Shiny things and first race in Expert

It's been another busy few days, mainly for Rachel more than me. After househunting exploits on friday, she then headed back to Worcester to collect some shiny things from the post office for us courtesy of the nice people at Clee cycles. Cue obligatory photo of shiny things...


I was so glad to finally ditch my rather heavy, and rather unreliable superstar seatpost, which was bought in a moment of uncharacteristic carbon lust on my part, and replace it with the 140g beauty in the photo. The gold seatpost clamp added a bit of bling to my otherwise rather plain-lookinh bike, and the gold i-link cables will go on once the current XTR numbers have had the comprehensive "english summer" treatment!

New bits fitted, today was my first go at racing Expert, and i managed to pick a pretty competitive one to start with - the 4th round of the Gorrick Spring Series at Porridgepot Hill. It seemed like everyone was out fine-tuning their race form before the first NPS next weekend, and i can't pretend i wasn't rather intimidated lining up with the likes of Ade Lansley and Gareth Montgomerie. I pootled around the course with the man largely responsible for my racing addiction, Andrew Cockburn, and was rewarded with probably the best Gorrick course i've ever ridden. The only downside was, it was a bit short and lacking in places to eat/drink, and stories of 15m laps from the fast boys earlier in the day made me think i'd gone for the right option to get a decent training race in.

The start was pretty fast, i settled in behind a super-charged Nick Evans (he's always pretty good at shifting it off the line), and somehow found myself quite high up the field for the first couple of miles, and able to keep an eye on the faster experts.

Sadly, the situation didn't last, and my lack of hard session told on me as i dropped back through the field. Paying for my fast first lap, i managed to hit something in the trail on a really innocuous section of the second time around, and do a huge roly-poly into the shrubbery! Having straightened my bars, and shaken the stars circling my head in true cartoon style, i went off in pursuit of the place i lost whilst taking my close-look at the vegetation.

As the laps went by, i started to feel the crash and the high-pace of the opening lap more and more, and by the last time through the longish climb was proving hard to get up in middle ring (in spite of Nick's jibes about his "big ring" - read that how you will!!). In spite of the fact that i was the second-last person to finish, or put a more flattering way, 23rd in the expert race, i still feel like i had a good race - i felt pretty comfortable on my new bike, my descending didn't seem to suffer unduly from the hardtail experience, and the guys ahead of me provide something to aim at!
Full results are up at www.timelaps.co.uk/ if you're interested in seeing how badly i really did. Andrew C. did well to come in 10th in what was a very competitive field (if i do say so myself!). Whilst at the race, i also picked up a nice new set of tyres - thanks so much to Jenny for them, and Richard for delivering them - and sorry i didn't get to meet up with you to say thanks! Hopefully, the weather will be dry enough that they're all i need for the rest of the season (oh, i do make myself laugh sometimes!).

Next up is the Sherwood round of the NPS, the closest thing i have to offroad riding on the doorstep, hopefully i'll be a bit better prepared for that one...can't let Rachel edge ahead!!

Moving home

That's right, it looks like i'm going to be heading back to the flatlands shortly, to relive my formative years of riding through cabbage fields into headwinds. Cambridge is beckoning, and with the start of a new job a mere month away, it's all looking a bit hectic. Rachel and I have done some internet research, looking for places to live, and in fact she's down there right now with some viewings ahead tomorrow. I can only being to imagine how we're going to get all those bikes down there in one piece, let alone into one house...

Meanwhile, i've been making the most of my last few weeks with relatively decent hills to ride, although i kind of got the riding the wrong way round. Yesterday was another lovely lactate session on the rollers - indoors on a nice, sunny and not-too-windy day, with the added disadvantage that my time off the bike with a cold meant that i couldn't even finish the session i had planned. Today, a day of blustery winds and freezing and hard rain was the day for a 4hr ride. Possibly a little optimistically, i headed out in the sunshine with a gilet, but no rain jacket, and of course it wasn't to last! On a nice fast downhill past the entrance to Belvoir castle, the heavens opened, and i was drenched. I gradually dried out on the way back, but freezing cold hands (i was only wearing track mitts - error number 2) did make every minute seem to drag. No matter, i got back in one piece, and thankfully didn't puncture (ever noticed how they happen when you can least be bothered to fix them?).

Tomorrow is a day off the bike, just a bit of core work to stop the Thetford back from striking again, so i'm hoping to head out with the parents for a day out. Fingers crossed for better weather...

Famous at last!

Well not quite, but my "View From the Pack" is now live on: www.xcracer.com/content.php?pid=2555
It looks like I might be coming down with what Chris was suffering from last week. I've an annoying sore throat and am not feeling quite right so am taking it easy at the moment, whilst obviously planning my thesis! Hopefully I can shake it off before the weekend when I get to return the bottling and cheering favour to Chris at the Gorrick this Sunday. Its looking like its going to continue to be busy for the next couple of weeks with visiting old friends over in Cambridge and trying to find a new house for Chris and I, but then I wouldn't have it any other way!

BUCS Photos

I've now put up a load of my photos from the BUCS race on my picasa page - annoyingly i couldn't get the normal picasa uploader to work, so i had to do them five at a time through the website or run the risk of my computer crashing! Argh. Anyway, if you want to check out my decidedly amateur photography, have a look at http://picasaweb.google.com/chrispy913/BUCSMTB2009# . Alternatively, you can see the much more pro efforts of Joolze who was there doing her usual super job of documenting the weekend's acitivities at www.joolzedymond.com . Next race for me is the Gorrick next weekend, which should give me a good chance to catch up with some old mates - looking forward to pinning on a number on a non-Thetford course...especially on my new bike!

Busy few days...

As the title says I've been pretty busy the last few days. I built my new bike on Friday, a little close to the race this Sunday for my comfort. Only had to adjust a couple of things after pre-riding however, so although it wasn't a perfect build I am quite pleased with my efforts. As Chris posted below I had a good race today at the BUCS Champs 2009. I am pleased with the result but we'll have to see how it translates when we get to the NPS in 2 weeks. I have written a full race report which should go up on XCracer.com in the next few days. I'll post a link to the report here when it goes up.

BUCS

Just got back from an awesome Student Champs race, Rachel got Silver in the women's champs, and team silver with team mate Lindsey Hamilton, and the boys took home a team bronze for the first time since 2005. The weather was excellent all weekend, and the course at UK Bike Park in Dorset (check them out at http://www.ukbikepark.moonfruit.com) was superb. Tired now, so will leave you with a photo.

Good things come in boxes...

...Boxes that look like this. That's right, my new frame has arrived, and of course that means that being a bit of a bum at the moment, i've spent today building it up. It's been an emotional experience, involving rudimentary headtube facing, endless inserting the semi-integrated cups, and then removing them again, then putting them in a little further, and the addition of a longer rear-brake hose as highlights. But it's done, and ready for the weekend, and looks like this...


I'm quite looking forward to taking it for a spin around the BUCS course on saturday, and experiencing the student champs for the first time since i became a grown-up (read old fart). It'll be nice to hang out with the guys from Cambridge Uni, who i feel i don't see nearly often enough since i moved home. And there's always the comedy of watching the downhill on the saturday, although i'm hoping for better weather for that than last year.

Sore throat is going away, i'm tempted to go for a short jog this evening, just very gently - it seems like a while since i put some running shoes on, and it's a glorious afternoon for it now. Hopefully i can put in some decent training miles before my next race in ten days time at the Gorrick Spring Series. Watch this space...

Bad things come in threes...

Today's been a bit of a trial, it has to be said. I've been on tenter hooks since this morning waiting for a nice new hardtail frame to arrive with the couriers, but sadly i'll have to wait another day. It feels in a minor way like christmas has been postponed - i'm not someone who goes through loads of frames; when i find one i like i hang onto it and ride it until either me or it cracks; so getting a new one's a big thing to me. Never mind, at least it's going to come tomorrow, which is still really exciting - no doubt i'll get overexcited again, build it up tomorrow, and have photos on here by tomorrow evening! So anyway, that's disappointment number one.

Number two, i woke up this morning with a really bad sore throat - i was a bit snotty yesterday but this was definitely worse, so i'm now onto gargling antibacterial and gallons of lemon & ginger tea. I almost believed that i'd made it through winter without getting sick once, but alas it's not quite to be - at least it's not been like years gone by when i've gone down with throat infections like this time after time. Every time it happens, i wonder if i should have my tonsils out, and every time it goes away fast enough that i decide not to bother - maybe i should get it sorted when i have the time! Nah...

Bad thing number three came courtesy of Nottingham City Council, who towed my car away from right outside my parent's house! I moved it out onto the road so my mum could get out, and in my sickened state forgot to move it back in again before the 1pm parking regulations come into force. Apparently, the dreaded £70 fine has been replaced this week with instant tow-away, so at 1:09pm they towed "ermintrude", my beloved fiesta, away to the local pound. And then charged me £140 to get her back. I can write my sob story to them, and maybe hopefully get some money back - i sure as hell can't afford 140 smackers for such a stupid mistake!



On the plus side, thanks to those lovely folk at Paligap, i did get a new one of these today- it works perfectly, and i can read my HR as well as my power now without wearing my HR monitor separately. Hopefully tomorrow i'll wake up feeling a bit better, with a nice new frame, and my parking ticket will just be a bad dream. Even 2/3 of that would be nice....

Spring has sprung

Spring arrived well and truly today and the weather was absolutely perfect for riding. Having had quite a few days indoors this week doing hard sessions on the turbo trainer it was absolutely wonderful to be outdoors. Chris and I rode together for the first time in a while as he was in Worcester to see "Waiting for Godot" starring Ian Mackellan and Patrick Stewart at the Malvern theatre with me and my parents (highly recommended by the way!). When he is about in Worcester he is always keen to cycle over to Malvern as he is somewhat addicted to riding hills and the Malverns Hills are some of the best you get in this area. The views are beautiful from the top, you can see into Wales on a clear day such as today, and the climbs up to them steep and pretty long for the UK. For some reason I don't often ride in the Malvern direction from Worcester so it was a different ride for me too. It was a great ride with both of us stripping down to short sleeves at some points and the big climb up to the Wyche cutting didn't seem nearly as hard as I expected it to! Hopefully the weather will stay this way for at least the next week.



After a family roast, I fixed a number of things on my training bike that have been needing doing for a while. A little bit of advice and supervision from Chris was required but eventually I had a slightly less broken rear wheel (this one just needs new bearings whereas the other rim was about the collapse!), well adjusted brakes and some new pads on the rear (this required a hacksaw as a previous attempt had rounded the bolts holding the pad inserts in!). All in all a productive day!

Job hunting and crit racing - not perfect bedfellows!

So i'll pick up where i left off - after sore-legged wednesday, i tried out being a bike mechanic for a day on thursday at a shop in Nottingham. Turned up at ten-ish in the pouring rain to be greeted by the store manager, and get my t-shirt and all-important name tag. The workshop was pretty amazing, all the tools you could possibly need, and the other guys in there were great fun - i didn't really notice the time passing thanks to the stream of bikes i had to build and the workshop chatter, and suddenly it was nearly 7pm. That said, i was pretty shattered when i got home, and having done my sums i don't reckon i could really live on the salary they were offering, which is a real shame - otherwise i'd have jumped at the chance.

Yesterday was another trip down to my old home of Cambridge for more job hunting activity, more on that another time. My day started at 7am, with a bit of a dash to get ready and get on the road before eight and join the ranks of the long distance commuters on the A1, oh the joy. Got to Cambridge, had interviews and lunch with some guys, and then dashed on to see a friend of mine who's been in the hospital in Cambridge since monday. Thankfully, she got the all-clear to go home whilst i was there, so a humanitarian mission to move several tonnes of flowers an chocolate ensued. Got home late, tried my best to pack and prepare for my weekend away and the race this morning, then hit the hay.

This morning was another 7am start to get to Darley Moor in time for the race at 10am. I'd never been to the racing circuit before, but i knew the area was pretty hilly, so i hoped that maybe there'd be the odd climb to help me out. As soon as i got there, i realised my hopes were going to be dashed - it was pan flat, and with a roaring headwind on the back straight - not the ideal way to break yourself into circuit racing if you're a 62kg stick insect! I rode the course a few times to get used to the corners, and the feeling of going backwards in the headwind, and then lined up with a huge bunch of 110 others ready for the off. The race itself was a bit of a blur, and my memories are a bit disjointed. In no particular order i remember an amazingly fast start, which caught me a bit by surprise, i remember being astonished that i kept making up places in the corners and losing them in the straightaways, i remember thinking it'd be an hour long and that i wouldn't need to drink, then looking at my watch and seeing an 1h20m, i remember in the closing laps looking round and seeing noone behind me, and i remember the series of last lap crashed that scuppered me getting back onto the group! I rolled in at a sedate pace with another guy, pretty amazed by how brutal my first 3/4 race had been - 1h24m at 176bpm. Hopefully, with more sleep and less dashing around i won't get gapped next time. At the very least i did finish, which is more than quite a few people managed!

I get a bit of a break next weekend, it's Rachel's turn to race hard at the BUCS champs, while i get to pootle around on my bike and hand out bottles - tough times!

New routes, same old legs

I'm trying to make the most of what could very well be my last few weeks of freedom, and today was (i decided) the perfect day to try out a new route sans map. Because of where i live in the city at the moment, i only have one way out which heads along the Trent to Radcliffe, where the options widen a bit more. It does mean that the first 45mins or so can get a bit samey - it's ok on the way out because you have the rest of the ride to look forward to, and actually on the way back it can be quite nice to find yourself on familiar roads to wobble home. Anyway, having slipped off my usual route, i headed out east in search of hills, and was rewarded with some of the quietest roads i've ever seen in Nottinghamshire. And some steep little hills around Belvoir. And even a bit of sunshine. Boy am i going to miss this when i join the ranks of the wage-slaves.

Legs are a bit tired this evening, probably from a combination of long intervals last night (i should have known it wouldn't go so well when the lawn trimmers leapt of the wall and tried to impale me mid-way through the first rep) and then a 4hr ride with quite a few steep hills in today. Easy day tomorrow, and an opportunity to try out life in the working world, i'll keep you all posted as to how that goes! The weekend is looking pretty busy now, as i've got a race saturday morning in Derbyshire, and then i'm off for a cultural evening at the theatre in Malvern - my carbon footprint just got bigger. It's a good thing i cycled everywhere as a student, or i'd probably be justifiably called a carbon terrorist now. Now it's time to go in search of the last slice of lemon meringue pie - there's no such thing as "empty calories" right?!?!

Travelling and training

I would first like to add my welcome to anyone who interested enough to read this blog and thanks to Chris for setting it up and making it look so nice. Chris and I, well mainly me in breaks from writing my PhD, have been reading other people's and thought we would like to add our experiences to the pot.

I've not been in the UK for the past few days as I have been at a conference in Copenhagen. After an exhausting series of long days filled with interesting lectures and chatting to colleagues I returned this morning more tired than when I have been training hard. Well a different kind of tired! I planned to try and run once or twice when I was there but the weather was not good and I thought it best to preserve the little energy I had. One of the perks of having had a few days off the bike however, is that when I returned this morning I was raring to get going with my planned cruise interval session. I spent the day eating (for some reason I found fitting in eating enough very difficult at the conference, non athletes really don't eat as much as I need to now!), had a nap and got on the bike this evening for an exhilarating workout. It makes me really excited for the start of the season when I have a productive hard training session. Its not long now though and I can't wait. My first race is the Student Champs and its only a couple of weeks away. On that note I had better get some sleep ready for a hard days writing and training tomorrow.

Welcome!

Welcome to the Blog - i'm feeling unduly proud of myself for working out how to link picasa albums, so you can be bored by the holiday shots of me and Rachel training in a variety of places, mostly cold and snowy ones. So apologies for the smugness...

Training-wise, today was a bit of a dull one for me - sweating copiously on the rollers in front of videos of the Tour from years ago is not really my idea of fun, but with race season not long away it's sadly a necessary evil. First big race of the year is now less than a month away, and not far from home for me at Sherwood Pines - it's a shame really, as having been in Nottingham for the last six months, i think i've got a bit bored with Sherwood; i find myself riding around yearning for climbs and descents, but then maybe the grass is always greener. No doubt the adrenaline of my first race in the NPS at Expert level will make it altogether more interesting come race day!

This afternoon, i discovered what it's like for less "minority sports" than mtb xc - i went to watch a cross country running race that was being held in Nottm, and boy is it a different experience to what i know. Okay, so people do camp, but there are quite a lot more motor homes, and more amazingly supporter's busses too. Even at the national xc mtb champs last year, there was hardly what you'd call a massive supporter turn out, but these guys had hundreds of people (including me!) out cheering for them - amazing. Having done a bit of xc running as cross training this winter (let's face it, the weather's required a few innovations for everyone!) i was pretty impressed at the pace of the front guys who were running too; it was enough to put paid to any ambitions i might have had of doing one of these events, at least for now. It's all about the two wheels...

I'm planning to get out into the real world on my bike tomorrow, assuming the horrendous winds that are predicted don't blow me straight back through the front door...get a few miles in before my first effort at a crit next weekend over at Darley Moor. From what i've heard, horrendous winds are de rigeur there, so it's all good.

Chrispy