Two days after finishing an amazing 10 day, 1200 mile, 40000m ascent ride in the Alps I attempted to defend my 2008 3 peaks cyclocross title...
The ride back from Nice to Annecy took in about 50 cols including Mont Ventoux and some stunning climbs in the Vercours and Charteuse regions. Out of these 5 days of riding there were three days with rides of 147miles, 125 miles and 120 miles, each with at least 4000m ascent, the most with 5500m ascent. The riding was amazing, stunning scenery and inspiring climbs with fast descents.
I was initially in two minds about whether to do the three peaks so soon after finishing cent cols. I am really glad I did. Whilst I suffered a fair bit I love the race it is an amazing mix of running, road biking and fast off-road descending. The going undertyre was fast but I was not - I finished 36 minutes down on my time from last year but with a big smile on my face. I think judging my the smiles on Matt and Morgz faces they had a good time too.
I can't wait til next year already :o)
Wednesday, 30 September 2009
Cent cols and then the three peaks cyclocross - a busy fortnight!
World Orienteering Cup Final - Zurich, Switzerland
GG (Graham Gristwood) and I (Sarah Rollins!) both competed in the World O Cup Final in Zurich over the weekend of 26-27 Sept 2009.
We travelled out on Thursday 24 Sept so we could take in some 'model' terrain on the Friday prior to the races over the weekend. These races comprised a forest middle distance race, followed by the final race of the year - a sprint race in the old town of Zurich city centre. The Swiss are reknowned for putting on great races and they managed to do it again with a tough, fairly technical forest middle race followed by an amazing Sprint Final. The atmosphere in the Sprint Final along the finish funnel, next to the river was incredible with a massive, enthusiastic crowd and a great course dodging in and out of the old city streets.
In the middle race, GG managed a respectable 21st position, only 3mins 02 seconds behind the winner - a very close race. I had a steady run with no big mistakes but found the terrain hard, especially the steep downhills and I succumbed to a large Swiss field, finishing in 35th, over 7 mins down. Not my best result.
In the final race of the International Orienteering year, it was a different storythough. The women ran first and I had a run to be proud of. I finished in 11th spot, just 4 seconds off a top 10 and just over a minute down on the winer. GG piped me again with a fantastic 9th spot although looking through his race later he found a couple of routes that might have taken him onto the podium had he chosen them....but that's orienteering for you....
It was a brilliant weekend set in beautiful sunshine, in a beautiful city with great event sponsorship and set up. This was a race not to be missed!
Sarah Rollins and Graham Gristwood racing for GB in the World O Cup Final - Inov8's are attached at the other end!
Monday, 28 September 2009
team inov-8 17th male, 2nd MU23, and 2nd female at the 2009 3 peaks cyclocross race
There were 3 members of team inov-8 present at the race. Morgan Donnelly, Heather Dawe (who was the first Female in 2008 and this was her 8th start) and me (Matt Brown) which was my first attempt at the race.
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Sunday 27th September saw the start of the 47th 3peaks cyclocross race held in the Yorkshire dales.
The race is 61kms in total with 28kms on the road and 33kms unsurfaced, 6kms – 8kms of which is unrideable.
The 3 peaks is a race on cyclocross bikes around 3 hills/mountains in the area which are Ingleborough (723m), Whenside (736m) and Pen-Y-Ghent (694m).
Most of the off-road sections are over footpaths and/or private land. This means that no training on a cycle is allowed on those sections - it is illegal to ride on there except on the day of the race.
There were 3 members of team inov-8 present at the race. Morgan Donnelly, Heather Dawe (who was the first Female in 2008 and this was her 8th start) and me (Matt Brown) which was my first attempt at the race.
The day was grim with the race organizer making a waterproof mandatory. The weather was supposed to clear later on with temperatures around 17degrees C.
The start was a free for all and I ended up losing a lot of places starting close to the back end of the field. There was a 5.5kms road section before starting the climb up Ingleborough. I took a few places and passed Heather just before starting the climb.
The climb was nasty and soon everyone was running/walking with their bikes on their backs. It was very steep, wet and muddy. My legs were burning already so I decided to hold back and take it easy. I knew the up hills were going to be my worst area and that I could make up the time on the downs and flats.
There was a flat section over the top and then a quick descent onto the first road section.
Next was Whernside. A walk up the rocky path to the summit and then the harsh descent down to Ribblehead. This seemed to be the descent that claimed the most punctures. It was long, hard, and busy.
We then hit the road again where I took on some gels and another bottle. It was quite a good road section catching quite a few people before hitting Pen-Y-Ghent.
The track was ride-able until half way up when it got a lot steeper and rockier. This was good as I’m better on the bike rather than off it. I took another few places (overtaking someone in the MU23 taking me up to 2nd overall!). I was starting to feel it when I got to the top but a quick descent took me back onto the last road section. I could see a rider in front of me so I tried to push to catch him. I started to feel like I was getting cramp in both legs so slowed down slightly and it soon went away. I soon caught the rider in front and rode with him on the last uphill section where I felt like I could do no more. Luckily the other rider bonked also and by the top he was a way off so I pushed it to the finish in a time of just over 4 hours.
I was hoping for a little quicker than this but I suppose it was my first attempt and there’s always next year!
I ended up getting 2nd MU23 overall.
Heather finished 20minutes after me and was the 2nd female rider.
Morgan finished 17th overall in a time of 3hours 20minutes.
My set up for the race was;
Zepnat aluminum frame 52cm all white
4za python forks
Ritchey pro biomax 44cm bars
Hope 90mm stem
Sram rival gears
Fsa gossamer 36/46 170mm
Fsa seatpost and custom inov-8 carbon saddle
Stans 355 29er rims with hope pro3 hubs and dt revolutions
Schwalbe racing Ralph 35mm tyres - tubeless - 50psi front and back
Next year I’ll be riding a single 42t ring up front to simplify things and maybe going for a 36/11 sram xx rear same as Nick Craig’s winning bike. I’ll also be changing my brakes from froglegs to some tekro as they will let me use my trusty old mtb pads and will be easier to set up.
I’ll also run 40/45psi front and back. I usually run 30/35/40psi but decided to go for 50psi to stop the tyres coming off the rim. After seeing the course, it was no worse than what I ride at home, just I didn’t know the course, so now I know what it’s like, 40/45psi should still stop me hitting the rim on most things but will give me more speed on the downs and more traction on the ups.
The tubeless set up worked really well. Not one puncture and I was running 50psi whereas most ran at least 60psi some running 80psi!!!
I’ll be using some thicker bar tape instead of my usual thin ultra grippy stuff. My hands started to feel it after the last descent.
I’ll also be selling my 3 pairs of crank brother sl’s (1 pair brand new and 2 pairs used if anyone wants to buy them?) and switching them to shimano xt/xtr after having a nightmare with clipping in with the new cleats and shoe plates.
All in all, excellent race and I’ll be back again next year as I’m sure Morgan and Heather will be too.
Thursday, 24 September 2009
Busy Month
After finishing the coast to coast, I set off early next morning for the pyranees. I spent a week gently cycling around cols and things and trying to rest but it was all a bit too exciting! The following Sunday was the last race in the Totley AC series of fell races, and as I'd done enough to count I talked myself into doing it....the exterminator is 16miles with 4050ft of climb. I managed the first 10 miles well and then had to crawl the last 6! My legs didn't thank me for that one! I finished 5th in the series and 5th in the race which I was happy with, the races are very fast and not very rough underfoot so not my ideal racing...
I then headed straight up to Scotland for a week of training around Aviemore. I mixed road biking with fell running and orienteering, cycling up cairngorm and then 'running' to the top was great fun! We headed back down the hill fairly rapidly and I got to a new PB speed down that hill of 70.7km/hr. I think there's some more in it, I just need to sort my brakes so I can reach them from my drops with my tiny hands!
Orienteering was good too, after not doing much for a year (apart from on the bike obviously) I started to get my enthusiasm back for foot o. MTBO has really helped with the 'running too fast for my brain' problems I have as you never run as fast as you bike and I've started to have some really flowing and good runs in training. I am planning on doing a lot more orienteering this year and hoping for some good results!
I feel very fit at the moment however I happen to have legs made out of lead. It's time for a few easy weeks, ready for the month of madness in October, with the Ian Hodgeson mountain relays, the FRA relays and the OMM to come!
Hopefully I'll even have enough left for the first open 5!
Tuesday, 22 September 2009
Summer of Success for inov-8
This weekend has seen the final races take place at the Mountain and Ultra Distance Commonwealth Championships in Keswick. inov-8 shoes dominated the line up in the mountain races, with the first five athletes in the men’s ‘Up and Down’ race all wearing X-Talon 212 shoes: Wilson K Chemweno (KEN), Adam Grice (ENG), Billy Burns (ENG), Simon Bailey (ENG) and James Coubrough (NZL).
The Kenyan athlete Wilson K Chemweno completed a remarkable double by taking the Gold in both the ‘Uphill’ and ‘Up and Down’ mountain races. England runners Katie Ingram and Sarah Turnstall won the Commonwealth Gold and Silver respectively in the women’s ‘Up and Down’ mountain race; both of them also chose to wear the X-Talon 212.
Earlier this month, Geoffrey Kusuro from Uganda won the World Mountain Running Championships and yes, you guessed it, he was wearing a pair of X-Talon 212’s – but this time they had come straight out of the box!
In August, the X-Talon 212 was the shoe of choice at the World Orienteering Championships with all but one of the Gold, Silver and Bronze medal winners in both the Men’s and Women’s Sprint Race choosing the X-Talon 212. You could be tempted to think that this concludes a summer of fantastic results for inov-8, but with the British Fell Running Relay Championship next month… watch this space!
photos from Dave & Eileen Woodhead
Macca Wins RoughTracks Triathlon
Billed as the big show down between the 3 top UK Xterra pros, Winning RoughTracks was always going to be tough.....
Tri 24/7 report
Saturday, 19 September 2009
Cent Cols Challenge
From lake geneva to nice and back again!
I'm blogging from Nice on the Cote d'Azur, five days into a 10 day, 1200 mile road cycling event that takes in 100 cols. We have been riding between 100 and 125 miles a day with at least 4000m of climbing.
It has been great so far and hard. Yesterday it was raining and cold - more like the Lake District in winter than early autumn in the maritime alps. Today is a rest day and I have been doing my best to eat loads of food. We have been over famous cols like the Colombiere and Madone and lesser known but still beautiful passes with some amazing climbs and descents. Still to come are classics like Mont Ventoux and the beautiful Verdon Gorge.
The forecast is better for the next few days so hopefully I'll top up my tan a bit rather than having to don my waterproof and winter gloves!
If you are interested you can read a bit more about the route here
www.centcolschallenge.com
Wednesday, 16 September 2009
London City Race 2009
Tuesday, 15 September 2009
Manx End2End MTB Race
I entered this on the recommendation of a friend who did it years ago. In its 13th year it has grown and grown in recent years and this year had a whopping 1050 entries. The Race is a simple format - Start at the northernmost tip of the Isle of Man and race to (almost)the southernmost tip making use of many great tracks across the hills.
The organisers of the race (Manx MTB Club) planned every last detail. There were buses to ferry competitors to and from the start / finish from Douglas. These were accompanied by HGV's for the bikes. There was pre-race food ( not just yer bowl of pasta ) , Post Race food ( sumptuous sit-down meal with elaborate prize-giving ceremony ), event T-Shirts for all and best of all ........fantastic weather. Not bad for £30 !
I really wasn't too sure what to expect as the riders started gathering at the start. Surely there wouldn't actually be 1000 riders in this spot -but there were. Asked to line up in order based on anticipated finish time i edged to the front but was soon edged further back by the teams of top riders who knew exactly what was going on. There'd be a short lead-out by Police outriders to stop total carnage and to help get everybody rolling . After that , it'd be the fastest 12 mile road section i've ever ridden on a mountain bike. ALthough there were no road closures as such it was incredidibly well marshalled and there were literally thousands of spectators along the route. Any road crossings were policed and unless you were incredibly unlucky to hit the 1 level crossing at the wrong time, you'd not have to stop at all.
Flying through the back lanes on the first road section it was all about not hitting parked cars, other riders and bollards in the middle of the road. It was a great relief when things went vertical. A steep raod leading out to the open hillside wasjust what i needed. Things would surely settle down a bit. I'd hung on well to the large front pack and was trying to just pick off one or two at a time. The route used a mixture of bridleways, fire roads and some varied singletrack ( none of which would have been at all easy in the wet ). I felt that i was benefitting from 2 weeks road biking in the Alps - certainly on the uppy bits. The technical downhill bits did lose me some time and then i'd have to go like stink to catch them up again. After 3 hours and 16 minutes i rolled ( slowly ) into the uphill finish . I'd manage to claw myself into 23rd place and was actually very pleased. The winner, Nick Craig ( Pro/Semi Pro Rider - Scott Bikes ) managed a seriously impressive time of 2:47 and was 6 minutes clear of the second rider. So, will i be back next year - Absolutely ! It's one of the best races i've done in recent years and i'd urge anyone to get out there next year. Check it out on Sky Sports in late Oct / Early Nov.
Monday, 14 September 2009
The Petzl Lake District Mountain Trial 09 -Steve Birkinshaw
After a season when things have not gone quite right I was delighted to win the Mountain Trial yesterday. This is a classic race that has been going since 1952 with a very immpressive list of winners including Joss Naylor 10 times and Billy Bland 9 times. The race started at Eskdale YHA this year with a 20 mile course consisting of 8 controls and people starting at minute intervals. The first two controls were the far side of Great How and below Great End. I was running strongly but had not seen many of the top guys. I found a reasonable route contouring round Great End to Sprinkling Tarn and the 3rd control, which was a little tarn on Seathwaite Fell. A lot of the good guys were coming out the way I was going in and I reckoned I was probably just leading. I lost a minute or so by dropping a bit to control 4 (between Glaramara and Allen Crags) instead of contouring a bit higher. 4-5 was the crucial leg all the way to Great Carrs in the Coniston Fells. Do I head for Wrynose Pass and the Three Shires stone or do I head down Mosedale, to Cockley Beck with an even bigger climb up to Great Carrs? I saw all the guys in front of me contouring round Bow Fell going for the first option but I decided to stick to my original plan and go down Mosedale. It was a bit further with a little more climb but much better running. Eventually I reached Great Carrs about the same time as Tom Brunt (who had gone a similar way to me) and John Morgan, John Hunt and Jim Davies (a little behind) who had gone via Wrynose Pass. I had chosen the right route and now I was in the lead by 4 minutes all I had to do was to stick with these other guys. The problem was by now it was really hot and there was not much water around - I was struggling. However, none of the other seemed that keen to go past me and they even followed me when I took a stupid route off Grey Friars down to Seathwaite Tarn. The track round Harter Fell seemed to go on for ages and I could feel myself getting warmer and warmer and I was badly dehydrated but still noone went past. Finally we reached the 7th control all 5 of us together. Then I knew I could do it I just about managed to keep running to the finish where I collapsed in the shade very happy. I was wearing my Inov-8 X-Talons which were perfect for the race (which is why a lot of the top guys were wearing them).
It was a tough event this year but really well planned and organised and with a great atmosphere.
Tuesday, 8 September 2009
Helvellyn Triathlon
One of my favourite races of last year was Helvellyn Triathlon, and so it was that I entered it again this year as a great way to sign off my summer of multisport, before I concentrate on the fells again with the upcoming relays, lakeland classics, and mountain marathons. As with last year the swim in Ullswater was shortened due to the low temperature (11 degrees), but as swimming is my weakest element it wasn't a huge disappointment. As it was I had a really good swim by my standards, managing to pace it just right and avoid the worst of the melee at the start and the first turn. Coming out of the water I was full of excitment at what lay ahead, and also really calm as I knew i'd made a better start than normal. Getting out on to the bike I started steady to allow my legs to warm up, and then worked well up the climb over Matterdale End, I picked up quite a few places here and felt like I was moving well. Onto to the A66 and the undulating section towards Thirlmere I tried to spin a high cadence rather than grinding out too big a gear, to avoid blowing my skinny quads too early in the race. Moving well and feeling really comfortable I climbed well over Dunmail Raise and descended towards Grasmere at top speed, switching places constantly with a couple of other guys. We pushed each other in to Ambleside but going up the Struggle I felt great and worked my way through the field without having to push too hard. My heart rate still seemed to be at a manageable level, my breathing was controlled and there wasn't too much build up of lactic that I could sense. At the top of the climb someone told me I was in 27th place which meant i'd made up about 60 places on the bike. I held my position after a quick, but measured descent of the pass, and came in to transition with a couple of guys and the leading lady, pro-triathlete Emma Kate Lidbury in sight. Out on to the run and I got my run legs back pretty quickly and started to catch a few of the runners in front of me, by halfway up the climb I was upto about 20th and then by the time we reached Swirrel Edge there were 5 of us battling hard. As the wind picked up and the greasy rock made things a bit trickier underfoot the others slowed a bit, but I had absolute faith in my X-Talon 212's and pushed on hoping to get a bit of a gap. It worked well and I made it over the top and along to Whiteside without the group re-catching me. Onto the descent and it was time to put my faith in my shoes, and wave goodbye to any notion of my quads staying in one piece. I went as hard as I could, without risking blowing up completely, and managed to catch one or 2 more that had previously been out of sight. Towards the end I lost one place to Ambleside AC runner Ben Adbelnoor who i'd been incredibly surprised to pass earlier on the ascent of the Struggle. I managed to just about keep him in sight and came home in 15th place, in a time of 3:51hrs. I was really pleased, in fact over the moon would be more accurate, with this given my relative lack of ability in the water, and a lack of consistent run mileage due to recovering from events such as Open 24 & Coast to Coast. All in all, a great day's racing for me, and next year I might give it a proper focus and see what can be achieved. A fantastic race to do, defintely recommended.
Thursday, 3 September 2009
Coast to Coast
