National XC MTB Series - Round 1 - Sherwood Pines - 25.03.12

On the 25th March I travelled up to Sherwood Pines, Nottingham for the first round of the Cross-country Mountain Biking - National Series. It was a very early start due to a race start time of 9.30am. I arrived with quite a lot of time considering how far we had to travel. On arrival I saw that the weather was nice and the ground dry, (I knew it was going to be the normal super-fast Sherwood race conditions). Un-like normal, I chose to spin my legs out on the turbo before I practiced the course, this was because the practice lap would have to be a sort of war-up for me, as the start time was pretty close.

I felt good after a quick spin on the turbo and thought the course was god when I rode it. It featured a few very technical sections, including a under-cut drop much like Worry Gill at Dalby and a 1.5ft high log, to jump or hurdle. I rode all the 'A lines' in practice and were confident I could do this in the race. Apart from the log jump, as I found it safer and faster, to dismount, hurdle and remount at speed, in "cross style"! :L

I was very nervous for the race and this was shown as from about an hour before my race, to the start, I felt sick the whole time!! I had to sit down for 5 minutes on a couple of occasional to calm down and to make sure I didn't regurgitate vital food for energy! :L

I had a great start after being gridded 5th on the first row and I was in 2nd until we entered the first single-rack where I had fell back 4th. I was happy with this place, but when the course became slightly wider I overtook one rider and was in 3rd! Billy (race winner) pulled a gap from everyone, then a bit further back was Dylan, then me. I would say about 10 seconds separated us all from each-other!

Come mid-first-lap Billy had a clear lead of about 30 seconds to Dylan, and I was about 20 seconds from Dylan. I was pushing as hard as I could to catch Dylan and chase Billy with him, but I started to fill sick, so I decided to not bury myself as much as I was! By the end of the first lap Dylan's lead to me had lengthened and I had been caught by 3 chasers (Will Cheaney, Calum Magowan and James Shaw). After we crossed the line to start our second lap, James Shaw went past us all and I chased him down as much as I could. I did not catch him, but by doing this I dropped Will and I was left with Calum to chase down James.

So to recall, Billy was leading, then there was Dylan, then James, then me and Calum chasing together. When Calum got on the front he chased James down hard, and this make him get a 3 or 4 second gap to me, after this I made a few technical mistakes which made this gap grow and eventually mean he crossed the line at the end of the two lap race, 18 seconds ahead of me. So in the end I finished in 5th place, being 18 seconds off of 4th. I was 2 and 1/2 minutes off of the leader. I was very happy with my race as it's the start of the season and I was nervous as to everyone's form.

Me in 2nd from the start! :-)

So, overall, it was a good result, great course and a great day! Unfortunately I haven't many photos at the moments, but thanks to Andy Whitehouse (http://www.andy-whitehouse.co.uk/) for the one photo I could find! Thanks again! :-)

There is a link below to the results sheet as well, I am in 'Youth Male'.

Event Results

Thanks to my dad for taking me to the race, for all the support from people course-side and lastly to Andy Whitehouse (http://www.andy-whitehouse.co.uk/) again for the photo! :-)

Thanks for reading and Au-Revoir!

Southern XC - Rnd.1 - Checkendon - 18.03.12

On the 18th March was the first Southern XC of the 2012 Mounatin Bike Season, in fact it was the first real race of the season! having not raced MTB in a while, I was very committed to getting a good result on the day. I went into the race confident with good training over the Winter and was looking forward to seeing what my form was like.

On arrival, the weather was very nice, but the ground, and inevitably the course, was a bit damp and muddy. The course was much the same as last year, with lots of flat, fast, and rooty single-track. Also 3 or 4 steep hills running consecutively, mid-lap. The hills were short, steep, but very slippery and technical. I managed to ride everything in practice, so when it came to waiting on the line for the start, I felt quite confident.

I was gridded first, after a god series position last season (2nd Youth Male), and I had a good start leading until entering the first bit of singletrack. I was overtaken by Tom Franklin and Harvey Lowe after entering the single-track, but soon overtook Harvey as Tom was distancing everyone. I chased Tom down and rode the rest of the race with him.

I was comfortable riding round with Tom, but maybe too comfortable. I was so surprised with my form, having rode nowhere near Tom during the whole cross season, that I didn't having the confidence to go past. Looking back on it now, I could have and I should have. In the end we rode the whole race together, until Tom entered the final corner in-front of me and sprinted to victory on the line.

I was pleased with 2nd place, but knowing the victory was just 2 seconds in front, is a bit annoying. Anyway, it was good to find how my form was at the strat of the 2012 Mountain Bike Season, and this set me up well for the first National MTB Race at Sherwood Pines the following Sunday. There are links to the photos and results for the event, below.

Thanks to Richard for taking me to the race and for taking some photos while there! :-)

FlickR Photos (with thanks to Richard Wood)

Event Results (Southern XC Website)

Thanks for reading and Au-Revoir!

National Trophy Round 5 - Peel Park, Bradford (11.12.11)

On Saturday I traveled up to Bradford in order to take part in Round 5 of the National Cyclo-X Series on the Sunday. I stayed at a Hotel on Saturday and then left the day after to go to the race. I arrived fairly early at around 11.30ish', this being 2 hours before my scheduled start (13.30). When I arrived I was greeted by heavy rain and before even seeing the course I was excited about the race later that day.

When I went to the course to practice, I saw many Junior riders, who had just finished their race, looking rather muddy and tired. After about 50m on the course (practicing) I could understand fully why the riders looked like they did! It was sooo Slippery and very hard going, because of the lack of traction and deep mud.

After practice I cleaned up a bit, and had two clean bikes read-ied for the start of the race (many thanks to Richard Wood). I then started a warm-up, which turned out to be pretty good and I was feeling good whilst on my way to the line. I was gridded first on the third row, which was not perhaps the ideal starting position.

However, when the whistle went, my elbows went out and I pushed my way through the riders, until I was in about the top 6-8!

As usual I did fall back a bit in the first 5 minutes, and then I started to claw back some places and have some real fun on the muddy and slippery course! Especially on the off-camber downhill bank (video link below). Mid-race I was with another 4 or 5 riders, which made it hard on the technical parts of the course, so I broke away from this group and managed to catch two other riders, I then went past them and spent the rest of the race, trying to close the gap on a rider ahead, but this never happened.

In the remaining part of the race, I managed to keep a good distance between me and the riders behind and in the end, finished in 10th place! with my nearest rival 20 seconds behind.

Overall, I really enjoyed the race, and was really pleased with the result. Considering my past 2011 Trophy performances, this was a real step forward. I do believe the technical and slippery aspects of the course allowed me to perform better, but I think fitness and confidence were deciding factors as well (also a fantastic pit crew, whom I will mention later). 

Below is a link to the video of the Off-Camber-Downhill-Bank mentioned earlier. Also I would like to thank Richard Wood and my dad, for being such a fantastic pit crew! I had to change my bike every half a lap because of the muddy conditions! And I always got a clean one back every time I entered the pits, so thanks sooo Much!! :D 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rT0kNL-wV0I

The National Cyclo-X Champs are 4 weeks away, and I have set myself the tough challenge of trying to match that result, or maybe even better it! I think the next few weeks are going to contain alot of Zone 4/5 training sessions! :-) Anyway, overall, a fantastic week-ends racing!!!

Thanks for reading and au-revoir!

Long time, No blog......

I have recently been 'neglecting' my blog, this is because of being rather busy pedaling, and because it's the cross season. This season being one that I don't tremendously wait all year for, and don't really 'excel' in.

I have had a mixed bag of results this cross season, and currently I have competed in 9 Cyclo-cross races. My best national cyclo-cross result this season has been 13th at Round 1 South Shields, and I have won 2 London League's. I have only won 2 London League's out of the 8 rounds which have so far taken place, but I am still currently leading the London League Youth Series Standings.

Although I have not performed as well as I expected to this season in national races, I have had some good local races, and know that the best training is racing, so it all helps towards my form for the coming MTB season in March 2012.

Although I have been competing primarily in Cyclo-cross races since September, I have done 2 Mountain Bike races, these races were part of Fowlmead's Night Race Series. These races are 1 hour (which is the same duration as National Youth MTB races) in the dark and mud, and I have won my category (Youth), and the Seniors in both events. Although this is only a local series, it is still good to win and good for my confidence in more 'high-key' events.

So, as previously mentioned, I think I have found out that I am not going to trouble the front of a National Cyclo-cross race, I am using the cross season to keep my form throughout the Winter, and hopefully let it be a great training tool for the coming MTB season.

Last on this blog post in some news on a new ride. I have recently got my hands on my first racing full-suspension mountain bike. I plan to use this full-suspension mountain bike in the 2012 MTB Season. With Mountain Bike Courses becoming shorter and much more technical, I thought it would be a good choice for the coming season. The bike is a Trek Carbon Top Fuel 9.7. I have since upgraded to Bontrager's Race X Lite Wheels and plan to upgrade to Shimano's New 10 speed, Double XT Drive-train before the MTB season.The bike is pictured below, and I will soon post a picture of the actual bike, not just a image from the web, which shows the bike as standard.

Finally, I would just like to say, thank-you to everyone who is viewing my blog now, or has done in the past and made me very happy to have my page views at 2600+ !!!!

1st Gear Cycles Rampage Round 3 - Checkendon (19.06.11)

This was a race that I had not planned on attending until about 9 o'clock the night before. This was because I had been at a British Cycling RSR / School Games Selection Day, the day before. I enjoyed the day very much and later learnt that I had been successful in my application to the UK School Games.


On arriving at the race, with not the "freshest" legs, having rode the whole day before. At the race, I knew Josh Parkin was going and this meant I would have to have a bloody good race to win!

Old photo, but same venue and series.

Once lined up on the start line, we waited for quite along time, and finally we were sent off. I had a good start and was on Josh's wheel for the first 1 and a half laps.

I wasn't really "dropped", but I made a decision to cut a corner and ride the inside of it (over some leaves), this may sound it, but it was not cheating as I was still within both sides of tape. Once part way over the leaves, my front wheel stopped dead on something, this was a tree stump, hidden under the leaves. This made me get thrown forward and smack my knee on the handlebars, before chucking me over the top of the bike and over the bars.

Despite my fall, I probably only lost about 10-15 seconds, however I couldn't catch Josh, and on the open sections of the course, I could still see him, but the gaps were getting bigger and bigger, and I started to feel yesterdays, day of riding in my legs. Even though Josh rode the day before as, well like me, I knew he is physically fitter than me, and this made him able to take the win with me in second.

Old photo, but same venue and series.

I finished 1minute 27seconds behind him in the end, I was abit un-happy with the big gap, but was still happy with 2nd.

I mentioned earlier in the post that I smacked by knee on the bars and this felt fine during the race and after, but now a couple of days has passed and it's starting to hurt, so after 3 days of pain, I went A & E, and it turns out I have damaged my Patella Tendon (below the knee cap) quite badly. I am writing this on the Thursday after the race and with my knee still hurting, I don't know whether the next National Round at Margham Park is still a reality. Anyway i am hoping it heals quickly.

Old photo, but same venue and series.

Again, like the last post, sorry for lack of race photos, but I couldn't find any collections.

Thanks-for-reading

Ciao

British Mountain Bike Series Round 3 - Wasing Park (12.06.11)

I raced the 3rd Round of the BMBRS Series on the 12th June, which felt like a very long gap from the last one at Dalby Forest. I was determined to have a good race at this round, after a disappointing 24th at Dalby Forest :-( This was because of a mix of bad form, chucking up b4 my race, and falling off. Also Wasing Park is my home round of the National Series and this made me very determined.

I arrived at the race and had a very good warm-up after not having alot of time to spare once I had arrived, to do a lap. However I had already raced there earlier in the season, so I wasn't that worried.

I had a quite bad start, after choosing to start in the middle ring and then move up to big after the start, however on changing, the chain jammed for a bit. Despite this I went up the long start road probably in about 15th-20th. I made my way through the riders after the bad start and managed to get to probably about top 15.

This is an old picture at the same venue and with much better weather!

After 1 lap, I managed to join a group of about 4 other riders, obviously with 3 laps to go, some riders made breaks and were caught back up etc, but on the 3rd lap when coming to the arena I made a break from the group (because I thought we had about 100 metres left of racing). At this point, I later learnt that I was in 9th! However it was not the last lap, and after basically stopping on the line, I suddenly realised I had made the stupid mistake of miss-counting my laps! We still had one lap to go!

By this time the group of riders had passed that I had broke from, and a rider we had dropped previously. This put me in 13th, instead of my planned 9th! I started the last lap feeling like a complete muppet and was very angry with myself, because of this I made a few mistakes and could not catch any places, I finished that lap very angry with my self and in 13th place! Despite the big mistake, that costed me 4 places, within 15 or so seconds, it was still alot better than 24th at the previous round.

Despite me being very angry, knowing I could have done alot better (3 or 4 places, within 15 seconds), In the end I finished 57 seconds of my original 9th place. Anyway, it was a good result and I need these experiences to teach me the very important lessons.

The next National Round is at Margham Park in 2 weeks time, where I am going to check how may laps I have 20+ times :-P

Lastly, sorry for the lap of pictures of the race, but I couldn't locate any collections of photos of me. there is till some there anyway, from other races.

Thanks-for-reading

Au-revoir

Southern XC Round 3 - 05.06.11 - Crow Hill

This race was one of Southern's that I was really looking forward to, having raced there last year and really enjoying the course, also winning by about a minute helped my spirits.

I had been on holiday the week prior to this race, in the new Forest, so I didn't have that far to travel. I arrived at the venue and it wasn't quite the nice weather I had had in the week, in fact it was quite cold. So, once all the warmers were on (legs and arms), I went round for a practice lap.

The lap, felt quite long in practice and this was because of many roots and a very soft bark like surface, which was hard going when not carrying alot of speed. I was looking forward to racing on it, but I knew that it would be bloody hard work!

I had a fairly good warm up, and was on the start line ready for the gruelling 2 laps ahead! I had a great start and was in second most of the way up the long starting fire-road, however I lost one place when race favourite (Harry Franklin) stormed past and took the lead from everyone!

Me and Josh

After about 2 minutes or so, a group was formed at the head of the race, this consisted of Harry Franklin at the front, then Sam Stean, Me and Josh Parkin. We was still as a group when Josh went from the back and got in front of me when entering some single-track, however after about 30 seconds or so of him leading me, he has a washout at a corner, and I just managed to squeeze round the outside of the corner, and get past him.

I pushed on, but because of Josh's fall, I had to almost stop rolling as well, this gave Harry and Sam the encouragement they needed to make an attack and open up the gap. This meant, that there was Harry and Sam at the front, them me (a bit further back) and Josh (a bit further back), having got back on after his fall.

I knew that I wasn't going to catch Harry and Sam, but I had to fight hard in order to keep the gap open from Josh. I got to the finish hill on the last lap and sprinted all the way up and gave it my all, and managed to keep Josh off my wheel, and rolled over the line having secured 3rd spot! :D

It turned out that in the end Harry won, with Sam 9 seconds behind him, I was 32 seconds behind Sam. However Josh was only 17 seconds behind me.

I was very happy with the result and it is great being able to ride with these type of riders, with me being only a first year under 16, the nearest first year under 16 on race day to me was in 6th place.

My next race is the British National at Wasing Park.

Thanks-for-reading

Ciao