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Haglöfs Open 5 South Downs
Lucy and I had a plan. A plan to race the Open 5s together. Until last Wednesday that wasn’t going to start until January though. I was going to do the South Downs Open 5 solo as a warm up (against my better judgement about the practicalities of travel to these far flung locations). Lucy decided to come last minute – and suddenly I was pairing up!
After a ‘slightly arduous’ train journey to Leeds on Friday afternoon, I met up with Dawn and Tom and we set off for Liphook. A smooth run through and we ready for a nice ride round the area on Saturday morning.
Well, two of us were ready and one of us (Tom) wanted to sleep in and needed encouragement to come out and play! Then one of us (me) decided to pop into Liphook Cycles to get some new cleats (my foot kept flying off the pedal). I’m glad Dawn told me to change them right away – as it was practically impossible! After much drilling, rummaging in boxes for shoe plates and tutting at the state of my old bolts, the new cleats were safely installed by the mechanic. I thought for a moment I was going to have to buy new shoes on the spot! Many thanks to the guys in the shop who helped me out :-).
Finally we were on our way. We started with a nice pootle along a bridleway which was promising in parts, but interrupted by sticky mud holes. This was followed by a lovely ride up the only hill we could find. Even Tom was heard to say “it isn’t much of a hill”, though you wouldn’t know it from the complaints that followed later! Highlight of the ride were the Belted Galloway cattle, christened ‘pandas’ by Tom.
Race day was bright and cold. It was exciting to be racing as a pair. Number 1s on our bikes and legs. A good omen?
I went through my usual planning routine for the bike, with Lucy breaking from her traditions to do it with me! I wanted to look carefully as the map was covered in different rights of ways and not-rights of ways. Lucy did most of the run route planning and we were ready to go.
Planning, my style
We ran first – I prefer it this way though Lucy normally goes the other way round. With five more races to go there’s time to experiment. Straight out from the start we were sprinting! Yikes, I was thinking I wasn’t sure I could keep this pace up … then we promptly got lost!
Who has done / said these things before?
- Maybe that path just isn’t on the map?
- The fences must be different now.
- What we see doesn’t fit where we think we are. Let’s just ignore it!
- I think my compass isn’t working properly.
- If we just run up here maybe it will all be alright …
After narrowly avoiding getting sucked into ‘crowd indecision’ with everyone else who was lost, we nipped through a gap in the trees marked ‘serpent trail’. I knew it should go past one of the controls eventually, as we had ridden some sections of it the day before. Then we were saved! An info board! With a map and a ‘you are here’ arrow! As Andy will tell you, I love info boards and have never loved one as much as this.
After a 20 minute / 2.5km detour we were on our way again and Lucy navigated the rest of the run faultlessly. I huffed and puffed behind her and felt guilty for asking her to slow down sometimes to let me drink / eat / breathe. I did well at being trusting as I never looked at the map once we got moving, though I didn’t have time to anyway!
We timed arrival into transition perfectly – we left after exactly 2 hours and started bombing it along a road. My legs felt the run in them when we hit the first hill, but I soon recovered. I loved going up Blackdown hill on the firm trails and racing down a fast descent. The rest of the ride was nearly all on road, punctuated with little off-road forays. This suits me from a race point of view, though it can be less interesting.
We finished the riding on a similar note to the way we started the run – with a mistake! I was looking after bike map reading. We wanted to squeeze in an extra 15 pointer and get ourselves over 500. We were also lured by the control location … ‘Titty Hill’. Unfortunately, I under-estimated the distance to get this and get back. On reflection, my route choice between the last 5 controls was also sub-optimal by about 3km.
How is Lucy smiling?! I feel sick!
We ran out of time 3.5km from the finish, just after we had been reduced to pushing our bikes up a road bit of hill. I had missed the fact we were on the Roman Road, and couldn’t savour riding through ‘Shufflesheeps’. My legs were empty, I felt a bit sick and I longed for the finish line. I told myself since giving up is never an option, the only thing for it was to turn off the brain, urge Lucy on and get us up to the end as soon as possible.
Glasses all steamed up and still not recovered!
I was grimacing as we approached the finish banner and was glad it was over! 14:25 late = 45 penalty points giving us 465 overall. Slightly disappointing. However, with two significant errors it wasn’t so bad … and you never know how anyone else’s race has gone until you get the results. So we were delighted to find we had won the female pairs category. A lovely purple Haglöfs fleece in the prize bag made my day. I even found energy to help push the car back onto the road for a bump start when we found it with a flat battery :D.
I feel like we have room to improve and could get stronger as a pair than we were solo. All fired up for next time now! Scarborough, January 2013 – the date’s in my diary!
Here is Lucy’s report.
And the full results.
Kendal Mountain Festival Trail Run
Andy has a new-found love of both running and adventures in the hills. This had lead him to enter the Kendal Mountain Festival trail run, organised by our friends at Open Adventure. At first I was just going to watch – I have had an iffy knee since the Terrex. But then I decided that because any running I have done has made the knee no worse, I’d rather take part than travel all the way to Kendal to hang around watching!
After an early start, our train from Manchester arrived 5 minutes late. Doesn’t sound like much, but we were cutting it fine anyway! We had to run quite fast to the registration point, with me navigating from a map in my head that I had tried to memorize the previous night. No worries, we got to the back of the queue before 10:30 – though not the front!
Me on the top of the hill having fun!
Then Andy wanted to ‘warm up’. I stood near the start watching him do his stuff looking pro in a proper running vest from his new club. He said: “If only you could see what was happening to your VO2 right now”. I said: “Running around now just means less energy for the race”! 😀
The crowd seemed reluctant to move to the start area, so I positioned myself on the second line. I wasn’t going to begin at a disadvantage! The route was flat for a few km, but muddy with pungent smells wafting over from the fields. A couple of girls came past who I tried to hang on to, but in the end this race was just for fun and I wasn’t motivated to kill myself too much! I decided to wait for the hill.
Turns out that sneaky Andy was also tucked in just behind me. I have a general ‘don’t look back’ policy (if someone in front of me looks back, I know they are worried and it spurs me on), so never knew it. He was thinking about flying past but was biding his time … too late! As soon as we started going uphill I dropped him – ha ha!
The weather was gorgeous and sunny. I thanked the marshals, checked the views and told myself I wasn’t going to walk a single step, no matter how steep the last little bit of hill got! I could still see a couple of girls just in front, but I wasn’t making any ground even on the ups, so I left them too it. On a very slippery bit of descent my shoes had zero grip in the mud and I found myself on the floor. No damage done, though just then another girl came past! I urged her to catch the next one as we hit the road. The sole of my shoe is falling off and I keep delaying getting new ones (so expensive and they don’t even seem to last 6 months). It slapped on the road as I ran.
Andy … taking it more seriously. Or is he just more cool than me?!
More fields, more mud, back under the railway and suddenly rounding the last bend to the finish gantry. Hurrah! Andy came in 5 minutes later – a massive improvement on his previous off-road ventures. It was a moderately hilly and very muddy 9.8km. I was 6th female in 51:55. My knee complained a bit but felt better afterwards. The only trouble with doing events like this is that my legs get so stiff and sore the next day! Maybe 30 minutes a week run training just doesn’t cut it.
The day was rounded out with a visit to the Quaker Tapestry veggie cafe for lunch and a wander round the shops. We bought homemade marmalade and lime curd from the market, spinach and feta bread from an enthusiastic Italian and VPud from Booths for Andy (he just can’t resist). There was still time for a sojourn to the Chocolate House for some fine hot chocolate, cake and a bar of my favourite chocolate that my local stockist has dropped (I can’t have been buying enough). We finished with a trip up to Kendal Castle before our train home.
All in all, a fun day!
Haglöfs Open5 Series – Pentland Hills (Course Planner!)
The first round in the Haglöfs Open 5 series for 2012/2013 was on my home ground in the Pentland Hills near Edinburgh. For once I was not competing, but had spent 11 months planning the event.
The Pentland Hills, looking good
I was delighted last year to be invited to plan the first Open 5 course north of the border in Scotland. I was excited but also knew I had standards to maintain – expectations from competitors and Open Adventure would be high! The part of event planning I really wanted to do was the maps. By the time the event morning dawned bright and crisp, they were burnt onto my brain! The Pentland Hills have an amazing network of paths and tracks. Unfortunately, a lot of them aren’t shown on the Ordnance Survey maps, and even the 1:50k and 1:25k versions are not consistent. So one big job was to get out onto the hills and get gps traces ready for uploading. This translated into a lot of late nights fine tuning the map. I was really getting into the detail, but knew it was needed.
Spot Tom approaching a control by a difficult route!
Something I really enjoyed was getting out on foot much more than I would normally. The planner guidelines instructed me to be adventurous with control placements on the run, so I was busy exploring off-piste options; I had fun finding a little tree in a gully, a stake on a rather steep hill at the base of a crag, and a dilapidated stile in a wooded valley with an innocent looking little bog of doom at the top (I know this caught at least one person out!).
On Saturday we had to place all the controls. Luckily we got a sunny day for the job. I was a little surprised to be sent out on foot – though at least I had come prepared with my trainers! My ‘little’ loop took longer than expected as I dawdled a bit enjoying the views, making sure the controls were really firmly attached and triple-checking I had put the right one in the right location… Then there was a short but surprisingly muddy bike loop, and a second run to double check a couple of placements. We moved both of them a few metres, so it was worth it! I felt reassured that the trio who went out on their bikes and did a route including the ‘infamous’ number 20 (only visited by two teams in the race) said they had a fantastic ride. All that was left to do was wait. The maps were printed, the control descriptions were ready and 31 little boxes were sitting out on the hills…
It was a VERY early start! We went up to Bonaly Primary School to get set up. I had sore legs from the previous day’s exertions (though that dodgy knee was OK). How odd to be there starting a race day like that!
Eek, they’re all looking at my course!
As people started arriving I was getting nervous. Looking round the room there were so many top racers who had made the trip up, and I couldn’t believe they were all going out on my course … would it be up to scratch? One of the challenges in planning an event like this is to design something that is almost (but not quite) clearable by the very best, but still fun with plenty of route options for total beginners and everyone in between.
Other considerations include making sure that the course is still interesting with good options in bad weather, it uses interesting trails, it is off-road as much as possible and that control placement and values and mapping of tracks discourages use of the boggier routes. The sort of strategic challenge I enjoy!
I had a flurry of questions about the map (the favourite was one about whether a certain ‘footpath’ was out of bounds – yes, because it was actually a power line!). I also loved seeing so many new people who looked excited at the prospect of heading out in the sunshine.
The girder control, views across Edinburgh and the Forth.
Once the last racers had left the hall to get started, I wandered outside to cheer people off and chat to the marshals. We had to make a late decision to use the school playground as the start / finish / transition area. Not the normal scenic field, but it was quite funky and people liked it being close and not muddy! The hopscotch funnel into the transition / finish area was an optional challenge (sadly worth zero extra points).
Waiting for the first people into transition was more exciting than I expected. Seeing competitors come and go with various tales (spoken and unspoken!) of fun, mud, exertion and adventure was rewarding. I was anxiously waiting for the racers we thought would be at the top end of the field to come in. I was under no illusions that if I had got it right, no-one should clear the course! Had I made it hard enough? They started coming in from the running after 1h45m – I thought that would be enough that they wouldn’t clear the bike course and started to relax a bit.
Later, I was looking after the finishing control box, with Lisa giving me ‘feedback’ when I forgot my lines 😀 (“Well done, did you enjoy it? Please download in the hall as soon as you can!”). I got a bit over-excited and nearly tripped over the gantry several times, narrowly avoiding injury.
Even round-the-world cyclists can look a bit tired at the end of an Open 5
In the final analysis, the highest scorer (Kim Collison) got 570 out of a total 600 – perfect! I also got some fantastic positive feedback on the course design and the weather (for which I take all personal credit).
I was proud that people who had travelled to compete had been treated to a great showcase of what my area can offer. Plenty of local people also turned out – some experienced adventure racers, some new to the whole thing.
Special mention to Anna Sloan who topped the female solos after losing her partner at the last minute. Also to our celebrity, Mark Beaumont who was 3rd in Male pairs!
On reflection, all the hard work was worth it. Next time round I will be back to racing though!
Results:
Full results are here.
Blogs:
Andy was supporting and dog-sitting. Here’s his blip.
And here’s a view from a competitor – Dawn’s blog.
Pictures:
Official ones from James Kirby.
And some from Andy Kirkland.
Snowman Triathlon
Back to Wales again to finish off the Always Aim High triathlon series. I entered the Slateman back in May as warm-up training for the Celtman. But I did better than expected, so thought why not enter the series, as there was a great prize on offer! I knew that the Sandman would be a challenge, only three weeks after the 5-day Terrex expedition race. And so it proved, but not only because of that – I also got a puncture which cost me many minutes. These things happen though, so I came into the Snowman with nothing to lose. But I wanted to still do well anyway, to make up for last time! 🙂
Properly rested and recovered from previous exertions, I had spent at least two or three weeks feeling human again. This was a good sign! Andy was also doing this race. The fell run at the end wasn’t going to play to his strengths, but he seemed set and it was nice to compete together for once. He was more nervous than I was though and got stressed about not having time at the start to get set up. Goodness knows what else he wanted to do though, as I was hanging around for a while!
Llyn Mymbyr at sunset the evening before when we registered
The swim was in Llyn Mymbyr. It was reportedly 11 degrees C. This didn’t worry me too much as my exploits with the Wild Ones had me splashing about in colder than that the week before, and this time we’d be racing. I was determined to actually push it hard on the swim for a change. It was chaos at the start, with bodies everywhere, people stopping to put goggles back on and arms and legs flailing. I did head up crawl for a while, negotiating a way through. I should have started nearer the front. Anyway, I eventually got moving and remembered to work hard. I couldn’t see too many people in front as I ‘landed’. I was 12th out overall and 3rd female.
My transition was OK. I cunningly left my toasty wetsuit all tangled up round my feet to warm them up a bit whilst I sorted out my top and helmet! Into the bike and I felt good. One thing I had worried about coming into this race was a persistent knee / sartorious muscle problem which came on a few weeks ago and wouldn’t clear up. It was complaining a bit on the bike, but was solved by switching to a lower gear and spinning away like mad. The course was short – only 31km with an easy gradient drag back up to the finish. I had a great ride and came into transition 1st female. My bike leg was also fastest female by some way – I only wish we had had to go round again! 😀
Zoom!
Next up was the fell run. I decided to take my poles with me, partly to protect my knee and ankles and partly because they might make me go faster. I am very used to them, so I felt comfortable. Plenty of people said they wish they’d had some! Up to the summit and I was still in first, but as I descended I saw several girls not far behind. Indeed, halfway down two of them (Sheona Schofield and Helen Pitt) came flying past. This was reflected in their final run times – they did the whole run 10-12 minutes faster than me! However, I held on for third and was delighted to stay on the podium.
Me coming into the last couple of km on fireroad
I ventured back up the course to cheer Andy on, madly ringing the cow bell my dad had acquired at every competitor. Just as we thought Andy might have got lost, he appeared with a smile on his face!
The men’s race saw the fell runners taking a big advantage too. We all spent longer running than we did cycling! It is nice that the series overall plays to different strengths in the different races – it makes the podium less predictable. In the prize bag I got a pair of my favourite goggles from Aquasphere and also some sunglasses from Scott. Nice!
Bethan, who won the Slateman and was second at Sandman put in a solid time and won the series.
Full results here and event report here.
Bad luck aside, I had a great time at these races. They were well organised and I was especially impressed with the course marking and strict transition entry / exit security checks. They are also set in some stunning locations. I haven’t decided on my final race plans for next year, but these will definitely be on the potential list.
Oh, and although my knee hurt on the way up the hill (as it had done on every practice run in the preceding weeks), 3 days later I still can’t feel a thing. It could be masked by the intense pain in my quads preventing me from getting down any steps. Or maybe an 8.5km mountain ascent and descent is the perfect cure?!
Polaris Challenge – Askrigg, Wensleydale
I had hardly had time to get over the disappointments of the Sandman before it was time for the next race. I had entered the Polaris Challenge a week later! I spent the week feeling tired and wondering why on earth I had signed up for this. By the time I got to 15:30 on Thursday afternoon I didn’t think I would make it through Friday and asked my boss for an ‘emergency day off’ (to be deducted from annual leave, of course!). He agreed – and what a good decision it was.
I relaxed on Thursday night, had a lie in on Friday, sorted out my packing without panicking and did a few chores before it was time to get the train. By then I was feeling much more positive and cheerful about the whole venture :-).
I entered the race as a female pair with Lucy Harris. Lucy and I spent the winter sparring over the Open 5 series, so we knew we ought to be well matched! This was a bit of an experiment to test that out and to see how we got on working with each other instead of the usual head to head.
By the time we had registered and got to Lucy’s friend’s very nearby house for the night, it was late. I wanted to examine maps, the others wanted to chat! I looked at the map anyway, after they had gone to bed, and felt better for it :-). The difference between this and an Open 5 is the size of the thing. 4x A4! It was also very pink, which suggested many contours.
The map
Me all cozy in sleeping bag in roomy tent!
This event had the option of an overnight camp at a remote location, which we took. It brought back many memories for me of my first ever adventure racing event. Myself and Robert got hopelessly stuck on ‘indistinct paths’ in a place named ‘Hannel Bog’. On day 1 we lost all our points for lateness, didn’t have much food and squeezed into a tiny tent for the night. This time it was going to be different!
For a start, I persuaded Lucy to let us take the really roomy tent at a 500g weight penalty, in exchange for leaving behind the big stove, my thermarest and some unnecessary extra food. The sun was shining; we set off in high spirits. As others passed us we carried on at our own pace, chatting away non-stop. I had a bad time between hours 4 and 5 but then got a new high, especially as we really started racing along about an hour from the end (7 hours in total).
At the camp location we were surprised to find that we were up near the two leading mixed pairs on points, and just in front of Iwona, who well and truly beat me last year in the solo category.
As the cold started to bite we dived into our toasty down sleeping bags well fed and happy. We chatted until ‘late’ – or so everyone commented the next day, but it was only about 10pm!
Day 2 started cold and misty. The atmosphere seemed different from the previous day, perhaps also because we thought we should take it seriously now. We got caught up with some people dithering over navigation and it was a distraction. Lucy was also not feeling as good as the day before. It turned out she had a bit of a cold coming on. But we got ourselves untangled and cleared our minds.
Our route seemed OK until we found ourselves bumping down a highly technical ‘byway’ = narrow, rocky, rooty, strewn with vicious stinging nettles! Then we emerged onto the road and followed an arrow for a ‘bridleway’ = overgrown and covered in those big leafy giant rhubarb like plants you get near water. We were heading for the ‘ford’ of which there was little sign. After considering turning round and going the long way round the road, I suggested we were here for the adventure and should go this way, even if no-one else clearly ever did. We eventually clambered out with very wet feet and big smiles (well, from me anyway!)
The stones were definitely NOT visible, and neither was the track clearly defined as it is in this shot!
© Copyright Gordon Hatton and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence
The second half of the 5-hour day went well, and we were moving at a good speed similar to the day before. After an agonising debate on a final control (would penalties wipe out all 60 points it was worth?) we sped to the finish. We thought it had all gone OK. But straight after download we realised something was awry. Our Saturday score was 11th best, but on Sunday we were only 26th and about 100 points down! This was a bit of a low point. However, on reflection our route choice wasn’t daft – we just didn’t have quite enough oomph on the day to pull it off properly at the end. There were also one or two smart tweaks that would have saved us energy or got more points for effort earlier on.
These things can happen, but we were 17th overall and first female pair. More importantly, we did get on and we did have fun!
I also learnt what happens to Lucy when she gets a bit low on food. Some sort of mild mania sets in. We got back to the van to find two flat tyres. Lucy assured me this was normal and that she would fix it with her track pump. Whilst I was half naked in the back of the van trying to get changed, the pump broke and I could hear panic going on outside but could do nothing! As soon as I was decent, I hopped out and suggested using my trail pump. I got going and it was truly working (slowly) – though it felt faintly ridiculous pumping up a tyre with the weight of a van above with this:
Luckily a man came and helped us out with a proper compressor, and wasn’t until we had to try and negotiate incompetent reversers in the train station car park that the craziness set in again! 😉
Adidas Terrex Sting in Stirling – reports from the race
Last week I spent 5 days ‘holiday’ competing in a team of 4 at the Adidas Terrex Sting in Stirling. This is a non-stop 5 day adventure race. You can read all about it here.
During the race we had to do mandatory blogs … Well, we were told they were mandatory but not every team did them, and we almost missed one or two because we didn’t know when we were supposed to write! But I was very keen to fulfil my allotted role as team blogger, even when we were grumpy, ready to go, and had to wait 5 minutes for a computer to be turned on for us! I don’t know how the team let me get away with that one – thanks guys :-).
Our team were ‘AVT Asset Management’. Here’s our profile, some photos and links to our reports from the race. I don’t know how long this page will be up for though, so I have copied the content here too, for safe keeping :D. There’s also a few extra pictures in the reports – many thanks to James Kirby and Open Adventure.
Team profile
Reports from the race
Trail mail
Reflections on the race to follow!
Haglöfs Open5 Series – Peak District
The series finale!
To sum this race up: sun, hills, friendly locals, roads, prizes and my best ever supporter!
The race was in the area known as the ‘white peak’, starting at a little village called Alstonefield. This is in between Ashbourne and Bakewell and less than an hour’s drive from my mum’s house.
Having taken a long weekend off work, we went out for a recce on Friday. Whilst my mum pottered up and down the Manifold Way on her Brompton, read a book, ate ice cream and found where the river had disappeared to, I hauled myself up and down a 53km figure-of-eight loop with 1135m of climbing. It was handy to stop back at the car in the middle to have lunch with her in the sunshine! I did my best to seek out every little bit of bridleway and byway and pack it all into one ride :-).
By the end of the day, I thought I might have guessed the map area the wrong way round – portrait instead of landscape. As it turned out that was the case, but I’d had a rather fun ride anyway! Some further map study at home on Saturday made up for it. For me, this kind of ride is all about getting a feel for the topography and the terrain of the area, plus putting my head into ‘mountain biking mode’.
This race was going to be the decider for the series, and I didn’t even know if Lucy was doing it! I was a bag of nerves. This showed when we nearly left the house without my bike wheels! Thank goodness I went back in for just one last trip to the toilet and saw them sitting in the hallway!
Marking the scores on the map in the sunshine
I kept an open mind on whether to run or bike first. After looking at the map I decided to get a good strong bike in first again. It was a different course to usual. Lots and lots of road riding. To the east there were a few low scoring controls – but after going out to collect a little clutch worth 40 there didn’t seem much point missing the others out, so I blasted along and collected the lot – a first for me! Looking at my heart rate graph afterwards I noticed a general dip in the middle. Maybe I unconsciously dropped my effort a little, something to watch out for. I haven’t got any more scientific than that though!
I forgot to pack any Nuun (a sports electrolyte-only drink i.e. no sugars) and couldn’t find any in the buzzing metropolis of Lichfield. So at 9pm the night before the race, I had decided to resort to the internet to find a ‘home-brew’ recipe. I would make this the race when I tried out a return to a carbohydrate-containing sports drink! Andy says this will be essential for the Celtman. I’m a scientist, so after reading several suggestions, I went with the modal average. Sort of. It tasted OK!
1 litre water
250ml orange and mango juice*
2 tbsps lemon juice
1 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp runny honey
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
* Because there was no plain orange in the house
Help, I can't decide which way to go!
It was a hot day though, and by the time I got to transition after 63km I was already a bit dehydrated. I gulped down some water and set off on the run. I‘d already planned a likely loop when I was cycling up the last hill. It felt hard going and slow. After three controls, I got into a total dither about which of two options to take. I kept thinking “Don’t take any silly risks!” In the end, I decided it was an acceptable risk and set off in a determined fashion, collected a 15-pointer and nipped across the river Dove, just by a spot where I swam once :-).
At this point total confusion set in. I crossed a wall, but thought it was the one 500m further up. Which meant the control I thought was 100m away was actually 600m away – I was having a panic! It was all totally clear looking at the map in retrospect, but I think the dehydration was messing with my normal thought processes. Why didn’t I drink more of the water I was lugging round with me?!
Should have done a bit more of this!
On the plus side, the locals here were the friendliest I’ve ever encountered in a race. Some were cheering and clapping, people were telling me the control was on a tree ‘just up there’ and others were commenting on my ‘series leader’ label. Earlier on, one group of cyclists told me to ‘just follow them’! Shame they weren’t going my way ;-).
I finally got to the control, but was seriously short of time and had to miss out two nearby 10-pointers. My legs were really hurting and I didn’t feel like running anywhere. I also remembered that we had started the race on top of a hill, which could only mean one thing …
However, it was 4.5km to go. I told myself that in the Celtman, I would feel much, much worse at the end – so I had better get on with this as it would be good practice! After that, I felt better; I ran at a consistent pace and was smoother with the navigating. Still, it didn’t stop me getting back over 6 minutes late – 14 penalty points! Gargh!
I got 506 points – my third score over 500 this series. I didn’t know if it was enough though, especially when I saw Lucy at the finish! I was left on tenterhooks as the female solo category was last in the prize giving. When it was finally announced I was so happy – I won the race and won the series :D.
Lucy did well, got a good score despite a dodgy hip and moved up to second in the series, with this event’s course planner, Karen McDonald getting series third.
I also proved I can do a half-decent race even when the weather is nice!
Series result - myself, Lucy, Karen
Finally, I got my bottle of champagne for getting 5000 points ever in Open 5 races, and a special Haglöfs gift for doing all 7 races this series. It’s not easy staying fit enough to race every month through the middle of winter. I started with a twisted ankle and no run training, progressed to a muscle strain in my leg, flu, and some mysterious virus that left me wheezing for a month.
But I don’t care, because in amongst all that I also got in some great riding and running, learnt from a few mistakes, experienced loads of new places, made some great friends, and achieved something that eluded me last year!
Now, what’s next?!
SMBO – Pentlands
I’m a little late with this one … other training and life keep getting in the way!
The first event in the summer SMBO (Scottish Mountain Bike Orienteering) 3h series was last weekend. Just like last year, the weather was lovely and sunny! I had helped out a bit with the map, but not much, so I was allowed out to compete in the ‘generation category’ with my favourite cycling 10 year old.
It's so relaxing when someone else is doing the planning!
The day started with a logistical hiccough – which meant that Iain had to cycle all the way to the event centre in Balerno. For those that don’t know Edinburgh, this is 12.5km uphill from where he lives. We helped him along a bit with some gentle pushing, so that he wouldn’t be exhausted before we even started!
Last year he rode with his dad, who insisted he should do it all himself – and that I should do the same this year. Sometimes it was hard to resist, but I tried to keep my ‘help’ to open questioning, gentle suggestions and handing out of sandwiches 🙂
This applied before the start:
“Think about making a loop”
“Look at the contours”
“What will you do if we start running out of time?”
“What difference will the control values make?”
And during:
“Is there anything to look out for that will tell you we are nearly there?”
“How far do you think it is?”
“Which way at the next junction?”
And at the very end:
“Are you really sure you don’t want to go up that big hill for just one more control?!”
Luckily, Iain had been warned about this one before the start and insisted NO – just as well, as we only got back with 4 minutes to spare! 😀
This is how it's done
Picking a line alongside Threipmuir Reservoir
I was very proud of him as he was doing a good job of the map reading and navigating, his technical biking skills are improving nicely and his fitness and stamina are really beginning to develop.
The generation class can be a funny one. There are 7 year olds competing against 15 year olds and kids who just ride competing against kids who plan their own strategy and read the map. But it is all about encouraging new people into the sport, and the good news is, numbers are going up – there were 7 in the class at this event. Hopefully they will all come back again another time!
Iain came 4th – and only just missed out on a podium spot by a few points. Not to worry, a fun time was had and he also managed to beat one or two adult teams. The proof of success was that he asked if he could go out biking again the next weekend.
Luckily, I was able to wangle this into my training plan. On the hottest day of the year so far, we did a fantastic proper hilly loop from his house, going up higher than last week and taking in some much more technical trails. He’s a star! This is my long term plan in the making – watch out for us taking the mixed pairs by storm in a few years’ time!
The things you can stop and play with when you're not in a racing hurry!
Haglöfs Open5 Series – North Downs
A test of nerve and mind over matter.
The sixth race in this series and we were back off the bottom of my maps! It wasn’t so bad though, as my aunt and uncle live just 20 minutes away from the venue so I could combine the race with a visit.
To set the scene, this could be make or break time for the series. Best three scores to count, and I was on the back foot with Lucy already having two wins in the bag to my one. There were also some other strong girls entered, so I knew it would be a good competition.
But there was one thing above all else I wanted to do in this race.
BIKE WELL!
I love mountain biking. In January (Quantocks) I was poorly and had mechanicals. In February (Warcop) I made a tactical mistake and had no excuse. But looking at the results the speed of my bike legs just didn’t live up to those in October (Staveley) and November (Church Stretton). So I did three things differently.
1) I listened to my coach! I have only had a coach for a couple of months, in a bid to get fit for the Celtman in June. But he was telling me all week to ease off and rest up.
2) I went and rode on Saturday. I missed doing a recce for the last two races due to logistics. I can’t possibly predict or cover all the trails we will use, but in an unfamiliar area having a few reference points is useful. I find it also really helps get my brain in gear and my head into the map. Andy told me off for going too far and for too long – but it was really sunny and warm and I was having a good time! 😉
3) I used my bike computer more. I don’t know why I’ve had to learn this twice. I learnt it last year. Keeping an eye on my average speed makes me ride faster. Every time I start drifting, my speed drops and I remember to pick it back up again! Magic.
There was one more different thing, but it was a last minute decision. Chatting to Ruth an hour before the start, we were commenting on how difficult it would be to escape back to the finish on the bike if it was all taking too long. I always run first, when I’m fresh, and bike second. But this made me think – maybe I should bike first, get a really good round in and then construct a run route to fit the time available. So:
4) I biked first!
Wise words from Ruth
I was anxious before the start. I couldn’t focus on potential routes or see any sensible ways to go. My mum had come to support me and was trying to calm me down, but I was too worked up! Having ‘series leader’ in yellow pinned to my front and zip tied to my bike only added to the pressure. Regardless of what happened with the results, I wanted to give a performance that did the label justice.
Do I look nervous?
The start was a gentle spin up the road. It was already raining, but we were down south, so it was mild (or so I thought). I faffed around in transition and put off the moment of starting. Then I got the values and information on ‘no controls’ (i.e. controls worth zero) and fretted a bit more before I set off.
From that moment though, my head was in the zone.
Marking control values on the map
I pedalled as hard as I could nearly all of the time. The exception near the start was the singletrack called ‘summer lightning’. The control was in a mystery location somewhere along the route, which always makes me slow down as I’m paranoid about riding straight past it! Once that was out of the way there was no stopping me. Looking at the results I seem to have made an ‘unusual’ route choice – but it made sense to me at the time! The area had more minor roads than usual, and I made the most of them to cover distance quickly.
Riding the singletrack in search of a control!
As I headed back to transition I realised it might be a little cold, as I was having trouble changing gear properly (my fingers weren’t working). I was a bit slower than usual as I had to fiddle with double knotting laces on running shoes instead of doing buckles on biking shoes.
The cold didn’t register properly until about 10 minutes into the run when I was really shivering! I worked out why when it started snowing. Not just a bit, but full on wet snow, coming down sideways in the wind. Even though I had my waterproof on, the thin tops I had on underneath weren’t enough, and my spare top was in my bike bag – back at transition. Doh! Whilst trying to keep moving and navigate I decided my only two options were to run faster or get my silver cape out and put it on under my coat. One would speed me up and the other slow me down – so I went with option one!
Things almost went wrong right at the end. I lost the path in the woods amongst a load of informal little trails and ended up bashing through the forest to get to the main track I could see below. This was allowed in the rules, but wasn’t very fast! Then there was a long haul back up the road with aching legs. Just one last control to collect and time was tight. I missed the first footpath turning, found the second one, got disorientated, almost panicked, then … regained composure, found the control and sprinted up the last bit of hill. I haven’t had to run so hard in a long time and thought I might pass out at the end. I certainly wasn’t cold any more and best of all, I was back in time! 37 seconds to spare – wonders never cease.
Sprint finish. I think I'm going to collapse!
I knew I had raced hard and hadn’t made any major mistakes. It was a good feeling, as I felt whatever the outcome; I had done what I could.
As it turned out, I got my second win of the winter. This means the series will go right to the last race and be decided in April, when I will have to go through it all again! 🙂
The weather conditions were worse than a lot of us had anticipated and caused a few people to pull out or cut short their races. It took me about an hour to warm up afterwards! However, I scored 520, my highest score of the series so far. I was also joint 5th overall (my best ever Open Adventure result); beaten by Sabrina and Ben in the mixed pairs (who got an excellent 530 even though they came back freezing 20 minutes early), a male pair and two male solos. I think I should hope for bad weather every race! Here are the full results.
I was also helped by my aunt who pampered me and cooked awesome race food, my uncle who gave me a lift out for my ride on Saturday and my mum, who took me to and from the race, cheered me on and was official photographer. She’s been my lucky charm so far!
I had a great weekend and never knew what fun you could have riding up the Downs. I finished it off on Monday with home-made cheesecake for breakfast before heading for the train back home. I wish every race weekend could end like that!
Haglöfs Open5 Series – Warcop
Warcop is in the North Pennines, somewhere not too far from Penrith. Despite the snow afflicting other parts of the country, I cruised in on the train on Saturday afternoon and made use of the shiny new bike path from Kirkby Stephen train station down into the village. I was booked into the youth hostel there and was pleased to find plenty of fellow racers setting up residence. It was positively arctic in the main room. It’s a converted chapel, and what church has ever been warm?! So we soon decamped to the pub, where I stuffed myself silly. I was having no repeat of last month on the food front! Perhaps we were lucky to get served after one of our number told the waitress their menu was boring …
Sunday morning and we set off for the race. Tom kindly offered me a lift. I think with the ice on the road it was a good choice as his car soon left the others trailing. When we got there to register we found transition was quite some way away. I was glad I left in plenty of time as it turned out to be mostly uphill and rather icy in patches! We knew in advance about the special water filled tunnel under the A road. I had solved the problem of how to carry welly boots down by just wearing them all weekend, and I’m glad I had them with me.
Collecting a run control
This event was on a military training area, which is only open to the public one weekend a month. I was alarmed by all the guns firing on my ride up to the start/finish, but am pleased to report I saw none of this during the actual race!
I think my run was pretty sensible; I did a nice efficient loop and started late enough to follow the snowy footprints of other racers in the off-piste parts. I was also very excited to meet James Kirby, the photographer, en route – a rare occurrence.
A quick transition (12th!) and I was off on the bike. I started slow and a bit muddled … again. This seems to be becoming a bit of a habit and I’m not sure why. But after fumbling around for the second and third controls I got into a much better rhythm. When I had finished doing a loop to the west I was left with a decision. To stay low, go back past transition and do another circuit on what I knew from the run were mostly tarmaced, clear roads to the east. Or to do the long climb up onto the fells and cut back down. Checking my time, I went for the high loop.
Big mistake! Even though I expected the last push up to the top, I had not anticipated the amount of snow that was lying everywhere. Even once up, I was having a lot of trouble riding. I was determined to give it a go though, as the race would be a total write off otherwise. I gave myself a pep talk, and started a tally of the number of times I flew into the snow. Snow is pretty soft and doesn’t hurt, though I have since discovered some random scrapes and bruises :-).
Lots of snow, lots of spills
I quickly lost count of the falls, but eventually managed to escape with a fast blast down the hill. Sadly, this plan was only going to work if I had enough time to get all the really high pointers down at the bottom. I hadn’t. A last second decision to take a time penalty hit and backtrack to get an extra 25 didn’t work out either! It would have been a good move if I’d thought of it 4 minutes earlier, but still wouldn’t have been enough to get me the win.
That honour went again to Lucy Harris, who is now in a very strong series position. In retrospect, if I had done the low figure of eight on the bike I’d have probably avoided penalties and got a couple of extra controls. Sometimes a race just comes down to one of these key decisions. Lucy also went up high, but biked first and was smart to avoid making a similar mistake on the run.
On the upside, I felt very much better in this race than I had in January. The bike worked as it should, my body worked as it should, I ate as I should and my brain almost worked as it should! 3 out of 4. The weather was also sunny and dry, and despite my little panic up on the fell, I did have a chance to take in the fantastic scenery and feel the sense of adventure. Something I wouldn’t have got if I had been sensible and pootered around at the bottom!
I topped the day off by getting a lift all the way back to Edinburgh – big thank you! I was home by 8, in front of the TV, watching Dancing on Ice, eating pasta and drinking Dr Pepper. What luxury 😀
Planet Byde 