Are we nearly there yet?

The End

2009-04-17T17:02:00.005+01:00

There's an inherent danger when setting up a goal-orientated blog like this, that unforeseen obstacles will prevent you from reaching that goal. Which can be pretty embarrassing, when you look back at the high hopes with which you started.

We've reached that point.

My personal obstacles have become insurmountable. The cause of my breathing difficulty is a mystery to my (very supportive) GP . If it's asthma, it's highly atypical, as my response to asthma inhalers is erratic, and my overall lung capacity is a mere 80% of predicted - something you might see in someone who's got damage from pneumonia. Which I haven't.

I'm awaiting blood test results, and probable referral to a chest physician. Generally I'm feeling pretty under the weather and can manage only limited rides every few days.

And so, with heavy hearts, we have accepted that BCBR isn't going to happen. Not for us, not this year.

On the plus side, Dear Reader, that means that 2 race entries for the most amazing, 7-day, singletrack endurance race On The Planet, are up for grabs. Our entries are fully transferable, just not refundable, you see. If anyone from our international readership (!) would like to relieve us of our entries, generously discounted, we're open to offers!

Check out http://www.bcbikerace.com/ to get inspired. Believe me, it looks amazing.

Please let anyone know if you think they might be interested.

Hopefully I will join Michael in some enduros later this year, once I get this thing beaten. And then maybe (only if we recoup a little of the entry fees from this year), just maybe we'll be crazy enough to book BCBR next year and can trustingly dust off this blog and start again.

For now, this blog is, sadly, obsolete. "Are we nearly there yet?" Couldn't be further away...

Thanks for reading. And good luck in your own training / riding this year.

Treat

2009-04-13T09:18:00.007+01:00

On Sunday we drove to Hampshire (or maybe Surrey, we were on the borders, so it was hard to be sure). We joined sometime Torq rider and Spain room-mate Viv, plus her man Clive, to take in some of their local riding. We were spoiled. Not only did we get another welcome spin around the Trolls' stomping ground, but we had a special excursion onto the apparently little-known, and unexpectedly other-worldly, delights of Ash Ranges.

We forgot the camera. Again. It was a shame in particular not to be able to capture the contrast between the earthy tones of the mist-shrouded heathland, and bright biking jerseys. Fast trails in panoramas worthy of a section on a mtb DVD / bike mag photoshoot - but you'll just have to imagine, sorry... Think we need to a return visit to capture it - hint hint!

[Ash Ranges on a sunny summer's day, apparently]

The others graciously accommodated my torturously prolonged warm-up period, and my early decline - barely scraping 3 hours riding. Oddly enough though, I always seem to have the energy for some more singletrack [insert winking sideways face composed entirely from punctuation marks...] and there is a fabulous smorgasbord of singletrack round there. Show me a steep climb however and my lungs can't gather enough breath. To my shame, I had to walk up the last 2 hills, with rests en-route to catch my breath. Of course after 3 weeks of minimal riding, undoubtedly lack of fitness is now a factor too.

However, despite all that boring wibbling about mememe, it was a really enjoyable ride - thanks to Viv and Clive for a memorable day!

Downs link epic

2009-04-11T13:15:00.003+01:00

Last Sunday myself, Alex, Gez and Jim rode both the North and South Downs....and the bit in between.

Gez and I got a 7.15am Hove train (thanks to engineering works making the faster Brighton line impossible) arriving Dorking 9.35, but not before a train-gap at Gatwick facilitated a rather large and unhealthy full English fry-up.

We grouped at Wescott Green after a 3 mile road ride and set about climbing to Leith Hill Tower. Despite the volume of miles ahead of us we created a wiggly route that would take in plenty of fun trails. By the time we hit the downs link at Cranleigh we had 17.5 miles and 2850ft of climbing under our belts via Leith Tower, bomb holes, split tree, quarry, greensands way, Holmbury top, yoghurt pots, reservoir dogs, the see saws, bkb, christmas pudding, pitch top, the evil drop to windmill and speedy flowing trails through winterfold wood.

The ride had been really nice and continuous with just one scheduled stop at Peaslake stores for 20 minutes. The plan from there was for maybe a half hour lunch stop at a pub half way along the downs link but things went a little wrong. Jims brakes, Alex's mech and semi-effective slime tube, my puncture & bitchin' tight rear tyre...and lovely cool beer on a gorgeous day, meant that by the time we left that pub (Bax Castle, about 32 miles into the ride) we had amassed disappointingly huge stoppage time.

We were having a great ride though and it got better with the sight of Jo coming the other way towards us, looking full of beans. She doubled back with us and easily kept our pace, her ride finishing on the flat before the South Downs at a 34 mile total for her. Great considering her current condition.

We took a 1o minute break here, bolstering ourselves for the 450ft Truleigh Hill climb that spanned the next mile....quite a sting after 48 miles!

That was the worst over and with a final grind to the radio masts and then the devils dyke pub our ride was over. We timed our beers perfectly in order to leave just enough time for Alex and Jim to miss the next trains at Brighton, but no one cared because we had 4000 calories in the bank, along with 56 miles and 4130ft of climbing.

I'm up for trying this again in a few weeks avoiding the stoppage time. We'd stop 20 mins at peaslake stores at about 13 miles, 30 minutes at Bax Castle pub about 32 miles in, and allow 20 mins of 'lost' time. That would give a target total time of 6hr50 at the same ride speed as this week and would yield an average overall 8.2mph

Now lets put that target in context. Skyline, Whites, Wall & Penhydd = 61.56 miles and 7973feet.
Matt Page did it in 5 hours 57m:47s
The really funny bit.....that included 3minutes49sec stoppage time...see here http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/7666661

Saturdays would avoid the train pain, will come up with a date if anyone interested.

M

Jail Bird

2009-04-07T20:25:00.005+01:00

Just lookie at what arrived in the post: two cylinders of stretchy man-made fabric that make me smile - please give a warm welcome to Sugoi's 'Jail House' arm warmers.

There were many things I lacked in Spain last month -- fitness, ability, appropriate bike, I could go on - but arm-warmers were the thing firmly next on the list. Probably because, let's face it, out of that list, they were the easiest to achieve.

Of course these circles of heaven were the only items not on sale on the whole interweb. Still, to me they are things of beauty and such things are deserving of my cash.

Bliss - nearly

2009-04-05T09:06:00.006+01:00

I begged Michael to accompany me on a piddly ride yesterday. Ever since my last night-ride 2 weeks ago, I'd been pining to try out the new trails in daylight. I'd found the ride nerve-wracking with 50% of it new to me and some challenging obstacles - props to the Brighton MTB guys for all their hard work over the winter! I wanted to get it into proportion.

Plus I was going stir-crazy in our urban jungle and needed some time immersed in nature, however slow the riding. Michael was initially reluctant - he's in a group riding the Downslink back from Dorking today, covering about 50 miles, so he wanted to conserve energy. I assured him that, at the pace I'd be setting, it would count as a recovery ride for him. And he had to lead, as I didn't know how to find all the trails.

Oh, it was glorious. Deep in the woods, I sucked in all the springy-ness - buds unfurling and tiny flowers everywhere, rabbits breaking cover at our approach, slanting sunlight, trail conditions perfect, us doing slaloms amongst the saplings (! Spring is a time for 's' and 'sl' words it seems). Virus or no virus, I couldn't have missed it. I loved all the trails and stopped to repeat anything I didn't breeze over/through first time, so at least I got some trail practice.

As if that wasn't enough, Michael kindly supplied a comedy interlude by demo'ing to his apprentice (me) how to do a drop-off 'properly', and failing nearly every time. Luckily for everyone I pressed 'record' too late on my phone trying to video it.

Forgot the camera...not sure this snap conveys the wonders of nature!

He also excelled himself by not getting lost once. ;-)

But I was tired before we got back to the car, and oozed onto the sofa on our return home. My riding muscles are a bit achy today and I'm not as sprightly as I'd like to be.

If yesterday had an ulterior motive in checking whether I'm better yet, the answer is clear...

Rattling

2009-04-02T10:33:00.005+01:00

I'm too impatient to wait for my body to sort itself out via the simple age-old remedy of Rest, so my daily routine is crammed with as many potions, pills and procedures as I can google:

- 1000mg vitamin C x 2 daily
- 15 drops echinacea in water x 3 daily.
- Milk thistle tablet (helps liver process toxins) x 2 daily
- Contents of iron sachet in fruit juice (in case my haemoglobin is low).
- Peak flow meter reading, preventer inhaler, Ventolin. More peak flow readings for comparison. All entered onto chart. x 2 daily.
- Magnesium, B6 and zinc tablets (good for breathlessness AND sleeping difficulties. Bargain).

Now I CAN see the humour in this.

I'm single-handedly keeping the whole supplements and alternative health industry afloat. Just when poor Michael briefly, blissfully, forgets he's living with a neurotic hypochondriac, ta-da! I reveal another potion from my magician's cloak aka eco shopping bag. The house looks more like a chemist's than ever.

Can't stop though, I'm off to the acupuncture clinic.

Backwards, fast

2009-04-01T10:40:00.003+01:00

No change - I'm still wheezy on any effort. The GP has now added steroid inhalers to the ventolin, so I seem to be officially asthmatic again (I haven't had an inhaler for 13 years).

The GP reckons there's a virus lurking still as well. So I'm reduced to piddly slow rides, walking, core stability work. Not an exercise regime that'll get me across BC come June.

Shonky knee and now this? Barring a miraculous recovery or a lung-transplant, decision-time seems to be looming about my ability to take part in BCBR.

Wish this was an April Fool's post. Trying to find the humour in the situation. Failing.

Gorrick

2009-03-29T21:37:00.005+01:00

Today was round 4 of the Gorrick Spring Series XC races.

This one was at Porridge Pot Hill which apparently when wet is as per the name. Thankfully today was dry and the rain of the previous days hadnt had too much impact.

I've never done a Gorrick and wasnt concerned with racing as such, but had heard the courses were lovely so figured it could be a refreshing change from a straight Sunday ride. Jo felt likewise but when it came to it her continued dodgy breathing kept her away.....a decision she regretted on looking at the results sheets tonight to see many a familiar name from her recent Torq trip that she'd have loved to just go say hello to.

Anyway, I gave myself half a chance by not riding yesterday, then took it away with a couple of Belgian beers and 5 hours sleep. As if that would make any difference, hah...i was always gonna be back of my pack (veterans) and set off with that intention at the back of the grid, trying to keep out of the way of those taking it more seriously. That turned out to be almost everyone...no baggy shorts here and my bike was probably the most inappropriate I saw all day.

This was a sprint event of less than 10 miles over 3 laps of swoopy singletrack, always interesting but never extreme. There were a couple of short climbs that took determination to complete and the traffic on them sometimes made it impossible. One downhill twisty section was very loose and sketchy on the turns but not prohibitive to any casual rider to have a go.

I'd recommend this event to anyone. Hugely popular, categories galore to suit anyone, nice course, friendly, reasonable facilities.

I'll be back to try to improve on my 50th place out of 62 in my category. The next one is April 19. Ive also signed up for the May 3rd 70 mile enduro which is a little more appropriate for our training purposes as the only downside of doing this weekends event is the shortfall of bike hours.

Michael (signed in as Jo)

Doctor's orders

2009-03-24T19:04:00.006Z

GP visit. Query virus. "Lot of it about". Prescription: rest. Ventolin for the wheezing. See how I go.

Bottom lip

2009-03-22T12:33:00.006Z

Either I'm a little bit poorly, or not recovered from bike camp yet. Or a bit of both.

On last Sunday's THT ride, I found the pace hard-going and my legs were tired, but I got through it and finished mid-pack. After that I didn't exercise till Thurs, when again I found the pace a challenge on what the boys insisted was a moderate night ride. Over this week I've had some coughing at night, my cheeks feel hot and I've been getting breathless from mild exertion like going upstairs. I've had a mild temperature.

Yesterday I tried riding again. After an hour I admitted defeat and headed off home, snivelling with disappointment. And panic. The boys continued riding to Eastbourne on the South Downs Way (c 35 miles). I'm still feeling exhausted, my body leaden.

Admittedly#1: 5 hours sleep after a 40th birthday party on Sat night didn't help the situation at all. Unfortunate timing. I only had one glass of champagne though! It was only my 2nd night out in the past month...

Admittedly#2: Matt from Torq did advise me to take 10 days off after bike camp. *Lalala, can't hear you.* (Mutters: 10 days was excessive, surely?)

So now my body has enforced some rest upon me. My plan is to take a week off and see what I can do to sort myself out.

Why am I so worried? I've had these symptoms before. In March 2006, this little collection of symptoms, plus various others, ended up with my GP (mis)diagnosing a heart murmur and Crohn's disease. Turned out I had neither, so was perhaps just run-down...never got to the bottom of that. Anyway, I was still out of training for months and pulled out of a triathlon.

Rollercoaster eh? 3 months to go...

New Trails

2009-03-17T22:12:00.008Z

Well...new to us.

Our rides often take in a new trail or section [usually courtesy of Michael's appalling sense of direction - Ed], but it's been some while since we've had a whole ride on virgin territory. Discovering the Tunnel Hill Trolls were hosting a Sunday ride from Mytchett was great news as previous opportunities to meet these guys on their home turf hadn't worked out for us.

BMTB have written up the ride here so we'll not expand other than to say it was excellent, thank Jay and his Trolls...and the weather for it's part.

If you're in striking distance of the Trolls hit 'em up and say hello...they might show you some fun!

she's having fun....really!

Bike Magic

2009-03-14T16:40:00.011Z

Photo of esteemed leaders Matt and Anth of Torq, courtesy of Rob Barker

AWESOME. EXHILARATING. INSPIRING. EXHAUSTING.
One of those trips where you come back and bore everyone rigid, without ever actually managing to convey what was so great about it.

I’ll have a go though.

Bike camp. Boot camp. Training camp. Where to start? With food and lodging. The ‘camp’ was a hotel at the very top of the hilly town of Coin, 20 miles north of Malaga, surrounded by the majestic Andalucian mountains: Sierras de las Nieves.

Hotel El Palomar was traditional, welcoming and suited our group well, arranged around a central atrium that housed the bikes securely overnight. The owners dished up plenty of tasty high-carb, low-fat buffet meals as per their brief. I loved the excuse to return for seconds – at EVERY meal – I had no idea how many calories I needed, but under-fuelling was not advisable, so I just kept shovelling. On the flight home, James D’a calculated that his riding had burned 18,000 calories over the week.

I was less amused by the ban on my personal dietary stalwarts of cheese, chocolate and chips, due to their evil fat content. These people take their sport Seriously. Luckily a sympathiser and fellow subversive smuggled in some chocolate on Day 1 after a trip into town. Maybe they weren’t all robots.

It also didn’t seem so great that first night when I joined 3 room-mates (female), wedged together into a small bedroom. I had been expecting to share with one other girl. But that cloud had a silver lining too - all that time together meant we really bonded. Less positively, the proximity and lack of storage space meant that some of my smalls were able to escape to the evidently less toxic environment of Viv’s luggage – whoops.

Mine was the bed in the middle.
The weather was glorious throughout – at its max of 29 degrees, I found it too hot, and hydration was a constant issue. As I kept reminding myself, it’s likely to be good practice for BC.

Oh, you want to know about the riding?

I don’t know the exact totals, but days 1, 2 and 5 amounted to 50-60 miles a day (combination of road + off-road). In the remaining three days I managed between 2-3 hours of riding a day. I certainly doubled the previous UK week’s riding total, to about 27 hours. It meant hours and hours of pushing hard, in my case usually just to keep the rest of the riders in sight, falling into bed exhausted every night, dragging myself up in the mornings, aching all over. My prediction of being the slowest was proved right, and wasn’t helped by having the heaviest, non-race-ready bike, one of the few full-sussers, with flat pedals. But I think I acquitted myself through showing a reasonable amount of endurance. The afternoon of Day 2 I was particularly weedy, but we discovered afterwards that my back brake had been locked on over maybe 15 miles of climbing. Like driving with the handbrake on. Honestly.

I used my last remaining strength to stay briefly with the girls as pack leaders on the last morning. Result! That finally broke me though and I struggled to get back on the bike to ride home!

Neither Shonky nor Wonky (knee and hip respectively) gave me any trouble at all, amazingly.

Day 4 was designated as a Rest Day. Of course in this company it was no such thing. Us girls strategically secured ourselves technical skills tuition from Ian P of AQR: a marvel at tuition AND generous to a fault about bike maintenance / improving my bike set-up. We all seemed to learn plenty that day, even the more experienced riders. I certainly improved my climbing and cornering.

The undoubted highlight of the trip was the people – what a friendly, motivated, dedicated bunch. It was particularly inspirational to meet women racers – hooray for Fran, Viv, Lydia, Ally and Emma. Stars to aspire to.

It also meant, as a rookie, I could soak up ideas about every aspect of the sport: such as the training principles (pacing, zones, efforts, nutritionnutritionnutrition) suited to different types of racing, from sprint to multi-day endurance. Everyone was generous about sharing their knowledge and advice. After a fairly earnest start to the week, the dynamics loosened up and the gang became more laid-back, with plenty of comedy moments and good chats.

And so I’m back.

Despite the success of the week, I’ve returned daunted. I’m fully aware now of the reality of the challenge that faces us from 28th June – 4th July. Namely getting to Day 7 of BC Bike Race with enough energy to cope with (and ideally enjoy) the biking Mecca of Whistler.

But hey, that’s an entire 3 months away (gulp). For now, I’m basking in the warmth of the achievement. I took a risk in going, and it paid off. I have the passion - and intention - to move beyond my current ability and limitations.

Thank you, my new biking pals. Despite the pain, every km was a pleasure alongside you. Happy memories.

I look forward to seeing you again, whether for rides, at races or both.

Lightning..........twice.

2009-03-13T22:35:00.007Z

A couple of weeks ago my back wheel escaped my bike at the end of the 'Barry Knows Best' trail on Holmbury Hill. I covered this event in an earlier post and had since concluded I must surely have overlooked to tighten the skewer due to rushing to catch up with the gang.

Today i'm wondering again if that was the reason, or could that final 50 metres of BKB contain a strong magnetic force which unscrews threads.

The thread in question today is about 10mm worth of near 1" diameter and has never been touched since purchase about a year ago.

Thankfully due to ballsing up the section just prior, I was moving far slower than usual when my forks compressed fully....but the only bit that rebounded was the actual spring!! The photo is not mid trail maintenance....thats how it ended up.

I'd be interested to know if there's any history on Rockshox Revelation U-turn Coil forks regarding this. I may be completely wrong but possibly this is what happened: The Uturn dial has 3 small bearings under it that gets rusty & graunchy making the dial resistant to turning. Persevering with it may mean youre not just turning the Uturn but also to some extent the underlying thread. Once that gets just a little loosened the action of compression and rebound on the coil sets up a further unscrewing force which escalates quite quickly the looser it gets. This might be absolutely wrong??

It was a straightforward fix so I continued my solo ride on Pitch Hill and had some self-timer fun with the camera.

Quickie

2009-03-10T10:01:00.002Z

Jo is doing great in Spain and holding up well against massive mileage.

I'm seeing Sabrine (Jo's Physio) for a bad lower back as well as a pre existing sacro iliac issue. Seems i'm extreemly unbalanced.......we didn't know that already did we!

Saturday was the Dyke/Beacon loop, running into Ronnie & Mike trailbuilding, so I mucked in...perfect for my back!

Sunday was Holmbury & Pitch with Gez, Irish Pete and unfortunately not Neil (hope the fairy lights have gone out now). Good ride and my first real chance to push my rebuilt Patriot on cheeky trails. Wide bars and platform shock have transformed it for the better, though the Swinger 4-way is taking time to find the best setup. It's a better playbike but climbing it hasnt got any easier.

Monday night was Dyke/Beacon loop with Gez ...and telephone guidance from BMTB Mike as my run of poor navigation continues. Gez kept good humour over it and we made it back to the car a couple of minutes before midnight. If only we'd spent a tad longer doing carpark trackstands we could have claimed to have ridden on Tuesday as well.

These last three rides add up to the same mileage as Jo's Saturday ride alone in Spain.....

Goodbye Shonky, Hello Wonky

2009-03-04T18:42:00.006Z

Sunday was a great ride.
Shonky held up for 6 hours! Admittedly I'm guilty as charged: my energy levels were all over the place, I became a human food dustbin and I’m tortuously slow up the hills, but hey. This was the longest ride I’d ever done. I was cresting a big wave.

Sunday was a crap ride.
Those big waves had jagged rocks beneath, and I dashed down onto them from my dizzy heights: a new pain developed in the last half-hour of riding, one I was too dazed to fully process. It sank in later. My 'IT band' syndrome had re-surfaced, announcing itself as a painful left outer knee. An unresolved problem that in 2005 made months of marathon training – and the day itself – agonising and stressful and effectively led to me abandoning running. It's never been a problem with cycling.

The left knee has had no piece of the action while Shonky has taken centre stage over recent months. Clearly it felt Sunday was its moment.

I have attention-seeking knees? I might as well have children.

Cue two days of despair. There have been tears and even less sleep than usual. How bad has it been? Michael has bought me chocolate without me begging. I did try to keep it vaguely in proportion: obviously this isn’t war, famine or terminal illness.

But the timing felt exquisitely poor. A few days before embarking on a demanding week of riding with strangers, I felt crushed by a notoriously complex and frustrating injury that requires lots of rest and a highly cautious return to significantly reduced training load.

Cue entry of my physio, an angel in human form. A desperate phone call secured me an emergency appointment last night. Two & 1/2 hours of very thorough and conclusive diagnostics, some hands-on work and lots of advice and a list of exercises. I left her house at 11.15pm.

The problem it seems is that I have a Wonky Hip, which is causing all kinds o’mischief.

IIRC: leg movements should be initiated with the psoas muscle (deep abdminonal). That’s working fine on Shonky’s side (right). Due to pelvic instability, my left side recruits a combination of multifidius (back), sartorius and adductor (hip/thigh). Cue lots of torsion and imbalance. Also my femur gets pulled slightly out of the hip joint when I move -urgh. All the recent core and leg-strengthening work has done wonders for my right side, but simply worsened the problem on my left.

Lucky me that PhysioAngel specialises in just this sort of problem. Lucky me to have found her (and be able to stump up the cash required to fix it – something that wasn’t an option back in 2005).

Outlook? The inflammation on the knee will remain for the next few weeks, so may continue to cause problems and cut short rides. No idea by how much. But with icing and pain gel, it shouldn't worsen.

However training camp turns out, the important thing for me is that the source has been identified and remedial work started, with a promise that Wonky Hip will soon be a thing of the past.

I fly tomorrow afternoon. Wish me luck.

Big Up the Ayups

2009-03-03T23:47:00.019Z

The weekend plan changed a little following chats with others who wanted a long slow non technical Sunday ride. Saturday we did 3 uncontroversial hours and 20 miles looping Devils Dyke to Ditchling Beacon....all fine. On Sunday the 'fun' started. We met Brightonmtb Mike, Pete and Matt at Whiteways (north of Arundel). The plan was to join the South Downs Way and pedal 22.5 miles west to Queen Elizabeth Park in Hampshire, eat cake, then pedal back: a ride time of around 5 hours total.

We set off at 10.45am at a firm pace in ideal weather for a long slog. The hills were relentless and by 15 miles Jo was questioning the wisdom of her carrying on, but as is her way, had no intention of not carrying on. By 16 miles we were bitching at each other as I had no truck with her claim that all she needed was a big food stop (a claim I could barely interpret as she could never properly speak through her grub stuffed mouth....from porridge at breakfast, through malt loaf in the car, starting the ride one handed while mashing banana in, a gel at the first hill, a nutty bar, more malt loaf.....and on...and on).

Somehow we made it to QE Park where Jo ordered coffee cake, a cheese and tomato toastie, a cadburys boost and a can of coke. The concern at this point was that it had taken 3 hours ride time and 3.5 actual to reach the half way point. Add the cafe stop of 45 mins and suddenly we're 2hrs39 from sunset with no lights and less fresh than we were for the outward journey.

Actually 4 of us were less fresh.....Matt was yet to break sweat. Pete claimed fatigue but seemed good to me, Mike and I were ok, Jo....a worry to us all and herself. Off we set for the return leg....after Jo nipped in to buy herself two fingers of Fudge!

It seemed like we'd all been reincarnated as faster riders as we (relatively speaking) stormed back the initial 10 miles (Jo eats her grub, I eat my words). We were genuinely on for a daylight finish when Pete got a snag with his chain. He'll correct me i'm sure but he's running something fancy like a Rohloff system and using a wide bmx chain. So borrowing a bit of 8 or 9 speed chain isn't a straightforward solution (i'll spare you the details). 45 minutes later, Jo having continued to ride ahead alone, we charge to catch up. Actually she's not that far ahead....she'd seen us back across the valley so had a choc' stop while formulating the verbal slap we'd get for not one boy out of 4 riding on to ensure the lone girl was ok. Slap duly accepted.

A dark finish was now very much on the cards so when Pete's second 'chain reaction' occured 5 miles on, motivation waned, back ache and bum ache intensified and we all just wanted it over. Despite it all we continued to ride a good pace.

When darkness fell, the end of an era came with it. Since Mike got his Ayup lights we've quite enjoyed ever so slightly ripping the piss out of the fact they live on his helmet day and night, rain or shine, spoiling his otherwise fabulously aerodynamic shape. Well now we all wanted to bathe in his light and thank god for it.

5 riders, 1 light...it was slow but we were now calm and at peace, quite enjoying it. We'd blown it, missed the sun's deadline, nothing left to stress about....and it was much more of an adventure being on the dark side.

The return ride time was exactly the same as outward at 3 hours. Actual time though doesn't bear thinking about. 45 miles in the bank though and Jo's shonky knee ok.

This is where the story ends.....and it may actually be where the whole story ends as Jo is at the physio as I write. She has more than one knee..........Michael

Fuel: homemade malt loaf

2009-02-28T17:58:00.006Z

As I embark on the preparation for malt loaf for tomorrow's ride, I thought I'd share the recipe. It's ridiculously simple, low fat and seriously tas-teeee. But be warned, you have to start the night before.

Measure out 1 cup each of:
- All Bran
- milk
- sultanas (or some mixed dried fruit combo)
- sugar (I've used half a cup or less and it's still perfectly sweet from all the fruit)

No I don’t know how big a cup is, but as long as the proportions are all the same it’ll be fine. Trust me.

Allow the mixture to soak overnight.

In the morning, add 1 cup of self raising flour. Mix well. I normally find it's too dry at this point - so you can add a splosh more milk or water, so that you can mix it.

Spoon into a greased and greaseproof-paper-lined loaf tin.

Bake at 180c or Gas Mark 5 for about 45 mins (in our fan oven) - or until a skewer comes out clean.

Apparently you can also do a gluten-free version by replacing the All Bran with millet flakes and the self raising flour with rice flour and add a level teaspoon of gluten free baking powder.

The Ups and Downs

2009-02-26T20:04:00.006Z

Despite the mechanical, financial and psychological trauma Michael experienced last week in the North Downs, the plucky fellow refuses to be beaten.

Undeterred, we’re heading on Sunday for a steady, but no-loitering (!), 5-hour ride. Leaving from Leith Hill at 10.30am.

BTW, Saturday will be a 3-hour afternoon ride on the South Downs - out from home and back, route tbc. Because we are Equal Opportunity Riders and in no way Downs-ist.

Want to join us on either effort? Email your phone number to md@michaeldonne.co.uk

Performance nerves

2009-02-26T19:58:00.007Z

I only have one week left to magic up impressive speed and fitness. What with me flying to Malaga for the Torq training camp next Thursday, that is.

A little sneaky googling has uncovered the distressing, but hardly surprising, fact that most of my fellow 'campers' are mtb'ers who race in expert category or equivalent. Most appear in the top 3 race results in their class, etc. One of them was the first woman to do the South Downs Double. (The length of the South Downs Way, twice: 200 miles in 27 hours). I am seeing the funny side of this *ahem* slight mismatch. I hope they take pity on me.

So to keep me occupied, I'm thinking about starting to get ready for the preparations for leaving...

1. My bike bag has arrived from Wiggle. Now I have to work out how to pack a bike into it. Cue comedy moments.
2. My compression leggings are already my new best friends (thanks Trio for the tip) and will no doubt become near-permanent fixtures in Espana.
3. Maybe I should get hold of various bike tools that I have no idea how to use (will flutter eyelashes in a hopeful fashion if push comes to shove).
4. Plus lots of sunscreen/wet weather gear.

Any other thoughts on what to take?

Upping the pace

2009-02-26T19:58:00.001Z

Still on target with training. First ever spin class last night, I reckoned Shonky was ready for it. I was right. That’ll definitely become a weekly event. Core exercises going well too – have managed 3 x 40 mins in the past week.

I lost my (mo)jo this weekend

2009-02-22T20:57:00.005Z

She's in Portugal and nothing's gone right in her absence.

I'll cut to the highlight though, which took place about 15 minutes after telling the muddyarse gang how straighforward rebuilding the bike was and how simple bike mechanics actually are.

An enjoyable thrash down Barry Knows Best ended with a pause at the bottom for regrouping. Then everyone set off to Peaselake stores on the road except me who (luckily) stayed on the mud path alongside. Luckily because after 3 pedal strokes the whole back end of my bike crumbled into the ground. My back wheel just came off!

Bent skewer, very bent disk rotor, bent hangar, bent mech, bent chain.

Despite Chadders producing more tools and spares from his rucksack than an average workshop could hope to contain....despite the huge surgical team assembled....despite not one but two foremen (RdP & Dez)....despite large mugs of sugary tea.......................(flatline)..........................

The R&D department. Photo credit: GUY

I will conduct an autopsy tomorrow. Meanwhile thanks to all (strangers included) who tried to help. Thanks also to Jo for reminding me how lucky I was that it didnt happen 50 yards earlier on BKB.

For a cheer up I bought The Law of Fives...the latest Earthed DVD featuring mainly world cup downhill action and lots of close analysis of Sam Hill's riding. Very different to the Collective films I love so much....more about raw ragged speed than style and grace. Some real highs and lows on the soundtrack though.

Shakedown

2009-02-20T01:34:00.003Z

If I had looked at a map before leaving the house to guide that ride I wouldn't have got us lost.....BUT, nor would I have been on the ride at all so wouldn't have been able to guide the getting lost!

Yes, every second counted if I was to make the ride ....and I used every second. As I set off the gears and brakes were untested other than on the workstand and I hadn't checked final tightening on all bolts.

Nor had I sat on the saddle/seatpost combo. That's why I didnt realise one of the clamping bolts was too long for the available clearance and was pushing up on the underside right where my perineum would be seated. I also didnt realise the post came up too short so I couldn't get proper leg extension. Nor was it clamped tight enough, so as it slowly slowly sank further I just kept telling myself 'so the seatpost is too short, get over it'......when at around mile 25 my knees were round my ears I realised what was going on but my thighs and knees were shot.

On the positive end everything held together and the wheels turned, so I guess I built a bike. It felt pretty good, the new superwide bars making the most profound difference. I don't want to judge it though until i've done some technical trails and ridden xc with the correct saddle height.

One negative was the knocking at the front mainly on small fast bumps. Inspecting that made me realise fork (relelation coil u-turn)compression wasnt as firm as it used to be either. I hadn't done anything to the forks except remove and reinstall. However they did slide in storage and end up spending some time laying horizontal. When I picked them up I noticed oily residue on the crown, particularly round the lockout switch.

I'm thinking I need to top up the oil in the motion control. I believe the correct amount is critical though so I cant just top up, I must drain and refill. Realistically that means taking the forks out of the frame. If im doing that I might as well remove the lowers, clean the seals and change the oil in them too.

But i've got my bike dirty now and wasnt planning on cleaning it for.....a while.

Milestones

2009-02-19T09:31:00.008Z

5 hours on the Downs yesterday. I could really get used to these cheeky weekday rides.

Route: Devil's Dyke--Ditchling Beacon--nearly down to Stanmer Pk--doubleback to Black Cap--Beacon--Stanmer--home via Lewes Road*.
Company: Gez, Neil and Matt.
Distance: 29 miles (my fault: it works out at a jogging pace...).
Fuel: jellybabies (ta Matt), homemade maltloaf.
Slowcoach award: SlowJo.

Why milestones?

Michael's first ride on his shiny gorgeous 'new' Patriot, which he finished re-building at the 11th hour. Probably gained a stomach ulcer in the process. The bike didn't disintegrate once ridden either.

My longest ride since September, 2nd ride in 2 days, loads of off-road, and singletrack to finish. Shonky Knee held up throughout!! Sorry guys, I was last up the hills, and trundled at zimmer pace through the stickymuddy singletrack, but finished reasonably strong, which felt like an achievement.

Very encouraging. Now somehow I have to dig deep and find another 2 hours of riding today. Luckily the seafront is FLAT FLAT FLAT. Then I'm off to Portugal for 4 days R&R this evening, leaving Michael to snag his bike and sort out my front mech!!

* I wouldn't dream of commenting on the ride leader's difficulty navigating familiar routes.

Wild!

2009-02-17T17:42:00.008Z

Monday
40 mins core exercises - check. Improving fitball balance record - check (only fell off once).
45 min swim - check. Staying calm when stuck behind those swimming leisurely breaststroke in the fast lane – fail.

Tuesday
Spent the first morning of a week's leave exhausted, hauling myself around the house, debating whether to have a kip. I decided to do a ‘seehowitgoes’ ride this afternoon. With a tour of local parks planned (Hove -Withdean-Hollingbury-Wild) and choons in my ears, my energy surged. Today, riding alone was a luxury : choosing my own path, exploring, doubling back, going slow when I needed to, pushing Spesh up the steepest hill in the world, and grinning like a loon at the marvellousness of it all. It's still a glorious novelty -me, riding again! Not in pain!

I won’t go into full details of the ride as I'll get in trouble with the grown-ups. Let's just say Wild Park woods supplied some sketchy moments. I scared myself, but I got away with it. What doesn’t tear a ligament, makes you stronger, if I've remembered that famous saying correctly.

Yup, no complaints from Shonky Knee today. Although I did ride one-legged at times over the more uneven stuff – that must have provided a comedy spectacle to the golfers. I’m guessing the problem on Saturday was that I tried to massage my knee mid-ride, merely making it worse.

Today I had a mini-adventure, all without leaving Brighton city limits. 2hr45, mtb.

Marin Mount Vision £2200

2009-02-15T22:42:00.004Z

Courtesy of Quest I had 2.5 hours Saturday and 4.5 hours Sunday on this well rated bit of kit.

A year ago if i'd had to buy a bike without a testride i'd have gone straight to this one, based I suppose on looks and reputation.

White bikes look excellent covered in claggy brown mud is the main conclusion I reached!

I couldn't get to my usual test trails unfortunately so I didn't throw it at any technically challenging stuff and that's likely why it didn't particularly give me the impression it was a very playful bike. The rear is clearly clinically efficient on small bump sections and certainly it's a good xc mile muncher. I was more hungover this morning than usual as well as coming off the back of a very muddy draggy ride the day before but I was full of beans on the ride today so i'd have to credit the MV with being very light pedalling.

I found it quite a long bike too, not something I particularly favour for fun rides but in training for BCBR and on the event itself where we may spend 6 hours a day, 7 days in a row, this might be a comfortable option.

In fact the combination of it's best qualities add up to make this perhaps one of the most sensible choices for BCBR out of all the bikes i've recently tried.

Sense however rarely prevails with me and to be honest it didn't light a fire in my heart.

One step forward, one step back

2009-02-15T17:48:00.006Z

Yesterday I drove to Worthing to join the Quest Adventure monthly ‘ladies’ ride, which I thought would be a good way to combine meeting other riders, exploring a less familiar part of the Downs and might be less intense than a mixed ride. That said, I knew it was likely to contain *ahem* more off-road than strictly I should be doing at this stage. (You can tell where this might be going - familiar territory.)

The phrase 'ladies ride' sounds potentially twee and dainty. Initially, when our group of 9 stopped for the 3rd time in the first ½ hour I worried it was going to be too slow and frustrating. The pace improved though although not so extreme we couldn't chat; the regulars were welcoming and all experienced mtb'ers.

We revelled in the perfect weather: sunny, mild. There was plenty of bridleway and plenty of climbing, but a good smattering of singletrack: my first since my accident and I got some of my confidence back. A very muddy crew arrived for tea and cake in Findon: very civilised. I still felt strong at the end and could have carried on.

It was a great ride.

The problem was my special friend, Shonky Knee. Too far from Quest to bail, I became aware of a sporadic, but steadily worsening, localised twinge, which I suspect is ligament. Today after R.I.C.E. (it's become second nature), that one small spot is darn SORE and stiff. Will I ever learn? Clearly not.

After much thought, mostly in the middle of the night, (...) I sacked today’s planned 3-hour easy ride, with the aim of giving Shonky Knee 2 days of rest. I will do core exercises and go swimming tomorrow.

So I won’t meet this week’s target of 9 hours of riding, but on the plus side:
- Yesterday suggested I'm pretty much back to my previous fitness.
- In the past month I have increased my totals by an hour a week, with no rest week scheduled. It's not a bad thing to have an easier week.
- Next week I want to ride for a total of 10 hours, which due to other plans, needs to be spread over 3 days. Two days off the bike therefore is my only option at this point.

The sofa and I have spent yet more hours together today.

The future's bright, the future's blue

2009-02-12T16:56:00.002Z

Formerly black with orange swingarm i've realised it's not just the bike that has to be reincarnated in blue.

You see i've been using one of Paul McKenna's techniques lately for putting my brain in a positive state.

The technique revolves around thinking of fantastic times and experiences (in my case storming around the likes of Afan). Then find the colour associated with them (in my case orange, with some black streaks....'cos i'm going so fast). Make the colour bolder, brighter and more intense along with further magnification of the wonderfulness of the memory (in my case flashing orange mixes with green foliage and fast flickering sunlight reveals glimpses of riders i'm overtaking, berms i'm railing, technical stuff i'm ploughing through, while the sound of my breathing mixes with the clattering of the rocks I brush aside and the accompanying metallic resonating that characterises the big box section Patriot downtube). Press thumb and forefinger of left hand together while enjoying this memory.

Practice this until all you have to do is press thumb and finger together, get the slightest glimpse of the memory colour....feel goood.

Ok, my new bike colour doesn't invalidate all my old orange memories but I am looking forward to new blue ones to 'press' into service.

Michael's targets this week are...

2009-02-11T00:55:00.003Z

Get all components back on frame at least, if not cabled and set up.

1 x 40 min indoor bike ride around lactic threshold

1 x spinning class

1 x boxercise class

1 x 2hr Saturday play ride on Marin Mount Vision test bike

1 x 4 hour Sunday cross country on the MV

Rebuild....a faltering start

2009-02-10T22:10:00.005Z

Jo has returned from an hour of hill repeats and is in the kitchen on her turbo but with knobbly tyres so it's making a bit of a racket...hence the door gets closed.

All the same, enough noise filters through to jab jab jab at the guilt button and before long i'm on the excercise bike in the living room....but not before i've stopped surfing other mtb blogs and had a phone conversation with Si about how I should have taken my frame and bits over to his so he could build my bike for me (in order that it reaches completion in the near...rather than far...future).

Any fly on the wall would see a wholly consumed household and probably mistake its population for serious committed cycling competitors. In fact we're just a couple of rank amateurs desperately trying to get fit enough to survive the BCBR well enough that we can actually enjoy it along the way.

At this stage our preparation is taking somewhat different tacks. Jo is focussed on her whole body and mind as being the machine that carries her through. I'm just focussed on what's between my legs.....(err, that'll be the bike) as the machine that carries me through.

The Patriot frame is back and what a fine colour choice it turned out to be, though I say it myself...the blue is rather nice.

The paint finish is adequate in the grand scheme of things, pretty good for £60, not that good compared to a factory job. It's 2-pack (or car paint) rather than powdercoat so only time will tell how well it holds up. I planned on powdercoat but when the painter spotted it was an aluminium frame he told me it couldn't be shotblasted to get the original powdercoat off as that was harder than the alu' so the frame itself would get blasted away.

Somehow from this point we arrived at a different manual method of stripping the existing paint but then repainting with 2-pack. I'm not quite sure why once stripped it couldn't have been powdercoated again. I think he persuaded me powdercoat tended to chip, then water would get under the chip and start lifting further great swathes of my beloved blue off.

Hmm, I think I started to glaze over (not another painting technique) at that point and just went with the "whatever you say mate" approach. Now at this point i'd like to be able to say "I don't care, it was cheap and it looks good right now", however the rebuild is making it hard for me to keep my eyes closed to the failings of such philosophy.

About 6 months ago I got (amongst other things) RaceFace Ride XC cranks and bb along with DMR V8 pedals. Taking them off I didn't notice but preparing them to put back on....what a mess! The bottom bracket was completely locked up on one side. It turns out RaceFace claim superiority over competitors because of using twice as many ball bearings, but this is known as a 'full compliment' bearing and while great in the correct application it isn't appropriate for a muddy mountainbike bb, especially when you throw poor seals into the equation. Hence it turns to marshmallow pretty much as soon as you take it outdoors. So those cranks are cheapish but come with a worthless bb.

The V8 pedals had a different number of ball bearings in each of the 4 cups (10,11,12 and 13) and an o-ring only in one, but more importantly each pedal showed dramatically different wear. One was ok, though lacking sufficient grease despite my syringing the value of the pedals again in grease, into them several times in their short life. The other was dry, rusted and its cups and balls were past it. I do have an explanation...a plastic end cap came off this pedal some time ago and given the ease with which it came off and dissapeared I reasoned that it couldn't be all that important, just a cosmetic thing....huh, wrong. This weak design leaves an open door for muck to destroy the pedal in no time. I should have known but I didn't.

There are lots of little unglamorous bits on a bike that I didn't even know were there until starting this rebuild. The most involved job i'd ever done before on a bike was repacking a 'cup and cone' type hub.

Anyway, fed up with buying specialist tools for rare use the frame is now at Freeborne for the headset cups to be pressed in....and for the DU bearings to be pressed out of the shock eyelets, but that's another story.

On target

2009-02-09T18:43:00.001Z

I did my planned 8 hours of riding last week, plus hour with personal trainer Matt.

This week's plan is 9 hours, spread over 4 rides.
1 x hr inc hill repeats
1 x hr easy
1 x hr tempo
4 x hr road/mtb combo
2 x hr road

More sunshine

2009-02-08T18:04:00.005Z

I was expecting to want to do today's 2-hour ride on the turbo, as the forecast was distinctly mucky. Instead we had a balmy day with lots of sunshine, so I followed my nose on a coastal road/bike path route, past the Marina, up through Woodingdean and home via Rottingdean.

I made myself take it REALLY easy on the hills. That's difficult for someone as competitive as me. Some pedestrians gave me sympathetic you-can-do-it smiles, imagining my tortoise pace meant I was struggling. I had to resist the urge to explain, or to crank up the speed, just to show them. Sad.

Joy

2009-02-07T15:39:00.003Z

Couldn’t have picked a better day to work some off-roading into a ride.

In our little urban house by the sea, the recent snow is already just a memory. But as we climbed up the Dyke, some still remained. We went off-road onto a mosaic of snow, crunchy ice crystals, frozen puddles and slishy sloshy slush: dazzling, glee-inducing, new types of terrain. Not ideal maybe for Shonky Knee’s inaugural off-roading attempts, but it seemed to go ok. Aah the adrenalin buzz! We were bathed in brilliant sunshine throughout, although the wind was bitter on the ridge. I wanted to play there all day, aware that our chances to ride in snow come so rarely (particularly in the south-east). In the end after my planned 3 hours, I reminded myself to be *sensible* and we headed home. Best not to overdo it just yet.

Great memories: a good-to-be-alive day.

That was MY experience at least. Michael's opinion might be somewhat different - in the absence of his Patriot (the frame’s just back from its paint job), he had no choice but to ride my starter-bike-and-long-since-delegated-to-hack-status Scott. Originally a hardtail, it no longer has any suspension, is too small and upright for him, and has minimal braking power. Perfect ride choice for snow… I kept reminding him that I was having a fabulous ride, and he could vicariously enjoy my happiness!

ps rubbish photo taken on my ancient mobile when the camera packed up.

Ouch

2009-02-06T22:15:00.003Z

I gave blood last night, a couple of hours after a heavy gym workout. I'd thought it through. A bit. I'd checked t'interweb for recovery times (apparently no adverse effects for submaximal efforts). I thought it wouldn't be excessive to plan a bit more riding today and then swim with the triathlon club this evening.

Oh no.

I've been feeling completely wiped out all day. Work was a colossal struggle and now I'm home, no way am I leaving the sofa. Is it the loss of blood, or is it just standard tiredness? I can't even claim a busy week - my school was closed Monday and Tuesday!

Now, where was I?

2009-02-04T21:08:00.002Z

I've spent the past 2 months addressing ongoing knee problems. I gave up on the NHS physio, begged a sports physio to refer me to a highly-recommended London-based consultant specialising in knee problems. I arranged an MRI and an xray. On the basis of this, the consultant administered a dee-lightful cortisone injection to reduce the thickened and badly healed ligament tissue. I needed to add in some painful exercises to straighten my knee the last 5 degrees :-0 I was lucky though, at one point I was potentially facing knee surgery as there seemed to be cartilage damage. Luckily the MRI ruled that out. Those dramas took most of December and I got very stressed by all the uncertainty about how it would affect our plans for this year.

After being ill over Christmas AND New Year, I’ve spent Jan increasing the exercise again, once the cortisone had worked its magic. The month hasn’t been without niggling problems that repeated physio visits are gradually sorting out. I'm trying to think of it like the 'snagging' following building work…

I’m still banned from off-road, but am finally, ta-dah! …allowed to try out some trails this weekend. I’m so very eagerly awaiting the return of a much-missed joy, even though my first few rides will be mostly on the South Downs Way.

This month then, I’ve been a solitary figure on local roads and cycle paths around and beyond Brighton. In both of the past two weeks I’ve ridden 6 hours (in total, over 3 or 4 rides). I’m aiming to raise it by an hour a week to reach the heady heights of 11 hours the week before the Torq trip. (As is obvious, it’s more a case of racking up the hours on the saddle, than actually raising my heartbeat). Supplemented by an hour in the pool with the triathlon club every week and an hour of gym with the personal trainer. It’s all costing a flippin fortune, but I’m too exhausted to socialise most of the time; less beer money spent (or in my case, sparkling rose). However on the very very plus side, I'm back on the steed and I’m actually really enjoying the variety to spice up the riding (repeated cold week-night road rides are mentally challenging; I have seen Brighton from a variety of angles now... ). I'm really missing the camaraderie of club rides though - looking forward to sociable spins with the Muddyarse and BrightonMTB gangs again...

Let's see what February has in store...

2009-02-02T23:32:00.000Z

More snow fell over night than has done for 18 years and the south downs were transformed into a ski resort as everyone bunked off work and made the most of it.

SCOTT GENIUS 30 £2739

2009-02-01T21:58:00.000Z

I had no prior interest in this bike but it was offered to me by Quest when the Marin Mount Vision wasnt available to test so I figured 'why not'.

It's an expensive and fussy bit of kit using a totally unique rear shock that works the opposite way to usual (i'm not an engineer so i'll leave that explanation there) and does so to great effect, certainly on the descents. Climbing though I found the bike heavier than its weight and definitely wanted to use the available lockout. I didnt find just setting the mid position (called 'traction') on the 3 way handlebar mounted suspension adjuster gave me a set-and-forget happy medium so I was forced to keep playing with this damn switch.....as if changing gear isn't faff enough!

I'm probably being unfair as I wasnt riding on trails that need the travel on offer...150mm front and rear..and if I was, i'm not the kind of rider who could really push a bike with those capabilities to a worthy test. I guess this bike is OTT for me and in being so proves to also be less than special at my kind of general Surrey Hills singletrack type riding. In particular I found the steering to be quick but vague and fought frequently to keep to my lines in tight twisties. I always felt like I was riding someone else's bike, was never at one with it and can find nothing to justify buying into such a 'closed system'.

LEITH HILL

2009-02-01T21:23:00.000Z

Today for the second day in a row I rode Leith Hill, for me the jewel in the crown of the Surrey Hills (otherwise known as the North Downs).

It must be well over 15 years since my friend Steve and I first turned wheels here. I went on to ride often twice a week here with Nirvana and it's them I can largely thank for my familiarity with the often hidden gems this hill contains. Nowadays its charms seem less well hidden but maybe thats just because the trail network has become so well developed here that every which way you turn there's great stuff...even today I had first time experience of 2 well established but new-to-me trails.

I haven't been out with Nirvana since getting Jo onto a bike 10 years ago. The plan was always to get her up to speed so she could confidently join their rides. She got up to speed pretty quickly but convincing her she could confidently join them was harder.....it never happened and now their rides are by all accounts quite jumping oriented I don't think our run up to Canada is the time (crash landings are not part of the training plan and jumping doesn't come naturally for either of us).

Anyway today started with us forming a gang of 6 from Brightonmtb and rolling off in freezing temperatures to play on some firm favorites with no real intention of putting in any great effort or miles. 4 hours and 11 miles later we returned pretty much mission accomplished having enjoyed sub-zero and a light snowfall along the way. Three of us nipped out for a further 45 minutes and got the count up to 15 miles before full-on snow had us cowering in the car while it warmed us enough to drive to the nearest petrol station for a hot cornish pastie.

This weekend's been good for me. I've got the hunger back.....and not just for cornish pasties.

Back in the (unfamiliar) saddle

2009-01-31T19:20:00.000Z

It was mid December when I last rode and even then it was a half hearted attempt following a couple of weeks off, sick of the mudfests that had characterised every autumn ride I attempted.

Today though, courtesy of Quest in Worthing i'm up in my favourite territory....Leith Hill, on yet another unfamiliar saddle.

This time it's attached to a Scott Genius Thirty. I'll postpone comment on the bike as I also have it tomorrow and am back on Leith with Mike, Ronnie, Gez and others for a Brighton MTB ride.

My own decade old Orange Patriot is undergoing a transformation currently. I say currently....it started in November with me putting it on a workstand in my studio and looking at it every day for the rest of the year and saying "i'm gonna strip that down tomorrow".

Test rides had already ensued back in October....a Trek Fuel EX8 and Commencal Super4, followed later by the Gary Fisher Roscoe 3 back to back with the Trek again. All these came courtesy of www.head-for-the-hills.co.uk in Dorking. Then a Yeti 575 high spec custom build and an Orange Five.

All these unfamiliar rides made for quite an enlightening time given that i'd ridden nothing but my own bike for almost a decade (apart from hire bikes in incomparable and unfamiliar terrain) and lost sight of its relative performance....it was just the devil I knew. Regardless of the varied and sometimes outstanding experiences I had on these test bikes one thing was clear....it was NOT time to throw the Patriot away.

So the reincarnation is underway and now maybe 2 weeks from its unveiling. The Scott, a Marin Mount Vision and another go on the Orange Five are diarised between now and then. Will I stick with the new BLUE Orange Patriot (yup , it's even getting paint) or will the refurb prove to have been in vain? Watch this space.

Decadence

2008-11-22T19:08:00.001Z

While I’m pretty much out of action and spending waaaaay too much time on tinternet, I’ve booked myself on the Torq Spring training camp. Touted as a low-intensity, high-volume week of mixed off- and on-road riding around the hills outside Malaga in March, it’s immensely decadent (not least from a carbon footprint point of view, I won’t mention how many flights I’ve already bought this year…).

The idea is that it’s a week of base training, up to 35 hours of saddle time for those who can manage it. Apparently last year one of the punters was a woman training for the TransRockies so it sounds perfect. One of our guides will be pro-rider and possibly future Olympian, Kate Potter. Plus I get some sunshine to lift the late-winter blues, and a change of scene for the riding. I’ve been told there are a few laydeez on the trip in couples, and I’ll be rooming with another woman travelling solo. M unfortunately doesn’t feel he can commit to the expense at the moment, so it’s just me going. And last week there were only 2 more spaces, so it seems he’s missed his chance.

It’s exciting, as I feel the opportunity to train with pro riders should really up my game, and Torq are the best in the business. I’m a lucky lucky girl. Now I just need to get fit enough to go!

Hello Dyke!

2008-11-22T19:01:00.001Z

Last Sunday I rode on my own as M's in Africa for a week (doing videography for this charity: as you do.

Despite M specifically banning me from such stupidity before he left, I was quietly hoping my knee (and the terrain) would be up to doing our "Southwick Hill loop" (up to the Dyke, westwards a couple of hills on the SDW, southwards at the radio mast down Southwick Hill and eastwards home to Hove).

The weather was great and I’d slept well, so I got out as soon as my porridge intake allowed. I took it slowly up to the Dyke, noting that I didn’t have the strength to power up the steepest muddy slope in "Dogshit Alley"(TM), and generally was a bit feebly fazed by the muddy parts and narrow ruts (catching a pedal would potentially re-injure my knee).

God it was good to be out; I was grinning like a loon at fellow riders.

At the Dyke car park I circled round, checking how I felt. Decision-time. Unfortunately my knee had a big twinge at this point; it felt very ‘worked’ and like it needed a rest. At this point I was already querying the wisdom of completing a route that involves long steepish climbs and fast sketchy pebbly/muddy descents. Reluctantly I retraced my steps. It was maybe a 6 mile ride :-(
Otherwise I've been doing a few 30 min sessions on the exercise bike at "80-90 rpm cadence" like the training programmes say, plus a weekly swim and resistance machines etc and core work at the gym.

Little by little. I won't even think about how far I have to go.

Return to off-road

2008-11-18T19:18:00.001Z

The Saturday before last I did my first off-road ride since my accident. The plan was to ride on the Downslink in daylight. The weather was pretty foul, high winds and rainy off and on, so riding along an exposed path wasn’t as appealing as it might be.

As it turned out, M's Orange needed hours of fettling and by the time we left home it was 5pm and dark, and we’d changed our plan. Yes, my first off-road ride was going to be in Stanmer Woods west of Brighton Uni. Not ideal.

I took it seriously slow, spinning up the hills inclines in the granny ring and being super-cautious on the wet slippy leaves. Poor M was very gallant about the (lack of) pace. Fireworks were whizzing and zizzing all around, but in the woods it was just the two of us, interrupting the nocturnal peace. Our Ay-ups illuminated the blackness and I breathed in welcome lungfuls of proper fresh air. It felt fantastic!

La di da

2008-11-18T19:16:00.002Z

I’ve taken on a personal trainer for a while. I certainly don’t need it for the motivation, but I have developed an annoying habit over the past three years since starting to get into more serious exercises (marathon, half-marathon, 10k, sprint triathlon and now mtb).

The habit happens like this: I work really hard at every training session and this, coupled with a highly stressful (but rewarding) job, and a lifelong history of stress-induced insomnia, are not a recipe for being on peak form continually. The pattern tends to be that I keep up the training for a few months (or even just weeks), and then get ill. Even when incorporating recovery weeks. The mild version is a sore throat that puts me out of action for a few days. The medium version is generalised exhaustion, which normally costs a week of training. And the big deal is a shifting array of problems, such as anaemia, various digestive problems and even, 2 years ago, a heart murmur (diagnosed by GP, pooh-poohed by Cardiologist who gave me a clean bill of heart health). Very inventive, my body.

So anyway, the plan with the personal trainer is that he will help me to exercise more efficiently. For example, show me some routines where I get it all done in half the time, help me strike a balance between hard vs easier sessions etc. He’s not a cycling coach, but is sufficiently interested in mtb, to be keen for us (M as well) to do the full SDW in either 1-2 days (maybe both) and to come out on recreational rides as well. I know my core strength and general level of muscle tone will benefit from it. Also I know I enjoy learning from other people and I don’t expect to be an expert in every one of my interests. So it will be another facet of the journey.

How to train?

2008-11-16T22:39:00.003Z

Following various heated (and comically ill-informed) debates in our household about training philosophies, we’ve found a basic training programme that can take us through the next 4 months, and will need to be supplemented by an even more intensive training programme from April onwards.

I’m not sure whether the smart money is still on the ‘months of base training with speed work later on’ regime, as Peak Performance is touting the (new to us, but that's not exactly hard) idea of incorporating speed work throughout (the reverse periodisation theory). We just needed something to give us an idea of broadly how often and how much to train.

As suspected, the schedule emphasises what seems to us a ‘little and often’ regime (until now M in particular was exercising twice a week max – 2 hour night ride, anything up to 5 hour weekend ride). It seems that the balance needs to shift in favour of exercising 5 times a week, starting with 3 rides and 2 cross-training efforts, with longest ride at 2 hrs.

The cross-training idea is dear to my heart, I would lose interest very quickly if I had to bike all the time (particularly given the weather and the tediously uncomfortable saddle + riding position on the exercise bike!). My x-train of choice is swimming for now (which I know isn’t going to develop bike-specific strength, but has been a godsend during my rehab phase as swimming crawl allowed me to do cardio work while favouring my arms), plus running and a weekly personal trainer session.

You gotta start somewhere.

Well, that went well

2008-11-16T22:26:00.002Z

May I recommend, soon after signing up to a mega-endurance race, and soon after creating a blog to track your training and preparation: a stupid stupid mtb accident (hungoverly misjudged my ability to execute a sharp turn on gravel). Unable to walk, and embarrassingly hysterical, I had to be removed from the trail by a very kindly park ranger who transported us and bikes back to the car. M drove to the nearest A&E where I was told I had a partial tear of my medial collateral knee ligament. What a 'nana.

I’m 7 weeks into rehab, and progress is frustratingly slow. I’ve been doing my physio exercises, have been swimming and walking and exercise-biking, and am back on the Specialised, very tentatively.

The enforced slow-down has been frustrating, (but bizarrely enough welcome in equal parts, as I know I tend to run at everything I do at meltdown pace). It has been torture watching M go out on rides, and listening to the tales on his return. However it made us bring forward buying the exercise bike, I've had the time to swim again, and have had a bit of time out to think about priorities etc.

I didn’t believe the physio when she said my knee would take 6-8 weeks to heal, yet it’s week 7 now and it’s certainly not completely sorted yet. And she said I would be mtb’ing again by Christmas. I didn’t believe it would take that long either, but I know now that I’m still a few weeks away from blasting the singletrack, skating over mud, attempting logs etc. Grr.

The background

2008-09-22T18:08:00.000+01:00

Why BCBR?

Despite a combined age of 81 (shee-it!), we're getting ever more obsessed with mountain biking. Our favourite ride would be one that involves hours of twisty, cheeky singletrack with cake at the end.

Over the past year we've become more regular, and more motivated riders, courtesy of friendly local clubs Muddyarse and BrightonMTB. We've competed in a couple of endurance races, as part of Muddyarse teams (Twentyfour12 and DusktillDawn). We're sort of trying to improve our technical skills - eg jumping, track-stands etc. Off the bike, we've found ourselves watching a lot of biking DVDs - often set in BC. Also we've never visited Canada, but it's a long-held plan. BCBR is the perfect way to combine the two.

Why this blog? We're going to have to do a lot of riding between now and June 2009 and it might keep the motivation going to record it. This could also be a way of advertising our planned training rides in advance, in case anyone else wants to join us.