Car loaded with crosslights ready for departure to Southampton
Download this gallery (ZIP, null KB)
We stayed in a Youth Hostel on Saturday night but the bike shed wasn't quite big enough to store all 6 of our bikes!
Download this gallery (ZIP, null KB)
Download full size (2861 KB)
Yesterdays race was a tough battle to the very end with Lucy Garner and Adela Carter. The 3 of ustook the head of the race from the start and were stuck together until the last quarter of the last lap. I knew I couldn't leave it down to a sprint finish because the other 2 were stronger than me but my attempt at an attack failed. Lucy attacked hard up the final climb and my legs felt like they were no longer attached. Lucy took the win and adela claimed 2nd with me finishing 3rd. It was a really good race and a well deserved win by Lucy.
Oh cyclocross… your dirtier than mountain biking! And more crazy! This race was mud mud mud check this picture out: in the words of Morven Brown I'm "Hurdling like a gazelle" here.
The day of the race I wasn't sure what to expect.. after just recovering from my 18th, traveling up and down the country and racing on a bike that I hadn't ridden before with the breaks the wrong way round – it was going to be a real test! The course started in a moist field that was rapidly turning into a big bog as more and more tyres sunk into it. There was a longish climb and decent and nice bit that threw you over the bars (yeah… I found that out the hard way…) so that was now a quick run!
The women were started with the junior boys, luckily it was a wide start as I wasn't gridded due to not having raced any of these before. Once we were off I nipped round as many people as I could. Out the field and I moved up to second in the womens. I then moved to first and lead second round for a few laps. It took me back to a conversation Oli and I were having earlier in the week about racing – every thought was for here, it was for now, in this race: how was I going to beat her? Is she going to attack here? Where am I stronger? Can I take advantage of that? etc. nothing else mattered, I had never realised the escape in racing before!
As the race went on I was getting tired and when the move was made by Genevieve I had no response. I started heading down the hill over taking a lady before a left turn… next thing I knew I was rolling around the floor!! I jumped up and everything was squint!! I stopped quickly to sort what I could and slipped into third! It was then another lap, the hurdles were now walls for my little legs as the ground around them sunk ever deeper. Another women was now upon me and we were in the very last part of the lap… I fought with her but, unaware this was the last lap, didn't fight as hard as I should… and there I was crossing the line in a close 4th.
Not going to lie I was pretty disappointed! I like to do well and those were just silly mistakes that cost me a podium! But there is a lot to take from it, new things to try and plenty of learning! Its a great incentive for training too! Another Scottish race in two weeks, then the Scottish Champs the following week, and a weekend of racing on the Isle of Mull! Plenty to look forward to :)
Well done to everyone who raced! It was great to have such a big field of women racing! And thanks to JB for letting me borrow his gloves, Iain Grant for getting me there and being a great support as ever and Lucy Grant for just being Lucy Grant :)
Hi,Ya I Know its been a while since my last blog and I don't have an excuse for it but hey.Well now that the season has ended for another year and although I did not do as well as I would of like to it was fun. The last thing I did was go out to District Ride in Nuremberg Germany for the final round of the FMB World tour. It was an amazing contest and a sick course, I am not going to go on about it because you have all probably seen the videos and Pics.Basically what I am doing now is training and getting ready for next year. Just went out and bought myself a new Macbook Pro which is so sick. Been out yesterday to our amazing winter spot filming and getting into editing videos and what not, was a sweet day was there most of the day on my own and around 2pm Sam Ren and Seb turned up which was cool had a good power hour with them. But I am basically spending my Sunday finally put together a short edit on my new Macbook. Just some riding at Lym (Famous) Was good fun filming and editing, really look forward to bringing you another edit.
I recently signed with the Rapha Condor Sharp Continental Pro Team and this weekend sees me driving up to Sheffield for a weekend of testing and meetings. An exciting start to an exciting year!
I will get a blog written up, after the weekend to fill you in with all the details!
Yesterdays race was one of the best i’ve ever ridden. Rain the night before had made it a proper cyclo cross course with lots of slippy bends. I had a good start and was joined in the early stages of the race by Beth Crumpton. We worked well together for the 1st 2 laps and had a gap on 3rd position but I found myself breaking away from her so rode the rest of the race by myself. With 2 laps to go, Carter was closing in on me and brought a 20 second gap down to 5 seconds. I knew I couldn’t afford to make any mistakes and every second that I could gain on the technical sections was vital. I knew Carter was stronger than I was but somehow I buried myself and held on to my lead to claim the win by just 5 seconds!
Yesterdays race, Solihull round of the West Midalnds Cyclocross League (WMCCL) was another successful one :) I woke up to the beautiful sound of rain which I was hoping meant it was going to be a really wet and muddy day on a slippy course. I was very wrong! The rain stopped, the sun came out and it was another boiling hot, bone dry race. It was a good course with a few decents and some steep climbs. I had some fun catching some of the over 40 men that had started a minute infront of the women and trying to stay away from the over 50 men that had started a minute behind. Despite the lack of mud it was a good race and another win for me. Hopefully the true 'cross weather conditions will show soon!
Since my last post I've had a follow up appointment to check my wrist. I saw a different doctor and he decided to x ray my wrist again. Scaphoid breaks are typically a bit of a worry, with the big issue being a poor blood supply to the bone which can hold back healing. Worst case senario is that the bone dies and I was recently told this is the main reason for doctors to be sued for malpractice in the UK. So this doc was covering his back and fair enough. I got the photos done and next up I was told there was a clear break in my wrist still. I've got a full cast back on and have an appointment with the hand specialist next week. Hopefully in a month I can get back on the bike and start to sew the seeds for 2012's racing. It's gonna be a big year and I'll have more info on that another time.
Before talking about 2012 I feel it's a good chance to reflect on 2011. Around this time last year I wasn't sure what I was going to do. I was considering not racing as it was putting quite a strain on me in terms of cost and travel. I was in a lucky position as I am a member of the World famous KMP - this means my program was my own and there is no pressure to perform. Just ride, race, roam and enjoy.
I decided that this was a great chance to do some events I'd never done before and set some new challenges and to use this lack of racing as an opportunity. I've had an awesome time this year including winning No Fuss Events 10 under the Ben pairs, riding the West Highland way in just over 12 hours, climbing and decenting Ben Nevis at midnight, free-riding in Les Gets, Highland road tripping, Red Bull Minidrome, grass track racing and even the odd XC including a race win and a bronze medal in the Scottish Championships.
I'd like to take this chance to thank all the awesome sponsors and supporters of the Kinesis Morvelo Project, especially Dom, Paddy and Tommy V at Upgrade Bikes and Oli and the guys at Morvelo. We've had amazing support from Kinesis Bikes, Morvelo clothing, Marzocchi, Reynolds Wheels, Clif Bar, Green Oil, Leyzne, Oval Concepts, WTB, TRP, Exposure lights, Minx and Dark Star brewery (although I've still not got any beers up from these guys cos I think Oli keeps drinking them...) The KMP has been awesome this year and all the riders have achieved a lot! It's been great 'team' to be in!
Time to check out the highlights from 2011 bellow. It's been amazing.
West Highland Way in a Day - a huge day out! Glasgow to Fort William on some of the most knarley terrain you can imagine.
Escaping the City - Stefan Morrocco and I set about creating an intersting XC film in Glasgow. Check it out!
Les Gets - awesome time away with the guys. Met some great new people and rode some fantastic trails and even snuck in some cols on the road bike.
Highland Road Trip - road tripping with my better half Rach - up west with the road bikes, grass track racing and and XC race win
Red Bull Mindrome - the coolest night racing I've done in a long time - it brought XC, road, slopestyle, bmx, skaters, trackies and fixie rides together for a night of taurine and caffiene fueled carnage!
BMX - it was my winter project. I guess I'll have to take it up again in a month...
Other pics! - a random assortment of pics from rides, races and roaming!
Keep the top of your chain tight and press on the pedals. Oh yeah, it's winter too so maybe treat yourself to a beer.
This race was the absolute filth! 3 weeks previous I agreed to taking part inthe Relentless 24hr race - it seemed like a good idea... but after my first two laps and coming in like this:
It didn't feel like a good idea anymore, AT ALL!!! Two laps down six to go... yay.
I was in a mixed team of four called: 'I-cycles young dream team and an old spanner' which consisted of: Keith Forsyth (3trd in 24 hour world championships - and all round legend), Ben Forsyth (a fast young one, Keith's son with plenty of experience of these long races), Scott Lindsay (A fast junior boy hungry for the challenge of racing for 24hours - nutter) and me. But, most importantly, we had the help of David Lindsay (Scott's dad) who was our team support... and this was our set up:
So, after none of the boys being man enough to start us off it was up to me. It was a short run to start then straight into two laps - we'd decided to do double laps due to the wet weather. To say running isn't my strong point is an understatement. Not to worry, there was a lovely long fire road climb where I took plenty of places. By the end of lap one I was not happy... the last part was a MASSIVE fire road descent. Later, when I had no lights, brakes or brain due to exhaustion I would have a more positive look on this lack of single track! After me it was over to Scott:
He put in a really fast two laps (I had only just finished getting changed and warm when he came round on his first 38min lap) and it was on to Ben (the dirty one):
It was another excellent two laps by Ben and we were well up there! The baton was then handed to Keith:
For the past couple of hours I had eaten constantly... big mistake. It was about 18.00 when I headed out for my 3rd and 4th lap. First lap I felt great second lap I was sick, then again and again and again. It was dark when I came in throwing up in the transition area. I felt rough. Peeling my kit off and it was starting to get hard now... Why was I doing this?? It was just crazy! David forced me to eat - thankfully because I then felt better! 00.15 and I was out again. By this time our bodies were confused and tired and clearly Scott had gone a bit mental:
I was pleased to finish those two eventful laps (lights dying, no breaks or brain) with 6 laps in the bag for the team I was sleeping soundly by 02.30. Scott headed out for two laps then it was Keith - the hero - who was then going to head out for a solid 5 lap stint before Ben - who was already sleeping - would head out first thing in the morning. This was brilliant because it meant we all got a bit of a sleep! and I was asleep... ...to wake up to the pitter patter of rain on my tent. Brilliant. I was running out of kit, my shoes were wetter and colder and I was pretty tired!! Ben came in from his final two great laps at 08.05 and it was my turn, "last two, then you don't have to go out ever again!!!" I persuaded myself up the long climb listening to my bike grind with the grit underneath me... coming down the descents with only a front break to say I was relieved when I came into the transition area for the final time is an understatement!! Here is us at the end of the race when Scott had finished our final laps:
What a race! I finished on 8 laps for the team with us all together completing 29 laps! We won the mixed quads by about 3 laps and were 4th over all in the quads!! Here we are on the podium:
Well, now I've done it I never want to do it again! I say that, though I'll probably be back again next year... MASSIVE thanks to David for his brilliant help - making us food, cleaning our bikes, keeping us in check and taking all the great photo's above! Thank you to Keith, Ben and Scott for getting us to the top step and for great banter all weekend! Win tin ton
For a long time I've been hesitant about entering a sportive. Not due to the routes or distance necessarily, although I rarely ride over 2 hours these days. Instead my bike riding is condensed shot of speed and fun about three times a week. So last Sundays Brighton to Brighton sportive would be something quite different. No tearing away from the gun. No hammering up hills to break away. No risky downhill action to try and catch back on. To be honest I've always struggled to see the appeal but I thought I should try at least one before I made any rash decisions.
Lea had to bail before the ride so my early plan of us sharing the pace for 100 miles instead became a one man time trail for 100 miles. And if there is one thing I'm shit at, it's time trailing. Still it was dry, autumn was in full swing showing it's glorious colours and the route was a familiar cracker. All my local roads so I plucked a random speed out of my head a decided to see if I could stick with it. 20mph average was the benchmark. With the absence of riding buddies I needed some objective. I hate plodding round so this became the stick.
All was going nicely for the first 40 miles and I was just shy at 19.9 mph. The sportive thing is all new to me so pitching up at the first feed station as I was nicely surprised to see a whole raft of pastries and sweets. Mindful that I didn't want to treat the village hall feed stop like a kids party, I made tracks. Okay, just one more sausage roll then . . .
My iPod gave me much needed company and motivation as my average started to drop and the legs started to feel leaden. I found myself struggling more on the flat due to the gusty wind than I did on the stiff climbs like Kidds Hill surprisingly. Seeing the horizon up above and bouncing up and down out the saddle, I could find a decent rhythm and stick with it. Unlike my riding on the flat, which left me constantly trying to find just the right gear. Up, down, up down much like the route itself. Talking of which there were some superb country lanes and some great vistas high up in Ashdown Forest. Enough to keep you engaged.
The second feed was just after halfway so mentally I was almost home. Average was now down to 19mph so I took a whole load more of the sweets and pastries to fuel the fire. It did the trick for a time but before long the zip was definitely going out my legs and even my arms started to ache, not helped by the 20% climb of Cobb Lane. At this point I felt quite numb. Not from a trouble with circulation. Just the non stop pedaling into the wind. Mentally I was beginning to drop off as was my average speed.
At the third feed stop I just filled up my bottle and motored on. Just wanted to get back now. Only 30 miles left, although this is the length of a normal ride for me. Seeing the South Downs appear always feels me with added motivation. I can see home already. Such was the focus just to get back and eat a shed load of oven food, I missed the 4th feed in Ditchling and climbed my way up the Beacon. Not too shabby although I'm used to hitting this climb with far fresher legs. High speed drop back into Brighton then up Bear Road for the final sting in the tail. Which it did. The legs were on the verge of cramp at this point so rolling over the line on the seafront I felt wasted. Average speed was 18mph. Got to say I was a little disappointed but knew I could not have gone faster and it's the first time I've ridden 100 miles with no chance of shelter from another rider. It makes a hell of a difference.
All in all it was a strange experience. On the one hand great to do something new. Get a good ride in and a superb route and organisation. You could argue, as many people do, that you could ride this route any time of the year, but just having a timing chip around my neck and some clear course marking meant I could focus on the ride rather than the route. On the other hand I missed the buzz of going full gas for an hour or so. The beer after didn't half nurse those aching legs though. Maybe I'll give it another go...
The Morvélo Test Team are just that. A team that tests. Morvélo products to be precise, so we know they're built to roll.
Just as cyclists are a varied bunch, so are The Morvélo Test Team. From dirt jumping to track racing, cyclocross to cycle speedway, off-road to on-road, they embody diversity, commitment and, above all, the sheer enjoyment of thrashing the hell out of a bicycle.