Wiggle Mountain Mayhem 2013

Another month, and another 24 hour race.  This one was a team affair though so it should be easy?

Let me tell you though that team events are not easy, but they are however a laugh, never boring and a great test of friendship and teamwork.  Myself, Graham, Mick and Nigel set out on this mini adventure a few months ago when we hatched this plan to enter a team.

One of the first things was to sort out the line up from the members of pines race team which was easy because we were the only ones who were in the others words "mad enough" to enter a 24hour mountain bike race.  So Nigel entered us and pretty much forgot about it until the week leading up to the event when you suddenly realise that you have not prepared at all.  It became real when we had a meeting the Wednesday before to sort out who was taking what to the venue.  This is where who was doing the run at the start was also decided, whereby Nigel begged us all if he could do it (ok he said he runs a bit therefore we decided he was doing it).

My own personal preparation was not great, I don't think I had fully recovered from 24hrs of exposure and I was on antibiotics for an infected tooth which needs work.  However as the race day got closer I started to get excited.  Myself and Mick travelled down on the morning of the race so it was a great that Graham and Nigel had set up base the day before.  Nigel had everything you could need, lights, gazebo, tents and heating!  Graham provided the stove and loads of food (he can tuck allot of food away!) and also the usual encouragement and enthusiasm for all things mtb.

Myself and Mick got there and provided the usual wit and banter that everyone loves us for, then we got our stuff out the car and took over their base camp.

We had fairly high hopes for this event, with the team line up and the ability of all of us I don't think we were being unrealistic in our expectations, but as you can see we were beaten into to fourth and the winners were Jedi knights who are pretty good at most things.

There was lots of incident and little things that went wrong but we kept pushing all the way and put in some pretty consistent laps.  My own personal mistake was going out on the wrong tyres which I have done many times before, but had it not rained then it would not have been an issue. 
               This is what is exiting about endurance events though, you can always make time back and these things happen to the other teams as well.

 

I think that it was going to take an issue with the other teams in order to grab a podium spot so we never gave up and our lap times improved as daylight appeared, but in the end we landed in fourth which is no mean feat at one of the biggest races for mtb.  So a liitle bit tired and weary we took down our camp, loaded the car and headed for the arena to hand our timing chips in and collect our medal.

 Everyone gets a finishing medal but if there was just one awarded to each team then it would have to be Nigel who received it.  Basically he did the run, did a quick lap even when his chain snapped and also posted the fastest lap out of all of us by quite a margin.  The way the running order went also meant that he and Graham did the final 2 laps which put them at 8 laps to our 7.  He basically was rider of the day and all round top bloke.  If we decide to to this again as a team I am absolutely sure it would be a podium next time.................................................................................

24hrs of Exposure 2013

2013 - 24 Hour Open Men	Laps	Time
1st Craig Bowles (GB)	30	22:50:16
2nd Michael McCutcheon (IRE) - The Bike Rack/Avanti	28	23:01:14
3rd Martin Smith (SCO) - Cotic/AQR Holidays	28	23:15:14
4th Jason Robinson (GB) - Four4th Lights	26	23:05:30
5th Rob Bradley (ENG) - Sherwood Pines Cycles/SRAM	25	22:53:40

So I came in at about five hours and was asked if I was ok and told to eat something. The conversation went

"what do you want mate?"

So I replied..............

 "a go bar will do"

 then after a second I was asked.......

 "which is it?"

So I told Tom........

"it is a go bar, it is a bar that says go on it, aka a Go Bar"

 

This caused much amusement in the pits, but why Tom didn't punch me is a mystery. This is the point though, 24hr racing is crazy and this being my first one could not have gone as well as it did without the help support and planning that goes into theses endevours.

Lots of incident throughout the night and stories of good and bad patches, but the turning point was the heavy rain that came down which played havoc with the course and ruined a lot of even the top riders races. I managed to get dry and keep riding which ultimately got me my result.

I have to mention the people who helped me................

Tom Allen ( the best pit man),

Michael Powell,

Pines Cycles

Graham Gee and the SPCC.

For a first attempt at a 24hr race I am quite pleased with my performance, also my preparation and the good freinds who help and support me.  I talk a lot about my little famiy which is awesome, and therefore I have to say that they are still awesome.  Doing things like this takes it out of the family sometimes but I am finding the right balance which is making my life the best ever at the moment.  I love my family, my job and mountain biking and all three are great.  

So what next?   Well I think I will do one again and I still feel I have alot to offer.  In a few months I will be a veteran rider and on this performance I would have been on the podium if I was in that category...........so watch this space because I am inching further towards a podium spot

Lets start again

Finally put a race number on. Was meant to ride at Whinlatter but that got cancelled. So rode down to Sherwood pines for the first round of the British XC.
Got talked into doing the open race in the afternoon because I could enter that on the day. Half way round the first lap I ripped my rear mech off, if you beleive in carma then people who know me probably new I deserved that.










Anyway upwards on onwards as they say.

This is just a blog to get me going, can't wait to start again so I can tell you all about 29ners

Ridercoaching race series

The picture shows me smiling which I cannot remember doing alot of on the day. The preparation was fine leading up to the event, training was good, I felt fit and apart from breaking my freehub on the race wheel everything else was ok.

The week leading up to the event things got weird at work and put me off balance, then the weather turned horrible and things just started to get to me. Anyway I managed to haul myself up to the start and when we got going I managed to get away well and was in third after the first lap. As the laps went on however my head started to sink and with each pedal stroke I just wanted it to end. I had a few trips off the bike and that was it I packed in after a few hours.

I would normally feel bad about this and in the past I was a "never quit" person and could not understand people who did. The positive I got from it though was that until I spat my dummy out I was going alright.


The moral here is that in one of my last blogs (which I need to do more of) I said that I was mentally strong and nothing got to me. Obviously that is a lie and I am now working out how to get my head from up my arse.

Perhaps its new bike time.


PS the event was well run and a great atmosphere, so I am definately in the next round at Clumber!

Just Riding

Its been a really nice end to the week, lovely weather and I got up early to do a nice spin up some hills around Matlock. I have not set the world on fire with my pace but this was always just about riding (I did most of the work in the week).

I use strava for recording the route which hopefully you can see..........

The story so far……………………………………

It has been a weird year. The weather has played havoc with most peoples races, the big ones I looked forward to this year have been a wash out, notably Mountain Mayhem and Bonty. Then family commitments, time and funding have also been an issue. These things affect everybody and whilst this blog may have started a little negative there are positive things to come out of this year.

I have not actually done much endurance wise this year, but my best result has to be 10th in the 12hrs of exposure and 8th at wiggle 6 in the mixed pairs. Both of which show that there is potential to do well in the future. Then there is the coaching side of things; I have built up a log of some useful data to work from. Working with Rider Coaching has definitely improved my fitness, and now the next stage is to plan and train more specifically to try and go up another level.

All of which is achievable, it is now a case of proving it.


I entered the local mtb time trials this year and in round one I got a reasonable result.

It is quite nice to see your name behind an elite world cup rider (and potential Olympian David Fletcher) and a potential elite rider (Aron Marshall). I entered a few 1hr XC races over the summer with my highest place being 8th, but generally I was top 15 in most races. I have never really liked XC, but this year I have realised that it is all part of the same bigger picture of racing. I suppose I just never liked getting beat, I don’t think anybody does really. I have to get it off my chest though that this somehow makes me soft. I am not soft or flimsy like some riders I know who pack in if the wind is blowing the wrong way. I never make excuses; I know my capabilities and push to my own limits always. And let me tell you; I go way beyond what a 39 year old 30 a day ex-smoker who liked to party should do. So comments like that I get can get shoved up peoples proverbial.

New team

A little test blog to see if this links to my new team page.