First Race of 2012 - Gorrick - Swinley Forest

My first race of 2010 was reasonably flat and in the Open category to ease myself into the season. The same can be said for 2011 (although that was determined by injury rather than by intention). This year, my first race of the season was always going to be round 2 of the Gorrick series. With no elite category, I knew there would be some serious competition. What I didn't bank on was one hell of a tough course. My practice lap took me over half an hour to complete and although that was at a fairly casual pace, that's a long lap and 5 laps was always going to hurt.



"Oi! Youff! Pass me that bottle!"



From the gun I got a reasonable start and was about 6th at the top of the first climb with everyone in front wheel to wheel. After the initial climb there was a long section of tricky but fast natural single track interrupted by a couple of short climbs and a tricky bog section. Once out in the open the course climbed gradually for about 500m. By this time I had lost time on the leaders after being caught behind some of the 'Open' riders. I put in a kick to get past the rider in front and quickly got a gap but the next rider was matching my speed and I couldn't close him down. The course turned right and up a very steep loose climb. I didn't realise Surry had scree slopes, but this changed my opinion. My knees felt like they were about to pop, you couldn't stand up and pedal because the back wheel instantly lost traction on the loose surface, you just had to grit your teeth, pull on the handlebars and push as hard as you could on the pedals. I genuinely wasn't sure I was going to make it up this climb 4 more times! By the top of the climb I had lost more ground on the guys in front but the first few sport guys had caught me so I pushed hard to get on their wheels to get my breath back. After a fast bermed descent with a couple tabletops and another very short steep climb, there was a fairly long flat section where being in a group really sped up progress. The lap finished with more natural single track before a fire road climb to the top of the final descent where everyone else took the slower wiggly route down. I took the straight route down a couple of drops and made up a good few seconds every lap on this. By the end of the lap I had caught and passed Scott Chappell and was up into 6th. At this point I was unsure if I was on my second or third lap, it felt like I had been going for quite a while already!

For the majority of the second lap I worked with a sport rider to maintain the gap to the rider in front and distance those behind but going on the third lap I was on my own and I think my mind must have wandered from concentrating on riding fast because the gap to those behind dropped quickly but my legs still felt good! Towards the end of the 4th lap my legs suddenly felt empty and Scott, who by this point had caught be but I was comfortably riding with, accelerated into the distance. I couldn't do anything to keep in contact with him and he was soon quite a way up the track. For the rest of the race I was alone and just concentrating on keeping going but not pushing too hard. I didn't want to blow up and not finish! The final time arount the scree slope I was suddenly on the wheel of the 6th place Expert but cramp set in at the back of my right quad and I had to collapse off my bike and stagger up the climb. At the same time I was passing a girl who was having exactly the same problem. Its a good job there weren't any spectators there, it would have looked a bit odd with both of us hobbling to the top grimacing! I think the rider ahead had bonked because I caught him again on the flat section and he didn't make any effort to keep up.
I finished 6th out of only 12 starters which I am pretty happy with although I was a long way off the winners time. The race took me 2hrs11 which is a good 40 minutes longer than the races I will be doing for the rest of the season. I surprised myself at how good I felt from the gun, somewhere I am normally poor, so that is very positive. I have just over a month until my first points qualifying race so with a good block of training, hopefully I can build on this race and get a good result then.

Forest of Dean / XTC final review

Its a bit of a poor show when a blog about last weekend is published closer to the next weekend! Im obviously getting a bit slack!

While I was (and still am) a bit jealous of everyone racing in the Midlands XC opener this weekend at Hicks Lodge, I have enjoyed the opportunity to do a couple of good rides myself. On Saturday I met up with the Wychwood RC ride which is normally run at a steady pace. I spent the majority of the ride on the front including along the flat and dead straight 6 mile road from Ambrosden to Islip straight into a gale force headwind – that bit wasn’t so enjoyable! The route was mostly flat with the road into Brill being the only significant climb and a good chance to stretch the legs. The Wychwood ride only ended up being about 50 miles (plus the 6 I did to get to the meet) so I decided to head off on my own for an extra few miles once everyone else had dropped off. Unfortunately I should have paid more attention to the whether forecast because as soon as I was alone, and bang on schedule, it started to piss it down. In addition to the headwind I felt like I was being jet washed and I was sorely tempted to take the quick way home. My resolve held, but only just, and I took the intermediate route home with the addition of 15 cold wet miles under my wheels. At least the beans on cheese on toast felt like it had been earned when I got in!

On Sunday I headed over to the Forest of Dean on the XTC to see how it coped on (slightly) more technical terrain. The upshot it, it was good! We did the blue route first to warm the legs up before heading out on the enduro route. For the first descent I was still getting used to the bike and not going too quickly but once I had got into the swing of things I loved it. The bike eats up the trail centre bumps, and the faster you go the smoother it gets. It also copes with braking bumps and pump track sections better than a 26 although it is still definitely not up to full-suspension levels of comfort. By the time we had been riding for an hour I had completely forgotten I was riding a 29er. You quickly get used to the slight difference in steering and just get on with reaping the benefits in the form of better grip and smoother ride. After a quick spin in the car park both Jack and Ash agreed the much talked about negatives of 29ers are almost imperceptible.

The enduro trail was my favourite section of the day with really slippery mud and crisscrossing roots keeping out on your toes. This sort of track is far more my cup of tea than manmade trails. We only rode for about 2.5 hours but after getting lost a few times we were all ready for a bacon butty in the café!

Unfortunately I have had to give the XTC back now for a few weeks until mine arrives so I will be rocking my old 26er at the Gorrick next weekend. Please don’t judge me for not being on trend!

Giant XTC 29er Review (part1)

Since my last blog I have spent a couple more hours on the Giant XTC 29er. So far I am really happy with it. On Saturday I got out for about 2½ hours on local trails with Robin from AreUfit and Mark from Beeline Bikes. After the snow on Thursday night the temperature has hardly dragged its self above 0 degrees so the snow was still upto 3 inches deep and the backroads still very icy. This was an ideal test really because the going was tough and to maintain grip I had to stay seated for long periods to keep weight on the back wheel. The ground was also frozen solid underneath the snow and was very bumpy and unforgiving. Pedalling through the snow seems to require extensive recruitment of back muscles to force the pedals around. You have to attack the snow and go as fast as you can to try to stay on top of the snow. Once you sink into the snow it is really momentum and energy sapping and you grind to a halt. Despite all of this, my back stayed almost completely pain free which is a big relief. It also speaks volumes about the benefits of the 29 inch wheel concept. The last time I rode a hardtail I got significant pain very quickly resulting from hitting bumps in the trail sending impacts through my spine. This might also be, in part, down to the lay-up of the carbon in the frame improving the shock damping characteristics of the bike. The other thing you notice in these conditions is the sheer amount of grip available through both wheels. On slippery climbs the back wheel stayed glued to the trail without slipping out and the front wheel gripped tenaciously when braking and turning on compacted snow. I am also sold on the idea of 2x10 gearing. During this ride I was able to leave the bike in the big ring for most of the time and had the use of all 10 gears on the back. For racing this means less shifting from big to middle ring when you are pushing hard and mean I can be on the power more of the time. The gears on the Giant XTC Composite 29er 0 (the one I am currently testing and almost certainly the one I am riding for the rest of the season) are a mix of Sram X9 (cranks, shifters and front deraileur) and Sram X0 (rear derailleur) which offers a good compromise of price, performance and weight. Although I have a general rule that more carbon is better, in this situation everything worked flawlessly so the only downside is the slight lack of ‘bling’!

 

There are a couple of things I will probably update as soon as I get my own bike but all relate to the cockpit (so is a very personal preference and what works for me might not be what the next person). I have already flipped the stem and removed all of the spacers to get the bars as low as possible but they still feel higher than I am used to because of the bigger wheels so I will try a different stem to fix this. The bars are also significantly wider than I am used to resulting in me frequently underestimating the size of gap I could fit through. This might cause a few problems at my first race which is notoriously tight and twisty! I will also change the grips to a pair of foam grips at the lock-on rubber grips found on this and many other bikes are narrow and hard and I find them uncomfortable. I will also stick some bar ends on to allow me another position for my hands to sit in and give me more leverage on the bars for hard climbing. Other than these minor changes the bike seems to be ready to ride or race out of the box.

 

It looks like I have the bike for another week so hopefully the snow will bugger off and allow me to hit up some more technical trails next weekend and see how the bike handles that. Team-mate Franck is heading up to the first round of the Midlands XC this weekend but I will be giving it a miss in favour of some solid training miles and aiming to make my season debut at the Gorrick race next Sunday.

Rest Week/ Snowboarding and a Giant XTC 29er

I am now into my first rest week of the season and it has come at a perfect time. After a couple of weekends with back to back Saturday and Sunday rides and a mix of intervals and commuting miles during the week, my body is starting to feel the strain. The idea behind my training plan is to ramp up the stress I put my body under during a block of 4 or 5 weeks, then rest before I over do it. Then, after a week get back into another block once my muscles have sufficiently repaired and any joint inflammation has rescinded. The theory is that once your body has been through this process and recovered, it is more adept at coping with the stress and you can increase the intensity and/or duration during the next block. This first block after Christmas has been aimed at low intensity endurance rides, specifically designed to loose a bit of off-season podge and ease your body back into the training routine. The next block will contain more intervals, including a few of the dreaded hill repeat sessions, and more high tempo riding targeting speed and strength. It is all very well having a good training plan but one of the most important sessions on the plan is rest. It is easy to over do it. A niggling knee pain or a twinge in a muscle, if not properly rested, can be compounded by repetitive training and cause other injuries later in the season as your body tries to compensate for the injury by recruiting other, less capably muscle groups.

Like I said, the rest has come at perfect time. During the last couple of interval sessions this week I have felt a slight twinge in my right knee. It is nothing new, and I'm sure a few days away from a bike will do the world of good. Normally I can't stand being off the bike but I have just returned from the French Alps where I partook in some light snow-boarding, and heavy hot-tubbing and wine consumption. I spent a lot of time sitting down, as boarders do, and wore excessive body armour and my back appears to have come away unscathed! We stayed with a few friends for a relaxing long weekend in the quiet village of Les Houches. Well, it is normally quiet but unfortunately me and Emma did our usual trick of picking the busiest festival weekend of the year as the Alpine World Cup descended on the village for the weekend! It was good to watch for a while but it was also a massive pain in the arse with 25,000 fans estimated to get in our way! It is also -15 during the day so it was a bit too cold to sit around watching for too long and frostbite was a concern for the ever-so-fragile Emma!

Since getting back to the UK I collected a demo Giant XTC 29er from Giant Radlett and tonight managed to take it for a quick spin around my local woods. It dealt admirably with the ice and snow, certainly better than my toes did, but I will keep my opinions to myself until I have had a few more hours of testing on it at the weekend and after I have made a few changes to get my position right.