Hope Series 2 Lee Quarry - Race 2

From Hope Series 2 Lee Quarry - Race 1 - Sept 2009

The second race weekend came around quite quickly and with around three weeks of regular riding (2 to 3 times per week) I hoped to make an improved ride this race.

The race organisers had changed the route this time round, some of the original course still existed though which would be impossible to remove, like the starting hill which spaces people out nicely before the first singletrack and the downhill / cattlegrid section towards to starting area. The newer sections were towards the middle of the lap and reasonably tricky, I'm sure one part was actually vertical right before and 90 degree right hand berm/turn.

I felt the consistent riding I'd been doing over the recent few weeks paid off as I started quite brightly. Only to wonder whether burning myself out of lap one would actually be the best way to improve on last time...?

The end of the first lap felt like I'd gone off way too fast and following that with a lap of reasonable pace, I wondered if the third lap, like last time, would just hurt my lungs and legs again.

Yep, it did! Lap 3 started to hurt.

But, this time, I was able to take a bit more time to recover on the next lap or so. By lap 4 I was getting back into it. I was going up hills slower by now, but for some bizarre reason I was able to clean the up-hills without getting off and pushing, in fact completed an entire lap completely clean. I fully expected at the end of lap 4 to hear the welcome sound of the last lap bell, except it wasn't there. The range of emotions at this point was weird...thinking it was probably the end of my energy levels, but yet knowing that I'm likely to get a better result compared to Race 1, I wanted to try to kick on.

So, lap 5 was back to some pushing up hills again, but with the marshalls giving great encouragement that the end must be reasonably close, I did think I was likely to get to the end of the race at lap 5 (I thought I must have just missed the bell and the leaders would be past me at any time). As I closed in on the end of lap 5, I did get the final lap bell and knew I'd managed to get that extra lap. Even though it was going to be a hard lap 6, the bell was still very welcome and gave a great extra morale boost.

It turned out to be a good tactic to start as fast as possible, just getting that early position in the whole field and trying to keep that going helped me to keep a high enough pace to improve. Without seeing the lap times and positions, it's difficult to judge how well I did and if other people improved also as I feel I have, so time will tell on the result. Trail Guru link of the course.

Again this was very well run event and enjoyed the whole experience better the second time round as I knew (basically) what I was doing. It would have been better if people didn't go home back down the track when the race was still running (presuming they'd crossed the line and finished already), I know there were a few behind myself who might have had this problem too.

I'm looking forward to seeing the race lap times and finish position later in the week.
Here is the video footage that Cath put together for me.

No photos this time, video only, but will look online to see if any of the photographers have any.

Next & final race of the series: 18th October 2009.

Preparation for Race 2

Preparation has started for the next race.

The reason for the chain jumping off in Race 1 is now clear, the bike had a broken rear derailleur inner plate (which holds the idler gears). I have managed to source a part from a carbon fibre manufacturer and not pay the £150 for a whole new rear mech. Amazing how bike shops didn't really want to entertain helping me to source just the part that was broken, seems Shimano won't supply just the carbon fibre part on it's own as a repair item. Mmmm, strange that they put carbon fibre on anything mountain bike related and then won't offer a repair item?

Anyway, I found a guy that will make me one if I break it again and that's the problem solved. Might even buy a few and put them on ebay...? Do other people break these things or was it a one off for me?

The bike needed a service, so it's gone in for that, including rear hub re-build. Shimano hubs just need a new ball race I'm hoping. Hope they are repair items and I don;t have to buy a whole new hub :-) The rear shock has also gone off to Mojo as it sounded very 'squelchy' like the oil was not where it should have been. A couple of people in the week had mentioned it sounded like it needs looking at, so another warranty item I hope. With all that, I should be able to pick it back up and get it home on Friday, just enough time to go on a short ride before Sunday's race.

I'm looking forward to the race this time a little more as I've managed to get a lot more rides between the last one and this one. I managed to get to Sherwood Pines and a few local rides with the Wakefield mountain biking club. I do find my legs burn quite often now though, think I'm just trying harder all the time when I get to hills.

My finish position for Race 1 was 28th out of 31 in the Weekend Warrior section, so at least not last, and gives me something to build on. I've already read that the track will laid out differently, but I'm looking forward to giving it a good try.

More after Sunday...

Hope Series 2 Lee Quarry - Race 1

From Hope Series 2 Lee Quarry - Race 1 - Sept 2009

After a few weeks of waiting and deciding to enter, my first ever mountain bike race day arrived.

It was certainly a new experience, after many football matches, cup finals and playing at a reasonably good level, this was all new and nothing like any match day nerves. This was more apprehensive from just not knowing fully what to expect. Because of that, I felt slightly unprepared and how things would pan out. Even with what you think is all the right kit, it just feels alien to be on a start line waiting for a starter to give us all the signal to go.

The first thing to do was register and sign on, basically like signing on to marshal on a rally event, signing up to agree there are risks involved etc. I got a number board for the bike (number 44) and one to put on my back. I also got a blue wrist band, the type you get in a night club sometimes, the wrist band is really sticky on one part and once it's on, it's on. I put this on my wrist in readiness only to realise that my glove and sleeve pretty much cover it up immediately, so noticing everyone else had them wrapped round their seat tube or ankle (so obvious when you think about it) I got another and went with the seat tube option.

After signing on, off most people went, to get familiar with the course, really glad I did this as some of the course was a little tricky and just to know the drops and rocks was a good eye opener, it also gives you chance to find the line and learn the obstacles. The fact I was back at the start line pretty much out of breath from the recce lap didn't make me feel so confident, but knew this was going to be all new and fitness was going to be an issue, regardless.

The mass start put the BC racers (British Cycling) and the Weekend Warriors (my category) off the start line together. This was up a steep climb, loose gravel/quarry road, and with people scrambling for grip - weekend warriors I refer to here, I never saw the elite racers as they just cleared off :-). I seemed to find a few gaps in the heavy traffic and jump into them. So I felt like I was not last and definitely ahead of someone, that was great. But the long climb to the top of the quarry was a period where the jostling continued until the first singletrack, where wheel to wheel, we got in line. Still not last, it felt like this was going to be fun.

The race spread itself out after that, the course offered lots of steep climbing and technical descents, swooping (roller coaster) berm descents and a nice section of sandy hard work granny ring track.

I really enjoyed the first two laps, they were the easiest and most fun by miles as I was trying to race. I think by lap three I just wondered what I was doing, lungs and legs pretty much screaming at me. One long climb (only walkable on every other lap for me) I managed to clean and ride. That was a good feeling to be able to ride it (plus it was faster to ride than push I noticed, even at 2 mph! Cramp was really close after that climb, so at the top of that section I backed off a little and started to ride like I was tired and just wanted to get to the end of the event. That took a further 2 laps which meant I'd completed 5 laps at the finish. I was really happy with that but know for sure I was feeling it during the latter stages. I don't have a finish position yet, results out on Wednesday.

One complication I had was the chain/rear derailleur were not happy by the second to last lap and the chain kept coming out of the idler gears in the rear derailleur. This took about 10 seconds each time to fix but became quite annoying, I'm hoping that it was just mud causing the problem (the cleaned bike seems to be in line with no bends/breakages apparent, at least). We'll find out during the week if it's broken. Not sure how to prevent it happening again. I certainly won't want to be replacing an XTR rear deraileur. If so, XT is going on.

I tracked the ride on Trail Guru, follow the link to see how long it was.

I also have photos and video which Cath kindly took and braved the cold. I was grateful to have someone else to help, I think doing this alone would be hard work and less fun if you have a problem. (I saw one guy had the ambulance crew come to have a look at him - I heard it was his ankle but he's okay, so I'm glad to hear that). The organisers had a lot of marshals out on the course and it was very well run, and you can't beat the sound of the bell for the final lap :-)

Well, next race, round 2 is September 27th so I'll be planning a lot more fitness before then to help get to 3 laps before it really starts hurting... A great start to attending race events and really enjoyed the experience.

Back after Summer Recess

From Petronas Towers KL July 2009

It's been a while since I last blogged, including travel with work, so wanted to get back online...

Summer has had a larger effect on people being available to ride this year and running out of cash hasn't helped either. But since the last blog I've started riding with the local club in Wakefield, Bad Brains MBC and I've sent off my entry to my first ever mountain bike race - Hope Race Series 2 at Lee Quarry. Hmmmmm!

The local club ride on Tuesday and Thursday each week, rain or shine. Tuesday's is a slightly more leisurely pace, maybe a few extra stops along the way compared to Thursdays, but each ride tends to be 12 - 16 miles rides, give or take a few. Starting to ride with them in high summer was helpful as no lights were required even at the end of the ride at 9.30pm, but now (mid-August) lights are needed especially through the woods, so an investment is imminent. (actually tried some lights last night and they were fantastic, riding in the dark is a lot of fun!). Here is a link to the web site: Bad Brains MBC and also a link to the forum where they post the rides for the forthcoming week. Ride bikes, drink beer, eat cake - such a good motto!

The bike race is at Lee Quarry (near Rochdale), a place that the Singletrack magazine use for the Singletrack Weekender amongst other things. The basic race format is 1h30m and complete as many laps as possible. There are three classes, I entered the Weekend Warrior, but the options were: Elite Racer - (BC racing licence required); Weekend Warrior - experience of bikes and riding with reasonable fitness; and finally Have-a-go-hero - New to it all, but lots of enthusiasm to try it out.

I've no clue as to whether the bike will be good enough, I'm sure the Stumpy FSR can handle it, I just mean that I saw photos from the last race series and everyone who seems to be quick, is on a hardtail (I need to get Stumpy HT ready!!). The rest are on full suspension but maybe short travel versions, like the Specialized Epic, Cannondale Rize or Scott Spark. My Guess is the people on full suspension are Weekend Warriors, making the most of their rig and racing it. So, we'll see how it goes. I'm used to taking sandwiches when I go for a full day out on the bike, so that'll be weird not eating half way round. Don't guess that's the spirit of a race anyway. I am quite excited but apprehensive too.

Race dates are Sundays - Sept 6th, Sept 27th, Oct 18th and I hope to hear I made it onto the entry list soon.

I'm trying out Sherwood Pines this weekend, should be easy-ish trail riding but that's good to try another trail centre and get others to come along too. Aiming at the XC Singletrack routes and not the family trails of course :-) I'll see if I can get TrailGuru working on here too.

Sunday's ride is also posted on TrailGuru, see link here: Newmillerdam

Ride at Temple Newsam in June: Temple Newsam

Stumpy Project Update 1

From Stumpjumper Hardtail Project

The hardtail project bike has now started with the frame cleaned up. It wasn't too bad, just wanted a little sparkle to get it completely clean whilst I wait to source the next few parts.

I picked this up with bottom bracket, Cane Creek headset (although past experience with CC isn't fantastic up to now) and the seat post/clamp all included. Weight on the scales 'as is' 1950grams. Note: that includes the piece of string holding the headset on :-)

I have the intention of adding XT components throughout as I don't think I need to go up to XTR, however, we'll have to see what eBay has to say on that and when XTR parts are the same price as XT I'll probably go for XTR.

I also want to make it as light as possible with the budget, but think I'll be wise to buy good forks, and wheels/hubs as the expensive items. I'll go for either 90 or 100mm travel on the front as this matches the geometry the bike is designed for and wouldn't want to upset that too much. Think Fox F100 RLC would be a good choice or Magura Durin Race? All depends on who's got them available when I'm looking to buy. Will possibly aim at nearly new or slightly used as this should drop the price by approx £200.

Brakes - I'll probably stick to the same as the Stumpy FSR so that I only need to keep one type of spare pads in stock and the bleed kit can be used on both etc. Just makes sense and the Elixir are fantastic anyway.

I'll keep a photo blog of the build, expect it to take 6 to 12 months for the cash to materialise and not spend it on things like holidays instead. Plus the garage needs the lights wiring in to help with seeing what I'm doing in Autumn/Winter, and could do with a bike stand...so eyes peeled!

More to follow as and when I make changes. Photo blog here

Wharncliffe Explorer Version - June 09

From Wharncliffe June 09

Our first trip to Wharncliffe Woods after just way too much excesses from the night before needed further exploring to find the right trails.

This time out, Nick and I managed to start and stop enough times to check and find the trails on the map, hit the big downhill section and survive (some guys told us it was the Steve Peat section), then continue on to find the rest of the 18km loop. I even managed to get TrailGuru working again and here is the link.

We started in the upper section, parking on the Greno side carpark and heading right into the rooty/twisty trail in the trees. The first thing that hit us was the amount of standing water and large puddles on the trail, which definitely hit us all over. No rear crud guards so mud caked us pretty much immediately. This was way more than what we'd come across at the previous trip, seemed to be just on account of the tress providing a lot of shade and shelter so the ground never really dries out.

After following the first section of impassable rocks (second time made this no better, still about impassable for our novice status) we stumbled across the right path, the downhill mountain bike trail maintained by Singletraction. This is very rocky and offers two starting points side by side (one much more steep than the other), but these both still rideable, just need some balance and balls. Definitely need balls. We opted for the lower starting point but followed it down through a couple of berms and lots of rocks strategically placed to get air if you wanted. Everything was rideable though if you didn't want to jump it, which proved lucky at some parts where the front wheel seems insanely low compared the rest of the bike when going over a drop off, it appears a consequence is a slightly buckled front wheel now.

After that, the trail hit some of the long uphills we'd seen before and then progressed much further along the top at a good speed, photos opportunity here which we took.

The trail then flowed round and onto the Trans-Pennine Trail before heading up over a very long uphill, 100mm travel and lockout selected to get up it clean.

A great workout for the legs and now we're better placed to ride it fully without trails maps all over the place.

To get a head or not?

To get a head or not? That is the question.

After just short of 6 months time since buying the bike, the head set has been making some quite serious 'clicking-I'm-not-okay' type noises whilst out on the trails, and after help with the service guys, the forks had been sent off for elimination from our enquiries.

Forks confirmed to be okay (Mojo did some extensive fork testing), so the only thing left is the head set. I wouldn't expect this to fail after such a short time, or normal off-road trail centre type riding. So, here's the dilemma, should I opt to upgrade the head set now to something like a Hope or Chris King set (retailing about £85 to £95) or just get the same head set replaced under warranty.

Something as good as the Hope or Chris King sets will definitely last forever (stainless steel races), and easily for the length of time I expect to keep the bike, but could it be a waste of cash and that I just got one-off rogue standard head set? Cane Creek is the head set in already and normally they hold up well. For example, Andy's is not showing any signs of wear and they're identical bikes with same miles on the clock...

We'll wait for the standard replacement to be fitted under warranty and returned this weekend, I'll make a decision from there. The Hope and CK stuff does look bling though...!

(BTW - New video on Vimeo of Whinlatter & Grizedale)