Morvélo Test Team

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I'm going to be a film star!

Looking forward to this sunday. Exciting times, after a couple of very cold weeks. Some light in the tunnel. We are going to make a short video. Along with Simon Gamble and his film company, Shift Studio. Simon the man behind the Sky coverage of last year’s British Final at Norwich. I’m really impressed with his video work. He can single handedly lift the sport from the darkness that surrounds it. Not sure yet on what the video is going to look like, but knowing his approach we’ll try to show the sport from a little bit different angle, maybe link it to its street roots, and tough beginnings. So bike has had a facelift, all new parts re-fitted :) and we are ready to roll.
Training is going full power now. The Leicester Powerhouse is going for it. We will have a lot on our shoulders this year. We simply cannot afford any weaknesses. We have enjoyed our first session with Rod at Abbey Sports and Leisure, and a proper circuit training went down quite well. We even had support of our own WAGs squad. Track is coping with the snow quite well, although we look at each other thinking… what the hell are we doing here in this snow? I have had a pleasure of testing track’s surface, and how firm it is, on two occasions already, luckily it was more of a friendly slide rather than a full on crash.
Sponsors less generous as other years, and I thought once I earn those stripes, I will be rolling in it. I have had a positive response from True Precision Components USA. I have a set of BMX hubs on their way. They will be something new to what I’m used to. They are cassette hubs (don’t require freewheel) with their claim of instant engagement and similarity to Chris King designs it’s going to benefit our sport big time. I hope to post the finish product once I have them.
My first outing will be at Hull on March the 4th in a challenge match. Week after I will be doing my bread and butter, individuals at Wednesfield on the 10th with hopes for third straight win, and an interesting Memorial meeting at Ipswich, track that i should master if I hope to do well in European Championships in August. I have to get time off work first…

Filed under  //   Lukasz Nowacki  
Posted by email 

Race Smart

Picture_84

True to form I turn up late and I'm already having to sprint just to catch up with the bunch.

It's my first road race of the year at the Hillingdon Circuit and there is something about that place that makes me late. I roll up to the start line and some helpful 4th Cats point to the 3rd Cats racing off into the distance. Binning the jacket I sprint into an bitterly cold headwind whilst grappling with putting on my gloves. Almost a lap later I'm finally back on. The legs already feel dead and the tickle at the back of my throat lets me know that cold hasn't fully gone. Fitness not quite as it should be. That's always the excuse. The overheard carpark chat was of a dry, mild winter - so everyone is on form. And it's the penultimate race of the winter series so there will be some strong riders in there. Time to race smart. As I see it I only have a handful of matches to burn. This is my visualization for intense efforts. Blazing bright before it's gone for good. I best use them wisely.

So there I sit. At the back. Lap after lap. I almost feel guilty not contributing to the pace. I keep a close eye on things. See whose doing lots of work at the front, who looks fast, who looks sketchy. Assessing the field. Not that I had grand plans. I had a few good results last year when I least expected it so now I'm ever an opportunist. You'll notice the only photo I appear in is at the finish. Hiding. The strong cold headwind put paid to any thoughts of breaks. A few tried but were pulled back quickly. In a rare move to the front of the field I saw a move go that thought would stick so used up some vital energy to bridge across. Glancing back I saw the whole bunch on my wheel. Time to sit at the back again. Lets make that just one match left to burn.

I kept a close eye on the time, seeing that the 50 minutes was almost up and the countdown of 5 laps would begin. I took this time to figure out what line I would take when it would inevitably end in a bunch sprint. Need to get this right as they don't nickname these races 'Spillingdon' for nothing. I either need to be at the front or out the back.

As the laps tick down I place myself on the outside. Don't want to be boxed in and it gives me an escape in case of a crash. Last lap. Speed ramped up. One guy goes for a flyer. Two corners and 500m left as before I know it I spot a gap and I'm full gas, sprinting as hard as I can round the outside. Last match is blazing as I'm in full on track sprint. 'You damn fool Pepper!' I said to myself. I've got a good gap but 500 metres is a long sprint. Too long by far. I sail past the guy who made his bid for victory earlier and try and stay strong and smooth. Pedal circles not squares.

I can see the line. Head down and waiting for the bunch to spring past. Surely they must be here. But nothing. Silence. Damn! I could win this! Until that is until I heard the tell tale rumble of carbon wheels approaching as fast as I'm fading. The brain calls out to the legs to MTFU but it's no good. They put up a good fight but I'm beaten on the line. Still, I stoked with 2nd! In fact I can't believe it.

On reflection I'm so happy with this race. Sure, a win would have been nice, but throughout the whole race I felt like the spring wasn't there. It felt a struggle, even sheltering in the peloton. Luckily the years of racing are paying off. Learning more about the craft of road racing is serving me better these day than my fitness. Sitting back and watching the Tour of Qatar I'm glad the season of racing is back. I never realised I missed it so much.

Photo © Antony Edmonds

Filed under  //   The DS  
Posted by Morvélo 

Welcome back

Imag1103

Now , that was one sweet ride to work. Running late and lots to do I was going to just head straight to work. The shortest way. Then as I picked out the commuter from the shed, the cross bike, still covered in mud from a month ago, called out from behind the road and mountain bike - "Oi, over 'ere"

Next thing I know I've dusted off the cross bike, lubed the chain, and I'm heading completely the opposite direction to work. Fingers and toes numb within minutes and an icy headwind, I soon warmed up as I hit the first climb. I've never felt so glad to make a split second judgement call and go with my gut feeling. The ride was awesome! Bone dry, super fast, tailwind for most of the way. The winter has trimmed back all the bushes from the sides of the narrow singletrack and I didn't leave the attach position of the drops at all. Banzai!

Now I'm late in and have loads to catch up with. But boy was that a sweet ride in and a warm welcome back to going the long way.

Filed under  //   The DS  
Posted by Morvélo 

Innerleithen Enduro: Just gotta wing it...

...believe me, after sprinting (well, trying to) through a ridiculously sloggy boggy mudfest, getting overly friendly with a tree and JUST managing to hold on to the handle bars to make it to the bottom of this CRAZY descent being able to wing it comes in very handy! 

The Innerleithen 'XC' enduro. What. A. Weekend!! Though, I must say, I think they need to change the name to 'Xtreme' Enduro rather than XC... It was MENTAL! This 'XC' enduro consisted of 3 stages of timed sections of descents, each of which were separated by climbs back to the top to start the following stage (these were not timed thus being the beauty of enduro racing - chilled climbing).

After Saturday practice I was buzzing! Newly aquanted with an XS Pivot Mach 5.7 the vedict was: AMAZING!! If you've not seen it already check out the wee video I put together of it's first ride:

I've ridden similar crazy descents on my hardtail and had fun but, your on the limit the whole way down and it feels like at any given moment you may die! The extra travel and perfect tiny size of the Pivot eliminated this feeling and I was left hurtling down the hill knowing that the only reason I wasn't going faster was because of me and not the limitations of the bike. I was no longer on the verge of death... this, was going to make for a VERY exciting weekend!!

Sunday came and we headed up the hill. After a great nights sleep I was feeling ready to hit the descents full pelt. My dibber dibbed and I was off on stage one. This trail was natural, steep in places and slippy. It was, by far, my favourite of them all! On my hardtail I would have been on the edge of survival, loving it but on edge! Instead I was experiencing the solid ride of the pivot as we flew down the hill! By the bottom I was hungry for stage two, this was SO much fun!!

Stage two required mental preparation. Mainly for the bog. That energy sapping, strength killing, bike sinking bog. Oh my, it was hard!! I made a couple of mistakes before I hit the middle section and by then I was pooped! This high intensity, seat down sprinting business was really hard work! Then Iain Paton, who was on an XC hardtrail nipped past me making things look so easy! Where was my hardtail?? Once on to the steep section I was NOT longing for my hardtail and was LOVING the pivot as it took me flying down the hill over taking Iain again then into a tree... brilliant! Scrambling back up to grab my bike I found a suitable place to mount my bike without rolling down the hill again. However my back break was pointing to the ground which meant no slowing down for the rest of the stage. Jeez oh, winging it to the max! I was buzzing by the end of that stage to: 1. still be alive and 2. be having such a ridiculous amount of fun!!

Before stage three we foze our butts off waiting for poor Stuart who's chain had got completely stuck in his chain gard... We then had to face the HUGE climb back up to the top. The Pivot excelled in stage 3: it took ever dip, bump, jump and corner in it's stride and I was absolutely loving it!! Even though by this point my arms, legs, and whole body were pretty tired I managed to hold on!Seeing stars at the top of the sneaky climb in the middle of this stage I carfully descended until my brain and body reengaged and pushed on until my dibber was dibbed for the finally time. 

By the bottom I was dead but so happy! Usually after a race I am happy if I win and not so happy if I don't. But, at this point I had no idea how I'd done and, to be fair, wasn't too fussed! I had had such an insane amount of fun that over ruled everything :D 
It was an amazing weekend of riding!!! Chilling on the climbs then smashing it as fast as you could down the hills! That's just a dream format of racing, I loved it!

Here is the bit of paper I got given at the bottom with my times:

That time saw me win the women's race! That was the icing on the cake to a fantastic weekend! Big shout to everyone who raced here is a link to a great wee round up on Descent World click here.
A nice wee picture of me on the Pivot! 

Katy

Also massive thanks to Innerleithen mtb racing, alpine bikes and all the marshals for a great event!!

Now, back to training! Keep riding people,

Win tin tin

Filed under  //   Katy Winton  
Posted by Morvélo 

Joe Connell - Innerleithen Enduro Race.

So on Saturday I was chilling out while a whole load of keen riders were practicing the 3 courses for the first round of the Alpine Winter series Rd.1- XC Multi Stage Enduro. I hadn't planned on racing the event but on Saturday my mate Gavin Black who was racing, came by my house in Innerleithen after the practice day of the event and told me how rad the tracks were. So on Saturday night, after hearing how good the tracks were, I decided to race it!

on Sunday morning I rocked up and entered on the race, I was pretty excited to ride some blown out ruts blind on an xc bike! The event was a three special stage format, unfortunatly for me there was more climbing than expected in the stages but I bit the bullet and slammed the seat down for all of them, it just meant I had to stand up and sprint the fire road/ flat uphill sections. luckily enough for me there was some pretty tech downhill sections that were pretty rough and rutted,which suited me down to the ground. It was a lot of fun to ride some natural sections that were so blown out and loose! 

Joe

I ended up taking the Junior win with a time of 24min31sec.(all 3 descent times added together). The event was good and it was cool to work on riding longer descents that were pretty tech as well.

Shout out for Innerleithen Mtb Racing and all of the Marshals for making the event happen!

Until next time!

JC

Filed under  //   Joe Connell  
Posted by email 

Difficult times

Very sad news for all Leicester people involved in the sport. Passing of Wil Burns was a shock to all of us, and we will have to do it the hard way now. Club is fighting it hard to stay at the top level, but it is such a task for all of us to keep it going after the greatest menager is gone. As suspected the Elite/Premier League affair is proving to be one big mistake, with rules allow riders from the second tier riding in Elite as well.

It gives clubs like ours great disadvantage. We haven’t got the resources of Horspath or Sheffield to draft riders in and lure them over to fill in for big matches. It will swing the title towards teams with favourable fixtures lists as there is 4 matches that those riders can ride in. Our rooster is very limited, but we’re not giving up. Luckily enough we have great, great leaders in Jason and Kev.

They are able to lift anybody, which I can only be the best proof of it. Jason and Mark Newey made a big effort to help me out when I was riding some shockers last season. This is what makes Leicester a club You want to ride for, with team spirit always very high, and the memory of Wil around the place, we hope to have a great year.

Luckily winter is a little bit more generous as last year, we’re able to train on the car park twice a week. Last sunday I was ambitious enough to brave the freshly re-laid track but I’d give it another month…. it was a tough session. Thanks to Abbey Sports and Leisure and Mr Andy Tee, we are starting circuit training sessions today. My trainer Rod will keep an eye on us and I really looking forward to it. I have been doing the same things as last year with him, kettle bells sessions combined with weight.

First match of the season being as early as March the 4th and a challenging trip to Hull, with Bartek Giemza making his UK debut. Mark my words, he’s a name to look out in the future. First tough test is a week later and trip to Wednesfield for an annual gruelling Dash Trophies GP, where I will hope for a third consecutive win.

Filed under  //   Lukasz Nowacki  
Posted by email 

First Race, Here I Come. -

I have just been picked up by Morvelo for this year, pretty excited to be working with such a rad clothing brand! So here I am, my first blog post for Morvelo.

At the end of last season I took a break from training and ever since I have had more motivation, a better attitude and a better outlook on training and riding. Recently I have been putting in the time with my training, all of this great preperation is helping to put me in a good position to win a lot of races this year. As well as Morvelo, I have also signed with Prestige Cycles who will be helping me out with a Zerode G-1 race bike. So for this year I have a fresh bike to race on, a fresh new approach to training and I will be kitted out in the freshest casual wear out there! Check back soon for a full list of sponsors for 2012 and more news on what i'm upto.

Heres to 2012!

JC

Filed under  //   Joe Connell  
Posted by email 

Welcome to the Test Team - Josh Cunningham

It’s with great pleasure that I’m able to say I’ve become a member of the ‘Morvelo Test Team’. As a long time admirer of the Morvelo clothing; and now that I’ve been educated, an even bigger admirer of the philosophy in the threads, it's great to be on board. 

Right now I’m in the midst of final preparations for the 2012 season, which will be spent riding for ‘Viasport-Publiled Cycling Team’, and getting quite excitable in the process. It is always the same feelings of eagerness, positivity, and healthy nervousness at this time of year, with the prospects of new teams, new bikes, new kit, a new calendar, and a new (and hopefully better) season of racing ahead. I’ve always said; my current career path will continue until I either stop progressing and/or stop enjoying it. This will be my third season abroad, and although it’s not a concrete, 45-degree line of development, both are still moving in the right direction, so the dream continues. As a last year under 23, or ‘Belofte’, as they say in Flemish, and with quite a high profile racing calendar, the next year or so will be particularly crucial.

So, barring café’ stop sprints, the last competitive action I had was my final race day of 2011, on 12th September, so after that, and a month off the bike, I started training again mid October, and I’ve gradually been building up since then. This is the first winter for a few years that I have been coached, and as a result I have done quite a lot less miles than what I’d usually prescribe myself. This has meant that it’s taken longer to start to feel ‘fit’, but now that’s happening, I’m hoping it means I’ll come into shape at just the right time, and also remain fresher, for longer into the year.

Later this week is when the ball starts to gather some real momentum, as I’m travelling to Belgium to sort out a few things, like bike set up, Belgian racing licence, and most importantly to shot gun my room in the house. From there I’ll fly with the team to our training camp in Tuscany at the start of February, before returning for the team presentation in Geraardsbergen on the 11th. I’ll come home for a week or two after that, to make the most of the South Coast of England while I can. The 20th has then been pencilled in as d-day; back to the concrete roads, overcast skies, and mundane towns of Belgium, the cycling mad, beer drinking, enthusiastic locals, and the combined Aussie, Kiwi, and ‘Pommie’ charm of our house. Allez het seizoen, met Morvelo. 

Josh

- See Josh's rider profile on Morvélo right here.

- And see the fellow riders of the Test Team here.

Filed under  //   Josh Cunningham  
Posted by Morvélo 

Sunny spain and crosswinds

I’ve sat down to write this blog 3 times now over the past week but failed on each occasion. Finally, sat down with a nice cup of tea and I’m ready to start rambling.

I posted a bunch of pictures from the first rest day on our team training camp last week, so I’ll kick things off by talking about what I got up to in Lanzarote with Rapha Condor Sharp.

There were a decent number of us involved the camp with 8 riders, John, Ken- one of our teams coaches, Andy- our soigneur, Pete- our mechanic and Camille- our team photographer from SHARP. Straight from the off everyone got on really well and conversation flowed easily from when we got up in the morning to when went to sleep at night. I think this transferred directly into how we rode as a team, even from our first ride together. It was made clear by John from the very start of the week that this camp was to be used to practice and hone our skills riding together properly as a team. There was no intent from anyone to try and prove themselves physically stronger or fitter than anyone else on the rides. If one of us was having a bad day, then the group would alter its pace to ensure that everyone was looked after. This mutual respect made performing and perfecting the technical aspect of our riding a lot easier. We did a series of sub-maximal efforts throughout the week including some through and off blocks and a few lead out sprints. Pretty much everything went to plan, which was surprising seeing as some of the things we were doing can be quite tricky whilst riding in the very strong winds Lanzarote is famous for. Saying that, I let the team down on one of the days… whilst sat on the back of the group I got blown off the road and then couldn’t hop back up again! Whilst it was happening I thought that it was crazy winds and I had a picture in my head of me leaning at 45 degrees, heroically managing to avoid crashing. However, to my disappointment Camille had everything on video. So after being shown it I was disappointed to see nothing crazy happens, it’s just clear that I’m just not very good at riding a bike. We had one other unfortunate moment at the beginning of the camp where Deano’s tyre blew out and sent him flying off the back of his bike! It was a fast stretch of road where we were riding at 50km/h but I think the unlucky Deano got off quite lucky in the circumstances, after only just recovering from an operation on his collar bone and somehow managing to avoid falling on his side and without landing in the endless amount of volcanic rock by the roadside- that stuff is lethal looking! Andy did a great job patching him up each day, but it still looked so painful. Climbing onto his bike each day with wounds the sides of dinner plates on both sides of his ass, made you think twice about complaining how your legs were a little bit tired!

Overall, it was a great camp. Had a good laugh with everyone, felt good on the bike, enjoyed the sun and clocked up some good km’s in the process. I’ve been home now for 5 days and haven’t really been up too much. Took a few days off the bike and then started riding again a couple of days ago.

As well as riding together well, we also looked the part (never sacrifice style for speed was mentioned a few times). We all had our matching custom Condor Leggero road bikes, our Rapha team kit and our brand new Giro gear- Aeon helmets and Prolight SLX road shoes - which are particularly nice, with Easton EC90 carbon soles and 3 Velcro straps, as I was really not a fan of the ratchets that continuously broke on the shoes I had last season!

I’m at home now for a couple of weeks before heading off to Benidorm for our second training camp in early February. I am expecting this camp to be entirely different to the one he had in Lanzarote. Although I’m sure we’ll still be working on the technical stuff, the main objective of the camp is get physically ready for the racing season, which starts a few days after arriving back. I think this one is going to be a bit of a shock to the system and I reckon us younger guys will be doing a bit\a lot of suffering! Looking forward to it though.

My racing programme kicks off with a TT and some road racing up in Manchester. I’m staying up with one of my team mates for the week, so it will us the opportunity to race together as a team for the first time. I then jet off to the Tour of Taiwan in mid-March. The race has upgraded to a UCI 2.1 – which is the highest category race I’ll have ever ridden. The race website mentions teams such as SaxoBank and Europcar could be riding.

I’ll stop myself from rattling on now. Going to go indulge and have a Yakult.

Thanks for reading,

Felix

Filed under  //   Felix English  
Posted by email 

The saviour of a #noturbo ride.

Oli-b

The one single item that seems to make venturing outdoors in the sheet rain bearable, or even enjoyable isn't a waterproof jacket, gloves, shorts or socks but it's the humble cycling cap. With no technical advancement needed for years this most simple of cycling garments does a multitude of jobs perfectly. Keeping the head warm, the rain out of your eyes and the mind optimistic.

Having suggested that people should shun the turbo trainer and venture out this winter, I had to keep to my word despite the sheet rain on the window. Sure, it wasn't a long ride but when you're soaked through after the first 2 miles you'll know it'll be just as much a mental test as physical. Which is where the cap comes in. Keeping the rain out of your eyes or off your glasses makes the ride seem strangely not all that wet. With the absence of rain drops sliding across the lenses of your cycling glasses, it's another good day in the saddle. In fact, before long, you can start to revel in the conditions, splashing through puddles, sliding around corners, thriving in the elements. 

Come summer and those dusty trails or dry tarmac you'll look back on days like these and think - I've earned it.

Filed under  //   The DS  
Posted by Morvélo