Merry Christmas

Hope everyone had a good christmas and is looking forward to the new year. The new year brings ideas of resolutions and goals to acheive; and it is no different for me. As you get older it becomes a bit of more of the same, however after the year I have had, family is the priority. It is a shame that the last cycling team I was in has folded, but these things happen. I have made some good friends from this experience and no doubt will race with them again in some of the team events.

This year will be different though, a bit more laid back and more importantly; no pressure. Hopefully some of the preivious sponsors will get involved in my antics, but for now I am just setting my stall out so to speak. I will train with my mate Rob who is targeting the expert cat this year in xc, so expect to hear how he gets on as well. One resolution we have both made though is knock the alcohol consuption down in order to improve performance. To those of you who know myself and Rob, this has been the source of some amusement, we will endevour to aheive t-totalness (not a word I know, but you get what I mean).

So what for next year then?

I am aiming for three major races, 12hrs of exposure, Bontrager 24twelve, and kielder 100. Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hear you cry. Ok, I did say never again, but I have also said I am giving up booze.

Never Quit

What a year

The year is not quite over yet but it feels like it is time to take stock and review. Since joining Columbia-Bikefood a lot has happened both on and off the track. The last few months have been difficult so I will start with the personal stuff and then finish with the team.

Since doing the Kielder 100 as you may have read, I was quite ill afterwards and to be honest it really affected me both physically and mentally. This had a knock on effect into my personal life and made things very difficult at home. Life is about balance and with busy lives, children and work commitments it can be difficult. However, the balance feels like it is restoring and things are on the up. I had an interview recently and I am now in charge of Nuclear Medicine at my hospital. This is quite a challenge but it is one I am up for. It has been a funny few months, friends and family have been awesome, including members of the team who have offered support and been there whenever I have called. Cheers Guys!

So enough about that, life is good is all I can say. The highlight for me this year has to be Sleepless in the saddle. I like to race, keep fit and all the other stuff that comes with being a mountain biker, but it is a great feeling to be on a podium. It actually looked like we were going to win the thing at one point. I rarely get to be on a podium and it was down to the team that it paid off. The Columbia-Bikefood team members are fantastic in my book, for different reasons and qualities. We have everything from out and out phenomenal athletes, to endurance kings and idiots like me who tag along for the ride. This year has really opened my eyes to racing and what it takes and the support you need. Although he is not in the team I have to say congratulations to Robert Upton who looks like he has managed to get into the expert cat in his first year of trying.

I have to mention him because we ride a lot together and share training tips, so even with all that has happened I am back on the bike (road and turbo), feeling fit and slimming down to a lofty 11 stone which is not bad for someone coming up to his middle age lol.

As ever, keep riding is all I can say and never quit!

Bontrager twentyfour12

Well that went well………...
I had a few goals for the Bontrager twentfour12, one of them being to enjoy the Newnham course which I had never rode before, introduce the family to endurance racing and ride my socks off to keep a guy called Rob Smith in check.
Don’t ask me why, but I chose him as a target because his name popped up in a few races I have been in and he seems to be going well. It also turns out he blog’s for XC racer and his blog is worth a read see it at http://www.xcracer.com/viewblogpost.php?blog_id=202. It sounds like he had a similar race to me in the fact that we went a bit fast too soon and paid the price. The difference was that he did not have Shergies words of encouragement of “get up, get back on your bike everyone will be feeling as shit as you, if it was easy then everyone would do it!” At the time I thought it was a tad harsh but looking back it worked!

I also had Emily my daughter (who is six) passing me my bottles, which was ace and I can still remember Dawn saying to me a few laps in that I was ‘up there’ and going well. I don’t think she meant it but it seemed like she was surprised, I suppose I was too, because I am sure I was top five at that point.
After my wobble four to five hours in I started to regain some momentum, then like an idiot I pushed again because I felt better. This saw me overtake a guy called Dean Pointer who I had been talking to at the start. I gapped him for two laps and then come lighting up time I blew again! He eventually ended up 7th, Rob 8th and another guy Seb Herrod in 9th. He put a 1hr lap in at the end so he must have passed me then I think. We all did 11 laps and in my conversation with Dean at the start he said we would do well to top ten this race, so I guess we did well. Talking to Rob on the way round the track it also turns out he is a similar age to me so I guess we will have many more duels as veterans.
I really enjoyed the event, the course the company and my family being witness to the madness that is endurance racing……………………………………………