National Trophy Round 3 Durham

National Trophy Round 3 Durham

View from 'The Pits'

Today's pits are purely metaphorical. Relegated to almost last place on the start grid for failing to score any points yet this season, I began another National Trophy race in Durham at the back of the pack. No matter, I set to and immediately got past the guy ahead. Now just another 42 to go.

Unlucky for me, but no doubt lucky for others (pretty much everyone else), today's course was flat, almost non-technical and the dryish surface meant the bigger engines were going to do better. That said it was a perfect day for my do-it-all mixed surface tyres, so no moaning about that. However with plenty of curves, twists and turns I could perhaps gain a little something here and there. The duck boards and steps helped a little too. Then there was Durhamberg, an almost life size replica of Bradford's infamous 'wall'. I also liked this feature as my two race compadres seemed not to.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/britishcyclingphotos/10921099424/in/set-72157637768266444

Also, and very unusually, this was a race conducted entirely on my BIG chainring, something regular readers will remember I discovered I'd been carrying around on my 'cross bike at this course last year. OK, when I say big, we're talking 42 teeth (you're welcome Katie Compton) but not needing the small ring gives you an idea just how flat and dry it was.

One again after almost 40 mins I had the race leader bearing down on me pretty hard, so on my penultimate lap I ignored my two race mates and stepped on the gas. It almost worked, I nearly had the gap but that lap took so much effort, I ended up giving it all back during our last lap, while the prizes were being presented to the winners elsewhere. Don't they know we're still racing? Seems not and nor did the spectators crossing the course. By the stairs I knew the game was up. No matter, another race un-lapped is a minor but significant success at this level.

Massive rides from team mates Steve and Sarah and club 'cross big hitter Paul, points a plenty there. Hey guys, got any you can spare? A special thanks to all those shouting from the sides, and PIT supremo Callum for another 5 star performance.

Steve - 2013 Inter Area Championships

About a month ago, I was asked if I’d be interested in riding the Inter Area Champs…..I’d been aware of them for a while but I’d never really thought about doing them until about three weeks ago.

Now here’s the thing, how much a Yorkshireman am I? Did I put myself forward to represent Yorkshire, who were only sending two teams and run the risk of not being selected……Or did I put myself forward to ride for the North East, who were fielding three teams and thus offer a better chance of a ride? I did the right thing and rode for the North East……..Actually, I’m joking. I race in the North East predominantly these days, their friendly folk and it just seemed right seen as it was Keith Murray of Scott UK who suggested I ride.

With partner in crime at www.cxmagazine.com Ted nursing a hangover and confined to the pits, we arrived in plenty of time to suss out the course, pits and what on earth a team cx race is all about. Two goods, one bad.

Good number one was the course, fast, no running, twisty but with a couple of lovely, long pan flat, firm headwind effected sections. Some limited but significant Belgian bowling green and some tarmac to leather it on. Good number two was the pits and the atmosphere around the finish area. Game on…Bad was the realisation that the likelihood of not having to turn myself inside-out was zero due to the scoring system. Every single place mattered to the team.

Just two practice laps was all that was needed. There was nothing more to be gained. Back tub nought point five squidgy, front tub squidgy, no need for uuber squidgy. After some creative safety pinning of my supplied XL team jersey, I achieved something that fitted my size S body, where it touched and made my way to the start. Back row of the grid and revved for a ‘Laars Van der Holeshot’ start…and we were away. Flat out.

Assuming no one eats tarmac, I love road starts. Moreover I love that two second moment when everyone leaves the tarmac for the first time at about thirty miles an hour and whilst dodging golf ball sized clumps of mud everyone’s thinking the same thing ‘oh fuck this is dodgy, I’m going to die’.

I didn’t die, and normal service was resumed. Lined out, in quality company and on the rivet. Going fast enough to not want to let a gap open in about 20^th place. I sat and thought to myself, ‘we’re about ninety seconds in, hold back and wait to kick’. The guy in front of me from the Midlands let a gap develop so kick I did….and rode a good half a lap whilst bouncing the cardiac rev counter on the red line. I was away, with three for company. Two North West guys and pleasingly a North East Teamate.

The North West guy came to the front and rode like a train after I sat up…bluntly he nuked me. I sat on him for a lap or so but simply didn’t have enough in reserve to get back up with him after the inevitable slip. With four to go our group was established, the remaining NW guy and I sharing the work and the north easterner a yo-yoing passenger. As we passed through the pits I geared up for a change half a lap later thinking that I’d slickly drop from the front to the back of our group and then attack when the NW guy made his change. It didn’t work out. A poor remount during which I momentarily thought someone must have nicked my pedals cost me twenty metres and I had to chase to regain the group. Plan B…

With a lap and a half to go, my NE teammate had blown up big time and was history. With a duo of Yorkshire lads tantalisingly forty metres in front it was time for collaboration. A gasped pact between the NW guy and I to burry ourselves to bridge the gap and then sort it out at the finish ‘pistols at dawn’ was formed.

We bridged the gap with about thirty meters to go, which was (un)helpfully announced by the commentator but we were done for after the foregoing minute flat out into  the headwind. If a million pounds had been on the line, maybe. But under the circumstances there was nothing left for a sprint.

I finished 14^th, pretty happy given a national A status race. I was also thrilled to take a couple of notable scalps. One in particular. I don’t mean this in any way nastily, in fact quite the opposite…people I really rate as riders (and friends). They’ll no doubt blow me into the weeds next week.

The NE ‘C ‘ team, I represented finished roughly half way down the proceedings but I did my bit and was well in and amongst the A team riders most other regions had sent.    

The only cloud of the day was when precisely five seconds after collecting a new FMB tub from Jedi Cyclesport’s van, Ted walked round the corner carrying my spare bike with a flat back tub and said “you’ve picked up a puncture”.

Hey it’s only money….£10.25 per BC point.

Money well spent!

Inter Areas Pit Monkey

View from 'The Pits'

Another weekend, another CX first. Today I volunteered for the job of P.I.T. That's Performance  Improvement  Technician or pit monkey as they're affectionally known. I perhaps should have taken this into account during the annual club dinner the night before. I did use the evening to network with experienced master technician Heather, who told me I should aim to get the bike cleaning around 45 seconds. What? No way! But, apparently......Way. Another personal fear was not being able to start the jet wash machine at the crucial moment. Again advice from HT, make sure you switch it ON.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ed_rollason/10784406864/in/photostream/lightbox/
So it was off the the Inter Areas Regional Champs to support  www.cxmagazine.com riders Sarah and Steve, both picked to represent Geordie CX  in this home race in Middlesborough. Just before the start Tony Glover of cxne drops us off an unexpected spare bike for Sarah but before panic sets in a master stroke of luck saw Scott bravely volunteer for PIT duties as well. Clearly he's not seen me operate a jet wash before. So two riders, 4 bikes and we're off for the Vets/Women's race. Steve sets off first and Sarah 2 mins later, Scott and I decide on a strategy of one rider each and we set to. It's about 4 mins each half lap, so the 45 second clean was no joke!

After the first bike clean my pit neighbour politely asks if I can reposition the bike as the spinning wheels are coating him and all his equipment in a fine layer of mush. I obliged muttering something about it being my first attempt at this, but he took it rather well. Clean bike, dirty neighbour and I was back inside the 4 mins. Sarah decides to go one half lap on the borrowed bike to get a clean machine and it's back to a petrol fuelled frenzy once again. No problems though, job done.

Both Steve and Sarah were at the sharper ends of their races today, both posted results that gave their teams every chance with Steve finishing 14th overall and Sarah 5th. At this level that's proper good going. So what have I learned? Well PITing is not for the feint hearted or hung over. It's a bit like being a referee in a football match. If you get it right no-one will notice, get it wrong and you'll be noticed alright. Fortunately, I think I got it mostly right today.

2013 Nat Trophy Round 2 - Southampton - Smalesy

Six for the price of five....it's not catchy like BOGOF is it? But that's the deal with the National Trophy. Enter the series as a whole and you get one event free. The reality for us northerners is that actually the event we get free is the one that we'd most likely not ride anyway...Southampton. So far away, it's virtually France.

With family commitments meaning that I'd had no prospect of competition the previous weekend, and Ted being desperate to ride, I kind of reluctantly enthusiastically agreed we'd ride as I'm not really properly dialed in yet. 

After diligently going to bed at 9pm the previous evening, I managed the sum total of about four hours sleep before a 4am alarm, as there's nothing worse than being under pressure to sleep. A 5am pickup for Ted and then a fast run down south to hopefully arrive at Southampton in time for a couple of practice laps.

By about Nottingham, the tiredness had hit. Horrible headache and eyes that felt like they were going to explode. With Heather unrousable asleep across the back seat I was forced to ask Ted to drive on his third party insurance before we made an unscheduled, very sudden stop....

After another two hours of nodding dog hell we arrived safely and were straight into it. Pit gear out, bikes out, sign on and ride the course with ted. An utterly average course which is actually another way of saying, a well rounded and designed course. Some tarmac, some up, some down, some off camber, some woods and a pair of OMG MASSIVE boards. Pressures were......soft, as in super soft with the rear folding in the tighter turns. I felt sluggish, tired. 

Gridding didn't particularly go my way, with a start as far back as I've been for a while...possibly due to  missing out on points at Abergavenny and not really riding regionally very much yet this season. But perhaps things might work better for me here with a heavy, uphill start. But it's an ill wind that blows no good, and it was cool to line up for in cxmagazine.com colours next to Ted. It was also nice to be within chatting distance of Paul Lehan from Harrogate Nova (my home club), despite me knowing that he'd be gunning for me all race.

Bang, and off we went. Clipped in first time and for the first time for a while, I remembered to hit the nitrous button with my front wheel bouncing on the squidgy front tyre. Out of the woods and that was it the race was formed really. Two front groups, and then dribs and drabs.

I think in hindsight my race was shaped by a couple of factors. Firstly, I've not got properly confident yet this season, the confidence I need to throw caution to the wind early in the race at a point before I've really learnt the course. There were a couple of situations early in the race where had I had more confidence, I could have made a gap by just staying off the brakes and taking a calculated risk, partly me being risk averse, partially due to not having sufficient time to do a hot lap in practice. 

About three laps in, half distance, it really became a case of being on my own with a group of about four or five, including Paul chasing me through the numerous 180degree turns about fifteen seconds down. I noticed that I could manage the gap by burying myself on the non technical parts and then riding wide around slippery corners.

And that was that really, taking no unnecessary risks, trying to stay smooth and keeping enough pressure on in the right places to stay away. The only glitch came when I entered the pits to find Heather stood at the other side and I had to take a running penalty on the downhill side. I was then forced to take a bike on the uphill pit where I ended up having to run some distance.

Oh yeah, I also arsended a lapped rider who failed a steep in front of me when I was fully committed. It's only flesh, it'll heal.....

With half a lap to go, I knew I was safe from the chasers despite one shouting 'come on guys, we've nearly got him' and was able to throttle back and cruise safely to the line.

29th.....a couple of points and not a bad delivery.

So back to the van, a hot shower, inspect my bumps and scrapes, wash the bikes properly and then M1 north with a post race McRecovery Happy Meal.

540miles. 16hours later. We were home and wrecked.

   

National Trophy R2 Southampton

"It wouldn't be your first choice for a day trip from Harrogate" Pit technician HT

She's right of course, except if it happens to be the 2nd round day of the CX National Trophy series, then all bets are off. Another early doors start to get to the event car park for 9am. Then off to sign in and a lap and half before gridding. My course summary..."regular" but in a good way. Corner upon corner, a little up, a little down, a little woods, a little flat, a little mud, a little off camber, a little bit sketchy round the bends, a little tarmac, a little embankment, a little.....no make that a BIG set of duckboards (40 cm I don't think so). Gridded next to team mate Steve and in front of club mate Paul (on his first outing at NT it should be said) I went for a full power start and tried to hang onto the aforementioned for as long as possible. That turned out to be as far a the first trip into the woods. Then it was classic NT, the majority rode off into the sunset leaving me to fend off the over 50s following us behind.

With HT in the pits I lasted only a lap and a half before I gave into the temptation of a clean bike. Ahhhh, what a fix, opium for the CX masses. Nothing left now but to keep the heart rate monitor beeping on high warning and try to avoid any serious offs on the greasy corners and cambers.

Going past the start/finish I see 2 laps to go, that is unless the race leader gets past me. At the woods I hear the rattle of the bell, this means I've got about a quarter of a lap gap to fend him off, is it possible? Approaching the pits for the last time I take another fresh pipe. But this turns out to be a very dodgy decision, as both me and the race leader are on the tarmac finish at the same time. I put in an almighty sprint busting several guts to get to the line ahead of him.

Great, now I get to ride a lap solo around the park, as every other rider will be stopped behind me. I ride a lap at tempo, on my own, milking the applause and crossing the line arms aloft. Job done, same number of laps as Darren Atkins, albeit in slightly longer timescales. To give you an idea, they had finished the podium presentation and cleaned all the bikes by the time I got there. No matter, MC Matt Payne was kind enough to give me and the new team a mention, I must remember to put that cheque in the post for him tomorrow.

Top place for a day trip it turns out.

CXNE#7 Gypsies Green - Ted

It's funny, experience should mean fewer surprises but today I had a few CX firsts. First time in skin suit, first spiral of doom, and first time I changed shoes mid race. Let's look a the video reply to see how these played out. Skin suit was thanks to Team http://www.cxmagazine.com, so the howling North East breeze was a gift for my wind cheating attire, better than Chris Boardman in a wind tunnel. The spiral of doom was part of a super fun course laid out at the finish venue of the Great North Run, a banked velodrome with grass and sand surrounds. Dry as a bone despite a quick shower before the race, this was a fast a furious race course, duck boards: yes, steps: yes, dead turns, off camber, uphill: yes, concrete velodrome track: yes, cinder track: yes, and wind: proper Geordie style. 

So 65 Vets, Women and Juniors set off for a lap of the velodrome and onto the course proper. Egged on by team mate and real Geordie Sarah, I nipped into the front places of the grid and made it to the first corner with the best of them. I think I'm starting to learn I'm sort of the Micky Quinn of CX. For the youngsters he was a prolific goal scorer for the Toon, and the fastest ever striker over 2 yards, but his pie eating bulk meant that this was his only party trick. So into the first few corners and up the stairs, still going ok. I usually get a lap or more in before Sarah bombs past me, today it was less than half. So I decided to let her do the work for a bit, and we raced wheel to wheel for a good while. 

Then I felt my left pedal coming loose, and figured a bike change would solve all that. Half a lap later it started to dawn on me, it wasn't the pedal it was the cleat on the new shoe working loose. Panic set in and DNF was all I could think. Think. What's the solution? Dylan, I screamed, can you get my spare shoes from the car! Now, I take a fair amount of stick for taking 'spare' everything to races, but sometimes it's necessary, and today was it. So I changed shoes and re-entered the race at the 25 minute mark, so still plenty of racing to be had. And no DNF, probably! 

Despite the setback I really enjoyed today's outing, all the better when Sarah came in First Women and Alison arrived safely shortly after. Then Dylan raced in the Youth category, setting a blistering pace lap after lap and finished either 3rd or 4th. We think 3rd. 

Photo courtesy of Sarah's mam, as they say up here.

2013 YPCX7 - Edwyn

Wednesday, 30 October 2013

Yorkshire Points Round 7- Sheffield

Right, so new team equals new kit, and for round 7 of the Yorkshire Points cyclocross series, it was time to try out the new black and orange skin suit. Exciting stuff! And to go along with the “new” theme, it was also a new course, located at Whitely Woods near Sheffield. All that was certain, running up to the race, was that it was going to be a muddy one; lots of rain in the week suggested the sound of jet washes could soon be in the air.

Rain continued to fall for the journey down to the race, but feelings were relaxed after a an extra hour of much needed sleep, due to the clocks changing. The Chemical Brother were throbbing out of the speakers, and I was looking forward to race.

I managed to squeeze in a quick recce lap before the veterans race began, and the course was ploughed again following the youth race. First impressions were: 1, mud, 2, corners, and lots of them, and 3, “surely this is faster to run”.

The new kit in action

The first part of the course consisted of a number of sharp, slippy corners, sending you up and down a slight gradient. Separating the corners were muddy straights, some quicker to run and others where you were constantly battling for traction, seeming to be digging a trench rather than moving forward. This section eventually meandered you to the high point of the course, just before you tackled “the maze”. After a short section of woodland singletrack, you were spat out into a network of tape and course, unable to distinguish which part came first. A great length of course seemed to have been squeezed into a very small area, which resulted in numerous hairpins. Thrown into this section was also a section of unridable mud and a set of hurdles. Technical and demanding yet very enjoyable. Once out of the maze, you entered another section of woodland, this time heading downwards. It was a slippy, tight and fast descent, which could cause problems when partnered with fatigue. This brought you out not far from the finish line, which, after a slippy, off camber hairpin, was to be crossed.

It was clear to see from the mud, which was clug to my bike, that a few bike changed would be necessary during the race. Not only would the build up of mud add extra weight to my bike, but would also increase the risk of a mechanical, such as a broken hanger, indefinitely ending my race. So, after signing on and a brief encounter with fellow MTBO team mate Andy Douglas, I gave my my bike a good wash down and then set to work warming up.

After the usual routine on the turbo trainer, a spell of fast paced music to get me a bit into the zone and raspberry ripple energy gel, I was ready to race.

My start was not great. I missed my pedal, which, partnered with the uphill nature of the start, caused me to be a great number of places down. This didn’t phase me and I pushed hard to try and get them back. With the usual back logs on the opening lap of races, I decided to run a few of the first corners, which allowed me to jump up the rankings. Half way around the first lap and I found myself in a more respectable position, just outside of the top 10 I think. For the rest of the lap I picked up a few more places and found myself alongside local friend and rival Dave Morris, who I have bad a few battles with at previous races. I knew there was no chance either of us would let the other go, not without a hard fight first.

Remounting after one of the unrideable sections

A couple of laps later, and Dave and I still had locked horns. Dave took the first bike change, which allowed me to get a small short lived advantage. The mud free bike allowed Dave to almost glide back to me, even with a short dig by me to drop him. Half a lap later and I took my first bike change of the race, straight away wishing I hadn’t. It was the first race of the season where it was necessary to change bikes due to the mud, and my second bike had not been tested in such conditions before - it felt like riding a road bike. The tyres seemed to have no tread and I had to take corners much more cautiously and climbs were made much harder with such a lack of grip. Hoping my first bike had been cleaned, I entered the pits for the second time only half a lap later. Thankfully, the quick work of my pit monkey, sorry, my dad, meant I could swiftly jump onto my first bike again, which felt more like a tractor in comparison to my second bike.

Despite my trouble with my second bike, I managed to make up my losses, dig deep and catch back up with Dave. There was no way I was going to let him go. To me, and I’m sure to him also, the rest of the riders did not matter. Who came out on top between him and me was the only thing that mattered.

Up until the final lap, Dave and I jumped on small mistakes by the other rider in order to get a gap and pull away. It left the other person going right into oxygen debt to catch up and get back into contention. From a spectators point of view, it would seem that we were taking it in turns, lap by lap, to be in front, all in all, a very civilized affair. Little did they know, it was the complete opposite. There was hardly a moment when one rider sat on the other’s wheel; there was always one of us trying to make the other suffer. Each time a bike change was made by one person, the other would make a move. At one point I took one too many risks trying to drop Dave and ended up flying over the handlebars, after clipping a stump on the woody descent. But, despite each of our efforts, the result would came down to the last lap, with both of us getting the bell at exactly the same time.

One of many attacks on Dave

Not long into the final lap, Dave went into the pits for a bike change. I seized the moment. I attacked straight away, and didn’t look back. I pushed hard out of every corner and along every straight. I caught glimpses of Dave just behind me when the course meandered back and forth; I had a very small advantage and any mistake would cost me the race.

Thankfully, I managed to hold out just a few meters on Dave all the way to the finish line, and I came home as top Harrogate rider, I hardly thought of my overall position, which was, in the end, 9th.

I was quite pleased with this overall position; it added a little to beating Dave. Really, I wanted to be a few places higher up, but the race had given me a few pointers in how to improve for next time and I was happy with that. Plus as well, I was going to see The Cat Empire, one of my favorite band, in the evening, so I was very much looking forward to that.

I would really like to thank my dad for pitting for me. It’s a hard job in the pits; there is tremendous pressure to get a bike cleaned in a very small amount of time and it is a very selfless job. It was much appreciated!

I would also like to thank cxmagazine for the kit in which I raced and warmed up in. It was the first time I had raced in it and, well, I loved it. The reaction from others was about the kit was also very positive. Look out for the black and orange!

Check out www.cxmagazine.com for all the cyclocross news and reviews, plus details on how to subscribe to the mag.

Also, just a quick note regarding the cyclocross race at Huddersfield on the 20th October. Unfortunately, due to a back injury sustained in a crash on the third or fourth lap, I had to pull out. I don’t really like DNFs, like most people, but I think carrying on would have done a lot more bad than good. Thankfully, after a lot of lying down, some deep heat and a roast pork bap all was good; so no lasting damage.

I shall be back racing again this coming weekend in Sheffield, for the cyclocross race at Grave’s Park. Until then, happy riding.