Dirt Divas

After another stupid-busy week of three meetings, four presentations, two days on site, 1085 miles driving and two night rides, I got home late and really didn't want to go out on Saturday night. We did though and, after a lovely evening with friends, we crawled into bed at 00:35. The alarm went off at 06:15, we didn't want to move, but a potentially exciting day dawned. Molly was off to attend a Mountain Bike Skills course with the Dirt Divas (http://www.dirtdivas.co.uk/ and 0118 326 2200) and, after dropping her off, I was on the way to the first round of the Southern XC Champs in Checkendon.

I am sure that the main differences between girls and boys is strength and confidence - ability and skill will invariably compare favourably, but girls just don't realise it ! That was the reason for Molly's course, to unlock some of that potential and to get the mind into 'can do' mode.

Molly in the 'attack' position, looking just like someone who can ride a bike quite well ... just drop that rear heel a tad :-) (Pic - courtesy of the DirtDivas)

After the registration at Wellington College, there was full day of riding in Swinley Forest with basic skills training, body positioning, balance, braking techniques, small steps, drops, roots etc. There was a good portion of enthusiasm after the event, helped in no small part by the excellent weather and huge thanks to the girls and boys at Dirt Divas for a very valuable day out. They do all sorts of courses over there, from beginners classes to private tuition and it was a very valuable experience - partly because Molly now knows she is pretty good on a bike :-)

I left Molly and arrived at the race venue in plenty of time for my 12:36 start time and so had the opportunity to wander around, get a feel for the event and subtly check out other-peoples' tyre choice. The web site suggests a gentle spin round the course before the event .. yeh right, I think I'll save my energy and speak to a few who did.

I had already checked out the area with a call to my racing mates, Jason and Sarah, and they had said go hardtail as it's flat (ish) and dry (ish), so I took the ARC with some summer rubber fitted.

With so much time available, I had nearly an hour to warm up before I turned up at the start area to meet the other 17 or 18 old folk, two-thirds of whom looked mighty fine in team kit astride featherweight bikes. These guys were Elite level 20 years ago and they haven't slowed down much if you compare their times to the young-uns, I knew this would be the last time I saw them, unless I got lapped !

There were a few 'others' in the race like myself, but not many. The web site said regular racers can expect to complete a lap in about 30 minutes, so I had a mental target of two hours for the three laps. I set off at the back and just rode best I could. I managed three laps of 28:33, 30:51 and 30:11 and was 18:30 behind the winner and in 11th place.

I was chuffed to bits as I beat a few and there were a couple of DNF's. Unfortunately, I forgot to show my race card at registration and have, perhaps, missed the   chance of some series points !!

It was good experience with a group of very friendly guys and I hope to attend a few more as the season progresses. It gives me something to aim for as my fitness improves. I am not bothered about 'beating' anyone, but would like to be proportionately closer to the winner's time on the next occasion.

This week I am mostly back to skills training and lesson planning. TCL assessment on Friday week.

TCL

I must improve myself.

I bumped into Chris Lamb half way up Horse Gulch Canyon near Durango, sheltering under a tree from the 30 degree heat after one of the most awesome day's riding you can imagine - 30 miles across the roof of America on the Continental Divide Trail in Colorado. Chris rides a Yeti (of course) and we have kept in touch since returning home to Sussex. A chance conversation provided some inspiration for another little project.

I subsequently enrolled on the Trail Cycle Leaders course with Cyclewise (www.cyclewise.co.uk and 01768 898775) and rocked up in Whinlatter on a damp February morning to meet the rest of the course, plus our tutor, mentor (and, as it turns out, thoroughly good chap) Richard Martin. On this occasion, I travelled with my good buddy, Adrian, with whom I have shared some of life's greatest moments.

Fellow Course members Adrian, Dave and Mike with our leader Rich.

TCL is a nationally recognised qualification that allows you to take out groups of children on bikes to have fun. There are some limitations, but they don't matter for the sake of the story. The course is run over two or three days and covers riding skills, leadership, map reading, bike maintenance and risk assessment. It is the first rung on the MBLA ladder. Mountain Bike Leader follows this, along with further qualifications for riding at night, in winter or on multi-day, self supported trips.

What a life-enhancing experience this was. We all came from different backgrounds, with different requirements and skillsets, but all leaned a little something from each other and a lot from Rich. The course was informative and well delivered and, even if there is no intention to use such a qualification in anger, I would recommend it to anyone who rides regularly. It has taught me to appreciate the world of Mountain Biking even more and re-inforces the need to get involved, at some level, with other aspects of the sport. It's the classic 'you get out what you put in' scenario. It has made me a bit better already ...

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I would also thoroughly recommend Cyclewise to anyone, just as Chris did to me. They are a great bunch of real-world mountain bikers with awesome skills, excellent facilities and are located in a stunning part of the world. Everything about the experience was fabulous, even the local digs. Adrian and I stayed with Jenny at Braithwaite Farm (http://www.braithwaitefarm.co.uk/ and 01768 778411) and were spoiled rotten. I will be back there any chance I get ...

Mike leads Adrian, Dave and Rich down the hill at speed, I hold the gate open like a good Leader !

Since returning, the riding has consisted of equal portions of fitness and skills and I try and fit in some skills work during or at the end of each outing now. I have had one outing with Adrian and Brian over the Surrey Hills, during which we went through the lesson plan for teaching power-assisted front wheel lifts - yup, we've caught the bug big time. I am just a little nervous about being a 53 year old man hanging around the local skate park practicing track-stands ...

A few days later, I'm on the Mountain First Course at Calshot Activity Centre in Hampshire (www.hants.gov.uk/calshott and 023 8089 2077) and, after a couple of days of blood, trauma and rubber gloves I have that qualification under the belt. Another tick in the box.

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I have also been fine-tuning my kit to enable me to ride easy. Old age has rendered my close vision a little less effective than it was, so I always use OS Landranger 1:25000 maps to enable me to navigate without specs (most of the time). Glasses aren't a real issue, but not not being able to read the computer while I ride is. My map-reading is pretty good, so most of the time I can get there with map to ground quite quickly, but when bad visibility or woodland disguises recognisable features it could be a different story, so I really need to know how far I have travelled. So, the very expensive Garmin Edge drifts off in the direction of E-Bay and in comes a cheap, simple gadget with big numbers. The Niterider works really well so far and I appear to have calibrated it spot-on but just need to work out the margin of error induced by more technical terrain.

So, the current jigsaw comes together and the final piece is the TCL Assessment day, booked for next month. The date approaches fast and even though I have fitted in almost 5 hours of skills practice since the course, there is more to do. I am determined to get it right though and will be as well prepared as possible before I arrive back in the Lake District for exam day.

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Just as some things slot into place, other bits inevitably go wrong. I have just heard that I have to work the weekend of Checkendon and, at best, will only be back home late Saturday night. Not the best preparation, but I will probably be last unless someone has a mechanical, so I may as well just smile and get on with it.

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I'll let you know how I get on.

I am a number - 832061

Menopause is a funny thing, it creeps up when you're last expecting it and when mixed with a dash of mid-life crisis anything could happen. It could be worse though, as yet I have no goatee and no motorbike and posess just a healthy interest in gently pushing myself forward ... but you do have funny ideas when you get older. The vibe at the Brass Monkey over Christmas was good. It was nice to be there, outside my comfort zone and my ability level - but good that I chose to put myself there. Resolute after my experience, I decided to research the Southern XC Marathon series - which starts on April 3rd with the first event and which, 'luckily', co-incides with a mountain bike skills day with the Dirt Divas (http://www.dirtdivas.co.uk/) that Molly has booked onto. Life doesn't get much better when the jigsaw puts itself together. In preparation for another project, my British Cycling membership arrives in the form of my 'Race' card. Mmmm, love the category - Senior Silver ! So, I now get discount on my entry fees at Checkenden in the 'Grandmaster Flash' category. Better book it then.

I keep pedalling, best I can. Friday Night is the only regular weekly ride as the weekends have been full to bursting point. The singlespeed makes life interesting and fitness improves - but it needs to as there are only a few weeks to my next race (listen to me, it's only my second!) A couple of trips come out of the blue and this gave me the chance to ride the Twrych Trail at Cwm Carn and the Red / Black at Dalby over the space of a few days. Both rides finished after dark and both places were surprisingly dry and rode really well for the most part. Busy week, next week ... a new mission starts.

Deja-Vu

A couple of quality rides on the singlespeed and a heap of gym classes later, we find ourselves packing for a weekend in the New Forest.

We went this time last year. It rained all the time, we both had flu and we saw nothing except wet ponies. We were hoping for better things this time round and decided to have a wheel-free weekend and walk everywhere. The rucsacs are packed, walking boots cleaned, field cooker checked and we are ready for the short drive down to the Hampshire coast.

Weather was sunny and cold and we saw lots - Kite, Buzzard, Tree Creeper, Fieldfare, Redwing, Heron, Wren, Green Woodpecker, Kestrel, Tawny Owl, Chaffinch and Fallow Deer ...

The base for the weekend was the rather swanky-looking Beaulieu Hotel and this was booked with the balance of our Tesco reward points ! On paper it looked nice. It was clean and the staff were friendly but it was hugely over-priced and was populated on this particular weekend by two noisy family groups with largely unsupervised children. We won't go back.

Saturday dawned cold and bright and after a substantial breakfast we headed off across the heath on a bearing of roughly 4800mils to start our little ramble. Well, we rambled and rambled and had a very pleasant morning, bumping into some more of the locals ..

.. who stood still long enough to get a few pictures. I think they are Sika deer. They even appeared quite inquisitive and came closer to check us out as we sat down on a log in the middle of the forest to watch.

After about 13 miles we stopped off in Beaulieu village to sample the soup du jour from the Old Bake House Tea Room. We can thoroughly recommend it. Full of carrot and brie soup and a mountain of granary bread, we wandered off for another few miles and arrived back at the hotel just after dark at about 17:15.

We ditched the gear in the car and opted to go straight out and eat elsewhere. A short drive led us to The Red Lion in Boldre (www.theredlionboldre.co.uk and 01590 673177). This was selected at random by scanning the OS map for a 'village off the beaten track with a pub' and it proved to be a most wise decision. Lovely food, warm welcome, log fire and a very attractive girlfriend - a perfect evening.

Sunday we went off for a recce of the Burley Manor Hotel, somewhere that Molly has fond memories of, but we left undecided about using that as a base for the next trip. Will we eventually locate somewhere in the New Forest that we can recommend ?

Nothing but Rain

... for three days, so far.

As I glance out of the office window, the sun is out for the first time in over a week. I know, however, that hard on the heels of this brief respite from the crap weather, is another band of rain and sleet. This is due to arive shortly before I meet Mike and Stu at the start line for the 2011 Friday Night Ride Club meeting #1.

Over on my other desk, the green light tells me the helmet lamp is ready, the main spotlight is still charging and my body aches from the first pretty full week back at the gym (plus a sneaky road loop on Wednesday night in the rain) since November. It has to be done though and it's good to be back on it. The first month of each year sets the tone for the rest, so there can be no excuses.

Winter weapon of choice :



Saturday morning serves a healthy portion of DOMS that is quite exquisite ! We were only out for just over two hours last night as we decided on an 'easier' circuit to ease us all back into it - although Mike had already ridden to work and back ! Nothing to report, except it's harder without gears, I need some different riding techniques and it was very, very wet .. but I got up everything on FF's SS.

All in all, a good start to the year, only Jan 11th and the excess Christmas pounds have gone already and the cross training is gaining some momentum - weights and yoga last night. Legs hurt, still un-toned and I am snuffling through the tag-end of 'man-flu', but nothing to worry about.

Only One Speed .. slow !

In order to assist the the winter fitness programme I decided to go monocog. The latest, updated member of the stable is now back-together and comprising of cheap, functional bits - some left over from other projects - draped on the re-sprayed XTC 860 frame. I got my inspiration from the beloved Yeti ARC (er, a straight copy actually) and the painting has been done by fellow Tribe-member Jamie at DoobyDoo Designs (jamie.brockway1@btopenworld.com). He does some very cool custom helmets too, so check him out.

I went cheap by design and opted for laser-cut, stick on graphics with a laquer coating, instead of the airbrushed graphics that would have been my choice on one of the long-term rides.

Looks sweet doesn't it ?

The whole exercise was a useful one as I put the bike back together with only basic knowledge and a bit of reading. However, I now have a bit more skill and a few more tools. I replaced the headset with a new one from FSA and updated the cockpit with some Nuke-Proof gear. I don't have a problem spending good money on CK headsets and the like, but I struggle with spending on Thomson, when lots of other stuff is arguably as stiff, light and good - for me anyway. I thought I would give the Nuke gear a trial over the winter and perhaps use it on the ASR 5 come the Spring.

The single-speed gubbins came from Charlie at http://www.charliethebikemonger.com/ (+44 1929 475833). Charlie is a most helpful chap and has a few sensible videos on YouTube to back up any gaps in your knowledge. I have started with the 16t out back. The kit came with a 17t for 'hilly' conditions - I'm not sure where you draw the line ?!

The first ride resulted in some minor fettling on the trail and another chain-link being removed a good few miles from home, but the adjustments appear to have worked. No problems since.

Molly and I rode yesterday - an easy 16 miles with the sole intention of staying clean and enjoying some coffee - and then she kindly drove off to a pre-arranged RV so I could have some 'turn and gurn' time. I only did about six extra, uphill miles but managed to ride the whole way on a route where I had been taking the 'granny' option in the past. No choices now. The idea is that I will either a. get much fitter over the winter or b. I shall be put off biking altogether.

By Easter there may be a Giant SS on E-Bay or I'll be saving up for some gears!

The next question is whether to take it out on Friday for the night ride with Mike and Stuart ? We are all off-the-boil after Christmas, so there may not be a better time to try it and not get my ar$e kicked too badly .... but I may change to 17t before I leave the house :-)

'Race' Debut !

A chance conversation with Jon Harper from the UK Tribe led to some investigation into our 'Brass Monkeys' series of races that are held over three weekends during Nov - Jan. It's a proper race, but also offers the keener weekend warriors the chance to stretch their legs too. With a choice of one, two or four hour races, there is something for everyone. Even with the left-over snow, temperatures hovering around zero, periodic sleet and legs full of Christmas, it wouldn't be manly not to enrol for the longer one would it ?

The attendees are mostly built like Gollum and are as fit as a butcher's dog - then there is me, and Jon. Well, almost - Jon had an attack of the man-flu at the last minute and pulled out, so I went solo. I bumped into Ruth from the Tribe at the start line and swapped Christmas wishes and good luck. I remember thinking that would be the last time I saw her ...

I think the series is organised by the Army and so we get the chance to ride a few places that are normally off limits, such as ASH ranges near Camberley, where the meet on 28th December was held. An eight mile loop with lots of singletrack, lots of mud, a few stiff climbs, a couple of big drops, some bomb holes and a few bits of doubletrack so the skinny racers can easily get past the fat nobs.

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A study in concentration as I enter the last bomb hole ... at speed - I think I need Chris Taylor over here to make me look good on film !

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I didn't really know the routine for such events, but a bit of common sense had spares, extra bottles and snacks loaded into a yellow plastic bucket at the start line so I could re-supply on the way through as necessary. Worked OK and was a common ploy, good guess ...

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The first few miles were steady, enforced by the bottlenecks where the singletrack sections started, but once everyone found their rhythm it was pretty good. At the end of lap one, I was five or six places behind Ruth and going along at a comfortable pace. I overtook a couple early in lap two and was still feeling reasonable - then the gremlins started with the mysterious chain jamming I had in the 'granny' about a month ago when I was out with Mike. I thought the issue was chain-stretch and had thought I had sorted it out. No problems since, until I really needed those 22 teeth ! Afterwards, during the clean and maintenance phase, closer inspection reveals a bent hanger, so that is now replaced and let's see if all works next time I am under pressure.

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To cut a long story short, I wasn't in good enough shape to race over that terrain in those conditions without a small ring. I started to struggle up the muddy slopes and, being paranoid about getting in anyone's way, was constantly watching over my shoulder to make sure I didn't ruin anyone else's day on the sections where overtaking was impossible. I lost a bit more time as I jumped off the trail to let the peleton from the two hour race through, by which time I realized I had learned enough for one day and stopped after the third lap.

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It was a good experience though and I expected it to be a mid-winter kick up the ar$e that would put the fitness requirements into perspective for the coming months and re-enforced the theory that we would be a lot healthier without the alcoholic excesses of December. Drinking my own bodyweight in red wine from the Commonwealth every day for a month made my race debut somewhat pitiful and is going to make January that much harder.