The retention system locks onto your head firmly but very comfortably.  Even without the leatherette chin strap fastened you would do well to shake the helmet off. Incidentally, I read on some forum posts that people had concerns about wearing Oakleys with the Kask; my Jaw Bones fit very well with the retention system.

In moulding wraps around all edges meaning that the lid should stay in good nick for some time to come. Venting is excellent and weight is very good for such a robust design with ‘proper’ straps and fittings – 220g in medium.

Needless to say my old helmet has been consigned to the spares box… The Mojito is a new favourite bit of kit. I especially like the profile of the helmet – it is much less bulky than many other brands.

(hmmm… think I might patent my ‘protective headwear storage system’….)

Anyways, they also sent me the two varieties of Chapeau chamois cream; one is mentholated which I like. It’s erm, surprisingly refreshing. Which is a bit weird… Friends no longer shocked and stunned that you shave your legs? Well, ’re-raise’ their eyebrows with the intriguing news that you also spread mint cream on your backside! Then laugh heartily as you pound out mile after mile with a minty fresh blemish free and happy arse!

Thanks Velobrands!

Despite feeling rubbish I maintained a small but defendable lead at Kielder… half an hour to go and disaster – split tubeless tire. I lost the lead bodging it and trailed by a minute or so. Shouldn’t be a problem. But my makeshift repair didn’t hold and I had to stop on a couple of occassions just to keep the tire up – game over. I limped in but held on to 2nd. Well done to Michael Coward from Guisborough MTB for being close enough to take advantage and the win.

And it knocked me for six….No more riding until I’m sure I’m 100% right. And then I’m leaving it a bit longer. Maybe I’ve been very lucky in the past but I’ve never had a lingering bug like this ever.

So no Fred. I’m devestated about this – you may have read that I have been raising money for MacMillan Cancer Care in memory of my mother. And I’ve raised a fair bit thanks to some very kind people. The ride meant a lot to me. I had also wanted to pitch for one of the fastest times so double disappointment. Well, I am defering till next year and keeping my Justgiving page open. If you have donated money I hope you are happy with this.

The following weekend is the National Marathon Champs at Selkirk… this (was) my other big target. I had intended to go all out for the vets title (now that would REALLY be something to win!) but it looks like it will now be a more social ride if I am lucky. A good result would have required very focused quality training.

Not all doom and gloom; the season has two distinct halfs and there are some great races coming up mid summer. Just need to be sure I’m properly recharged; you never know backing off may help me come back stronger.

Anyways, we sauntered down to the start. I missed my sign on and contemplated tomorrow night’s curry choice. Then we wobbly trackstanded / slow raced down the high street and we were off. Bam!

And I felt pretty good. So good in fact that I went to the front quite quickly and pretty much stayed there on and off for about 7 hours. Weeeee! This was fun! With a banging new James Zabiela set on my MP3 and my wicked Superfly 100 I just had loads of fun riding my bike fast. Actually it was probably the most fun I’ve had in a long haul race for a long long time. I knew it probably wouldn’t last but I really didn’t care. I kept telling myself to back off a bit but the legs weren’t listening.

The inevitable happened – Dave Powell and Matt Page passed me (at about hour 9 or ten I think?) and then on the 10th lap, the great White Ant went past and I couldn’t respond. There goes the vets win. Hey Ho! I’d had a lovely time.

So I ended up 4th overall and 2nd vet. Not bad. And strangely, not too disappointed. OK, a bit disappointed. But attacking a race like that was a breath of fresh air and I genuinely enjoyed the course, the competition, and the atmosphere. I plan on adopting this race strategy more often in the future and I’m confident that one day it will stick. If anything, it ensured that Ant worked for his coaster ; )

Great respect to Dave Powell. It’s been obvious for a long time that he had ‘a proper good one’ in him for some time. What a day to pull it out the bag and take a big win.

Thanks to Dave from M Steels and Sean from Bertie Maffoons for looking after me and Ant. And thanks to Charlotte for yet again putting up with this nonsense. We brought our son James too; it was his first long haul race. He was in bed by 8. Work needed there then…

His idea was this; there are essentially two types of consumer and he used the DIY store scenario as an example. Some people go to B&Q (for example) to buy a drill. They might consider the features of the drill, the ’spec’, the weight, the ‘finish’ of the product, the brand etc.

However, some people aren’t particularly interested in ‘The Drill’. What they are interested in is The Hole that the drill makes. Does it matter what the drill looks like, when what you really want is a neat and clean hole in the wall?

This idea has helped me decide in so many purchasing situations! (Particularly stuff I hate spending money on…. like drills! Sorry, hole makers!) It’s made it easier to choose the right product and rationalise why I’ve sometimes needed to spend more (or less) than I originally anticipated.

Thinking about mountain bikes and mountain bike equipment….. Take my superb Exposure lights – I’m not interested in what they look like (even though they do like nice!) what I really want is 10 hours of bright, even, and dependable light. My Specialized shoes? All my energy into the cranks and comfortable feet after hours in the saddle please. My pump? What I’m really interested in is a quickly inflated tyre….

Now then, for 2012 I needed to choose my bike. What did I want from the bike… ?

It must roll quickly over rough ground.

It needs to be light and energy efficient.

Has to be comfortable.

Needs to climb fast and descend confidently.

So based on this checklist, I made my decision. The 2012 Trek Superfly 100 Pro. A fast, light and efficient endurance machine. Full carbon frame. 2×10 SRAM XX. SID XX front and Fox Kashima rear shock. Super reliable hand built Stans / Hope wheels from Bertie Maffoons Bicycle Co. Fast and grippy Schwalbe snakeskin Racing Ralphs. Nice!

(I’ll tell you what though, if drills looked this good, I might actually get interested in DIY ; )

Many thanks to M Steel Cycles.

Standing on the start line in lovely warm sunshine, most of the usual attendees were in position. Minus Rob Jebb…  Feeling positive, the win was a possibility… However, I was also wary of the Keswick Mountain Bike lot and other Wheelbase riders, as well as Greig Brown (Dooleys Cycles). We’ve torn into each other on several previous occassions, in a friendly kind of way you understand.

And then with ten minutes to go, who should appear but Neal Crampton. Hmmm… The New Favourite. Anyways, off we went; the first selection in this race is always the long climb out of the blocks.

Very soon, Neal, Greig and I had formed a break and accelerated away from almost all the chasers. Nice. The start is crucial in this race because there is so much tight singletrack. Greig was descending superbly and the pattern became Greig pulls away slightly on the descents, Neal and I reel him back soon after.

Despite my incredible new Superfly Pro 100, I wasn’t descending brilliantly; it will take a while to get the bike set up correctly before I hit full speed downhill on the techy sections. However, it is a ruthless climbing and swooping  machine and I felt comfortable holding both Neal and Greig. We worked well together, taking turns and sharing some light hearted chat. It was hard to be ‘head down’ on this one; the weather was incredible, the trails are superb and the views incredible; looking out towards Skiddaw it struck me that there are few races in the world with a view as good as that!

Back to it. After about two thirds of lap two, completely out of the blue, Greig er, blew. He virtually ground to a halt. A real shame as he had been so strong throughout. Just at that point Neal put in a very well timed acceleration. Perhaps the sudden shake up of the status quo threw me but I didn’t react in time to Neal and a 30 second or so gap opened up. And so it remained. (We all got lost just before the finish but that’s another story).

Tight and exciting racing indeed. We all rode a hard pace throughout and I was pleased with my result. Yes, I’d love to have won this one but Neal was quicker when it counted. End of.

All the places received generous vouchers for Altura clothing from Whinlatter Bikes. Much appreciated. Oh and everyone got a mug. Good heavy ones that make your tea taste even more magical. Happy days.

I’ll be back to try again next year. Love this race. Sorry, ‘Challenge” ; )

Well, try multipling that by 10,000….

Oh… Erm… Actually…. Hang on a minute…

Kerblam! Andalucia Bike Race here we come!

Again thanks to Schwalbe for supplying me with the perfect tyres for the event. I’m running Racing Ralph 2.25 with Double Defense casing. Sort of like a half way house between a standard tubeless ready (risk of tyre slashes on fast and sharp Spanish rocks) and a UST (too heavy for racing).  They role super quick and rail a corner nicely, especially given the slightly lower pressure that you can run them at compared to a standard tubeless ready set up. Nice.

The whole family flies on Friday. And Ant. Does he know what he’s let himself in for?  : )

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 : )