Looking ahead to 2014

Since my last post I completed the Rapha Festive500k over christmas, 310miles in 5 days, I also raced the 3rd round of the Gorrick Brass Monkey's, It was my second race as part of the KTM Mtb UK race team and it was the first race on my new 2014 race bike, the KTM Myroon 29er. Initial impressions are that the frame has snappy acceleration, it feels very efficient and the slightly smaller frame size make it feel more manoeuverable, i'll write a longer review once i've spent more time on it.

Yes the saddle is high, i've long legs

Back to the race.... I warmed up well, got a good start, but the big boys are too strong for me! I settled into the middle of the pack. The course was muddy, but solid in most areas, apart from a nasty slog over a moorland, but with plenty of fun single track. I was top 10, riding well with a Certini rider, we'd yo yo positions but eventually I dropped him, the last lap felt comfortable and I tried to pick off a few riders, as is my current racing style, I caught sight of 7th place, 10meters before the finish! 8th will do, not entirely happy but competition has been fierce this year, despite several top class riders missing.

I will miss the last round as i'm heading to the sunshine of Lanzarote for the Club Lasanta 4 day stage race, it'll be a new experience for me, but i'm not treating the race result as the be all and end all, its a dose of sunshine to get me through the winter.

 

On my return i'll be getting through the winter, by aiming at some xc races, with other adventures to follow.

 

Thanks to my new Sponsors for 2014: KTM Bikes, Four4th Lights,Torq Energy and Continental Tyres, and for the continuing patience and training expertise from Francesca Bennett

Brass Monkeys Rd.2 (2014 Series)

Round 2 of one of my favourite race series, after a fun xc race the weekend before at the Off Camber series, where I came a strong 3rd behind national level expert and master xc racers, I felt to have some form and speed.

With the usual fast faces on the start line it was never going to be easy! Ceasers camp is renowned for being a hilly course, but that usually suits me. I got a good start, but I knew better than to try and keep up with the front 5! I settled into a group with James Braid from Wiggle and a few others, I held the pace up the hills and sat back during the single track, trying not to make any silly mistakes! this went on for the first 2 laps.

Eventually we split up, the pace was too high for me to sustain, so I hoped to catch them later on. The rain began after an hour or so, light to start but it got heavier so I changed into my Castelli Gabba jersey, such a brilliant piece of kit, it kept me warm and dry without me overheating!

The course was great fun once it got muddy, slippery in places but there was still lots of grip, my lap times dropped slightly, but I stayed 8th, feeling strong. I started my last lap 10minutes before the cut off, the course was much quieter by now, but in the last few miles I caught 7th place, I knew I had to put a gap between us so I upped my pace, then in the last hundred metres I spotted 6th place, I tried to sprint for the line, but I had left it too late! happy with 7th, glad to be in the top 10, few niggles to resolve but happy with my form. We have a short break of two weeks until the next round, where I hope to be riding my new team bike!!

Brass Monkeys Rd.1 (2014 series)

Having changed jobs and moved house November had been a busy month, but I had tried to keep up training from my new location of Poole, it had gone ok and I was getting to know my new surroundings.

I was really looking forward to the first round of the 4 hour Brass Monkeys series, I always enjoy them and it helps to shake the winter blues. The first round was at Minley Manor, which had been the venue for Torq 12:12, my last competitive race. The venue had been logged heavily but the Gorrick crew had still put together a great course, with a mix of singletrack and fire road, with a few sections of bombholes.

I was expecting it to be freezing so I had brought my training rollers to get thoroughly warm before the race. I got off to a good start, although I didn't feel like I had much zip. The first lap went ok, I dropped off the lead group after quarter of a lap but I tried to settle into my own rhythm, but I had the nagging feeling my tyres were too hard, which was knocking my confidence and reigning in my singletrack pace.

At the start of the second lap I caught a tree root at a poor angle and lost the front wheel, which happened to smash into a tree! I went down, but I wasn't hurt, my bars had twisted, I righted them quickly and got rolling but my front wheel was buckled badly, I limped round the rest of the lap. I swapped to my spare wheel and it immediatly felt grippier. I got to work making up the 5+ minutes i'd lost!

The rest of the race went without issue, I felt strong, I made it back up to 12th place, not good enough, but not bad considering. Lesson learnt: soft tyres!!!

Gorrick Brass Monkey's Rd.3: Lessons must be learnt

I had been looking forward to the last round of the Brass Monkey’s series,I was 7th overall and felt I was in good shape after a good xmas training week, and I liked the venue.

My biggest concern before the race was the weather, I feel the cold quite easily, so made sure I dressed in warm, but not too warm clothing. I went through my typical race prep, and lined up for the start, we held a minutes silence over the tragic death of Burry Stander, South African Marathon racer, and a personal hero of mine.

For once I got a relatively good start, made good progress passing through the faster starters once the terrain ramped up. Working through the singletrack I caught and passed a rider I thought would be a front runner, this gave me confidence and i settled into my pace, but then disaster struck!

I landed on the back of my saddle, and the saddle clamp gave way. Game over, i got back to the pits and tried to tighten it but it was shot, I finished the lap, disappointed but that is racing sometimes, and mistakes are made. I spent the rest of the race cheering on my competitors, whilst trying to keep warm!

From the experience I will take that I can’t assume things that perform well during training will perform as well during racing, speeds are higher, forces are different. Racing goes on, I have no major targets until the National Marathon Championships in April, from now until then I will concentrate on quality training, with one week of warm weather training in Gran Canaria at the end of february, which is something i’ve never done before.