Training wise it’s all good. Feeling very strong (doesn’t everyone say that?!). Had plenty of good rides around the borders. It’s been pretty home grown recently. Had some good days around Newcastleton (one more line trimming lap won’t harm eh?).

Newcastleton singletrack

Oh, and last week I raced xc at Kielder. And won! Here is the account that has been on the team site if you haven’t read it already:

Turn out was reasonable considering the conditions. Around fifty people stood shivering on the start line. One particularly lean looking chap next to me had a Scott Scale with xc racer boy tyres, full lycra strip and pimpy white Sidis. Had he been here before? I chuckled quietly to myself in my 8mm neoprene overshoes, skull cap, buff, merino top, windstopper fleece….. Bang! And we were off…

I had decided that I was going to go hard off the front and hang in there for grim death… Not the most refined strategy but in the end it worked. I swapped places with my man on the start line for a mile or two then we hit the first drag up and pulled away. Up some hair pins and I got the chance to look back and see a chasing group had formed. The first bit of singletrack was spot on, even if mostly uphill. I pushed hard to try and consolidate the lead.

Out of that section, down a fireroad, across a stream and then the real fun began…. about 5 miles on and off of deep snow with slippery landrover tracks cut into it. Being the first rider through meant I had to ‘cut’ a line… It’s a heck of a good job I’ve been practicing in the snow a lot! Weight back. High smooth cadence. Relax… The back half of the course pretty much carried on in this vein. It then dived off down a steep, slushy, muddy slope. Up a fireroad section and down a steeper, slushier, muddier, slopier thing… complete with the blood thirsty photogrpaher in place… A good bit of rooty singletrack and the lap was done. Two more to go.

It was only on the opening stretch of the lap that I got a chance to look back and see who was there. One rider was about a minute behind me. I pushed on hard. Up the hairpins I could look back and see he looked strong. Dig in. Back to the snow section again. The rest of the riders had cut it up a bit now so going was a bit faster but probably sketchier… Lots of dismounts, running, remounts (with the bike in a 6in groove…. tricky!). Some remounts on the ‘wrong’ side of the bike too, a skill I’ve been practicing this winter… and it actually came in useful! (If you want a laugh at your own expense, try it!)

Round lap 2. The Marshalls told me my pusuer was one minute back. Along the straight again and there he was, spinnning away… Flip, I thought I’d lost him… So I put an extra dig in on the climb. Things were starting to hurt now… Into the snow… Problem was from here on it was so technical there just wasn’t a chance to look over your shoulder or you’d be off. So I forgot about him and just focused on the grooves in front of me… Down the uber steep bit and only the forest singletrack to go. Steal a glance back… I was clear.

So I took my first win of the year in my first race. Got to be pleased with that. I used lots of little tricks I’ve been practising over the winter; mounts / dimounts, ’spin ups’ to crest hills, hitting grooves in the snow, improved cornering. All these little things add up to a faster ride.  

Despite living twenty ish miles from my work place (and slightly in the sticks) I’ve been able to get there everyday this week. Yes, it has been ‘challenging’ at times… And I mean REALLY challenging…. The return home yesterday was physically and mentally demoralising as I struggled into driving snow in zero visibility and took nearly two hours to get home…. I felt pretty broken by the time I dragged myself through the door. (One of my work colleagues lives in the same town as me and it also took them almost  two hours to get home by car!).

Now to the point. My choice of vehicle. I bought the frame of this bike years ago. Perhaps the best bike purchase I have ever made. It has been dressed up in all sorts of kit and ridden across all sorts of terrain for a great many reasons:

Big forks + big tyres = steep rocky mountains.

Project 2s + panniers = bikepacking.

Slick tyres + narrow bars + BIG big ring = superfast road commuter.

And this season…. 100ml forks + short stem + mud tyres = superbly stable and fun snow commuter.

A.T.V.

The bike has a superb ride quality, no matter how I build it up. It’s a cliche to say it feels like an old pair of slippers… and it would also be slightly misleading because, whilst familiar, every build has had a fresh and contemporary feel to it. An All Terrain Vehicle if ever there was one. And I’d prefer to take my chances in the rough weather on this bike than in the car….

So what is the frame I hear you say? Well, if you don’t recognise the destickered classic, here is a cryptic clue;

‘In a small sheltered Canadian inlet, tending to oneself’

OK then…… Shuffling swiftly on….

Speaking of design classics, something I’ve meant to post for some time now is a picure of my personalised special 7DS edition Exposure lights; a Maxx D and a Joystick.   

My name in lights

These lights are absolutely superb. Like the steel hardtail they just quietly get on and do the job they were made for. No fuss. No unneccesary features. Purely functional. They have seen me well through the Coast to Coast (in horrendous conditions) and the Worlds. In both instances the last thing I wanted to deal with was light failure.  And they have served me well in the terrible commuting conditions of the past week. I just don’t see how any other light format can be better. Thanks Exposure.

Sometimes the simple designs are the best.

The few days leading up to Josh visiting had been freezing with a nice but relatively thin fall of snow. I had enjoyed some classic rides; singletrack that is usually a wintery muddy mess became rock hard and super fast. Did lots of night riding too. It’s pretty quiet round here generally, so mid evening when it’s minus 5 outside the place becomes yours alone…  One fairly bizarre incident; a huge owl repeatedly swooped down and tried to grab my helmet with the intention of carrying me away! (Note to self; don’t bring Josh here. He might end up in a tree. Ten miles away).

Anways, after a fantastic few days of frozen fun, I anticipated more snowy shredding. Josh arrived and refused an ice cold can of lager. Hell, this boys serious! Next morning I regretted drinking Josh’s portion but was nontheless itching to hit the trails as the sky was crystal clear and there was not a breath of wind.  

We parked across the fell to the south of Thrunton with the intention of crossing the open moorland to enter the back of the woods. Error. The further we ploughed on, the deeper the snow became… The problem was the snow had frozen on top of a foot deep bed of springy heather forming a hard crust that sapped your energy. It also broke across my shins (or Josh’s ankles)  and became quite painful!

Surfing the crust.

Like lemmings we pushed on…. The picture actually shows an easyish bit… It got progressively harder…. and harder. But of course, once in your mire, turning back is no longer an option. The last 50m were the worst… now up to our thighs in heather and snow we dodged the hidden bogs. Well, I see we, I mean ‘I’. Josh ended up with one wet foot. I think he was starting to hate me… a process that would evolve as the two days wore on!

We hit the crags above the woods and one of the best traverses anywhere. Normally. Problem was, at some point in the last day or so it had thawed and then refrozen into glassy ice. On really techy rocky trail. It made a  trail that is super challenging in the dry a nerve wracking concentration fest as we slithered down ice coated rock steps…. If you look closely at this next pic you will see that Josh is acually riding on sheet ice…

Josh ice skating.

Then the descent proper started… Even half rding, half scrambling was hairy as a river had refrozen down the track… We rode the bottom sections no problem though…

Leaving the crags.

After attempting another open trail, the penny finally dropped that ‘exposed’ was not the future so we headed into the woods where the snow and ice hadn’t penetrated. A few of the classic Thrunton singletrack sections and we were done. We had intended a relatively easy day but conditions made this into a real work out and a great test of handling skills.

Of course we had to have the obligatory curry and we settled down to watch a surf film. Josh now wants to be a surfer. I think it was the shots of tropical islands playing tricks on his head after a day in the freezer.

We got up early to head to Newcastleton. The plan was to start at Kielder, ride over Bloody Bush Road to Newcastleton for a lap, and then back over. This seemed more sensible than driving round to Newcastleton as the roads would undoubtedly be seriously icey.

So we set off. It was ridiculously cold. Josh and I are not built for sub zero temperatures. Between us we carry as much fat as a Weight Watchers ready meal. We both whinged like small children as we lost sensation in our hands.  The snow was frozen and rutted. The fireroad climb was gradual to steep in places. Traction was incredibly hard to find but it was great practice blending balance with an even smooth pedal stroke. Well, I enjoyed the challenge… Josh was less enamoured with the snow and at times the air was bluer than our fingertips. However, in this pic Josh looks more ‘focused’ than ‘pissed off’!

Icey rut joy.

We plugged on. It was super hard work and very slow going. The snow got deeper. We reached the start of Bloody Bush Road and it became apparent that carrying on would have been pointless. And it had taken us over an hour to cover ground that would normally take half that. You can see here that there had been a fresh dump of really thick snow;

Bloodybush Road.

 We turned back. It was great fun retracing our tyre marks and riding the ruts. This has long been a weakness of mine (and Josh’s) but I’ve been developing my technique and it really seemed to come together in the snowy fireroad. In fact, it came together so much that I was going pretty quick…. a couple of out of control fishtails and I decided to quit whilst I was ahead….

We nipped back to Kielder Castle for some food and a coffee and felt frustrated that we had not reached Newcastleton. But we had enjoyed a couple of days of ‘unusual’ riding! Not text book ‘training’, but I for one have enjoyed my rides recently because the weather has forced me to practice some techniques that I wouldn’t naturally spend time on. I hope Josh enjoyed his time here and I know he recognised the quality of the riding in these parts even if he couldn’t see the trails! Hopefully he, and the rest of the team will make it up here for some rides before the season kicks off. You can’t beat a bit of Northern Exposure.

Our new team name is Syncros Endurance and our new team blog is http://syncros-endurance.blogspot.com  Our bikes will be pimped up with tasty Syncros finishing kit… fantastic components worthy of the bikes we’ll be riding…. Yep, you’ve guessed it, they’ll be Santa Cruz. Next season I’ll be on board a Carbon Blur.

Now, if you’d asked me, ‘What bike would you be riding if money was no object?’, I’d say a Carbon Blur. Beautifully designed. Perfectly crafted. Functionally as damn near perfect as a mile munching bike can be. And the final build is going to be light… around the 22lb mark. This is no one trick pony either; these bikes can hammer trails in a way that many race specific machines can’t. Perfect for my general Riding as well as my Racing.

When the bike gets built up, I’ll post more info and some pics.

I’m feeling incredibly motivated for 2010. No better way to channel that energy into the trail than through the best race bike chassis on the market. Here’s to the new season.

If you have any questions give Stuart a ring or post a comment here and I’ll get back to you.

You don’t want to bother with those fancy foreign countries with their softie weather… Have a proper ride in The North.

There may even be a some magical recovery drinks consumed (Black Sheep).

In May this year, I rode Tim Woodcock’s Coast to Coast in one hit. Philip Diprose, editor of The Ride Journal, (www.theridejournal.com) heard about my crossing and asked me to write an account for the magazine. I was delighted about this because The Ride Journal had caught my attention as a publication written by riders for riders. I considered it an honour to have my story published here.

Conditions for the ride were mostly horrendous. Black Sail Pass in the Lake District was particularly treacherous. The hill is steep. The weather was desperate. It was dark. My confidence was on the floor. My wheels, however, knew little traction as I plumetted toward the valley floor.

The artist’s illustration created to accompany my story in The Ride Journal portrayed all this intensity so succintly that I was shocked by the clarity and the ‘moment’ came flooding back with an almost perceptible flood of adrenalin.  

The image was created by Paul Bommer (www.paulbommer.com). We have never met . When I emailed Paul to thank him for his excellent work, he was pleased that I had recognised this cartoonish piece of work was based on Black Sail Pass. (I knew it was the case before he stated this).

I found the relationship between my words and his image fascinating. Did my writing portray my emotions in such a way that the words could be ‘decoded’ by a total stranger in another place in the same way that electrical signals can pass through a cable and be ‘reassembled’ into music or an image on a computer screen? In the past I would have said, “No. Our experiences are completely personal and their full context can only be grasped by the individual”.

But the picture slightly changed my perspective. It tapped so deeply into my psyche that I felt my memories had, in some way, guided Paul’s hand. This is indicative of how, in publishing, the writer and illustrator must share common understanding if words and pictures are to join effectively.

Over a cup of coffee I read about a rider I greatly admire; Sally Bigham. Now, the word ‘inspiration’ can often sound all cheesy and cliched and I tend not to use it very often. But pure inspiration is what I feel when I read anything about Sally. An incredible rider. A hard worker in all areas of her life. And not even a whiff of arrogance.

I set off on my commute. Yes, my legs hurt but I kept pushing until the hurt disappeared. (Maybe the pain was in my head). I thought about all the excuses we can make for not becoming better riders; pressures of work. Time. Sponsorship. Not living in the Alps. And I saw them for what they are. Excuses.

This motivational boost I received through reading about Sally was timely.

Thanks Sally.

http://new.britishcycling.org.uk/mtb/article/mtb20090928-Sally-Bigham-The-Exceptional-Realist

Some Relentless stuff later; still waiting to get hold of some pics. Needless to say Josh ‘n’ Dave were wicked in their own inimitable way…

Well, the latest twist for me has been my CX bike.  It’s been in the collection for a while but not really used to its full potential until recently. And I have the perfect trail to use it on. From my home to work there is a virtually unbroken stretch of singletrack that threads its way through a sort of trail Bermuda triangle. Few people seem to know about this route that snakes its way through the back of golf courses, sneaks under alleyways of trees and swoops along overgrown river valleys. It’s about 18 miles long each way. The perfect commute. It’s fun in places on a mountain bike but perhaps a bit too easy. On a CX bike flat out it’s a blast…. Should I really be having this much fun on my way to work….?