Me, Tom and Nick arrived at Kev’s house on the Saturday afternoon where we met Neal and Jo who were also staying over for the event. We headed out for an easy mountain bike ride on the sweet, tree lined, snaking singletrack before ordering a curry and a few beers to finish off the evening and relax the nerves. The marathon series attracts a wide variety of mountain biker from serious (leg shaving) racer to the chilled out, relaxed weekend riders there for the fun and social aspect, giving the event a really great atmosphere. The extra bonus was the weather behaving itself giving us perfect riding conditions. After the nuetralised start a group of about 10 riders formed at the front pushing the pace and I let myself drift off not wanting to go too hard early on and blow after 40k. After the first descent I caught a Pedal Power rider (James Fraser-Moodie I’m told) and we worked together for about 60k, James pulling away on the climbs and me catching on the descents. We caught a Belgian rider who had legs the size of tree trunks (literally) and we worked together going through-and-off on the road sections. We were in 5th, 6th and 7th position. Me and James dropped the Belgian on the descent at Innerleithen and James attacked on the climb to Minch moor, an attack I couldn’t respond to. I was really pleased with my ride so far but I had made my mistake 2 hours before the start when I decided to use the energy drink at the feed stations instead of a camelbak. An important rule of thumb when racing is never try an energy product in a race when you haven’t tried it in training. This resulted in some quite bad cramps over the last 15km forcing me to stop a couple of times and stretch my muscles out. After dropping 5-10 minutes and 4 places I was able to continue at a slower pace. Luckily I was close to the final descent and tried to make up for lost time by braking as little as possible and scaring myself silly in the process. I finished 10th in a time of 4 hours 15 minutes, 30 minutes off the winner Nick Craig, a (super fast) legend in our sport. Tom claimed 3rd in the middle Marathon and Nick finished the big one in a personal best time. I think many riders will agree that the Selkirk Marathon is one of the best events on the mtb calendar and I will certainly be returning next year.

We arrived on the Friday to heavy rain and set up camp with local North East riders and good friends ‘Treadhunters’. A course pre-ride revealed an 8.5 mile course with 1200ft of climbing, steep, muddy descents with off-camber roots, fast, snaking, rocky, super fun singletrack pieced together with short fireroad sections. A good challenging course made more technical by the rain and mud. After sign-on we all settled down in our mini-race village for tea and a chat about the event to come. As the rain came down on the Saturday morning I decided on a fairly short warm-up before sneaking in behind the lead-out car. I knew that getting into the singletrack near the front was important to avoid the bottlenecks, so I latched onto Ian Nimmos wheel and stayed there. I knew there was a potential to ride 6 laps each so I chose a pace that would allow me to do just that. I came into transition 1 minute behind the leader, whipped the transponder off my ankle and onto Jason’s for him to head out. Our friend Kev had come over from Selkirk to help us out which made a hugh difference. Kev would clean and lube the bike whilst we got clean, changed, fed and stretched ready to go out again. This was the set-up for ten hours of racing. The rain fell for most of the day making the course very muddy while we focussed on riding consistent laps and not making mistakes. Our mini-race village was great as there was always someone to talk to between laps. I must say that Clair’s banana bread is one of the best pick-me-ups for a long race, I will be putting an order in for more when I’m heading to a long race. I decided not to check the leader board when I heard the mc announce that we were in the lead by some 12 minutes. When I asked Kev he was rather sheepish and came out with his trademark saying for the weekend ‘anything can happen’. After hearing about his experiences and misfortunes (broken bikes, snapped seatposts, dead night lights, unreliable team-mates) in long endurance races I would definitely say that I agree. After my 5^th lap I was especially tired and heard the news that due to the conditions of the course and the fading light the event was being shortened by 1 hour. Relief flooded through me and then I realised that if Jason had no problems on his final lap we would win. We headed over to greet him joking that we might strap my head with a bandage and send him out on another lap…….evil I know J Like a deer in the headlights he didn’t know what was going on, looking around confused before we could get the message across that it was all over. The prize presentation was completed after some ‘music artist’ had destroyed some well-liked songs. We stoked up the bbq and sat under the e-z-up sheltering from the wind and rain and downed a few well deserved beers.

Big thanks to no fuss for an excellent course and event, a great ride from my team-mate Jason and flawless support from Big Kev (he’s 6 foot 7).

The title might suggest that I’ve only been training at 25% but this isn’t the case. A lot of my training has been in the North York Moors over the last few weeks and I’ve lost count of the amount of 25% gradient signs I’ve seen. Last week was a 50 mile Mountain Bike epic out to Blakey Ridge and back via Danby and Commondale. You may think that 50 miles isn’t very far, but off road with 6800 feet of climbing is certainly enough for an all day ride. I’ve done this route several times and it’s a cracker, the singletrack is sublime! The week after I opted for the road bike and headed out to Rosedale then onto Goathland (yes, that’s where they filmed heartbeat). It was this route where the hills really started to bite, climbing these hills on mountain bike gearing is a lot easier than using road bike gearing. With an mtb you can set a fair tempo and tap it out, on a road bike with 39×25 you have to push hard. Some of the descents were great fun but the grin was soon wiped from my face when I realised I had to gain the height back. Goathland was a welcome sight and a quick re-fuelling of cake and coffee and I was on my way again. Lythe bank was on the list of hills to climb but my legs had other ideas so I opted for the A171 back to Guisborough. I certainly wont be forgetting that route in a hurry.

This past weekend was my first real opportunity to ride the Dalby World Cup XC course ahead of Nutcracker round 3 this coming weekend. I hadn’t ridden the course since last May so I was keen to get a couple of laps in. I met Niall there and we set off for some fun mountain biking. The course had changed slightly for the World Cup back in April and we had to stop and ride some sections a few time to get the correct lines dialled in. At race pace it’s going to be a very physical course. We lapped the course twice then continued onto the 24 mile red route, stopping for a coffee to perk us up. It was a hot day and we ended with 4 hours in the saddle. Not perfect preparation for the road race on Sunday.

With the weather forecast not favouring us, me, Rob W and Chris W headed to Northumberland expecting a wet race but didn’t see a spot of rain until 15 minutes into the journey home………bonus! The race was for 4th cat’s only and had a big field of 70 riders on the undulating Scot’s gap course. With 3 laps to complete it wasn’t a long race but one I felt a break could work. I made two big attacks on the first lap but had no-one for company so sat up. The pace was quite brisk and I policed any attack by going with them. By the end of lap 2 it was obvious that it was going to be decided on the final climb of Middleton bank. At the bottom of the climb I was in the wrong position and soon realised my legs didn’t want to play anymore so tried to gauge my effort to the finish line. Chris W was well placed at the start of the climb and went with the lead group to finish 7th making that his best result ever! Excellent work my friend! Saying that he did bugger all during the race so I’m not surprised he felt quite fresh…..good race tactics if you want a result.

It’s Nutcracker 3 at Dalby this Sunday and I’m looking forward to riding one of my favourite xc race courses as fast as I possibly can.

Last week I ventured up to Fort William for a 13 hour round trip to a 10 hour Mountain Bike Race by the name of 10 Under the Ben. I was a guest rider for a local Mountain Bike Team and we entered in the Senior Male Trio Category with Richard and Nick as my team mates. Simple format, 10 hours, the team that rides the most laps in 10 hours wins. A Le Mans start was used to thin the field out and I was given the task of first lap and soon found myself in a group of 4 at the front of the race. We hammered round as fast as we could to hand the timing chip onto our team mates. 5 minutes before the end of my lap the heavens opened and Nick was out next, not looking too happy I might ad. The race went without too many hitches apart from my rear suspension feeling rather loose with the rear triangle nearly falling off my bike. Richard was nice enough to let me use his bike for my last lap but it was a little bit small and cramps soon started to tell me to stop pedalling. In the end we finished 2nd in our category and celebrated with a few beers before falling asleep completely spent! Credit to the organisers as it is definitely one of the best events I have ever done, the atmosphere was great and everyone was having a really good time.

This past weekend was Round 2 of the North East Nutcraker MTB XC series near Richmond. Saturdays temperatures reached about 24 degrees and Sunday dawned much the same. I must admit I’m a lover of the nice warm weather so me Nick and Jason headed over early in anticipation. A practice lap highlighted a course that was half farmland and half woodland singletrack, not fantastic considering the riding we have in the area but ok. I caught up with a few friends milling around the event and got ready for my race. The Elite/Expert/Junior and Sport categories were rather small and we set off at a good pace headed by the Elite Hope rider Paul Oldham. Myself, Niall (another expert) and Jo (Junior) managed to hold onto the pace before the steep hill when the elite’s rode away. Niall and myself raced together for 4 and a half laps taking turns leading at the front of the expert race. At the start of the last lap I decided to just push as hard as I could and see what happened. I knew Niall was really strong as he took 2nd in a National Points expert race a couple of weeks previously. I managed to open a gap on the second section of singletrack and kept pushing to open it further to take the win by a margin of about 30 seconds. It felt great to take my first expert win and to be on the podium for the second week in a row. I had some great support from my friends with encouragement around the whole course. In the afternoon race Jason took 4th (again) in the veteran’s race just missing out on a podium. It’s great to have cross-country racing back on the North East calendar and I look forward to the next round at Dalby Forest on the World Cup course. Now that the Arthur Caygill Road race at Richmond has been cancelled I need to find another race to do.

My last week in Bloem was a nice one and it was pretty emotional leaving everyone. Me and Arien were invited to a braai of lobster tails by one of the guys we ride with and my new mates in the bike shop were extra nice to me even though the cake I’d promised to make ended in disaster! (I blamed the altitude). Leaving Betsy and Arien were partially hard, like leaving my second home, I’ll really miss those warm evenings having dinner outside and putting the world to right, meeting each other half asleep at 4.30 to ride in the dark, and I’m not sure how I’ll survive without my weekly dose of Grey’s Anatomy!!

The weekend just gone we raced in Peter’s Bay, North of Durban. I’d travelled from Bloem and spent a night on the sea front in Durban in ‘Faulty Towers’ Hotel. Durban was a whole new experience and culture I found fascinating. I did get a bit lost riding and found myself saying a few prayers as I rode though the taxi ranks but, as everywhere I’ve being, I found the people so friendly. Sitting on the beach recovering from a near drown experience where I lost my goggles, bobble and dignity trying to ’surf’ the mammoth waves, I started chatting to a guy in his 40s who was looking at the sea for the first time in his life! He asked me if you could drink the water and having had half the ocean up my nose and mouth I advised against it!
The race itself was a fast 80km with the men. No one was letting anything get away and even though one of us was either creating attacks or jumping on moves it came down to a technical sprint finish. I narrowly avoided a crash and chased onto 3rd wheel round the last bend just to see another girl flying round the outside and winning the whole thing. I was 2nd, 4th overall. While the girls had a long drive back to J berg I had the treat of joining my parents back in Durban for a few days of holiday: with some painful jogs on the beach replacing the riding, another battering in the sea, and plenty of kooksisters and meaty braais!!

Catherine

This weekend just gone was the 25th Herald Cycle Tour down in Port Elizabeth. We’d driven down on Wednesday so had rode the last 60km of the race and had done plenty of swimming, restaurants and shopping (thats when I generally disappear to an internet cafe!!) I discoved on this trip the high standards our manager has for the team. We arrived at this house, sea views but miles from anywhere. The house had dead cockroaches lying around, the sheets didn’t look clean and the bins were full…. just what you’d expect in Italy really for a woman’s team and far nicer than last year’s team house!! We stayed there one night while the boss made other arrangments and we ended up in this luxury bed and breakfast with big fluffy towels, fans and fantastic breakfast!
The day before the race we did a few publisity things, riding along with the kids race and joining in the family ride which was clearly a race for a few guys. I talked to one whose bike had cost £20, his kit at least 20 year old and his helmet something from a musuem!

The race itself was pretty frustrating. In a field of only 40 or so we had 8 riders so had tactics of attacking in 2 s and spliting it up. The attacks lasted over the first climb but the bunch was only thinned down a bit and instead of wearing out others we ended up losing 4 of our girls. Over the second climb I attacked and we had a group of 6 or 7. With 3 girls from one team and only 2 from ours we sat on and waited for our team mates to catch back. The race was pretty slow after that, our team did all the attacks but the others are strong enough to close it down then sit on. I got away once but no one tries to jump across, one or two girls just drag everyone up. Towards the end we caught an earlier men’s group and the finish was another hectic one. Perfect for me, felt like being back at Croft and 10 metres from the line I thought I might have had it just to be overtaken by 2 sprinters, one who won a race earlier on this season and the other the Swedish Champion. 3rd was still a good result but we came here to win and the team was a bit disappointed, not with me but with the failiure of trying to split it up. I had team mates finish 4th and 5th so at least we have a bit more prize money to share out! That afternoon we had a photoshoot for the website which should be up and running soon.

Next week 5 of us fly to Cape Town then its the Nationals, my tan is coming on nicely and I’m teaching the girls a bit of Yorkshire, their English is far too posh!

Iworked out whilst i was stood in the factory during my final days of work that i have lost around 220 hours of sleep this winter and stood on my feet for around 800 more hours than i would have liked. As well as spending many more hours in my garage staring into oblivion than i would recomend to anyone.. I am also aware how sad i am to have worked these things out.

But, it turns out for the time been i am a full time bike rider, which i must say after only 3 days, it is so much easier!! fitting training around working full time is a killer and for those who do it all year round, as well as having families etc, i dont know how you manage. To be i honest i cracked big time last week!!!!!

I SALUTE YOU!!!

This training/rsting/eating/training/sleeping is the business. Since Friday i have only stood on my feet to go downs stairs and too the garage for my bike.

Anyway, the Ferry is booked, yes booked, we are going to France,my parents are driving me over on the 21st february and i cant wait for the season to begin now. Speaking of which my first race is looking like it will be at Croft motor racing circuit on 20th Feb, weather dependant………. Im going to miss that place this summer, what ever will i do with my Tuesday nights???????

This will be followed by an interclub race, my first in France on 27th Feb – Plaintel-Plaintel. The day afte my 21st birthday………… So im not exactly going to be celebrating my 21st in the ‘traditional way’. Then the ‘real’ racing beggins in March

The snow has made an unwelcome return to the North east this week as well, couldnt believe it when i woke up on saturday to the roads white over Arrrgghh!!

I very nearly booked a flight to Spain but then thought about how hungry i would be with no money in August …… no flight to Spain then!! Althought to be fair the main roads have been fine and the suns been out so all is good and its much better than training in the dull wet weather we usually have.

Anyone watch the Tour down Under last week???? Was good to have some racing on the T.V again. A bit of inspiration and all that. Not sure im a fan of Sky and to be honest and im not to convinced that wiggins can win the Tour, be up there ? yes, Win? No

Personally, im Fan of the Schelck brothers and think Andy may have what it takes this year.

So there you are, things are taking shape nicelyfor the season, a not too shabby winter in the legs, bit more higher end work in the coming weeks should turn these winter legs into ripped racing legs

And finally, my Basso is just about ready to ride when i get round to getting some tyres on

Not sure when my next interneting might be but think the results and updates will be on www.konicaminolta/cycling.com. Not sure if its updated yet but hopefully it will be soon.