We are near completion of our Skills Area and will be announcing dates for our coaching sessions in the coming weeks.
We would like to take the time again to thank Buff, Sue Me and HardnutZ who, as our headline sponsors, will be providing incentives and prizes for our sessions and kit for our coaches.
Check out the amazing products offered by each of these companies by clicking their logos below.
Post by – Paul Coulson
With the first round of the Mud, Sweat and Gears MTB series kicking off at Tunstall Forest again this year, all the talk on the internet forums was about just how wet it was going to be or even how much snow might fall before the event. That’s when I received a call from my mate Michael Travers, who offered the use of “Rudy”, the Travers Bikes MTB for those inclement conditions we were going to be riding in.
Now reality has a habit of biting you in the ass more often than not, the week before the event I was stuck down with the most brutal of diseases known to man, yes that’s right, man flu. I’m a trooper and will carry on as long as I can but a few precautionary measures were called for, i.e. no training and a few early nights. Awaking on the Sunday morning at a reasonable time for a change, these afternoon races are very civilised, I felt okay but not great still and against all advice I decided to go and race. There was still a lot of internet chatter about easy points on offer just for turning up and competing in the quagmire that was expected at Tunstall forest. Reality nibbling my butt I drove and picked up my racing buddy for the day Paul Howell and then onto collect Rudy. Arriving at the MSG village in good time off we set to sign in and have a chat to the Guys at Velo Virtuoso about conditions, which in fact were not as bad as had been described. The track was relatively dry with the exception of a couple of sections of really wet muddy patches, which really did just drain all my energy. After a warm up/sighting lap back to the van for the usual carb loading and gel intake before heading to the start line. I did wonder at this stage should I change bikes and use my conventional geared bike instead of the Alfine 11 speed hubbed mud warrior that I was perched upon, a look skyward and with rain being given out as a forecast for all afternoon, I started my rain dance. Knowing that I didn’t have the energy levels to compete for the whole 5 laps and get a decent place at the end, (the top 30 score points only), I decided that from my start line position I would just go for it and hope the conditions changed and the soft people would drop out.
With the teeth of reality now sinking deep into my Gluteus Maximus, off we set and the pace is fast, very fast and I struggle to get my breathing up to pace to drive the pedals at these speeds. I settle back and get into my own rhythm and it’s not too long before I reel in some of the fast starting, slow riding people. At least that was my plan, when all of a sudden I lost the front end on a fast left hander just before the first bomb hole, the front slid and with slow reactions I was unable to release my feet from the pedals. The front tyre now griped hard on the edge of the track but my momentum was being thrown forward and over the bars I go, with a heavy landing on my left shoulder, I then flip over and my right hip smashes into the ground. My head pounded like a thousand woodpeckers had landed on me, shoulder, hip, knee and ankle all screaming out in pain, that’s it I thought, day over. Sitting in the scrub at the track side with my competitors streaming past, the adrenaline kicked in and as I’m not a quitter, with the marshal checking that I was okay, before I knew it, I was back in the saddle and shooting into the bomb hole.
Knowing that I was well outside the top 30 and not much hope for a decent finish, I decide to use it as a training session and to really get to grips with this MTB that Travers Bikes really has put together well. So for the next 3 laps I plod away and start to really think about the logic of this bike, I got to ride it a few weeks previously but conditions had been drier, a lot drier than this. Don’t get me wrong the Tunstall trials were wet not just wet enough for my fellow riders to experience bike problems that had plagued previous MSG events the year before. This bike has rigid carbon forks, but is really very comfortable and with plenty of time to get used to them I try different ways to make it go quick. Using my body as the shock absorbing system, after all my arms and legs have more travel than any MTB on the market and with no bobbing of the bike all my energy (what little I had) went straight to making the bike go forward, which it does very easily. The only time I missed the front suspension was when I was being lazy and letting the bike run through the corners with me seated, instead of me working the bike and standing to keep the power being pushed through the pedals. My only criticism of the bike on the day was with the tyres, a set of Conti x’s were just not going to work on the muddy sections of this course and had pitched me sideways many times losing all forward momentum, but as these are a personal preference, an easy problem to overcome.
Taking the bell at the end of my 3rd lap was heaven, knowing that I was going to be a lap down at the end of the race isn’t a great feeling on a five lap race, but it was most welcome on this occasion. So with 500 meters of the race remaining, the heavens opened up, great, no chance now of making any positions up, all I was going to do was get wetter and colder. The track immediately turned greasy with this little bit of water on the surface, had it come and hour earlier the Travers Bike would have been the ideal weapon for the job, of getting me some points in this first round, but alas, reality had left it’s gnarling teeth marks in my behind. A top 30 placing, on this day, in these condition with a rider who only days before was dying, not a chance, but if the conditions had been like Codham last year and a fitter rider (like it’s owner and creator) a top 10 place would be so easy to achieve on “Rudy”.
The Codham round is next Mr Travers…….. if it rains like last year, can I……………
Post By – Michael Travers
I have been riding mountain bikes for 25 years and have seen fashions come and go, some have hung around, been perfected and become a must have and others have fallen by the way side. The most obvious part that has become de facto on a mountain bike is front suspension, the technological battle is won and its just a matter of which brand you are going to nail your colours to!
Wait a minute are we just being blinded with marketing speak? Most riders never get the chance to compare riding with and without suspension because these days even the cheapest bikes come with suspension forks already bolted on. Now I am not for one moment saying that rigid forks are aimed at the freeride/downhill crowd, but for the XC/endurance rider they are a realistic viable alternative.
The most important suspension element on any bike is you. You have far more travel in your arms and legs than any suspension forks. Learning to relax and absorb the hits on a rigid bike, picking lines and dancing your way through a rock garden, rather than blasting through the middle will only enhance your riding when you head to the big mountains.
So what are the other benefits to rigid over suspension forks?
Weight, a straight swap will save you around 1kg
• Trail buzz, nothing removes that numbing feeling from your hands you get when you have ridden for a couple of hours like a quality carbon fork
• Clearance, on my suspension forks you have a fingers width if you are lucky between the tyre and the bridge joining each fork leg together, on a rigid fork you will have 30+mm
• Climbing…no more bobbing around or scrambling for the lock out switch
• Best of all, single track. There is nothing like flying down a piece of single track with a rigid front end, no more tucking of the front wheel when you are cornering hard, no more dive of the front end when you jam on the brakes and no more wallow when you sprint out of a corner.
Saying all that, I still have a full suspension bike and I love it! When the rocks get too big or the speed gets rapid there is nothing like the confident feeling a suspension setup gives you. Horses for courses and all that…
http://traversbikes.bigcartel.com/product/29er-travers-carbon-fork-tapered-1-1-2-1-18
Review By – Chris Hyde
Ironically, it was when I got back from a snowboarding holiday in the French Alps that I first thought the planned 55 mile assault on the Taff Trail on the 26th Jan might not be a good idea. The reason for this, of course, was the large amount of said white flaky stuff that had fallen on the UK, particularly Wales.
Monday night‘s usual ride further confirmed my doubts, spending 90% of the 10 miles either going sideways on ice or getting stuck in crusty snow. That 10 miles felt more like 30 due to the drag on my mud tyres and to top it all we had only received about 20% of the snow that awaited in Wales.
Wednesday morning and the local snow was starting, inevitably, to thaw. This wonder of global warming had 2 effects, firstly turning the once muddy mess of our local trails back to their former muddy messiness and secondly, leaving no excuses for the lovely people at UPS to deliver a shiny new Garmin 800 to my door.
Still thinking the Taff Trail was a bad idea, at least now I was prepared for the navigation part of it with full UK OS Maps in the surprisingly neat little unit that the 800 is. This of course was important as I did not have a Skidoo and was convinced all the sign posts would be covered in feet of snow.
So, back to business, the Garmin 800…
After unboxing it and sticking it on charge, I was straight to the bike to put on the handlebar/stem mount which like all of the newer Garmin mounts was the small coin sized quarter turn affair that is mounted using rubber bands (Garmin had a posh name for them but it escapes me now). That done, it was back to my desk to have a play. I must say at this point, my everyday bike computer for the past few years has been a Garmin 705 so comparison was bound to be my starting point. The 800 is only very slightly bigger than the 705 which surprised me as having read about the touch screen and full colour OS maps, I had expected something much bigger.
After power on the Garmin starts up pretty quickly and begins it’s search of the sky for satellites. This is something which, like the 705, does seem to take longer than it needs to compared to even an average smart phone for example. Satellites found however (you don’t have to wait if you don’t want to) a remarkably simple menu system is displayed showing pretty much what is expected. Where To? / Training / History / Courses and Setup. A quick flick though the menus had my bike and my vital statistics set including units of speed, distance and what do do when I stop and start. One thing I did notice here is how clear and bright the screen is although I turned the brightness down as low as I thought would still be visible outside in the hope the battery might stretch to last the whole of my upcoming day of slow snowy pain.
The one other thing I did before the weekend was find a GPX route of the Taff Trail (mapped out for last years Ultra Run) and by simply copying it into the “NewFiles” folder on the Garmin my 55 mile route was set. Actually I did 3 other things before the weekend:
Garmin 800 and GoPro Hero 3 (review coming soon) on charge it was time for a cheeky beer before bed, tomorrow was going to be interesting.
The next morning we were up at dawn for a breakfast of strong coffee and Weetabix before loading the bikes on another member of the Land Rover family and heading off down to the start of the trail on the canal side in Brecon.
Garmin powered up, helmet on and bikes checked we started out 55 mile journey to Cardiff and immediately there were hazards. The canal tow path was peppered with patches of sheet ice and neither of us was really up for a morning swim. Care and sense prevailed and we started making progress. I was immediately impressed with the mapping on the Garmin 800 especially about 7 miles in when it started shouting (beeping) at us that we had missed a turning and were now “Off Course”. A quick check on the maps found our error but also a few weaknesses with the Garmin. I found the zoom in and out features a little slow and moving the map around by dragging a gloved finger over the screen (thank you Garmin for not using a capacitive screen) proved slow to redraw our location. Location found however we turned around only to take a wrong turn 100 yards later (my fault not the Garmin) resulting in a 2 mile climb, to the top of one of the Beacons where we should have been gently climbing alongside a lake.
Apart from suffering a frozen/ceased front brake resulting in removal of my front brake disc, there were rewards for our (my) mistake and this horrendous riding, walking and trudging in knee deep snow ascent of the Beacons. The incredible view from the top, some comedy moments trying to vault dry stone walls and the most memorable narrow, rocky, technical descent back down to the lake. I was properly in my element here, this was real mountain biking. Once again, it was thanks to the Garmin that we found this amazing descent which was an old footpath being actively washed away by melting snow. Ace!
Back on track and the next few miles slowly clocked up, riding where we could, walking where we couldn’t. We were sure this snow/ice covering could not last all the way to Cardiff so spirits were high, kept so by laughing a lot every time one of us nearly fell off which happened a lot, or did fall off, which also…… You get the idea.
As we descended out of the Beacons the going got a little better for a while and I had time to play with some of the features of the 800 and started swiping my finger across the screen. There are 5 default views consisting of Maps, 2 views of Time/Distance/Calories/etc., Ascent/Descent and one that was currently telling me we were 1.5 hours behind our target. As we had not set a target, a useful feature for comparing rides or improving on a course, I presumed that this was the time of the runners whose GPX route I had loaded. This also reinforced how bad the conditions were as we were on wheels and they had been on foot.
As Chris mentions in his blog post about our journey (www.24fifty.com/2013/02/the-taff-trail.html) we were expecting the lower part of the journey to be a little boring as most of it is national cycle route 8 and tarmacked, multi use pathways. We were both surprised however by the route managing to stay interesting, following the old railway lines and river away from noisy roads and traffic, passing many old bridges and structures, some even bearing the name of Isambard Brunell. The fun factor was also kept high by the seemingly unending covering of ice which made for comedic and very concentrated riding. 
As we approached the outskirts of Cardiff, Chris decided to disagree with the Garmin and turn left off Cycle route 8 and take us up a big offroad climb. To be fair to him it was signposted “Taff Trail” so apart from whinging about my legs, I duly followed. As it turned out, the Garmin was not wrong and the climb we were doing is seen as an “optional” section of the route. Like our previous climb, we were rewarded at the top by another cool technical descent and a full frame view of, in my opinion, the most beautiful castle in the UK and a personal childhood memory.
Downhill from the castle, the Garmin bleeped triumphantly that we were back “On Course”, the ice and snow had all but gone and we followed cycle route 8 down to the Millennium stadium.
It had been 8 hours since we left Chris’ car at the side of he canal, it felt like days, the knee deep snow, ice and falling off were but a distant memory. We had made it and in the most difficult conditions. More surprising to me however was the Garmin was still powered on and still had some (although not much) battery left for me to sum up our day.
To sum up the Taff Trail: Its beautiful, picturesque, fun, not too challenging, has plenty of option for adding extra bits and most of all, a ride I will remember for many many years. DO NOT however attempt it after several inches of snow have turned to crust and ice.
To sum up the Garmin 800: it’s a surprisingly compact, great looking cycle computer with full OS mapping, some cool features, a great touch screen (that works with gloves) and a battery that lasts all day. The only negative for me was the screen update time when browsing the maps, this may however be due to the speed of the memory card and I will try a faster one and get back to you on that.
I will certainly be going back to do the Trail again but in the summer when all the ‘orrible white stuff is gone !
Post by - Glenn Horton – Club Chairman
My Journey….
Going back to 2011, Myself, Martin Seddon & co. were completing construction of the Olympic course.
With a world press day staged on its completion in March, we were highly congratulated by Lord Coe & the worlds media. I’d hit the peak in my career and was so proud of being a part of delivering an Olympic venue in a sport I’ve been passionate & enjoyed for 20yrs.
Wow.. A body trembling feeling..
The following week we were invited to tender for the 2014 Commonwealth MTB course. Whilst away my Fiancée had symptoms of a trapped nerve, which within no time, suddenly saw her admitted to hospital.
After the results from a biopsy the following week, our whole world fell apart with the news the love of my life was diagnosed with Glioblastoma Multiforme grade 4 (A very aggressive high grade brain tumor)
The Senior oncologist prognoses was a short outcome.
My Fiancé is extremely strong minded and after the initial shock, we got our thoughts together and agreed we are going to beat this!
So my research began into beating this terrible disease which I’d never met on my life’s path before.
So searched everything possible and discovered that we could achieve this through correct nutrition & positive attitude, visualisation and motivation with combined chemotherapy & radiotherapy methods.
After a huge battle..2011 ended with fantastic news that the high grade tumor had dispersed.
So.. What could I do with this huge motivation I’d still got & the will to help others?
…. “I know the love I’ve got for the Mountain bike course I helped create”
…… “Right plan time, I’m going to set up a Mountain bike club based at the Olympic course!”
Armed with the plan to introduce new riders from Adults to Youngsters and plans of helping charities & local businesses, Hadleigh Mountain Bike Club started being put together in January 2012 and has continued to progress with a fantastic momentum I’d always visualised.
Then before we knew it..
The Olympians arrived in a small town in Essex and put on a fantastic display of athleticism which was show-cased across the world.. putting Hadleigh on the map for being the most spectator friendly world class XC venue in the world.
“London 2012 delivered.”
Our club started Happy Monday TGB rides in May with 12 riders in two groups then hit peak numbers late August at over 65 riders with 4 groups enjoying the great loop of local trails.
The Easy like Sunday morning rides from new local bike shop Velo Virtuoso in Hadleigh began in September mainly aimed at beginners has became really successful & will continue to into the future.
In October, HMTBC members supported the under 16′s British Cycling Inter-regional youth MTB championships at Hadleigh, which was a brilliant event and was inspiring watching the next generation of elite riders being the first riders taking on parts of the Olympic course since August.
Currently Weekly coaching sessions on the course now keep the venues/2012 momentum. We have great plans in 2013, one of which is introducing and coaching youngsters/Adults.
The London 2012 motto was
‘inspire a generation’
It certainly has & we’ll continue to do so at Hadleigh & beyond….
What a journey.. What a future.
Whatever life throws at you..
Stay strong, be supportive, have a positive outlook.
Remember.. There’s always someone more worse off.
Reflection:
My fiancée has suffered permanent nerve damage from the aggressive tumor which effects her left side movement, thankfully the tumor isn’t active so we cherish every moment together and continue to do everything possible to ensure a quality of life.
My motivation for the club continues.. With the aim to make it the most exciting & successful mountain bike club within in the UK.
I cannot thank everyone enough who has supported and has/is contributed highly towards getting our fantastic Legacy Club moving into the right direction.
A brilliant future awaits!
Merry Christmas Everyone & a Happy New Year… Bring on 2013 
Glenn Horton
Chairman
Hadleigh Mountain Bike Club
Post by - Paul Coulson
“HELL on ICE”
It was cold, not just cold but very cold, I’m sure I saw penguins at one point huddled together to keep warm either that or a remake of nuns on the run was being filmed in Thetford forest. Usual early start; up at 6am for my coffee, beetroot juice, muesli and more coffee breakfast; before I ventured out into the frozen Leigh-on-Sea air to defrost the van. Peering through the misty windscreen with blurry eyes still; I make my way up to the Suffolk/Norfolk border, and watching the outside temperature gauge on the van climb as slow as a sloth from -3 to -1 by time I was parking in the High lodge arena.
With Sam on baby arrival duties I popped over to see Guy and Rachel setting up the Velo Virtuoso stand (poor Rach was freezing she needs a heater; if only we knew someone who was selling a cheap generator which could power a nice heater for her). With only 2 other Hadleigh MTB Club members racing; I had a little ride until Pete and Paul showed up. Being sensible I’d backed the van up against the feeding station so we arranged our supplies around the back of the van and headed off for the start of this 4 hour marathon ride.
With the temperature still below freezing I kept my jacket on for the 1st lap again, no point getting too cold, but with my new Leicester Tigers base layer on I was toasty along with my toasty feet in my new NW Celsius boots as well. Off we set along the very long straight frozen flint lined fire road which immediately claim a number of riders with punctures, a scene which was to keep playing out through the entire race. A sharp right turn more fire road before we hit the most talked about corner in recent MTBing history, “Ice Corner” didn’t cause anyone a problem on lap 1, but there after it was a constant stream of riders having a little lay down (me included on lap 2, thanks for putting the photo’s on face book guys). The rest of the lap consisted of single track through the pine tree’s; fire roads; an absolutely horrible little section where the line was in a deep rut but what made it worse was the bright sunlight in your eyes blinding your sight as you try to navigate a path either side of the trench that was the racing line.
My favorite section of any course I’ve ridden was from the Flint pit right through to the end of the MX trail; a lovely flowing section with undulations galore and a fast as you like single track section which you just have to pin it and have faith in your ability and tyres. Next up the section that on lap one I hated but by the end of my 7th lap actually improved, a long draggy climb through the fallen leaves made it hard work but as the race went on the leaves cleared and the track actually got easier. By now we are only a couple of miles from the end of the lap but the track was slow with lots of roots and soft mud where the ice had thawed in the sunlight only to be frozen solid earth around the next corner in the shade. Very unpredictable riding but the course is the same for all riders, I had tried to stay with Pete Shrimplin on lap one but he just pulled clear of me and eventually I lost sight of him and a good result of 22nd was his reward, I came home in 30thsame number of laps; 7 and Paul Howell was 32nd with 6 laps completed, but with about 60 entered in our class only 33 were given as finishers, as I mentioned earlier punctures were rife throughout the race with the winner of our class having 2 punctures and still completing 9 laps in total. I had a quick pit stop at the end of my fourth lap to grab a couple of oat bars and top up my water, the water was fine as it had been on the bumper of the van but my oat bars were frozen solid as they had been on the floor, I stuffed one in my back pocket to defrost and munched on the frozen morsel as I started my 5th lap.
With the race coming to a close and with me telling my self this is my last lap, I entered the arena at 3 hours 45 minutes, so had another lap to complete which at the end of the day I’m glad I did, but 4 hours 27 minutes and 57 seconds on a bike in sub zero conditions was true character building. When I got back into the van for my drive home the temp gauge still only read 0.5 and stayed that way pretty much all the way home.
So with a month off taking it easy (except for our little visit to Bedgebury with Pete and Michael Travers) I can eat normal food and even have a pint or two, especially over the festive period then it’s off to Tunstall forest on 30th December for their duff the stuffing ride; a good training and sighting ride ahead of round one of MSG in March held there; before we hit Thetford at the end of January for another cold long race, with me standing at 21st in the championship I need a good ride to get inside the top 20 and be gridded for the final race in February.
Till next time my fellow frozen mud monkeys.
Post by - Pete Stiff
‘Could you tell me what are the benefits (if any) of joining the club’!!!
No matter what bike I have owned be it Road, Hybrid and even mountain bike I’ve never been what you call a mountain biker.
Now although I was probably above average cycling fitness wise through commuting to and from work and the weekend long road runs, Closest I have come to mountain biking is riding along an off road path that you could quite easily ride along on any bike.
Inspired by location of the Olympic 2012 Mountain Bike venue at Hadleigh Farm being local to me, a few weeks after decided to head down to the Ten Green Bottles where the Hadleigh Mountain Bike Group was in its infancy and join them for a Monday evening group ride.
My first ride with them on August the 27th, now with tips, tricks and listening and watching all the other riders on the different rides, I have entered a couple of “Cyclocross bring any bike” races, Got used to riding in steep, muddy, technical sections and night riding.
After becoming a member, a couple of weeks later on the 3rd November there was one more thing, err what was it?
Oh yeah I got to ride the “frigging” Olympic Mountain Bike Course Technical Sections and coached by John Stockwell from ATB Coaching and Tom Dowie. John is a former BMX National Champion and Pro 4X.
Thanks ECC and all at Hadleigh Mountain Bike Group.
Post by - Paul Coulson
To say I was somewhat surprised to see an e-mail from Glenn that Friday morning asking me if I could make myself available to ride the Olympic course on Saturday under the watchful eyes of two coaches, would be an understatement to say the very least.
So it turns out that as we are going to be associated with the park, Hadleigh MTB Club was selected to be the first people on a coaching tour of the course (lemmings springs to mind). After sorting out who were paid up members and who were not yet, finally we were down to twelve lucky people who could make the Saturday morning session. Now I’m not a very technically gifted rider, fitness yes not but that is about it for me; so now I start thinking about the course and what the features are. I mean we are talking about riding an Olympic course where even the worlds best riders crashed and broke bones. It’s at this point when I’m starting to think of excuses as to why I could not possibly complete the section’s when my phone rang. It was me good mate and fellow xc racer Pete Shrimplin also going on the morning course also having kittens about riding the track. I’m glad I ain’t the only one who after jumping at the chance to ride was now having second thoughts especially in front of friends who lets face it, would mock and take the micky for all time should we do anything silly. So we decided that eh we’ll go act all cool and if at the last second we didn’t want to do a feature then it’s far cooler to say no than to being in plaster for six weeks.
At five o’clock in the morning I am awake, I’d had a dream but not just any dream; a falling dream; a falling dream on the bike after I tried to ride up a rock face. After a couple of coffees and a quick change of tyres on the bike, I quickly slid the summer tyres back on for extra grip on them rocks & with the wife in the car off we go To Hadleigh. After meeting the others and having started the banter we all went off to meet our coaches for the day. John & Tom turned out to be really nice chaps, John was a BMX racer with our very own Jez and Tom is a current world 4X rider and both run training courses at Codham and Chicksands respectively. We had to undertake a skills session before we were even allowed to ride any part of the course, which consisted of riding between cones, front and rear wheel lifts, bunny hops, slalom and riding on a plank. All but the plank was easy I just could not keep my balance on it but I got through it so my riding wasn’t that bad.
The first feature we headed to was the sweeping down hill turns with the small jumps, easy I hear you all say, is it? When you look at the turns they are so steep and added to that the damage that the cows of done to the track, hoof holes everywhere; cow pats on the racing line, I’m sure Absalon didn’t have to put with this. So off we went bumbling down the track a couple jumped the rock placed in the middle of the track; but me no, bottled it, but I wasn’t going to be beaten by such a tiny rock, so back to the top and this time nailed it like it wasn’t even there. So back up to the top again and watched as Jez (our star rider) headed off down the track at a good pace, when he disappeared behind a mound but instead of reappearing the other side I saw a back wheel in the air, then the front, then the rear again. Carrying a little too much speed and not being able to use the banking of the turns due to the hoof holes Jez have tried to pull it tight in a turn but lost grip and down he went. Cuts and grazes were evident what we didn’t see was the concussion that he later had diagnosed, still it saves getting drunk.
Next up “Oak Tree Drop” this was the one I wanted to nail, after seeing twelve year old girls do it with ease I couldn’t leave the course without having done it, so after watching Tom and John making it look effortless and others in the group giving it a go and nearly crashing to the top I went. I bottled it again on my first attempt (something which I did at every feature that day) but with my wife there I had to prove what a man I was so over the top of the drop and now there is no turning back, off the brakes, lower the heels and wrists & pick the smooth line and down the drop I go, I think it was the words of encouragement from Tom at the top that did it, he said that being on the 29er my bike should be the easiest bike to ride it on’ due to the larger circumference of the wheels smoothing the obstacle out. After landing the bike back onto the course and a few well done’s it was back to the top for another go, when with an almighty “aaaarrrrrr” rang out Steve Owen landed in a heap on the track just in front of me, bruised and battered and later noticing he had been bitten by his outer chain ring, the resulting 3 gashes and 10 stitches need later that day. So rode up the B line only so miss judge crossing over the grass between the two lines and I was forced to have a little lie down, much to everyone’s amusement. So back on to two wheels and back down the drop this time a little quicker and much more confident, then out over the rabbit warren on the smoother rock line and up to the final drop on the course; which may be steep with a root half way down but is not too much of a challenge.
After a quick break up to “Triple Trouble” now this was the very first time I’ve seen it in the flesh, so to speak. After wobbling down the C line a couple of times it was now time to take the B line and yes bottled it first attempt but nailed it twice before we left the feature, with only Jez doing the A line, respect to him. Monument was similar with only Jez trying to ride it and making it look so simple I was tempted to give it a go, but no next time maybe.
Then onto “Deans Drop” B line ridden first then a switch over the track so starting on B line switch over to A line after the difficult rock section, then the barriers were removed for people to try the full A line, which a few did and Pete’s one handed endo was something to behold in the rock section.
The north shore section was next, not much to it really and everyone made light work of the B line, a few went straight for the A line jump which does look fairly easy. I don’t know why but it took me an absolute age to pluck up the courage to attempt this, but glad I did, back wheel hit heavily on the landing ramp edge simply because I only lifted the front wheel and not hopped on the take off, but over the 7 foot gap I had jumped.
I think by now the energy levels were slipping and with work beckoning it was time to depart although we could have stayed and done the whole course with ‘Leap of Faith’ and the ‘Rock Garden’ still to be ridden, but I will savour these for my return next year.
So what did I learn? a lot really; have confidence in your ability firstly, next leave your brakes alone, too little speed is worse than too much on this course and these features will bite if your not committed, they also bite when you are; so go along sign up for this coaching session you’ll love it. After all how many people have actually ridden an Olympic XC Track, I for one have!
Post by - Paul Coulson
After the horrendous conditions of Thetford winter series round 1 last Sunday, it was nice to wake up to an rather nice but chilly morning, it may have been only 6.30, but I could tell it was going to be a good day, a real adventure and memorable day, as it turned out it would be but not for the reasons I thought.
The previous weekend had taught me a lot, not just about my skills on the bike but also what I can put my frail body through; I had a small bowl of muesli a large glass of beetroot juice and my usual 2 large strong coffees. I jumped into the van at 7.30 and made my way around the sunny M25 heading off for Bracknell. Arriving at the parking area in Crowthorne woods I was less than impressed car and vans littered the verges of the wet sand fire roads, now my first time here I don’t know where to park so I drive as close to the arena as possible, which to be fair I got fairly close, I found a small section that hadn’t been occupied and backed the van into the undergrowth; sorted I’m here.
Wandering down to the sign on caravan to collect my new race number (don’t know why we can’t keep a number for the series) I get to see the start gate, uphill hard packed stone and gravel with a liberal covering of sand/mud/slime. Back to the van to collect the bike and a quick change of clothes and I’m ready for a practise lap, riding back to the start gate I get there just at the wrong time; a race is just about to start, so I have to sit and wait for around 5 minutes as they start each group. When the last group had left I ride over the start line and off I set, now I don’t rush the sighting lap, but I was passing the tail enders of the field. The start of the lap was long fire roads, down hill then a steep climb before turning left and run downhill again into the first single track. I didn’t gel with this first section; rooty, bumpy and soft loose dry mulch in equal measures made for a hard first section. Then into a more flowing single track section with a small bomb hole section before hitting a fast hard surface section and a small climb back into single track, the first of the really technical sections. A steep rise into the section over the top of the crest and straight into a drop with a 90 degree turn and a second drop before another crest and another drop now a steep rise over more roots and loose material so an area where loads of pedal power is needed to crest the rise. More single track before popping out onto another hard surface fire road, long down hill, tricky gravel turn before a small climb which during the race would be start of my troubled last lap. A small single track section before a very short fire road which you needed that power spurt again as you drop into the ditch and then a steep 20 foot slope with the usual shiny roots at it’s crest before continuing along the track and into the tightest section I’ve ever ridden . A burnt area of forest with the pine trees so close together that my wide barred 29er would just scrape the bar ends through; but added to this the soft mulch of ash, soil and water combination. 120 to 180 degree turns whilst looking at the front wheel over the top of the bars, whilst sitting back over the seat so as not to weight the front wheel too much was very tricky and the slowest part of the track. I was still able to ride this section quicker than 26 inch wheeled bikes so was happy that what I had learnt at the Olympic course the week earlier had really upped my riding. This then led into the first gravel descent, loose surface in places where idiots lock the rear wheel and drag the surface with them, why do people do this? Just don’t brake the bike will take care of anything that happens, but as more and more stones collect it gets harder to ride at pace. Back out onto fire road and a boggy grass section before a really steep horrible little climb, just like the one out of shipwrights. A lot of power needed here and many places gained in the race, so all that practise on my training rides is worth it. Following this a lovely flowing ditch section with switchbacks up the ditch sides with roots, rocks and drops (not large but very steep) all over the place; again the confidence of riding Hadleigh Farm made this section flow so easy and again made lots of time up here, but no passing places.
This next section was my downfall on the final lap; a fast downhill fire road into a softish muddy twin track with bumps before a long drag uphill into the final technical section. A real strength sapper this one but again with my training I was quick here. The final section was tricky, the second of the gravel descends this one had a groove down the middle with ridges and roots and a nasty little turn half way down; with a 180 degree turn at the bottom and the same climb out as coming down, now with thighs burning more small drop offs and roots before the track disappeared sharp left over a loose off camber turn and into a tight wooded section of turns, small climbs and descends before heading straight for the side of the timing caravan and a small slide here would have left a nice Paul shaped dent in the caravan, but clear it I did; but only just. That was the lap, excellent it was; loads of interesting natural features to keep you focussed on your riding, if anyone fancy’s giving it a go I’ll be doing the Autumn series again next year. So back to the van to prepare for the race; dropped the tyre pressures slightly and a couple of gels, a banana and a bottle of my high 5 fluid for the race. I got chatting to the guy in the van next to me, a guy from Luton who rides chick sands all the time, but also races in the MSG series, so will catch up with him later next year. I rode the sighting lap with a jacket on, so slipped that off then realised just how chilly it still was only 4 degrees. After getting soaking wet and cold at Thetford I purchased a proper wicking base layer (Leicester tigers rugby away kit colours, everyone should be wearing tiger stripes this year it’s so cool). With bright sunshine I rode back to the start arena and found a nice sunny spot to stand like a meercat and warm up whilst observing the two minute silence for Armistice Day. Then the call came for the start so slipped into the pack on the second row and clipped into my pedal with my right foot and prepared to push off with my left foot on the ground.
Had I not been on the racing line side of the start line all would have been well, but as I was the surface of this uphill stony area was covered in sand and mud from the track, so that when the hooter sounded I pushed off on the ground and pushed all my power down on the right hand pedal, only for it to spin the rear wheel and loose my balance. With my left foot back on the ground I was hit from behind with caught me off balance again and by time I’d recovered my footing I was just about last off the line. Not the great start I was looking for and loads of work to be done; I flew around the course picking places off all the time; a slight twinge in my right calf after the first lap didn’t get any worse so for 2 and a half laps it was great and I was probably around 20th starting the last lap. Because it’s forestry land the tracks and paths are still open but one would think that walkers would pay a little more attention but no; an idiot with his dog on an extended lead wandering down the middle of the first fire road the dog running around both sides of the track. A quick shout to get his attention and an extended leg to move his dog and off onto the last lap I set, passing very slow lapped riders on the climbs and forcing my way past on the single track with a quick left or right shout did the trick. Half way through the lap my problem started, flying down a fire road I took a quick drink and failed to replace the bottle into the holder, so down the track it went. I had a split second decision to make stop; or collect it after the race by doing another lap. I slammed the brakes on and with an enormous stoppie I came to halt and ran back down the track to collect it only to be passed by 2 riders. Now I was mad so back on the bike chase was given; the first was easy to catch on the next climb and I made sure he knew I was faster by standing up and powering past him as he wobbled up the hill, it took slightly longer to catch the second one but by time we hit the downhill section before the long draggy climb I was nearly on his back wheel. So with an extra push as we hit the bumps in the softer mud section without any warning my back wheel leapt left then right then the unmistakable feeling of wet ground and knocked the wind from my lungs as I landed hard onto the track and watching the bike cartwheel further ahead. With the reconnaissance motorbike closely following me he stopped to see if I was okay, which I was just about, I went to jump back on the bike but was stopped as my back wheel had jumped out of it mounts and was jammed solidly against the rear arms. It took an age to release the skewer and pull the whole wheel out of the frame and refit it correctly, I don’t know how many places I had lost but it was a fair few, so I had to give chase yet again. With only a little of the lap left I managed to catch up with the back of a few riders but now my calf was aching & my left hand side bruised and a head ache from the crash slowed my pace a little. I managed to pass lapped riders and even passed the course motorbike on an uphill gravel track but could not make any places back even though I had caught two riders battling with each other, had the finish of the lap been more open; places would have been gained but not in this tight finish section. Over the line I crossed in 29th place out of 59 still put me in the top half so was happy at the end of the day. As this was my first technical problem since I started racing just over a year ago I’d say its okay, but was the wheel the cause of the crash of as a result of it? I know the cone comes loose after a while of riding but seemed okay when I checked the following day, so will have to see what happens on future rides. The big wheeled Trek won’t be raced until the MSG series next year so plenty of time to figured that question out over the winter training period.
Next race Thetford Winter Series December 2nd, catch you later my fellow mud monkeys.
Post by - Paul Coulson
After the fun and excitement of the previous day’s biking (more on that in an upcoming blog), it was back to reality when my alarm went off at six o’clock on this damp Sunday morning, still black as dawn hadn’t even considered breaking yet. My usual two cups of coffee and my yoga exercises and cut a huge lump of banana & cherry cake which my good wife had baked the previous day and into the van I jumped.
Driving up to Thetford I always take the scenic route up through Sudbury and Bury St Edmunds so an hour and a half to load up on the cake and the High 5 drinks I was trying for the first time in this race. Arriving at fire road 6 after having weather reports all week from Steve McWhinnie we already knew it had been wet all week, but this side of the forest does drain well. Walking to sign on I saw the very cold Rachel Mashford manning (womening) the Velo Virtuoso stand, whilst Sam was riding a practise lap, so upon his return he said course was fairly dry and rode well. Okay all round tyres to stay on then, so about 10 o’clock the rain started and didn’t stop for hours.
Sitting on the start line wearing a rain jacket knowing that I would overheat on the first lap, my plan was to stop at the Velo tent (which was backed onto the track) and dump the jacket at the end of lap one. The race set off at a half decent pace, but it wasn’t long before Chris Adams & Dave Wales slipped past, now knowing that these two old boys are quicker than me I thought I’d tag onto the back of them. The first lap went well and Sam came past me just before the end of the lap, so with both of us dumping excess clothing on to his sister a quick slurp of High 5 Fructose 2:1 and off I go again. Now my first mistake of the day, taking off the rain jacket; yes I was hot wearing it but the cotton undershirt I was wearing was wet within half a mile and taking on more water than should have been possible. Catching Chris we rode together for a while until my foot was shot out of the cleat after clipping a hidden stump, now my bike had developed a front end knock, every bump knocked, I tried a small wheel lift and saw the front wheel wobble. Oh, that’s not right so I stopped and lost Chris’ wheel but did notice that when I hit the stump I also undid my quick release skewer for the front wheel, how lucky am I that the wheel didn’t just fall out when I did the wheel lift.
Back under pedal and trying to push; every corner which should have been banked slightly was now a two wheel drift zone, lost the back end on one and with a trailing foot in full speedway style off I went into the undergrowth for a little diversion. At the hardest part of the course ‘the plumb buster climb’ 3 one hour riders walking right on the racing line, sorry but if you can’t ride for 1 lap don’t enter even better walk at the side and let them that can do it ; do it; without interruption. On to lap three, a quick chat with Chris again as we cycled around, I thought I’m doing well here staying with him on his single speed (much respect to all SS riders) but the cold was now setting in and I started to slow, lost Chris’ wheel and started to struggle, not sure if it was the lack of gels with this new nutrition scheme I was trying, by now I should have done my two litres of drink, but couldn’t drink anymore and had loads left in the camelback. I came across Sam riding one handed and he explained about his elbow injury and lack of brakes, but I think we all had braking issues riding through the Thetford grinding paste.
Lap four stated great, although legs aching, I set off through the 1 mile marker but at about the 2 mile board things had changed. I have heard about marathon runners hitting a wall, well it is a huge wall to hit I can tell you, I struggled to even turn the pedals. I had to walk for a while, jumped back on and within half a mile I was shot again. Mistake number 2, No gels left (I think when pulling them out my holder I lost a couple) and with my camelback now running empty so no more carbs to be had I knew it was going to be a long lap. Because my pace had slowed also my core temperature had also dropped which is a fairly dangerous place to be; so by walking/running and a little cycling I made 3 miles then 4 miles; 5 and 6 came and with the knowledge that I was only 1 mile from the finish with only the plumb buster and the final gravel fire road to do one foot after the other I set off, only to end up falling over and having to lie there on the wet grass nothing left in the tank. Thanks to the rider who with a little encouragement with “come on bud nearly there” I set off again. I also couldn’t believe how many times I had to take a nature stop. I think somehow over night the good old English had been reclassified and was now almost twice the distance of the previous day, they never mentioned it on the news on the drive up to Thetford, or do Norfolk and Suffolk have a different measuring system to Essex. Out of the top of the plumb buster and a short grass section track on to the gravel climb, I managed to ride these and actually knowing that I would soon be finished the energy came back and I flew up the climb to cross the line with 15 minutes of race left, but that for me was it, four laps done but my fourth lap of nearly 1hour 20 minutes was enough for me, twice the time of my first 2 laps. Cold, Hungry and emotional off I went back to the van to change into dry warm clothes and wash the bike down whilst still wet. Warmed up now but feet like ice a hot coffee in my hand and a tuna sandwich, life returned to normal and then hearing about everyone else’s race we set off to see the results, 28 out of 43 I think, is a half decent result, top half of the field is what I aim for, but it was probably the toughest race I’ve done, mentally.
So for round 2, what will I do, I will revert back to my usual feeding scheme, but I will make sure I stop and actually eat something solid, not just gels or liquids at around half distance/ lap three, then maybe I can actually do full race distance of four hours and not quit like I have in the previous 2 four hour races I have entered.
Now 5 days rest and rebuild with a gentle swim on Friday before heading back down to west London for the Gorrick Autumn series race 2, 3 lap sprint race this time and will give me a chance to improve my single track skills, catch you later fellow mud monkeys