I’m sure my heart missed a beat in what was a nail biting finish, 3 riders had broken away from the bunch in the slight up hill to the finish. With a 150 meters to go two riders were hotly contesting the sprint when suddenly one racer stopped sprinting, sat up to take a large gasp of air before reaching back down to the drops to finish his sprint to take second place. You’d be hard pressed to accept these riders were in the 80+ age category of the world masters road race given their all out effort to win.

The week of World Masters races has a combination of UCI and non-UCI races, featuring a Hill Climb, a UCI Time Trial and 2 road races, one sanctioned by the UCI and the other an open event. Age categories start at 30+ going all the way up to 80+ with each race well represented and hotly contested by many nations, some as far away as Australia and South Africa.

This was my target race for the year, the one I’d put so many hours training into since the first week of January. From those hours on the turbo when it was snowing outside, to the hours on the turbo when it was blazing sunshine and I was indoors because I needed to do a structured session, this was where the truth would come out. Had I done enough?

The 40km race circuit ran through the valleys around St Johann in Tirol in Austria, with 3 minor climbs to speak of and a long, flat run into the finish, this was going to be more of a sprinter’s course than a climber’s course. The views were breathtaking, quaint wood chalets among the green pastures, chocolate box peaks and everywhere you looked cyclists on the latest gear, dare I risk a cliché “the hills were alive with the sound of carbon”.

Normally I’m a bundle of nerves before a race, thankfully I’d started using the Team Wiggle Tandem coach Colin Batchelor whose structured warm-up programme and visualisation sessions kept me largely calm and able to focus on the race ahead. To my left was a rider in French masters road champions kit, behind her the German and Italian champions, so really I should have been quaking in my boots.

The open race took place first and going up the initial climb the pace was incredibly fast so I dug in and stayed with the leading pack, heavily breathing ladies were being shelled out the back. It was at this point I stopped cursing Colin’s interval sessions and secretly thanked him. A break went on the second climb, I was sucking air in through my ears at this point when the wheel in front of me dropped off the pace, by the time I got around her we were cresting the climb and I was 10 metres off the lead bunch, with enough of a head wind to stop me from bridging the gap.

This left us with 5 ladies up front and 4 ladies in our group, 2 of which were not willing to share the workload. As I didn’t want to be caught be the chasing group, I kept pushing the group to work, but found only 2 of us taking up most of the effort. So when it came to the sprint I was determined not to lose to those who had done no work and when I saw that sprint line I threw the bike over the line with all my might. It was enough to get me 8th place in the open race and the biggest cup I have ever received in sports.

The main UCI race started in glorious sunshine and light wind conditions, considering the day before and after had been lashing rain and howling winds, we were very lucky. With the field doubling from Monday’s race, getting on the starting gird was key and keeping position going up the first climb was going to be tough. Having looked up last years speeds with the race averaging 37kph, I was expecting it to be fast, yet it felt quicker and as it turns out we had an average of 40kph for the race.

The pace was fast going into the first climb with a handful of riders getting away before the bunch could respond, so I positioned myself well on the second climb to instigate a second break and hoping to get a few riders to come with me, I gave it too much gas a found myself solo at the crest, I sat up and waited for 3 other riders who had escaped the main pack. Unfortunately we had the same coasting rider in our group from Monday, which left us being caught by the chasing group.

My worst nightmare was about to come true, a climber having to contest a mass sprint. The run into the finish was frantic taking in two bends with riders pushing and shoving to get into a better position, keeping a level head and the bike upright were key to not losing any ground.

The final 200 metres approached and I gave it full gas weaving around one rider who changed line to take a respectable 15th place in my first ever UCI World Masters race and another cup for the Team Wiggle Tandem cabinet.

With a bit of time on my hands post racing, I was able to take in a bit of riding around Kitzbühel. To do justice to the very lightweight Cosmic Carbones, kindly sponsored by Mavic, I took the Focus Cayo for a spin past the finish of the Hahnenkammbahn (I see how the skiers manage over 100kph down that slope) and up a few of the hills in the area. I’ve been waiting 9 months to go for an unstructured ride.

Race results: http://www.masterswm.org/en/ergebnisse-2010

It’s not going so well. We took a vote over breakfast on Sunday morning to a back drop of torrential rain as to who was keen to ride and who wanted to get a bus. The group was split 50/50 but after venturing out into the 5 degree morning the decision was made that we would all get the bus. Unfortunately it was the wrong call and almost on cue as the bikes were loaded into the trailer, the skies cleared.

We got over to Fugen, checked into the hotel and with most of the group keen to ride it was decided to head out after lunch. Our timing stinks. Just as everyone filed out of the hotel in cycling gear, the rain started again. My mind was already made up that I would be spending some quality time in the spa. Most of the guys keen to boost the vertical completed during the week soldiered on to climb Zillertaler Hoehenstrasse starting from the town of Aschau. Unfortunately they only managed to get 7km up the climb, which was an average of 12.5% including pitches of 21%, before having to turn back because the weather was so bad.

The rain hasn’t stopped since, and I don’t mean a light rain. It’s a complete washout. Being down in the valley we have watched with trepidation the snowline slowly creep towards us which doesn’t bode well for the next few days. This morning we decided not to jump the gun and hold back before making a decision on what to do but at 11 the decision was made to stay in this hotel for an additional night. The forecasts are for clear skies tomorrow and we don’t want to miss out on doing all of Zillertaler Hoehenstrasse which is known to have the most beautiful roads in Austria. There are 5 ways up the climb so we are hoping to take a different route up tomorrow and fingers crossed we will have sunny skies!

Happy training.
Cx

Who’d of thought at the start of the season when I got 2nd place in round 1 of the British Mountain Bike Series on a course that I’ve never until this year had a good race on, would have been my best race of the year….

For most of the season I’ve been battling through races, struggling to get just one race where I just feel healthy let alone race fit. Problems with my back, and generally not feeling 100% healthy for months on end, have made this season pretty annoying to say the least. We was recommended by a fellow racer to try tweaking the position on the bike and see if it makes a difference to my back pain. Me and my dad went over the bike and ended up dropping the seat post by 1cm and moved my seat back 2 1/2cm and found that this was a much better position, and although my back does still niggle from time to time the position change has made a huge difference to how I feel on the bike. This has allowed me to push hard in training again without experiencing swelling, and also keeping my training more consistent. The last 2 to 3 weeks I’ve slowly been improving my fitness and strength back to somewhere near where I was hoping I would have been for most of the season, and I’m now hoping for fashionably late form and a result that I’ve been chasing all season.

Last Weekend (22nd Aug) saw me racing for the first time since the disappointing National Champs 5 weeks previous, in round 5 of the Southern Series near Alton. Although I hadn’t raced for a few weeks I was confident going into the race that I was healthy and despite not being race fit I knew that I would be able to give it a good slam and enjoy the race whatever the result. The course at Alton was quite a good flowing course with a mix of fast very flinty single track, open fire roads, and wet technical rooty sections. There was a lot of anticipation on the forums for this race being a real mud bath, but the course held up well and made fun racing. I enjoy racing the Southern Series if I get chance as every round offers good prize money and always attracts a couple of fast boys to make the racing fast.

Off the start I managed to hold a decent position, going into the first single track section in second place behind Ade Lansley (pedal on bikes) with Jody Crawforth (specialized uk) right behind. I followed Ade for the first few sections of single track, but I kept catching all the tricky wet roots that I couldn’t see until I was on top of them, so soon as I got chance I passed to take the lead so I could see where I was going. Soon as I was on the front I actually felt quite smooth and tried to push the pace a little early on and see how I felt. With that Ade dropped of the pace and only Jody was still on my tail, so I kept pressing on. By the end of the first lap I was on my own and from there on I continued to open out a lead and with consistent lap times I took the win at the end of lap 5 by over 7 minutes….which was massive!

I was over the moon that I finally put in a performance that should give me a good chance of being up there for the Marathon Champs on the12th Sept and the final round of the British Mountain Bike Series on the 26th Sept where the competition will be hot! So hopefully my best race of the season wont continue to be round 1 of the British Series…. its still to come…. :)

Report, Pics + Video
http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/mtb/article/mtb20100824–Video–Southern-XC-Series-Round-5—Chawton-0

The annual cycling trip to Europe has begun! This time there are 17 of us and and we are attacking the mountains of Austria. We flew into Zurich on Saturday morning to meet up with the group who had mostly flown in from all over the US including Texas, California, Washington State, New York as well as the regulars from The Netherlands and UK. We had a bus collecting us to drive to Bludens in Austria where we would be starting the trip the following day.

There were a few worried faces as we were driving through really heavy rain from Zurich and a lot of blackberry action trying to figure out what the weather was going to be like for the start of the ride in the morning. The rain was relentless all afternoon as the bikes were put together varying between steady and torrential. Not a good start! I have my with me which is light and handles like a dream so really keen to see how I handle some of the tricky descents.

Thankfully we awoke to some fog but mostly clear skies which prompted me to head off ahead of the group with Cathy who lives at Lake Tahoe. I really hate getting wet on the bike plus I am much slower climbing than most people in the group so needed the jump not to get left behind! Today’s stage was 112km and 2400m so it wasn’t going to easy.

The first climb of the day was taking in in the Silvretta tourist road which was awesome! So many twists and turns to get to the top of Bielerhöhe pass as well as some pretty steep stretches. Due to the rain there had been some snow on some of the peaks which made it look gorgeous. I love that someone had put a sticker on the signs warning of kangaroos in the area.

Down the other side of the pass to Ishgal where I spent a week skiing in March this year. Really cool to see it in summer with all the flowers out! After lunch we jumped on the Oscar express to head down the valley doing 60km average and hanging on for dear life! Oscar is our Dutch giant who doesn’t feel anything under 5% gradient and a massive head wind is a refreshing breeze to him.

After making our way down the valley we did a small climb and a small descent and then the steepest of steep climbs which was a 7km with an average of 12%. It had these nasty pitches and a small amount of recovery and it was a killer. Unfortunately I had to pull the pin on the climb after 1.5km after my hip flexors which I have been having issues with for 6 months started to scream. My gears are not small enough so a smaller cassette will be going on tonight! (Of course it had nothing to do with my legs or fitness!!!)

Tomorrow is another tough day with it being quite long at 136km and 2000km. We go over the Kühtai pass, then heading through Innsbruck and onto Fügen. 136km and another 2000m.

Lets hope the legs hold up!

Happy training.
Cx
More Photos

Location: My House

Custom Fitting Lake CX401 Shoes

With Team Wiggle being lucky enough to be supported by Lake Shoes I managed to get hold of a pair of custom fit Lake CX401 road shoes. I have been using the Lake CX330C road shoe for the last two season and have got on with them really well but there is nothing quite like having the shoe fitted to your feet rather than making your feet fit the shoe. Although the CX330C fit really well they don’t compare to the fitted CX401.

Martin form Moore Large kindly agreed to come to my house and fit the CX401 shoes for me…what a service. Martin showed up at my house with an oven and we were soon set up in my shed ready to start the process. Whilst the oven was warming I set up my bike on the turbo trainer so that the shoe could be fitted to my foot in the correct position I would be cycling in. One shoe at a time was then placed into the oven for a few minutes until the carbon sole/heel cup was moldable, then the shoe was place on my foot and loosely tightened. As the shoe is cooling Martin is molding the carbon around my heel and foot whilst I’m sat on the turbo trainer. Then the shoe is tightened some more and this process is repeated until the shoe cools right down.

Then once that process is complete it is time to have a pedal and see how the shoe feels and the minor adjustments are made like lacing the boa lace through the shoe. Once I was happy with the fit the next shoe was fitted in the same way…simple as that! After a few rides with the new shoes they felt noticeably stiffer and more responsive but this does reduce the comfort slightly. I would prefer the shoes to be stiff as I want to perform better in races so want all my power going through the pedal and this shoe does this perfectly!

I would like to say a big thanks to Wiggle and Martin from Moore Large for supplying and fitting the shoes, it was a great experience and I now have a perfect fitting pair of shoes. I would recommend to any one who is looking to gain an advantage in their racing to get a custom fitted pair of shoes especially by some one as experienced as Martin (who fit’s shoes for people like Tour De France Sprinter Tyler Farrar).

Ben

Surprise 3rd Place at the Mountbatten Centre 3/4 Circuit Race

Following a very windy and extremely hard Sunday circuit race at Thorney Island I decided to have 2 days of complete rest from the bike. The women had been put in with the 4th category men at Thorney Island and, quite unusually for the 4ths, there were several attacks which made several splits in the already small field of riders, and meant there was nowhere to hide from the extremely strong winds. I literally had to dig deep throughout the whole race to stay with it and was really glad to finish. My legs were very sore afterwards and they felt quite heavy and pretty dead.

Anyway, after my two days of rest, I decided to test my legs by racing at the Wednesday evening Mountbatten Centre circuit race. I really didn’t know how my legs would respond, but there was only one way to find out and that was by just giving it a go.
Kate Calvert, who has very recently joined Team Wiggle, was also there so we decided to have a go at attacking together to see if we could get a gap, but to no avail. I’ve tried several times before at these races to get away on my own, and also in the hope that someone would come with me, but I have only managed to get half a lap at the most before tiring and then being caught, and no-one has bothered to come with me. Well they know I am going to tire on my own and that it’s just a matter of time, and no doubt it must be a bit of a dilemma – who wants to chase a woman down, or be seen to be chasing a woman down.

During this particular race I moved to the front on a few occasions and tried to get away with some of the men attacking off the front of the bunch, but nothing stayed away and everyone seemed to be intent on chasing all the attacks down. However, as luck would have it, I found myself behind Ian Donohue (an extremely good and very strong Fareham Wheelers rider) and I knew he would definitely want to have another go at an attack, so I got on this wheel as he moved up on the outside of the bunch. As we neared the front another rider attacked off the front of the bunch more or less at the same time as Ian reached the front and he went for it. I instinctively launched myself and got on Ian’s wheel. I managed to get to them and I focused on staying with them for as long as I possibly could.

I’d like to say that we all took equal turns, but mine were much shorter than theirs, especially against the wind! Ian knew that his team mates would not chase him down and that my partner, Richard Pearman, would not chase me down (otherwise he would be in so much trouble when he got home!), so it was in Ian’s best interest to keep me with him. He gave me lots of encouragement to stick with them which helped me to dig as deep as I could, although I believe there was a lot of heavy breathing going on on my part. We actually got half a lap on the bunch at one point, with any chasing being put in check by Rich, and the rest of the Team Wiggle and Fareham Wheelers riders.

Why is it that it seems forever before the 3 laps to go board comes out when you’re starting to suffer, when at other times it seems to come out far too soon. I kept looking at the judges (probably with a pleading and/or pained look on my face), but they didn’t give anything away. After what seemed forever the 3 laps to go board was finally displayed. Now the hard part – trying to keep it going without blowing completely and/or getting caught by the riders behind us who would now really want to chase us down for the top 10 placings.

Thankfully I was able to hang on and I finished in 3rd place in this 3rd/4th category men’s race. Boy was I relieved to cross the finish line without anyone else flying past me just seconds before reaching it. Having spoken to Richard afterwards he told me that he was just about to go after Ian himself when he saw a flash of orange to the right of him – that was me! I think I surprised not only myself, but a lot of other riders who also ride these races at the Mountbatten Centre. All my previous attacks during these races have finally paid off and perhaps, or just may be, someone will think about coming with me the next time I launch myself off the front.

Sorry Rich, I know I pinched your points that evening (for which I did feel very guilty about afterwards), but it was just an instant reaction on my part at the time – in other words I got carried away. That said, you did get the points you needed for your 2nd category licence that weekend at Thruxton when you finished a well-deserved 5th place.

Last week was spent hanging out in Nice, albeit a little longer than intended when my flight was cancelled. So begins the inevitable scramble, along with 150 other people late Sunday evening, to get onto another flight. Having had some experience with this due to snow and ash clouds I know that the best course of action is to get online and get on a flight ASAP. I had my laptop in my bag so had the advantage of being able to do that immediately. With nothing available for 3 days out of Nice I got The Dutchman and I on a flight from Marseilles for Monday afternoon. We went home and got up early to catch the train from Nice to Marseilles and then the bus to the airport. Not a good start to the week given I was supposed to be starting a new job rather than catching trains, buses and planes!

I was on a high all week after my London Tri win which also pushed me to train harder as my season is quite long this year so I have plenty of races left to test myself with. I got in some really good quality swims in the sea and count myself lucky because I haven’t encountered any jellyfish at all this year. I heard from a local triathlete that there was a huge school of them a little further around the coast from where I do my swim training, but thankfully they didn’t come any closer to Nice. I have been stung a few times in the past on my hands and feet and have never really been that phased by it until a local told me about horrific scarring her friend now has on her face as a result of getting tangled up with one. Certainly has made me a little more wary.

Anton, a friend of ours from London was also in Nice visiting his girlfriend Claire so the 4 of us did a lovely ride together taking on Col de Nice, Col de Braus (the one with at least 20 switchbacks), Col de Castillon which then gives you a fantastic descent all the way down to the sea in Menton where we met my parents for lunch. The 4 of us then continued our ride over to Ventimiglia in Italy to have some coffee. Having done my training for the day, the others did a little loop up into the valley and back down again to then jump on the train back to Nice.

Claire was happy to learn some new routes as she has just started a business called Cycle Côte d’Azur in Nice doing guided cycling tours which is creating some interest both in Nice and the UK.

So this week I am getting ready to head out to Austria with BikePlusTours for 10 days through the Austrian Alps with 15 other riders. It’s going to be 10 days of pain! Check out the website for a profile of 1 of the days, there is a lot more red on the graph than I like!! I will be trying to upload some blogs whilst away to keep you updated (if I survive!).

Happy training.
Cx

Please welcome Kate Calvert….

View Kate’s Team Profile

Life On The Bike

Since signing for Wiggle life on the bike has been pretty busy training. July bought the national MTB championships which quickly turned into a disaster as I hadn’t been feeling well the week before. On the day of the race I was really excited, it was the first time I was going to get to race my new Focus Raven and I couldn’t wait to get going. Unusually I didn’t have any nerves, but I put this down to it being my first year as an U23 and first real year on the MTB, so I wasn’t putting myself under any pressure, I just wanted to enjoy the race and learn from it.

My practice lap went well and I loved the flow of the bike, there was a fair deal of climbing and the bike handled so well on the descents. The race started the next day and I quickly realised that trying to take part in a national championships while having a cold and a cough was not the best idea I had, I managed to stick with all the girls for the first half of the lap but soon dropped off as I was struggling to breathe. After the first lap I decided that it wasn’t worth risking getting more ill so I pulled out of the race. This was a massive disappointment as Id been training hard on the lead up to this race.

Since then training has been pretty hectic! The gym has been calling me as were getting closer to the end of the season the weights are coming out ready to build up strength for next year. Long days in the saddle have also taken over my days, trying to prepare myself for the long winter of cyclo-cross and dreadful weather to come. Luckily I’m going for a training ride with a good friend and Junior National Champion, Steven James, this week getting a first class lesson in everything I need to know about MTBing. Hopefully there won’t be any casualties, wish me luck!

Here Endeth the First Lesson

So in the end it was not to be for our first attempt at a long distance record. It is bitter, bitter pill to swallow when you finally have to make that call but it does come and it comes to just about every rider who attempts distance records, often more than once in their riding career.

It came at 230 miles. Although the decision was made quickly it wasn’t a problem that suddenly reared its head but the return of long standing physical problems that we hoped were behind us. We didn’t have the perfect start to the day inexplicably dropping the chain off the inside ring on the very first hill of the day, It had never happened before and it could have easily unsettled us but we took a deep breath, reminded ourselves that there was over 360 miles to go and popped it back on.

In the end it was purely a matter of whether Jez could continue at record pace suffering again from ‘Hot Foot’, an affliction that has plagued him all year and feels like someone driving a kitchen knife up through his sole with every pedal stroke. The switch to super-stiff, mouldable Bont shoes has without doubt helped but after 9 hours riding it had returned strongly enough to know that the last 1/3rd of the schedule would slowly, inexorably slip away.

There is no shame in making that call, it’s not ‘packing’, it’s knowing when to stop battering yourself and go back to the drawing board to iron out those problems that have stopped you. Even so it was a very emotional few minutes when we knew our last stop…was our final stop.

In preparation the whole team was faultless and brilliant. In execution we learnt more than we could possibly imagine about riding long distances against the clock, often quite surprising details that would never occur to anyone who had never attempted a distance ride against the clock, but will be all too obvious to long distance time trialist or record rider. For example, it doesn’t matter what the current wisdom is on hydration is, every time you have to stop for a ‘comfort break’ you lose minutes. Equally, wearing a skinsuit makes having to stop an absolute, there is no way to relieve yourself off the side of the bike, pro rider style, its impossible! There are probably a dozen tiny but vital tweeks to make and next time we’ll nail it.

Until then Team Wiggle Tandem is far from crawling away and licking its wounds. Jez and mechanic Suzanne Duncan-Gilbert will now turn there attentions to the Three Peaks cyclo-cross race and as you read this Peta McSharry is ready to take on the world at the World Master’s Road Race Championship in Austria this week. I will be training with the great Sean Kelly over the course of the Vuelta and the rest of the team will be adjusting the plan for the next 3 months efforts.

Ride safe

Photos

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Middle of the racing season and I haven’t been doing many competitions. Nearly five weeks to be exact since my last race. Initially it was because of a bad back which took a few weeks to get better, but from there it went to a bout of bronchitis which took ages to clear. This has resulted in bouts of sporadic training where I seem to be going backwards as opposed to forwards and I’m trying my hardest just to tread water.

Every sportsman will go through a period like this but it still remains the most frustrating thing about being an athlete. Give me the constant pressure of heavy training anytime over just sitting down doing nothing waiting for the body to recover. However, when racing every weekend generally all your think about is the following race, how you expect to perform and you dont really have much chance to apreciate the things that you can sometimes take for granted. This week I’ve been thinking over what’s been the pluses for me so far this year and it has to be the support I’ve been having from Wiggle. The equipment they’ve provided has been top draw and I’ve had quality equiptment to race and train with all season, so with little racing at the moment I though I’d mention a few things that’s help me out so far this season….

Bikes
Of course I’ve raced the Focus Raven last year and it was a bike I certainly enjoyed riding. But this year they stepped up again and the frame was definitely better. They improved the head tube by beefing it up to 1 1/2” on the bottom end giving a much more secure platform for the forks and the slender rear end gives good feedback when on the track. I knew that this was going to be a good bike before I started riding it and it didn’t dissapoint…its fast!. Only a shame that I havent had the best of luck to give the bike the result it deserves, but the season aint over yet!

The most important bit of kit of this year turned out to be a supprise. I was given a Focus Black Forest Pro to use as my training bike and although it’s a good looker coming out of the box it has surpassed all of my expectations. I have used it nearly every day and in all weathers, I just hose it down and oil it afterwards and it feels like new every time. Although it’s a little heavier than my race bike it’s just as smooth and for the price…just fantastic! I’ve used my Black Forest for all my training sessions whether they are long rides or sharp intervals and it is just a great bike to ride.

The dhb clothing (despite being renowned for many awards) has improved this year, with race kit being a much closer fitting, softer materials and better padding in the shorts. Good comfy shorts which have never let me down or given me any problems. The fact that I use nothing else speaks for itself.

Comfort when riding is just about the most important aspect, especially when you spend anything above 20hrs a week in the saddle.

This year as with last year I’ve been riding Lake Shoes. I race with MX330C, train with MX170C on the mountain bike and use the gorgeous white CX330C shoes for the road. I can change easily between these and there is no difference in the feel and are all are extremely comfortable and both sets of 330C’s having the added bonus of being really light.. My MX170C training shoes give me extra protection from the weather (particularly in winter) as there is less meshing preventing the wind chill, hence, keeping your feet warm. I particularly love my white CX330C road shoes as I love white shoes when I’m training or racing because I’m sure they make me go faster, even if it is psychological. :)

Anyway, back to racing and my next test will be the fourth round of the southern series this coming weekend at Alton. It’s a bit soon as far as my fitness is concerned but I’m finally starting to feel healthy again and just want to race. I’m hoping that my season will finish strongly and I can get a few results.