Fulcrum/JBV Cyclocross Clinic with Jeremy Powers
Not to mention the Get Cross skills day I'm participating in on Sept 10th.
Thursday, 8 September 2011
Tuesday, 6 September 2011
Rapha Super Cross events in October
"MUD. SWEAT. FRITES. COWBELLS.
Quite possibly the most entertaining three days of racing the UK has ever seen."
Bold claim indeed, but there's a buzz building about this race series with coverage on the Rapha website, Facebook and every cross riders favourite, twitter.
Just another workmanlike cross race series, like a second tier National Trophy series? Err, no not really. At all. First off, Rapha are throwing a lot of resources, and influence behind this in a way I can't remember ever being done for cross racing before. Think pro racing, amateur racing, scenic courses, cowbells, Belgian beer, frites, a dj and sound system, marshmallow pelting and even a tequila shortcut.
In other words, a good deal like a proper Belgian cross with entertainment, refreshment (mostly liquid), a high degree of silliness and of course some excellent cross racing thrown in for good measure.
Why am I excited, nay giddy, about this? Mostly because it is unlike anything you will have ever seen at a UK cross race, and much closer to the vibrant US and Euro scenes which encourage spectating as much as racing, and therefore provide a much livelier atmosphere than the usual spartan muddy field/urban parkland/sportscentre venue. This for me is the missing link in UK cross - the chance to turn it from a diehard's niche form of cycle racing to something much bigger altogether. And more fun.
I'm also a bit giddy as I've been invited to help promote and hopefully, ride in the events, guesting in the candy striped colours of Rapha-Focus . More on that later as details emerge.
In the meantime, book the following in your diaries:
- Saturday October 15
Lake Windermere, Cumbria
Brockhole Visitors Centre - Sunday October 16
Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
Huddersfield New College - Sunday October 23
Alexandra Palace, London
You don't have to be wanting to race - just come along and spectate as the whole thing promises to be, well, rather super.
Thursday, 1 September 2011
The Pre-Final Countdown
Post holiday blues dispensed with and I'm back into the meat of my Peaks training this year. Plenty of Bull Hill reps, some brick sessions and a mini Peaks simulation. Or two.
I realised I had a route of almost uncanny similarity to the real Peaks just on my doorstep. At least in terms of rhythm, steepness of climb and similar terrain. Albeit a little shorter. As Bull Hill mercilessly exposes your weaknesses whilst strengthening them, this route mimics the on road/off road nature of the constantly changing effort that characterises a successful Peaks ride.
Whilst this lacks the length or severity of the real thing, it is useful nonetheless in my view for staving off the cramp attacks that sometimes bedevil my Peaks outings, given as I believe they are, to be caused by rapid changes in effort between foot and bike.
The keen eyed among you may notice that I didn't finish near my starting point - a further 40 mins on the road steady added to the useful mileage.
In terms of something rather different, I also took the opportunity of a work visit to the Lakes to get in a good run in the mountains. I parked up at Kirkstone Pass and ran up Stoney Cove Pike in the direction of High Street. It had been so long since I ran in the high fells that the feeling of space, solitude and allround 'bigness' was fresh and invigorating. I hope I can remain mobile and fit enough in the coming years to do that more often. As has been the pattern for the last couple of years making the same journey to the same conference at the same time of year, I saw Rob Jebb out riding, as I had in previous years, fresh from his altitude training in Spain.
Finally, I took an August Bank Holiday chance to meet up with Konrad Manning, Burnley born but London exiled in his work for Rapha. Konrad came up with a friend, Russ and my ever faithful Peaks support crew Mark took us all on a magical mystery tour through East Lancs moorland, bogs, quarries, ancient woodlands, mill town cobbles and river valleys. Plenty of single track, climbing and carrying all with convivial company. Bike sucking bogs and scarecrow festivals were all part of the mix in what was a great ride.
I've been finalising equipment choices too for September - more on that in a later post.
I realised I had a route of almost uncanny similarity to the real Peaks just on my doorstep. At least in terms of rhythm, steepness of climb and similar terrain. Albeit a little shorter. As Bull Hill mercilessly exposes your weaknesses whilst strengthening them, this route mimics the on road/off road nature of the constantly changing effort that characterises a successful Peaks ride.
Whilst this lacks the length or severity of the real thing, it is useful nonetheless in my view for staving off the cramp attacks that sometimes bedevil my Peaks outings, given as I believe they are, to be caused by rapid changes in effort between foot and bike.
The keen eyed among you may notice that I didn't finish near my starting point - a further 40 mins on the road steady added to the useful mileage.
In terms of something rather different, I also took the opportunity of a work visit to the Lakes to get in a good run in the mountains. I parked up at Kirkstone Pass and ran up Stoney Cove Pike in the direction of High Street. It had been so long since I ran in the high fells that the feeling of space, solitude and allround 'bigness' was fresh and invigorating. I hope I can remain mobile and fit enough in the coming years to do that more often. As has been the pattern for the last couple of years making the same journey to the same conference at the same time of year, I saw Rob Jebb out riding, as I had in previous years, fresh from his altitude training in Spain.
Finally, I took an August Bank Holiday chance to meet up with Konrad Manning, Burnley born but London exiled in his work for Rapha. Konrad came up with a friend, Russ and my ever faithful Peaks support crew Mark took us all on a magical mystery tour through East Lancs moorland, bogs, quarries, ancient woodlands, mill town cobbles and river valleys. Plenty of single track, climbing and carrying all with convivial company. Bike sucking bogs and scarecrow festivals were all part of the mix in what was a great ride.
I've been finalising equipment choices too for September - more on that in a later post.
Friday, 19 August 2011
Strada Handbuilt Wheels H+ Son SL42 - deep section clinchers
I recently took delivery of a pair of SL42 clincher wheels which I had had built using a redundant pair of lightweight hubs by those helpful folks at Strada. Here is what I told Jonathan about the rim and wheel build at the time -
“Just a quick email by way of feedback about the H+ Son SL42s: They have been eliciting admiring responses where ever I go – they look very fast and stylish, even on my cross bike. Whilst the weight is not particularly low, this isn’t immediately apparent. On shorter climbs, their stiffness more than compensates for any extra weight and they feel very fast. Once up to speed on the flat they roll along really nicely, in the same way a deep section carbon does. Where I have been particularly impressed is on descents – they feel so solid and dependable and I have been enjoying faster descents on my usually bumpy local roads whilst feeling really safe. The build of quality is of course fantastic – they’ve been battered around on rough tracks and cobbles as is usual for me and remain perfectly true."
By way of update, these have become my favourite road wheels of all time. Yes, better than tubs even. They were absolutely superb on the flat, windswept terrain around Dungeness, and despite being quite a deep rim seemed remarkably unaffected by cross winds and the sudden gusts that were de rigeur for riding around there. Moreoever, commutes off the moors into my hometown on exposed and gusty main roads that can feel quite dicey have felt reassuringly secure. They catch sidewinds and gusts less than a 30mm pair of clinchers I have previously used, or at least behave more predictably when they do.
The braking surface when new is anodised black with the rest of the rim. Virgin rims therefore look for all the world like full carbon rims. This has predictably worn off now, but the overall aesthetics aren't spoilt - they simply look like a lot of the carbon clinchers with alloy braking surfaces that are out there. Much bling for much less buck.
I particularly like the striking Strada graphics on the rims that look amazing when rolling along and reflected in shop windows. Beware parked cars.....
They remain, still, micron true - something that has hugely impressed me having used similar style mass produced wheels which have not.
They would be good too for circuit/crit racing as they are super tough and somewhat less fragile than your expensive 50mm carbon offerings...
More to come on the Strada Major Toms too as the cross season gets underway in a couple of weeks.
Monday, 15 August 2011
Hiatus. Or a lack thereof.
The break in posts recently is not indicative of a lack of activity, training wise. Far from it. It represents a change of venue and distance from a PC of any sort, in the form of a welcome family holiday in the far south-eastern corner of England, not far from Dungeness.
And therein lay an immediate issue - the terrain. Or rather lack of it, given the express need for Peaks training.
I needn't have worried - what the drained marshland lacked in contours it made up for in wind. Of the incessant, blasting, reducing you to a grovel variety. To this rider, used to the consistently vertiginous East Lancashire hills and moors it was quite simply, a delight.
I had previously heard traditional explanations for the late 20th Century success of Dutch climbers in Grand Tours attributed to the strength gained from training on the flat, in constant winds, and how that is akin to the kind of efforts required on long climbs. And I can vouch for its truth now. After a few days of short sharp rides, mostly into the infernal wind, my legs were battered. An even with the wind behind, the temptation to use it and pedal hard was irresistible leading to several spinning out returns to our holiday home. Note to self: cross gearing of 46x12 is insufficient, even on the flat, when the wind is blowing from behind at 30mph or so.
The Marshes around Rye, New Romney and Dungeness also happen to be peculiarly beautiful, albeit in a slightly desolete way. Flat, windswept and sparsely featured, they are anything but boring with the desert like area of Dungeness popular with bird watchers, photographers, alternative communities and a ruddy great nuclear power station.
The sense of space and sky was at times quite intense, alluding to what it must be like to ride through some of the great plains areas of the US and Canada. I took a lot of black and white photos of sky and horizon, fascinated with the everchanging cloud patterns. Little farms, isolated houses and shacks also peppered the route around the marshes, with some of the back lanes taking wonderfully quirky routes around the network of drainage ditches.
Running? Nil. Cross riding? Nil. No matter, the training was good and hard in the wind, fun out of it and I feel replenished after not just a holiday, but the break from tough terrain. And as a consequence, I'm all the keener to get back into the swing of things Peak like.
And therein lay an immediate issue - the terrain. Or rather lack of it, given the express need for Peaks training.
I needn't have worried - what the drained marshland lacked in contours it made up for in wind. Of the incessant, blasting, reducing you to a grovel variety. To this rider, used to the consistently vertiginous East Lancashire hills and moors it was quite simply, a delight.
I had previously heard traditional explanations for the late 20th Century success of Dutch climbers in Grand Tours attributed to the strength gained from training on the flat, in constant winds, and how that is akin to the kind of efforts required on long climbs. And I can vouch for its truth now. After a few days of short sharp rides, mostly into the infernal wind, my legs were battered. An even with the wind behind, the temptation to use it and pedal hard was irresistible leading to several spinning out returns to our holiday home. Note to self: cross gearing of 46x12 is insufficient, even on the flat, when the wind is blowing from behind at 30mph or so.
The Marshes around Rye, New Romney and Dungeness also happen to be peculiarly beautiful, albeit in a slightly desolete way. Flat, windswept and sparsely featured, they are anything but boring with the desert like area of Dungeness popular with bird watchers, photographers, alternative communities and a ruddy great nuclear power station.
The sense of space and sky was at times quite intense, alluding to what it must be like to ride through some of the great plains areas of the US and Canada. I took a lot of black and white photos of sky and horizon, fascinated with the everchanging cloud patterns. Little farms, isolated houses and shacks also peppered the route around the marshes, with some of the back lanes taking wonderfully quirky routes around the network of drainage ditches.
Running? Nil. Cross riding? Nil. No matter, the training was good and hard in the wind, fun out of it and I feel replenished after not just a holiday, but the break from tough terrain. And as a consequence, I'm all the keener to get back into the swing of things Peak like.
Tuesday, 2 August 2011
Mixing it up
18 July - 31 July
Consolidation. 'Building the engine' as Greg calls it. I've been plugging away with some threshold/sweetspot efforts, some Bull Hill reps, some easy riding and a bit more running. Finished off this period with a custom designed Peaks session - a double hill reps brick session.
In previous years in the Peaks I have been a cramps sufferer. Now I know pretty much everyone gets cramp in the Peaks at some point, but we are talking cramp on the road out of Ingleton that lasts till the finish, lying in the Penyghent track unable to move cramp, cramp that has caused almost complete meltdown and a grovel to the finish. Admittedly, last years sub 4hr ride was largely cramp free so I may have found ways of reducing its pernicious effects, but the spectre of cramp still haunts my preparation and race each year.
I've thought about this long and hard. Now the scientific literature is less than conclusive on the causes and even the remedies for cramp, but in a Peaks context, I think I know what does me in and reduces me to a wooden, immobile wreck - the constant change in effort.
I don't mean going up and down hills, that isn't too bad in and of itself. No, I mean the constant change between bike and run, between up and down and bike and run and between saddle and foot and saddle etc etc etc..... It just does me in for some reason.
So, by way of remedy I have set about reproducing this in training to a large degree. Obviously long rides that mix on and off road and carrying and riding are important, but more than this I am trying to get my legs used to the change whilst working hard. Cue the most brutal session known to Peakers outside of Bull Hill..... the double brick.
I have a lovely tough climb just at the top of the road, soon to be in 100 Climbs Vol2, and it fits nicely into a little circuit with 5-6mins of climbing, a steep descent, some rolling and then back into the climb:
a few reps on this for around 25mins of hilly riding and straight into the running shoes for...
supersteep hill reps in the woods behind the house (think Simon Fell steep). 15mins of that till feeling slightly giddy, then repeat the bike loop and the running reps as before.
Result? Broken legs after just two sets and about 1hr 20mins training time. If I can face it, 3 sets will be awesome. I think.
By way of fuelling the anticipation, Greg reminded of this great film that encapsulates last years Peaks very nicely:
Consolidation. 'Building the engine' as Greg calls it. I've been plugging away with some threshold/sweetspot efforts, some Bull Hill reps, some easy riding and a bit more running. Finished off this period with a custom designed Peaks session - a double hill reps brick session.
In previous years in the Peaks I have been a cramps sufferer. Now I know pretty much everyone gets cramp in the Peaks at some point, but we are talking cramp on the road out of Ingleton that lasts till the finish, lying in the Penyghent track unable to move cramp, cramp that has caused almost complete meltdown and a grovel to the finish. Admittedly, last years sub 4hr ride was largely cramp free so I may have found ways of reducing its pernicious effects, but the spectre of cramp still haunts my preparation and race each year.
I've thought about this long and hard. Now the scientific literature is less than conclusive on the causes and even the remedies for cramp, but in a Peaks context, I think I know what does me in and reduces me to a wooden, immobile wreck - the constant change in effort.
I don't mean going up and down hills, that isn't too bad in and of itself. No, I mean the constant change between bike and run, between up and down and bike and run and between saddle and foot and saddle etc etc etc..... It just does me in for some reason.
I have a lovely tough climb just at the top of the road, soon to be in 100 Climbs Vol2, and it fits nicely into a little circuit with 5-6mins of climbing, a steep descent, some rolling and then back into the climb:
a few reps on this for around 25mins of hilly riding and straight into the running shoes for...
supersteep hill reps in the woods behind the house (think Simon Fell steep). 15mins of that till feeling slightly giddy, then repeat the bike loop and the running reps as before.
Result? Broken legs after just two sets and about 1hr 20mins training time. If I can face it, 3 sets will be awesome. I think.
By way of fuelling the anticipation, Greg reminded of this great film that encapsulates last years Peaks very nicely:
Wednesday, 20 July 2011
Go long
Sunday 17 July
Dublin based friend, sports science researcher, part time triathlete, full time cross enthusiast and cake-eater Greg May has been giving me some Peaks training advice this summer. Obviously most of this a highly guarded secret, but I can reveal exclusively that he has told me to 'go long'.
No not a reference to socks a la Wiggins, but a 'you also need to just do some prolonged running' type suggestion. Now some of you love running, some of you hate running. I don't mind it, well quite like it actually but have always banged on about the fact that the Peaks doesn't really have much running in it unless your name is Jebb with an initial 'R'. Shuffling agonisingly upwards is more apt a description,
However, Greg has letters after his name and threatens to get even more soon, so I thought I had better do as coach says. So I went for a long run. By that I mean an hour round the woods near Arnside Tower, in South Cumbria. And very nice it was too - the monsoon rain meant bike riding was less than desirable and therefore a run a more comfortable option. I spent the hour pleasantly and confusingly, getting hopelessly lost not once but twice and nearly being late to pick up my son and friends from a weekend long Scout camp in the area. They had been in the woods all weekend and were unsurprisingly caked in reddy orange mud, the effect of which was to give my son a 'you've been tango'ed' look. Much to my amusement.
Anyways, the effect of all this running, apart from a mild case of DOMS (look it up) on Tuesday was to make the weekly Bull Hill efforts with Dave Haygarth and Carl Nelson feel vaguely doable. Not that you would have gleaned this from my expression captured by Dave, just as hostilities were about to commence:
So, more longs are planned - with or without getting lost. But solo, as I still shuffle round rather unglamourously rather than striding athletically. Ah well.......
Dublin based friend, sports science researcher, part time triathlete, full time cross enthusiast and cake-eater Greg May has been giving me some Peaks training advice this summer. Obviously most of this a highly guarded secret, but I can reveal exclusively that he has told me to 'go long'.
No not a reference to socks a la Wiggins, but a 'you also need to just do some prolonged running' type suggestion. Now some of you love running, some of you hate running. I don't mind it, well quite like it actually but have always banged on about the fact that the Peaks doesn't really have much running in it unless your name is Jebb with an initial 'R'. Shuffling agonisingly upwards is more apt a description,
However, Greg has letters after his name and threatens to get even more soon, so I thought I had better do as coach says. So I went for a long run. By that I mean an hour round the woods near Arnside Tower, in South Cumbria. And very nice it was too - the monsoon rain meant bike riding was less than desirable and therefore a run a more comfortable option. I spent the hour pleasantly and confusingly, getting hopelessly lost not once but twice and nearly being late to pick up my son and friends from a weekend long Scout camp in the area. They had been in the woods all weekend and were unsurprisingly caked in reddy orange mud, the effect of which was to give my son a 'you've been tango'ed' look. Much to my amusement.
Anyways, the effect of all this running, apart from a mild case of DOMS (look it up) on Tuesday was to make the weekly Bull Hill efforts with Dave Haygarth and Carl Nelson feel vaguely doable. Not that you would have gleaned this from my expression captured by Dave, just as hostilities were about to commence:
So, more longs are planned - with or without getting lost. But solo, as I still shuffle round rather unglamourously rather than striding athletically. Ah well.......
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