http://www.justgiving.com/Richard-Rothwell?fb_ref=fundraising-page-new&fb_source=profile_oneline

Thank you

Took a flippin age to Get Out Of Dodge as the whole of the Haymarket area is currently one way due to loads of road works. The sun was setting and I really wanted to clear the city before rush hour traffic caught me up on my dash into the hills. Besides, I had an appointment to keep.

Thing is, I’ve done this commute before after carefully studying a map. It was over a year ago and I realised as I fumbled my way through the suburbs that my memory was not actually photographic…

Balls. Nothing looked familiar. Darkness was creeping in. It was getting cold. Like really cold…

I was scrambling now, desperate to avoid a rush hour stampede. It was far from perfect but I found the A68. That will have to do. 30 miles of hugging the hard shoulder was not what I had in mind when I decided a long commute would be ‘fun’.

Anyways, as I approached Jedburgh the traffic had thinned right down, virtually to nothing. A water stop at the garage. The attendant asked me where I was going. I weathered the usual ‘are you nuts!!’ reaction. She told me the thermometer was on -5. Didn’t I know it! Stopping hammered home how intensely cold it was; legs and arms seized up. Breath became shortened. What the Hell would the top of Carter Bar feel like?!

If you’ve never ridden a road bike from Jedburgh to Carter Bar, I recommend you do. It’s twelve punishing undulating miles with a summit approach reminiscent of a true Alpine Pass; gnawing gradient, sweeping hairpins, and snaking crash barriers.

Breathtakingly cold. But stunningly beautiful. Crystal clear. Deadly still. A silent star spangled moment on a deserted border hill.

The descent was baltic. Desperately cold, I huddled in a ball, trying to minimise movement as I plummeted towards Catcleugh Reservoir. The blast through the east side of Kielder, Redesdale and Otterburn is high speed swooping fun. The average speed was creeping up… good job; I might be late…

90 miles in and I hit Winter’s Gibbert; the final climb before the ‘time trial’ stretch back to base. Cleared Harwood now. Watching the clock. Half an hour passed. Yep, ten miles to base.

Made it. I stepped though the door, not a minute to spare.

“Ah! Good evening Mr Richard! Chicken Tikka Balti?”

Thanks Abdul. Impeccable timing and service as ever!

However, like many endurance riders, I also spend substantial amounts of time on the road bike. Northumberland has some of the best road riding in the country, with quiet roads, long steep climbs, and technically challenging descents. Riding on the road is far from boring round here! As I am currently knocking out some mid to long hilly rides, the first set of new Schwalbe tyres to come out of the box was the Duranos in 25c.

The tyres are designed for high mileage use but still feel nice and fast. They are also very comfortable, but the outstanding aspect is the degree of control, particularly in the wet and on gritty broken roads (a hallmark of Northumberland). These are the best winter tyres I have used to date and have vastly improved my confidence on tight flat corners as well as sweeping high speed descents.

And next week I have a Friday meeting in Edinburgh. So I bought a single ticket. Be rude not too. 100+ miles home over the borders in the dark. I’m confident these tyres are up to the job.

I’m riding a number of road sportives this summer when I’ll be running my Ultremo ZX. More on those and the mountain bike range later.

Many thanks to Schwalbe.

The Snapper was kind enough to pass on a vast number of shots that didn’t make the cut. Here are some of my favourites. Over to you, Andy MacFlandish : )  

In April my mother died, following a relatively short but horrific battle with cancer. What she endured in those horrible months was unthinkable. The selfless bravery she faced the hopeless situation with was incredible; I saw qualities in her I never knew existed and very few possess. RIP Madge - we lost an amazing mother and many others lost a great friend. 

Perhaps the greatest sadness for her, myself and Charlotte was that our son was due at around the peak of the crisis and sadly they did not meet. In the emotional roller coaster that was 2011, the high followed the low and James was born. I hope he inherits my mother’s easy going and open personality. Already, at 5 months old, he smiles and laughs a lot… That’s a good sign!

Of course, this all happened in the run up to the UK24. Through the haze of emotions (and the trips too and fro from my mother’s home in Spain) I continued to train hard. In retrospect, perhaps too hard…. I buried myself in riding; maybe it helped me cope with the iceberg my mother was heading for. Alongside supporting Charlotte in her pregnancy I put in ridiculous hours on the bike (and often at ridiculous times of day or night!). My mother passed away 2 weeks before UK24 and despite my better judgement, I did it anyway. I was disappointed with my performance, (and I mean no disrespect to anyone ahead or behind me in the field) but it provided me with a catalyst for change.

I decided to peg back the training and really concentrate on focused quality riding. The Glentress 7 was raced on the back of UK24 but on very little volume riding (and one week after James was born!). I was delighted to win, simply because it was a superb course that rewarded ‘mountain bikers’ as oppose to pure fitness machines. And I didn’t win by much… meaning it was tense right to the end. Just the way a good race should be!

I was also pleased with a fast finish in the 106 mile Northern Rock Cyclone soon after. Despite soloing it the whole way I made the 5th fastest time, only a few minutes adrift of a bunch who had worked together. The focus on quality was paying dividends as I got stronger as the year went on.

There was also The Whinlatter Challenge in March, where I took a closely fought 4th, and there have been some great Kielder Marathon races throughout the year which, whilst not producing deep fields, have produced some great courses, some hard efforts from me and a couple of wins.

Selkirk CRC Marathon was another great day. Beautiful sunshine, AMAZING course and happy legs produced one of my better rides that was frustratingly scuppered by cramp and a snapped chain. Despite these issues, I pulled it back to 4th finisher and thoroughly enjoyed the epic riding.

My second LOOONG target of the year was The West Highland Way Double. What a beast of ride! And I nearly cracked it, only to be undone at the eleventh hour by some poor decisions and an unfortunate chain of events. Still, an amazing experience and a challenge I will return to and complete next year. All of that riding will be done again, JUST to bolt on the last tantalising few easy miles….

This was the last big one before the Kielder 100 which I really wanted a good result in. I got it, taking 5th overall and winning the vets class. This was especially encouraging because, not for the first time this year, areas for improvement were glaring in retrospect and lessons have been learnt.

So that was 2011. Of course there are much bigger things in life than racing bikes – like making sure James has the best start in life…. and that Charlotte gets through the start! But the thing I love about riding and racing is it’s there when you are happy and it’s there when you are sad. A bit like alcohol but without the payback.

Onwards and upwards. I’m feeling in great form and hope to build on what was probably my most rounded season. The new season will open quite shortly actually… In February I’m pairing with Ant White and racing the Tour of Andalucia mountain bike stage race. Wahoo! Can’t wait!(It’s also doubling up as a first family holiday. No Disney Land nonsense for James!)

Such a shame we won’t be able to drop down to the Costa and share a brandy or three with Madge afterwards. We will definitely be raising our glasses though.

Thank you to my excellent sponsors and supporters for some superb equipment and assistance this year:

M Steel Cycles

Enigma frame builders

Exposure Lights

Mt Zoom

Lezyne

Union Room web design

SatMap

Breezeblockers

Bertie Maffoon’s Bicycle Company

Here are some highlights:

The Alloy Drive mini pump is the best mini pump I’ve ever used. Not only is it beautifully constructed, it has recycled some old road technology to great effect. The pump harbours an ‘ABS Flex Hose’ (like old style road pumps – the seperate flexible hose screws into the pump body) which has a high pressure fitting on one end and car valve on the other. This is useful for me when I’m guiding as it is far less fiddly than the faff of banging the pump head off the floor to dislodge that little plastic thingy and swapping it round… It’s also very good for high pressure valves because it reduces the stress on the valve and eliminates the chance of snapping it.

Air flow is also high and a good compromise between pump size and air volume capability for mtb use.

I’m also using two different Lezyne bags; the large capacity Great Divide and the more ’standard ride’ Svelte.

The Great Divide is a larger pack than you would use on most mtb rides. However, it has proven very useful when guiding, (carrying First Aid kits and extensive tool kits) and on a recent What Mountain Bike photo shoot, which involved two long days out in ‘local’ weather and ‘limited’ facilities! (i.e ‘crap’ and ‘nowt for miles in every direction’).

The bag is very robust and hence no lightweight, but when fully loaded it is incredibly comfortable. It’s a cliche but you can’t actually feel the pack itself. Of course the weight doesn’t disappear but the fit system distributes the pack perfectly across your back; a removeable aluminium ribbed insert can be moulded to fit the curve of your spine.

The bag also has labelled compartments for tyre levers, pumps, money, mulit-tools etc. and once you get in the habit of actually putting things in the right place (mental retraining required!) it’s far quicker than the usual blind ‘bran tub’ rummaging….

The Svelte is the pack I’ll reach for on the more ’standard’ missions. It is light, equally well organised, and has enough capacity for even an inclement winter ride. It also has a (slimmed down) mouldable back plate and a removeable waist strap (a personal thing but I actually prefer this to stop the pack ‘jumping up’ when on steep but fast descents).

Road and Mtb saddle bags follow the organisational theme with seperate pouches for the essentials; the slim road bag is just the right size for a tube, tyre levers, patches and one of the high quality Lezyne minimal multi-tools.

For more info on Lezyne products go to www.lezyne.com

The room was full of well healed polite humanity enjoying a cosy Sunday as the rain lashed hard against the windows. Around the peripheral of my thousand yard stare I sensed people looking at me in a puzzled, slightly uncomfortable manner, trying not to catch my eye.

I did my best to avoid any conversation starter. A slightly intrigued couple repeatedly smiled, perhaps keen to elicit why or how I had came to be there, alone, hollow faced, dressed funny, and with glazed vacant eyes.  Angry with myself, I had no desire to recount the conversation stopping escapade nor reconsider the incident pit that had so suddenly opened up to end play. 

One more hill. Some easy miles on lanes and leisure paths. That’s all that was left. All it would take to complete this massive task. This was meant to be the warm down, the final march home after the hardest graft had been done.

Stepping out to the van, I started shaking uncontrollably as the elements battered me one last time. The shock of the cold and the rain confirmed what I already knew; I had made the right decision.  I had been left with no option but to end my attempt on the West Highland Way Double at the eleventh hour. The disappointment was almost unbearable but broken I was not. It’s the journey that matters.

It was an incredible ride. Triumph and tragedy. Extreme joy and deep despair. Effortless progress and torturous shackles…

To find out what transpired on this intense 28hr journey make sure you get your hands on a copy of Privateer in December:

http://www.rouleur.cc/privateer

There will be loads of info on the route as well as my ride. In addition there will be superb photos from Gordon Harrison.

The ‘darkest moments’ evoked memories of one of my favourite ever films…..

I was also well rested, confident in my kit, and very focused. I felt calm despite a stacked field. Friday night came and I hooked up with Ant and did the usual “I thought my bike was perfectly ready but it still needs an hour of faff” ritual. After a bit of social catch up we then headed to the Calvert Trust for the night along with, amongst others, Andy McClure from Steels who was also riding the next day. Matt Jones had very kindly fitted us in to his Killer Kielder challenge HQ and it was a great relief to have a warm bed before the Kielder 100 as opposed to the usual midge infested / blokes farting all night in the next door tent / cold damp experience that typified the first two years. (Matt is still collecting after completing his epic challenge – for more info go to http://www.justgiving.com/killerkielderchallenge The Calvert Trust is a very worthy cause and do some fantastic work at Kielder).

Anywho, after a good few hours kip, we were up at 4:30…. Grim death. Muesli was forced down protesting throats and super strength coffee created a weak pulse. This is always the hardest part of the Kielder 100…

On the start line the atmosphere was the usual gallows humour as the misty rain seeped to the skin and the midgies nibbled… I caught up with Andy Fellows (Ay-up lights) from Oz who I’d met at 24hr Worlds in Canada. He was probably wondering how he’d ended up in this awful predicament… Dan Treby (Singular) was his usual chipper self (little damps his enthusiasm) and the front rows were full of numerous strong riders including last year’s winner Andrew Cockburn and the pre-race favourite Ben Thomas… And of course competing with Ant (Cannondale / Mt Zoom) in the Vets was always going to be a big ask… This was going to be a tough race.

Off we went. After the long lead out a very big group formed. Mud and grit flew everywhere. In seconds my glasses were caked and I had to suddenly whip them off to avoid running into the next rider. Things calmed slightly and the group lined out.

A short while after we hit a climb. I sensed this was a key moment. One of the guys in front of me was struggling a bit with the pace. Suddenly the front riders ahead of him (including many of the favourites) sprung a substantial gap. Right, split second decision – I jumped out from behind the slowing rider and redlined it. This was the break and I had to make it. A minute or so later I’d bridged the gap and looked back to see only one other rider had come with me. My competition in the Vets class (Ant / Mark Spratt / Adrian Laurence) hadn’t jumped the gap. This was good.

We tanked along working well as a group – sometimes one line, sometimes two but all he while I could feel we were pulling along well. So it continued. Twinges of cramp meant I had to ease of a bit and yo-yoed of the back once or twice. Mechanicals and feed station stops disrupted the group somewhat but a core of eight or so remained.

This gradually broke up further. Andy F dropped off. Andrew C had mechanical problems. Greig Brown punctured. Mike Blewitt had a comedy moment down a grass slope when his brakes totally failed and he had to throw himself off his bike! He saw the funny side though!

Then suddenly I was on my own. Weird. Just can’t really remember what happened! I knew that 4 riders were ahead of me. And not by much. Heading into to Newcastleton I felt great.

Everyone will have had a ‘bad bit’ / mechanical issue (I had given up on worrying about my brakeless / squidgy tyred bike by now) that lost them time. Mine happened in the Newcastleton trails…. Suddenly the world just started spinning. Noooo! I hadn’t eaten in a while and I seriously bonked. Like I just couldn’t push the pedals. At all. I stopped and downed 2 gels / 1 caffeine gel / half a pint of drink. Bugger! It was going to take a good 15 mins for this to kick in. I limped on and finally rejuvenated but I was conscious i’d made a mistake I could be punished for…

Normal service resumed. But then at Lewisburn Tom Stewart (Doncaster Wheelers) flew past me. I had no reply and decided to not  risk trying as I had no food left for the last testing climbs. I just wanted to make sure Ant didn’t catch me…. Surely he won’t?…

I’d seen a dark figure at the bottom of a long climb a bit earlier on and for some reason thought it was Andrew C…. On the final climbs I looked again. Shit! The distinctive, “I can smell your blood” head bobbing meant only one thing… it was Ant! 

I rode the last two climbs on pure adrenalin. The big descents were super sketchy with virtually no stopping power… Just Don’t Crash!!!! To my great suprise I didn’t! Hurrah! Ant rolled in 40 seconds later. Over 100 ‘eventful’ miles. What an epic race! Giles Drake came in 4 minutes ahead of me and apparently crossed the line and threw up! He went on to race xc the next day! Respect! And what a superbly controlled ride by Ben Thomas – he was in a different class.

I’d won the Vets and placed 5th overall. I’m not going to lie – this was a major result for me in a very strong field. A slight change in focus has paid off and I’m really keen to do more 6 to 8 hour events… Come on race organisers!!!

Ant was the first person to shake my hand. He is a true gent and has been a massive inspiration to me (and countless others no doubt) over the last few years. He has selflessly shared many of his ‘racer’s tricks’ and his sheer do or die approach means he never gives in. This is why, over the last few years, he’s racked up a results sheet that most of us can only dream of.

It’s a real shame one of us had to come in second. I’m just glad that this time, it wasn’t me ; )

The National Cross Country Championships was always being to be a tough race. Being dead last on the grid made a mountain into erm, something bigger and harderer. I stood in the holding pen as it emptied feeling like the kid who hadn’t been picked for the football team…. Right from the back, I knew a high finish was going to be a huge ask. Having ridden no points events I couldn’t complain though. Off we went and I hit the first bottleneck as the field squeezed and slowed through the first fence. Up a steep climb and I picked through a few places. The descents were super steep and technical - here I ’should’ make up ground… but hold ups and bodies everywhere resulted in frustratingly slow progress made worse by the knowledge that the fast guys would be accelerating off into the distance.

It took about two of the four laps to get clear track. Despite picking off a few more places it was clear I was not going to be in the mix for a top five, which had been my original goal. Oh well, in retrospect I realised that 13th from the back row wasn’t so bad and I’d learnt a valuable lesson; if I’m going to do any more xc I need to get up the grid, especially at that level.

Next was the Selkirk CRC Marathon. Hadn’t done this in years and just fancied it purely on the basis that it’s a flippin ace ride. The weather was absolutely perfect; sun had followed a few days of rain and northerly winds which always produces clear air and fantastics views. And you don’t get views much better than the fell tops around Selkirk.

Off behind the pacing car. I felt good. Sat at the front and car pulled off. I just eased into a steady pushing pace and got my head around the pleasant thought of a fast day in big hills. Just got my head down and dug in. Then after a solid ten minutes of climbing I glanced back… to see I was totally on my own with a bunch about 5om back. Marvelous! I held my lead for about two hours and continued to feel bang on. And then totally out of the blue… cramp! I was bloody furious! I hadn’t felt like I had over exerted – perhaps it was hotter than I realised. Riders streamed past me. I got really hacked off as I was glued to spot. I think I may have even started swearing and screaming at inanimate objects, like trees, and my now useless legs.

Anywho… I recuperated and set back on the chase. Which went really well actually. On Minch Moor I caught sight of the leaders again. Big effort – legs working properly again. Maybe I can pull this ba… SNAP! went my chain and it slithered off my drivetrain onto the floor…. Bugger! Knowing that the lead was gone I calmly sorted the chain and just aimed to get around the course with a shortened chain and no more mishaps. And I really enjoyed the last few hills. In fact I was flying and finished with plenty left. 4th finisher was pretty good considering, but I would have loved to be first finisher; Selkirk Merida was one of the first Marathon rides I did some years back (and I finished considerably further back!) so to have got the fastest ride would have meant a lot to me. Oh well, the form is there and I left Selkirk feeling well happy after a great day in the hills.

Next big trip was this weekend gone; West Highland Way / Fort Bill road trip with Ant White and Chris Pedder. (Heck my wife’s good to me!). Day one was Tyndrum to Fort Bill along the WHW to stay with my main Scottish Man Dougie Pryce (who, as ever, provided Great Scottish Hospitality by the bucket load. He even washed our clothes after we rode. That’s fancy livin’) the next two days were spent riding the Nevis Range including a beautiful if non technical singletrack route out to Spean Bridge. Kind of reminded me of Life Cycles, which we had watched the night before. Dougie’s knowledge of the area is so good that he always takes me to fantastic little corners I would never find myself. Cheers mate!

So after a great long weekend we made the long trip back and the ideas started to crystalise… The WHW Double. I had considered it in the past, following my 2009 UK Coast to Coast ride. But the idea lay dormant in the back of my mind. After riding half the route, I suddenly realised that I really want to, no have to do it. OK, it’s not a race but it’s a fantastic, technical, beautiful and edgy challenge. My UK Coast to Coast ride still remains perhaps the most amazing experience I have ever had on a bike and the desire for an ultra distance wilderness ride needs satiating once more. Who wouldn’t want to ride through Glen Coe in the midlle of the night with (hopefully!) starry skies and deer’s silver eyes blinking on the fells that surround you? The black of the mountains and rocky cliffs blocking out the sky; invisible but you can feel the gravity bearing down on you. The Devil’s Staircase; next time I’m there it will be late September, the night will be creeping in and the adrenalin of a surreal night will start to course through my blood….

‘Fun’. Endurance Riding. Let’s not beat around the bush. Many of you ‘old hands’ will smile wryly at this pairing of words. We all know that endurance riding is not just about fun… It can be just plain tough. It’s often boring and frustrating. But it’s also very exciting and satisfying to step over the mark and keep pushing when you feel toasted.

In my job, as satisying as it is, I don’t often get the opportunity to really show children what this means beyond the odd slide show and tall tale. We do lots of leisure rides and skills sessions for example, but nothing portrays that feeling of seeing a wall of a road in front of you when miles from home, or staring down a valley, wondering just how fast you can go in a good tuck.

There are many reasons why less school children get to have these experiences than would really like to. Other less challenging activities often competing for their attention. Health and safety. Liability.  And, lets be honest, many parents and teachers without the knowledge or interest to make it happen.

Step in Mike Bell, head teacher of Morpeth Road Primary School in Blyth, Northumberland. I have worked with the school for the last year and Mike has been incredibly enthusiastic about cycling generally and my intervention with the school. He discovered the joys of cycling quite late in life and has recognised it as a valuable focus for the school; not just the children but the staff as well.

It has long been a dream of Mike to take a group of yr6 children (ten and eleven years old!) on the Coast to Coast, Workington to Tynemouth, all 130 miles of it. In just four days! (I admit to being unsure whether this would be possible!).

Along with Blyth Valley Arts and Leisure, school staff, and M Steels Cycles, we all pitched in to make it happen. With the arrival of our son, I couldn’t spend the week away so on Tuesday I drove over, and left my car in Keswick to ride the two ‘big’ days with the group who had left Workington on Monday.

Tuesday was forty miles. The sting in the tail was the ascent of Hartside. All 1900ft of it! Remember, many of these children have legs like spelks, were wearing plimsols (we provided a great deal of kit but couldn’t provide everything) and riding good quality, but still relatively heavy mountain bikes. And they had already ridden twenty five miles to start the seven mile climb…

There was a lot of pushing done. A lot swearing (that was just the teachers). And a lot of what we would call ‘digging deep’! But they eventually made it. Exhausted but elated. (See; Endurance Riding).

After an overnight in the Youth Hostel at Alston, the second day loomed. Very few protestations were heard at breakfast, which was encouraging as the day had two killer climbs by anyone’s standard; out from Nenthead and over to Kilhope, and up Crawleyside Bank (the National Hill Climbing Championships has taken place on here)  to join the Waskerley Way. Yet again, despite plenty of complaining and convincing “I’m going to die” statements of fact, nobody threw in the towel and refused to go on. Very impressive.

After cresting Crawleyside, we had the fun swoop down to Consett for the day’s end. They only then had the twenty five miles to Tynemouth to complete on the Thursday, which was dispatched with ease. Needless to say the group was greeted like heroes at the school in the afternoon.

This left me in Consett to make the return eighty mile trip to Keswick to pick up the car…. It was a beautiful late sunny afternoon. I returned via Blanchland, Edmundbyers, Allenheads, Alston, Penrith, and Greystoke. A classic ride of incredible scenery and big climbs (and that’s what I call a perk of the job!). As I climbed past Kilhope Mines it reminded me what tough ground the group had covered….

A great week and a fantastic achievement. We talk about ‘heroes’ of our sport; Mike Bell is right up there in my mind. Not many head teachers would have taken on such a big responsibility and pushed children to do something so edgy, raw and challenging. He retires in three years time; I wish I could be on the interview panel for his successor. One of the essential criteria would most definitely be, ‘Must be prepared to continue the relentless promotion of cycling at the school, including the annual yr6 Coast to Coast trip’.

It’s also worth mentioning that the ride was also a great challenge for Mike, the other teachers, and the Blyth Valley staff; it was a tough ride for most people at any age.  

And big respect to the children for being real Endurance Riders. It was a real achievement to be proud of. They may not realise it now, but that experience will stay with them for the rest of their lives. Hopefully some of them will fall down the slippery path of Endurance Racing….. I know they can do it!