Get Cross - cx skills course

Thinking of riding the Peaks this year? Already riding but want to go faster? Wanting to get into cross? Myself and Dave Haygarth are teaming up with MTB legend Ed Oxley to help you brush up on those cross skills - Get Cross:

Get Cross: A one day course to improve your cyclocross skills

Ed Oxley brings his extensive knowledge from countless mountain bike skills courses to teach betterbike handling.  Ed has taught hundreds of riders better bike handling and brings out the best in everyone.

“The best money I’ve spent on a mountain bike was learning to ride it properly. By the end of the morning I was riding stuff properly that I would previously have balked at. Highly recommended”

Alan Dorrington and Dave Haygarth join Ed to look at applying those skills to a race day.  Shaving seconds off every bend, climb and descent is not just about being the fittest. This part of the course will look at the recce, the race line, and how to apply Ed’s flowing riding skills when under the pressure of a race. Shaving five or ten seconds per lap in a ten lap race is worth a great deal, so put the turbo down and let’s learn to ride smart.

To book please contact Ed ed@great-rock.co.uk or 07939 205563

Saturday 10th September at Lee Quarry, Bacup

Cost £70 

Bull Hill. Revisited.

Tues 12 July

The monkey is off my back. Following a slightly harrowing introduction to Bull Hill'ing this summer, Tuesday's attempt was fruitful and manageable. 3 laps with the effort spread evenly and less of a bewildering overload of discomfort.

I'll settle for that.

Starting to get back that feeling of last year when it became almost normal to be doing it:

Bull Hill

Friday 9 July

In terms of synonymy, Bull Hill and the 3 Peaks have one of closest relationships present in my cluttered mind. Geographically apart, diverse in scale in all aspects, they still manage to have this peculiar intertwined relationship for me - the one giving rise to the other in so many different ways.

Let me explain further. Whilst Bull Hill has been there for some time longer, an innocuous moorland hill on the first of the northern hills above the Manchester basin, 'Bull Hill' is the slightly more recent invention of blog regular Dave Haygarth. In looking for somwhere to train and replicate the demands of the 3 Peaks (or so I assume), Dave looked out of his house at the glowering hillside above him and went out to uncover a small circuit of unsurpassable simplicity, relevance to Peaks terrain and sheer pain.

What it lacks in length, the Bull Hill circuit makes up for in intensity. I wrote about it's peculiar charm last year describing the circuit thus:

'...a warm up on a monster climb up onto the moor – a descent down a shattered river bed (under 6 inches of water) but posing as a track – a walk/scramble up a 45 degree slope easing off into water logged peat bog caressed by a howling gale – an attempt to shuffle into a run and summit up further steep slope onto Holcombe Moor – before an exhilerating career down the other side, wiping sweat from my eyes and trying not to crash before turning left to go down the shattered river bed again and repeat.'

And so Bull Hill has for me almost become part of the Peaks experience itself - not just a means to an end. The Peaks means Bull Hill and Bull Hill means the Peaks - the two have become almost inseparable in my mind, and in their stomach flip inducing status. Dave has been doing Bull Hill reps for some time already this 'summer'. Cue some nervousness from me then on Friday as I pitched up for my first session, even though I had tried to do some preparation for it in the past couple of weeks.

To get to the circuit and by way of warm up, there is a rocky bridleway climb followed by a grind up through moorland that is actually bigger than the circuit climb itself. If I am honest, this part fills me with more dread than what is to come - on this first session, I think I probably hit my max heart rate trying to stay with Dave and 'clean' the greasy slabs and rocks on the way up. Not an auspicious start before being forced into a shuffle after the top gate onto the moorland:

Pic: Dave Haygarth

Christ, those ensuing laps messed with my head - pain, self doubt, fear, humiliation all featured on the next two 15min or so rounds. Character building stuff indeed, but I had a moment of clarity for myself proving just how tough mentally you need to be to perform at the highest level in an endurance sport - to banish the self-doubt in face of the discomfort and the difficulty of your chosen activity. And that is why I remain a commited enthusiast rather than a high performing athlete. I simply don't have the strength of character it takes (as well as the genetic ability of course) to reside in the upper echelons of the sport. No matter, I enjoy what I do, in the way that I do it. And will continue to for some time yet.

Dave on the other hand was on fire. Here is the final, steeper than it looks climb to the summit on his last lap:







His 3 laps (to my 2) were consistent, measured and within 10 secs of his lap record. A fine effort, indeed. There will be more of the same for the next few weeks including a push to 3 laps in the very near future. That's more of a mental barrier than anything else but crucial nonetheless.

The relief on getting back down after that particular experience, and in the worsening weather, was strong:

Pic: Dave Haygarth

Recovery and preparation - 2 lessons for the week

Monday 4th July

Less celebration (for our American bretheren) and more survival (for me) after a tough weekend of training, running around and eating/drinking too much. Need to knock that on the head over the next few months for sure... the eating and drinking I mean.

Cue a recovery ride with the CycleSport Pendle kids, including my 10 year old - a new regular Monday night club run for the kids based around the picturesque Leeds-Liverpool canal marina at Foulridge. Quiet lanes, and a coffee after makes for a lovely easy ride. With hills. And a mad 400m long ford....

Tuesday 5th July

I've resolved to get more off road riding in this summer in the run up to the Peaks. The reasons for this are twofold - one to hone and develop my technical skills off road and secondly, to toughen myself up and condition my upper body.

Gym work feels like a bit of an anaethema, especially in summer, and in any case is not overly specific to the battering your body takes in the Peaks. So, plenty of bumpy off road battling is the key to get the strength and endurance required on race day.

I commuted to work on the cross bike with a cheeky off road section thrown in, but the main plan was a big ride home incorporating some good long road efforts at threshold and some technical riding in between. Cragg Quarrry and Lee Quarry in the Rossendale valley are premier mountain bike trail centres and not too rough for cross bikes too. Mostly.

My ride was cut short by user error - an untimely puncture in Cragg Quarry conspired with a valve of insufficient length compared to rim height to force me into a long jog/walk carry down to the Valley and a rescue call to Mark who kindly stuffed tea down to come and get me.

I shall be better prepared next time with the correct tubes and some CO2 canisters too.

The 3 Peaks Cyclocross starts here

1 July - a red letter day for many reasons. Summer really underway, Tour de France to start within a day or two and..... Peaks entries.

I feigned a casual approach to the registering of my interest in entering through the pre-registration system. As  many who called me out on that one correctly observed, I was anything but relaxed. I had my first (of many) stomach flip on that Friday, as the reality of the pain and pleasure of the Peaks took but one small step nearer.

Do a label search through these blog pages and you will find a multitude of references and posts to this unique event. By way of developing this resource further, I thought that this year I would post regularly (perhaps not every day) my approach, preparation and practical application to this years race.

So expect a sort of of 30 days of Peaks except it will nearly 3 months long. Tune in, tune out as you wish. But I guarantee that if you have an entry in you won't be able to stay away too long. If you are anything like me, your own growing obsession/preoccupation (delete as appropriate) with the race will have you checking in on others progress, training, whingeing, misfortune, satisfaction etc. It's just that kind of event - a massive personal battle against terrain and gravity but one in which we are all in it together. And genuinely, unlike our egregious politicians in power would have us believe......

So by way of avoiding a political shit storm and by dint of taking the conversation off in a different, more positive direction here is the first offering:

Saturday 2 July

Long hill reps - well 2 actually, but nearly 20 mins long each, on the Alpine like gradients of the Deerplay climb up from Burnely. Good for those long, dragging efforts albeit on foot, that characterise the Peaks.

Sunday 3 July

This is more like it.....

Nice Peaks like profile on those climbs there....

Thieveley Pike is a hill of two sides. One approached from a nearby road that even the most exercise averse sofa lover could manage, the other a brutal, grinding plod up from the Mary Townely loop as it is passes through Home Chapel, Cliviger.

Done as my first Peaks specific training, on a sweltering day, it is a real calf burner of a carry, not quite as steep as Simon Fell nor as long but still well worth doing as a 2 lap 'hurter'.

Tough but satisifying as was the blast back into Burnley to listen to my lads Brass Concert in the a fine local Victorian Park and its bandstand.

Strada Handbuilt Wheels - Major Tom offroad test

Dedicated followers of cross wheelsets won't have failed to notice the arrival in the market of the Velocity Major Tom tub wheels, handbuilt by Strada, not least because I have been banging on about them via a number of channels. And very taken with them I have certainly been.

Whilst I have ridden and reviewed them in detail for road use, I had yet to comment on their ability in their true vocation on the course. Cue some gluing of brand new FMB Gripos and a handily scheduled Yorkshire Summer Cross series race for an ideal opportunity to look at their performance off road.

I've commented on the quality of the build in the previous review, but after some decent abuse, I mean riding (sorry Jonathon from Strada), on cobbles and the Dickensian potholed roads in my part of the world, the Toms remain absolutely true to the micron. I've never used wheels before that have remained that true after that type of use. Impressive.

Gluing wise, as suspected they are a dream for the wide, flat base tapes found on FMBs and Dugast cross tubs. Narrower carbon, as well as alloy rims can make it harder to seat the tub and get a solid gluing surface. Cheats like gluing base tape fillers in the centre to flatten the profile of a too concave rim profile never feel good and add extra faff to the gluing process.

No worries here, the tubs seat without any fuss and maximum security. The Major Tom rim profile will also work well for Vittorias and other similar tubs with a central seam bulge on the base tape as there is still a channel for this to sit in, whilst the important outer contact patches at the rim edge remain in close contact with the basetape of the tub.

And so to the ride off road......

The race I did was one of the Huddersfield rounds and came at the end of a pretty dry period. Hence the conditions were dry and fast. Not necessarily usual cross fare, and for a while I pondered whether it would have been more useful to try the wheels in normal, muddy conditions. on reflection, I think not. In then mud speeds are lower and what can reveal the most about a wheelset for cross is the way it performs in carving turns, and in the way it accelerates out of corners, not grinding through the mud. The course that evening had multiple 180 degree turns, fast cambered and off cambered turns, some very greasy and some bumpy sections where maintaining speed was crucial. It was in fact an ideal testing ground for the Toms.

They were simply flawless. As they are light and very stiff, I found them spinning up really quickly out of the many tight turns and switchback sections. They may even have flattered my far-from-race-honed form too - it certainly felt like it. The stiffness was also on show in the slow turns in these sections. Breaking hard from speed into these 180 degree momentum sappers was controlled and predictable - the braking surface is generous and well milled and contributed to plenty of power from the TRPs I was using. Into the turn and the stiffness allowed a good amount of lean and pushing of the front wheel through the turn for grip.

I am not a particularly technical rider, and have always struggled on this kind of tight turn, blaming my lankiness and high centre of gravity for poor performance (ahem). That night, however, I was losing very little if any time to riders around me and enjoyed pushing for more speed through them each lap. I firmly believe the Toms were helping me on that count.

Finally, a superb section of downhill right and left through changing cambers allowed me to establish that they work well at speed too. Flicking the bike rapidly from side to side through this section was a joy and it felt so stable at the front and the back as the wheels did their thing.

There are a reasonable amount of alloy tubular wheelsets out there in the market and the Major Toms are perhaps a little more expensive than some of these offerings (though not all). They do however have one clear advantage for me - their handbuilt quality - and this makes them a winner and worth paying a little more for. Their performance is spot on for the weekend cross warrior and will not leave you wanting more. Their overall quality really shines through and will reward you for many seasons and because of this I'm confidently recommending them to lots of friends and fellow cross riders who are looking for a new wheelset.

Rapha Night Ride 3 June

There's something beautifully simple, yet arresting about riding through the night and into the dawn. It's been years since I did it, but I clearly remember the experience, etched indelibly on my mind as it was, with a full moon and minus 5 degree C temperatures. Somewhat more clement conditions then for a June ride, with clear skies, reasonable temperatures but unfortunately no full moon.

I'd been contacted by Konrad at Rapha after I had already expressed an intention to do the ride, so it was fun to be involved in coming up with a suitable route and fine tuning some of the organisational details for the Manchester spot in the Rapha Mobile Cycle Club UK tour.

Pic: Konrad Manning/Rapha - signing folks in with the sheen of freshly embro'd legs.....it was surprisingly cold at times.


A small but select band braved the hordes of overexcited female Take That fans spilling into the Velodrome carpark from the nearby City Ground. Fuelled with wild coffee from the legendary Rocket machine, leaving Manchester for the hills at around midnight meant braving kicking out time for the local hostelries, but the group passed through without incident and the view looking back as I led it out on the most direct route out of town, revealed the great sight of a line of powerful headlights heading into a long night.

Pic: Ben Lieberson/Rapha - our intrepid group at the Velodrome zinging with strong coffee.


Rapha have long been associated with tough and epic rides, and whilst myself and Konrad wanted to respect this tradition, we had to temper it somewhat with an unknown group and a dark, all night setting. And whilst the group contained a few of the finest 24hr mountain bikers in the country putting in some big miles for summer races (see Jason's report as well as Dave's), it also contained some who were more used to slightly shorter and less hilly adventures. We pressed on through wild dark descents and some tough climbs and into the Peaks proper.

The Cat and Fiddle climb, on my own and in the predawn dark but with the glow of the sun below the horizon was one of the most powerful experiences I have had on a bike. The intensity of feeling of pure physical effort, matched with an affinity for the surroundings caught me by surprise. It was one a few standout memories on the ride and one to be savoured.

We stuck together, just, despite errant sheep in the dark, and made it for a surreal feed stop at 4am near Buxton for coffee and cognac from Ben Lieberson (of Rapha Continental fame) and Kieran Young from the Mobile Cycle Club, who looked after us superbly all night. I also managed to eat my own bodyweight in cake and banana as I had bonked badly just before the stop.

Pic: Ben Lieberson/Rapha - Kieran prepares coffee and cognac at the feed stop, predawn.


Onwards into the breaking dawn, it was so special to be out in perfect conditions, in the beautiful White Peak dales and plateaus. One of our party was suffering considerably by this point and I stayed back to ride with him. It was humbling, as I have never seen someone suffer so much, yet have so much desire to push on and continue. Green, grey and white all at the same time, Russ went to places I'm ashamed I haven't been yet, just to keep going. It was inspiring to watch but sadly he finally admitted defeat at Buxton, faced with another 30 miles to go and another ascent of the Cat climb. He'll be back though, I suspect, as I think something changed inside him that night. For the good.

Pic: Konrad Manning/Rapha - Cat and Fiddle for the 2nd time, in the early morning.

The odd hour of the day and differing paces meant the group split now and people went at their own pace. It was a shame though inevitable really, but small groups coalesced on the flat run into Manchester to savour the ride and where we had been, physically or otherwise.

Rolling back out of the Velodrome at 7.30am, and feeling slightly delirious, I drove home to normality and the Saturday morning routine of activities with the kids. I carried with me though, a little piece of that solitary climb up the Cat and Fiddle in the dark - all the reasons for, drivers to, insecurities in and pleasures of, riding a bike wrapped up into a little nugget of truth.