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Hallocross 2014
This was my third Hallocross. A night time cyclocross race on Halloween with fancy dress strongly encouraged. After my friend Elizabeth put me to shame last year with her bumblebee outfit, I made more of an effort this time. Various parts of my fancy dress arrived the week before so that I could line up resplendent as a ladybird! In an effort to get my legs ready I had also done two spin classes. Teaching my legs that not every ride will go on for the next 5 hours or more is hard work.
I don’t normally do cyclocross, but this one is local and in the dark and there are lots of silly costumes, so it is worth going! Although I got there in plenty of time, it still seemed a bit rushed. I couldn’t find anyone I knew so had to ask for help for my numbers and left my bag full of warm dry clothes in the easy up. There was just enough time for a steady practice lap with Elizabeth, who had emerged from somewhere out of the darkness!
The only evidence of my outfit I can find, despite seeing photographers all night! Me in the food queue afterwards …
At the start I managed to squeeze in not too far from the front. We all charged for the first lap. Suddenly everyone was jumping off and I wasn’t sure why as I hadn’t remembered there being a log here. Turned out it was just a load of mud, but with everyone slowing through it was easier to jump off and run too.
For the first couple of laps people were occasionally passing me. But then I started to pick up and pass other people. On lap 3 I also got enough courage to ride up the two steps, which turned out to be fairly easy on my big wheeled mountain bike! I kept thinking I should try and get over the logs too, but I didn’t want to risk falling tonight. The course was pretty straightforward and less technical than last year. As I warmed up and got used to the best lines I was enjoying myself.
On the last few laps I started catching people at the back of the field. I was definitely one of the middling people – being lapped by the leaders but lapping others myself. I noticed after a while that there was someone holding a board up as we went through each lap, telling us how many more to go. After “2” I went a bit faster. If the leaders lapped me again I’d have to stop! Everyone stops after the winners have finished their last lap, regardless of how many they’ve done themselves.
I got through before them though, so had one more lap to do. It was fun as I caught a couple of people who had passed me on the earlier laps. It was no surprise when the results came out to see that my last two laps were easily my fastest, and my first three the slowest – with a difference of over 30 seconds per lap 🙂 . Full lap times below.
I had almost got to the end of the lap when I passed a rider in a skeleton jersey. I shouted ‘on your left!’ and, as I passed, I heard back ‘hello Rosemary!’. It was Paul, Itera team mate. Last year we were almost the same pace. At the Singletrack Stramash he’d out-ridden me and he also likes to start fast. So I assumed I had caught him up after he’d been in front. Turned out I had just lapped him though, which I enjoyed ha ha! Maybe my fast cycling legs are starting to come back.
There was a strong field there, and I hardly practice for this sort of thing, so I was more than happy to find I’d finished 4th (again).
Next up, the first Open 5 of the winter series. To say I am nervous about the run part of the race would be an understatement. 70 minutes of running in 6 weeks, and an injured and slowly recovering hip for the last three and half. The start of the run will be a step into the unknown! But at least I can be fairly confident in the strength of my bike leg if nothing else 🙂
Fancy dress competition winner – well deserved!
|
Lap |
Lap time | Difference with last lap | Difference with best lap | Speed |
| 1 | 06:09.828 | 00.000 | 44.237 |
14.115 |
|
2 |
06:03.930 | -05.898 | 38.339 | 14.343 |
|
3 |
06:00.586 | -03.344 | 34.995 | 14.476 |
| 4 | 05:48.045 | -12.541 | 22.454 |
14.998 |
|
5 |
05:55.857 | 07.812 | 30.266 |
14.669 |
| 6 | 05:47.974 | -07.883 | 22.383 |
15.001 |
|
7 |
05:53.319 | 05.345 | 27.728 | 14.774 |
| 8 | 05:52.758 | -00.561 | 27.167 |
14.798 |
|
9 |
05:32.797 | -19.961 | 07.206 |
15.685 |
| 10 | 05:25.591 | -07.206 | 00.000 |
16.032 |
Abernethy DARE 2014
Finishing the race
I feel like I have been in the wars a bit. After just getting round the Innerleithen event with my scabby knees, I was confident I’d be raring to go 2 weeks later at the Abernethy DARE 3h event. I had limped one way for a week due to my injuries, but then felt ready to do a short run. Straight away I hurt my other leg with some sort of nerve pain. So I switched limping sides for another week before trying to run again. 27 minutes in I got a sudden sharp pain in my hip and was forced to stop. This was on Wednesday; I was able to see a physiotherapist on Friday. Although it was painful enough to feel scarily serious, it had improved a fair bit by then.
The verdict was a strained tensor fascia lata. Of course, we all know this muscle attaches to a sensitive bone, which makes it feel worse than it is. With instructions for stretches and progressive exercises I was told no running or excessive walking for minimum 2 weeks. Cycling would be OK, providing I didn’t go crazy and do any big hills. This wasn’t my usual physio, so I kept quiet, agreed, and convinced myself that the Abernethy DARE wasn’t really too hilly, I could always use my gears and most of it was rideable so minimal walking needed.
So instead of setting off in speed mode, I set off cautiously and in some discomfort, especially on mounts and dismounts! After about 30 minutes something whipped at my shins causing an intense pain. I feared it was some dangerous plant or creature and that the poison would slowly be making its way to my heart. When I pedalled it hurt, but I couldn’t see any swelling. Obviously a silent and deadly killer. After another half hour nothing worse had happened, so I decided I wasn’t going to collapse just yet.
I was still having trouble with the concept of fast riding. I saw another girl a few times, who looked out of breath and like she was making an effort. This reminded me that in contrast I was just trundling along… I think this is an unfortunate Itera side effect. Getting some short distance speed back is something I’d have to work on!
The course was pleasant. I took a route round in the opposite direction to last year. Sadly, the dark tunnel controls didn’t fit nicely into a loop, needing long distance out and backs. I ignored them. It was funny when I met my friend Glen near a point where a few controls could be collected in a circle. He went one way and I went the other, waving as we passed and coming together again at the same place we started! This is where he whizzed off and I proceeded more cautiously, keeping my eyes peeled for a turning I thought might not be obvious. I found it, he missed it 😀
In the final part of the race I spotted an unexpected track contouring round the hill to an extra control and set off enthusiastically. Time was running short and this was the spur I needed to put some effort in and go a bit faster. After that it was a blast down the hill to collect some more points on the flat tracks in the river valley.
I got back a few minutes late but nothing too bad. A reasonable score and first female, but nothing spectacular. I had made at least two navigation errors, one costing me quite a few minutes, plus there were the speed and leg/hip problems. A bottle of wine won for the person who gave me a lift and 3 bottles of beer for the boyfriend fund.
And when I cleaned the mud off to inspect the leg wound, we found a centimetre long gorse thorn embedded straight in. Ouch!
Singletrack Stramash
One week after the Brutal Half I had a 5h mountain bike orienteering event pencilled into my calendar. It was nattily titled ‘Singletrack Stramash’. One day after my ‘little tumble’ though, I was having trouble getting dressed, standing up and walking around. I was sore all over and my knee was especially painful. Taking the dressings off was something I would not like to repeat in a hurry! As the holes scabbed over I spent a whole week wearing a skirt to work, catching the bus / tram everywhere and generally hobbling around.
The race was on Saturday. My friends were divided between advising me to sit it out and suggesting it would be the perfect route to recovery. So on Friday night I took my mountain bike for a spin round the park. When I say ‘park’ I mean a square of grass and trees. I was out for less than 5 minutes. My knee was now bending enough to cause mere discomfort rather than pain. Good news! I texted Ewan to say I would like that 06:30 pickup please, and went to bed with a hot sore knee.
Next morning I was still uncertain, but by now I had committed. So off we went in the chill morning air to Innerleithen. One of the big persuading factors in doing this race was that lots of people I knew would be there. This meant plenty of chat was required before starting and despite my best intentions, I still left at the last possible moment.
I started off gently, as each pedal stroke was pulling gently at my scabs. After the first couple of controls I peered down and was reassured that everything still seemed intact. Ascending the first big climb Paul (Itera teammate) rode away from me, which was slightly unexpected! 😉 . As we contoured round the hill on a narrow track bordered by heather, my fear of falling was much more acute than normal. Unfortunately, this was making me ride timidly, which on a mountain bike normally means you’re only more likely to fall. The big views from the top were amazing though.
As well as my heightened anxieties, on the descent I realised my other slight issue. It turns out that running up and down Snowdon after a nice long bike ride can wear your legs out. They had stopped aching on Friday, but my quads were burning as I held my position on the downhill.
At a short technical section I was ‘riding’ very badly. In fact, I had given up riding and was running down. Shame I hadn’t spotted the fast, easy alternative. Anyway, at the next slightly tricky section I gave myself a stern talking to and rode, which felt much better!
I had polished off the biggest hill first (Cardrona Forest / Gypsy Glen), then a small but distant one (Cademuir plantation). I was now heading for Glentress. I felt a bit lightheaded and unwell, I wasn’t sure why. So I implemented my usual first cure in these cases, which is to drink and eat some more! After collecting a couple of controls, I had three choices to get back down: direct red route, fast fire road, indirect blue. Somehow I ended up on blue before remembering it wasn’t the shortest or fastest – but at least it was fun!
By this point I had been riding for over 3h. I think this was just about long enough for my legs to have warmed up and I started to feel like I could actually ride hard 🙂 . I came back along the valley happy, collecting a checkpoint at the top of an old quarry via some careful forest navigation up from the road. Then it was off to climb another hill at the Innerleithen trail area. A cunning shortcut along a track through a field turned out to be slower than I had hoped as there was a herd of cows sitting all over the path! We didn’t go all the way to the top of Minch Moor this time, but still went quite high.
I had been running through mental calculations about how long I needed for various options and how long I had left. Eventually I decided one more control in the valley was out of reach. In retrospect it was debatable whether it might have been quicker to exit fast along the fire road, collect it and blast back along the road, but who knows! Instead I chose the descent of Cadon Bank, a technical red graded trail, twisting and turning its way down the steep hill.
Luckily by now I was actually riding my bike more like my usual self and tackled the rock features without mishap. The descent seemed to take an age as my time was running out and I still had to bag a 30 pointer on top of a little hill by a radio mast! Really, I should have got this on the way out, but had the idea about 3 minutes too late, right at the start of the race. So as I went through town with 5 minutes to spare, I turned left instead of right and was on my way up.
A lung busting effort saw me top the league table for an obscure Strava segment before my time ran out just before I made it to the control. After that it was a blast back to the finish to minimise my losses as much as possible! 7 minutes and 23 seconds late meant 11 penalty points, which wasn’t too bad. Although there was quite a small field, it was still nice to finish 1st lady and 4th overall … Paul pipped me to third by collecting an extra control and coming back on time! Here are the results.
If I did it again I’d only change one thing about my strategy and a few small refinements to exact track choices, but I made no navigational errors. Although the soup was all gone when I got in (disadvantage of going last) I still got a nice piece of cake. After a quick (free) calf massage there was time to wander into town to get an ice cream before heading home. Even better, my knee seemed no worse, so the risk paid off as I had a lovely time with friends, riding my bike, looking at a map and enjoying the sunshine 🙂 .
Thanks to the organisers for all their hard work in putting on a successful event.
Until next time!
Foxlake Triathlon
❗ Warning: too much fun alert!
After the disappointment of the weekend before in Coniston, I had had a slightly gloomy week. By Friday night my legs were still hurting and I feared for my left quad which was verging on painful. However, I had signed up for the Foxlake Tri event – relay and solo.
There was not a lot to suggest this race would suit my strengths – as each full triathlon lasted less than 20 minutes and I’m an endurance athlete! However, there were some twists. And it was organised by Durty Events, which meant there would probably be some mud involved.
Discussing the route and correct dibber usage with Jo
The first event was a relay in the same format as the Commonwealth Games. Four athletes per team, and you all do the whole race once. The second event was a solo race with multiple rounds.
To prepare, there were a few things I had to do. Firstly, my rear mountain bike tyre was not holding air. A facebook plea produced an explanation, a remedy and an offer of a tutorial on how to fix it (sealant supplied). Huge thanks to Ewan for this, it was easy peasy and I am no longer scared of this job!
Secondly, this race was so short that time in transition needed to be minimised. This meant wearing the same shoes for the bike and run. But I had no decent mountain bike flat pedals! Glen helped me out here, loaning me a set of pedals from his own bike. I collected them from his girlfriend on Friday night and decided the pot of grease also laid out was a hint that I’d better not let them get jammed on! (as if 😉 ).
Other modifications to my usual routine included no socks and no gloves. Fortunately the recent weather and the small size of lake meant the water was lovely and warm, and wetsuits were optional (I opted out)!
Our club (ERC) had targeted this race for the relay teams, all ably organised and coordinated by Alistair. In the end we had 5 teams of 4; 20 people all creating a sea of red around the briefing area. I am not convinced the club trisuit is the most flattering design on me and my women’s specific black number is more comfy, but I wore it anyway to make sure I was identified in the right tribe!
Getting everyone together to register was a bit like herding cats, as we all set off at different times to ride round the bike course and see what it was like. We registered with not much time left before the start – and I was going first! Luckily, with a minimal transition and no wetsuit, there wasn’t a lot to get ready. In the water and I was only just checking my goggles were on properly and wasn’t even at the line when Paul shouted “GO!!!”. Yikes! I quickly got going but had missed the front group!
Getting in (I’m in the red suit)
Not to worry, I was soon out of the water, avoiding falling in the special hole just before the bank, and was through transition and onto my bike. The course was a lot of fun. A fast part by the lake, then a windy bit of singletrack through some trees, with lush green fronds brushing at your legs. Then a very fast double track section with a few big muddy puddles to catch your wheels! Finally, a zigzag up and down a bank 3 times with some technical little bits to watch out for – a tree stump, some loose ground, gravel and a slidy bit on the final turn back into the field. I had overtaken Alistair and Andrew from ERC, and another man I didn’t recognise. One of our guys was claiming ‘he had a mechanical’; to be fair, I did see him off the bike doing something with his chain!
Leading the relay at the end of the bike leg
I just about remembered to take my helmet off and was soon running. All worries about my legs had been forgotten as I wound through the woods and heard the announcer shouting “you can see the lead person flitting through the trees over there!”. I waved, thinking: are they talking about me?!
Before I knew it, I had tagged my next team mate and was under the finishing arch!
There followed a whole lot of fun cheering and watching the battle between ‘ERC men A” and “ERC ladies 1”. I passed over to Erin, who came back covered in mud from a fall only witnessed by her boyfriend in the other team (we suspected foul play!). Next up was Elise who battled it out with Mitch the whole way despite some navigational mishaps. Finally, we handed over to Andrea who got cold shock but was still gaining fast on Chris as she swam a mix of backstroke and breaststroke – and then overtook him as she took the long route round!
This format was really good for spectating; you hardly had to wait to see people between disciplines. It was also sunny at this point, which made life easier. We were neck and neck until the 4th leg, when sadly the men pulled away. But still, our girls team was 2nd overall and 1st ladies! Awesome. ERC also got 1, 2, 3 and crowded out the podium … cool.
Fastest girls team
ERC mob the podium!
Something I didn’t anticipate was how cold I’d be even after putting a load of clothes on. Mary lent me a jumper for the day even though she was heading off after the relay. “You’re about the same size as me” she said, as I looked at it, dubious that I’d even get it on. Well, turns out I am actually a bit too large for a “Gap Kids” hoody, but I could just about wriggle in and it kept me warm nonetheless! 😀
Onto the solo race after a longer than anticipated wait (should have gone and got food instead of just a snack after all). I think Paul (the organiser) was sort of making this up as he went along. Round 1 was 4 random heats and I was in heat 3. We sploshed into the lake from a pontoon this time and I raced round with a chap called Alan. I just beat him to it, winning the heat.
Swim exit, round 1
Round 2 (3 heats) and everyone was petitioning to only have 3 rounds instead of 4 (the original email said 5 or 6!). I wasn’t too fussed either way, but rain was forecast, it was all taking quite a long time and people were dropping like flies, so it seemed a sensible option. We set off and I was in a heat with Alan again. This time he just beat me to the line.
Smile for the camera!
Round 3 was the final one and we were sorted into an ‘A’ and ‘B’ final. I was in ‘A’. Alan had promised he was going to really go for it on the swim this time and I should try and draft him. I hastily got into position at the start, and I did try … but then he was off without me! I wonder if I could have hit it harder, but I’m not sure. Anyway, 4 men including Andrew from our club were in front of me as we started biking. By now it was pouring with rain and the course was a bit slipperier. I was annoyed at myself for dabbing on one corner, but it was no big deal. In the end I cruised into the finish a comfortable 4th place, and 1st female.
Since I am a numbers sort of person, I was pleased to see this evidence from the day:
After all these shenanigans we finished 2 hours early and I was even able to get a lift back to town with Andrew, which meant I could fit in a long-overdue visit to my pals for dinner. It was worth it even though I had already paid for my train ticket back. I can only apologise to his wife for all the mud that went into a pristine looking car …
Full results here (relay) and here (solo) and many thanks to Louise Smith and Andy Upton for the photos.
Selkirk mountain bike weekend: Part 2 = SMBO 3h score orienteering
After 6 hours of hilly, off road riding on Saturday, I woke up from a good sleep on Sunday morning. The sun was shining and I was ready for more!
What I had in store was a 3 hour MTB score orienteering event. As I had been ‘staying with the organisers’ I knew they had worked hard to make sure the control checkpoints were accurately placed and marked on the map, and they had done a lot of pre-riding. I was looking forward to a good event.
Home, sweet home for the weekend (my palace is the yellow one)
I was joining forces with Jon, who is one of my teammates for the 5 day expedition race in August, called Itera. We haven’t raced together for 3 years though we’ve shared a few long car journeys since then! The map was printed on A3 paper, which is quite large and means you need to refold once or twice during the race. This was because it was on a 1:25k scale. This is a bit unusual for MTB events, but definitely necessary for navigating the intricate maze of tracks on the Bowhill estate.
As usual (for me), we set off at the latest possible time. 200m later we made a slight mistake, but hoped that would be our only navigation error for the day! It was soon righted, and we find ourselves riding along a fun trail through the trees alongside the river. The controls came quickly enough as we skirted round the edge of Bowhill, picking out a route that was easiest to follow.
Navigate this!
My legs were complaining a bit from the day before, and I gratefully tucked in behind Jon as we rode into a headwind. I knew I could carry on like this if we didn’t go any faster, of if my legs didn’t get any worse, but I was slightly worried I might not keep up 🙂 .
After about an hour, we paused to consider our options. Time was passing faster than we had hoped and it was quickly becoming obvious we wouldn’t be able to get everything. In the end we stuck to the plan, looping round to the back of a big hill with controls worth lots of points at the top. Our alternative route still had all the climb in it, so it seemed best to carry on via the most number of controls.
In retrospect, this took a bit longer than expected, but was definitely worth it for the views! Up by a gigantic cairn, we could see for miles and miles all around. The route up had all been entirely rideable and was quite rewarding. From there, we passed a milestone with a control attached to it and started a fabulous fast descent back to the forest. We got straight to the highest scoring control of the day, in a small quarry in the middle of all the criss-crossing tracks. Getting out was a little bit trickier, but we escaped without incident!
One of the views from the cairn.
Copyright Jim Barton, from geograph.org.uk
As we turned onto a minor road, we realised we had only half an hour left and were heading in the wrong direction for home. An about-turn saw us considerably shorten the route, dropping more 25-point controls than we really wanted to. My legs got a new lease of life as well – and suddenly it was Jon who was working hard to keep up instead of the other way around! Unfortunately, the final kilometre along the Borders Abbeys Way was not nice easy double track as suggested by the map. Instead, it was grassy, slidy, bumpy and punctuated with numerous stiles. Progress was much too slow! We skidded back to the finish nearly 9 minutes late.
It was enough to win the mixed pairs, but only just! Marc and Ewan planned a very good event, with some challenging decisions to make about where to go, great riding (and not just a repeat of yesterday’s routes) and awesome homemade cake to finish off with. I was happy 😀 .
Selkirk mountain bike weekend: Part 1 = MTB marathon
On Wednesday the week before the Selkirk MTB marathon I fell into a metaphorical hole. My ride to work felt laboured and the easy lunchtime run might as well have been a hard race. Thursday was no better; I missed out the end of our running intervals session and wrote ‘felt bad’ in my training log – two things that never normally happen!
I took emergency measures. I went to bed early on Thursday night, took Friday off work and spent the morning packing for the weekend, cooking up snacks and generally getting on top of a few things. Marc and Ewan picked me up at lunchtime and we headed down.
Although we didn’t need to arrive so early, it meant we got our pick of the camping spots and I had a wonderfully relaxed lead in to the event. 30 seconds of high speed racing on the rollers against Paul (organiser and Itera teammate) straight after I had eaten probably wasn’t wise, but I got over it!
I think I might be sick!
The Selkirk MTB marathon incorporates the British MTB championships, as well as offering a sportive version of the full course and two shorter options as well. I had only entered the sportive, as I didn’t want to pay extra to upgrade my British Cycling membership and buy a race licence just for this one event. However, I was keen to get into a good position at the front of the rest of the riders as we rolled out of the town centre. The ‘racers’ get a short headstart and were already out of sight as we turned into Bowhill estate, off the roads and onto the first climb.
The route for this is course is amazing and I really recommend it! Almost all of it is off road, there are 4.5 big climbs and there is a mix of fire roads, moorland paths, built singletrack and muddy natural stuff. 75km of riding, 2100m of ascent. I dibbed in and out for the timed enduro sections, but I’m not sure why as I really didn’t enjoy them and fell off on the first one, quite badly bruising my inner thigh and knocking my confidence a bit. On the second one I decided it was quicker and safer just of get off and run down!
Caroline and I trying to push in at the front …
After 35km and two climbs I was beginning to feel a bit weary. Goodness me – we weren’t even halfway! Luckily, I caught up with my friend Caroline here and we rode along chatting for a bit. She needed to stop and stretch, but just after that I hit a singetrack switchback climb through the forests, which I really enjoyed.
During the ride / race my plan was to work at a hard but sustainable effort throughout and to play it smart. This meant out of the 4 feed stations I only stopped at the third (to refill my empty Camelbak bladder, eat a banana and reorganise my remaining snacks). That took 7 minutes and my gps showed I was stationary for 15 in total. My guess is some of those were when I was reduced to pushing up one of the steepest hills too slowly, or when I was busy falling off! I overtook a lot of people at the first two feed stations, most of whom didn’t catch me back up.
I was also testing out some more feedzone portables. For the whole race I only ate these and a banana and drunk water. I think it was a successful combination! This weekend’s portables were: banana and walnut almond milk pastry mini pies (slightly under-done, but tasted good nonetheless), spinach and courgette frittatas (a well-tested favourite) and peanut butter and raspberry jam sandwiched between layers of sticky rice. These last were new to me and I was unconvinced at first. However, during the race they were fantastic! Salty and sweet, sticky and easy to eat. The also didn’t need an oven to cook, so were quick to prepare.
Just finished – tired or happy?
Although my descending is passable (compared, say, to a roadie ha ha!), it is by no means up to the standard of most of the girls there. This meant I caught people on the climbs and was passed on the downhills. By the time we got to Innerleithen at the bottom of the last big climb, we had done 51km and I was beginning to feel a revival.
As I’ve said before in this blog, the climb up to the top of Minch Moor is one of my favourites. I started with a few other people and as we powered up I lost all but one of them, and caught a couple of others. They paused to take in the views at the top (and they are worth taking in), but I was on a mission.
My legs were feeling good now and with the incentive not to get caught, I sped along the Southern Upland Way until the final descent, which I’m sure I took faster than I normally would! Zooming under the finishing arch in top gear, I was all smiles 🙂 .
Definitely smiling now!
This event wasn’t one of my targets and was more of a test / training run for Itera in August. After the way I felt Weds and Thurs I was actually pretty pleased with how I rode and how the eating plan went. Out of a combined total of about 30 girls who did the long course (race or sportive) I was firmly middle of the field with the winner nearly 2 hours quicker than me! A reminder that there’s always plenty of faster people.
One final note. Marc and Ewan were the best support crew ever. They were there to organise the SMBO event on Sunday. As well as driving me down on Friday, they: adjusted my suspension forks (rebound and sag), helped check my brake pads, let me sit in the van while it rained, gave wise advice on clothing choices (short sleeve jersey and gilet, despite the forecast rain), lent me a big down jacket to ride up to the start in and throw back at them just before we left, were there as a welcoming party at the finish to say well done and take photos and, finally, stood in the slow moving queue to get my bike washed whilst I showered and changed. Awesome!
After an early dinner it was off to sleep ready for the next event – 3 hours of mountain bike score orienteering.
Bowhill long duathlon and mini adventures
I was very remiss last month, as I never got round to writing about the Bowhill long duathlon! It was the last in the series and lived up to all expectations with fun trails, water and lots of mud.
This time I went down with Andy, who took lots of photographs, but only after he had ‘tested out’ the run course and only just made it back in time for us racers to start! I will let the pictures tell the story of a very fun day.
As far as the results go, I had a fantastic bike ride and was leading for 12 minutes on the run! Things went a bit downhill from there, as my run was slower than last year and I was overtaken by both Jo and Caroline. I still came 3rd though – another bottle of beer for Andy, and I was 2nd in the series – another bottle of beer for Glen! He also got lucky with some homemade chocolate marshmallow icing biscuity things I rustled up the night before.
Easy to use space for up to 6 bikes! I am not used to this luxury.
Fast forward a few weeks and it was time for a mini mountain bike adventure. Andreas is a friend of mine who is training to become a ride leader and wanted to get some experience. He had chosen a route and came to me for some company. I willingly obliged and brought along Marie and Elizabeth, who were equally up for some wild fun.
The only downside was my sleep deprivation in the week leading up to it – with two early morning swims, a trip to London and a 5.30am pick up on Saturday morning! We drove up to Taynuilt and had half an hour to wait for the train to Tyndrum, where we would start the ride back again. I was most impressed with the bike carriage provision – easy space to get into for 6 bikes!
The ride was a mix of wide tracks with little tricky bits thrown in and quite a rough crossing over the watershed in Glen Finglass. We had chosen well: we were riding into a strong headwind all the way, with additional rain at several points, just to give us a free facial, as Marie put it! 😀
Whilst Marie and Andreas jostled for position and rode on ahead, I was more than happy to ride further back with Elizabeth chatting about holiday plans, races and life in general. That is, when we could hear each other over the roar of the wind in our ears.
This was another excuse to try out some new portables – on the menu were polenta squares (tasty but turned out a bit squishy), French toast cake (very good, especially with added sultanas), potato and ginger rice balls (surprisingly OK) and my favourite from last time, sweet potato cakes. I also had a few Quorn mini eggs, just for good measure.
Shame I didn’t eat more of them before I nearly bonked an hour in, or wanted to stop, lie down and sleep halfway through. All good Itera training, I told myself. I’d love to go back and enjoy the fantastic scenery and amazing waterfalls another time – though waterfalls are always better when it’s raining! I enjoyed the random bog walk / bridge hunt, which was the only part of the day where we really had to do any navigation. On the second ‘looking for the path’ occasion, right near the end, I asked someone how to get to another bridge, even though the others said that was cheating!
We ended the day in the Real Food Café as we drove back through Tyndrum. I must have been feeling funny, as in addition to my usual soup choice, I found myself ordering a plate of chips and cheese! I am not a big chip fan, preferring spicy potato wedges instead. I found a good spot for these though. Full tummy, warm clean clothes, not too far home and I was definitely ready for my bed!
Finally, this weekend I was in the Lake District for Lucy’s wedding party. She had chosen somewhere close enough to Kendal for us to get to without a car, but not so close we could stagger back there at the end! So I found a gem of a B&B just a mile along a country lane, complete with a genial host and an upstairs lounge with word burning stove and balcony.
Breakfast is served upstairs
Sunny balcony
We made a weekend of it. Even riding to the B&B on Friday night was interesting, as we picked our way there in the dark, made a turning down the wrong steep hill just as it started sleeting and finally went to three wrong farms before we got the right one …
On Saturday we went for a run to Staveley, to try out Wilf’s cafe. We were supposed to walk back, but ran out of time and had to run instead – suddenly we had covered 26km! Perfect preparation for a night of ceilidh dancing.
On Sunday we took advantage of the sunny weather and went for a 97km road bike ride taking in three counties (Cumbria, North Yorkshire and Lancashire) and a huge variety of landscapes. Andy praised me for finding something approaching a flattish route when we were staying in the Lake District, though the one long climb to get into Barbondale did nearly finish him off. Although I almost always talk about MTB adventures, this does prove I sometimes ride a road bike 🙂 . I’ve got half an eye on the Coniston Old Man triathlon coming up in June. This is the only triathlon I’ve entered so far this year, and I want to give it a decent go!
Fantastic bike route!
Somewhere in the last few weeks we also had our club prize giving evening. Here’s me with the handicap trophy for triathlon. Last year was the first year I raced a lot of triathlon, so my handicap rating was favourable. I also did well in quite a few of the qualifying races (which were all in Scotland), helping me to come out on top. It will be going to someone new next year, but meanwhile I have to find somewhere to keep this rock! (it’s very heavy …)
Club triathlon handicap trophy held aloft = weight training!
Next report will be from the final Open 5 of the series, where I’ll be back in the Lake District again!
Tri-Trail Foxlake and Bowhill medium duathlon
Two race reports for the price of one!
Tri-Trail Foxlake
I did the tri-trail event at Foxlake a few weeks ago. In some ways it was very good, in other ways it was very disappointing! It was a 14km trail running race along the coast near Dunbar (East Scotland). I entered late but got a lift with Anne in her red sports car 🙂 . Four of us headed over together, nattering and telling stories all the way.
It was a very brisk morning, hard frost everywhere. In short, the race was flat and fast. My disappointment was in coming 11th … my worst result and the only one outside the top 10 in well over a year. Excuses? Hmm … it was too flat, too dry, too short, too … in fact, there were just a lot of faster girls than me there! Not even a mis-navigation by a group in front helped my position – they still beat me even though they ran further!
On the other hand, it was a pretty route and my time was quicker than I thought it would be. The best bit of the day was the camaraderie and banter, and a trip to Mimi’s on the way home for some rather gigantic French toast. Perfect post-race refuelling!
“Four go to Dunbar!”
I suspect this was a classic case of misalignment in expectations and commitment between my conscious (I want to do well! I always want to do well!) and my sub-conscious (this is a training run, it is practice for bigger things).
Bowhill Medium Duathlon
Fast forward a couple of weeks and it was time for the second event in the Bowhill winter off-road duathlon series. This was the ‘medium’ distance. These races are supposedly short, medium and long, but these terms are all relative. To my mind they are very short, short, and quite short.
Anyway, on race morning it was raining. On the way over, it turned to sleet and the temperature reading from the car thermometer dropped by a couple of degrees. It was also very windy. We arrived later than usual but I was organised and didn’t need or want to hang about in the rain anyway.
After getting ready I stuck to my plan of keeping my waterproof on and riding in my giant lobster gloves. I had a number belt though – couldn’t believe some people were putting pins through their waterproof jackets – surely that can’t be good for them?!
It was a mass start on the bike. I planned to be about row 2 but end up right at the front with Jo (super fast girl) on my left and Chris (super fast guy) on my right, 3 of us from the same club lining up! On the horn, off we went. There were a few wobbles and people were rushing past me. I had to hold my nerve, but was soon heading up the hill in contact with a front group of about 15. Up and up we went.
Mud, what mud? I’m far left, Jo centre. Despite my face, I was having fun!
On the first down a couple of people passed me and Jo disappeared. ‘Usual story’, I thought. Second downhill something took hold of my brain. I kidded myself that the new tyres and tubeless set up would ‘make me go faster’ and started hammering it down a very stony, bumpy fireroad. Rain and sleet were falling from above, whilst mud flew up from below. The occasional coniferous tree branch took a swipe from the side. I couldn’t see a lot and just hung on and hoped for the best. At the bottom I popped round a corner and there was Jo just in front again! I caught up and followed her through the trees. Every time I attempted a pass though, she accelerated, so I just sat in behind all the way to transition. Same situation again, I might try something different! However, this was an awesome bike ride and I knew it would be the highlight of my day.
Even though I faffed a bit changing shoes and getting my coat and big gloves off, I was first lady out of transition!
I have no memory of this pretty scene! (will upgrade pic when it becomes available)
Then reality struck. We were on foot and Jo came past and whizzed off. She is a class runner. I gritted my teeth and got stuck in. The run was much less exciting than the bike. For most of it I could see almost no-one ahead or behind. I just kept going and hoped I wouldn’t be caught. In the end, my cushion from the bike was enough to see me keep 2nd place, though I still have a lot of work to do on that run! I was 21st overall, maybe I can break into the top 20 next time?
Abandoned kit in transition. More mud.
At prizegiving I managed to collect two beers – one for the Glen (the driver) and one for Andy. Along with the finisher’s (veggie for me) haggis, it wasn’t a bad morning’s work! 😀
Thanks to Bob Marshall and Zupix for most of the photos.
Bowhill duathlon – short
My last race of the year! Off-road duathlon returned to Bowhill estate in style. This was the first of three popular events over the winter. It was the ‘short’ – to be followed later by the ‘medium’ and ‘long’. Whereas the next two are bike / run, this one was run / bike. It was also the one I missed last year, so it was an all new experience.
No snow or ice were in attendance yet, but we had had a big storm a few days before. This meant the course had a few extra tree trunk obstacles to jump over and bike around. The run went up through the woods, before turning and working its way back down again. I knew I had to start strongly and either minimise my losses or maximise my gains, depending on who in the competition I was comparing myself to! I also tried to get it in my head that this was *short*, so no long, steady pace allowed …
The up all went well. I ran the whole way and, after the initial rush, held my position. Then we had to go down, and it felt like people were pouring past me. I was nervous about my ankles (as always), but especially so as my left one was still a bit stiff from going over on it at the previous week’s Open 5. Jo Thom from my club, a very strong runner, was up front. A relay girl had come past. As we came back to transition, Caroline (teammate at Innerleithen Open 5) overtook me. I was a bit surprised, as I’d seen her at the start line telling me her back was too sore to race! Glen, a clubmate and driver for the day, also caught me up here and I reckon he was feeling pretty pleased with himself 😀 .
Out onto the mountain bike and I was on Caroline’s heels. She’s very proficient technically and I was following her along the twisty trail through the woods. I could tell she wasn’t fully herself though, as I took the opportunity of a straight wide bit to overtake. In fact, I was overtaking quite a few people (including Glen – ha ha!), which was me getting my own back after the downhill running losses. This was quite a skill, as you generally had to leave the obvious riding line and plough through rough, bumpy, twiggy bits instead. It required some commitment and power, but was quite fun!
I didn’t let up all the way round. I remembered what it had felt like at the Hallocross (a night-time Halloween cyclocross race), riding hard and fast for a short time. I tried to be a bit aggressive and make my legs burn. The hills in the middle third felt nippy but I was reviving again at the end. All the while, I was conscious that anyone could be charging up behind me, so I sprinted up the road to the finish where my mum was waiting. She was visiting for the weekend and is my ultimate support crew. She was asking me a lot of questions though, and I could hardly breathe, let alone answer them!
In the end, I held onto second. Jo kept the lead from the start. My friend Elizabeth was third. It was her I battled with at Hallocross (where she beat me), and her time for the bike leg was 1 second faster than me – I was glad I had kept the pressure up all the way! Caroline held onto 4th despite her bad back. Full results here.
It was a fun way finish the year. Next time I race my MTB it will have been converted to tubeless with different tyres (hopefully no more puncture / tyre fitting traumas) at its ‘birthplace’, Moonglu in Ripon. I’m looking forward to getting out some more 🙂
The Abernethy DARE
I only just made it to this race, but was very glad I did!
This was an event in the SMBO series. I haven’t been able to get to many of them this year due to other commitments. But this one wasn’t too far away, I was at home and I found a lift via Facebook. Perfect! I was looking forward to 3 hours of mountan biking and collecting checkpoints somewhere new.
Beautiful forest
The day before was a Friday. I had got up very early that morning to go for a swim. I was feeling tired and knew I had to be up promptly to ride across town to my pick up point. So at 9:30pm I started getting my bike ready and was looking forward to going to bed. Then I found I had an almost-flat tyre. My thought process went something like this:
- Oh no, it’s a real pain to fix punctures on this bike
- It’s only a slow one, I can just pump it up and race
- If I do that, I will worry all the way round
- Better fix it now, and have peace of mind
- Oh no, it’s a real pain to fix punctures on this bike
I set about fixing the puncture. The only straightforward part of this operation was taking the front wheel off the bike. After that it all went wrong. Suffice to say that the job involved multiple types of tyre levers, YouTube videos, heat, talc, swearing, tears, a very stubborn and spiky thorn, tick removers, two defective brand new inner tubes, blisters and an extra pair of hands and moral support from along the road. Jim was my saviour! 3 hours later it was 12:30am, I waved goodbye to Jim and fell into bed exhausted.
After all that, getting to the race and starting seemed a breeze.
It was a fabulous event with a great atmosphere. The £1 entry fee deal had drawn people in and there were lots of ‘generation’ teams (1 kid + 1 adult) out enjoying themselves. Throw in some sunshine, fun trails, a well planned map and amazing home baking and this was one not to be missed!
Abernethy is a small town in the north of Fife, just south of Perth and the Firth of Tay. It is famous for an old round tower, which is where the first checkpoint was. It is not famous for biscuits, which were named after a person, not the place! The event area had a network of trails, forest tracks, farm roads and minor roads. There were lots of ways in and out and round, and everyone was doing different things.
I opted to go clockwise, gain height on a road then wiggle around ‘on the top’ (these terms are all relative!) before a big down and back up again. Along the way, some of the views across the Tay were beautiful, and the forests were still golden in colour. You can see where I and others went and what you might do differently if you go to the routegadget. I even uploaded my gps route for you :-). You’ll just have to guess at the points values though!
Hurrah! Both tyres still inflated.
After a couple of hours, some crazed dogs alerted me to a minor navigational error. I took the opportunity to stop, refold the rather large map (A3) and decide what I had time left for. Unfortunately, when I estimated how far it was to go, logic told me that just the shortest option was tight, even though I really wanted to throw in a few more at the end! I set off again in a bit more of a hurry, visiting an old castle and searching for a checkpoint on a skeleton in the middle of a long, dark, spoooooky tunnel! We warned to bring a light for this one. Soon I was dashing back along the road to the finish, only a few minutes late.
My score was high enough to win the small female solos class. Results. On a day when I wasn’t so tired from a hard training week and puncture fixing fiascos I think I would have been able to fit in at least a couple more. I was told the two I had in mind were fun to get as well! 🙂 But I was happy to have enjoyed myself and explored such a great new area.
Part of my prize (a Buff) went straight to Andy, who was delighted! I’ll think of something to put the Alpine Bikes voucher towards later.
Thanks to the organiser, Keith Leinster, for putting on such a well planned event and taking me somewhere new. Thanks also to Raymond for the photos, to Marc and Ewan for getting me from here to there and back again and to Jim for getting me as far as the front door :D.
Planet Byde 