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Haglöfs Open5 Series – Quantocks
I was surprised how many people I spoke to didn’t know where the Quantocks / Taunton are when I told them I was going to race there. Then again, it’s a full 425 miles from where I live, or 515 if you take my route via Leeds. It’s near Bristol in SW England.
I was never going to do this race until I hatched a plan which seemed entirely reasonable at the time. I would travel to Leeds by train (changing at York so I could get a cheap ticket), stop off with the lovely Dave and Ruth, get a lift with them to the race and then reverse on Sunday / Monday. The East Coast man who got my bike off the train in York gets double brownie points for admiring my bike! 🙂
The Quantocks, courtesy of James Kirby. Next time I am going to bribe him to take a picture with me in it. I am sure his lens will be fine!
I was back to racing solo again. This time I didn’t have the luxury of riding in the area beforehand, though Dan gave me some good tips and I whiled away the hours on the train doing intensive map study.
I had to have a wee rant about dinner in the pub the night before the race. Whilst the others tucked into quality meaty fare, the one veggie option was a rather pathetic slice of goat’s cheese on a tiny square of filo pastry with chutney on top. Served with two measly new potatoes and a load of veg. No sauce, no carbs, no choice. Grrrr!
I’ll say now that even setting aside dinner, I’m beginning to think that me and January races don’t really mix. (I had a bad time of it at Sutton Bank this time last year). The weather for this one was benign, and the run actually went OK. My leg didn’t hurt, I navigated accurately and I got back in 2 hours after a 15km romp. Must just work on those uneven downhills – there’ll be plenty more of that come June. I also had a fantastically quick transition – in and out in 2:19 and 10th quickest – yay!
The Map of Doom!
Sadly, something went awry shortly after! I made a mistake navigating to the second bike control. I knew something wasn’t right but had to stop and check several times before I figured out what I’d done. In hindsight it should have been blindingly obvious – a steep downhill into a valley vs. an undulating traverse round the top?! After getting back on track I started to ride uphill only to be nearly thrown from my bike as I got chain suck. I didn’t have my computer in this race either as I lost it in Bacup – I now realise how much I use it to estimate distances between junctions and controls. All of this seemed to combine to make me slip into old bad habits of a) riding too slowly and b) over-checking the map. The chain suck also meant I was super cautious on hills and grinding along in the big chainring as I wallowed in mud.
Sometimes things just don’t click and my race head was obviously still indulging in the Christmas cheese and port.
Despite all this, I do remember rather enjoying the descents – so it wasn’t all bad! Somehow, even though I felt sick by this time, my legs must have suddenly woken up between the last two controls as I came in 3rd and 1st fastest on the last two legs. What a shame it was about 3 hours too late! I finished more than 8 minutes over time (meaning I got 18 penalty points).
I came 2nd to Lucy Harris, who had a good first race in the series. Funnily enough, we collected exactly the same controls, though in a slightly different order (and she did it quicker!).
Coming back in the car I had great time chatting with Dave, but we got in after 1.30am. After a long day of racing, travelling and 5 hours of talking I needed a decent sleep, so it was unfortunate that we had to get up at 6.30! Getting over-tired and run down in the winter is never a good idea, and sure enough by Tuesday I was fully knocked out and off work sick …
Roll on February, I will approach the race with renewed energy and verve, and with my fingers crossed for some epic weather – it suits me better! 😀
Full results are here.
A walk in the Peak District
One of the best things about going to stay with Andy is that he lives on the edge of the Peak District in a little village called Broadbottom. There are lots of opportunities for interesting runs (even the short ones) and big walks, right on his doorstep. After Christmas I sat down to amuse myself with Andy’s truly enormous 1:25k waterproof map of the area. I call it “Andy’s” rather loosely, as I always seem to find it just where I left it on the previous visit 😀
I came up with the following route, which was perfectly executed.
Doctor's Gate this way
Catch a train to Glossop, as early as you can. This involved me getting out of bed, so we set off just before 10am. Walk up “Doctor’s Gate” assessing it for mountain biking suitability on a later date. It’s a bridleway but I fear there would be rather too much pushing for my liking, in both directions! Stop out of the wind for a pleasant first sandwich and piece of homemade fudge brownie.
At the top, where this Roman Road joins the modern Snake Pass, turn left and follow the Pennine Way through a peat bog. You go from a rocky little climb to an engineered walking highway, which still has its charms as the path literally bounces, you splash through rivers and stare down into dark little pools.
At Bleaklow Head, bear left into a biting westerly headwind. Stop to put on spare jumper, even if it means taking off two other layers first. Get to where two rivers meet and the path crosses them in a little gorge. Take shelter and eat second sandwich and brownie as quickly as possible. Stop every 10 minutes for the next hour to re-tie shoelaces, because hands are too cold to properly carry out a task requiring such fine motor control!
Trip Trap, Trip Trap!
Locate the left turn-off from The Pennine Way, which starts with an exceedingly deep boggy bit – let someone else find that out first! 😀 The map gives clues to the terrain … all those spidery blue lines on a flat moor! It is wet, but the path is punctuated by helpful wooden bridges and walkways.
Cue your best Billy Goats Gruff impressions; “Trip trap, trip trap! Who’s that trip-trapping over my bridge?!” Try not to jump too far out of your shoes when someone sneaks up behind and says “Boo”!
Descend back towards Glossop on a double-track, taking a shortcut to Swineshaw reservoir that gets you stuck at the top of a small quarry. Really, either the ground did not match up with the map here, or I was too fuddled to figure it all out. Allow Andy to take one last photo – this time of a pig. Get back into town just before dark and grab a sweet hot drink and emergency third sandwich in the café before heading home to tea and curry*.
Different approaches to finding a way across a peat bog ...
* I had made a tasty shepherd’s pie but confused the paprika and chilli powder – oops! Second mealtime around with all the (non-spicy potato) gone, it went well with chickpeas, a tin of coconut milk and plenty of rice!
Haglöfs Open5 Series – Bacup
We’re now onto the 3rd event in this winter series of 5 hour races. I had managed to persuade someone else to race with me and was entered into the female pairs with Marie Meldrum. We met during the Big Ben Nevis triathlon in September and I knew we must be fairly evenly matched for pace because we finished only 2 minutes apart in a (nearly) 10 hour race.
Marie picked me up for an early start on Saturday and we drove down south nattering the whole way. A handy stop at Tebay services for dark chocolate waffles from Wales and the world’s tastiest oatcakes from Fife. They came in handy post-race on Sunday! By lunchtime we had made it to Bacup, a funny bit of Lancashire with wild hills and moors sandwiched in amongst industrial towns like Bury, Bolton, Blackburn, Burnley and Bradford. They must have a thing about the letter “B”! Bacup is also the location of the mountain bike trails at Lee and Cragg Quarries.
We managed to faff around quite a lot whilst putting off going out into the wind and heavy showers for a little pre-race ride. Eventually we set off to get a taster for the area and found it to be exceedingly rocky and windy! I was feeling rubbish, Marie was looking great. Andy says I always say I feel ‘off colour’ before a race, which I disputed until I thought about it…
The B&B experience was like something from Fawlty Towers. “John Cleese” answered the door to two wet, muddy and in my case, exceedingly cold, girls. Marie was jabbering about how we were the “ones with the bikes” (he looked blank) and how we were told to “arrive early to avoid getting in the way of a family dinner” (he looked alarmed). The bikes were put in the garage but we felt the need to check he would shut the door on them for us. In the morning Marie asked if he had a rear bike light we could borrow. They were compulsory for this event but the one I lent her had disintegrated on the previous day’s ride. He said “I don’t know what one of them is”. Marie said “you know, the red lights on the back of bikes, they sometimes flash?” and then elaborated “we had one but we totally destroyed it yesterday, the tracks were so rough”. I think any chances of us getting one then were dashed, and we were still laughing about it so much we nearly drove in the opposite direction to registration 😀 (in the end we made do with a little one).
It was like a comedy act getting ready for the race. Marie was so excited / nervous she made about a hundred trips to the toilet. Whilst she was doing goodness-knows-what in the boot, I was trying to route plan and having blank head syndrome. I was shaking badly, half from nerves and half from cold. The friendly squeeze from Dave as I checked some things about allowable routes on the map was really appreciated! We also seemed incapable of deciding what to wear and hid in the car when it rained :-).
By about 10.15 we really couldn’t put it off any longer and headed up to the start/finish area. The weather for this race was quite epic (though still didn’t top the infamous Kirkby Stephen day). Marie did a fantastic job on the run of keeping the pace up, letting me shelter behind her and generally being helpful. I was chuckling at her enthusiasm as I was getting control descriptions read out way before we needed them and questions like “is it that post / stile?” when we were nowhere near the location!
Looking for a control at the top of a quarry, when it was located at the bottom!
Things went slightly haywire when we set off cross-country on a non-existent path. It turned out OK when we miraculously ended up exactly where we needed to be: “3m high walled gap”. We whooped, yelled, laughed, got a funny look from another competitor then shushed and tried to creep off, not to give it away to anyone else! The next control was a mistake as we stumbled through large, scratchy tussocks surrounded by pools of icy cold knee deep water. About this time it started snowing, and when we heard a thunder clap we both screamed! I think it was a mixture of fright and delight :-o. After the next control we went back pretty much the same way, which was silly. We’d have been much quicker skirting round on a real path, as opposed to the fantasy one on the map. Yes, we had been warned … My feet had turned into blocks of ice, which was great first aid for my slightly twisted ankle, and I had forgotten all about my dodgy leg. It was fortunate that Marie forced me to eat as I was putting it off due to cold hands. She was right though, as I needed it to keep warm. It felt late when we finally scrambled down a sheep track (avoiding the lovely firm, graded bike track we couldn’t run on) and got our final run control at the bottom of the quarry.
Still looking sprightly - this was early on in the run!
We’d both been looking forward to the bike leg. I rode like a different person from the day before. Unfortunately, so did Marie! After a slow start, some motivational chit chat and a load of food perked her up again in time for a high speed cobbled descent, before another slump at the end. I could tell it was bad as she started talking to herself, and I did my best to give her a push whenever I could. I think a recent cold was having more of an effect than she’d like to admit. A chain jammed into the front shifter gave us a fright 15 minutes from the end but was soon fixed. On the upside, we only made one small strategic error of an unnecessary short loop in Cragg Quarry. We also both executed a couple of fine manuals off little drop offs which made us happy :D. Marie sung from Winnie the Pooh …
The more it snows (Tiddely pom)
The more it goes (Tiddely pom)
On snowing.
And nobody knows (Tiddely pom)
How cold my toes (Tiddely pom)
Are growing.
… admired the scenery and made helpful suggestions such as “there’s a nice looking path – we could go down that one!” (me: “yes, but later!”)
We must have been almost last back, as transition was nearly deserted when we got there just under 4 minutes late. I’ve never got changed so quickly after a race, desperate to get warm dry socks on my feet! Before the race we knew there were at least 4 other female pairs who could be up at the top and challenging us for a podium finish. Prize giving came quickly and we found we had made it into 2nd place, just pipped by 5 points by Fiona and Fi, who we’d been jostling with on the bike leg (they had a much better run than we did). Overall, we came 9th out of 175 starters, which can’t be bad going, especially considering this was Marie’s first ever adventure race! She was even still smiling at the end and said it was fun, so hopefully we’ll be back another time :-).
Haglöfs Open5 Series – Church Stretton
This is what Church Stretton looks like
The second in the Open 5 series was a long way south for me. Luckily, it wasn’t far from my mum’s house so I combined it with a birthday weekend visit. Leaving on Thursday also gave me two chances to catch up on some sleep before the race!
We drove over to Shropshire on Saturday. My mum went and shot arrows at a target; I went and rode over the Long Mynd and back. I stopped on the way to digest the mountain biking information board in great detail – which proved useful as it indicated which tracks could be ridden up, and which were only really sensible in a downwards direction!
I was getting nervous before the race but I remembered Andy saying ‘I would be worried if you weren’t …’. I picked up the map nice and early and headed back to the B&B to do some serious planning. I thought the biking would be fast as it wasn’t too technical and the course looked straightforward. This almost made me change my strategy and bike first, but I resisted, and not just because I am scared to change my ways :-). It was also because the run would be committing – you had to get up onto Long Mynd, spend some time on the top and then run back off – no short cuts or easy loops to miss out! On the other hand, although the bike section had many high scoring controls, it also had a number of out-and-backs off the spine of Long Mynd which I could easily omit if I was in a hurry.
I set off only just before the latest start – after a last minute panic when I found I needed to be carrying a windproof! (must have missed that bit of information somewhere). Waterproof hastily jammed in my bum bag I set off running. I made a slight wrong turn after the first control when I nearly went the ‘wrong way round’ my yellow highlighted route. To be honest, my whole running map was covered in yellow – a sign that I couldn’t decide which way to go when I was planning – so it was no wonder I got confused! Luckily, I realised before it was too late and got going up the right bit of hill. One of the controls was quite difficult to get to – I had to clamber over a load of rocks to get to the control box hanging from a tree root by a waterfall. I was glad I had switched back to some grippier shoes!
Looking sprightly as I finish the run
I emerged at the top of the hill somewhere unexpected, but in a better position than I was aiming for – it’s fantastic when random unmarked tracks lead you where you want to go! Now I was on the ridge and remembered my pledge to Andreas (my new secret training weapon). It was time to go fast! So I did, catching up someone in front and trying to hold off the guy behind. Shame my hip pack was too heavy and was really annoying me bouncing up and down. I guzzled the water and ate a banana to reduce the weight. The controls at the top were worth fewer points, so I was trying to balance how long I spent collecting some of these, whilst leaving enough time for the good mountain biking stuff. Heading back down the hill to pick up some more high value controls I lost time finding a tree which was a bit “off piste”. I was starting to feel tired but took advantage of a path leading through the woods that popped out at the site of the previous night’s bonfire – so I knew my way back from there! I got back to transition after 2h15m – a little later than planned.
Dibbing out of transition and starting the bike ride
My transition was slow as I had to swap my coat over to the other bag and I just didn’t seem as focussed as usual. This carried on into the first two bike checkpoints. I rode past the first one, thinking I had seen the control (it was just some other random red and white stuff on a telegraph pole) and with my nose in the map. Then I got tangled up with some other racers who were distracting me from navigating in my own way. I decided at the next checkpoint to leave them, turn around and ride back down to the road, hoping it would be a bit quicker. It felt like a long slow climb after that, but I started to perk up as I got to the grassy drag and started overtaking other racers. With my ‘race head’ back on again, I sped up, pedalled down as well as up the hills, looked the cow in the eye as I crossed its bridge and really felt better when I was finally back on the top of Long Mynd, just popping on and off the ridge until I ran out of time.
I was playing yo-yo with a male pair, which incentivised me to keep up the pace. And despite running out of water with an hour to go (again) I didn’t hit the wall like I did last time. The weather was glorious and the views fantastic. 😀 I sadly had to miss out on the last checkpoint I wanted – if I’d eliminated the odd mistake and little dither over the course of the race, I might just have had time for it. But things are never perfect! As it was, I was racing down a fast grassy descent for the final road run-in to the finish. I was lucky to meet up with another racer here who I drafted as we rode back into the headwind. He was late – I was hanging on at my limit – but I didn’t feel too bad for not doing any turns at the front as I had helped him find the last checkpoint and navigated him through a little village on the way home!
Tired but happy!
Wonders never cease, and I was actually back in time – with a whole 1 minute and 49 seconds to spare. I was very happy with my much improved running – 18km this time compared to 10.5km a month ago and travelling 2 minutes per km quicker! Results time, and it turned out I had got first place with a score that compared well to the general field – only beaten by 1 mixed pair, 11 male solos and 4 male pairs. 140 teams or solos were there altogether, so this was another popular event. The planning was perfectly judged, with the first male solo (Stuart Lynch) just clearing the whole course. It was great having my mum there supporting me, driving me around and taking photos!
Next time we will be back nearer home in Lancashire (these things are all relative). It will be a different experience for me as I’m going to be introducing Marie to the joys of adventure racing. I met Marie at the Big Ben Nevis Triathlon and am looking forward to heading out with someone new and sharing what I’ve learnt and love!
Making a habit of night riding?
I started out riding my mountain bike off road in the dark when I decided to do the Strathpuffer some years ago – what an introduction! I’ve been out sporadically since, either training for the occasional race, or just for fun. It is possible to get up into the Pentland Hills outside Edinburgh from work, ride and get back without a car – though it’s always further home than I expect!
This year Andreas, a friend from work and the bike club, has decided he wants to ride his mountain bike more. The only time to do it is after work, when it just happens to be dark. He has a car and needs someone to go with – I am happily obliging 😀
The trails are almost deserted and are more interesting than they are in the daylight. I have been testing out the head light I won at the Trans Wales event – an Exposure Diablo. It’s an awesome light; bright enough to ride with on its own, providing you’re not out for too long. And a good job too, since my handlebar light detached from the bracket and stayed that way (new part ordered)!
Andreas seems keen on animal spotting. This week we got:
- Rabbit – 5 points
- Bats – 10 points
- Squirrel (unverified) – 3 points
- Small amphibian – 7 points
- Large OWL! – 20 points
- Black beetle – 6 points
- 4 other humans – 0 points
Total: 51 points
We’ve already headed off to Glentress twice recently, so it looks like this might become a regular thing. Fits in very well with my plan to ride my mountain bike more, but not so well with my plan to do the club running sessions more, since the evenings keep clashing! Since one is more fun than the other, I can see which might end up winning 🙂
Lynskey + Andreas and his midget-wheeled bike! A cold, misty and moonlit evening.
* Picked up a team jersey from Ronde today. Very exciting!
Last minute training
I’m facing my last big test of the summer! Next weekend I’ll be heading north to Fort William for the Big Ben Nevis Tri. This is billed as ‘gruelling’ and ‘the UK’s toughest triathlon’. Nothing to worry about then …
With only a week to go I realised there was some essential pre-race training to be done!
SWIM (1.9km). I had only swum in my wetsuit outdoors once this year, and that was in May. So I took my last opportunity to go out with a group on Wednesday night. This was at Threipmuir Reservoir in the Pentlands. Just an 11km uphill pedal away from work, I left a meeting at 6pm and rode up as fast as I could to get there on time. About then, the thought crossed my mind that I really should have brought some water.
The scene of my test swim
3 laps and 2.1km later, I stumbled out, found I couldn’t really speak any more and spent so long getting changed that my feet froze and everyone else had gone home. I was still thirsty – when I had accidentally swallowed some of the murky, peaty water it seemed to taste good! Halfway through the long ride home I hit the metaphorical wall and began staring longingly into takeaways when I was stopped at red lights. I stumbled in at 9.15pm and began emergency re-fuelling!
Oh, I have also been having problems with old leaky goggles which will be no good with contact lenses in. So I ordered a new pair, which arrived on Friday and got a test in the pool today. They leaked a bit but I was checking what 1.9km non-stop would feel like and how long it might take, so I didn’t want to pause and adjust them. I also got an unrelated cracking headache – hmm.
BIKE (90km off-road). Well, I ride to work all the time, so not too many fitness worries with this one. But after the Trans Wales, I couldn’t backpedal in the small rings of the cassette without the chain catching. Cue an emergency trip up to the Bicycleworks for some investigations. The mech hanger was straightened, the (supposedly-long-lasting) cables were lubed a bit and the tension adjuster twiddled. But unfortunately no concrete diagnosis could be made. Ach well, it still seems to go forwards OK. I’ve also added a headset protector and mudsplash thing, as I think some gritty bits got into the bearings and I don’t want it getting any worse! Only one decision left – whether to ‘test out’ the new saddle in a race or stick with what I know?!
This week's running kit - I hope I wasn't spotted by too many people I know!
RUN (21km – up Ben Nevis and back). I’ve been nursing a twisted ankle, which doesn’t bode well for the ascent, or more likely, the descent (!) of Ben Nevis. However, I did want to test out what it would be like to carry all the required kit for the running stage in my hip bag. I set out from work to do a loop round the grounds one lunchtime last week, looking the picture of sartorial elegance. I’m glad I did, because it didn’t go well – the bag was too heavy and bounced up and down, I had to tighten it so much it dug into me and it was generally uncomfortable. Rucksack it is then. I’ve been assured it’s mostly a walk anyway 🙂
Given how all that has gone, I’m changing tack. Between now and the race I’ll be taking it easy and trying to get some decent long nights of sleep. My mum is doing the honours of taking me to the race, cheering me on and looking after me. I think I’ll need it!
There are not many women entered – 8 of us so far – which is more than usual. I have just noticed that the course record holder Hannah Barnes has also signed up, so there’ll certainly be competition! For this race though, I am concentrating on a) finishing and b) getting round in under 10 hours. Anything else will be a bonus.
Planet Byde 