anything could happen to take that away and deny us the lead.

As the race progressed and got to the early hours, the prospect of actually winning the race started to become reality and I couldn't get that thought out of my head, which was risky as there was plenty of time for things to go wrong. As daylight came and with just an hour to go we were in to our final 3 laps. I'd worked out I'd have the final lap, so as I sat in the tent preparing myself for the final lap, having a cup of tea, watching the clock, I heard what I thought was my name being shouted across the campsite. "Can't be" I thought and continued to sip my drink. I heard the same again, and again, and it suddenly dawned on me, like a slap in the face that it was Mark back at the changeover waiting for me to take over for the final lap. I had completely misjudged the time that he'd be returning by about 5 minutes, which was our lead on 2nd place. I sprinted over to the changeover, throwing off jackets and other bits of clothing, shouted a rushed apology to Mark as I disappeared down the course, cursing at my stupidity at putting our lead in jeopardy!

On that final lap I kept looking over my shoulder for any signs of the M&D Cycles team as I knew that our lead was less than what it should have been from my timing mistake, but once I reached the top of the climb I knew I could finish off the race and cross the line to win the race. The feeling I had going through the last sections of singletrack was amazing, and I crossed the line elated, having won my first mountain biking race.

It was the first time Mark and I had raced as a pair since the Bontrager Twentyfour12 in July 2009 when we came 2nd. And bringing home a win at the weekend confirms that the combination still works as well as ever, which is good, considering we'll be racing together for 7 days in Canada in July 2011!

As well as our win though, there was also a fantastic first prize spot for Zoe in the women's 12-hour solo, Zoe's first night 12-hour race, and a 3rd place for Scott and Johnny in the Beyond Bike Mechanics team in the men's pairs.

As is often the case in events we were treated to some luxury and pampering from our good friends Dave and Jo "Blanche", making good use of their caravan and awning and drinking their tea and biscuits. Huge thanks as ever goes to them! And well done for getting the win in the mixed pairs category.

BONTRAGER TWENTYFOUR12 2010

2010-07-27T16:02:00.004+01:00

Now that I've had a few days to recover and get myself sorted from coming home from the Bontrager Twentyfour12 2010 I thought I should write up how I got on, after going on about it for some time now.

This was my first 24-hour solo event, and I surpassed all my expectations and finished in 4th place. I missed out on a podium, but I can't have everything and I'm not disappointed! Congratulations too to everyone else who was competing....

24-hour Men's Solo
Mark : 17 laps : 13th
Kieran : 16 laps : 16th
Al : 16 laps : 17th
Rich : 23 laps : 3rd

12-hour Men's Solo
Jon : 12 laps : 14th

12-hour Women's Solo
Anne : 10 laps : 4th
Zoe : 9 laps : 5th

12-hour Men's Pairs
Scott & Johnny : 16 laps : 10th

Full results and times are on Timelaps.

Louisa and I travelled down to Newnham Park in Plymouth on Thursday to make sure we had a nice camping spot along the track and also to leave ourselves enough time to settle in and relax before Saturday without the added stress of potential traffic jams on the M5 on a Friday. There were a number of us racing, and we managed to camp together making it a great spot for support and the usual trackside heckling.

I felt much more relaxed than I thought I would be until it hit me on Saturday morning and realising what I was about to attempt. Even then I couldn't quite get my head around the fact that I'd be riding, hopefully, non stop for 24 hours. I kept telling myself that I'd worked hard to train and prepare for this event and that I needed to be confident that my training would pay off.

The weather forecast wasn't great for the weekend but Saturday ended up quite pleasant and the course was reasonably dry. As midday approached, we lined up for the start, finding a nice position not too far from the front so that the first lap didn't end up being a stop start affair due to the bottlenecks. Having only raced a 24-hour event in a team and a pair, I found it quite alien not to go off as fast and as hard as I could from the start, and even more weird having Mark (the usual "other half", that sounds wrong, err, team mate?) on the course at the same time as me!

I felt great from the start and was lapping in around 50 minutes for the first 10 laps. Having no experience of 24-hour solo racing, I didn't have a race plan as such as I don't think I would have been able to handle things if that plan broke down and I'd have to adjust to another strategy during the race. I decided to keep going as long as I could and keep to my drinking and eating plan (which I did plan well beforehand).

As darkness fell, so did the rain unfortunately, and conditions deteriorated in an alarmingly short space of time. The course went from fairly dry and fast, to wet, slippery gloop. Worse still my race bike, a Cannondale Rush, which I'd done 90% of my off-road training on, proved to be useless once the conditions started to get sticky, and I was forced to ride my spare bike, a Genesis Altitude, which turned out to be far better in the mud but wasn't quite set up the way I'd have wanted it do be. That said, I had to get my bike cleaned after every other lap which was very frustrating as it forced me to stop, when all I wanted to do was to keep going. Those extra few minutes of stopping may have done me some good giving me that little bit more time to recover after each lap, who knows.

As the night wore on I still felt ok physically, keeping up a steady pace, but my mind started to wander and was tempting me to want to stop and sleep. Luckily I'd been told this would happen and I just needed to fight through the feeling, so I was kind of prepared for it. The course emptied considerably during the night and as the conditions deteriorated I found myself riding long sections of the course on my own. I was determined not to be one of the ones to stop and go to bed, and managed to shut my mind off to the fact that it was my bedtime and the course was a muddy bog.

Another person who seemed to have the same thinking as me was Rich Holmes, riding for Cyclesense and a mate of mine, and we rode long sections together throughout the night. I knew Rich was a couple of laps ahead of me at the time, although I don't think either of us knew what position we were in. Even though he was ahead he gave me that little bit extra to keep going. Hopefully I helped him out by doing the same. One thing I have learnt though is never to try working out how many hours of darkness that was left after 14 hours of riding. Neither one of us got to the right answer, as it was still pitch black at the time we thought dawn should be. Very confusing.

Day broke just after 5am and it was a very welcome sight, as I'd been told once daylight came, I would have ridden through the hardest part of the race. That said, I still had 7 hours to go, so I plodded on. Before starting the race I'd asked Lou not to let me know my position, because if I found I was trailing at the back I'd get demoralised and if I was up near the front I'd push myself too hard too early to stay up there and burn up before the end. At around 6am (possibly, it could have been 10am) I wanted to know where I stood and to find out I was in 4th, just a lap behind Rich in 3rd was a huge boost. I was a lap in front of 5th so by mid morning I knew I was relatively safe, but I kept going and my lap times started getting steadily quicker towards the end.

With half an hour to go before 12, Rich called it a day as his 3rd place was safe, as was my 4th, but by then I'd made it my mission to complete the race with the same number of laps as him. I don't know why. So as I came around to Team HQ on my 22nd lap to a huge round of applause from everyone, I was then met with some confused faces when I asked Lou to pass me a fresh bottle and gels and I carried on going for another lap. Even more confused I think was the commentator at the finish line when I crossed the finish line at 11:45 and kept on going, when I could have just stopped and settled with 22 laps. I was given a huge cheer from the crowd that had gathered to watch the first finishers, and that was enough to get me going for one final lap.

The last lap was great, it had dried up considerably and the course was pretty fast once again. I gave my usual last-lap "thanks" to all the marshals and encouragement to the riders left on the course on their last lap. The feeling I had when I came back in to the event arena was phenomenal, not something I was prepared for. It was a mixture of relief, achievement, tiredness, a proper rollercoaster of emotions.

Lou was the first person I managed to focus on properly after I crossed the line and I gave her a big, tired and very muddy hug. I couldn't have done the race without her as she is such a massive support, along with the other WAGs (Wives and Girlfriends to those who don't know!) who were supporting us all. She's also been very patient and supportive over the last few months whilst I've been training for this, for which I appreciate.

I've just realised this entry is quite a long one, for which I apologise, but it was a long race! Now that I've got a 24-hour solo out of my system as it were, which was why I did it in the first place, looking back I really enjoyed it, and there wasn't one moment in the 24 hours where I wanted to quit, I'm now thinking not "if" I'll do another one, but "when" and "where".

One last thing.... huge thanks to Dave Buchanan and Jo ("Mrs" Dave Buchanan) for all their advice and encouragement before the race, and for the lights loan, and to Matt Page (Wiggle) for his advice on all sorts of things to do with 24-hour racing. It's really appreciated.

Some things that I found invaluable for my 24-hour solo effort....

* A good pair of racing socks, courtesy of our fashion guru, Scott
* 1 pot of Chamois cream
* 1 pot of Anti Monkey-Butt Powder and plenty of applications
* 6am pot of rice pudding

BC BIKE RACE 2011

2010-07-05T16:27:00.002+01:00

The Bike Mechanic Team are going international in June 2011 as Mark and myself have entered the Team of Two Category in the BC Bike Race 2011, a multi-stage mountain bike race from Vancouver to Whistler.

The race is split into 7 stages over 7 days, starting in North Vancouver before heading on to Nanaimo, Cumberland, Powell River, Earls Cove, Langdale, Squamish, and finishing off in the mecca of mountain biking, Whistler. Racing as a pair, Mark and I will have to race together and finish within 2 minutes of each other at the end of each stage.

We've been promised the best singletrack trails in British Columbia, along with spectacular scenery, and the menu choices for breakfast and dinner each day sounds amazing.

But for now it's back to Twentyfour12 training....

DUST, GLORIOUS DUST

2010-06-21T12:10:00.003+01:00

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.

BRISTOL BIKEFEST 2010

2010-06-09T14:11:00.000+01:00

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.

7.5 WEEKS TO GO

2010-06-01T09:28:00.000+01:00

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.

A GOOD START

2010-05-03T19:23:00.000+01:00

I was hoping for a decent time for the Howies Dyfi Enduro this year and to at least get in to the top 50 riders like last year, but I wasn't expecting to come in 31st overall, 23rd in category, out of around 700 riders. Well done also to Jon, who finished within 4 hours, and also Scott and Zoe for finishing well (their first Dyfi attempt).

I had planned to use this year's Dyfi as a start to my last 3 months of training for the Twentyfour12 in July, and to highlight any part of my riding that I needed to work on, but as I started the first climb I felt strong and reached the top within minutes of the first wave of riders, so I decided to go for it and try to keep my place.

For me it was a fairly uneventful race until the end, no spills, punctures or mishaps, unlike many other riders who fell victim to the exposed rocky shale descents that defines the Dyfi Enduro course. I kept a steady pace but pushed hard on the climbs and took it easy on the descents, a strategy which seems to work for me.

There were a few changes to the course from previous years, with an added steep climb and an even steeper descent which made the ride more interesting. With 10km to go, and within the top 30, nearing the top of the bonus climb for the first 200 riders, I started to suffer with cramp and I had to ease off on the climb and spin. I managed to keep going but unfortunately got overtaken by a couple of guys so I dropped out of the top 30. Still, I had more than surpassed my expectations and was pleased to finish the last descent and the race in 31st in a time of 3 hours 24 minutes.

TWELVE WEEK COUNTDOWN

2010-05-01T20:49:00.000+01:00

Today marks the start of the 12-week countdown to my first 24-hour solo attempt at the Bontrager Twentyfour12 in July and what better way to start it is with the Howies Dyfi Enduro tomorrow. It also marks the day when I'll be starting my new 12 week training plan for my solo attempt at the Twentyfour12. Not that I've not been training for the last few months!

Looking at the plan I can see that there are a few savage rides and weeks ahead of me, all geared towards improving my endurance and all aspects of my riding, and maybe near the top of the list, to condition me to get used to being sat in the saddle for so long! I'm under no delusion that anything I do will make it easier, but I hope that the preparation will at least give me a chance to see it through to the end and complete the race.

So, off I go to get my kit ready for an early start tomorrow, and what I hope will be a good start to my racing season.

QUIET ON THE BLOG

2010-04-20T09:52:00.000+01:00

Things have been a bit quiet on the Blog front lately, for which I apologise to whoever reads it. That's not to say that we haven't been busy on the riding front though. A few of us have just returned from a week of riding the 7Stanes in Scotland, and we had a fabulous time, topped off with 8 days of sunshine and dry dusty trails.

Our event entries are in and confirmed for the 2010 season and we'll be making appearances at the following events:

2nd May - Howies Dyfi Enduro, Machynlleth

30th May - Big Welsh Weekend, Margam Park

5th June - 2010 Kona Bikefest, Ashton Court, Bristol

18th June - Original Source Mountain Mayhem, Eastnor Castle

24th July - Bontrager TwentyFour12, Newnham Park, Plymouth

25th September - Macmillan Afan Monster, Afan Argoed

So, a fairly busy few weekends for us!

NEW MUCKY NUTZ ROTORS

2010-02-17T10:07:00.000Z

A collection of very nicely designed lightweight 6-bolt 160mm rotors arrived in the post this morning, which Mucky Nutz kindly sent us for testing. There are 2 types in the pipeline, the Northern Star, and the Muck Chucker rotors. Each 160mm rotor weighs about 74g (according to my kitchen scales!) so they are possibly some of the lightest out there.

The Muck Chucker is already available in 160mm and 180mm sizes (£20 and £21 respectively) and are available to order from Mucky Nutz. More details on the Northern Star to follow.

MUCKY NUTZ & THE BIKE MECHANIC JOINT VENTURE FOR 2010

2009-11-19T09:55:00.000Z

The Bike Mechanic Team has received sponsorship from UK-based cycling products design and manufacturing company Mucky Nutz for the 2010 season.

Mucky Nutz produce, amongst other products, the Bender Fender, a simple yet very effective and innovative mud guard that fits easily and neatly onto the rear of your forks.

Bike Radar loved it in a recent review concluding that the Bender Fender "proved consistently effective, keeping mud out of our eyes and off our bodies and bikes".

The Team will be using the products for the 2010 season, so look out for us at the events, and hopefully we won't be as muddy as we usually are. We look forward to working with Mucky Nutz to help promote their products.

THE BIKE MECHANIC ON S4C

2009-11-04T11:09:00.000Z

The Bike Mechanic made it onto the television this week with an appearance on S4Cs series covering extreme sports, "Chwa!". The Chwa team were at this year's Original Source Mountain Mayhem covering the event and also following Wiggle rider Matt Page on his winning solo effort. As part of the programme I was given an interview explaining the rules, tactics and the excitement of the event.

Watch it for yourself on S4/Clic (The interview is at around 11m:30s). Or on YouTube:

CHEDDAR BIKE FEST 2009

2009-09-14T10:43:00.000+01:00

The Kona Cheddar Bike Fest was another very successful event for The Bike Mechanic Team which brought a few more podium places to finish the season on a high!

Results are as follows:

Huw : 3rd place in the 10-hour men's solo category
Anne : 2nd in the 10-hour women's solo category
Mark : 6th in the 10-hour men's solo category

Also riding for The Bike Mechanic Team this weekend were Zoe Frogbrook, who won the Women's Pairs category, and Scott Hodgskin, coming 10th in the Men's Pairs category. Hopefully they'll agree to ride for us on a permanent basis next year.

Full results can be found on TimeLaps.

Unfortunately Mark was put into the Men's Open Category at the last minute due to a lack of entries for the singlespeed category. Considering the gruelling course, the conditions, and being up against 28 other riders with a full compliment of gears, his 6th position is pretty amazing!

The course was as fun, but as tough as ever. I completed 26 laps, which amounted to 100km and 4,400m of ascent. The hot and sunny weather also added to the challenging conditions this year. I started off strong and was completing each lap in under 20 minutes, probably too fast as usual, but I felt comfortable. I had the pleasure of riding with Dave Buchanan from the Ironhorse-Extreme Race Team for the first 5 hours or so, and we were happily keeping pace and chatting with each other. Dave unfortunately dropped back and eventually had to call it a day, having not fully recovered from his previous 12-hour solo at the 12:12 TORQ in your sleep event just a couple of weeks ago.

After that I was alone, but was happily lapping consistently. The hot conditions and gruelling course started to take its toll however and I started struggling to keep motivation and my pace through the middle third of the race....

....enter the posse of riders and my support I had waiting for me in the pit area after each lap. A massive thanks to my wife Louisa, and Kim, who kept me topped up with liquids and food after each lap, and to Anne, Mark, Zoe and Scott when they weren't riding themselves. Special thanks go to Dave and Jo for staying with us and giving me encouragement, advice, updates on my position, and sometimes outright bullying (just kidding), to keep me going! I wouldn't have been able to finish without you all.

So a great finish to my, and the team's, season, which we can only hope to build on for next year!

HIGH ALTITUDE TRAINING

2009-08-18T15:56:00.000+01:00

Haven't posted in a while. We've been high altitude....oh who am I kidding.... we've spent the week on holiday riding excellent, seemingly endless singletrack near Bourg St Maurice with Bike Village.

Bike Village, run by Sam and Lyndsey, offer a superb holiday of guided riding with full board and lodge in a small village called Landry, just outside Bourg St Maurice, ideally situated within reach of Les Arcs and La Plagne resorts and beyond.

The food's great, plenty of wine, great company, and the scenery isn't too bad either....

But now it's back to a few weeks more training before the Kona Cheddar Bike Fest on the 12th September, where Mark, Anne and myself will be riding in the 10-hour solo categories.

LÔN LAS CYMRU CHALLENGE

2009-07-31T13:50:00.000+01:00

Aled and Gwylim Hopkin from Llanharry, will begin their 5-day, 254 mile journey through Wales next week on Monday 3rd August.

Starting in Holyhead, the Lôn Las Cymru trail follows Route 8 of the National Cycle Network and takes in some of Wales’ most breathtaking scenery, riding across three mountain ranges and finally ending in Cardiff Bay.

So far, they have raised over £1,100 for the Gareth Thomas Memorial Fund, and will be raising awareness of Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY), a charity that works towards raising awareness of Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS) and campaigns for proactive screening of young people. It offers help and support to those who have suffered a loss, provides medical information, carries out Mobile Cardiac Screening and ECG Testing Programmes within local communities and contributes to medical research.

If you would like to donate to this very worthy cause, please visit their Just Giving site.

Good luck to you both, and I hope you have great time doing it for such a worthy cause. Pob lwc!

PODIUMS AT PLYMPTON

2009-07-28T09:22:00.000+01:00

The Bike Mechanic Team are back from the Bontrager Twentyfour12 with a couple more well-earned podium places!

Mark and I came 2nd in the Men's 24-hour Pairs category, completing 29 laps (a total of 406km!), Anne came 2nd in the Veteran Women's 12-hour Solo category and Jon completed his very first 24-hour solo event and came 22nd. Full results are on the TimeLaps website.

Both Mark and I have worked hard this year to improve on our fitness, speed and endurance, after a few years of "just riding", entering events, and doing fairly well. Mark had already realised that his efforts were paying off by his victory with Andrew in the 12-hour singlespeed category at the Bristol Bike Fest, but up until the weekend, I was still waiting to see whether my efforts were worth it.

The course for the Twentyfour12 at Newnham Park was new to us and after a practice lap on Friday I knew we were in for a good event, even if it was a pretty hard 14km route, with about 340m climbing, including a steep tarmac climb at the start and the brutally steep, loose "Clif Bar" Climb around 9km in to the course. There was plenty to look forward to though with some fast singletrack descents and some nice rooty technical sections through the woodland.

I had the pleasure of lining up at the start line this time, and managed to get a good position up near the front. The pace for the first lap was fast, for a 24-hour event anyway, and I knew I couldn't keep it up, but it was hard not to get caught up in it. As it happens it gained us a very high position right from the start, and with Mark also putting in some very fast laps, we saw ourselves anywhere between 2nd and 4th for the first few hours of the race. After Mark punctured on Lap 10, we fell a couple of places to 6th but it was early days and we didn't panic.

By keeping our pace up we managed to climb back up to 3rd and from then on a very exciting battle started between us and the BikeShed/Bath University Team for 2nd place. We were as much as 16 minutes behind them after 8 hours, but we clawed our way back and with 6 hours to go we were just 22 seconds behind them. We knew after a while that a podium position for us was relatively safe as we were a couple of laps ahead of 4th position, so as long as we kept riding, we'd be ok. First place was pretty much decided as the Back on Track team were 2 laps ahead.

The time came to decide whether to settle down and see what happened and settle for 3rd, but hope for a 2nd, or to push it and fight for a 2nd place. I've hoped for a podium position for a long time, and during one lap I decided, why settle for 3rd when 2nd was within our capabilities? Our lap times weren't slowing down, my legs felt fine and Mark seemed to be in high spirits, so we went for it.

The tail end of the event was a bit of a blur for me, but all I was aware of was that we were eating away at the time difference for 2nd place after each lap. We finally passed the Bikeshed\Bath University team with less than 1.5 hours to go. Determined to not let that lead go, we gained 15 minutes on the team in 3 laps! I wasn't aware of this at the time, and when my time came to go out and complete the final "glory lap", I pushed as hard as I could. Normally, the final lap is a time to enjoy, take in the atmosphere, thank the marshals on your way around, and roll over the line.

It was the hardest I've ever ridden and I'm thrilled at what we achieved. The 24-hour pairs event is arguably the most difficult and demanding of the categories, due to the fast pace of the top teams and very little rest between laps. The event and our position will be something I will never forget.

A massive thanks goes to Mark for being an awesome team mate and for the encouraging notes he left me at team HQ! I hardly saw him during the event, which made it a pretty lonely event in terms of being with your team mate. However the few words shared at the change-over after each lap were enough to know how each of us felt and make each other push hard and keep going.

A huge thanks also goes to our support once again. We couldn't do it without Lou and Charlotte, and this weekend we also had Karen, who was looking after Kieran (who also completed his first 24-hour solo event, and crossed the line with Jon with an equal number of laps).

PLAYING THE WAITING GAME

2009-07-21T20:01:00.000+01:00

It feels like I'm playing the waiting game at the moment and it has been like that for a few weeks. The Bontrager Twentyfour12 seems to have been "just around the corner" for months, and there's still 4 days to go before the start. Add trying to keep up with the riding and training during this changeable, ok, wet, weather, I must admit that my motivation and enthusiasm has dwindled at times. However I returned to an old favourite this evening and rode the trail where it all began for me a few years ago, and where I got my first taste of mountain biking.

That trail of course, is Penhydd at Afan Argoed, and I've come to realise that every time my motivation to get out and ride fades, that's the place I go to to get me going again. After the Mountain Mayhem in June and the seemingly endless periods of rain we've had, and having to ride day in day out in the wet conditions, I have found it hard to motivate myself to get out and train. However, today, even though the weather was grim, I decided to go back and ride around Penhydd, and for some reason it made me remember why I do what I do once more.

It's not the longest, hardest, gnarliest, fastest of trails. It's not a "natural" ride, and you don't need a map to find your way around. It hasn't got the newest jumps and bumps or tabletops or berms either. It's just fun. For me, it's a classic trail. And tonight I even managed to make it longer and include some hill intervals as part of this week's training plan.

It also reminds me to take a step back, away from the hype, the magazines, the forums and racing and remember why I ride a bike. It's to get exercise, to enjoy the scenery, the fresh air, to be with your mates (was alone today, apart from Hamish the dog, but he doesn't say much), but above all else, to have fun.

So while I am sat here, I find myself looking forward to the weekend's racing and my enthusiasm has returned. Thanks to riding Penhydd.

A MEMORABLE MAYHEM

2009-07-15T10:54:00.002+01:00

The results are in and The Bike Mechanic Team came in a very respectable 30th place in the Sport Men's Category, out of a total of 229 teams, completing 25 laps in 24 hours and 7 seconds!

This year the course was 14km long with 350m of climbing, making it a pretty tough course. The Kenda Climb was once again in attendance - a brutal 150m climb over a distance of 1.8km, which consisted of a rutted grassy climb to start, then a steep gravel road climb and then onto some singletrack - plenty to keep the legs and mind occupied. There were a few interesting descents to make it worth the climbs, although some would disagree!

The weather forecast looked good for the weekend with just a few showers, so everything was crossed in Team HQ that we didn't get a repeat of Mountain Mayhem 2008. After a steady practice lap on Friday, the traditional pre-race preparations got underway - BBQ, some light refreshment and socialising with friends who had gathered in our little tent village for the weekend.

Saturday morning came with the seemingly endless wait for the 2pm start, giving plenty of time for the pre-race nerves to kick in. With some light showers during the night came the inevitable mud and after seeing some riders come back from their practice laps covered in sticky mud, panic set in. Did I have the right tyres? Did I have enough clothes? Would it be a repeat of last year's nightmare? So many questions, and so much time to think about all the answers.

Finally it was time for the starting line-up. We decided between us that Mark should do the Le Mans style run and start this year. Mark being the stronger runner would get a headstart from the main pack of riders and give us a strong, fast, first lap. And with a storming 56 minute first lap, the plan worked, and it was time for me to take the second lap in 51 minutes. We were on to a strong start and with Andrew and Jon following on with 56 and 55 minute laps, I had a feeling that things were looking good for the Team.

We continued lapping in sub-hour times until the early hours of the morning when we had some rain, which created some sticky and others slippery sections around the course. Nevertheless, the course remained rideable, and mostly enjoyable.

Once mid morning came, we were on the home straight and we knew we were in for a strong finish. With 3 hours to go, we calculated that if we were quick we would be able to squeeze an extra lap in at the end, but it would be tight. What we didn't appreciate was how tight it was going to be. After Jon's fast last lap the time on the official clock said 23h:07m:08s, meaning Mark would need to complete a sub 53 minute lap. His fastest lap was 50 minutes 42 seconds, so we knew he could do it, but could he do it after already completing 6 fast laps? Our race was on and he set off at blistering pace out of the arena. I was already dressed and ready to ride, and when we saw Mark pass the halfway point on the Kenda climb in 25 minutes, it was time to go and wait in the arena.

It was probably the longest 5 minutes of my life, watching the clock count down to 24 hours. Each tick got steadily louder and all I could focus on was the final corner and straight of the course, looking out for any sign of Mark. Then all of a sudden he appeared and was sprinting towards the change-over point, but it was too late, the hooter went, just as Mark came within 10 metres of the line. The look of disappointment on his face was devastating to see, but he had given it everything, and had finished in style!

The Mayhem this year will not be forgotten in a hurry, and for me, it was one of the best. The Team were excellent, and thanks for all their hard work, not only completing the laps in quick times, but also for being great team mates and friends. Huge thanks go to our support, Louisa and Charlotte, and Anne who joined us for the weekend!

As well as a good performance from The Bike Mechanic Team, there were even better results from good friends of ours. Matt Page, riding for Focus/Wiggle finally realised his dream of winning the 24-hour Solo Men's Category, and even proposed to his fiancé Nia at the finish line! And also, congratulations to Jo Evans, who came 2nd in the 24-hour Solo Women's Category.

Full results can be found on the Original Source Mountain Mayhem website.

MEDIA TARTS

2009-07-15T10:54:00.001+01:00

Getting recognition on The Bike Mechanic Blog and Bike Radar wasn't enough for our winning singlespeed pairs, Mark and Andrew. They've just made it onto today's edition of The Merthyr Express (Page 47!). They'll be wanting an agent next.

VICTORY AT THE 2009 KONA BRISTOL BIKE FEST

2009-07-15T10:53:00.002+01:00

Mark and Andrew, riding for The Bike Mechanic stormed to victory over the weekend at the 2009 Kona Bristol Bikefest, to claim the Men's 12-hour Singlespeed Competition title, completing 17 laps, and winning by a 2 lap margin.

Huw and Jon, also completing 17 laps, finished in a very impressive 8th place in the Men's 12-hour Pairs Competition.

Also, Anne earned another podium position, coming 3rd, riding in the 12-hour Solo Veteran Womens Category.

Full results can be found on www.timelaps.co.uk

So fantastic results for us all! Mark and myself have raced in the Pairs Category for a number of years, but this was Andrew and Jon's first taste of pairs racing.

It was The Bike Mechanic Team's first visit to the Bristol Bikefest so the 10km course was all new to us. It didn't fail to impress however, with long sections of fast twisting singletrack, slippery roots and rocky descents as well as a couple of tough climbs. The race started very wet but as the day wore on, it got steadily drier. We all avoided any major incidents, although I suffered a very annoying 15 minute delay during my 3rd lap with a puncture, 4 broken spokes and a bent rear mech.

I have uploaded the data from my Garmin Edge 705 onto my Motion Based pages for those who love stats and figures.

Congratulations to everyone, and as the 2 pairs from this weekend join to become a team of 4 for the 2009 Original Source Mountain Mayhem in under a fortnight, we should make a very strong team for the Men's 24-hour Competition.

THE BIKE MECHANIC SUPPORTS LÔN LAS CYMRU CHALLENGE

2009-07-15T10:53:00.001+01:00

The Bike Mechanic will be supporting brothers Aled and Gwylim Hopkin from Llanharry, South Wales, in August 2009 on their 5-day, 254 mile journey through Wales. Starting in Holyhead, the Lôn Las Cymru trail follows Route 8 of the National Cycle Network and takes in some of Wales’ most breathtaking scenery, riding across three mountain ranges and finally ending in Cardiff Bay.

They will be raising money for the Gareth Thomas Memorial Fund, and will be raising awareness of Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY), a charity that works towards raising awareness of Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS) and campaigns for proactive screening of young people. It offers help and support to those who have suffered a loss, provides medical information, carries out Mobile Cardiac Screening and ECG Testing Programmes within local communities and contributes to medical research.

Gareth Thomas, who Aled and Gwylim knew from a very young age, died in his sleep from an undiagnosed heart problem aged 21 years, on February 25 2007. This was a huge shock to them, especially as he was fit and healthy. Gareth’s parents, Anne and Trevor, set up a memorial fund in Gareth’s name to raise funds for the wonderful work that CRY do.

The Bike Mechanic will be supporting Aled and Gwylim to ensure that their bikes are fit and in working order for the challenge and provide them with some essential spares, and this year's riding tops to wear on the way.

If you would like to donate to this very worthy cause, please visit their Just Giving site.

NEW SEASON, NEW LOOK

2009-07-15T10:52:00.002+01:00

The Bike Mechanic website has had a spring clean and a fresh new look to match this year's team colours by Jim at Powerspike, designer and host of this site. Hope you like it!

ANOTHER HOWIES DYFI ENDURO MUG

2009-07-15T10:52:00.001+01:00

I've earned another Howies Dyfi Enduro mug to add to the collection! Jon and I had a very enjoyable day out at the Dyfi. We both did very well. Out of 665 riders this year, I completed the course in 3 hours 28 minutes which earned me a 46th place overall, which I'm very pleased about, and Jon came in 242nd completing the course in 4 hours 24 minutes.

After a week of April showers and sunshine before Sunday we expected the course to be very wet, but it was in surprisingly good condition apart from one particularly muddy, slippery descent and a few shin-deep puddles that I found myself in at times.

The course was longer and seemed tougher this year but it may have been down to me being further up the field battling to keep my forty-something position that I found myself in early on during the event. Being higher up the field was a new experience to me and I found it tough having to constantly watch over my shoulder for riders gaining on me. One thing it did do was to give me the incentive to keep pushing hard up the climbs.

The course was 53km long (plus an additional 10km road ride to get back to Machynlleth at the end), with approximately 1,900m climbing. For those who enjoy stats and figures or would just like to know the route, I have uploaded the data from my Garmin Edge 705 onto Motion Based.

The route took us up seemingly endless climbs, only for us to lose the height which we gained within minutes, down steep, shaley descents which if you messed up, had the potential to slice open any exposed skin.

It got difficult towards the end and with 10km to go I ran out of water, which wasn't ideal as I had the dreaded "bonus climb" that the first 200 riders have the pleasure of completing before the last descent. I was however met at the bottom of the climb with a gorilla offering a banana, which helped my mood and hunger! After what seemed like hours, I finally reached the top and cramp started settling in, but fortunately it was downhill from here to the end.

So, another great Howies Dyfi Enduro, and a great start to the season, which hopefully, will only improve from here.

2009 HOWIES DYFI ENDURO

2009-07-15T10:51:00.003+01:00

Only 3 days to go before the "official" start of The Bike Mechanic Team's racing season. Jon and Huw are due to ride at the Howies Dyfi Enduro starting in Machynlleth at 10am. Look out for us in our new tops. Report to follow next week! Good luck all.

2009 TEAM RIDING TOPS

2009-07-15T10:51:00.001+01:00

Our 2009 riding tops are ready for this season's events, modelled by me below.

RACE ENTRIES 2009

2009-07-15T10:50:00.001+01:00

It's that time of year again when the entries for the main 2009 events are released, and The Bike Mechanic Team are already entered into various events, including:

3rd May - Howies Dyfi Enduro

Huw Thomas
Jon Whittaker

6th June - Kona Bristol Bikefest

12-hour Mens Pairs
Huw Thomas & Jon Whittaker

12-hour Mens Pairs Singlespeed
Andrew James & Mark Deacon

19th June - Original Source Mountain Mayhem

24-hour Mens Team
Andrew James, Jon Whittaker, Huw Thomas & Mark Deacon

25th July - Bontrager TwentyFour12

24-hour Mens Pairs
Huw Thomas & Mark Deacon

24-hour Mens Solo
Jon Whittaker

12th September - Kona Cheddar Bikefest

10-hour Mens Solo
Huw Thomas

10-hour Mens Solo Singlespeed
Mark Deacon

10-hour Womens Solo
Anne Pitman

So, all in all Summer 2009 is set to be busy for us all! More news to follow.

SNOW RIDES

2009-07-15T10:49:00.001+01:00

A remarkable spell of winter weather left us with about 4 inches of snow yesterday, not the ideal conditions for a training ride, but the thought of staying indoors over my lunch hour, watching TV whilst spinning on a turbo trainer to get some quality training done instead of venturing out and having some fun riding was enough for me to put on the thermals, dust down the singlespeed and head out into the local hills for a blast in the snow.

It was a wonderful ride. I was the only one to have ventured out into the snow, apart from a few animals that had left their tracks overnight. The dry powdery snow made it very hard going in some places, but sliding, slipping and skidding (gracefully, and in a controlled manner of course....) brought about a huge smile and some very loud laughs from myself.... probably a good thing that I was the only one there.

Even though it hampered my riding "plan" for the day, the change in conditions and the idyllic scenery made it a fun ride and stopped my current 6-day-a-week training plan from getting stale.

RETURN FROM THE FREEZER

2009-07-15T10:48:00.002+01:00

The Bike Mechanic Team are back from the Strathpuffer 24 after a weekend of gruelling riding in some of the most varied conditions I, for one, have ever ridden in.

The event started off with some bad news for the team. Mike had to pull out after suffering from a chest infection for a few weeks leading up to the event, and without an immediate replacement we were suddenly faced with competing with a man down.

Despite the near freezing temperatures, the weather was surprisingly good on the Friday while we set up camp, and indeed Saturday morning brought dry and sunny skies, a most welcome surprise from the wet summer events we'd had in 2008!

The Strathpuffer 24 course offers, in my opinion, one of the most enjoyable, possibly most challenging courses of all the 24-hour mountain biking events in the UK at least. This year, the course was approximately 10km in length with nearly 300m of ascent per lap. The course provides a mix of technical, rocky, and fast, flowing descents, with long climbs, sometimes very steep, but very little opportunity of recovery between the descents and ascents, making it a tough course when combined with the weather and course conditions.

The event started at 10am, with David riding the first lap for the team. He put in a blistering lap time of 35 minutes, which was followed by 2 very fast laps by myself and Jon (37 minutes and 42 minutes respectively). We then moved onto riding double laps in order for us to have some rest between laps.

The fast course times continued and we found ourselves well within the top 10 teams for the opening hours of the event. We continued the pace for several hours but once darkness fell, being a rider down in the team took its toll and we began to tire from trying to keep the pace up against the full teams of 4. The lap times increased and the weather finally began to deteriorate during the night, bringing colder temperatures, stronger winds, and snow.

I found myself riding 3 laps in almost blizzard conditions around 2am. David took over in the early hours for another 3 laps and Jon did his final lap during daybreak. With just over an hour to go, I went out for the team's final lap. I was dreading the conditions but to my surprise the course and surrounding area was covered with a thick layer of snow, making my final lap one of the most enjoyable and scenic laps I've ridden at an event.

I crossed the line for the team just after the 10am finish time, completing the event with 25 laps, finishing in 32nd place. Considering we were only a team of 3, we are pleased, however looking back at the results, if we'd had Mike with us, we would have finished well within the top 15, possibly top 10 teams. With that in mind, a return in 2010 will be in order to prove a point!

A big thanks to Jon and David for being great team mates and for putting in such a big effort. And get well soon Mike, and a huge thanks for supporting us at the event despite not being well.

Full results can be found on the Sportident Website

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2009-07-15T10:48:00.001+01:00

A very happy new year from The Bike Mechanic! Since the last post we've had a very cold spell of weather and some excellent dry conditions to ride in preparation for next week's Strathpuffer 24.

We're all set for our trip up to Scotland, and local reports from there suggest that the course will be very enjoyable. All there is to say for now is good luck to The Bike Mechanic Team and all who are taking part. Race report to follow....

STRATHPUFFER 24 2009

2009-07-15T10:47:00.003+01:00

News just in.... The Bike Mechanic Team will be making an early start to the 2009 season, returning to race in the depths of the Scottish winter at the Strathpuffer 24, which claims to be the toughest of all 24-hour endurance races.

After coming a respectable 24th place at the 2008 event with Dan Taylor and Mark, Huw and Jon will be returning to better their performance, but this time teaming up with Scottish locals, Mike Wann and David Wilby, who raced against (and beat) The Bike Mechanic Team in 2008.

Time to dig out those woolly socks and thermals....

NEW TEAM MEMBER

2009-07-15T10:47:00.001+01:00

After riding for us a couple of times this year at the Strathpuffer and the Kona Cheddar Bike Fest, Jon Whittaker has agreed to ride for The Bike Mechanic Team at various events for 2009.

Being the keen rider he is, he has already entered the Bontrager Twentyfour12 on the 25/26 July 2009, attempting his first solo 24-hour race.

The rest of us will be there in some shape or form, but we'll decide at a later date....

KONA CHEDDAR BIKEFEST RESULTS

2009-07-15T10:46:00.003+01:00

The team have just returned from this year's Kona Cheddar Bike Fest with some excellent results in their respective solo categories. Full results can be found here.

Huw : 4th in the 10 hour Solo Men's Competitive Category with 26 laps
Mark : 3rd in the 10 hour Singelspeed Men's Competitive Category with 23 laps
Jon : 6th in the 10 hour Solo Men's Fun Category with 20 laps
Anne Pitman : 2nd in the 10 hour Solo Women's Competitive Category with 22 laps

The event was as good as ever, topped off with glorious autumnal sunshine, blue sky and a dry, dusty course all weekend. The course was short (about 5km) but very sweet, with some steep, technical and twisty climbing but with the reward of a long, fast, rooty, rocky descent back to the arena.

Huw's write up....

The Cheddar Bikefest was one of the events I was most looking forward to this year and it was my final event for 2008. After great results from this year's other events, the pressure was on to produce an equally good individual performance to finish off the season for us.

After a practice lap late Friday afternoon, I knew the event would be tough and I wasn't disappointed. I started off with a good short Le Mans style run and was in the front pack starting the race, perhaps starting off a bit too quickly. Nevertheless I got into a steady rhythm, lapping between 18 and 22 minutes for the first few hours. After a few laps I was told I was in 4th position which really put the pressure on.

However, the faster-than-normal pace started to take its toll around the halfway mark and my lap times started to increase and I soon dropped back to about 6th place, which was a huge disappointment and it was a mental challenge to keep going. I decided I had to stop for a breather and something to eat. After a lot of encouragement from the team and others in the soloist's area I was back out and managed to pick my spirits, and the pace, up.

I lost count of the number of laps I had done and I spent the next couple of hours riding steadily and was constantly on the look out for the 2 soloists that had overtaken me. With this goal in mind, the riding became easier and with less than 2 hours to go to the end I had managed to pick my way back up to 4th place (I still don't know where or when I overtook the others!). I started counting down the laps and darkness soon fell, and I knew I was nearing the end of the race.

The last lap was a blur although I was pleased and happy that Mark caught up with me on his final lap and we rode in over the finishing line together. The sense of achievement of finishing my first 10-hour solo race and finishing as high as I did will be with me for a long time, and will certainly be an incentive to do well next year.

A singlespeeder's perspective, from Mark....

I was ready for the Cheddar bike fest this year. Last year I entered it fairly blind and naive not least because I was new to single speeding but also because I didn’t pre-ride the course. However this year I felt much better prepared. I had inadvertently ridden all my laps at SITS on my SS 29er, then purposely ridden the Brecon Beast…..all 109Km of it again on my 29er so I was really up for it.

My practice lap on Friday afternoon in the beautiful autumn sunshine was well worth it. I now knew where to go for it and when to accept defeat, push the bike and conserve energy. Roll on Saturday 10am.

I got off to a good start; I knew there were 6 of us altogether riding single speed solo so I kept my eye out for them. I didn’t see another SS rider for the first lap, but on my second lap I had a puncture, as I was replacing my tube, all the other 5 riders went by! I couldn’t believe it, I was gutted. But that’s the way it goes.

I carried on, lap after lap, I lost count after a while but was having a great time, the course was so much fun and all the riders were friendly and encouraging when they realised I was a solo rider (heaven knows where the other SS riders were though!) The laps and hours went by (and so did another 3 punctures) I was sure I was in last place. Then on the climb that over-looked the lake where the switchbacks were, two SS riders were sat down taking in the view! One of them was a pairs rider, and the other was a chap I’d met whilst riding the Beast two weeks before who I knew was riding solo. We got chatting (just the usual inane stuff strangers on the course talk about) but when he dropped in “I think this is my 12th lap”, I knew I’d done more than that……I couldn’t be in last place after all!! That was all I was interested in – beating my place of the previous year.

Once my watch passed the 7pm mark I seemed to get a new lease of life knowing there was only an hour left. With encouragement and persuasion from Lou and Charlotte it was possible for me to get 2 more laps in before the 8pm cut off so I went for it. I shouted for ‘malt loaf’ as I passed our support team and headed out on what was to be my final lap with a mouth full of Soreen. Half way up the first climb I spotted the all too familiar blue stripe on a fellow solo riders number board and went through the usual “how’re you doin’ mate?”……and of all the riders on the course it turned out to be Huw, what a stroke of luck! I was so pleased to see him. We chatted (or grunted at each other!) as we grinded our way through our last lap and crossed the finish line together just as we’d crossed the start line together 10 hours previously.

I’d heard of Huw’s progress from Lou & Charlotte during my rest stops so I knew where he was in the rankings, but I had no idea where I had finished. I genuinely believed I’d finished last but one. I went to have a look at the results board mainly out of morbid curiosity…..and I still can’t believe I discovered I’d finished in 3rd place having completed 23 laps. I was completely and utterly blown away. Had I read the screen wrong? Was I hallucinating through an overdose of energy gels and sausage rolls? A podium place…..me?! I’d like to say I was speechless, the reality however was the total opposite…..gift of the gab!

I finished on a total high and the euphoria will stay with me for a long long time. For me, Cheddar is my singlespeed event for the year. I think for next year I will try a different gear ratio maybe try something a little more forgiving for the climbs at the sacrifice of having to peddle like a demon on the small amount of flat course at the venue.

All in all, a great race, a great venue and a fantastic atmosphere – roll on 2009

BRECON BEAST 2008 RESULTS

2009-07-15T10:46:00.001+01:00

Well done to Mark and Andrew who completed the full 100km last weekend. Mark finished in 6 hours 11 minutes on his 29er Singlespeed, while Andrew followed, finishing in 6 hours 59 minutes.

BRECON BEACONS BEAST 2008

2009-07-15T10:45:00.000+01:00

Good luck to Mark and Andrew who will be riding at this weekend's (Sunday 14th September) Brecon Beast Enduro, riding the full 100km! Lets hope they won't need wetsuits and a snorkel after the recent wet weather.

KONA CHEDDAR BIKE FEST

2009-07-15T10:44:00.000+01:00

The team will be going solo at this year's Kona Cheddar Bike Fest on the 27th September, with Huw entered in the Competition Men's Solo 10-hour category and Mark in the Men's Singlespeed Solo 10-hour category. Jon Whittaker will also be making a return to the team entered in the Fun Men's Solo 10-hour category.

SLEEPLESS IN THE SADDLE : MUDFEST PART 2

2009-07-15T10:37:00.000+01:00

What can I say?! It started off muddy, and it ended muddy. One front of heavy rained followed the other throughout the weekend making the race both physically and mentally draining. It was a shame because this year saw some welcome extra sections of singletrack on the course to keep it interesting.

We kept our nerve during the first 12 hours, but our morale and enthusiasm deteriorated during the night, which showed in our placings, dropping us to about 25th during the night. Fortunately for us, it was difficult for everyone and some determined laps during the early hours of Sunday and a final push towards the end of the race brought us back into the Top 10.

I'd like to say it was fun in the mud, but not this time, but we are over the moon with our 9th place.

MOUNTAIN MAYHEM : MUDFEST PART 1

2009-07-15T10:35:00.001+01:00

The Bike Mechanic Race Team were in attendance at the 11th Giant Mountain Mayhem, competing in the Men's Sport Team Category. This year's Mountain Mayhem team were Huw Thomas, Mark Deacon, Andrew James and Michael Wann, who came 56th out of 248 teams in the Sport Men's category.

Full results can be found on the 2008 Giant Mountain Mayhem website .

The weekend started with the traditional camp setup, barbeque and socialising and as ever, we all came prepared for all eventualities.

Well prepared! Mark, Huw and Andrew

The Friday afternoon sunshine and dry conditions put us in the mood for a leisurely pre-race ride around the course. This year's course was, for me, one of the best and included some nice sections of singletrack, some fun steps and even a pretty tight and steep switchback! The climbs were of a reasonable length but none of the usual "leg-burners" that brought tears to your eyes in the middle of the night on previous years.

Unfortunately, Saturday morning brought about the promise of rain with very heavy looking clouds above the site, and there was a flurry of activity around the campsite with people busy changing to mud-tyres. After a leisurely morning of eating breakfast, enjoying the atmosphere and browsing the stalls, it was time to get ready for the main event. Starting off for us was Huw, who had to run the half mile Le Mans style start, and having to battle his way through the usual middle-of-the-pack congestion throughout the first lap. Even so, he did it with a smile.

Huw at the top of the first climb (Photograph by Matt Cope)

Mike, Andrew and Mark followed with quick laps to bring us up into the top 100 teams. The next set of laps saw us climb up the positions and into the night stage. The weather and conditions deteriorated from there, with people having to drag, push and carry their bikes through ankle deep, sticky mud for the best part of 8 hours throughout the night. The low point must have been Mike's seemingly never-ending double laps during a downpour, however one thing was certain, we weren't the only team suffering! We soldiered on and kept up the encouragement and dawn brought about a change in the weather and the course soon started drying out to make the final hours of the race more enjoyable. Andrew completed our race with the final lap, bring our lap tally to a respectable 20 laps (5 laps each) in just under 24 hours and 5 minutes.

There were many times during the race when we all vowed never to enter the event again, but after some sleep, and now that our bikes and clothes are washed, we are all looking forward to entering again in 2009!

Andrew, Mike, Mark and Huw after completing the 24-hour event