November Misery

The month started with some rain and mud cross racing in Louth. Enjoyable? Maybe, sort of. I did learn that a 32mm wide michelin mud tyre does have a lot of grip though.
After that I have been poorly with sore throat, cold etc so almost no playing out so far. Rubbish.

Here are some amusing pics from the cross then. I'm not sure that the misery of the pouring rain comes across fully...

Octoberfest

A little update on what I have been up to this month. It started with Dusk Til Dawn. I missed this last year due to being broken after my solo attempt at SITS. That turned out to be a blessing in disguise with the awful weather that the event suffered. This year I was back for another solo attempt. My first solo was just before I got married. This time it is just before I become a father - nothing like a significant event to focus the mind. Both times I have been given number 79 too.

In short, it was ace. Dry, dusty and sandy. I rode my inbred with a nice low 32:20 gear. This let me spin along on the flat bits, pootle up the (gentle) hills and go faster than a lot of folk on the singletrack. The singletrack that was possibly the best Thetford singletrack I have ever ridden.



I exeeded my own expectations by managing 8 laps (about 85 miles) even with my pitiful summer of riding behind me.

After D2D I was then straight off on my holidays with Claire. This involved a healthy dose of doing nothing in the Yorkshire Dales and the Lake District, combined with a nice old skool XC ride in the Dales, and a couple of days blasting around Whinlatter Forest while Claire took some slow walks in the forest and enjoyed the cafe. The momentum from this has now been kept up with weekly night rides in Sherwood forest after randomly meeting a few guys there. I then stumbled across a 4 hour enduro race at Sherwood. This was attacked with a more sensible 32:17 ratio, and got me a (just) top 50% placing with 5 laps of the forest. Ace.

Mountain bikes are brilliant, but I think I am going to have to re-learn to love the road bike now the weather is finally fading.

Of course there is always 'cross, but my competitive streak is struggling to come out yet this winter.


Pictures to follow once i find them...

BC Bike Race 2009 - the whole gory story.

Nikki (Canada) just sent me an epic tale of bicycles, racing, and... err, well... mostly bicycles and racing to be honest. Here it is, in all it's glory (click on it).

Cyclocross in the flatlands

And so it begins again. Another 'cross season has started. After missing the first round of the Lincolnshire League last week to do the Sherwood XC race, my season has begun. Time to remember the pain and joy of racing once more. So Sunday saw me lining up at RAF Cranwell on a sunny (too hot) Sunday with 50+ others to blast around in the dust.







A long course including a steep gravel descent, horrid run up and some nice singletrack through the woods took its toll on me, especially combined with the hot weather. By my last lap I had finally got back into riding a cross bike, able to jump off and on smoothly and handle the twitchy bike through the woods and over roots with only 35mm tyres and without 130mm of suspension fork.

I got an absolute beasting but remembered why i enjoy cross. It hurts but there is always someone to have a race with. Hopefully now I have remembered how much I need to push, and can move up a couple of places next time.

For contrast, this weekend will be Dusk til Dawn, and after missing last years mudfest due to injury, I am looking forward to it. Am taking the singlespeed (with a low gear) and aiming to enjoy it.


I did also get asked where my friends were (after the other Fig Rolls came cross racing at Christmas) I said they all thought it was too fast and had been scared off...

XC Racing is ace

when it is warm and sunny. Did the last round of the midlands XC today at Sherwood Forest. Thought I would use the singlespeed to get a bit more time in on it before dusk til dawn. Hmm, I forgot that I really am not a short course racer. Ouch. The elite mens leader lapped me 3 times I think, so I was hoping that I wouldn't have to go out for my 4th lap after I had started cramping and run out of drink. Yes I did. Oh well, at least it was fun.

Almost no fireroad and constant singletrack = smiley Matthew. Just a shame by back now feels broken and my legs don't work. Having done 2 hours of pain, as of next week it's back to the local cross league for just 1 hour of horror every Sunday. Good times.

Mrs. Lea enjoyed it too, she had a picnic blanket, a picnic and a book to read. She thought it was much better that all the other rubbish bike races she has been to (SITS 08 in particular)

'Cross the Rock CX

This Sunday I (Andrew) left my DH bike behind in Whistler and headed to Vancouver Island with Marc for my first CX race of the season at Beban Park. The weather was inappropriately nice and the atmosphere was pretty relaxed. I also counted at least 10 Kona CX bikes... including mine. For me, the race involved just under 47 minutes of puke-inducing sprinting around a course that included a BMX race track and the "Whirly whirl", a bi-directional spiral thing in a huge sandpit. Good times. I ended up in 12 place (of 30 intermediates), just behind a man who I now know was Mr Wade Smith from Cowichan Bay. Mr Smith and I had an epic battle all through the race, which disappointingly ended with him crashing in the Whirly Whirl, right before the finish and me taking the glory of 12th place. A hollow victory. Thank you Mr Smith for a great race.

I ran into the guy who came 5th on the ferry on the way home and apparently the lead pack had got a bit rowdy, almost ending in fisticuffs. Drama. Obviously this is why I chose to languish back in the middle of the field. Right?

There's lots more CX coming up and Lina and I are planning on getting a few races done. Stay tuned for more sketchy-bike action. Hopefully it will pour with rain next time.

Back to school...

not quite.. but Joe, Niki and John took part in the 2nd Hinchingbrooke Park (next to our old school) MTB race.

It was a short fast lap at 15 minutes, Niki was up first with 4 laps against Katy Middlehurst and a couple of others. Katy tracked Niki for the first lap but Niki started to pull away eventually winning by over 2 minutes. Queue "Usain Bolt" celebrations on the finish line.


Joe started next in typical fashion leading a field of mainly roadies, some of whom seemed a bit unfamiliar with the twists and turns of the course. one highlight was that just after the first corner a group of walkers were on the course, despite warning shouts from the leaders they failed to move out of the way so Joe slammed on the breaks just in time to avoid squashing a middle aged lady. "there are another 60 riders coming around that corner any second so you need to get out of the way!" stupid people, there were loads of signs and Marshals at all entry points.


anyway, rant over, after letting the obviously faster roadies get away on the flatter part of the course Joe tracked the leaders and jumped on the wheel of flying vet Jeff Sharp. On the last 500 meter stretch Joe was in third but had another roadie on his wheel so we were setup for a great sprint finish. After the final thrust for the line Joe won the sprint by half a wheel (or so the chap from Timelaps claimed as 4th place protested.) "Call yourself a roadie" 4th places mates goaded.... lol



John had a close race with local rival Chris Pennie and after the now obligitary crash John finished in 5th place 1 second ahead of his rival.




a great days racing and for once a very short trip home after!

Thetford Summer Series Rd 3

Joe and Niki won the final round of the Thetford summer series 6 hour mixed pairs and with it the series. The weather was great, the course dry and fast and a fun time was had by all. It was actually quite embarrasing collecting the last rounds prizes, then the days podium/prizes and then the overall... lol but we came back with a great haul!

SingleTrack Weekender

Fig rolls recently took part in the Singletrack weekender.



It was a weekend of fun and firsts with Joe's first downhill, Matt's first place in the wheely competition, other matt's first air on his singlespeed (see photo), Amelia's first MTB race weekend and Duncan's first place (out of us lot anyhows) in the downhill.




Katie also got first place in the Banana bread bake off (sorry Amelia - it was a close second!)and the worst sunburn competition!



The race was a slightly different format from most and much more laid back. Much beer was consumed and many a marshmallow was toasted by the fire. The Trials and Downhill were first up with Duncan posting a fast time closely followed by Matt and other members of our group. Duncan and Matt managed to clean all the trials as well meaning that they had no penalties for the final XC race the next day. Joe had one penalty for being a bit slow on the downhill with the other Matt one more. Penalties meant 1 minute delays at the start of the xc race the next day.

More beer and some huge BBQ portions and we were ready for the next days racing. lol were we heck!



Duncan flew off, briefly holding the lead for a couple of laps before he was caught by the eventual winner.



Joe did a comedy start dropping his group by the first corner (and securing a full page spread in singletrack racing article as a result!). Matt lea also had a fast start and led his group up the first hill. unfortunately for Matt his fast start didn't last long and he picked up a puncture which due to tubeless tyres took over 1 lap to fix leaving him out of the running.



Matt Hunt was taking things a bit more leisurely stopping to chat to our supporters as he passed the main arena. joe was flying and eventually reeled in Duncan to take up the chase for first place. Despite much heckling and support from the "Fig rolls cheerleaders" he couldn't quite catch the chap in first and finished second by 40 seconds.



While we waited for the podiums Matt hunt won the wheely contest disappearing over the horizon as the commentator shouted "you've won! you can stop now, someone tell him..."



The trophies were presented by a local councillor who seemed very much out of place in his suit and with his cheesy "take my hand and smile for the camera" line. Joe soon put him in his place saying "take my fig rolls" and them distributed more packets to the other winners... "That's it, milk it for the sponsors" the commentator shouted. If only we were actually sponsored....



A great group of people, venue and weather made for a great weekender - looking forward to next year already!

Joe and Duncan's France Touring Trip 2009

Shall we go to France?

That's what I asked Duncan the day before we set off. As usual things were not planned to the last detail way in advance... after setting off not quite as early as planned (12 midday rather than 4am) we left the car at my aunties "near" Dover which turned out to be quite a way from the port! 3 hours and a not insignificant amount of very short but very steep hills later we arrived in time to catch the 8:40 sailing. After a brief trip into Dover to find food (one last english kebab) and finding that our computers time was way out we raced back to the ferry just in time.



Calais

Upon arrival in calais we thought about our next move. The train station was shut so no chance of a sleeper train to paris so it was a game of hunt the campsite. This was shut so we crept in past the security guards and setup camp. After a sleepless night on may part worrying about being thrown out we left early in the morning to get breakfast at the train station.

Where shall we go? - We decided to catch a train to Clermont-Ferrand and after a second breakfast set off on the way to somewhere a little more scenic.

190mph and Race across Paris

2 hours to Lille and then a short hop on the (very fast)TGV took us to Paris Nord. We then had a rush hour race across the city to the Gare de lyon. We made it with minutes to spare! So much to take in and cars / pedestrians everywhere... madness.

We arrived in Clermont-Ferrand about tea time and set off to find our first campsite in the surrounding hills. A brief shower at this point was the only rain we saw for all the trip. The campsite was great (20 Euros)compared to Calais. Someone was in our allocated spot but considering the previous nights shenanigans we thought it would be bad Karma to dob them in so setup nearby. It was here that we discovered how crap ultralight leave shampoo is...

"moi, je suis en Ex- Professionelle"

That night we enjoyed a feast of steak and snails in a local restaurant complete with bemused waiters (we ordered a beer as an aperitif!) They redeemed themselves with a fantastic cheeseboard of local products - more cheese later... After the meal a old chap wandered over to admire my bike - he wasnt interested in Duncan's modern Taiwanese job ;0) "moi, je suis en Ex- Professionelle" he said and proceeded to ask about my 30 year old bike and new components. He seemed to think Duncan was crazy to use a double chainring - more of that later too... Were we climbing the Puy-de-Dôme mountain? he asked, so with a challenge like that we decided to have a go the next day.

After a relitively early start (10:00am) we set off for the Puy-de-Dôme only to fin that it was "pas possible" we argued in vain so decided to make for the town of Mont-Dore to the south west. Queue a fantastic day touring in the small villages around the department(like a County) of the Puy-de-Dôme albeit with the dreaded mountain taunting us at each turn. After stopping at a local Cheese farm (cheese was Saint Nectaire), we consumed a feast of cheese, wine and local pate for lunch. This had us sleepy in the afternoon but the volcanic scenery was amazing. I think we did about 60-70 miles that day

Mont-dore

After setting up camp in the local council campsite (clean and cheap at 10 Euros) we enjoyed pizza from one of the local restaurant. The service was really friendly and the old lady enjoyed practising her English on us. The town of Mont-Dore was set in a valley and it rained a bit that evening while we were eating but thankfully subsided later on. The next morning I was offered sweet tea by some fellow campers whist Duncan snoozed. They were climbing in the local area and were interested to hear about our trip.

"Magna Chambers"

We climbed out of Mont-Dore, headed East through the Haute-Loire department and spent another day passing through picturesque French villages with obligatory war memorials and coffee stops. The landscape was still very much volcanic with magna chambers very much in evidence. One particularity scenic spot at the Lac Pavin was especially memorable although there were a lot of flies so we didn't stop too long. The afternoon riding involved numerous amazing Gorges and empty roads. In the UK these would compare to places like Cheddar and be packed with tourists but around here there were just a handful of locals.

Some fast descents led us to the town of Issorie which we skirted around before some "tour de France" roads through fields of sunflowers. Stopping at villages for water, coffee and food, we made good progress and decided that it should be possible to reach the Alps with a couple of days to spare.

That evening, after running low on energy and water we camped at a beautiful site high in the hills. The local town was closed up for the holiday season so we ate in the camp-site restaurant which turned out to be a very good move s the portions and quality were great. Another bonus was that I found some real shower gel which was luxury compared to the shampoo leaves...

Dirty sausages

The next day was spent along similar lines to the previous two with Gorges and beautiful French countryside. Dirty, but award winning sausages were purchased to supplement our diet of bread and cheese. We ended up high above the Rhone valley at another beautiful camp-site (6 euros!). That evening we walked to the local village and ate at a unremarkable looking hotel resturant. The food turned out to be fantastic and we had about 5 courses for peanuts..


View of the Alps.

Next morning we headed back into the village for coffee and our staple diet of Pan au Chocolate and Croissants only to turn the corner on the high street to a most impressive view of the Alps. Way in the distance we could just about make out the outline of the mountains we were aiming for across the Rhone valley. After coffee and a fast 45 minute descent followed by some steep climbs we arrived at the Rhone river. A quick tour of the town of Tournon Sur Rhone looking for shops - thanks Duncan ;0)and a lunch stop on the edge of the bridge and we set off up a huge climb. The climb was immense and my standing for 20 secs, sitting for 20 secs approach soon started to break Duncan but he carried on to the top determined to "man up" as he put it. The weather was hotting up and after a quick stop to buy ice cold water from the supermarket we carried on towards the Villard du lans gorge. This was another immense climb through dramatic scenery which took over 1 and a half hours before we stopped to bathe our legs in the ice cold river. There were motorbikes everywhere and some of the roads were quite narrow complete with rocky overhangs and tunnels. We had been aiming for Grenoble but decided to stop in the village of Lans en Vercours as our legs had taken enough for one day. The campsite was in a small village 5 minutes from the town but again most of the restaurants were shut so we ate at the campsite's outside pizza restaurant.

Grenoble, Alp D'huez and cheating.

The next morning we treated ourselves to a huge feast of cakes and pastries. So much that I couldn't eat all of mine! A great 1 hour switchback descent into the outskirts of Grenoble had us pass numerous roadies who were on their way up. A long busy main road section took us to the base of the Alp d'Huez climb in le Bourg d'Oisans. After a stop for lunch and coffee we started the climb and our timers and made our way up the famous 21 corners. This was an all out effort against the clock and 1 hour 12 minutes later I reached the top with Duncan a few minutes back. on the way up there were photographers taking pictures and handing out cards to the many riders. There was an amazing view on the way up to the top and although it was a relatively short climb it felt like a great achievement to have made it complete with panniers and a 40lb bike. After a rest at the top we decided to come back down on the old road which turned out to be very quiet and great fun. By now it was getting into late afternoon but we decided to press on up the Col du Glandon, another of the fearsom tour du france climbs. On the way up we passed some Belgians who told us that they didn't know when the next camp-site was so when we reached a small village with a bar and guest house we decided to call it a day and stay in a proper bed for once. The room was luxury compared to our usual sleeping arrangements and it had exclusive use of a kitchen and shower room. We scraped enough money (just!) together to pay for our room and a basic evening meal of savoury crepes. A great nights sleep even if it did feel a bit like cheating!

2 Tour de France climbs in one day

The next morning Breakfast was basic but, in typical French fashion, turned out to be plenty and really nice. We were glad of this as we continued up the Col du Glandon and then continued up to the Croix de la fer. This took over 2 hours which combined with the 2 hours the night before made this one of the largest climbs we tackled. Marmots were whistling in the nearby fields and we managed to get a good shot of one in the distance. Towards the top of the Croix e la fer we were passed by a old chap on a custom road bike. Duncan was very excited and asked if he could take some pictures "for his inspiration..." and we stopped at the top to take a closer look. After another fast descent we started the longest limb of the tour - the Col de la Madeline. this took about 4 hours from start to the top, most of which was in 32 degree heat and lowest gear. Talking of low gears, Duncan was starting to regret his gear choice (and laughing at mine) of a double at the front and his cranks were starting to creak badly. We didn't hang around for long at the top as we were short on food and drink. Duncan managed over 54 mph on the descent - rim melting stuff! The descent into Bourg St Maurice was fantastic, quiet roads, bends, switchback and cool tunnels. We were shattered when we reached the valley floor and started to look for somewhere to stay. As with most camp-site searches this didn't take long and we were soon set up in another friendly part of town. Almost as soon as we arrived the French couple opposite offered us some tea and home made cakes - lovely! The meal that night was rather fancy and we had a great local aperitif.

The next day we rode to Moutiers and after a coffee in the town centre decided to book our tickets home. The plan was to get the sleeper train to Paris then be back in Calais for lunchtime the following day. The sleeper wasn't until 10pm so we had time for a short ride around the local area. The short ride soon turned into another epic climb to "la sauce" (as in mint sauce the mountain biking sheep!) which took about 3 hours though some picturesque villages and close to Val Thorens. We came back to Bourg by another fantastic road and were so hot we decided to cool off in the river. after a few expensive (5 euros) beers in the town centre we needed to eat but all the restaurants were closed for Bastille.The only shop open was a petrol station but this sold everything we could have needed including local wine so we were rather jolly when we finally got on the train. We had to have bunks rather than cheaper standard seats as we were with bikes but our cabin was empty so it was not so bad and we got a decent nights sleep before arriving in Paris.

Fig Rolls on the Champs Elysees

We had allowed a bit more time in Paris this time so that we had time to take in some sights before catching the TGV to Lille. Arriving at 6am we were soon riding along the empty (apart from the odd tramp)banks of the river Seine. It was amazing to be in such a busy city with the sun coming up and the place deserted and the buildings looked amazing in the morning sun. We stopped at the louvre and rode along to the Champs Elysees. This was getting ready for the tour's arrival the following week and looked amazing with the french flags all along the side. We rode up almost as far as the Arc de Triomphe before it started to get busy so we turned off up a side road to climb through the streets of Paris to the Gare d nord station. It was another race against time as we were running a bit late but after the climbs of the Alps it seemed easy.

we stopped in Lille for a couple of hours and looked for shops selling stamps only for Duncan to forget to post his cards... Arriving in Calais we had and early lunch at the station restaurant before making our way back to the ferry and England.

The last 25 miles from Dover to my aunties were made easier by a huge tailwind and the steepest hill of the whole trip came in the last 200 yards to her house! Of course, she had forgotten that we were coming so i had to find the spare key before we could load up.

We had done it and both agreed that the best part of the trip was that we hadn't planned it at all - just going with decisions on the road.

Photos of our adventures can be viewed here

Good Times

It has been a mixed couple of months. Random Bivi trip out in the peak district on the longest night. Fell off my bike on the grass in the pub garden and turns out i wrecked my shoulder. Didnt get it checked until after the Singletrack weekender though, as i had to do that!


The Singletrack Classic Weekender - I chose my singlespeed, based on it being the bike I ride most. This was fine for the DH where I managed to improve my downhill times over the weekend by about 30 seconds and not crash.

Trials was a mixed bag with failure on the sections I cleaned in practice, and the XC was disappointing as I punctured not long after the start. Although I was 2nd to the top of the big start hill on the SS, so a bit gutted with that. I also cleared my first set of doubles :)

Above busted shoulder has somewhat reduced my riding of late, but it is feeling good now so with 2 months until my Dusk til Dawn solo attempt I need to get out more. Hoping to get in a mix of steady road miles and some Sherwood singletrack. If i'm lucky maybe a day or two at lee quarry on my new bike (well frame anyway)

BC Bike Race. Done.

I spent Saturday at Whistler... arriving just in time to see Marc and Nikki off on the last day of the BC Bike Race. Whilst they got on with riding up hills fast, Paul and I took the lazy option.

A whole lot of mountain bikers

They're off!

Marc and Nikki came in 12 place... all the results can be seen and digested here. There will be a full report from the protagonists at some point. We finished the day off with a swim in a lake and then meeting up with the Vancouver gang for a barbecue on the beach. Not a bad end to a week of fine mountain biking.

They're off!

On Sunday, Marc and Nikki started the BC Bike Race. I rode this race with Nikki last year and it was a lot of fun. The first day this year was on the North Shore and featured the Severed Dick trail, which was described by the race organizers as "a puckering ride". I caught up with the Fig Rolls in North Van after Day 1 and everything had gone well. They're somewhere in the middle of the Mixed pairs category and 10 mins ahead of the team behind them. Apparently they beat some Austrian guys... which Marc was pretty happy about. Next stop, Vancouver Island.

Start line confabulation

Marc and Nikki chasing a German guy off the start

Fig Rolls on their way to Mt Fromme from Mt Seymour

T.H.C. No... not that kind of T.H.C.

Fig Rolls Canada triumphed in the UROC Twelve Hours of Cumberland (can you see what they did there?). Fig Rolls ladies Nikki and Joan raced incognito with Fig Rolls special guests Chris and Lina (of divided Fig Rolls and Steed Cycles loyalties). The "Four Horsewomen of the Apokalyps" literally brought home the pottery with a triumphant 21 laps of the fast and furious course. Actually, I didn't see any fury going on at all... it wasn't that kind of race.

Horsewomen ride to victory

There seems to be a tradition in 12/24 hour races in Canada of having bonus laps available for riding a loaner "nasty" bike on the course. "Nasty" isn't the exact word used, to give you a clue... they were kept parked next to the toilets. In this race there was so much enthusiasm for the nasty bikes we could barely get our hands on them. Fisticuffs were nearly reached at one point to get hold of the Ross (who?) "Mt Kilimanjaro". The Fig Rolls boys team (Andrew, Marc, Paul, and Jacek) couldn't be doing with that business... got one lap each on the nasty bikes and left it at that. We paid the price. Despite getting the most laps of any team... we came second. Pah.

Paul, a nasty bike... and a toilet.

Jacek coming into the transition.

We had a great "recovery ride" on Forbidden Plaueau on Sunday and jumped in the river. Good times.

Photos can be found: here, here, and here.

World Hour "Fig Rolls" Record Broken!!

Well, not quite!


Fig rolls at the Velodrome in Manchester.

For More pics see this link.

It was amazing! 10 minutes tuition and then we were let loose on the track. 16 riders in total for 1 hour. Although not strictly allowed to race Joe posted a time of 18.6 seconds for one lap, Jade was 21 seconds, others difficult to gauge. We thought that was fast but Chris hoy can do a sub 10 second 3/4 lap from rolling start and the fastest Juniors do 15 seconds from a standing start! I don't think Chris hoy has much to worry about - even if John was trying to get the pose right! (see last picture)

All in a great session, would love to repeat - anyone up for it? You can hire the track and trainer for £85 and bike hire is £11 Inc. helmet and shoes...

We did a "taster session" which was £9.6 for an hour inc bike hire. more info here

Thetford Summer Series

Typical, not a drop of rain for what seemed like weeks then the night before it tips it down. Luckily the course at Tunstall Forest held up well to the onslaught of riders taking part in the first of the Thetford Summer Series. Joe and Niki rode in the mixed pairs 6 hour enduro.



some photos: Pic 1

Pic 2

Pic 3

Pic 4

We won! out of two teams! lol.

Good and bad

Over the last week...

Good - nice dry weather, long rides, maxxis crossmarks, new gloves and stans tubeless kit

Rubbish - rain, saddle sore, crossmarks made into tubeless and only inflating with a compressed air line, rain making my newly converted fast tyres useless until it drys.

Crash bang wallop

Blimey. I have actually managed to ride more than once in the past week. A few road rides, 2 trips to Sherwood, a road race and a nice pootle this evening. Great stuff.

Other than going to Sherwood on Sunday and leaving my helmet at home, so I hired a nice cheap one for £3. Then Sherwood on Monday racing Joe and stacked it nicely whilst trying to catch him on the downhill. Road race on Wednesday night with the closest call yet - bloke in front of me weaved a bit, I clipped his rear wheel with my front and then nearly went down! Some jammy 'skiing' with my big red look cleat on the road and a bit of funky moving and i was ok. Too close though.

:)

Nine is the magic number.

Fig Rolls (Canada) were at the Comox Valley Snow to Surf again this year. This race is a lot of fun, and involves a lot of people. Well, 9 racers. This year we were:

"Parker" the driver: Darcy

Alpine Ski: Paul

Nordic Ski: Nikki

Run 1: Angie

Run 2: Andrew

Mountain Bike: Marc

Kayak: Lina

Road Bike: Dave

Canoe: Brenda and Colleen

The snow to surf is a minefield of equipment and being in the right place at the right time... with the right clothes on. Our driver for the day, Darcy, did an amazing job of keeping us all organised and ferrying us and our gear around in a big truck. Thanks Darcy!

The race started with the usual lung-busting run in ski boots at the top of Mt Washington, followed by some fast and furious descending. I did this leg a couple of years ago and I'm glad Paul has taken over from me on this one. Besides, he can ski faster than me. Paul came down just behind the main pack and handed off to Nikki who stormed off on the nordic ski. I grabbed Paul and his shredded lungs and we jumped in the truck to get me down to the transition for the second run. After a little warming up, Angie soon appeared... we were doing great! I held our position on the road run and then managed to make up a few places once we got into the trails at the end of my leg... I love the mud. I handed off to Marc who set off on the mountain bike with his usual enthusiasm.

The 4 of us "mountain" racers made it down to the lake to see Marc hand off to Lina who battled wind and waves in the kayak. I didn't get to see it, but apparently her leg went numb in the boat and she had to hobble up a mud slope to hand off to Roadie Dave using only one leg. Nice work Lina! It looks like we came out of the water in around 8th place overall, which is pretty incredible. Dave put in a fantastic ride on the road bike and we caught him whizzing through Cumberland. Then 7 of us, a bike, and 2 sets of skis got into the truck and headed to the finish. Our canoeists were stitched up by the boat rental company and given a huge hulk of a plastic boat... quite a sight compared to the sleek racing canoes they were paddling against. The ladies gave it everything in the massive, slow boat and got through wind and waves that were turning plenty of other boats over. We cheered them across the line, and found we had got 3rd place in the Open Mixed. Great stuff everyone!

Paul running into the ski transition

Nikki waiting for Paul

Angie on Run 1

Andrew on Run 2

Marc and Lina at the mountain bike / kayak transition

Lina paddling

Dave pedalling

Brenda and Colleen paddling "the ferry"

Mmmm, edible medals.

Paul's blog has the whole story and more of his photos... and Lina wrote stuff too.

Back in the game

After a very long silence, I'm back! Long silence following the misery of SITS 2008 - mud, mud, mud and then 5 months off riding due to injuring my knee from pushing my bike for 24 hours.

This time was used to full effect to finish my singlespeed build - originally planned to be a 'budget' build but ending up a long way from that. XT, hope and stans flow rims put paid to that idea, but it has turned out to be a brilliant bike (confirmed yesterday whilst riding the new singletrack at Sherwood Pines - not sure I have ever ridden that quick before!)

Comedy cyclo cross at Christmas time followed, with the team taking a sound kicking in the Lincolnshire League.

An entertaining trip to Dalby has been and gone, and now I've got back into the local club racing at the first Lincs League Road Race on Wednesday night. Somehow, after virtually no riding over the winter, I managed to keep with my group and nearly get the sprint! Ace stuff, but much pain.

Oh yeah, I have also grown a nice red beard, but that it (possibly) about to go.

Hooray for bikes.

Fig Rolls updated at last!

been rather slack lately - not with racing but with the blog so its time for an update.

November 2008
Niki was 3rd in the Thetford winter series rnd 1
joe was 31st

December 2008
Niki was 3rd again
Joe was 13th
Matthew was 190th

January 2009
Lincoln Cyclo cross race
joe was 4th from last
Duncan was 3rd from last
Matthew was 2nd from last
and Niki was last - yes we all got a sound thrashing from the local roadies!

Gorrick round 1
Niki was 1st
Joe was 5th

Thetford WS 3
Joe was 9th
Niki was 3rd
John was 53rd