Race Blog – 2017 PMBA National Enduro Championship – Graythwaite & Grizedale

Graythwaite is a little known hamlet close to the Western edge of Lake Windermere in the English Lake District, Cumbria. But for four days it was to play host to hundreds of riders and supporters when the PMBA Enduro Series brought their National Championship race to the area. The race would also double up as a qualifier round for the 2018 Enduro World Series. This meant that there was a most excellent mix of grass roots riders and elite / supported riders.

Friday allowed practise of the stages in the Grizedale area (S3-S8) this put 23 miles and 4,300 ft of climbing into the riders’ legs. There was a complete mix of trails, Stage 3 was pretty short, dry fast singletrack with stumps, rocks and drops to negotiate. Stage 4 had a few sniper roots in the trees before opening out where you had to dodge tree stumps, cross the fire road and a free ride section of the Grizedale black trail gave you jumps and kitty litter corners. Stage 5 was steep and loose before opening out towards the bottom where it became fast with blown out corners. Stage 6 was again flat out and dry with a couple of areas with multiple line choices to make you think. Stage 7 was a boggy, rooty hell that was claiming many a scalp, but had a scenic last section through bluebell woods out to a flat out grassy field finish. Stage 8 was a rocky chute full of loose stones and big boulders. Team rider Mark made a sacrifice to the Gods of Bikes in the form of his On One Codeine, he managed to snap both chainstays and the rear axle on an innoccuous compression onto a fire road on S4. Fortunately for Mark a very generous friend allowed him to borrow a bike so that his race weekend could continue.

Saturday was practise in the Graythwaite area (S1, 2, 9 & 10), an easier day that provided a basic loop of 7.5 miles and 1,700 ft of climbing, but many riders opted to session stages for a second or third time. Stage 1 started with a few rocks and roots that could catch you out, a steep section before the trail flattened out to a fast breeze through open woodland. Stage 2 was much of the same, where finding flow was difficult. Stage 9 had a couple of steep and technical sections around the mid way point, each with B Lines (or chicken lines), the general consensus was that the chicken lines would be faster come race day. And finally stage 10 had one tough little climb, before a tight technical little descent, quickly followed by ‘The Wall’ a 10m high bank that riders would have to run/push/crawl their way up. Just as their lungs were exploding there was a flat out section of double track followed by a couple of grassy turns and the KS Drop into the finish arena. There were three options to drop in; big for the stylish lot, medium for the gung ho amateurs and a rollable option for the less confident. After a careful recce i was wary but confident enough to hit the medium sized drop. Sadly I hit it a bit slow and landed nose heavy. My front tyre came right off the rim and gave me no ability to ride it out. So down I went, luckily a commando roll and a steep soft landing meant I walked away from the incident. I just needed to fix the bike and psych myself up for the next day’s riding.

Race Day on Sunday threw all ten stages together in a 25 mile loop with 5,300ft of climbing. As a stand alone day out, it would be challenging, but with two days’ riding already in the legs it was a big ask and required the riders to dig deep, conserve as much energy on the transitions as they could to give it full beans on the descents. Start times were seeded, meaning we couldnt ride as a group, though we did manage to ride in smaller groups and of course met new people as we transitioned around. The weather remained dry, except it occasionally became cold and the wind had certainly picked up. Meaning exposed areas and jumpy segments had to be carefully considered, especially the final drops. Putting full race runs down felt much better than the stop start nature of the practise days, so the smiles were progressively growing. 

My stage 1 was pretty awful, less than 20m into the stage by bars twisted backwards, so i had no choice but to stop and tighten them. I then rode the rest of the stage like an idiot, crashing every hundred metres or so. Stage 2 had a tree hugging incident which meant i had to reset my stem. Stages 3 and 4 went pretty well though. I think after I had relaxed I was able to find my flow a bit better. Stage 5 was very steep and mid way down the steep section I stalled briefly and had to unclip. I couldnt clip back in so opted to run down the rest of the steep section. I pushed as hard as I could to the finish but the time had been lost. Stage 6 was flat out. I started Stage 7 well but there were some areas that were just impossible to ride, so once again i was giving it the full on Linford Christie until the ground was firm again. Stage 8 was again flat out and clean but I was pretty cautious. Stage 9 pretty much went to plan, I stalled a couple of times but it was a clean run. Last but not least stage 10 was clean and i marched up the wall as fast as i could muster. All but the smallest drop was taped off due to the wind so I just hit it and pedalled!

I was disappointed with my final result. If i factored out the dreadful first stage I would have only improved by 20 places or so. I just wasnt fast enough, even on the flat out stages. Obviously I need to grow some balls and let off the brakes more! Its just three weeks until the next major race, being the Welsh Gravity Enduro’s Welsh Open Championship at Dyfi Forest. I best get some technical practise in!

Race Blog – Welsh Gravity Enduro Series – Round 1 – Afan

Over the winter i’ve been riding my Cotic BFe hardtail. I wanted to give my Bird Aeris a break from the slop and use the opportunity to go back to basics and learn how to ride a bike without 150mm of ‘get out of jail’ on the back end. So when I was looking at races early in the season, i thought screw it, i’ll ride the BFe, should be fun! Part of me saw an opportunity to get a good result in a relatively small category, expecting that hardtail racers would be newbies who haven’t yet taken the plunge and spunked a few grand on a full sus, not realising the only people who race hardtails are actual lunatics!
My first race was Round 1 of the Welsh Gravity Enduro Series at Afan. An isolated area of South Wales, 20 minutes North of Port Talbot. I didn’t know what to expect of the trails, I certainly didn’t expect trails straight out of the Colorado Desert! Usually races at this level with select some all weather trail centres stages and other fresh cut off piste stages. This race featured three stages of stone and rock, a novel change from the norm, but presented it’s own challenges.

Stage Map

I camped in the van on the saturday night, in the hope I could get a decent night’s sleep before the race, sadly the wind and hail was like “not round by ‘ere butty!”. Feeling like death and with the prospect of a 4 hour drive home after the race I was keen to get up the hill early and get finished. I had a game plan, but that soon went out the window when I heard people’s experiences from last year’s race. The Mash Up format is well designed for grassroots racing, allowing riders the opportunity to re run stages to improve on times, especially valuable if you mess something up or crash, the limiting factor is usually fitness and endurance.

The view from half way up to Stage 1

So, up the hill I headed, with a sense of purpose, leaving other riders in the wake of my hardtail pedalling efficiency. With just three short stages there wasn’t a great deal to think about, it was just a case of pushing hard and not over cooking it and coming a cropper. I started with a run at stages 2 and 3, two very exposed stages that headed straight down back to the trailhead. Stage 2 started in the trees and just as you left the cover there was a cheeky little technical rocky climb. From there it was rocky drops and turns finishing with a balls out sprint finish. Stage 3 was hell on earth and a hardtailer’s worst nightmare. With very little flow and extended flat rocky sections that just set about snagging your rear wheel, you really had to grind it out to keep your speed. Towards the end were some sizeable drops and features that needed consideration on a hardtail, opposed to the full on attack had I been on a full sus.

Stage 3 was a lick!

Back up the hill I went to find stage 1, only to be greeted by a great long queue. So there we stood, shivering. By the time I got to the start of the stage my legs were stiff, my fingers and toes were numb and I had lost the sense of urgency that racing requires. After the stage I looped around for another go at stage 1, but the queue was now somehow twice as long! I chinned it off in a huff, happy with the lines I took, but disappointed with the lack of energy and urgency I displayed. This would prove my downfall, but I simply could not have stood in the queue for another 20+ minutes. On the way back I rode Stages 2 and 3 again. I made a pig’s ear of S2 nearly heading over the bars right at the finish, but my S3 felt better having hit some better lines over the drops and technical areas and given everything on the flat rocky sections.

The hydration belt prevented my back getting too sweaty.

Throughout the morning the wind was picking up and the snow / hail was coming down thicker. Fortunately most of the climbing was done with the wind behind us, however there were significant stretches of trail that were into the wind. There is literally nothing more demoralising than turning a corner during a race stage, only to be stopped dead by the wind and having to grind your way out in an aero tuck to the next switchback or area of cover. The ground was getting increasingly moist and some corners were feeling the effect of hundreds of riders roosting them apart, all of this was degrading riders’ ability to improve their times as the day went on. For this reason I finished my race just after midday after just 2 hours on the hill. I felt tired, I was demoralised by the weather and I was reluctant to get wet again after having dried out over a hot coffee and lunch in the cafe.

Live times when I decided to sack it off.

At this point I was surprisingly sat 3rd out of 16 riders. With the prospect of a podium spot I kicked my heels for half an hour or so before someone nudged me back into 4th. I decided to make a move and start my drive back accross the country, feeling very contented with fourth, but feeling quite vulnerable I checked the live timings every hour or so when I stopped for a toilet break or a bite to eat. To my dismay I was slowly dropping down the rankings as lads were heading back up the hill in the miserable weather and somehow improving their times! I ended the day in 7th, still a respectable result for my first race on a hardtail, but I can’t help thinking I could have improved a couple of places had I rerun stage 1!

Standings at the end of the day.

As always with the WGE, the race was well organised, a fun format that allows you to race with your mates and have another go if you foul a run up. I will definately race the BFe again, it was brutal, but so much fun and rewarding. Here’s looking forward to the next round!

Ride Blog – Nan Bield Pass – 08 Jan 17

My wife was working in the lakes so I decided to join her and take my winter hack. A Cotic BFe 275 with Shimano XT / Zee drivetrain (1×10), Zee brakes and 160mm RS Pikes. There a several classic Lakeland rides on my riding bucket list and Nan Bield Pass is one of them. Today was a great opportunity.

We were staying in Ambleside so I made the journey to Staveley and battled along the narrow singletrack road to Kentmere and beyond. At this time of year and with the prevailing weather conditions there aren’t that many people out and about, so I was able to get parked at my preferred start point by Stile End. After devanning and kitting up I headed up the track past Stile End’s little complex of farm buildings up and over the brief starting climb with double track descent down into Sadgill. A pretty basic descent broken up with a couple of gates, you could have a bit of a play by skipping about and jumping off some of the little features in and around the trail if you so wish.

Once at Sadgill you need to get your head (and legs) into climbing mode as a 4km long, 400 vertical metre climb awaits you. The savvy mathemeticians will know that is a 1 in 10 incline and the first 2km only climbs 70m! I couldnt ride it all, I doubt anyone would in these greasy conditions, the man made bits of the trail give you little traction  under rubber, you would certainly have no chance to stip if you were to ride in the opposite direction! The target was Gatescarth Pass where the first proper descent began. Towards the top you get a reel feeling of remoteness. At this point I had been in the clouds for a good 20 minutes, but there was a brief respite as the clouds around me cleared briefly and I was able to survey my surroundings. Stunning open mountain areas, like a giant moonscape. As I reached the top of the pass I actually had sun on my face for a few brief minutes. As it became overcast once again I began my descent towards Haweswater. A typical lakeland bridleway double track, with plenty of switchbacks, loose rocks of various sizes littered the track so picking your line was essential. Towards the bottom you could pick up some speed before a gate brings you to a premature halt. 100m or so further on is the bottom of the trail and the car park at the head of Haweswater. Drink your weak lemon drink, now! And eat your block of malt loaf. You’ll need the energy for the next phase of the ride!

 

 

2.3km and 410m of climbing with your bike on your back! The trail, which is supposedly a bridleway, is too steep and technical to ride, not wide enough to push your bike beside you and even with your bike on your back is tricky to navigate in cycling shoes! It was all made worthwhile though for the views back down the vally to Haweswater. It flattened around Small Tarn (an uninventedly named small Tarn, a small lake sat in the high ground) but was at its steepest in its final stages before you finally reach Nan Bield Pass. At the top of the pass there is a stone shelter to protect passers by from the typically strong and cold southerly wind that whips its way up the Kentmere valley. Three quarters of the way up the final climb, just below the cloud base, I had taken a photo that would make a great GMBN sumbission, looking back past Small Tarn to the head of Haweswater in the distance, seconds later the cloud descended and engulfed me. It stayed that way until I was well into the final descent.

I had hoped to take a photo of the final, iconic descent for this Blog’s cover photo, showing the series of switchbacks followed by an elongated trail stretching off into the distance, but it just wasnt to be. I put my spare jacket on, consumed an SGS energy gel (with caffeine) and had a piss. All in double quick time. It was bloody baltic and I just wanted to get down ASAP! Straight into the switchbacks I went, but they were tight and steppy, plus the loose slick rocks were greasy in the foggy conditions. I wasnt man enough to try and ride it all, opting for the marginally safer option of dismounting and walking down some sections. As disappointed as I was, I had to recognise that I was on my hardtail, I was alone, I had no phone signal and there was no bugger else about. If I had had a big OTB I would have been in a bad way, freezing cold and miles from help. Eventually I managed to find some flow and let the brakes off. The rocky chutes and trails were soon swapped for grassy (and boggy) sections, which made identifying the trail in the fog pretty damn difficult, especially with eyes watering. A well trodden rocky trail son re appeared and I continued on, a couple of small climbs broke the descent up until a short climb took me back to the van.

So as far as early January rides in the Lake District go, today was pretty awesome. I ticked off a bucket list ride, I navigated in high mountain terrain through dense fog, i carried my bike for over 2km uphill and rode some challenging technical trails. 10 miles in approx 3 hours. During busier times you will likely need to park up in Kentmere or Stavely which will add a fair few road miles to the start and finish of the ride, and a bigger group will need to account for varying riding speeds and mechanical issues. It can quite easily be a full day out!

Mountain Bike Orienteering; It’s a thing!

The Peak District in Derbyshire is the nearest area of natural beauty to me. I ride there often and am always interested in what is going on within the area. When I saw a post highlighting upcoming events in the Peaks it piqued my interest and I investigated further. Most of them were Cross Country (XC) style events, covering large distances with little to challenge the mind, just the body. But one thing stood out to me, an event just a couple of weeks away by Dark & White Events entitled Mountain Bike Orienteering (MBO).
For those of you who are far cooler than me, let me explain the concept of orienteering. You are given a map with checkpoints highlighted, each checkpoint is given a points weighting. The further away the checkpoint and the more difficult it is to get to, the larger the point score. You are given a time limit, in which you must return to the event HQ and ‘dib in’. There are penalties for lateness, but more on that later…

This was the first of four rounds making up the Winter Series, starting in the centre of Chapel En Le Frith. A small scout building housed the event HQ, with registration, a couple of local maps and a tea and biscuit station for after the race. The  first real surprise was that you dont get any planning time. They dont give you a marked up map until you start your 3 hr countdown. I had great plans of plotting time and distance details for each leg. Instead you enter a blind panic and hear the clock ticking in your head. With twenty something checkpoints to chose from you simply had to plan on the move, not so easy when you’re trying to ride a bike, look out for traffic, navigate to the first checkpoint. In retrospect, pausing and plotting my route round the first few checkpoints would have made life much easier. I decided to head to an area that I know pretty well. Part of the Jacob’s Ladder circuit, from The bottom of Rushup Edge, through Roych Clough and eventually dropping off the high ground into the small villages to the West of Kinder Scout. From here i worked from point to point navigating one leg at a time, working to a vague plan.

Although it wasnt raining it was overcast, cold and blowing a gale from the West. I started off well, catching some guy that had started well ahead of me and dropping a guy who started behind me. But I hit a stumbling block when I accidently paused my Garmin GPS, meaning my stopwatch monitoring my 3 hour timeframe also halted. I lost track of time and although I thought I had missed around 25 minutes, it ended up being much more. With this in mind I was aiming to get back to the HQ around midday, knowing I set off around 9am. After I had been to around 10  checkpoints i was looking at my final leg, heading back towards the HQ, but there was an enticing checkpoint carrying 30 points (as opposed to the 10 / 15 / 20 points that most other checkpoints carried). This was my biggest mistake. It was an error of judgement pushing out to that checkpoint. It nearly killed me pedalling / pushing the undulating terrain to reach the checkpoint. At which point I had no other choice than to take the main roads back to the HQ, missing out additional checkpoints that could have been easy pickings.

I arrived back thinking I may have been 5 minutes or so overtime, accepting the minor penalty for such lateness, however in reality I was over 20 minutes late! To my absolute dismay I incurred a penalty of 110 points. I had only bloody clocked up 165 points for my 3hr 20min pedal! I was gutted. Although I hadnt pinned my hopes on an excellent result, I am a competitor, and I knew this would sit me right near the bottom of the results table.

Since I have had a few days to reflect on the race, I am split as to whether I would do another of these events. It is a million miles from any Enduro race I have done. Although well organised, the people were no way near as friendly as Enduro riders, some would even ignore you completely. There was little if any technical riding, despite being on my hardtail, it was still completely the wrong type of bike to undertake the type of riding carried out. Many riders were on narrow tyred XC bikes. Despite 40 PSI in my tyres my 2.35″ knobblies were far too draggy, the only advantage I had was during the briefest of technical descents around Roych Clough. The benefits of this event for me were that I got a good ride out on my bike in the Peaks, I learnt some valuable lessons regarding time management and navigation under time pressure and I got some exercise. So maybe I will be back.

If you are interested you find a link to the website here; http://darkwhitecycling.co.uk/mountain-bike-events/winter-trailquest/ 

Race Blog – 2016 Ard Rock Enduro – Swaledale, Yorkshire

It seems like nearly a year has passed since I woke at 5am eagerly anticipating the release of Ard Rock 2016 tickets. That’s because it WAS nearly a year ago! I logged onto my iPad and pressed refresh on the tickets page exactly as the clock ticked over to 6am. What ensued can only be described as a melee, as tickets were available, then sold out, only to become available again a few minutes later. I was so desperate to get tickets for 2016 and yet the process was so stressful and frustrating. Luckily i was persistent and managed to have a successful transaction before I had to leave for work with a sore ‘refresh’ finger. 

Santa Cruz’s EWS rider. Jamie Nicholl joined us for the Friday practise loop.

 
Until now, I hadn’t ridden in North Yorkshire. I dont know why, perhaps it just isn’t as well publicised as other English riding spots like the Peak District and Lake District, so I didn’t know what to expect as I headed north on a sunny Thursday evening. As I left the A1 and headed towards the spine of the country, the Pennines, I entered some remote looking moorland, some of which I had seen before whilst on exercise with the Territorial Army. As I arrived at the postcode provided for the event location I saw the dominant Fremington Edge, stretching off into the distance with grassy slopes, crags and scree fields aplenty. It was certainly aesthetically pleasing.

Army Enduro Team riders arrived throughout the Thursday night and first thing Friday morning, travelling from around the country, looking for the big red Army gazebo which indicated our location next to the main arena. The best thing about the forces is the camerarderie, no matter how few times you’ve met someone or how long it’s been since you last caught up, the banter and friendship is always strong. This event was a mid season addition to the race calendar. An opportunity for a relaxed racing environment and a couple of beverages thrown in for good measure.

A colourful flock of Birds.

The three closest stages were opened up for practise on Friday. Once everyone had arrived, we registered and began the pedal up towards stage 1. Initially up a disgustingly steep tarmac’d road and then onto grassy moorland, it was an absolute lung buster. Egos were definately at the fore front of people’s minds are they struggled up the climb, desperatly wanting to stop and push, but bravado ensured the legs kept spinning. Eventually arriving at the start of stage 1, we needed a game plan. Without the option to section stages down and session them to identify racing lines, we attempted to ride the stages slowly (ish) to try and spot the lines. Difficult on 3+ minute stages and when there were so many features and line options on each stage, but some familiarity was better than none. It was more a case of looking to spot where time might be lost rather that where it could be gained. The obvious points were the Alpine style switch backs and slow sections crossing through walls. Also knowing when to pedal hard and when to just relax, pump and keep off the brakes made a big difference. The practise loop, stages 1, 2 & 5, was still 12 miles long with 2,300ft of climbing. We had plenty of time to take in another lap, but we figured time was better spent with bike cleaning, faffing with psi and resting the legs. Of course the bar would also be open by the time we got back down!

On saturday morning there was a palpable buzz, riders waking up to the sound of the commentator, having camped beneath the stunning scenery, surrounded by thousands of like minded people and with the anticipation of riding some awesome trails. The weather would turn out to be friend and foe, clear skies with a mild breeze gave stunning views and nice dry trails, but the forecast was for temperatures to rise, so riders would need to stay hydrated to be able to complete the full loop. I rose early to see off the other Army riders at 0810. Sadly I wouldn’t be racing alongside them this weekend. We signed up for the Ard Rock way back in October 2015, long before I had been selected to represent the Army for the 2016 season. So today I would be riding with my buddies from Mega Ride On MTB Club, setting off at 0955. Due to a busy race schedule I have hardly ridden with these boys this year, so it was really good to catch up with them. Afterall, they taught me how to ride, not in the traditional way, but by relentlessly taking the piss out of me for riding slowly. Banter and verbal abuse is an incredible motivator!

The trails were dry and running fast. Some areas had evolved since the practise run, scree and kitty litter being shifted into ruts and dry mud turning to fluid dust. The threat of punctures from the multitude of jagged rocks was always there and sadly a few friends succumbed to them. On every stage you would see several riders pulled up fixing their bikes, so the rest of us were relieved to avoid the dreaded hiss. The five stages were all relatively similar, but shared the feeling of natural, steep, gnarly British riding, without having to force the ‘natural’ theme like a lot of Enduro races do.

Stage 1 started with some open grassy sections, but before you knew it you had your seatpost up and were spinning up a brief climb and into a relatively flat section, soon enough though gravity again gave an assiting hand, taking you down on a meandering run that eventually took you into the tree section. In the wet this would be a highly technical muddy and rooty section, but in the dry could be attacked at full chat. A few of us got caught up behind a train of middle aged gentlemen seemingly out for an afternoon roll around the countryside, none of whom were interested in shouts of “pedal”, or “rider” from those if us who were actually racing. This was the penalty of being able to ride with your mates and not being seeded.

Stunning views. But they could only be appreciated during the transitions.

The pedal up to Stage 2 was even worse than the initial climb. My mate Loz had a point to prove though and was hell bent on pedalling up the entire thing. Something reserved only for super heroes and XC world cup riders. Yet somehow Loz managed it, the bloody lunatic! The rest of us mere humans opted just to push, afterall there were no prizes for fastest pedal up the transition. The stage itself started with a brief pedal, but quickly descended into steep, Alpin style switchbacks before opening out and allowing you to pick up speed riding accross the contours. You had to be fast, but wary of those ever present ‘sniper’ stones, lurking in wait to bite at your tyres. The stage ended with a section that was difficult to keep your speed and flow, you had to pump a lot and avoid stalling on one of the many big rocks in the multitude of rock gardens. I passed a couple of riders on this stage who very professionally moved asisde as I approached them.

As we began the transition to stage 3, I foolishly thought to myself, “well done Greeny, two stages down, no crashes and no mechanicals”. Low and behold, the Gods of bikes were listening and somehow Lee and I collided, resulting in Lee being jettisoned into the scrub and me with a bruised hand and forearm. We dropped down to a river and then began the neverending climb up to the top of the other side of the valley. We passed a pub en route, but as we were so late starting we felt we didnt have the time to stop and chill for a bit. Stage 3 was pretty much 100% stone. Boulders, rocks, pebbles, kitty litter and a hard pack fire road sprint finish. I nearly came a cropper as I came over the brow of one particular feature, wherre the trail also turned to the right, I had a complete lack of traction, followed by an “oh god!” and sticking my foot out. Luckily there was a photographer present to capture my amateur moment. At the end of the stage was the feed station, we hastily took on extra water and scoffed haribo and energy bars like naughty children raiding their parents cupboards.

It was a little loose in places!

The heat certainly took it’s toll in dehydrating you and causing premature cramping and fatigue. The transition to Stage 4 was when it started to affect the legs. At this point I was just riding with Alec and Lee as the other MRO guys had dropped back during earlier transitions. Its great to ride with mates, but there comes a point when you have to think about yourself. We each had to tackle the final few transitions at our own pace, which meant we were a little strung out, but always regrouped before each stage started.

The race loop ended up being 26 miles and 4,500ft of climbing, a mean day out on the hills!

I was very happy with my final result (188/1736 five stage finishers overall standings, or 72/398 five stage finishers in the Masters category). One thing that was apparent was that not everybody was there to race. Some were just out for a weekend riding with their mates, taking the opportunity to escape family life and ride some gnarly trails that would normally be closed to the public. This was to the detriment of the racers, on satge1 I got caught behind a train of 6 riders bimbling along the trail, completely disinterested in moving aside for a faster rider. On each of the other stages I overtook 3 or 4 other riders who had kindly let me past after shouting “rider, when its safe”. This was the downside to unseeded races, but the benefit was being able to race alongside your mates.

There was fun to be had in places!

Now it was all down to the saturday evening entertainment. The bike was washed and lubed, the beer was flowing and there was a great mood from all of the riders. Sadly we heard of a couple of riders having to be airlifted off the mountain, but that wasn’t going to dampen the party mood. There was live music, food and beer aplenty. You could strike up conversation with whomever you stood next to as you all sgared a common bond of bikes, it was gone midnight when i crawled into my van. Unfortunatley it was about 3am when i had to crawl back out of it. The wind had picked up and the tentate within the camping field was taking a hammering. The Army gazebo was robustly pegged into the ground, but it risked being damaged such was the power in the gusts, so we drunkenly disassembled it before retiring once more. 

It was gone 10am before i woke again, dry mouthed and sweating. The sun was back out and my navy blue van was rapidly increasing in temperature. It was time for a coffee, some breakfast and start the long drive home. I had had a great weekend of amazing trails and wicked company. I can’t wait until next year!

Race Blog – Welsh Gravity Enduro Series – Rd 5 – Eastridge

With many options of great quality riding right on their doorstep, it is easy to see why there are so many top level riders coming out of ‘The Shire’. Although the Welsh Gravity Enduro Series (WGES) is classed as a Regional level event, everyone attending this race knew that there would be some big names lined up to win bragging rights amongst the other ‘Mons’. Hence why nobody was surprised to see ex World Cup Downhill racer and GMBN presenter, Neil Donoghue, putting his kit on and pedalling up the hill.

 

The race worked on a Mash Up format, whereby all three stages were open for 5 hours and riders could race the stages as many times as they wished during that time. I was initially a bit sceptical of this, as my main race plan is to ride well within my ability and get down each run safely. With the mash up, it allowed riders to push themselves harder, and if they made a mistake that cost them time, they could ride back up and try it again. Luckily the weather helped me out. I managed to get a set of relatively tidy runs in before the heavens opened and slowed everyone down.

The Army train’s a comin! Matt and Joe heading over the road crossing on Stage 3.

The stages used well established trails and they were advertised a couple of weeks in advance of the race, giving the local lads a bit of an advantage, but the change in weather was a bit of a leveller. It had been relatively dry in the run up to the weekend, but in true MTB racing fashion the day before the race, the heavens opened and dumped enough rain to mean bike set up, race tactics and riding styles had to be changed. The race day itself started sunny, but there was a dark cloud looming above the horizon, like that nasty smoke in Game of Thrones, but how would it affect the racing?

 

Stage 1 – Big Log

This was the longest stage, and also the most pedally. We chose to hit it early whilst our legs were fresh. It started relatively flat, jagged stones and wet roots forcing you to be careful with your line choices, and making it difficult to keep your speed up. A couple of technical sections and drops to flat meant you needed to watch your speed and then the climbing ensued. Up, then a bit of down, then up again, and down again, and then the big one. Grab a granny ring, stick the seatpost up and spin out for a good 20 seconds or so (which felt like a lifetime), before finally reaching the final steep descent. There was an obvious line through this section, but a look the day before afforded us an alternative line, which was tricky to stay on, but basically straight lined the last few features. Frustratingly the finish line was some 10m or so around a corner and up the fireroad, which meant you needed to navigate a flat turn, which just became muddy and sketchy as hell!

 

Stage 2 – 93DH

Starting right next to Stage 1 lead to some confusion as to who was queuing for what stage. Just 30m or so into the stage there was a bit of a conundrum. A massive stump with a dirt ramp was the straight line down the trail, but the general consensus was to pedal around it as too much time was lost on the way up the ramp and the subsequent land to flat (or worse, jagged stones). From there the stony trail with occasional roots twisted it’s way gently down the hillside. A small double that was better pumped or ridden around and then a couple of choices into some key turns. Each of which I kept getting wrong, losing my momentum and speed. A root garden lead us to the road crossing to shouts from spectators and other riders alike and presented us with a bit of gravity to help build speed. The infamous Big Log eventually appeared and you had to be careful to avoid the off camber roots and pump around the log. A fun rooty section with optional jumps took us to the finish line.

Lining up at the start of Stage 3

Stage 3 – Student Champs

This was the most gravity fed stage, and the nearest thing to a National level race stage. The top was pretty fast with a couple of little kickers to send or pump as you preferred. As you neared the first road crossing, a couple of root gardens meant line choice was key to maintaining momentum. Off the road was a drop into a grassy breaking zone, which soon became rutted on the ‘sheep line’ exposing some rocks and obstacles that were catching riders out and either sending them over the bars or through the tape. The trail then became steep and technical with rock drops, tight turns and a little road crossing. It was a battle to get down this section cleanly in the dry. When the rain came around midday it became a whole lot more difficult. At the bottom of the steep section, just as you were blowing out, you still had a few hundred metres to get to the finish line, down to a stream crossing, spinning up the other side and then a sprint through couple of grassy turns (and ruts) into the finish arena.

On the way down the bottom half of Student Champs, before the rain came.

 

I managed to get a clean run down each stage before the rain came down, this gave me a bit of an advantage over others who may have made some mistakes on their first runs and needed to go back up to rectify their errors. I went out for a second loop in a bid to improve on my times, but apart from a pretty insignificant improvement on Stage 1, I was hampered by the increasingly wet and muddy trails. I made a bit of a schoolboy error on my second run of Student Champs, allowing my weight to shift forward when my front wheel got a bit caught up and I ended up on the floor, wrapped up in my bike. I probably lost 20 seconds, so scrapped the run and trundled back to the finish arena.

 

I finished the day 37th out of 82 riders in the Masters category, giving 115/237 overall. I was pretty damn happy with being in the top 50%, in both my category and overall, considering I was racing against a lot of local lads, most of whom also compete at National level.

Great to see my mate Jim Buchanan grabbing a podium. 2nd is his highest ever finish.

All in all it was a fun and interesting format that really worked with just a few stages. The trails at Eastridge are awesome and well worth a visit whether you are racing or just out with your mates. There was a good buzz around the arena and it was great for me to have so many mates in attendance. I will definitely be booking on to the return visit for the Winter Series later in the year!

Sadly at time of writing I have just found out that Round 3 of the UKES is cancelled due to the organiser Neil’s personal circumstances. I hope its nothing too worrying and he can get back to organising the next quality event. This puts a hole in my diary that I will have to try to fill with some quality training.

Many thanks to Brendan Prudom of Faber Photography UK, for a couple of the photos.

 

Dirty Bird. Note Student Champs in the background.

 

Race Blog – UK Enduro Series – Rd 2 Crychan

My Round 1 result was a DNF! Absolutely not good enough! There are expectations on me this year, there is competition for my place in the team. Come on Greeny, you need to rectify this. My Rd 1 result brought extra focus to my Rd 2 race, I simply had to get a result, but not just any result, one that was competitive with my fellow team riders and my own expectations.

This guy  was showing off around the Race HQ all weekend!

 

The team riders had spent the week running up to the race, riding in North Wales. The annual exercise for the Army Cycling Union brought team riders alongside other members of the cycling union to ride together, creating an environment for learning and improvement. The whole week was progressive and challenging, the firm, manicured trails at Coed Llandegla gave us the opportunity to gauge fitness and technical abilities. Day 2 took us to Dyfi Forest to explore some of the off piste UKGE stages from years gone by, giving a step up to steep and technical trails. Some riders struggled, but in time and with some coaching from team riders, they were all building in confidence and speed. The summit of the week was reached on the Wednesday when we visited Revolution Bikepark. The trails had been battered by the winter weather and recent races. Braking bumps, ruts, big steps in the steep terrain. All of which really tested the riders and their equipment. Sadly this resulted in some broken bikes and broken riders. Thursday took it down a couple of notches as we headed for Coed Y Brenin to hunt out the best downhill segments, without having to pedal around the entire Beast trail, a truly miserable affair. Friday was an admin day and gave the team riders chance to rest the legs and travel the 240 miles South to Triscombe in Somerset.

 

The entire week had blessed us with beautiful sunshine, but low and behold, as we travelled south the heavens opened and the rain came. Pretty much all day Friday and through the night it rained. but when we arrived bright and breezy on Saturday morning the sun was back, although slightly hampered by a few ominous looking clouds.

Army representative riders alongside riders from the wider Army who we always encourage to join us in the pit area.

 

On Saturday There were 4 stages open for practise first, then in the afternoon racing. The loop was just under 10 miles and we had the flexibility to ride them in an order of our choosing. Stage 1 started off pedalling amongst the heather on a tight section of single track, the trail opened up to a straight section of draggy grass before it eventually started downhill and you could pick up some speed. Before you knew it you had reached a fire break crossing and the mid way marshall point. Into the trees and the mud and roots began. The ground was pretty cut up and it was difficult to maintain flow with very little gravity helping the wheels keep turning.

 

Stage 2 was the complete opposite of Stage 1. All the gravity to could want! In fact there was arguably a little too much in places. The stage started off fun and flowy, with a couple of kickers to grab some air and grin factor. As it neared the bottom of the stage the ground became steeper and the freshly cut section appeared in all its moist rooty glory. This stage continued to evolve all weekend and every time you rode it there were new roots and obstacles appearing.

 

Stage 3 was the majority of rider’s least favourite stage. So much so that on Sunday morning the transponder at the end of the stage mysteriously vanished meaning the stage had to be scrapped. The stage started pretty well, flowing and hopping through the trees, only requiring the occasional pedal stroke to keep you up to speed. It wasn’t long though before you appeared on a fire road and were expected to sprint, uphill in places, for a good few hundred metres. Rider’s fitness was really being tested at this point. And just when you were completely hooped the trailed re-entered the trees and became very steep and technical. A few steep switch backs later you appeared at the bottom of the stage to the sight of exhausted riders amassed in silent protest, unsure as to whether they enjoyed the stage or not.

 

The final stage of the Day, S4, was the furthest stage from the race HQ, and the most technically difficult of the day. Starting with a flat, boggy sprint, a couple of kickers were there to be squashed and feared rather than jumped and enjoyed. dry switch backs and an off camber dash out into he open gave you an opportunity to catch your breath before the muddy, steep, technical section began. I just took my time in an attempt to stay on y bike through this section. I knew for sure that it would catch riders out all weekend due to the high number of hazardous roots, tree stumps and wheel grabbing holes and ruts.

 

I managed to finish the day as the fastest Army rider, two thirds of the way back down the field of riders, but you know what, first and foremost I am racing against my team mates and other potential representative riders. improvements against the rest of the field will come over time.

The freshly cut sections were like riding through a jungle!

 

The Sunday racing was made up of six stages. A repeat of S1, 2 & 4 (remember S3 had to be scrapped due to the ‘missing’ transponder). S5, 6 & 7 would be ridden blind. Main Team rider Joe Robson joined us for the Sunday racing, he had spent the day Saturday walking the trails and watching riders tackle the more technical areas. This gave him a good advantage for the Sunday. It’s one thing to ride a trail, but to break it down, section off the technical areas and watch countless other riders make mistakes or exploit advantageous lines is of great benefit. Although there may have been a little shower overnight, we woke to more lovely sunshine.

 

Stages 1 and 2 didn’t go very well for me. I think nerves and a bit of pressure from leading the Army field got the best of me and I had trouble in the slower, muddier areas of these stages. I rectified that on S4 though with a good flowing clean run through the root gardens of death. Sadly S4 caught out Army Team mechanic, turned occasional racer, Pete. He had a bit of an off which resulted in a gash to his lower leg. Secretly I think he was happy he had done enough pedalling for one day and was glad to have an excuse to extract back to the comfort of the pits.

 

Stages 5 and 6 were pretty similar in their construction, an initial sprint before gravity took over. They were well established Downhill stages that were running fast due to the dry hard packed ground. This was probably the reason for limited tape to guide riders down the correct lines, but lack of tape causes its own problems when riding blind, trying to spot and hit your line whilst looking up to navigate through the trees, all at speed is very challenging, good tape just gives you a helping hand so you know where you’re going. I had clean runs and managed to let the brakes off quite a bit, meaning I logged good times for these two stages, helping once more to offset the poor times from S1 & 2.

 

Stage 7 wasn’t opened until early afternoon, planned to allow the movement of marshalls about the course. The result was that quite a queue had built up at the start of the stage, so we decided to try and walk the stage to identify features and spot some lines. Quite a few others had decided to do the same, so when the riders eventually stared coming down there was quite a vocal crowd around some of the more technical features. As you can imagine hilarity and heckling ensued. The main significance of Stage 7 was near the start, where the ground was quite open. There was an established trail that wound its way down through the trees, but the taping was very sparse. This allowed riders to exploit the rules by taking very wide ‘Strava’ lines and essentially straight lining about 100m of trail. This would save 10-15 seconds over anyone following the beaten trail. I was quite happy to exploit this ‘racers’ advantage, but the majority of the Elite contingent thought it morally wrong to log a time. The result was that a 20-30 rider train came down the stage and an immediate protest was put into Neil Delafield, the event organiser, who just so happened to be stood at the bottom of the stage. The outcome was that Stage 7 was scrapped and hopefully the feedback on taping lines will be taken on board. This was really sad, as S7 was the most enjoyable stage of the race, a good mix of gentle and steep terrain, with some pedally sections and other technical aspects.

Some of the roots on Stage 2 were brutal.

I finished the weekend as the fastest Army rider in the 2 Day event. Joe Robson, riding in the 1 Day event, smashed us all with his times, ending up just seconds off a podium. That’s why he is a Main Team rider! I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend’s racing, the weather certainly helped, but the trails were varied and interesting, but most of all they were all rideable and you could push yourself and actually race the majority of the stages.

 

The next round takes us back to Crychan Forest in Wales at the end of May, Neil said he has taken on board comments from the first two rounds, so we all really hope for another enjoyable weekend’s racing.

 

Tyred n Cranky Facebook page… https://www.facebook.com/Tyred-n-Cranky-101128410243802/?fref=ts

 

Army Enduro MTB Team Facebook page… https://www.facebook.com/armyenduro/?fref=ts

 

 

Race Blog – 2016 UK Enduro Series – Rd 1 Crychan

“I haven’t spent enough time on the bike through the winter and my fitness isn’t good enough.” are the words that kept cycling through my head during the four and a half hour drive to Llandovery, South Wales, just North of the Brecon Beacons. Fear and excitement were battling for dominance but either way I was happy to be heading towards my first race weekend of the season. This would be my first National level race event and my first race wearing the Army jersey. I was definitely feeling the pressure.

 

The sight that met me on arrival at Sennybridge. Team kit and equipment from our supporters laid out on a good old Army bed!

Friday was spent tavelling and erecting our pit area. The entire journey accross the country had been in various shades of mist and low cloud, yet just 5 miles from the venue the clouds cleared and blue sky and sunshire bore down on the beautiful rolling hills of Wales. Sadly it didn’t last the entire weekend, but it did stay dry! We had been allotted prime position in the event village amongst the race sponsors and vendors. Being a relatively small event village we got a lot of passing traffic and interest. I was really good to see and speak to some other serving soldiers and some old and bold ex servicemen. We also interacted well with some of the event supporters and exhibitors. My friends from the ‘Shire’ were also in attendance, camped in the Enduro Magazine gazebo. All in all there was a really nice friendly vibe around the whole event.

 

Stage Map for Crychan Forest Rd 1

Saturday morning started early. We had expected it to be quite hectic at the 0800 registration opening time, so started the 30 minute drive from Sennybridge Camp at 0730 having already been up for a shit, shave, shower and some nutritious breakfast. To our surprise there wasn’t much activity when we arrived and the morning was all pretty relaxed. Stages didn’t open until 1000 with just 4 stages being practised and raced on the Saturday.

Le poseurrrrr!   [Credit Scott Tomblin]

The format was quite unique in that for each round there are two race options, the 2 day option of practising and racing 4 stages on the saturday followed by 6 stages on the sunday (no practise), or the 1 day option of turning up Sunday morning and racing all 6 stages blind (not literally, blind racing means no chance to practise the stages ahead of the race). The majority of the Army team were participating in the 2 day races, but some joined us for the sunday only. As it happened the Sunday stages were mainly repeats of the Saturday stages, but as the trails were constantly evolving they continued to be a challenge.

 

 

Martin and I about to head off on our practise lap.  [Credit Sureen Thapa]

The Saturday consisted of 4 stages that had to be run in order. Stage 1 started just up and around the corner from the event village, on a brief fire road climb, so most people felt as though they were racing cold, having not really had much time to get their legs warm and move the bike about before having to battle nature’s minefield of roots and stumps. There’s no real point in me describing each stage as they were all very similar in their theme; Almost entirely off piste, some pedally sections but generally plenty of gravity to allow them to flow. There were some very steep areas and lots of off camber sections that really tested your bike handling skills. The trails were constantly evolving with more and more roots appearing from beneath the loam. They were the most technically challenging trails I had ever raced. Only Glentress and Innerleithen had come close for me, but I haven’t raced there.

 

My Saturday went relatively well. I didn’t ride as well as I could have, too many occasions of both wheels sliding out on the off camber roots, leaving me laid on the floor and scrambling to get back up. But no major incidents. Everyone, including the preened gods of bikes that are the Elite riders had been struggling to get totally clean runs in, so I wasn’t beating myself up too much. I was however adamant that I must improve my times on Sunday.

This corner eventually turned into a root garden, impossible to navigate without dabbing or lying down.

 

Saturday night was spent down the road in Brecon. Pub grub and the England Rugby on the telly box gave us an opportunity to bond a bit. The team is pretty well established but being a newbie I was a bit out of the loop, so it was nice to be able to chat to the other guys about work and life, rather than just bikes. I carb’d up and stuck to Coke (the Cola version) all night to ensure I wasn’t going to bip the next day.

 

Crazy cambers everywhere

 

Sunday started much the same as Saturday, but now knowing the score, we had a more relaxed start, arriving at the venue a bit later. The event village was a little busier today as many of the one day racers arrived.

 

The Sunday stages could be raced in any order so we took a calculated approach trying to plot the most efficient way around the course whilst hitting the more technical stages early (assuming they would get cut up and more demanding as the day went on). There was one stage that we hadn’t seen yet (S5) but had heard it was pretty pedally. What an understatement!

 

Sadly my race ended on the penultimate stage, when I had a big OTB resulting in a suspected bruised Rotator Cuff and meant I didn’t have the strength to hold myself on my bars on the steep stuff. So I wished my colleagues well for their last stage and limped my way back to the event village. This also meant I clocked a DNF; All that effort for nothing!

 

Driving home from the event I had time to reflect. Never had I ridden a race that was 100% off piste, usually they incorporate some sanitised trail centre sections. This was some of the gnarliest, yet rollable, riding  I have done, and in a race environment was bound to crashes. I guess I should be thankful that nothing was broken and I should be mended in a couple of weeks. It also highlighted that I need to find somewhere local with gnarly off piste action to get some more training rides in. Eventually the lighter evenings will allow me to get to Wharncliffe mid week. But really I need to find somewhere within 30 mins of my home.

 

I now look forward to the Army Cycling Union’s riding camp in April and Round 2 of the UK Enduro Series at Triscombe.

 

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Army Enduro Team Training – Bikepark Wales – Jan 16

It was 6am and 5 degrees below freezing when I woke up shivering. I was shaking so hard the coat hangers in my cupboard were rattling a cacophony against the MDF sides.

Beautiful sunrise from the van, the photo doesn’t do it justice.

It was 180 miles from my home to Merthyr Tydfil, the home of the UKs most popular MTB uplift facility, Bikepark Wales. We were due to meet at 0845 so to avoid getting up at ‘Sparrow’s Fart’ in the morning I chose to drive down after work and park up in my camper van. I found a secluded spot close to a 24 hour McDonalds, perfect for a hearty, nutrient filled breakfast! My alarm was set for 7am which would give me plenty of time to make the meeting time and factor in my post slumber sluggish work rate, in packing away and making the van suitable to drive again.

 

I arrived bright and breezy, shortly followed by the Managers of the Army Enduro MTB Main and Development Teams. Scott Tomblin is the Main Team manager and Secretary of the entire set up. Andrew Setchfield is the Development Team Manager. Both have had significant and successful military careers combined with years of riding and racing Mountain Bikes. Once the trail centre was open we would sign on, receive a briefing from Scott and head up on the uplift vans to begin the day’s riding.

My Bird Aeris posing for a photo before the first descent of the day.

 

My role for the day would be two fold. Firstly, as a Level 2 MTB Leader I would be assisting in supervising and coaching the less experienced riders to ensure they were riding safely and within their abilities. Secondly I wanted to enjoy myself and get some feedback and coaching of my own from the established team riders. The morning began by splitting down into groups of supervisors and novices and heading off onto the Blue runs to warm up.

 

The group containing team riders and members of the Army Cycling Union.

 

We started with the new Blue trail ‘Terry’s Belly’. 4.1km of fun flowy hardpack trail that takes you right the way from the top to the bottom. Due to the freezing conditions we headed off pretty gingerly, waiting for the synapses to start firing and our brains to switch on to the job in hand. The trail meets a couple of fire roads on its was down. At the first of such we stopped briefly to tweak the suspension settings of one of the novices. 4.1 km is deceptively long, but the trail team have thought about this and put a “Rest Area” half way down. We used this facility to take a quick breather, stretch of some of the muscles that had already started to tighten and regroup with the other riders. After a brief conflab to make sure everyone was OK we headed off. The trail has plenty of berms and little kickers to get some air if you wish, but most kickers would send you to a flat landing, so I chose to pump them. This is somewhat harder on your legs, akin to doing a couple of hundred squats. As I neared the bottom my quads were screaming for a break, right around the time that we emerged from the trees into the open and a couple of frozen puddles provided an unwelcome lack of grip in key areas of turns. I was following Setch at this point, so when his back end stepped out over an ice patch on the entry to a berm I couldn’t help shouting in fear and then joy when I realised he had managed to regain his position and keep on riding. Demonstrating great reactions and bike handling skill at speed! I’m sure his bum had been nipping somewhat, as there was no soft landing beside the trail, just a drop of a few metres into the bracken and saplings below.

 

The rest of the morning was spent slowly working through the Blues and onto some Reds. Generally the trails were running pretty sweet, but in places the ice hadn’t been able to thaw so was pretty sketchy. As a result we took it pretty easy to avoid undue injury, but that didn’t reduce the grin factor. Bikepark Wales is such a good facility, well made trails to suit all abilities, providing real progression and training opportunities.

 

Dropping in to Pork Belly. A Black run in the lower part of the Park.

 

The uplift drivers break for an hour at lunch so we all piled into the cafe to warm up our frozen fingers and toes and consume burgers and chips like true athletes. It gave us a chance to reflect on the morning’s activities and spin dits of derring do and near misses. There were also a few mechanical issues that needed attention, including my cranks, again (see my Blog on the social ride in Sherwood Forest). The plan for the afternoon was for the Army Team riders to break away and spend a bit of time coaching and working on their own skills.

 

The bigger drop on Fifty Shades of Black. Drops into a steep chute, rapidly building speed before entering the trees.

 

We had a run down Vicious Valley and took the opportunity to get some photos done on the mini road gap and then proceeded back up the hill and on to Fifty Shades of Black, the newest of the Black runs. The trails at BPW are honestly graded, so black means black. Difficult and technical trails that require a good standard of bike handling. On trails such as this there is usually a small but difficult ‘qualifier feature’ in this case it was a little gap jump. I am not a great jumper and at this point of the trail there wasn’t much assistance from gravity to get some speed up, I ended up heavily casing the landing but managing to ride it out. Note to self, more speed required! As we proceeded forward the riders ahead of me had congregated at a heft road gap that was pretty much landing to flat, followed by a step down with a left hand berm shortly afterwards. We had a look and analysed how we would ride such a feature, depending on our skills and bikes. In a race we may encounter such obstacles. Getting off and walking around is not an option, so you need to work out whether you need to grow some balls and ‘send it’ or scrub some speed off and roll down the feature. After watching a couple of the guys land heavily to flat I decided to roll down both features. The next sizeable feature was a couple of berms down the trail and consisted of a 1.5m (ish) drop into a steep chute. If you hit it with speed, you might land 5m or so lower than your take off point. I had a quick visual recce and then rode off it comfortably. The only other significant feature was a sizeable rock garden (read boulder garden), which again just needed a bit of eyes on before riding to choose the right line. Aside from some medium sized drops and techy rocky sections.

Having survived Fifty Shades of Black and now feeling pretty tired and cold I decided to call it a day. Finishing a tough day’s riding in one piece is always a privilege and I didn’t want to push my luck by squeezing in another run on tired legs and arms and ending up like this guy…

 

Oh look… a penny! ungh nurgh.

 

 

All in all I had a great day out. It’s always a please to ride at BPW, the weather was good to us and I got the chance to ride with and learn from some very capable riders. I’m looking forward to the next training day, whatever that may be.

 

Credit for the photos goes to SSgt Tink Taylor who sadly leaves the team to concentrate on bigger and better things.

 

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Stanage Edge Loop, The Dark Peak, Derbyshire. Jan 16

The weather had been cold for a few days. Very cold. And snow was promised for the weekend. Better still it was due to snow on Saturday but Sunday was expected to be dry. We headed over to stay with friends in Matlock an Saturday evening and the frost was beginning, but it didnt start snowing until nearly 10pm. We thought the weather had shifter and we might have a miserable day ahead of us, but as it turned out the snow had stopped by the time we rose from our food induced coma’s.

We woke to crisp air and crunchy snow, loaded the vans and headed to The Inn at Fox House. A popular location for walkers, climbers and riders to park up for the day so they could finish with a beer and food, we knew it would fill up fast, so arrived early. Our wives dont really ride, so they had chosen to go for a run. Leaving Spike and I with the opportunity of a quiet day out without having to listen to white noise from the long haired colonels.

 

The plan was to hit the Stanage Edge descent and make a loop out of it by passing by Lady Cannings Plantation, Bamford, Hope, Brough, Shatton Edge and Hathersage. We werent sure how the snow would be under rubber but were pleasently surprised when we found it to be quite grippy with good traction. There were a few people out so the snow was being packed down by boots and tyres alike. As we headed North towards Lady Cannings it was nice to see the range of people out and about on such a beautiful day.

I had read a lot about Lady Cannings Plantation, the very first crowd funded MTB trail in the UK. Headed up by Cy from the bike manufacturer Cotic and opened by Steve Peat himself, it is a blue graded trail just over 1km long but is said to be flowy and fun. I am yet to ride and today wouldnt be the day I did. Sadly the trail was struggling to drain the recent deluge and was being ruin due to the amount of traffic riding it whilst it is in disrepair, so the trail team had enforced a closure to allow it to dry out before they can go about repairing the surface.

 

We passed on by heading towards Redmires reservoirs, which incidently will be the location of the next crowd funded trail (RADmires) which has recently started raising funds. The freezing wind was picking up and was whistling towards us as we climbed up and around the reservoirs. We had only ben out half an hour and already my toes had lost their feeling! I tried all sorts of tricks, like pedalling on the uplift (clipped in) and wriggling my toes like crazy, but even with two pairs of socks they werent going to warm up until I was out of the cold. The rest of my body was toasty warm due to the amount of layers I had on, and the fact that we had been climbing since we left the carpark.

Eventually arrving at Stanage Edge we were caught behind a group on hardtails who had to pick our way past, which didnt allow us to attack Strava times, but the trail was reassuringly grippy so we could push on where possible. Spike actually managed a Top 20 time, crazy considering the conditions! We were keen to get over to Hope for a coffee and cake in one of the many cafes, but I insisted on a brief photo stop and to take in the beautiful wintry scenes. It was pretty much all downhill into Bamford and a couple of short climbs to Aston eventualy led us to Hope where we could strip off the cold and wet (with sweat) clothes and enjoy some treats surrounded by more riders. It was pretty miserable putting the damp clothing back on half an hour later, but neds must. Sadly it wasnt long after the stop before we were climbing again. Not giving the rich flapjack time to settle!

 

Shatton is a pretty apt name, as that is exactly how I felt. Burping latte and flapjack whilst grinding out a fire road climb in icy conditions, is not my idea of fun. It certainly didnt look this steep on the map! It didnt help when a couple of Land Rovers heading off for some Green Lane fun forced me to pull over and dismount. Getting back on the bike was a chore so I had to push for a while. My legs were glad of the change in cadence but my toes were refreezing after the briefest thaw in the cafe. Spike is much fitter than I am, so he was just a dot in the distance, a bright blue and orange dot.

once we were up we had to circumnavigate the summit before dropping down towards Hathersage, unfortunately a wrong turn had us heading the wrong way so opted to push along a footpath, big mistake! It was a single track footpath, not wide enough to push the bike, so in the shoulders it went. It was also well trodden so boggy and slippy! Wearing clipless shoes made it like walking through margarine, in clogs! Eventualy we made it into Hathersage and picked up the main road that would lead us back to Fox House. This section WAS as steep as it looked on the map. I just stuck my head down and grizzed out the five mile climb home.

 

I was totally licked by the time we got back to the van, changing into dry clothes was emotional as I felt muscles aching and straining. I was relieved to finally get in the pub and enjoy a juice next to the blazing fire. All in, we had a grand day out. 27 miles in 3.5 hours was exactly what I needed. Great training and preparation for the upcoming race season.