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.

Long delay

It’s been a few weeks since I last blogged, I wonder how many times people have started with that line? Well it has been a long while anyway and the reason is that as with anybody doing this sort of thing there are periods whereby nothing seems to be moving.

I had a complete rest last week, coach put up a training plan but I had a mental block and just could not get motivated. This week is different though, inspired by my rest and lack of effort last week he has been fairly hard this week which ends with a Friday night xc race tomorrow. As I keep promising I will let you know how I get on.

It’s a funny time of year for me; my wife has a lot of commitments and so I have had to pass on some fairly important races to me which last year I enjoyed. Oh well that is life and having two beautiful girls, wife and job; something has to give every now and then. Whilst on the subject my eldest daughter Emily fancies doing some track riding so I have brought her some riding gear.

Like I said, beautiful ……………………………………………………..

Pain

This is what happens when you know you need to swap your pedals, but you just want to get one more ride out of them. I had been on a long ride when I thought I would finish the loop with a quick blast around the red run in sherwoodpines. So a combination of fatigue and showing off eneded up in my right foot comming un clipped and hitting the deck very hard. My leg is still some funny shades of yellow but the pain is starting to ease.





So this sorry looking leg leads to this, ice and a support.















Anyway, still managed a friday night race this week and did ok(ish) Also got to meet some important people so watch this space as they say, it is quite exiting though.