Day out at Fineshades MTB centre, Corby.

Niki and I stopped on our way back from Rutland to take a look at the new cycle centre at Fineshades. Finding info online about this place wasn't straightforward as their website is being rebuilt but i found the postcode (NN17 3BB) on the forestry site.

There is a bike shop on site (run by Rutland Cycling) - the chaps in the shop were really friendly and gave us some good advice about the trails

There are two trails, one family route (5 miles) which is ideal for kids etc and a Red graded route about 1/2 a mile down the road. 

We started with a lap of the family route. This was more fun than it sounded with a number of "Skills loops" that added optional short singletrack sections to the main path. See below for a dodgy video from my camera phone (one handed)

These skills loops, despite being mainly short were great fun and I'm sure more will be added.

Once we had completed the 5 mile loop which took about 45 mins we stopped for a rest in the cafe

Brand new visitor centre cafe

Cup of tea x 2!

After a quick chat to the guys in the shop (some great deals on Exposure lights for you Matthew!) we headed back down the main entrance road and over to Wakerley Woods to ride a loop of the 3.5 mile Red graded loop.

This was much more challenging and mainly singletrack with some steep drops (all ridable) ideal for the more experienced rider. A loop took about 40 minutes as we chose to ride some of the sections a few times. 

The centre is brand new and some bits are still being developed. The bike shop run a weekly Wednesday evening ride at 6:30pm which I may well turn up to soon. They promise to show you some of the best bits to ride! ;0)

Well worth a visit! £1/hour to park. £1 for tea.

 

My take on L’Eroica 2011

Good Moment: Pisa Arrivals, seeing John there as arranged. I love it when a plan comes together!

Bad Moment: Realising after 20 mins we were in the wrong queue for the hire car.

Good Moment: Nice Italian girl giving us a free car upgrade when she saw our bike bags. “L’Eroica? Benissimo!”

Bad moment: Stripped bolt on John’s rear mech

Good moment: He bought a complete ‘60s mech in the jumble and used the bolt from that

Bad moment: Discovering our accommodation only had a double bed (John was laughing!)

Good moment Discovering a quilt in the wardrobe we could roll into a dividing bolster.

Bad moment Disastrous service in the restaurant, eventually gave up.

Good moment Crashing out with tummy full of cakes - emergency rations.

Bad moment Waking up and realising we’d overslept

Good moment Signing on ready to go. Excitement!

Bad moment Realising our watches were still on UK time, we’d lost another hour. DOH!

Good moment Climbing the first hill, waymarked with hundreds of oil lamps in the dawn light.

Bad moment John dropped me already! The pattern for the day established then.........

Good moment Reaching the first stop for breakfast. Sumptuous Italian fare. Mmmmmm!

Bad moment. Crank already coming loose.

Good moment Yup, I remembered the spanner!

Tough choice 1. Take the 135km option with everyone else or soldier on alone with 200k ? (Guess)

Bad moment. Next refreshment stop had been stripped bare by all those thirsty 200k’ers ahead of us.

Good moment Reaching Montalcino, at 2600km the highest point. More grub, warm welcome, wine.

Great moment Swooping down on tarmac roads for a change. 50 mph is an under-estimate.

Ooops moment Overshot the turn-off, back onto the gravel stuff.

Bad moment Realised I’d left my musette at Montalcino, with water and grub.

V. Bad moment: Grumpy old man at next check point. “No Aqua”. We were parched.

Good moment Great lunch stop. Pasta, cakes, water. Overhauled dozens, not dead last anymore!

Tough choice 2 Tea stop: Jump in the sag wagon with the rest?? Or plod on knowing we were going to miss the cut at the last check? (Guess)

Great vista John silhouetted against the setting suns rays, dust billowing behind as he set the pace up ahead

Great moment The final checkpoint re-opened for us, fed us, watered us then guided us 6 miles out of the town with motorbike.

Scary moment Swooping down more roads in the pitch black, just relying on instinct, silly frog lights and John’s rear light ahead

Amazing moment Cheering reception crowd as we entered the finish area. Free souvenirs, wine, panforte. Felt like heroes

Tired moment Trying to do justice to the free pasta party. My tum was too full of gels. I was dog tired. Hope John was too.

200k, 10,000 meters of granny-ring climbing on gravel roads with gradients up to 20%, most descents on rutted, corrugated gravel with brakes hard on, so so slow. After 100km my legs and brain were dead and I was glad of my strategy of taking it easy from the start. No punctures despite tubular tyres, only one departure from the bike in a loose gravel descent – ooops! - few mech probs though close inspection back home revealed my bottom bracket bearings were starting to break up, victim of the hammering vibrations. An amazing experience with hospitality not to be missed.

Peter Bedingfield

Fig Rolls goes to l’eroica

L’eroica  ‘the heroic’ is an event started in Tuscany,  Italy, to save some of the ancient white roads from modern tarmac. All competitors have to ride bikes built before 1986 which means no clipped pedals or bar shifters except the end of bar type.  The event started in 1995 and has become very popular, especially with old racers and bicycle collectors. Everyone is encouraged to dress in vintage gear, the older the better. They now restrict entries to 3500 due to its popularity.

Peter (my older brother) and I decided to attempt the gruelling 205km. Not the best idea, considering the training we had put in. Pete’s  longest  ride was 15 miles and mine 30 miles. We took different flights to Pisa and met at 10am picking up a hire car. We had a free upgraded to a people carrier when the Eurocar receptionist saw the size of our cycle bags. All loaded we set off for Gaiole in Tuscany where we could register and receive our bike numbers and unexpectedly a black cap in a retro cream cotton cycling bag. 

A bike jumble sale was in full swing with a lot of excited Italians mulling around and talking about past races. Pete wanted to register his Carpenter bike on the organiser’s website so we assembled our steeds back at the car. The derailleur on my Carpenter had a stripped thread so while Pete did his thing I went looking for a rare bolt. Some hope. I had to purchase a rear derailleur to get up and running again but got a good deal at 30 Euros for a campagnolo grand sport. Some were 80 Euros. Pete was gone a long time so I went looking for him. 

After meeting up again we set off for our pre-booked accommodation in Radda a few miles away. By the time we arrived it was about 7pm and we were both starving not having eaten since breakfast. Radda was a rustic old town looking medieval in places, with cobbled streets and ancient stone work. Our rooms were right in the middle of it. It took time to track down the landlady but we got in and took some time to set up the bikes with numbers, lights and spares etc. We planned to start riding at 5 am the next morning so went out looking for a pasta load up at about 9, already a bit late for an early night. After passing a couple of over priced hotels we found a restaurant down a dark winding lane. It looked perfect but the prices were the same as the hotels. We were now desperate so we took the plunge and sat at a table. After a shortish wait a busy waitress asked us what we would like. There were no menus about so we asked for one which she provided. She then went and we chose our meals quickly awaiting her return. We waited as she passed us again and again, avoiding eye contact. We eventually resorted to waving our arms in the air as she shuffled by. At last she acknowledged us but ushered another waiter to take our order. Water, a pasta starter followed by a pizza main course. The water came quickly so we were hopeful the rest would follow suit. We were both tiring by then but after about 30 minutes we were presented with a small bowl of pasta with a few baby tomatoes. Now for the real taste of Italy. Homemade pizza cooked and roasted on an open wood fire. We could see the logs burning from where we were and were salivating at the thought of tucking into the crunchy base. Time went by and the busy waitress passed our table continuously.  Looking across the table I could tell Pete was fading by the way he had laid his head on the table, arms stretched wide and the snoring was a dead giveaway too. I adopted the same position as we waited for an eternity. Nothing came our way so when we were both awake we decided to quit. Pete went to the till and was told it would be a couple more minutes. Too late...too tired. We staggered back to the rooms and scoffed some cakes bought earlier. Now 10.30 we hit the sack.

I woke at 4.30... Well I thought it was, forgetting to add on an hour for Italy time. We left as quickly as possible in a sleep daze. By this time all the other 205k riders were on their way. We started at 7 am already 2 hours late.

Once away our sleep deprivation and hunger vanished and the excitement of the task took hold. We were cruising down the tarmac road trying not to go too fast at the beginning. A few miles later Pete had to stop as his crank had already loosened. Only 200k to go! We then arrived at a candle lit hill made of light compacted hard core. It was tough riding and like all the climbs to follow, never seemed to end. There were so many false horizons but I tried to ride each one however slowly. Pete had ridden the shorter route in 2010 and knew what to expect. He started with the strategy of walking if his heart rate exceeded 140. This meant he walked the last part of any steep climbs as I rested at the top. He didn’t stop because we had to reach the 80k point before 3pm. This was the cut off time allotted for the longer route. Ok for the 5am starters but not for us. The riding was fantastic with a mixture of hard core and tarmac. Some dodgy descents would start tarmac and just as you hit 40mph would change to rutty stony gravel. Not for the feint hearted but Pete and I seemed to cope better than most, gaining places as we went. The first ristori or food station couldn’t have come sooner and everyone tucked into free pasta, bread and cakes, served by local farmer’s wives, some dressed in local costumes. I too suffered a loose crank but we had no other mechanicals or punctures. We passed many people changing tyres. There would be up to six Italians changing one tube, all with their own take on how it should be done.

We reached the cut off time with half an hour to spare and stuck to the long route. All the other riders with us were going for the 80k which left us about dead last. The only rider we kept coming into contact with was an old (about our age!) stocky, bearded Italian who just grunted when we tried to communicate with him. He passed us on the climbs and we passed him going down.  Your mind seems to go into a daze after a number of hours, just staring three yards in front of you trying not to hit the road side or loose grip in the gravel. I think the Italian was in this mode. All the while you are passing wonderful scenery looking a bit volcanic in nature with fields of figs, olive and almond trees. Dusk was also something special. All the time I was riding I was thinking ‘will I hit the wall soon’, and I presume Pete had the same thoughts passing through his mind.

 We started to run out of water about 10k from the next ristori. We were on our own with no sign of any people or houses. We struggled but just made it only to be told by a farmer and his wife ‘no aqua’. They even had a bottle of water on their table. The hospitality had been brilliant all day and this was the only negative we experienced.  The next few miles were hard and dry but we had no alternative but to keep going. Our next stop was a long one with loads of water, food and rest.

Time was ticking on when we arrived at Asciano, another water hole. Here people were waiting for a bus for the last 40k but with true British spirit we battled on. The hills had no let up and I had to walk the steep ones. As the bus went by I wondered if we had made the right decision. It even gave us a last chance to jump aboard. It was getting dark and was pitch black when we arrived at Castelnuovo, the last food stop. On arriving into the town we found all the direction posts gone. We asked round and were told that everyone had gone home. One of the officials invited us into an old stone building where the leftover food was. He and his mate then proceeded to feed us with all we could eat. We had to find our way out of town but they came to the rescue with their friend guiding us out on his scooter. It was now pitch black and all we had for lights were two little LED frog lights. Even the moon deserted us and the road markings were non- existent .  A bit scary on the fast tarmac corners.

After 15 hours we arrive back in Gaiole. We rode past our car, parked on the outskirts and into town and thought everyone would be packed up and gone home. Far from it. We were greeted by a crowd all clapping and cheering ‘bravo, bravo’.  We stood on a podium and were presented with plaques and local food. After  a chat with the organisers we knew that the last food post had phoned ahead and they were relieved we had made the last leg home. After photographs we made for the pasta party tent. There sat with his wife was our little Italian comrade but this time he had a big smile on his face. With congratulations and handshakes all round he introduced us to his wife as if we were long lost friends.  He was the type of character that even if a bus had knocked him down  he would have made it back. I suppose that is what  l,eroica is all about.

Best bits:  1. The Tuscan hospitality.                                                                                                                                    

                  2. Descending Montalcino at up to 50mph on long winding roads.

                  3. The first 50k before our legs and minds went blank.

                  4. The finish with a sense of achievement.

John and Peter Bedingfield

Summer Training

Been a bit quiet on the UK Fig Rolls front recently. This is due to a combination of injuries and not botheredness for me, as well as the above junior team member taking up time. Today we had a trip to Sherwood Pines where Jessica had her first singletrack ride.

She chose the woods rather than the path at all times too :)

Fig Rolls Canada Race Roundup

We've been busy over on this appendage of the Fig Rolls Empire!

Lots of racing, and slightly pained expressions like this one Andrew is wearing.

NIMBY50 - A gnarly and excellent race (which isn't 50km long, but feels like it). Andrew got 10th place in the 30-34 year-old male category with 3h16m34s and Lina got 5th place in the 30-34 year-old female category with a time of 3h39m32s.

Return of the Ripper 2011 - Three races on the North Shore with healthy doses of pain, ridiculousness, and fun. Andrew crawled in at the back of the King of The Shore category for people who raced all 3 events on the same bike and wrote about it here.

Wade's Excellent Adventure - Paul and Andrew stormed into a rather unexpected 3rd place in the 2-man team and 5th overall in the most fun race ever (though it's a close thing with NIMBY). Chromag liked it too.

24 Hours of Light - Paul and Andrew did this race up in the Yukon back in 2007 and Lina and Andrew will be back this weekend to have another go.

Dusk til dawn imminent

Crikey. Metcheck currently predicting 300+ mph winds for the weekend!

I hope that's an error...