2nd place at Southern Regional XC Champs

Southern Champs was a big target of mine, last year I won the elite title. Sunday morning my focus and determination was sky high, I wasn’t going to lose the title without a fight. A pre ride of the course revealed a familiar track through the bluebells of Wasing Estate. On race day you know fairly quickly how your body is responding to the efforts, even during practise, on Sunday riding the track felt almost effortless.

You can see my video from practise here:

A strong field of elite riders had gathered including the regular Southern XC Series competitors plus a few additional extras like John Whittington and professional cyclocross star Ian Field. From the start gun I leapt into the lead along the first flat fireroad drag, I never looked behind but could still hear people on my wheel. Taking the left hand turn into the first climb I accelerated again, hoping to cause my rivals some pain and knowing if I was first into the singletrack I could recover before the next climb. Out of the singletrack I put in another big effort.

During this race I could feel that my training was beginning to work, the pedals kept turning and as a result the gap to my rivals grew. Eventually I looked over my shoulder, Ben Sumner had joined me. Going into the second lap I let Ben take the lead, only for a short while though, I wanted to ride this race at my pace. Half way through this lap Ben Sumner crashed on one of the many tough rooty sections. It was a little too early to be leading this one out alone but I had no choice.

Onto the third lap and the red and yellow colours of Ian Field could be seen steadily closing the gap. A little mistake was enough for him to close up on me and take the lead. His 29er full suspension bike was making easy work of the rough trails but I was making back time on the open fireroads and climbs. Eventually on the fourth lap the elastic snapped, a 10 second gap grew and Ian could be seen ahead managing the gap.

With a big lead over third place I slowed the pace on the final lap beginning to think about the following weekend’s race. Crossing the finish line Ian had a 30 second lead, and I was a further 1 minute 30 up on Ade Lansley in 3^rd. To lose the Southern Champs title was a disappointment but the form is good, the motivation is high, and this coming weekend there’s a National Marathon Championship title to fight for.

You can see my post race video thoughts here:

Post race thoughts at Southern Champs - 2nd place

Gorrick 100 Report

This past weekend was the Gorrick 100 enduro at Swinley Forest. Last year I won the big 7 lap distance and this year I was returning to retain my title, win the race in my new race colours, and test my form ahead of the National Marathon Championships. The 10 mile lap was surprisingly dry thanks to the excellent work of the race organisers who built many of the weather resistant trails in the area.

I filmed a little preview video you can watch here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iU3GoNrvBgs

Lining up on race day the field was smaller than in previous years, probably due to the recent poor weather putting people off. The numbers may have been down but the level of competition was high, within 10 minutes from the start there was a lead group of 4 which included Tim Dunford, Jamie Newall, George Budd and myself. Behind us were the likes of Ant White, Josh Ibbett, and Jay Horton who were chasing hard.

George and myself rode a strong pace splitting the group, leaving just the 2 of us in the lead. George was attacking the climbs making me suffer but I held on knowing there was only so long he could ride the climbs that hard. Our first 3 lap times were faster than anyone else could manage, including the much shorter race distances; this left us with a decent gap to 3rd place so on lap 4 we eased off the gas. By lap 5 I was suffering from the early pace we’d set but it was clear George was suffering more as he was noticeably slower on the climbs.

On lap 6 George was hurting and no longer able to assist by doing any work on the front in the wind. From this point on he was a passenger holding on for as long as possible edging out a gap on Tim who was still chasing in 3rd. Mid way through that lap the elastic snapped, the gap opened and I was alone in the lead with 15 miles to go. On the remainder of the lap I increased the pace testing my strength and setting a faster lap time than the previous 2 laps. The last 10 mile lap flew past, I knew once I’d ridden the steep climbs on the first third of the track it was almost mission accomplished.

Congratulations to George for finishing second and fighting for the victory and to Tim Dunford who finished third.

You can watch my race video here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y13JqMHdmo

And my post race thoughts here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3_5qmtmXbY

Training has been going well over the last few weeks and this race win gives me good confidence ahead of the National Marathon Championship in 2 weeks time. Before that I’ll be attempting to retain my Southern Championships title at Wasing Park this weekend.

Gorrick 100 race video filmed on Mountain Trax's demo GoPro

Video thoughts following todays Gorrick 100 race win

Preview for tomorrows Gorrick 100 enduro

British National Cross Country Series Round 2

Over the last few years I’ve always been a little bit nervous heading up to Dalby Forest to race the World Cup circuit. However this year none of that nervousness existed; this has its positives and negatives. The positives were that I wasn’t scared of the circuit, its technical features were no longer an issue and Saturday practise went smoothly without any problems. In practise I was feeling strong and confident ahead of the race. The negatives of having no nervousness is that perhaps I was a little too relaxed about what lay ahead, even the heavy rain and wet slippery conditions couldn’t phase me. A little nervousness is also sometimes good for getting the adrenaline going.

Wet skies greeted us on the morning of the race but the team were well prepared with shelter for race preparation and warm up already in place by the time I arrived at the arena. Race warm up went well with the heart rate achieving good levels and the legs feeling light on the pedals.

The worst of the course was around the arena field which had turned into a proper mud fest. The large elite field sprinted into the first corner but the scene was more like a car drifting scene with everyone going sideways as any grip from our back wheels disappeared. I lost some positions during the start loop being boxed in around the first corner on the field. A quick start is crucial at Dalby with the tight singletrack making it very difficult to overtake, queuing through the first few trails was frustrating and not where I wanted to be.

During the early laps conditions around the rest of the course weren’t too bad apart from the isolated spot. On the early climb I was riding well making up time overtaking riders. On the descents the 29er wheels were making easy work of the rocky terrain; however it was impossible to overtake and make any real progress. The time I was making up on the early short ‘sprint’ climbs wasn’t enough to counter the time lost on two longer climbs at the back of the circuit. On the longest climb I really suffered, some seated high intensity climbing work needs to be done before the next hilly race!

It was great having support out on the track, Mountain Trax rider and Dalby local Calum Chamberlain was out in the forest with friends shouting much needed encouragement. Also team director John Newport did an excellent job in the feed zone providing me with nutrition throughout the 2 hour race. Over the 5 laps the course conditions deteriorated but the fine setup skills of the Mountain Trax mechanics meant my Santa Cruz bike was in the best possible condition to tackle these difficult conditions. Unfortunately my legs weren’t as well prepared for the day’s racing; positions and much time were lost on the 2 long climbs.

27th in a stacked international field full of full time athletes chasing the UCI points from the category 1 race was the best I could achieve on the day. Combining training for both cross country and marathon style racing is difficult, however I’d still hoped for a better result. 27th was not where I’d imagined finishing, and not where I want to be again this year. Lessons learnt, training plans set according, look for progress at an XC race near you in the coming months! Until then we have a marathon race or two, my preferred race distance. Next up is the Gorrick 100 in two weeks time where I return to defend my win from last year.