Women run, play & blog too

There and back again (A Road Trip to the Pyrenees) Part Two

So where were we? Oh yes, we’d safely arrived at Luchon and as we had some time to kill before dinner we went for a leisurely amble around the town. At dinner we met our riding buddies for the week the lovely Tom and Sonya and Ian also went through with us what to expect for the days ahead – basically longer and more technical as the week progressed. I admit I was slightly concerned with the length of time discussing ticks and their potential removal but then I guess I don’t taste very nice as in all the time I’ve spent in woody areas so far I’ve not had to worry about extracting the little critters.

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The first day’s riding turned out to be a bit of a culture shock as I’ve hardly been able to set a wheel off the tarmac at home since Kirroughtree with all the rain we’ve had and I quickly realised that out here you need to be paying a lot more attention to what you’re doing than I’ve been used to of late!

I didn’t opt for leg and arm body armour as I’ve never worn it before but it was available if you wanted it and I guess that wearing it might give you a bit more confidence and also cut down on potential scrapes and bruises. Even though I never thought I would ever be in the position to be contemplating it I’m thinking that it might actually be a good idea to try it out for trail riding so I’m putting this on my list of new things to try for the winter.

Ian and Kate kept a watchful eye on what we were all doing to make sure that everyone had the option to ride great trails that would challenge rather than terrify although I do confess to shutting my eyes and hoping for the best on a couple of occasions. There was some initial switchback practice (after all this area is supposed to be switchback heaven!) and the next day it was pretty obvious why we needed it! That leads me nicely on to the Benque Ridge day.

I was actually quite oblivious to the sheer terror that lay ahead as I was too busy enjoying the awesome climbing but when we topped out and paused at a flattish meadow area I quickly realised that there was rather a long drop down to where we were headed back to. Gulp! Well what can I say; it was all a bit of a blur of seemingly endless narrow tight loose switchbacks (and cowpats) but in fact despite my severe attack of vertigo I realised afterwards that it wouldn’t actually hurt that much if you toppled off so in hindsight it was simply having the conviction to go for it and I’m sure that on a second go it wouldn’t be quite so daunting.

Absolute highlight of the week for me though was the Super Bagneres day as we were blessed with some fabulous weather, which you really do need to totally do this ride justice.

I absolutely loved the long big climb to the top and I was actually quite sad when it was over but the awesome 360-degree views were worth pausing to take in and I found that I was actually in desperate need of calories by then with one of Russ’ famous baguettes quite nicely doing the trick. The journey down was equally awesome and quite challenging for me but I actually managed to ride so much more than I would have done even at the start of the week so the benefits of getting on this terrain every day were easy to see.

The next day was a do-your-own-thing day so we decided to firstly peruse the market in Luchon (definitely recommended if you love cheese and cake) and then swap tyres and bag the road climb up to the Peyresourde. It was roasting hot with the last switchbacks looking well steep from below (but actually weren’t that bad) - I’m now seriously starting to worry about how much I actually love doing these big road climbs given that I don’t even have a road bike!!!!!

Our final day had some mixed weather so we weren’t quite able to make it to the lonely tree but Kate still managed to find plenty of fun trails to make up for it and it was yet another day where I was dreaming of Russ’ cake all afternoon. Sadly in the end we had to leave a day early, as when we contacted the Channel Tunnel they couldn’t guarantee that we would actually get back to the UK on the day we had booked. It wasn’t too bad in the end with just a four-hour wait as I suppose it could have been a lot worse. I didn’t really mind in the end as my legs were starting to feel the terrain and we had plenty of good memories to take away with us.

So how would I summarise our first trip to the Pyrenees? On the basis that if you wanted to you could ride till you dropped then I think this little photo might do nicely!!!!!!!

There and back again (A Road Trip to the Pyrenees): Part One

As a self-confessed Swiss Alp junkie it was a rather unexpected change this year to be zooming off to the French Pyrenees for a couple of weeks but then as I was pretty sure they have big mountains and also cheese and beer it was going to be exciting going somewhere new whilst knowing that we would at least have our basic holiday essentials covered.

]]> We got to the channel tunnel and approached that big sturdy metal girder that says “vehicles under 1.85m” with a slight sweat on as our van is apparently 1.83m tall and well, as we’d not taken the van under one until now we were wondering if the guy was having a bad day when he measured it or whether we’d put too much air in the tyres. Thankfully no scraping noises ensued and the next little bit of excitement was that we were pulled over to be dusted etc (a pretty good thing of course) but unfortunately the delay meant we missed our scheduled train. Of course this little delay was nothing compared to what was to happen on the way back……..

We stayed firstly at a small village near the start of the climb up to the Col du Tourmalet and after spending the first day doing a bit of running and then riding up the valley to Gavarnie we decided that it would be rude not to do the Tourmalet the next day if the weather held.
After our morning run the heavens opened but it still looked possible - it was wet but still warm - so off we went in pursuit of bagging that rather famous Col.

The ascent was quite eventful in the end starting out boiling hot then having to shelter in an empty garage from a torrential downpour whilst contemplating the forked lightning up ahead, then progressing back to bright sunshine and some quite fabulous clear views

(coupled with several emergency stops for jelly beans) before we disappeared again back into the clouds and finally arrived at the top to hardly be able to see anything at all! We quickly layered up and hurtled down at speeds that I probably wouldn’t even drive at but the aim at this point was to make it down as fast as possible to get that crucial 10 degrees warmer.

We were lucky to have the added bonus of making it back before the thunder and lightning returned with a vengeance and needless to say there was much of the monk’s finest consumed as due reward for the days efforts.

This was pretty much the pattern for the rest of our time there and before long we had exhausted what we could reach by foot and bike and we were soon packing up for the short journey over to Luchon.

We were warned that the Pope was visiting Lourdes the day we were travelling (along with about a million other folks) so we took the scenic route to Luchon over the Tourmalet instead although the weather today was less kind when we rode up there – drizzling with rain and only 1 degree at the top - I really felt sorry for all the cold soggy cyclists we saw!

As it turned out Luchon was a bigger place than I was expecting but we managed to find where we were supposed to be with no problem and we installed ourselves in the quaint Le Lutin hotel just in time to sample the cake and coffee which was perfect timing as we soon learnt that the afternoon snackathon was a meal not to be missed! More coming on the food (and of course the trails) very soon!

What happened to August? – Part Two

“I CAN SEE A RAINBOW”

So the week went something along the lines of Mr M popping out a not too shabby 800m in the Vet’s Track & Field league on the Thursday night followed the next day by a three hour drive up to Llanberis to join his three team-mates for a 22-mile mountain marathon with 8,000ft of ascent over seven of Snowdonia’s rather wet and windy peaks. Talk about from one extreme to the other!

]]> As it was a work related event I wasn’t allowed to participate but I have to say that the stress of waiting on tender-hooks at the finish watching Thomas Bach (star of the Mountain Railway I presume) chuff-chuff back and forth for hours on end was emotionally gruelling!!!

Apart from the gorgeous rainbows, the weather was going to be wet and windy and at this altitude pretty cold too so gear choice was a rather protracted affair and concluded in going for the Snow Skins long sleeve as base layer with a Gore Pac-Lite outer, which I gather pretty much did the business.

Breathe-ability and waterproof-ness in one fabric just seems to fly in the face of the general laws of physics but being able to vent on the ups and zip up on the downs over the top of the Snow Skins he stayed warm and as dry as possible for the duration so he was still smiling when they successfully rolled over the finish :-D

“RIDIN’ RIDIN’ RIDIN’”

This has been a good month for having the time to explore from the back door so I’ve been zooming around the countryside putting together new loops in readiness for the gloomy winter months when it will undoubtedly be so grey that I won’t be able to see where I’m going anyway.

Well one trailblazing week turned out to be a bit strange as first off I was riding along minding my own business when a many-legged iddy biddy from hell stung me right through my shorts. I'm generally rather allergic to stings and bites and this one is way up there in the most allergic-ness I've had in some while. Ice and anti-histamine did battle for ages and I currently have a permanent scar as a memento.

Then mid-week I got a commute weather report from Mr M who said it was "a bit breezy with some moisture in the air". Well that turned out to be a bit of an understatement as it absolutely pished it down for the entire two and a half hour ride. I don't think I've been that drenched since my first bike trip to Spain (needless to say I haven't been back - yet) but at least I didn't have to contend with those caterpillars that have acid for blood :-O

And finally one day when I did a bit of "I wonder what's down there" exploring I ended up having to wade thigh high through a muddy ford with my bike on my back pondering everything Mr M had told me about nasty diseases you can catch from doing just that - proximity to farmland is apparently not quite the same as a fresh flowing mountain stream. Hey Ho at least I didn't have my white Sidi shoes on :-/

“DIVERSIONS”

You may have noticed that I've been a bit tardy until now on the weblog front and it's because most of my free time not spent out and about with my butt on my bike was spent with my butt on the sofa glued to the Beijing Olympic coverage, which was fab!!

Of course I've been following all things bike, but I freely admit to being a higher/faster/stronger fan when it comes to Olympic sports so Track & Field always ranks way up there amongst my favourites.

In all honesty it made me rather wistful about my running days of old but anyhow, with the Olympian diversion over for now I'll be back with some more bike related shenanigans soon :-)

Bye for now……

What happened to August? – Part One

For one reason or another this month was a bit quiet bike event-wise but that doesn’t mean to say that there wasn’t plenty of outdoorsy stuff going on so here goes with the first part of a few highlights………

“IN THE PINK”

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Despite the weather being more or less a total wash out for your typical August, I did manage to spend an inordinate amount of bike time swathed in my pink Nalini.

Last year’s Lavarone is still my all time favourite jersey so far and this Peonia is certainly shaping up to be a contender.

Sensible things like great fabric, perfect girl-shaped fit and having three different sized pockets for all those sundry things that you just MIGHT need merged with the almost wet-look pinkiness of it all makes me sooooo wish that it also came in that Nalini blue of last year so that then I could have had two!

“THE (LONGER THAN IT SHOULD BE) TALE OF THE NEW CHAIN FOR TRIXIE”

This month Mr M tackled the rebuild of my trusty training bike which having been raided for parts for my sexy Soda, had been enjoying a bit of a breather whilst the race season was in full swing. Everything was superbly built back up in a lovely retro V-brake stylee and Trixie was back in action!
Recently it was time for a new chain and as you know this is normally a simple five-minute job. Well, job done and as it was shifting perfectly in the work-stand off I zoomed for a ride only to discover that once in action my chain and rings were just sooooo not vibing and after five stops for fettling (which achieved zilch) I resorted to limping home in a rather embarrassingly loud crunching fashion :-o On arrival I was fully expecting to be told by Mr M that it was user error but off he went up the road and to my relief he had exactly the same problem - well at least it wasn't a blond/senior/whatever moment then.

So the rest of the afternoon went something along the lines of:

Swapped out rear derailleur. Nope. Swapped out rear cassette. Nope. Swapped out XTR crank for spare XTR crank. Nope. Swapped out rear mech hanger. Nope. Swapped out chain. Nope. Aaaaaaaargh!!!!! Whilst it was a welcome educational experience seeing almost every Park tool in the box in action we were temporarily stumped until as a last resort we tried a spare set of RaceFace turbine cranks that used to live on my Pisgah (good job I'm really crap at ever parting with anything) and after seeing yet more tools in action, would you believe it, everything was meshing perfect again and Trixie was back in the groove :-D

So there you have it, what turned out to be a five minute chain fit gave me lots of unexpected practice with assorted drive train reconstruction which I suppose can only bode well for my forthcoming support monkey role for another imminent frame build..........

“HOPPITY RIDES AGAIN”

I expect you’ve noticed how the MTB crowd just love to post up pictures of their latest gory injuries so here - as a flashback - is my (OK, in hindsight rather pathetic) one from Kirroughtree that it seems is still managing to cause me a few problems.

Mr M remains (probably quite rightfully) bored to saturation point with hearing me go on about it but although it doesn’t really trouble me on the bike I still can’t actually kneel down on it. I also suspect it’s the culprit in my current saga of ongoing Achilles pain that’s holding up my running so it’s back to the physio for me soon just to check that everything is lined up where it should be. I certainly don’t want it to be misbehaving with a couple of (hopefully awesome) weeks in the Pyrenees coming up real soon!!!!

Stay tuned for part two coming shortly including Mr M’s 22-mile team marathon (foot not bike) in Snowdonia on probably the wettest weekend in August and also how I managed to fit in sooooo much TV Olympic viewing……

Soda on the Rocks: Ten at Kirroughtree

This little Scottish road trip turned out to be so good in so many ways that I hardly know where to start writing to do it justice.

We were both a bit down in the dumps after Mayhem and as we had successfully secured a spot at our all time ever favourite B&B we were simply looking forward to enjoying a mini holiday in the Southern Uplands with the added bonus of a race at a location that we had never been to before but everyone we knew that had spoke about it in wistful tones whilst using words like “totally rocks”, “awesome” and “single-track heaven”. Needless to say our hopes were set rather high and we were definitely not disappointed!!!!!

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The before
The drive up this time wasn’t too bad especially as we broke the journey in Kendal to check out one of the many fell running shops where Mr M successfully managed to wangle another pair of trail running shoes into his life – a bit like the male equivalent of Carrie Bradshaw’s Manolo fetish. We arrived at the B&B in what can only be described as heavy Scotch mist and every stream and river that we passed was busting to the brim - there had certainly been a fair amount of recent rainfall!! After a good night’s sleep we awoke to only moderate Scotch mist so after packing away a five course breakfast we set off for a couple of hour jaunt on foot up the Glen before heading off to Kirroughtree for a pre-ride and to register.

As we drove over though Galloway Forest (Scotch mist was still moderate at this point) I lost count of all the trails shooting off here there and everywhere, it was like being in a sweet shop and not knowing what to choose first.

We arrived at the trail head and I have to admit that a little bit of panic had now crept in as I’m no trail goddess (not even in my dreams) and I knew this would be technically challenging for this (relatively) southern softie. I managed to swallow my panic though when out came my trusty Soda that had done me soooo proud at Fort William and off we duly headed around the ten-mile course to check out what to expect. Well, what can I say?

It was indeed really challenging with slippery roots, rocks of all descriptions, switchback climbs and eye-watering fast descents but honestly, to be allowed this much fun in the space of ten miles surely isn’t allowed? I had now officially joined the ranks of the “totally rocks”, “awesome” and “single-track heaven” brigade and I just couldn’t wait for the race to start so I could go round again and again!!

Race day
I awoke feeling a little bit sorry for myself as I forgot to mention that I had executed an over the bars Kermit the frog dismount knees down onto the rocks during practice on Friday but as I promised Mr M that I wouldn’t go on about it any more, lets just leave it at that shall we.

Mr M himself packed away another monster breakfast marathon whereas I ate like a bird (squiffy race-day tummy) and we duly arrived at the start with plenty of time to set up our home for the day.

The event was on a slightly smaller scale to Ten under the Ben but with the same cool party atmosphere that No Fuss Events seem to have captured so well. In hindsight this was in fact a good thing as with a huge proportion of single-track (70% of the course), a bigger number of riders would have maybe been a bit of a problem.

The race itself went like a dream!! Mr M went off first for the slightly shorter first lap melee and then we just took it in turns until ten laps and ten hours later it was all over. There was no Scotch mist to speak of and even the midges seemed to be on holiday somewhere else for most of the time!!
The banter with the Scotties on the course was hilarious. One guy I kept seeing was ribbing me “where’s your full bouncer lassie?” to which I finally silenced him by saying that I’d actually left it at home because I preferred riding my Soda. Then Mr M was asked if he was wearing the infamous Avon midge-repellent Skin-so-Soft as apparently he smelt like a girl and finally the funniest one of all was the usual “where have you come up from?” (It’s clearly that obvious I was riding like a southern softie) and when I told him he said, “what do you need a mountain bike down there for?” I can’t really blame him though, if I lived up there I don’t think I would bother venturing too far south all that often!!!

And it’s all over

Here’s a funny over the line moment being accosted by Spook for my timing chip whilst being tugged in the other direction towards the Benromach whisky. Did I mention that you get actual whisky for finishing? Dream event sponsor huh!

So that’s it then, the second of our awesome Scottish race experiences done and in our opinion they have each been well worth the travelling distance to get to.

Next biking adventure is, well, I haven’t actually decided yet but as soon as I know then I’ll be posting it up here! In the meanwhile I’m thinking maybe the local Strawberries & Cream Five Miler (feet not wheels) in a couple of weeks so I’d better be getting some practice in (that’ll be running practice, not eating Strawberries & Cream of course!).

Bye for now and Happy Outdoorsiness!

Links: www.nofussevents.co.uk

2008 Giant Mountain Mayhem: Tactical error = Game over

It’s always quite hard to write a nice up beat positive report when you didn’t finish what you set out to do but when I actually reflect on the whole experience it did actually have some areas I can be happy about. So hopefully without boring the pants off you, here goes with my own particular experience of (albeit only part of!) this year’s Giant Mountain Mayhem at Eastnor Deer Park.

]]> It’s always quite hard to write a nice up beat positive report when you didn’t finish what you set out to do but when I actually reflect on the whole experience it did actually have some areas I can be happy about. So hopefully without boring the pants off you, here goes with my own particular experience of (albeit only part of!) this year’s Giant Mountain Mayhem at Eastnor Deer Park.

The day before
We set up camp the day before in the solo area and as is quite usual for the day before this event, the weather was warm sunshine and the ground was baked hard. It’s at this point you’re potentially tempted to think that things are going to be OK and you won’t need your mud tyres and all that wet weather gear but as it pretty much ALWAYS rains on this weekend at this venue then those in the know bring everything anyway.

24solo virgin Lee set up next to us having brought a tent that bore no resemblance whatsoever to the “what it should look like when it’s up” instructions. This was a mini-endurance event all of its own and as I was trying to keep my stress levels to a minimum (that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it) I had to go and hide in Jo’s shop until he and Mr M had figured it out.

We did originally plan to walk the course but by the time we had piffled around, time was marching on and we needed to get back and pack up the van ready for an early start in the morning.

Race day
Jubilee drive was thick drizzly fog as we drove over the top of the Malvern’s to the race but we managed to unpack everything in between deluges and get more or less organised in what was to be our home for the next 24hrs. We set up behind the main solo tent and you could hear the usual “no, I haven’t been doing much really, no training as such, just doing some riding” - I do so love the pre-race psyche-out banter!

The hours before the start really drag. I just want to get going so I’m happy when it’s time to get dressed and abandon my lovely Soda to the mercies of the start funnel melee. It crosses my mind at this point to do some sort of start ritual like Valentino Rossi, maybe hug my SPD for luck or something, but I decide to do the usual and just stand there looking panicky instead.

We were soon off and this time I was supposed to be taking the run REALLY steady. So steady in fact, that it seemed like I was walking and by the time I’d cleared the campsite it was obvious that in hindsight this was a mistake as I ended up walking for most of the first single-track climb behind the inexplicably huge queues of stationary riders. The next lap was a joy though as there was much less traffic but there were definitely certain sections of the course where folks were struggling to ride already and this was even before it got dark, or (inevitably) wet….

Apart from one lap where I had a bit of sickness, I was feeling perky in the leg department, eating and drinking well and looking forward to getting stuck into the night shift and then hopefully would be in good shape for the final morning section. At the end of lap six I rolled into the pits to be greeted by the lovely Jo in full Gore paclite mode swishing her hair like a Charlie’s Angel for the baying paparazzi (aka Mr M) and after a quick hug and a feed I was off again into the darkness.

During the next lap I got caught in the rain deluge so had an extended pit stop to get out of my wet gear and into my beloved Gavia tights whilst downing some hot food! I couldn’t help wondering about the potential state of certain bits of the single-track after the deluge and once back out there again my worst fears were confirmed….

Lap eight was truly the lap from hell - worse than any I endured last year - I spent so much time trying to push/drag/carry my bike that when I finally made it back to the pit my back was shot and I didn’t even bother going through the timing tent to get a lap score. I guess maybe it’s because I don’t actually practice carrying my mud-caked bike for miles over off camber muddy single-track whilst trying to avoid getting run over by out-of-control riders but anyhow it meant game over for me as I didn’t want to risk further injury when I still have lots of other things I’d like to do this year.

In all my Mayhems so far I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many broken bikes and injured riders nor come to think of it so many folks sneaking under the course tape in the dark!

The aftermath

So there you have it, an 11hr or so training ride, followed by a couple of hours of weight training interspersed with impromptu bouts of bike tug of war! Not exactly what I was expecting but then at least my bike finished in one piece as poor Mr M was out the same time as me and whilst on a perfectly straight trail was brought to an abrupt stop by his rear mech burying itself in his back wheel, taking out a few spokes and mangling the chain. Game over for him then too :-o

I’m disappointed of course as I could only really do this 24 solo in 2008 with logistics and stuff, but I’m philosophical about it as (fingers crossed) I have plenty of years left to carry on enjoying new biking adventures. Lots more lessons learned so it’s all good experience and of course many thanks to Neill, Jo and all those that gave me encouragement but most of all, the long suffering Mr M who has to put up with me the whole year!

I’m now looking forward to our next outing as a pair for the ten-hour up at Kirroughtree in Galloway Forest Park. Once we get all the bits mended on Mr M’s beloved Soda and I can find somewhere to get hold of some of those anti-midge hat things we will be back up north of the border to hopefully enjoy some more of Scotland’s finest all weather trails!!

Happy riding :-D

photo credit - Mr Miles

Haggis returns...

My burning guilt at leaving poor Haggis behind and disloyalty in hiring a substitute for a week was too much to bear. The only way to mitigate against any persuasions towards purchasing a granny bike, besides money and garage space, was to get back out on Haggis in my most concerted attempt at getting back to where I once was on the cycling front. Yes, it seems that two days of decent mileage can cure a girl of any ridiculous notions of needing anything less than 24 gears. Despite a rather flatter terrain than I'm used to, the ruggedised nature of my lovely little hybrid thoroughly enjoyed some designated paths through beautiful countryside, speedy sweeping bends and gently glowing exertion and the odd grin inducing hard push to speeds I'm quite sure a basket and pannier just wouldn't allow. The weather was perfect when paired with some rather good suntan lotion, and the only thing missing was the padding from my shorts - how quickly you forget just how much better life is with a chamois! I'm not sure my next trip to the shops for the Sunday Times will measure up to this latest excursion - a 10 mile ride in glorious sunshine just to pick up the paper, Krispy Kreme (apple & cinnamon are yum!) and a smoothie, and spirited return journey to laze outside the tent for a few hours before returning to normality. It's not quite the Life of Riley, but it certainly beats the weekday windowless office hands down. Horray for the sunshine!

Sit up and beg bike buried by bunnies...

I felt a little guilty leaving Haggis behind for a week at a Euro CenterParcs, but the prospect of precariously balancing 5 bikes on my already overloaded hatchback, and the journey ahead just didn't register as being the best idea in the world, especially as I'd have been obliged to pull up alongside the caravanning public in the 'over 1.85m' section of the channel tunnel train. Any guilt I may have felt was swiftly assuaged when my after parking up the rather modest hire bike one lunchtime it was then buried up to the gears by the detritus left behind by a rather furtive bunny as he burrowed rapidly beneath our cottage in the middle of the woods. Had it been poor Haggis whose cogs were impreganted with soil I may have been a little less than amused. I was however mightly impressed at how comfortable granny bikes really are. Put your ego to one side for a moment, and as a commuting bike for jaunts to the shops and doing the school run and you couldn't go far wrong with the ergonomically perfect continental style bike. The minimal gearing was perfectly adequate for the terrain, and the brakes equally so, and the kids versions were more than perky enough to cope with the off-road track deeper in to the woods. never thought the day would come when I embraced a pannier rack and straps, but being at the very furthest reaches of the site it certainly aided my quest to do all the shopping in one go. What next I hear you ask, a shopping basket on the front? Think posture perfect 1950's and flowing skirts...

Shares in Elastoplast Sore!

OK, cheesy title, but I didn't quite know how to advocate the use of a cycle helmet in a whitty one-liner.
Once again I'm off! Yes, in true Helen style, I've wrecked my precious pink Giro helmet, and am adorning a stylish new skin of purple with red streaks, accentuated by 'flesh' coloured plasters - though who has flesh that colour I'll never know.
In an attempt to make the most of the fabulously light evenings, and the warmth they bring the bikes made a mid-week escape from the garage. A less than auspicious start came in the form of a flat tyre. Hoping it was just a slow puncture I pumped it back to it's preferred PSI and scooted off. I made it up the to the top of the ridge with relative ease, surveyed the terrain, and went for it. The heathers either side of a treacherous path were scraping at my ankles, so I decided to take the seemingly more sensible wide and well trodden path. How wrong I was. Dusty, gravelly and very uneven paths, as wide as they were, were no match for my hybrid tyres. I need nobbles! Wibble I went, and then splat, bounce, splat, and suffice it to say that I need a new helmet, and ribena isn't the best choice for cleaning your wounds. Stick to plain water in your bottle!
Still, all good fun, and nothing much broken apart from the record of achievements stored in my cycle computer. Boo, hiss.
Nobbles here I come!

Welcome to the House of Pain - it’s Mayhem time again!

Excitement is steadily building in Casa del Miles for the annual MTB pilgrimage that is Mountain Mayhem. There is the checking over of bikes to do, the getting the substantial amount of ancillary “stuff” in one place and of course the constant not looking at the weather forecast…

Looking back at the photos we have of the three 24hr races that I tackled last year I was trying to choose a few that summed up for me the overriding memories and the three little words that sprung to mind are MUD, FOOD and PAIN. Well four really as above all there was also the YEEHAH factor!

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Here’s the first one of; yes you’ve guessed it, mud. Of course you have to expect mud now and again as we do live in the UK right? But it did seem like we had just as much mud over the summer as we did over the winter last year! This particular mud is of the Malvern variety but there was of course a lot more to come of the Cotswold variety and even a little tiny touch of the slimy Catton Park variety.

It was a battle of mind over matter just to keep going in the conditions that prevailed at the 10th Anniversary Mayhem and those of us that persevered to the finish certainly earned our medals! Here’s hoping that maybe the weather gods will have a little more sympathy for us in 2008.

This next one could be one of any number of food items that epitomise one of the most difficult aspects I find of 24hr solo races, which is stoking the engine. Everyone has their own particular recommendations on what to eat and what not to and even when you stumble on what works great for you, this is further complicated by the fact that what works at one race doesn’t seem to be a magic formula that will then work at all races! Maybe it’s because I actually need to enjoy my food and drink that makes it a bit harder for me to just shove down anything that contains the right stuff like it’s going out of fashion but be that as it may, no food definitely equals no pedalling.

The final one is the physical state of my hands (and come to think of it a few other body parts) by the time I’d got to Sleepless in the Saddle. In desperation, as you can see, there was a rather unconventional cockpit set up to the Anthem but it was the only way I was going to be able to hold the bars so I wasn’t going to worry too much about being pulled over by the fashion police.

Of course there were bucket loads of fun memories from the 2007 season (the aforementioned Yeehah factor) and in particular there was that huge high from finishing my little trio of solos at Sleepless that took quite a long while to come down from.

So before I know it here I am again staring down the barrel of what will be my 5th 24hr solo ride. This year for me is supposed to be about trying to get a bit faster so I’m not going too mad with packing my season out with too many long races but, well, you’ve got to sneak at least one 24hr solo in there each year haven’t you?

Anyhow, it’s less than a week to go now to what is usually one of the best MTB events of the year so cheerio for now and don’t forget to call in at the girlsruntoo stand in the Mayhem village where Jo can sort you out with all those last minute girlie essentials. I just couldn’t resist the new magenta pink Nalini but then Mr M tells me that I do have a bit of a Nalini fetish…

See you there!!!!

Scotch with your Soda Madam?

An adventure at Benromach’s Ten under the Ben.

Even though I am currently sat here covered in midge bites and therefore a rather unattractive shade of well, just spotty, I simply can’t rave enough about what a fantastic event this was.

The party atmosphere was fabulous and the ten-mile course was just awesome - definitely worth putting this one on your list of things to do!

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Getting to Fort William from the Southern Mudlands in one go is of course a bit of a mare of a drive but we finally arrived at our B&B, changed into our bike kit and cycled up the glen to search for some food. We sat outside on the decking overlooking Loch Lochy where I went for the most glorious sunset meal of haddock and chips and a pint of Guinness with Mr M choosing the much healthier option of steak and ale pie and chips and two pints of Guinness……

Friday dawned with yet another cloudless blue sky and we headed out to Nevis Range to check out the event venue. It was strangely quiet as most folks were to be arriving later in the evening so as they had apparently more or less just finished marking out the final touches, we decided that we would amble round the course on foot. The first half of the ten-mile course contained most of the climbing (lots of it and mostly straight into the sun) and also included some lovely single-track like in this shot.

The second half was a real reward for all that climbing and contained most of the technical stuff comprising lots of rocks, roots and boardwalk sections. This meant you were potentially pretty pooped when you came to the bits that demanded the most concentration and leg power but it looked as if it was going to be a fantastic blast to ride and apart from one rock drop that I wasn’t too sure about I was really looking forward to getting stuck in.

Registration that evening was up at the Snow Goose restaurant with a complementary Gondola ride there and back which was amazing as with the weather being so good, the views of the downhill course and the surrounding mountains were spectacular. Whilst I was doing the paperwork Mr M set about sampling Benromach’s uniquely organic single malt, which he promptly declared, was superb and is now top of his birthday list!!

Race day finally dawned and again it looked like it was going to be a hot one. The venue was now packed full with very friendly folks; bikes and ancillary paraphernalia with the general atmosphere so laid back that it just felt like you’d turned up to a massive outdoor party.

The race briefing was an excellent example of everything being perfectly organised but still feeling spontaneous and before we knew it Mr M was kitted up and jostling in the start bunch for the extended first lap. For long events not having too much of a plan is usually quite a good thing as you then get very used to just making it up as you go along as stuff inevitably happens that you don’t expect so we just took it in turns with the rough notion that it would be great if we could get in ten laps of ten miles over ten hours.

It was unbelievable just how quickly the time actually went by and before I knew it I was waiting for Mr M to come in from his fifth lap for me to do my fifth and our final scoring lap. It was at this point there was a rather large rain shower but it had been so roasting hot all day that I think that most people, me included, were rather glad of the soaking! I was rather sad going round on my last lap as it was so much fun and I wanted to carry on some more but then I started to realise that the rain and the balmy evening had brought out Captain Midge and his thirty billion friends who all wanted me for dinner so in the end I was happy to collect our Benromach miniatures and zoom back to the van to cover up all areas of bare skin!!

Here’s the usual “just finished” shot of a soggy me with my awesome Soda (who was actually much better at knowing what lines to take over the rocky stuff than I was) before I dove into the relative safety of the van.

The post event shindig was a pretty cool affair too with live band and much general jollification even in the face of the all out midge offensive!! There was a huge prize mountain to give out and, rather excellently in my opinion, it was distributed to loads of random riders via a spot draw based on your race number with category podiums having some lovely little memento trophies.

The drive back home was an absolute mare too but I’ve managed to blot out the travelling aspect and I just keep daydreaming about what was for me the best MTB road trip for some while. The event organisation was great; the actual course was great and all the folks we met – especially our neighbours in the car park - were great. I now realise that I don’t actually even know their names but if you happen to be out there then I am sure you know who you are.

Next big bridge to cross for me is 24hrs all on my lonesome at Mountain Mayhem, which will most probably be a very different kettle of fish indeed. I’m really looking forward to catching up with folks that I know will be there and it has the added bonus of being less than an hour from home! Jo will be there with the girlsruntoo goodies and she has promised to make sugar bombs so that should keep both Mr M and myself buzzing the whole night through. Stay tuned for more random stuff about 24hr solo shenanigans in my next update……………

The Great Escape: Wiggle Enduro 6

I’ve done this event solo for the last couple of years so as part of my ongoing plan to do things a bit different this year, it was an exciting change to be stepping out with Mr M in the rather hotly contested mixed pairs category.
]]> I’ve done this event solo for the last couple of years so as part of my ongoing plan to do things a bit different this year, it was an exciting change to be stepping out with Mr M in the rather hotly contested mixed pairs category.

I’m not quite sure exactly how many weather websites there actually are but I am sure that I looked at damn near all of them in the week leading up to this event weekend and they all said the same thing for Sunday - HEAVY RAIN!!!

What I clearly missed in the small print was that an entire day’s worth of rain would actually fall all in one go barely an hour after the finish – how much of a great escape was that huh?!

The forecast meant that we packed everything remotely waterproof as the parc ferme rules mean that unless you are on course you are stuck in your pit for the full six hours come rain or shine and clearly the former is not a terribly fun option without being properly prepared! In the end the only thing I wanted for was suncream, which of course I haven’t even bothered to even buy yet this year…..

Mr M (sort of) volunteered to do the run and first double lap and then unless the heavens opened the plan was for me to double lap next after which time we would single lap to the end and job done.

Here are the usual “bikes waiting for riders” and “riders waiting for bikes” shots before the off……

You might think that racing an event, as a pair is easier than racing it alone but it isn’t really - it’s just different. You have the higher pace and hanging around issues to deal with together with the paranoid clock watching so that you’ll never be the dork who’s not ready when your team-mate comes flying in!!!
The Provelo organisation was as smooth as usual and the course this year flowed pretty well (apart from the couple of horrid plasticine sections) with the descent through the wood awash with the now trademark Enduro6 bluebells. Even in these days of a packed out race calendar this event remains many peoples favourite season opener and there were certainly quite a few famous names to be spotted on course!

The last time I rode here was at SITS 2007 when I was doing my third 24hr solo in just over seven weeks so tackling a six hour as a pair was a welcome change of pace! There were no real race glitches and 11 laps later we were packing away and receiving the bad news from Jo that the batch of sugar bombs she had made were not set before she left. Bummer.

Anyhow here are a couple of final shots of my trusty steed taking a well-earned breather in the pits and my other trusty steed looking a bit spannered after the final lap!!

Next outing as a pair is up at Fort William at the end of May for Ten under the Ben which I am REALLY looking forward to. The last time we rode there was for the National XC Champs a few years ago and as I was a bit of an MTB newbie then, I can remember it being an absolutely terrifying experience. Fingers crossed I don’t break any essential parts of my body I might actually need for Mountain Mayhem!!

Miffy was right…..

My calendar had already warned me that April events were not going to be blessed by the lovely weather that we had last year.

Nevertheless, bikes and ancillary stuff were packed in the van the night before the Merida Spring Marathon at Builth Wells but at 6am the next day we sat in silence, coffee in hand, watching the rain pouring down and Mr M was definitely feeding me the option to wimp out!!

]]> I was quite brave though and we convinced ourselves it would be a good test of bike, kit and body so agreed that after some gruesome muddy event experiences last year this would be the ideal opportunity to find out just how well the Soda’s performed in the welsh mud.

One thing I have missed these last couple of years was that the MTB “marathon” events I did were mostly multi-lapped affairs and my own take is that this format then forces the loss of that “epic” feel that I personally feel a MTB “marathon” should have. Don’t get me wrong, I do also love multi lap events for their own particular persona but I do miss the adventure of an out and back loop when you can be miles from anywhere and have no idea what is coming up or even how far you have to go. This was one of the main reasons we planned to go back to at least some of the Merida events and soak up what is a different experience from the multi-lap event format.

Having experienced the White House Farm parking area after heavy rain before we were pleased that when we rolled up they were suggesting that folks might like to park on the road. The last thing you want to do when you are pooped and caked in mud is to then work out how to get yourself towed out of the parking field.

Despite the soggy conditions the event village was holding up well and there was the usual friendly vibe in the registration tent. By the time we had signed on and caught up with a few friends (including fellow endurance nutter Jezz and AQR team-mate James) it was time to get ready for the off and before we knew it we were zooming through the town in the usual peleton-style to tackle whatever challenges lay ahead.

I’ve done quite a few of these events in the past and it is always difficult to balance the course content to please those that don’t like too much road and those that don’t like too much gloopy forest trails. Looking back on this particular one, there were some forest sections that if you were mid-pack or later you just didn’t stand a fair chance of having a stab at riding as with a whole bunch of wheels already there before you the trail had turned to ankle deep sludge but if you’re not averse to a bit of hike-a-bike then it’s no big deal really other than it slows down your pace a bit. The moorland sections being so wet were totally energy sapping too - not a problem in isolation but combine that with LOTS of steep climbing and a fair amount of hike-a-bike in the mud and you could see why there were plenty of folks out there gradually losing the will the live.

Even by the first feed station I could see that I needed to hugely revise my ride time expectation so I don’t mind admitting that I sneaked some custard creams at the second feed station as a reward for persisting with the long course option. Probably the worst bit I found was when we eventually hit the top of Fforest Fields and I was happily thinking “Woo Hoo not far to go now”. How wrong could a gal be?!?! It was a cruel torture indeed to be turned off the main Builth road not long after we had plopped out of Fforest Fields to do yet another circuit of steep climbs (including more draggy moorland) and then some pretty scary muddy downhills to be spat out not far from where we had originally turned off. Luckily I made some good company for this last section in the form of Dave (who it turns out was actually a road crit racer coached by Torq’s Matt Hart) and we just about managed to stave off exhaustion with lots of good humour and a fab roadie style thrash along the river to the finish.

It was great to finally get to the finish, collect my well-earned tee shirt and catch up with Mr M and James. I even got asked “how was it for me?” by some very nice men from MBUK although I am not sure that I gave a very sensible response!!!!!

Oh yes, my Soda passed the mud test with flying colours, it was brilliant not to have to stop and poke all sorts of icky stuff from here, there and everywhere - definitely the bike of choice for me when the conditions are typical UK gloop.

It was a great sense of personal satisfaction to have completed it in one piece; it definitely gave me that “epic adventure” feeling I was looking for!! Of course as with most endurance events the “enjoy” part usually comes the day after and as expected I woke up the next day rather creaky but already planning to sign up for the next one at Ruthin!!

Event link: www.mtb-marathon.co.uk. You’ll find four choices of distance: 25km, 50km, 75km and 100km so something potentially “epic” for everyone!

Woody’s Round Up…

Time seems to have suddenly flown by with lots of things happening - some good and some not so good - so here follows an entirely random collection of, well, the fun stuff.

Looking back it seems that most of March was actually spent lurking around in various woods either on two feet or two wheels.

Here is one of Mr M’s lovely shots of my Soda and me heading down the local leaf chute. Nothing like hurtling downhill in hub deep leaves not having a clue what might be underneath to add a bit of excitement – well at least you know there will be a nice soft landing!

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Midland Counties 6 Stage Road Relays at Sutton Park

I had a bit of a panic a couple of weeks ago when I realised that I hadn’t really done any running since the Wyre Forest 8 in February AND I was committed to running a leg of the Midland Road Relays for our local club in early April. Eek. Now you might think that running three miles can’t possibly hurt that much but even more acutely so than in biking, running at speed can inflict pain on so many new levels and getting dragged along with a bunch of uber-fast track fit runners at a pace that is way out of your league has the potential to hurt quite a lot actually.

This might explain the look of slight terror whilst getting ready in the back of the van although I was rather pleased to have fourth leg so that the potential to self-destruct wasn’t quite so great!

Luckily I managed to miss the heavy hail showers and paced myself well enough that it didn’t feel like my arms were sprouting out of my ears during the final long uphill. Result!!

2008 Spring Lamb Award

I don’t really want to admit just how many photos of sheep I actually possess (those that have found our Flickr might have an inkling about this) but this is the time of year when I am frantically scouring the fields on my rides to spot qualifiers for Spring Lamb of the Year Award.

Competition was quite fierce and although I won with sheer quantity, Mr M pipped me to the win on sheer quality with this amazing Ride ‘em Cowboy shot.

Bring me the horizon

April is where it normally starts to hot up a bit - not in a weather sense as I can actually see it snowing again out the window as I type – but with events coming up thick and fast.

Apart from another solo outing at Giant Mountain Mayhem, my overall objective for 2008 is to go for different events and formats from years before in an effort to improve my overall speed on the bike in the hope that I can get fast enough to do justice to the events still on my wish list. On the immediate radar are the Merida Spring Marathon at Builth Wells followed a few weeks later by a multisport weekend at the always brilliant Wiggle Enduro Six Hour (this year featuring a 10km off road run on the Saturday) and then nicely capped off a week later by the so-popular-it-sold-out-in-a-few-days Howies Dyfi Enduro. Stay tuned to hear the lowdown on how they went and if you are going along of any to these then please come and say hello.

Oh yes and finally, don’t forget that Jo will also be bringing lots of cool girlsruntoo stuff to the Enduro 6 at Catton Park and run-shop-bike sounds like a pretty good event format to me….

Oldie does Goldie -Mawddach Gold Rush Challenge

When we spotted this event being promoted we thought what a brilliant idea it was that you could come and have a great days riding on some top class trails knowing that just by entering you would be helping to raise funds to help some very good Rotary causes including the Institute of Cancer Research and Wales Air Ambulance. It was a 50km timed event that you could do either as a three lap solo (which I signed up for) or a two or three person relay and for an inaugural event it was brilliantly organised by the local Mawddach Rotary Club, and has to be one of the most friendly and welcoming events that we have been to in a very long time!
]]> We were loading up the van with our only-just-built-last-week shiny new Cotic Sodas on the Saturday in nigh on gale force winds and the Sunday weather forecast for Snowdonia contained phrases like "avoid coastal areas", "extreme wind chill risk", "hail showers", "gusting winds" and "hill fog". Undeterred we were up and on the road before the birds were even awake and after travelling through almost every description of weather we arrived at Coed-Y-Brenin and headed for registration.

We got the Sodas ready for action and I layered up with lots of warm clothes (including faithful Skins top, PI long sleeve and gavia tights) as I knew from riding the Tawr trail before I would most likely be out there for quite a few hours! The event was chip timed and you could start any time in a half hour window so you basically picked a likely little wave of riders and off you went. The course itself turned out to be a real toughie – in my opinion harder than the marathon course last September with some of the fire road sections replaced by tricky single track and evil loose rocky climbs. I was sooooo glad that it was 50km and not 100km!!

It was when we hit the first section of tricky single track (which was actually towards the end part of the Tawr loop but run backwards as a rather nasty twist) that I was totally impressed with the Soda. I had only ridden it for the first time last week at Sherwood and hadn't actually raced a hard tail for several years (being a full suspension endurance type of gal for a while) so I wasn't quite sure what to expect around a course like CYB.

My theory is that if I can master a hard tail around here then that would surely mean that my skills were improving so I just put total faith in my Soda with its super-plush Magura Durins and I was really amazed just how confidence inspiring it was. I'm not generally the bravest person on tricky rocky courses but it just ate up technical sections that I thought I might not be able to clean and it clearly loves climbing, climbing and then climbing some more. I also quite liked the sensation of zooming down loose sections with rocks pinging here there and everywhere knowing that I wasn't losing chunks of paint and carbon :-)

The marshals were brilliant (still smiling despite several hail storms!) and encouraged everyone to give it their all to complete their own personal challenge. Us girlies on course were probably getting more than our fair share of support as there were only a few of us giving it a go amongst the men folk but I hope that this will change for next year when word gets out what a superb little event this is!!!

Just over three and a half hours later I was zooming down to the finish line for the final time and Mr M was there waiting for me, already cleaned up and poised to take the usual unflattering photo of me covered in muck.

Back then over to the café for a well-earned cappuccino whilst we waited for the presentations and the random draw to see who had won the “pot of gold” although the guy who won this had apparently crashed out and broken his nose so maybe not so lucky after all?

All in all it was a cracking enjoyable day and amazingly well organised for a first running. There were some nice touches such as the free shuttle from the registration area to the start for your gear etc, the dedicated parking area, the “pot of gold” draw and the fact that it wasn’t a totally mass start straight into the single-track.

I do hope that more folks will be able to make the trip next year, as it is a worthy way to make a contribution to some good causes by just having a great day out on the trails.

Check out: www.mawddachgoldrush.org.uk
Photo Credit:Mr Miles