Bad Day.

After waking up early (6.15am) to ride with Tim.G and some other people, i didnt exactly feel too good. Then 45minutes down the road i realise my cassette is lose and casually say to Tim.G, can you just check my gears please. At this point i find myself embarassed to say that i had forgotten the mavic washer of my wheels and had to be picked up by my ever so slightly frustrated Mum.
As if this wasnt bad enough, i went out later in the afternoon with my friend and at the end of a two hour ride (with my mavic washer back on the wheels!), i crashed. My riding buddy hit a rabbit at 25mph and braked and i went flying into the back of him. Now most of the skin is gone from my knee and my elbow has seen better days (in fact i was probably more worried about my bike than any injury). Annoyingly my left gear lever is scratched to bits and my saddle has a big rip in the side of it (other than that i got off pretty lucky). What is even more frustrating is the fact that i am due to get my sl2 on Thursday. Supposedly i have to have a few days off but i doubt that will ever happen! Roll on the sl2!

Turning 30, its all uphill from here!

Taking part in the Fred Whitton and the first of the thetford summer series on the same week that I turn 30 has taught me two main things, a)I love riding road bikes,
b)I love riding mountain bikes. The week has also made me realize just how different the two diciplines really are.
The Fred Whitton was an awe inspiring ride, the landscape was beautiful, the weather was unpredictable and the hills were killer. I loved it no matter how hard it was for me I had a fantastic ride, pushing myself mentally in a way I have not had to do before. The difference is that with a mountain bike race or ride things are happening so fast you dont get much chance to think hard about how much you hurt or how far you have to go until you stop. With an event like the Whitton however, you get a long good look at how your be spending the next 10-20 minutes, because you can see much more of the road ahead. You have to spend much longer telling yourself "just a little further, and then you can rest a little". 7 Hours hard riding on the road gives you a massive amount time to analyse every inch of your ride, and that can be tough to deal with.
What an event like that has taught me is that no matter how hard a XC race might be, at least it ends quickly, and you dont have to think about it too hard!

Ixworth 3/4ths

I was pretty nervoous coming into this race - i seem to forget its 'only' a 3/4 & still get really motivated to put in a good ride - i guess it's cos it's the closest crit to home, and i know i can do well.
The win has eluded me though, and i've been riding it for years - best result was 4th in the Elite race, and since i've dropped down to a turd cat, i've finished no lower than 4th.
Anyway, i felt good in the warmup on the turbo, and was on the front row for the start. After a few laps, had my traditional 5 laps off the front on my own, and after i got caught, i was marked every time i jumped (lesson to be learnt there - don't show your hand too early!!). Messed the sprint up a bit, and got 3rd.
Didn't hang around for the invitational race as i'd have had to entertain the children for 2.5 hours, in a cold wind, just for them to watch me get a kicking off the elites!!

Ixworth Criteriums

On the day of the Ixworth crits, i felt good, my legs were strong and i thought i had tapered just right. I got to the start line my stomach buzzing with anticapation and my head full of tactics and things to do in the corners. After a confident first half with me pulling on the front for probably too long, the attacks started coming thick and fast. Annoyingly no one else seemed willing to do much of the chasing so i did most of it myself. With 4 laps to go my legs were knackered from riding at the front for too long and a 3 man break went. Irritatingly i couldnt hold their pace and so i was left in the group feeling thoroughly used. In the bunch sprint i managed to claim 7th place (i think) which i suppose is alright out of 30 odd riders. Anyway at least i have learnt some new tactical info and my cornering ability has improved.

Brandon Bash

2nd May i planned another MTB workout wth Glenn Stanford over at Brandon with a full on timed lap of the round 4 winter series lap, Tim Bonnett and Shane Ashby also came along for abit of a team get together, resplendent in our new team kit, we left the car park together, Glenn and Shane tore off like it was the start of a cross race, with an untried slick tyre on the front i was dropped along with Tim, once warmed up and with them easing up we caught up, the beasting continued until i became more confident in the grip my furious fred's were actually giving me, for tester Tim the multitude of corners and twisting singletrack was too much and he took a wrong turn and was lost in the forest for the rest of the morning (without his Garmin he might still be there). Having taken abit of a beating off Glenn and Shane we handicapped the timed lap, i started first with Shane starting 30secs behind me and Glenn a further 30 seconds back, i hammered the fireroad to the first singletrack section and from there it was a case of trying to avoid making major mistakes and trying to remember the route - not so easy when your eyeballs out and all the marking tape and arrows aren't there like race days, i was slightly held up by a rider in baggy shorts also out for a bash, and had one minor moment where i tried to take a turn which wasn't there. Shane was holding me at 30 seconds and on the limit through the singletrack until he was caught by the flying Stanford, shane then went over the limit and crashed. Nearing the end of the lap i caught sight of another rider in our team kit chasing me in the woods, unsure if it was Shane or Glenn i kept the hammer down determinned not to be caught, one last effort up the plumb buster and sprint to the finish i was amazed to clock 27.30 for the lap (6.26 faster than my best lap when i was unfit for febuary's race), it turned out Glenn was the figure behind me clocking a blistering 26.50 whilst Shane limped back a few minutes later, we returned to the car park where after a few minutes Tim found his way out of the woods. compare race laps from thetford winter series 4 : http://www.timelaps.co.uk/assets/uploads/EventReport.aspx?eventID=50FireRoad622/02/2009