Did I forget to salute at a magpie, did a black cat cross my path.... It seems like everything has been against me for the last two weeks... at first I rationalised things and thought that heh! life will improve but now from a position of strength I seem to be getting dragged back... here are a list of the negatives: Mountain Bike worth £6,000 stolen.. two pairs of sunglasses broken, car broken down 3 times, wallet full of cash lost/stolen, 2 fillings, Achilles problem leads to a week off the bike, pulled out of the Gorrick 100 just after making my move into the lead due to trashed brakes, major cold....
FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!
.....and so much had been going right - now with just two weeks to the big 24 I feel as if I have stepped back a little - time to re-group and get that pace back.
On the flipside the legend that is Rory Hitchins put in an 8 hour ride fueled by Jam Dodgers to win the Gorrick 100. That made my month!
Anyhow here is a long Overdue Update of Races and things:
So I am back in Blighty and have been for six weeks. Upon return the contrast to South Africa could not have been starker. Within minutes of exiting the airport I was shivering and within an hour I was quickly being inducted into a tremendous weather inspired lull.
Within a week there was some hope but I quickly realized that it was best not to take chances.. I was in Partridge Green about 15 miles from home, nothing but race kit covering my body and summer gloves for the hands. The weather turned without warning from 15 degrees to 5 degrees and the roads turned to rivers. Shivering I had no choice but to cast aside the all over numbness and put my head down - I got home a wreck. 
This theme continued for some weeks, yet now after six the green shoots of spring are here and the South is basking in glorious sunshine and baked trails. I love England (not in a Daily Mail way of course) and when spring is coming there is for me no better place than Brighton and the Downs. Brighton is: Nights out, ice cream, fish and chips, starling and seagulls, wrecked piers and seaside fun. Or as is the case for me these days; long rides, nights in, energy drink and about 100 Weetabix a week. That said the pints are still flowing albeit at a more controlled rate.
My old Brighton abode was an uptown flat with lovely private gardens. Like Rocky on a camp things are different in 2010. On a budget I am fighting out of Warren Road, Woodingdean.
Warren Road is the home of the infamous Jonny Quality, good friend, Enigma frame builder, Independent Fabrication rider, biscuit commando and founder of FYI - Chickens Cycles; it’s good company. Furthermore Woodingdean is only accessible by a CAT 3 road climb meaning that every ride involves a mountain top finish.
After dabbling in XTerra for experience the training has taken a lean toward the bike as I prepare for the first ever 24 Hour National Championships. I decided that although the XTerra’s of the summer are the focus I really want to give the right account of myself at the first ever National 24 Hour Championships. As such the swimming has eased (a little too much) and those favourite rides such as Leith Hill via the Downs Link and my favourite 84 mile Granny loop to Rye with the stop in the middle for tea and lots of chocolate biscuits have taken centre stage.Aside from this I have been up to Newcastle and ridden with fellow 24 specialist Rich Rothwell, been toasted in the Dales by Simon Rodgers and been hauling it with the mighty Will Jones.
Silver Linings – Triple Slam!
Thursday 7th April was a dark day. After a nice meal with friends I did the unthinkable – I locked my £6,000 race bike outside of the Prince Albert Pub. When I came out after a quick pint the bike was gone. This beauty was in full race build; cool as a cucumber and light as a feather. What transpired was a frantic and stressful rush job – firstly to do everything in my power to find the bike and secondly to get another bike up and on the road.
Losing a bike is like losing a part of you. Especially when it is the machine on which you have had so many happy rides and classic adventures with. Indy 1 as it was known had hauled the South Downs Double, been to Switzerland, Spain, France and Arizona. The picture below might help anyone should they see her. In the meantime – RIP.
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With the bike gone Thursday a rush to make the big Muc-Off 8 hour race on the Sunday was on. Luckily those legendary guys at Independent Fabrication have equipped me for 2010 with two brand new frames: a custom Titanium Deluxe 29er and a custom Titanium Crown Jewel road frame. Life doesn’t get much better.
Those that don’t know Independent – your education starts now! Formed in 1995 from the remnants of the legendary Fat City Cycles they are the world’s best custom frame builder. Using steel, carbon and titanium they craft bicycles specific to the dimensions, riding style and handling preferences of their buyers. The net result is like that of a bespoke suit, perfect fitting and great looking; only the Indy’s also go very, very fast. 
My new mountain bike is built around a superlight and stiff Cannondale Lefty fork and superfly green and showtime white Industry Nine Ultralight Wheelset. When it is finally complete with its SLR saddle and R1 brakes it'll weigh a scant 21.5lbs. Massive thank you to those two companies for giving me such great gear for the year.
But before the Muc-Off the new fork needed some last minute adaptation to 29er and wasn’t ready to roll. Luckily good friend and top rider Fraser Clifford stepped up and practically lent me a build kit. That was apart from my gears – 1996 edition Shimano XTR form my touring bike.. still going strong and never missing a shift.
The Muc-Off 8 - 1st Place
Earmarked in the calender for April 10th was the Muc-Off 8. With the UK24 Hour Nationals approaching it made sense to get a big ride in and at pace. I also wanted to go up against one of the favourites for the 24; the legendary Ant White. As the event was low priority I trained hard into it and decided with coach Dr P to go reasonably hard for the first two hours and then back it off for the remaining six.
The event itself presented some intrigue. The most expensive event per hour ever put on in the UK the organizers from the world of triathlon were embarking on their first ever foray into the world of the Mountain Bike. A lot was expected as they had publically stated that they would be raising the bar. Yet before the event I had no idea on numbers, as there was no pre-entered list. Upon arrival however it transpired that it had the biggest solo field of the year with over 150 riders ready to go head to head over the course that will later in the year host the National Marathon Championships.
The practice lap revealed a debatable course at best but at least I didn’t have to pay an additional £10 to camp in a field devoid of showers as I lived nearby – so come morning I was reasonably fresh.
To break up the start they had a run in place – perfect news for me! I ran nice and steadily to get onto my bike in second. Lap 1 and I was in a hot group with Stu Bowers, Steve Webb and the Norwegian Marathon Champion (all in the team relay event). I was going quick but not flat out and soon had Iain Payne also in the solo for company. Come lap 2 I gave it a bit of the turbo on one of the climbs and found myself clear and going away. The race was super comfy and by hour 6 I was 15 minutes ahead in the solo and running 2nd overall – beating all but one of the teams! Last lap I gave it a little extra and came in 18 minutes clear of Ant to take the victory. This was good news – Ant is fantastic over 24 hours and will be a big danger but to take a chunk of time out over a big distance gave me a great boost.
The event itself had some pretty major negatives… that for many left a bad taste. It had the great idea of a timed downhill section that was real fun but it appeared that a number of areas of the course had not been subject to a commissaire and were dangerous. Furthermore for the massive entry fees taken I would argue that less was offered than similar style events. On a personal note after beating 150 riders I came away with some Muc-off cleaning products and a bike cleaner as prizes (pre-event blurb described prizes as excellent and premium! – to me solo should and usually is cash!) - the £160 paying teams got even less. With some experience in running events and understanding cost models the whole scenario was to me absolutely unacceptable – this was also the consensus of riders I know. Worse still a lot of new people to the sport will have attended the event and will believe that this is the standard.
Gorrick Supermasters - 1st Place
No ease off after the Muc-Off led me to a big training week – well 15 hours of biking and as a finish a rare foray into Cross Country racing in the last round of the big Gorrick Spring Series. For non-bikers Cross Country or XC is the classic mountain biking format and is the only Olympic sanctioned discipline. As such the elbows are sharp and the quality high.
As I wanted to ride again in the afternoon I skipped the Elite/Expert event and went for Supermasters in the morning. This is a special category for people over 30 who happen to be fast. Well I say happen to be fast – everyone is either sponsored or an exp-pro and as such it is a genuine high quality burn up! Again on tired legs I got a terrible start and coming off the first bend was in 15th place – woops. Then something weird happened. I have noticed I have this power now. I don’t know where it has come from as no top end training has been done - it is being saved for the XTerra racing in the summer… it must be from consistant training. I decided to put down this power and went instantly from 15th to second. After 3 minutes the field was still bunched in the singletrack so I laid down the power again. The net result was a major selection and I found myself clear. Not knowing much about XC and tactics I backed off and by the end of lap 1 we were a two, a Stephen James riding for Moda alternating the lead with me. I wasn’t quite flat out which was good and then halfway through the fourth and last lap I made a move on the climb to win by a minute after cruising the last singletrack. Get in!
It has to be said that the Gorrick Course was excellent. Obviously designed by mountain bikers not organisers it had flow, difficulty and controlled danger. Next time I will race elite. Furthermore the big revelation is the new bike. It is hands down the best bike I have ever ridden – so smooth, comfortable and fast – Indy have nailed it.
South Downs One-Way - training ride leads to new record of 7.31
To seal the fitment of the Ultralight Lefty fork I decided to do a South Downs one-way. Last year I broke the two-way record and decided to see in the new bike and season with a one-way training ride. The fastest one way time is 7 hours 50 minutes for the 100 or so miles and I kind of had this in mind when I set out from Eastbourne. A slight headwind and legs not entirely fresh did not prove conducive to records but I rolled into Winchester in 7 hours 31 minutes and celebrated with a toffee crisp, fruit and nut, packet of Wheat crunchies and a smoothie. Perfect. Train home to Brighton and then to the pub for three pints.. happy days. On reflection there is definitely a sub 7 hour one-way due and potentially a sub-16 double (15.45 I still reckon is the limit unless someone like Roel Paulisson steps up and goes sub-12!)
Lots of thanks on this post: Joe at Indy Fab, Rory at USE, Mike at Cannondale, Frazer at Morvelo and many others.
Music - Well I must say that my latest Cut Copy mix is making me happy as is the Television Album "Marquee Moon," and of course Caribou.
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