2012 a review

Yeah, it's been a while I know. Reet, I'm going to break it down into 3 areas.
1. Running
Like many of my races the year went like this: Started off pretty crap. Picked up a bit in the middle and tailed off slightly towards the end. I decided to complete Dashers fell race series. And then in a mad fit of enthusiasm I decided to do every race in it. Ker-aaazy, me. And I almost managed it, too.
Here's how it went:

Stanbury Splash                   Sun 22nd Feb    98th/369         60:54     2nd Dasher

Ilkley Moor                          Sun 26th Feb     99th/255        51:57    2nd Dasher

Heptonstall                           Sun 18th Mar    52nd/ 168       2:35:23  2nd Dasher

Liver Hill                              Tue 27th Mar     28th/ 174        37:58     7th Dasher

Anniversary Waltz                Sat 21st Apr       96th/ 289        2:15:26      2nd Dasher

Cake Race                           Sat 5th May       24th/149         1:20:15      3rd Dasher

Helvellyn& The Dodds  Sun 3rd Jun        26th/71            3:13:07      2nd Dasher

Settle Hills                            Sun 17th Jun      20th/121           1:01:47       3rd Dasher

Ingleborough                        Sat 21st Jul         33rd/ 187          59:02         2nd Dasher

Pilgrim’s Cross                     Wed 15th Aug   56th/141            50:39          4th Dasher

Golf Ball                               Wed 22nd Aug  24th/122            48:07        4th Dasher

Whernside                            Sat 22nd Sep     29th/131            1:54:10      3rd Dasher

Withins Skyline                     Sun 21st Oct      86th/303             57:31          2nd Dasher

Bronte Way                          Sun 28th Oct     51st/168              1:08:10           3rd Dasher

Tour of Pendle                      Sat 17th Nov     FAIL - couldn't face this due to injury and illness. Just too far.

I also did a couple of Dashers races:
Darwen Gala                        Sat 18th Aug      11th/61                 29:01             2nd Dasher

David Staff                           Sun 25th Nov     34th/184                42:20           2nd Dasher

and a Park Run                  Sat 24th Mar        12th                      19:31

That's probably the most running I've done in Donkey's Yonks. Purely by dint of having done a shitload of races I ended up 2nd in the Dashers fell race champs. A feat I am unlikely to repeat! I managed to turn my ankle at Ingleborough in July and it never really recovered. Just to finish the job off I went for a little run up to the Tower over the Christmas hols and stood on a rock. I knew it was a bad 'un straight away as I could feel a 'crunch' followed by sharp pain. I hobbled home. it looks like I've re-done the original tendon damage on my foot from when I first started running about 15 years ago. Not the best end to the year but I'll rest until it recovers and it could have happened at a far worse time. as well as the racing I think the most satisfying running I've done has been leading the club runs on a Thursday night at Dashers. I really get off on coming up with some mad route and then showing to to everybody and I get a real buzz if anybody says 'Yeah, that was fun!'
I'll not drone on about the Dark Un as there has been plenty said about that already. Suffice it to say it went bloody well and I'm hoping for more of the same this year. Fingers crossed. The Toy Run thing wasn't quite so successful. I thought it was a nice idea but it didn't really take off. I was disappointed that more Dashers didn't turn up on the day, that the other local running clubs and indeed the hospital weren't more interested and that it just turned into a damp squib. You can't get everything right but that was a real confidence basher.

2. Cycling.
Pretty happy with how the year went. I managed to complete the Horwich mini hill climb series and really enjoyed it. If it's on next year I'll try to do it again. After all I am a one trick pony and that trick is riding uphill!
I completed the Brownbacks mtb series as well. I like racing up at Lee Quarry despite it being totally singlespeed unfriendly. Well, it kills me anyway... It's a really good set up there and I'm dead keen on 'grassroots' stuff like that. All being well I'll be back for another kicking this year. I will be racing the Vet 50 class (I refuse to call it bloody Silverbacks) so that's a bit of motivation if I need it.
The Rapha Rising Challenge on Strava was something else I did. That was pretty tough due to the horrendous conditions. Getting up way early to ride the long way in pissing rain into work before doing it again on the way home. And then again after tea sometimes. Ah, the loving caress of cold, wet chammy...
Anyway, I finally cracked the bugger and I could feel the strength in my legs improving.
Which leads us to the 'Ride with Brad' sportive. Getting  a free entry courtesy of our Will's twitter comp win was a good result. I must have been in pretty much peak condition as I got round the 'short' 62 mile route pretty bloody fast, though I say it myself. 7th out of 723 is quite amazing. It helped that I ended up riding round with Sam 'Watdog' Watson and Mark 'Goldie' McGoldrick who turned out to be really top class fell runners (as well as top blokes).
I'd trained hard for the 3 Peaks cx as I figured that at 50 I wouldn't have that many more attempts in my increasingly knackered body. My stated aim was just to not be slower than the previous year. Really I wanted to see how close I could get to the magic 4 hour time. As it turned out the weather put the kibosh on any chance of a decent time. I should have been gutted but it was such a battle with the elements that I was just elated to be out in it all. It was truly memorable and just ...well,  fantastic really. 168th overall wasn't too bad either.
Other than that I did the Chain Reaction Mountain marathon in Shropshire which went ok. There were quite a few Sunday rides with the lads, maybe less than normal. Certainly less Wednesday night rides, sadly. Real life seems to have put the mockers on that one.
The main event was, of course, my Real Ale Wobble. Now that was a legendary one! Let's hope for more of the same in 2013.

3. Real life.
Let's just say that certain areas of my life need looking at. Things could be a lot better. I know that ultimately it's down to me to sort them out before it's too late.

Three Peaks Cyclocross 2012

Before.
5th 3 Peaks. 50th edition. Just turned Vet 50. It all added up (in my mind at least) to giving it a bloody good go. I'd worked hard at getting fit over the last few months with pretty much everything geared up to the Peaks. I'd get asked what I wanted to achieve - sub 4 hours? high up the field? I knew neither of those were realistic but inside I really wanted to stop my trend of getting slower every year. The signs were good - a great ride at the 'Ride with Brad' sportive, a pretty decent time for a Singlespeed ride on the Mary Towneley Challenge and some reasonable fell race results. I was feeling good.
Finally the week of the race arrived. I was sensible. I tapered. I took Vit C and avoided people who were even mildly ill. Inside I felt a kind of giddy excitement. When asked if I was ready I could honestly say 'yes'. No nerves, no worries, no doubts. The weather forecast began to be mentioned with increasing regularity on Twitter. It was pretty bad. Strangely even this did nothing to affect my mood. I'd trained hard, the bike was right. I could do nothing about the conditions and, after all, they would be the same for everyone.
During.
If you're reading this then I guess you already have a fair idea of the conditions on the day of the race. Other people's blogs, the photographs and stories are already mythologising the 50th Three Peaks. So, how was it for me? It was tough. Maybe the toughest thing I've done for a good few years. Yes, there were 50 mph winds. Yes, the rain peppered you like shot. Streams became torrents, puddles became lakes. Any hope of a decent time soon faded. Bizarrely what didn't fade was my feeling of euphoria. The worse it got, the more alive I felt. This was wild in all senses of the word. I could trot out hackneyed phrases about elemental battles and conquering mountains etc etc. I'll save you all that, there's plenty of it elsewhere. The upshot is, when all the rhetoric is done, it all boils down to some numbers. I recorded a PW. 4 hours 39 minutes.

After.
Immediately after finishing I was gabbling excitedly to other racers and were also buzzing. Wandering off to find Cath and Hannah and the warmth of the car, I became aware that I was shaking and it wasn't excitement. Teeth chattering and soaked to the skin, I thanked my lucky stars when the car arrived just as I got to the road and I was able to peel my sodden kit off and get some food inside me. Then it was time to reflect. My feelings veered between two polar opposites: I was disappointed to be unable to record a good time despite all the work I had put in. I'm not sure how much longer I can keep battering my body, especially my arthritic knees, so the amount of races I do in future is going to start lessening. On the other hand I had survived an event that, I'm sure, will be spoken of in hushed tones in years to come. Not only survived it but had actually loved it.

The 50th Three Peaks Cyclocross race. I was there.

Half a hundred

I turned 50 the other day. People say it's a milestone. I'd say it's more of a millstone. People say it's only a number. Yes, a bloody big number. I think in my subconcious it's been niggling me for quite a while. In a way I think I've been feeling that I was already 50 for ages and yet in other ways I was slightly amazed that it actually happened. I don't think I'm your average 50 year old - riding bikes, running and listening to loud noisy music - but then, maybe that's what everybody does. Hmm, maybe not.
Anyway, it's been looming over me for some time and not in a good way. I found myself becoming increasingly introspective, self critical and just generally bloody hard work. Of course I wasn't conciously aware that it was the 50 thing that was causing it. Maybe it wasn't, but I think it was certainly a contributing factor. Problems at work lead me into a fairly depressed state. There was a black cloud constantly over my head. Mentally I was in a pretty dark place at times.
I didn't really want to celebrate my birthday at all but eventually I decided that rather than having some 'do' what I would really like to do was just go for a drink with a few people that I genuinely liked. No mass invite, no formal bullshit. I got it organised that we would meet at the Sunnyhurst and walk over to the Royal and have a few bevvies before wandering back. There was a good turnout - about 20 or so. Sadly there were quite a few that I would have liked to have seen that night who couldn't make it for one reason or another.
It was a good night and I had a few good chats with people and I ended up pretty plastered and staggering home at 2.30am. It helped to know that I've got some good mates and it cheered me up a lot. Two other things that are helping are the new cross bike I got as an early birthday present. And - we've got a new dog. Sam is a collie pup and he's ace.
I am trying hard to put things into perspective and be more positive about life. I know that compared to most people in the world I am living in paradise and I am extremely lucky. Sadly it's not as easy as that. I'm hoping I've turned a corner though. Let's see how it goes.

On the whole... good!

We had a lovely family holiday in Asturias, Northern Spain. a lovely spot twixt mountains and beaches. Perfick. AND even better, Cath and I took our bikes.

We did all the usual holiday stuff, yada yada but we got to ride in some 'proper' mountains. Those Sierra's are steep rascals! The intense altitude training camp thang that was secretly brewing in my mind never actually happened but I did get some truly memorable rides with Cath and took in some great views, grovelling climbs and "weeeeohmygodohmygodweeee" descents - you know the type. The journey back home wasn't particularly restfull - Bay of Biscay up to it's old tricks and then a 300 mile drive. Ah well.

Once back in Blighty and back into the cut and thrust of top competition. Well, ok, I had a go at Darwen Dashers Uphill Challenge. I did the one last year and enjoyed the masochistic element of it. I think I might have come third, last time, behind Russ Owen and Mark France. I felt like I'd improved my fitness since then so I was feeling fairly confident about getting a good result. I think there was only about 10 of us turned up to take part, which was a bit poor. Linda and Jo had gone to a fair bit of trouble to organise it. Unfortunately for me one of the people that did turn up was Mark Walsh. Doh!
The format was - you set off at minute intervals from right down at the bottom end of Sunnyhurst Woods park, at the Hawkshaw Rd entrance. You then pelt along the flat bit towards the bandstand and then turn up towards the Lychgate. Through the gate at the top, left, right and then straight up the most direct route to the Tower and stop at the trig point. Easy , eh... :0/
Mark W had been drawn to start after me and Jonathan S a minute before. My goal was to catch one and not get caught by t'other. My heart was properly boucing off the rev limiter as I passsed Stubbsy just bbefore the Lychgate. Getting out oto the moor I could see a group ahead. Head down and do my best. as I got closer I could see it was Andrew the vicar, Gary Taylor and his son Gareth. Could I catch 'em? The Taylor were engaged in their own little battle and I just managed to draw level with Andrew on the steep little ascent to the Tower. He started to come back at me and I surprised myself by having enough left to sprint ahead. Such a painful challenge! When we got the results later I had been beaten by 'Usain' Walsh by 32 seconds. I knew I'd given it a good go but I felt a bit disappointed that I wasn't closer to him.
Next up - Pilgrim's Cross fell race. The afternoon of the race I'd felt a bit 'off' at work. Not quite sure what was going on but I certainly didn't feel at my best. Persuading myself that I was being soft I turned up for the race and pretended all was well. It's a pretty tough race, this one, and I never seem to have a good run there. I usually manage a decent start as it's a stiff climb up Robin Hoods Well. Not today. I got a bit stuck in traffic on the initial section annd then when I  reached open moorland and tried to keep up with Des Reilly I knew that the wheels had fallen off. In the distance I could see Mark W and young Jonathan B enggaged in a good tussle at the sharp end of the race. I wouldn't see them again until the end.
Sheer cussedness kept me going but Des was soon well away from me. I sought another target to keep me distracted and tucked in behind the next person to overtake me. He had a lovely easy running style and seemed to glide over the ground. The jammy git! I became more aware of my laboured lumbering.
As you head towards Peel Tower there is a steep grassy descent. Everybody else charged down it whereas I had to put the brakes on. next thing I went over on my left ankle. Bloody brilliant, I was still struggling with the sore tendon from going over on my right one at Ingleborough. I carried on, but  really the towel had been chucked in by then. When, ages and ages later, we reached the final descent back down Robin Hoods Well, I just wasn't in the mood and ended up walking some of the tricky slippy stone sections. I must have lost about 20 places along here but I just didn't care. I held a guy off right at the death but it was pretty much from force of habit than anything else. I got in the car and went home. One to forget.

Darwen Gala fell race is one of my favourites. It's a cracking little course - only 3.7 miles long - but it packs a couple of decent climbs in before the sprint back down through Bold Venture to the finish line. Another thing I like about it is the free beer at the finish! More of that later...
A reasonable turnout of 62 runners lined up at the start. The usual mix of local club runners and young lads thinking 'how hard can it be?' were joined by an almost unnoticed slight looking young girl and her Dad. We set off and the climb up through the park soon took it's toll on the unprepared. Finally we popped out of the trees and onto the moor. As I glanced ahead I could see the young girl. She was leading! Not only leading but putting a distance into the nexy runner. Wow! I got on with my own little world of pain and a bit of a battle with Clayton runner Andy Orr. He's a bit good is Andy but I was  pretty close to him at Ingleborough so I thought I'd have a go. We were neck and neck pretty much, up to the Tower but he sprinted off on the steep descent. I knuckled down and was right behind hhim by the time we got to the top of the climb up the 'diagonal'. It had taken it out of me though and I couldn't keep the pressure up. That was pretty much game over for that contest. I knew he'd be a lot quicker than me once we reached the end of the flat bit across the top of the moor and it's then pretty much flat out descending. And so it came to pass... I did try but y'know. I managed to beat Beckie Taylor again. This is becoming a habit. Seeing as she is frequently first Lady in a lot of races this is a bit deal (to me). At the finsih I found out that the young slip of a girl had won by a country mile with her Dad coming in second. She had broken the Ladies record by over 2 minutestoo. Not bad at FIFTEEN! Last year I'd had a decent run at the Gala and actually managed to get a PB! How had I gone on this year? Whilst I was waiting for the results coming out I had a wander round and a good old social with a lot of familiar faces. I was aided and abetted in this pursuit by the complimentary pint of Runners Ruin. I say 'pint', by the time I was weaving home I'd managed to neck 6. Another PB! Oh, and I was 20 seconds faster in the race too. Not a bad day out.

The day after Cath and I went cycling with some bloke called Wiggins. Will won a competition on Twitter for 2 places on the Ride with Brad sportive so we decided to tackle the 62 mile option (the 100 mile was a bit much at 2 days notice). We drove up to Barnoldswick and eventually picked up our numbers and joined the throngs waiting to set off. We'd seen Brad Wiggins set off with the 160km crew earlier although he was just a dot with a yellow helmet on in the distance. Cath was joined by Sue Taylor which I was glad about, whereas I was on my todd. Great! Initially I rode with a largeish group of Scousers but I decided that they were a bit too sedate for my tastes and put the pedal down. A lot of the route was on lanes that were unfamiliar to me but it was very well marked and there were plenty of riders on the course. It's a lovely part of the world and there are some impressive looking houses round there. I dug in a felt comfortable at a fastish pace. After about half and hour or so I became aware that I was pretty much riding at the same speed as a couple of lads on Trek's. Eventually I let on to one of them and we struck up a bit of a conversation as we hammered past everybody. This was more like it. We weren't exactly doing a classic 'though and off' but we were soon working together and all doing our bit on the front.
By the time we reached the first checkpoint I think we'd got an unspoken agreeent that we'd try to stick together for a while. I loaded up on the free gels and bars and topped up my one water bottle. We seemed to stay at the CP for longer than I would have liked but I didn't want to be rude and make the first leaving moves. Soon were were away again. Same format - hammer time!
There were 2 times uphills on the course where you could go for King of the Mountain. I had a bit of a go but wasn't too hopeful - there were a lot of people doing the event and many of them were proper club riders. As we progressed I learned that my 2 new mates were also fell runners, members of Wharfedale Harriers. I got the feeling that they were also a bit good. Talk of being 4th in a major Lakeland race before getting lost in the clag etc. One of the guys was game for hammering up the climbs and I was game for playing too. I generally managed to just finish in front of him but it was a close thing every time. I remember Jeffrey Hill being a particularly tough 'un for both of us. Some of the descents were a bit scary too!
On and on we went and hit the next KOM challenge - Nick o' Pendle. I went for it as I was still feeling pretty good despite us being well into the event by now. I felt like I'd made a good attempt at it but was soon caught over the tops by the other two. Over towards Barley now and soon we could see mighty Pendle Hill. There is a massive '1612' on the side of it as it's the 400th anniversary of the witch trials. I made some very weak gag about the digital clock stopping or something. To be fair I was doing well multi-tasking speech and pedalling by this stage...
The hills started to become a bit relentless towards the end of the course. I love climbs but even I was suffering a bit by now. Thank God I hadn't done the 100 miler, I thought. And, I hope Cath is ok! The baking sunshine that we started the sportive in had been replaced by mizzle. That fine rain that soaks you through. I was glad I had swiped the gels at CP1 as it turned out that we had ridden right through CP2. Doh! We were all getting low on water but we knew that we couldn't have that far to go. I must say that even out in the sticks there were people standing out cheering us on. I know they had come to see 'Sir Bradley' but they certainly gave us all a boost by encouraging us round. Fantastic!
After I while I had lost myself in my own little bubble and was just tapping it out at my own pace and it took me quite a while to realise I'd dropped my mates. I concentrated on not making any stupid mistakes and binning it on the rather dodgy back lanes, with their potholes, gravel and slimey coverings. Unexpectedly I made a turn and was directed into Barnoldswick Cricket Club. Nearly back! I'd lost all track of time now but I was now on the lane that I'd set out on and then turning back into the event grounds. Large crowds cheered as I got in and grinnned for the photographer.
It was when I stopped that I realised how cream crackered I was. It took me a while to get organised enough to pick up finished goody bag and get back to the car to get changed. I met my fell running buddies in the food tent and had the crack with them while we hoovered the rather disappointing free pasta dish. I started cramping up badly while we sat there but that was ok, I'd finished now.
Cath and Sue got in a while later. Cath said it had been tough but I was bloody proud of her for finishing it. I was also quite jealous when it emerged that Brad Wiggins had ridden next to her at one point and let on to her!
A few days later I learned that I was 10th fastest out of the 723 doing the 100km course. 3hr 52 mins 17th on Waddington Fell KOM and 31st on Nick O'Pendle. Cath was 544th in 5:56:11

Big up to Mark McGoldrick and Sam Watson for being great riding companions.

Pain, rain and gain

Rapha Rising Challenge

Ooh, this looked like a whole world of pain 'n hardship - emulate the TdF riders climb while they were in the 'Circle of Death' of the Alps and Pyrenees. 6881m of ascent in a week and unlike the 'easy life' Tour riders I'd have to do it working round the tedium of work and real life. Hmm. A bit of calculating and putting it into old money revealed that I'd have to be doing 3000' of climb a day. Except I wouldn't, as I didn't really have a week to do it - I had a fell race on the Saturday and I was off on me jollies early doors on the Sunday. Riiiight... Well, it's not called a challenge for nowt is it? I'd got a bit of a start with doing the CRC mtb mara on the first Sunday luckily. That gave me a very useful 4696' fer starters. Just to give me a proper boost and to prove my commitment I headed out on the 'cross bike when we got home from Shropshire and did a 1191' ride. Easy.
Monday morning and things weren't quite so rosy. Rain on the extended ride in. nice. Little did I know but this was going to be the theme for the whole week. Also I realised that 'only' 845' gained on the way in wasn't going to be enough. I was going to have to get creative with some of the local hills. On the way home I did Smithills Dean, Belmont Bleach Works, Stones Bank Rd, then off to Edgeworth and along Roman Rd. this little lot gave me 1743', more like it.
I decided that that route was probably my best hope of racking the climb up so I did that morning and night, day in and day out plus whatever other rides I could fit in. One night I rode over Belmont to Rivi where Cath was doing a 5 mile (running) road race. That gave me 2745' but also meant I'd done 65 miles that day. I was starting to feel pretty fatigued. I was also running out of cycling gear and constantly soggy. The saddle with it's holes torn in it, was so wet at times that I could squeeze it and have water run out. Yuk.
Knackered as I was, I was determined to finish this bugger. It seemed at times that not riding the bike felt wrong. I'd got the Friday booked off and I worked out that I could finish it with one decent ride. Up the easy height gain of Pickup Bank, down to Edgeworth and then turned off through Hawkshaw and into Rammy. In a moment of inspiration I decided to do the Rake - national hill climb route. Perfect! Blimey, it's a cheeky rascal! It really kicks up near the end and gets the heart beating a bit. Turn right at the top and along to Helmshore and the the climb up the Grane, back down Pickup Bank and another late addition, Eccleshill. as it turned out it was a good job I stuck that one on as I didn't have a clue how much climb I'd done until I downloaded it to Strava when I got back. I imagined how I'd feel if I got back and downloaded it all to find I was short! Surely I'd done enough? Well, I got back and rather tensely did the 'Save ride' thing. And waited while the Rapha Rising bit acknowledged it and told me how I'd gone on. Had I worn my appropriate 'Col de Tourmalet' jersey in vain? Finally the electrickery put me out of my misery...
Completed - 101%! Job done.

Ingleborough fell race
http://www.sportsunday.co.uk/ing-fell-race0050
With all that bike climbing in my legs and no running for a week, how the hell was this one going to pan out? I certainly didn't know. After the disappointment of Bull Hill I wasn't feeling massively confident, I must admit. I'd travelled up with Stubbsy and Mark W in Jonathan's rather swish VW camper. As it turned out that was 4/5 of Dshers taking part. For quite some time I was optimistic that I could get 2nd Dasher until Des rocked up and rained on my parade. Doh! George T, who had come up with Katy, completed the line up. I realised that I was pretty hungry just before the start and I'd cunningly managed to forget my gels. Luckily I managed to buy a rice crispy cake from one of the charity stands dotted around the field.
When the rather enthusiastic drummers performing on the Gala field had finally finished their performance and buggered off we got to line up. The typical too fast start as we headed through town before turning off towards the mass of Ingleborough . I was next to Jonathan at this point and I can't remember whether I spoke out loud or it was just in my head but I was trying to work out where Des was.
I finally spotted him (no club vest on, see) and gave chase.
At first the track is pretty much flat but gradually it becomes a little steeper and rougher. I could now see both Des and Mark W ahead of me. Des looked possibly catchable but Mark was quite a way in front. To distract myself from the pain I tried to count what position he was in. I made it around 20th. When I finished my mind games and focussed again I had made up quite some ground on Des. I remembered Mark W saying that the race was pretty much all runnable. Right, that was my goal then.
Des was really close now as was Andy Orr, from Clayton, another really decent runner. What's this? Des was walking. Interesting. As I passed him I asked if he was ok. 'Not really.' was the answer. I ran on and incredibly I passed Andy too. Uncharted teritory for me. Dig it in, dig it in. I caught and passed Becki Taylor just as we reached the stone steps. I really really would have liked to say I ran them but I just couldn't. Too steep and too big, too much lactic and too hot. So many bloody big steps. Briefly they were slightly smaller and I could run again and passed a couple of runners, aware of their sidelong looks.
Up to the trig point and two thoughts ran through my oxygen starved brain - the next time I'd be up here would be on a cyclocross bike, hopefully, and the coplete indifference of the marshals. I was killing myself here, the least they could do was to try to disguise their indifference, the feckers.
That was all the up finished and now all the down. and the first bit was steeply down. So much that my feet shot from under me and I whizzed down a fair strech of it on my ass. Looping round to join the stepped path I was soon dodging in and out of still ascending runners. I could feel the hotspot on my heel which is always the tell tale sign of a blister. Putting it to the back of my mind I gritted my teeth and held on. Could I manage to keep in front of Des on the descent? No way was I looking back. The track seemed to have grown in length. My God, it was endless! Finally the end of the track was in sight and just as I was readying myself for the transition to tarmac two thing happened - Andy Orr passed me and then I went over on my right ankle. I could feel something crunch. Ooh, that hurt. No point pulling up now. I wasn't going to repass Andy but I had no idea where Des was.
Across the road, cutting the corner through the car park and into the field. Down the banking trying not to take a prat fall here, and through the line. I was still pretty close to Andy and Mark Walsh was still knocking about, not changed or anything!
To my massive surprise and delight I'd had a bloody good run there. 33rd out of 195 in 59:02
Results here
Video here

Downs and ups

Bull Hill fell race

I hadn't planned on doing this race. It's not in the fell championship so I didn't really have much to gain from it but a few people I knew were doing it and it made a nice change from running at the club on a Thursday night. I like the course, it's got a bit to it - reasonable climb, a few descents and a long drag back up before the final charge to the finish across a rough field. I had one of the best races of my life here against Mark Walsh a few years back. Proper neck and neck stuff. I still reckon I'd have beaten him if I could have done a track style dip at the finish!
Anyway it was a nice night and it wasn't raining for once so I headed over to Hawkshaw with Dave Billi, George T and our Will (as photographer) on board. The usual registration bit and then the ridiculously long walk up the lane to the start. I could tell that I wasn't really 'feeling it' at that point, I was walking rather than warming up. I had a few chats with people I knew on the line - Stanners ex of Rossy Harriers and Budge and Phil from JMC doing their first ever fell race.
Finally we were off and the climb up towards the Horseshoe path was steep and pretty wet and muddy. Not pleasant. Jonathan B and Des were in sight but a way ahead. I wasn't too concerned as I thought I might be able to reel them in later. We gained the main path and headed down. This felt pretty hard. I was huffing and puffing and the first seeds of doubt began to be sown. After a while the course veers off the path and climbs onto the moorland. I spotted Stanners who had obviously pulled out and looked to be in some pain. Not a lot you can say in the circumstances so I kept schtum and carried on. The next section, although not massively steep is quite a continuous slog. Relentless really. I knuckled down and passed a couple of people but JB and Des were becoming dots on the horizon.
My usual crap performance on the descents meant a reasonable stream of people thundered by. Eventually we reached the return leg of the Horseshoe path. I was goosed. Nowt in the tank. Also, more worryingly, there were some ominous rumblings from my guts. As I got to the stone steps that I love belting down on the mountain bike I bacame seriously concerned that I was going to have to get off the course for an unplanned 'comfort break'. Jeez, I've often needed a pee during a race but I've never come close to sh*tting myself before. A new low.
I struggled on and after an age I came to the turn into the finish field. It was rough as owt with plenty of opportunity to go A over T. Fortunately I got away with it. I could hear somebody right on my shoulder and my old ally. foolish pride, kicked in and helped me hold him off on a sprint to the line. I felt awful and, after hanging around for the others to finish I started to get really cold. I lost circulation in my fingers and was going a bit shivery. Absolutely rubbish. I didn't start coming round until I'd had a chip butty and a pint in the pub after. A perusal of the results later yeilded no surprises, it just confirmed how crap I'd done - a good 4 minutes off the time of my great battle with Mark a few years ago.
Ah well, on the plus side it wasn't a championship race and everybody has a dip at some point. Onwards and upwards.
Chain Reaction mountain bike marathon Marshbrook, Shropshire

I'd won a Twitter competition for a place on the mtb mara for me and on the Sportive for Cath. We drove down in torrential rain and I thought 'Hmm, I'm not really looking forward to this.' Maybe it was because it was a free do but I couldn't get too excited about it. We parked up on the muddy farmers field (the field was muddy, not the farmer. Although...) and set up camp. Later we headed down to registartion and thence to the pub. I find 3 pints is a good aid to restful sleep and I was soon pushing up the Zed's when we got back to the tent. Incredibly it wasn't raining on Saturday morning as the Sportive began. We'd heard that parts of the course had been changed due to flooding a debris on the roads. Cath set off with an early group and was soon out of sight. I mooched about for a while and eventaully came down to the pub restaurant near the start/finish area and got a bacon and egg barm for my dinner while I waited for her to come in.
Luckily I'd finished by the time she got in as she was way ahead of her predicted time - 4:20 as opposed to 5 hours. Not bad for a very hilly 50 miler on some very sketchy sounding roads.

Another trip to the pub that night and another reasonable nights kip. This is a secret I must remember for future use... At the start of the mountain bike marathon I was talking to Neil 'Nezbo' Harwood and his mate and cracking a few jokes. the weather was good and there was no pressure to perform - it was just a challenge ride after all. Neil and his oppo were doing the 80km ride where I was only doing the 45km one. I figured it was enough.

Off we set and were soon on a steep climb. I'd ended up near the back at the start and as I was on the SS I was having to stand up and churn to keep moving. Of course virtually everyobody else was in the granny ring and twiddling so I must have passed about 100 people before the top. I started to feel ok, although I knew there was a long way to go. I wasn't feeling quite so happy when, about 20 minutes later, I rounded a bend on the course to be confronted with a load of riders coming up towards us. Most of them looked a lot cleaner than us and suspiciously very like people I'd passed a lot earlier. They'd taken a massive short cut. I was seething but what can you do? I don't think it was deliberate and it wasn't a race, after all.
Soon I'd shrugged this off and was concentrating on the ride. It has to be said that it was pretty bloody good. Some lovely singletrack and plenty of mahoosive climbs. We went up one and were surrounded by paragliders and gliders floating by at pretty much head level. There didn't seem to be anyone else stupid enough to do the event on a SS and my ego was boosted a few times as I heard folk I'd overtaken muttering '... singlespeed...' and 'Bloody hell!'. Heh, heh!
I was using the event as a starter for the Strava - Rapha Rising Challenge. Basically you had to do 6881m of ascent in a week - the same amount of climb as the TdF riders were doing while they were in the 'Circle of Death' in the Alps and Pyrenees. It was going to be hard for me to complete this so I needed all the ascent I could get. This came back to haunt me later.
I'd settled in and was feeling pretty good. My misgivings about the event had long gone and I was setting about motoring on. With about 2/3 of the course done I could start thinking about heading home. I was hydrated and was managing to get a gel an hour down plus the biscuits etc I'd grabbed at the food stop. There was a long back lane over the tops of the hills which snaked sinuously up and down meaning you could see a long way ahead. I could see a couple of riders in the distance and began to chase them down. I was in my aero tuck and winding it up. I rounded a bend and the guy ahead had disappeared from sight at the top of a steep road descent. I was 'on it' here so charged into it and started flying down. part way a car pulled over to let me overtake. I guessed (correctly as it turned out) that I was doing nearly 45 mph here. It got a bit sketchy as the bends were gravelly and wet but on I flew. it was only when I reached the bottom and hit a cross roads that I realised I'd not seen any directional arrows for a long time. The car I'd overtaken caught me up. 'You've missed it. There was a turn at the gate at the top of the hill.' 'What, that bloody big hill that I've just ridden all the way down?' 'Yes.' Smashing.
It really was a big hill. It really was a big steep hill. It was so steep that I had to get off and walk some of it. 'Ah well,' I thought 'think of the Strava.' I got to the top and rejoined the course. There was a group of 3 riders ahead. I was fired up so set off after them. It was a long steep offroad descent and they weren't hanging about. I caught them at the bottom where they had all stopped. They were looking around whilst looking puzzled. 'I don't f***ing believe this' I thought. Back up the bloody hill again. I was so steamed by this point that I just blew the others away. Again I got back on track and raced after riders ahead, this time keeping an eye out for markers too.
I caught one guy up and he was keeping pace with me so I engaged him in conversation. He had quite a distinctive foreign accent so I asked where he was from. 'London' he replied. A bit of tutting and eye rolling from me and he revealed that he was origianlly fromTurin. We kept pace for quite a while and really enjoyed flying along the tops, eventually getting onto another back road where we were easily keeping pace with the traffic. Soon we reached a point where the different courses split and we pluged down. This must have been the highly trumpeted long singletrack descent that I'd heard so much about. Great! Well, it was great until everybody slowed to a halt and realied that we'd gone wrong and the proper route was waaaay below us. This one turned out to be due to somebody taking a marker pole down. Nice one. I went off piste down a proper arse on the back wheel steep descent.
Now I was on the tRack proper I could motor a bit. It was fun, in a very wet way! More back lanes and I was catching and passing more riders here. One guy I couldn't catch was on a free ride style full susser with flats on. Just couldn't catch him. Eventually the course reached the campsite and the muddy techy descent to the finish. He jibbed on a bend and I shot past. Get in!

At the finish I got my free t shirt (Woo!) and had a quick word with my new Italian pal who came in a bit behind me, before heading off to find Cath. Food, bike washed, me washed, car loaded and we were away. Or we would have been if the battery hadn't gone flat. After a fair bit of trasipsing round i got a jump start off a guy in a camper and we were finally heading home.It had been a good do. The weather was pretty kind to both of us and we both had enjoyed it.  My final starts were 32.4 miles and 4696' which was quite a bit more than I was supposed to do, but hey, think of the Strava!
Big thanks to Chain Reaction for the free places and to John Lloyd and his team for putting on a cracking event.
Strava here

3-in-1

I’ve been a bit lax on the blog front lately so this is an attempt at catching up. So, first off we have...

Settle Hills fell race

Out of the attractive town centre of Settle and almost immediately we are climbing. I’m pretty close to the sharp end as we leave tarmac and get up onto the grassy Dales. It’s still a stiff climb but I’m feeling pretty good. Up ahead I can see Mark Walsh and Des. I put a few nippy overtaking manoeuvres in and I’m right behind them. We’re still within the first mile of the race but I’m in a silly mood and so I put it in again and shoot past them both just for the hell of it. Just to make sure they’ve got the message I give them 2 fingers over my shoulder. I hear an appreciative chuckle from behind.

Mark soon re-passes me but I am surprised that Des doesn’t follow suit. I still feel pretty comfortable so I settle in behind Mark. I’m not sure what is going on here but I am soon on his shoulder and without too much effort I pass him again. It must be about 5 years since I last got past Mark in a race so this is a pretty big deal to me. We descend slightly across a wide field heading towards the next steep up.

Mark pulls away here and I get my head down and run at my own pace now. There’s a long way to go and I have no chance of staying with him all the way round. There are a couple of runners just behind me as I ascend. On the top of the hill and Mark has vanished, I follow the markers as best I can but after a while I realise I’ve gone astray. I glance to my right and spot a marker near a gate in the corner of the field. The two runners that were behind me appear from behind a hillock and are now about 30 yards in front of me. ‘Thanks for shouting me back when I went off, lads.’ I think to myself.

We are pretty much at the highest point of the course now and are traversing the moors in a large circle. Still trying hard I seem to be at my optimum pace and nobody else passes. Onto a track and I can just make Mark out in the far distance. At the back of my mind I am expecting Des and Jonathan B to come past at any minute. I’m wise enough not to look back and I just get on with keeping my pace up. Eventually I reach the famous descent. I’d heard it was pretty steep but there was still the comedy ‘ Bloody hell!’ double take when I got onto it. It just dropped away in a massive grassy chute.

As the world’s worst descender I started mincing down as fast as my knackered knees and ankles would allow me. The flood of overtaking began and inevitably included Jonathan B. I reached the bottom after an age and crossed the field to where Barnesy (wearing his metaphorical Settle Harriers hat) was marshalling. I guessed that we couldn’t be that far away from the finish now so tried to up the pace a little. Jonathan stayed about 20 yards in front with a few runners between us. I hung on and hung on as we hammered along the track. We finally came out onto the road near the Rugby Club where the finish was. A little sideways shimmy through the gate and then it was onto the pitch for a charge to the finish funnel. There wasn’t anyone in front now and I certainly wasn’t going to risk looking back at this stage of the game. Flat out and breathless to the line.

Third Dasher. That’ll do me. I felt like I’d had a good run, especially the climb at the start.

20th out of 121

Results here

Brownbacks mtb series round 2

Lesson learned from the first race, I used Will’s bike which is geared lower. The memory of the pathetic attempt at the start climb still smarted. A look around the other competitors and it seemed that I was the only Singlespeeder there. Hmmm, there was pros and cons to this. It meant I would be unopposed for the prize but I wouldn’t have anyone else to race against in the class. Ah well, I’d just have to content myself with racing all the other V40 ‘silverbacks’ and ‘weekend warriors’.

Shivering on the start in the rain I was pleased to hear the start signal and try to find a line that gave me some traction. Standing up and thrutching, I managed to pass a few as we headed onto the course proper. I’d had a bit of a ride round the course before the start so had an idea of what was to come. As ever it was an interesting mixture – stiff climbs (especially on a SS), speedy flats and some decent technical bits. The mud and rain on the rocks making you think twice on some sections. Well, until the racer in your head piped up ‘Waddaya doing, you pussy?!’ and normal service was resumed.

The course seemed a little shorter than last time and I determined to get at least 5 laps in (you race until the first in the racer class has completed 6 laps). I’d spoken to a mildly hypothermic Twinkly Dave before the start. He had, of course, ridden there from Preston and was riding home again afterwards (!). He passed me at one point and gave me a bit of encouragement. I put it in and tried to stay with him for a while.

The back end of the course is where the action is – a whoopy rollercoaster leading into massive berms which challenge you to stay off the brakes and ride smoothly. Later on you are crashing across a rocky ledge of a path with a drop to the left. It makes you concentrate shall we say.

I got a couple of laps in and realised that I was so involved in the race that I hadn’t been drinking water. There aren’t that many places to grab a quick slurp but I force myself to. No chance of getting my gel down so I mtfu instead.

As at Round 1 there was a tricky rocky chute to negotiate part way round. This time there was the added ‘fun’ of it being churned up into a muddy slurry and then ending in a 90 degree right. I cleaned it most times but cocked it up once. The Mountain Rescue who were waiting at the bottom in a vulture stylee, got treated to some world class swearing that time!

As I tackle the short, sharp climbs again I think to myself ‘This must be the most old-bloke-with-dodgy-knees-on-a-singlespeed-unfriendly course I have ridden in a long time.’ And it bloody was too! Some of the climbs that I was clearing earlier on are now seeing me off the bike and pushing, albeit at a run.

As usual I end up getting stuck behind somebody slowly grinding up a hill in the granny ring. Not good when you are on 32:18 and trying to power up a climb. I shout ‘Come on, keep it going’ so that I encourage them, without seeming too much of an arsehole. Later on I have to run up a hill and some cheeky bugger behind shouts ‘Come on, keep it going.’ I laugh. And then tear his legs off.

For once I have my wits about me enough to count the laps so when I start lap 5 I am pretty sure I won’t be doing any more. A lad I had been speaking to at the start – Papa Lazarou off of STW – passed me so that gave me some incentive to beast myself in the vain hope of catching him. Soon I was destroying my knees on the last little climb before the finish line and spinning home in a sweaty frothing mess.

Assessing the race afterwards I was fairly happy with how it had gone. I was sooooo glad I’d gone for a lower gear for this race as I would have died on my ass (even more) trying to push 32:16 round. I seemed to have paced it better and certainly finished further up the V40 class.

At the presentation it turned out that there had been another singlespeed taking part. Oh bollocks, I thought. It would have been a bit gutting to be 2nd after all that! Fortunately for me it turned out that he’d retired on the first lap with a puncture and so I got to go through the mild embarrassment of standing on the podium on my own wearing an XXXL Charlie the Bikemonger t shirt and being presented with the chain medallion. The chain will definitely end up on a bike!

Another good day out but, my God, the mud and grit!

9th out of 18 in V40 class. Full results here

Horwich CC Hill Climb

Last one of the mini series so all I had to do was turn up and complete. No dramas, eh? This being me of course, I had to go and bugger up the crank on the ‘crosser a couple of days before. Smashing. So, my choices were: 1. Do it on the SS – given that a lot of the course was along the flat bit of Belmont Rd this was NOT an option. 2. Do it on the Ragley – possible and a good bit of resisitance training – 2.35” tyres and a chunky build meant that this was pretty much last resort. 3. Put out an appeal on Twitter and hope some kind soul responds with the offer of help – Result! Livsey kindly offered me the use of his crosser. What a guy!

I picked it up from his late the night before and so only got a quick go on it before heading to the start on the Wednesday night. I moved the seatpost down a bit but was still unused to the gear shifters. No matter, I’d pick it up. We drove over to Belmont and discovered that there had been a big smash right on the route of the course. Not good. Broken glass and a load of sand covering the fuel spill.

On the car park of the Wilton pub the competitors gradually turned up and speculated on how the organisers would tackle the problem. As it turned out they decided to delay the start and move the start line along the road so it was past the incident site. This was good news for me as it meant that the event was a bit shorter!

I set off at number 12 behind big Dave Headon. I didn’t think I had much chance of catching him! From the off it was big ring stomping and stood up on the pedals until I got up to speed. The gear shift caught me out and I quickly had to change back up again. Doh!

Reaching the San Marino restaurant and it was the plummet into Belmont. I tucked in and pushed as tall a gear as I could manage. Up towards the Black Dog and it was standing up time again. The marshals on the bend cheered me on as I headed up past the church and onto the flat stretch near the Blue Lagoon. Tuck in and hammer. Then, bang, it was onto the last big climb. I’ve ridden up here a lot over the years and so I knew exactly what to expect. And I got it - burning legs and sucking air in hard. Gaining the top all I had to do was boot it to the finish at the turning for George’s Lane.

Will had got a lift to the finish with a marshal and I shot passed him as he took some pics on my iPhone. As I rode on after the line to give myself a bit of time to recover I suddenly realised that my chest wasn’t burning as it had at the previous two events. Now, did this mean that it had been a pollen related problem or did it mean that I hadn’t tried as hard? Hmm, hard to tell really. I was pretty happy with how I’d done – I wasn’t caught by the guy behind and I felt pretty fast. I sent Paul a text saying it must have been the bike as a bit of a joke, but it was nice to ride. It felt light and nimble and seemed to shoot forward under power. I reckon it would have gone a bit faster with some skinny tyres on it. Anyway, thanks Paul – you got me out of the clart there.

In retrospect I have to say that I really enjoyed doing the series, it was even fun in a masochistic kinda way and I’d met some top people whilst doing it. Big up to Horwich CC for putting it on.

Oh, and I got my best result of the series at this one.

1 Adam Newall 6.56 Horwich CC

2 Rob Richardson 6.57 Bolton Hot Wheels

3 Dave Headon 7.03 Horwich CC

4 Tim Stanley 7.46 Woo-Ha Ram It

5 Simon Fox 7.50 Here Come The Belgians

6 Tim Kelly 7.56 Horwich CC

7 Dave Bateson 8.01 Horwich CC

8 Shaun Taylor 8.01 Horwich CC

9 Neil Pope 8.04 Lancs RC

10 Brian Holt 8.32 Lancs RC

11 Albert Sunter 8.46

12 Sue Mayes 8.46 Lady

13 Pete Holden 9.01 Horwich CC

14 Alan Sweatman 9.14 Horwich CC

15 Jordan Stanworth 10.54 Junior