Team Iron Horse Extreme

Hi All! Had a few technical glitches with my personal blog but the guys at Union Room sorted things out for me pronto. Thanks to Glen and his team for their good work.

Anyway… I’m back! In a bikey racey kind of way. I decided that I didn’t want to end my season at the Kielder 100. As well organised an event as it was, as much of a physical challenge that it was, as good as the scenery was etc. etc. it simply did not get my mtb juices flowing… So, I did a quick scour of the events listing on xcracer.com and it reminded me that the Grizedale Challenge was on Sunday 20th September. 30 miles + of Lakeland trickery. Perfect!

I had done this event a good few years back and I remembered that it was a cracking course; big climbs, super fast singletrack and some steep, rocky sections. Just my kind of riding….

It became apparent that the event had grown substantially since I first did it… There were around 600 entrants on Sunday. That’s a heck of a busy start line! The  opening fireroad was pretty narrow too so, like at the Whinlatter Challenge in Spring, the atmosphere was ’cosy’ as the huge crowd got themselves into position….

I stood around two rows back and scoped all the usual Lakes suspects. Keswick Mountain Bikes and Wheelbase had a strong presence and other strong riders looked ready for a good end of season friendly dog fight.

The hooter went off and the pace was high. I did enough to get clear of the rabble but wanted to use this race as a pacing exercise. I had gone off too quick at Kielder and slowed up towards the end as a result. So this time I let a large group of riders disappear in a cloud of dust up the long first climb.

The race was two laps which turned out to be 17 miles per lap. I learnt at the Whinlatter Challenge (a similar race) that the second lap is crunch time… Many people slow up considerably. So I just hit a good steady but forceful rythme and enjoyed the technical sections and stunning scenery… The weather was perfect; clear blue sky and a light breeze.  The views across Coniston Lake were as fantastic as ever.

And the riding was top class too…. these are the type of trails that keep me coming back  to Lakes time and time again…. Two stand outs particularly; steep, big sections of random rock outcrops, multiple lines, super fast freefalls… I love this stuff! I was having so much fun on the techy sections that the race seemed immaterial…

I came through my first lap in 10th or 11th. Not that I was concerned. I picked up the pace and picked off one or two places. The climb began towards the top of my favourite descent on the loop… the super sketchy plummet with big rolling drop offs, and I saw a group of three or four riders who I chased into the start of the drop. The red mist came down and I just jungled it straight through the pack (who seemed to approach the section like it had a singletrack line as oppose to a big free canvass to throw yourself over). I gained about 50 meters on them in the space of about 1 minutes descending…. I haven’t descended like that in a while and I was having a ball…

Next I caught one of the Keswick mtb boys who I know is a strong fell runner…. just as we hit a long singletrack push up. I knew the only way to gain any ground on him was to run as hard as I could. It really hurt…. but I didn’t look back. Just got my head down and stamped upwards. As soon as the ground levelled I jumped on my bike CX style (something I’ve been practicing recently) and felt like lots of attention to detail like this was helping me make up vital seconds here and there. When I finally looked back I had opened a good gap on my pursuer.

And then, with about 3 miles to go, a spectator shouted, ”Good effort third!” I had no idea where I was in the field so this came as a pleasant surprise. I crossed the line pretty pleased considering I had entered with no real expectations.

More importantly though, this was a great exercise in pacing and letting people go at the start is something I need to get comfortable with. My pacing was far more controlled than it has been at any other XC style race.

And I had fun! Brilliant course, good crowd, beautiful scenery. The perfect season closer. Just the kind of happy memory you need as you head into winter training.

 This weekend was the last of my big training rides before the cross season starts next weekend. I decided that riding Cheddar Sportive with my friends from work would be a great way to end the Summer season. All the boys from Strada entered and this being our local sportive many of our regulars entered also. Great to see so many Strada jerseys out on the ride.

A core of 6 of us had agreed from the start to set out together and stay together as best possible and this was how it stayed for the first 50 or so miles until 3 of the guys thought the other 3 had left a feed station (we were still there amongst the crowd) and set out to chase us down. I was in the second group of 3 and as we left the feed Matt got some serious cramp (he ran his first half marathon last week and I think this ride was a bit soon) so we dropped back futher still.

It became obvious pretty soon that Matt was done in by the cramp and that he’d be wise to stop at the 60 mile cut-off, which was also the start/finish, and Mike decided to join him. I then set out on the chase and the second loop of 40 miles to finish the daddy distance of 100 miles.

The second loop started with Cheddar Gorge which was also the first proper climb of the day. I caught a couple of friends near the bottom and passed them. Their friend came with me and had a good dig a couple of times on the way up. I knew I could follow but also knew that serious bursts of speed with 35 miles and a lot of climbing still to cover were a bit beyond my current fitness level so let him attack each time and then real him back each time. Worked out fine and we went over the top together and took turns to set pace across the tops.

The descent into Wells was new to me and the other guy ( I think his name is Dave) was a solid descender so again I made my own way before pulling back onto his wheel towards the bottom. As we exited I reaised we were at the bottom of the Wells climb which is just the sort of climbing I like so I set myself a good tempo and pulled myself clear, pressed on over the top and kept it going…

Feeding strategy was spot-on again and I felt really good for pretty much the whole ride. Been a while since I could comfortable move around a group and put serious effort in on the climbs… Not done that for a long time, things are deffo coming back to me, just need to get the weight back down and I’ll be back in business as a bike rider.

All in all a great day out. Got to ride with a lot of friends, ride the first half chilled and enjoying the company, used the second half to test my fitness, awesome…

Even though I just live down the road from Kielder, I rarely go there. Yes, it is choc full of wilderness, big hills and huge views but… the riding (in my opinion) does not match the grandeur of the scenery. The man made trails are constructed from draggy, sandy dolomite which breaks down into gritty bike destroying sand. Please don’t misunderstand me; I appreciate the amount of work that has gone into building the trails and think the dedication shown by the Kielder Trail Reavers is exceptional. However, I think the material that has been used spoils otherwise well shaped trails.

Beside the man made trails, the natural sections in Kielder are grassy and boggy. And then there is the fireroad and doubletrack…. (take a deep breath… stop typing for minute).

OK, I’m back. I ‘don’t like’ fireroad (he says calmly). I particularly ‘don’t like’ fireroad in mountain bike races (he says through clenched teeth). The best rides I have had around Kielder have been on a CX bike, up the road from Morpeth, through the Forest Drive and home again. Lovely. Particularly with an inch of snow on the ground. I know all this to be true. So why did I enter the Kielder 100?

Well, like many other people no doubt, the event captured my imagination. It attracted a huge field. And unusually for a high profile event, it was just down the road for me. So despite deep down knowing that the course would be a mostly fireroad slog, I rolled up to registration on Friday night.    

And then it all seemed like a good idea. Because my targets this year have been the Coast to Coast and the Worlds, I have not caught up with many of the entertaining ‘usual suspects’. It was great to have chat and the atmosphere at Kielder Castle was excellent.

I had decided to sleep in ‘The Volvo of Dreams’. (What a fantastic vehicle! I think they should sponsor me.) I was incredibly comfortable and, lying at a shallow reclined position, I could look out the window at the large full moon and the trees swaying and wooshing in the steady breeze. And I looked. And wondered. And tried to close my eyes. But the moon was so bright, it was like daylight. Balls! I have to be up at 5am for the 6:30 start. I started to worry about the prospect of 100 miles on no sleep. Which kept me awake. Balls again. And then I needed the toilet. And realised I had locked myself in the back due to the child lock. I was wide awake now and could feel a healthy morning heart beat in my chest. Aaargh!

Anyway, a bit like counting sheep, I counted the fireroad miles….. 1,2,3,4,5,….73.  That did the trick! Zzzzzzzzzz…..

Five minutes later I woke up. And didn’t feel too bad. I got my swag together and headed up the bank to the start line. I got there quite early to secure a place up near the front. Which was nice because it meant that the midges had a good twenty minutes to feast and torment.

The race was started by a pacing car which paced us for about 2/3 miles…. bit excessive. When it finally pulled away the pace went through the roof. I had expected this because there were some Marathon specialists there and Ian Leitch with his super fast start strategy. A group of five hung tantalisingly close in front of me. I tried to close the gap but I was beyond redlining it and, as I was clear of the main bunch, just settled into a steady high pace. (I heard later that soon after two guys broke that group - the four had not worked together long). 

I paired up with one or two different people whose company I thoroughly enjoyed and after the crazy start we settled in for the long haul. There has been a lot of rain here recently and, (between the fireroad sections) we ploughed through saturated deep cut double track. Absolutely soaked and thick with mud within minutes. Some pools swallowed my bike up to the hubs. This was going to be a long 100 miles…

There was the odd bit of decent man made trail though and it was here that I was making some time on some of the people that had settled around me. One guy, (with legs like tree trunks) by his own admission conceded that he could not handle a mountain bike as his background was road time trial. So a pattern emerged; I would gain 50m or more on any technical section. He would pull it back on the fire road. It was like a yo-yo effect.

We passed over Bloody Bush road to be greeted by a piper. Nice touch. Poor guy though; standing in the freezing drizzle and mist in a skirt. Visibility was down to about 50 metres… We then dropped down into Newcastleton and I must say I enjoyed it. There are some good fast swoopy sections and the ‘proper’ surface material was a stark contrast to the speed robbing trails of Kielder. After leaving Newcastleton, TT man caught me again. And we settled into a fireroad bash.

“So”, I asked, “What type of time trialling do you do?”. “24 hour road”, he replied. (I was interested). “What’s the furthest you’ve ridden?” “497 miles”, he said. Bugger. This guy isn’t going to fold…. He picked up the pace. I sat on his wheel. He picked up the pace again. I tried to sit on his wheel. He pulled away like he was on a motorbike. I sat up and pressed play on my MP3….

And then the truly hideous section began… it must have been about twenty miles of straight, flat (or gradually climbing) fireroad or completely non-technical doubletrack. TT boy would be at home with a cuppa by now….

The last twenty miles were a complete slog and mentally I had completely had enough. I was so bored. There was no technical interest. I was literally in no man’s land.

One amusing incident though. There was a short steepish fun descent with a grassy berm. I went to brake. And nothing happened. Evil Knievel style, I nose dived of the berm, missing all the trees etc… My pads were down to the backing plate… Oh well. Nearly there so I didn’t bother changing them. One more sketchy decent and the slog was over.  

I came in 6th. To be honest, I’m not disappointed. The competition was very stiff. I was ten minutes behind Ian. He said he had expected to stick more time on me, as he felt he was faster this year. He concluded that I had got faster. A compliment from an excellent rider (particularly when he usually just takes the piss!). I also faded quite badly at about 5/6 hours. Whether this was not being recovered from the Worlds or the boredom playing tricks, I don’t know.

So what have I learned? (1) Don’t try to chase Marathon specialists of the start line; it’s a flogging to nothing. (2) Enter races that favour mountain bikers. The interplay between fitness and skills was so stark in the battle between myself and TT man.

However, I’m happy that entered I the Kielder 100 because it was a generally well organised and social event. But it’s horses for courses and this was not the course for me.

Team Mate Josh (far Right) during the start

The week away in Morzine was good for the soul and also my legs and skills, it seems. Chris hadn’t been too bothered about my performing at my best (peaking) for Torq 12:12. This is a 12hr race in The Gorrick area. It was actually held and based in the same field and surrounding areas where I did my Royal Engineers Basic Training in Gibraltar Barracks, 22years ago. I felt a bit old, but somehow revitalised. Memories of creating an ambush in a gully, and getting a kicking when we got it wrong. Happy days.

Right; the race!

It had been a busy week for me with work and home life, and my telling everyone to buy this month’s MBR because they printed a lovely piece written about me by a Lady called Alexander. They also used WC2C Pap, Matt Cope’s, photo’s. Major result! Great thanks to all involved. Why are these experiences always humbling?

So, back to the race, again, and I only got there on Sunday Morning, in time to set up my bikes and for Rob (Da Manager) to finalise the pit in his bid to keep me going strong. The course was great fun, and there were some real comedy offs, and some painful ones, in the dusty conditions. It actually rode like mud since it was so deep and the track was probably about 80% singletrack.

It was going well with Josh and I keeping a steady pace, passing team riders and fellow soloists. One guy kept shooting off when I rode up behind him. Then he’d slow down and I’d catch him up again, so he’d shoot off. I pushed a wee bit and just sat behind him, as he seemed to ride a little raggedly when he got excited.

Poor guy went over the bars at one point, and I felt a bit guilty. I stopped to check he was ok but he wasn’t much for conversation, so after a couple of cursory words in which he proved he was ok, I left and carried on. He must have hurt himself because I lapped him as he lurked at the end with his mate, 2hrs later.

At about the 4hr mark I had a bit of a problem which meant that for the next 30-40mins were done in “stood-up” mode and my pulse was way too high. It took probably around 3hrs to get over that because my legs were killing me for that period, but the lap times stayed consistant. All in all my technical problems cost me around another 15 minutes over the race period. I know what the problem was, but can’t own up to it quite yet.

No matter what happened though, my times were consistant.

Nutrition? Perfect!

Mental status and preparation? Bang on!

I’ve never ridden so fast for so long. I think I found another gear!

My coach is the business!

My support and Nutritionist support (Zoe) was awesome too.

5th place, which could easily have been improved upon.

Happy days!

2 races to go and then it’s back to preparation for a BIG ride, next year, as mentioned in MBR.