thirty degrees.

home from travels and trying to readjust. much-needed peace and quiet in the midst of total chaos and some new experiences which themselves will lead to more.

of which, more later - but for now it's enough just to be reminded what seventeen consecutive days of sunshine feels like.

hint: warm.



j.

Minxes up mountains

OK, so no bike in sight, but I had a fantastic run round The Black Mountains on Sunday so thought I'd share. This is me reading a map. I should have known it would be 'up'. Always is!

And I've just had some fantastic news that I wanted to share because I need advice - I've been accepted into the 3 Peaks Cyclo Cross race. Any survivors out there who have some top tips?

Off to North Wales tomorrow for a week of studying and yomping up mountains on wheels or foot. If the weather clears we'll be climbing tomorrow evening. Can't wait!

F
x

Meals on wheels

It's OK to take all the leftover pasta for lunch when you've commuted by bike. Isn't it?

Vikki

Are you tough enough?

What a great weekend! I went over to Kent - to Rye - for a very old friend's wedding. Thinking 'I won't know anyone else who's there, so it'll be an early night', I entered the 'Are You Tough Enough' Army Cycling Union 6 hour enduro the next day.

As is the way of these things, I ended up drinking too much champagne and arrived in very sunny Bracknell with a seriously dry mouth, no pedals and a bag full of squashed and disorganised kit.

Stuff got sorted (can't really remember doing it myself, but must have) and the race kicked off. The first lap was waaaay too fast and I was breathing like a steam train, so peeled it right back. I wasn't fussed about 'racing' and was riding with a camelbak for adventure race training - getting those back muscles nice and worked!

The singletrack was supersweet - no straight lines and lots of fast bermed corners and dust. We were caked in red-brown dust, which stuck to our sweat, snot and suncream. At one point a guy I'd been leapfrogging with over took me and I looked at his face as we exchanged a few words and it suddenly occurred to me for the first time that I might also look like a bourbon biscuit dunked in chocolate shavings.

The ride only became painful when excrutiating hot spots on my feet made standing very difficult. Until then I'd be riding out the saddle, attacking the climbs and working the corners hard. I rode the last few laps like a sack of potatoes. But by then I'd realised no one was chasing so I could relax and ended up climbing off with half an hour to go to drink tea and eat the pain au chocolate I'd sneaked from the B&B that morning.

I'd recommend this enduro - great course, lovely atmosphere and awesome prizes. And, which is tremendously exciting, I saw a snake on the trail! Only a little one but I nearly ran him over and screamed as I swerved to avoid it!

Fi

Puffer Lite

Puffer Lite



2 weekends ago I tested my mettle again. This time at Puffer Lite.

Puffer Lite is the summertime little brother of StrathPuffer (the most northerly, winterly 24 hour race in the world…apparently). Whilst StrathPuffer is a 24 hour race in January with about 17 hours of darkness on some interesting, rocky, techy trails, Puffer Lite uses the same course but is a 12 hour race in June, 8pm to 8am, with about an hour and a half to 2 hours of darkness.

It’s also the Scottish Singlespeed Champs (yup, that’s right, a 12 hour singlespeed champs).

Chris and I drove up fairly early on in the day because Chris wanted to drop me off before going off for a ride in Torridon. So I arrived at about 1pm…plenty time to set up camp, fettle with bike and snooze before signing on at 5 and then getting down to proper pre-race fettling.

The forecast had been for heavy rain, so I had taken hot weather and wet weather kit, just in case. Luckily, the rain turned out to be a few big sploges of rain just before we started.

At 8pm, the Le Mans start saw most folks dash off to get their bikes and then disappear of up the hill. Since I’m not one for starting out fast, I just started as I meant to continue…a slow, steady plod, enjoying the sunshine, views, trails and company.

My plan was to do double laps and just stop off in between to get fresh water and food. The first 4 laps went well and I managed to keep up a good pace. The course was great and the conditions were about as good as they could get. The trails were buff and dusty and fast. I didn’t need to put my lights on until about 11pm and it didn’t really get dark until after midnight. That’s when the dark thoughts started.

I pulled into my pit at about 2am feeling pretty deflated and not really sure I wanted to keep going. One half of me knew that if I didn’t finish the race I’d only be letting myself down and I’d end up kicking myself afterwards. The other half just kept asking why I was doing this.

While I was sitting having a bite of brioche, Chris wandered into the tent and told me I was a lap down on the winner. That made up my mind. I wasn’t racing anymore – I was just going to keep plodding on, forget about pushing myself and just enjoy the trails. I also knew that it would be dawn soon and I didn’t want to miss that (one of the benefits of soloing is that you know you’re going to be the one who gets to do the dawn lap).

So off I went again. The sun started coming up at about 2.30 and it was lovely. The course was pretty quiet by this time, so I managed to take in the views over the hills and forest all by myself. With the dawn, my spirits started to lift again and I started having fun again.
After another double lap, I pulled in to the pits and Chris told me I was 5 minutes down on the leader now. So I’d managed to make up half a lap. I knew it was unlikely that I’d be able to make up any more time at this stage, but I wondered if I might just be able to start pushing a little bit harder to see what happened.

Another couple of laps got me through to just before 7am and I was still 5 minutes down. I really didn’t think I’d be able to make it up so I decided to just go out and enjoy my last lap. I wouldn’t be up this way for a while, so I might as well enjoy the trails and the views.

I got back to the start finish area about 20 minutes before 8 and Chris told me that I’d managed to make up the time and had won. I was on the same lap as second place, but I’d managed to get in before her.

I headed back to the tent to have my finish line cup of tea and while I got changed and cleaned up (it’s the first race I’ve finished in Scotland where I’ve been completely coated in dust!) Chris went off to get my lap timings from the timing folks….it turned out I was a lap up on second place, so I’d somehow managed to make up that lap I was down during the night. I’d also managed to win the Scottish Singlespeed Champs too, so I was doubly pleased.

The folks from Square Wheels did themselves proud again and put on another fantastic event. The weather gods and the other riders made the event another memorable one – thanks!

The Open 12

Having just recovered from the hole in my knee caused by hitting the deck at Bristol, I gathered my kit together into several large IKEA bags and headed to Yorkshire for the 2nd race in the Open Adventure Racing Series. The first race is 5 hours, the 2nd is 12hours and the 3rd (in a month) is 24 hours long.

If you've never adventure raced, then give it a shot. It's such good fun. You are time limited and in pairs and have to chase all over the countryside (we're talking the Best of British here - Lakes, Dartmoor, Yorkshire Dales, Highlands, North Wales etc etc) looking for checkpoints. In addition to mountain biking and running there is often kayaking, climbing, abseilling, a bit of swimming, canyoning and caving.

The Open 12 was hot hot hot and I can honestly say for 12 hours I pushed somewhere beween 98 and 100%. We had won the Open 5 so were 'series leaders'. The clear favourites (who beat all the male pairs too) had missed a checkpoint on the orienteering stage so we had 30 points on them. In the Open 12 they beat us overall by 29 points... and the Open 24 is on TV (Channel 4) so I'm looking forward to a bit of fame (sweat-soaked, unwashed as I will be)...

The Open 12 started near Hawes and went, well, everywhere. A 3ish hour run stage had us high up in the fells and after scrambling up through a canyon with some refreshing dips in freezing water, we jumped on the bikes for a 5 hour mtb stage, complete with a waterfall scramble and submerged checkpoint beneat Hadraw Force - the highest freefalling waterfall in the UK. Very, erm, breathtaking (was very cold!) Luckily it was sunny and windy enough for us to dry off pretty quickly when we were back on the bikes.

After a midge-ridden over night camp chatting with the other competitors and our team (team For Goodness Shakes), who had 4 pairs in the race, we set off for day 2 - a 5 hour stage. This began with a tandem abseil off an overhanging cliff and then a 16k trail run towards Semer Water, which we had to swim across, complete with bike helmet, pack and running shoes! At the other end we met our bikes and had a 2ish hour frantic ride around the dales in the baking sunshine, desperately trying to clear the course within our time limit. We knew that Planet Fear (the favourites) had beaten us by 25 points the previous day so if we could clear the course we wouldn't lose our series lead, even if they took much less time.

We thrashed up the final hill to the finish line and were unfortunately 1minute 37seconds late, which gave us a 4 point penalty - but still 1 point ahead in the series table. I am now at home tending festering blisters (my crash at bikefest rather limited the amount of running I've been able to do!) and reeling from getting home to find our 2 hardtails had been stolen from the garage. [If anyone sees two beautiful Whyte 19 trails out there looking a bit homeless, they're ours. Andy's even has 'Andy Wilson Team For Goodness Shakes!' engraved on the USE seatpost!]

Another lovely weekend, then, tearing around the countryside on bikes and foot and generally having a rip-roaring time with mates. Awesome.

Fi

Commute

New studio. New commute. Blissfully traffic free for all but a mile. No excuses not to travel by bike.

Vikki

New Shoes

I should probably throw out at least one of my old, broken pairs now, but.....well, a girl can never have too many pairs of cycling shoes, can she?

Jac
x

idle ruminations

trek racing's extended road trip movie has become essential morning coffee viewing.

does anyone else think the soundtracking is back to front, though?

j.

things wot i learnd at brizzle 12

1: trees are an issue.
2: i do not like taking it seriously.
3: angry speed is good for going fast but is not good for smiles.
4: winning a twelve hour race by 31 seconds is cutting it rather too fine.
5: whether they like it or not, my friends are my heroes.



j.

Bikefest

I had totally gone off mountain bike racing, preferring to ride rather than race, but always do Bikefest because it's my local event on local trails and the banter is always good. I had a brilliant weekend - caught up with loads of old friends, soaked up the excitement and generally chatted away to heaps of lovely people.

The riding was great, too. The trails were harsh, dry and fast, just as I like them. Brutal on the body and needing good lines and good technique.

The racing, at least for me, was a catastrophe. I 'mixed-paired' on Saturday and we kept it fast and fluid until my partner cramped all over (including his chest!) and had to pull out. But still, 9hrs of interval training can't be bad! I had Sunday's solo 6 to redeem myself, too, so I didn't really mind. I spent the remainder of the time cheering on my boyfriend who won the Old Gits Male Pairs with some panache!

I wasn't exactly looking forward to Sunday. I haven't solo-d a mtb race since 2008. Not with some great announcement to 'retire' or 'hang up my wheels'; just because I've been doing other stuff which has been really good fun. The thought of riding round in circles for 6 hours didn't fill me with excitement and I was really pleased to have battled with my demons over night and arrived at Ashton Court feeling strong and ready. Relaxed but nervous. A good combo.

The start was clean and calm and I decided to settle into a 29-30 min pace and do 12 laps. If that meant I won then so be it. If not then, whatever - I was tired from the day before and didn't really care.

The first two laps flew past and I had a big gap on the girls behind already. I set off on lap 3 feeling pretty happy with how I was riding. My quads were tired from all the flat-out the day before and I was pretty sure someone would be climbing faster than me (I was right) but the singletrack was flowing well and my body felt surprisingly good considering my little stack the day before and the Ashton Court Battering you always get in the dry.

Then, out of nowhere, my front wheel whipped from under me and I crashed hard on a flat piece of gravelly singletrack. I still have no idea why. I quickly stood up, straightened the handlebars and jumped back on. Auto-pilot. A hundred or so metres later I stopped because going over the bumpy rocks was wobbling the hole in my knee too much and hurting like hell. I stopped, started crying and then couldn't breathe. I was having a panick attack from the shock. Great.

Luckily my friend Jez (you'll know him if you do enduro racing - he has 1 leg) stopped and calmed me down. For a few minutes he just made me breathe deeply. Once I was breathing normally I decided to carry on riding. I still hadn't really looked at my knee. I struggled round the rest of the lap. It hurt. I was caught and overtaken by Sarah Forbes, the eventual winner, but couldn't have cared less, as I pulled into the pit where I saw Andy and Jenn and they took my bike off me and packed me off to A&E immediately.

So I am now recovering from 2 layers of stitches in my knee - to patch up a hole that goes bone-deep. I'm hoping there was no bone damage - at the moment it's too swollen to know. I've had 2 days off work and am bored senseless, but still keep feeling dizzy and drifting off to sleep mid sentence.

But so what? This is an occupational hazard, right? Right. Mel Alexander has a broken pelvis. I have a cut. (Mel is on the road to recuperation and is being amazingly strong about it - I wish her all the best and look forward to her whipping my butt again very soon). In the mean time I'm planning what I'll be doing the moment my stitches come out. There's nothing really wrong with me and I have realised, despite and because of all this, that I do actually enjoy mountain bike racing and want to do a little bit more. Maybe. Between adventure races and road racing, and running and kayaking (and recovering from injury).

Stay safe people.

Fi

Summer

Clouds are gathering in the sky and the forecast is rain for Bristol Bikefest this weekend. But nothing can dampen my spirits. I love this event and am very excited... I had to come to the office today because I knew working from home would mean packing kit and 'testing' bikes in anticipation.

But I really hope it doesn't rain!

Last week we rode the Tour of Wessex 3 day Sportif which was great fun, if a little 'up'. The first day was wet and made me curse ever getting into road riding. Then the sun came out and we were streaming all round the south west, working hard but with banter, sun and sandwiches. I have 325 miles in my legs from those 3 days so will I have recovered for bikefeast? Well, we'll find out tomorrow!

Hope to see you there

Fi

To Fall in love again

I've often read articles in the bike mags preaching that we re-visit our local trails and not over-look the joys on our own doorstep because we are weary of riding them. I have riden many of my trails purely as a highway to somewhere else and paid little attention to many of them. This weekend I had some friends over to ride and we decided to not go too far from the pub so local trails seemed like a good plan, I was elected leader.
In my efforts to piece together the "best bits" for my visiting delegation I set off making it up as I went along and purposefully took routes I wouldnt normally lace together. Stretches I would always only ride in one direction because they were going TO or FROM somewhere, I reversed. Where I would always turn right, I turned left and vice versa, I actually found some stretches of trail I had never seen before and was followed by a string of smiling faces.

Later in the pub one of my friends said to me " i didnt realise there were so many great trails round here" and I had to reply "neither did I".

Great feeling to fall in love with your home trails all over again! Maybe the weather has something to do with it :-)

Happy days!

See you all in Bristol this weekend.

Elaine

24 (A slightly different perspective)

When I found out that the UK 24 Hour Solo Champs were going to be at Newcastleton, just 2 hours down the road from home, I knew I had to give it a bash.

My confidence has taken a bit of a beating since the Trans Portugal last year and I’ve struggled to shake off a persistent virus and to get back to the level of fitness I had before the TP. So my only objective with 24 Solo was to finish and feel like I’d really tried. I’d soloed a 24 a few years ago, so I knew it was going to be tough and that my mind and body would have to work pretty hard to go the distance. But that also meant that I’d been able to do it once, so I should be able to do it again.

Chris and I had to Newcastleton to recce the terrain in March. Riding around, it looked like it had potential to be a really interesting course with plenty of singletrack, climbs and views to keep me switched on for the 24 hours. Based on that ride, the gearing on my singlespeed was lowered to a spinny 32-20!

We arrived at Newcastleton early on Friday evening and found that Steve had already found a good trackside spot for our camping and joint support crews, just before the start/finish area. While Chris set up our camp I went off to register and see what was happening and figure out what the options were for dinner. I managed spot some familiar faces who all said encouraging things …well, actually they all said I was mad for racing singlespeed, but that’s as encouraging as it gets really.

Friday night involved the usual pre-race nervous chatter and a few beers and then off to bed early in the hope of getting some sleep. My body had decided that I really needed to stay awake for 48 hours though, because, through a combination of nerves and a sloping campsite, I hardly slept.

By 8am on Saturday morning, it was already hot. Chris came back from a ride round the course very hot looking, so a spare bottle cage was promptly put on my bike to carry a bottle of water for skooshing over myself when I got hot (I have learned something from racing in hot places!).


Before I knew it, it was rider briefing time and then time to roll down the hill to Newcastleton for the start in the town square. Each rider was called up to sign on, in front of all the other riders, supporters and the rest of the town. Then the race started with the Copshaw Common Riders (a group of local riders on cruisers of all shapes and sizes) leading us racers out of Newcastleton and back up the hill to the trails and we were off proper.

The pace was pretty quick and I could already see the lead guys charging off up the hill, but I wasn’t in any hurry, so I hung back and enjoyed the views and the chat at the back of the field and then joined the gentleman’s queue at the first section of singletrack. Once we got to the top, riders starter to thin out and we could start riding. It was blinking hot though, so I was grateful of that extra water bottle to pour water down my back whenever I got too hot. Okay, I was riding around in soggy clothes, but it stopped me from overheating.

My first few laps went quite well and I really enjoyed the course and felt pretty good. I was having a lot of fun cheering on the other riders and shouting encouragement as we passed each other. Lap three started to change a wee bit though. I’d been riding through the watersplash rather than crossing the bridge so that I could cool down in the water. Unfortunately, this made my shoes quite wet and they started to stretch a bit and then start rubbing. So I ended up with blisters on each foot, which were quite uncomfortable. I didn’t have a spare pair of shoes with me, so I just did the straps up a bit tighter and hoped for the best.

Before I knew it, it was time to get the lights on the bike and start preparing myself for the ride through the night. I knew from the last time I’d done a solo 24 that the toughest time would be around 2am, so I started preparing myself for that inner battle.

Things started to get pretty quiet out on the course and I found that I’d often ride almost half a lap without seeing anyone. Then I’d come across a couple of riders sitting by the side of the trail having a chat and admiring the moonlight, so I’d stop and have a bit of a chat with them before reminding myself that I’m meant to be riding my bike.

I carried on and pulled into the pits at around 2am for some hot food. Despite Jenn’s sage words of advice, I sat down to have a bowl of pasta and then started to feel a bit peaky. I could see concerned faces looking at me from our combined support crew when I stood up and started wobbling. I was determined to do this thing though, so I picked up my bike and started off again, only to start shaking uncontrollably. I knew I wouldn’t be able to make it round the lap like that, so I pulled back into the pits to be met by Chris carrying my puffy jacket. He took me back to the tent and instructed me to get changed into fresh riding kit and get into my sleeping bag until I warmed up.

I thought that was my race over. As I lay there shivering in my sleeping bag I heard Amy and Grant come and go and started to feel pretty desperate. All I wanted to do was finish a race and prove to myself that I could still do it, but my body didn’t seem to have the same idea.

It took me just over an hour to warm back up again, but when I did, I had a sudden surge of energy and decided that I wasn’t going to be beaten by temperature again! And anyhow, I didn’t want to miss the dawn lap (that’s what 24 hour racing is all about after all!).

So, after fumbling around to get new contact lenses in, I got back on the bike and set off again. I’d dropped a couple of laps, but it didn’t really matter. I’d managed to get back out and was going to finish.

Chris writes: And praise the wee baby Jebus for that as I was mentally preparing for the brutal fight of wills necessary to get Jac out of a snug soloists sleeping bag and back on the bike…

The dawn lap was everything a dawn lap should be… peaceful, hardly anyone on the course, tweeting birds in the trees and mist rising from the valleys. Lovely.

Dawn also meant we were almost finished, so I had to start thinking about how many more laps I was going to do – this was a ‘short’ 24 hour format, we had to be finished within the 24 hours and any lap which finished after the 24 hours wouldn’t count. I really didn’t want a lap not to count, so I had to try to figure out how long my laps needed to be and how long my pit stops could be. So I decided I could do another 2 laps.

On my last lap, I rode round and thanked all the marshals – they really did a top job, sitting in the woods all night. I rolled back into the campsite at around 10am and wasn’t quite sure what to do. I should have time for another lap, but what if I didn’t make it?

It was when the support crew of one of the female vets, Anne Dickens, said that I should at least give it a go, that I thought, what the heck! My legs felt okay, so I might as well ride for a bit longer. After all, how often do I get to ride my bike for 24 hours? I didn’t want to waste the opportunity!

So I went out for another lap and had a blast! I charged through all the bits I’d been cautious on until then, singing away to myself and thanking all the marshals again.

As I was climbing up the last climb of the course, one of the quick male riders rode alongside me for a bit. As we were riding along, he turned to me and said “I think you’re awesome for doing this on a singlespeed.” then rode off in front of me. That was it. My bottom lip started to go. The combination of someone saying something nice like that and knowing that I was only minutes away from finishing was quite overwhelming, so I had a bit of a sniffle. I stopped for a moment at the top of the last descent to pull myself together and tried to make myself look vaguely presentable for crossing the finish line, then off down that descent for the last time.

I crossed the finish line with an immense sense of relief. I hadn’t known for sure that I could do it, but I made it. My legs did their stuff and kept pedalling even when my head was telling them to give up.

I rolled back down to the pits amidst calls of well done from other riders and support crews. The beer I’d asked for on the finish line was waiting for me, but all I wanted was water, so the beer waited until later.
The prize giving saw the first ever UK Solo 24 hour champions crowned, as well as a rookie and a singlespeeder. To have been a part of it really felt like something special.
The support from my pit crew and other riders as well as the marshals, organisers and, of course, Joolz were all big contributing factors to me carrying on and not stopping when things got tough (or cold in my case). I know they won’t all be there next time, but they helped me get over the hurdle and reminded me that racing for me isn’t about being the fastest or strongest, it’s about having fun, riding with new people in new places and just pushing my body to see what it’ll do.

What’s next? Well, I’ve washed the bike and I’m planning a ride tomorrow evening, just for a few hours this time though. Oh and I need to buy a new pair of riding shoes.

Jac
x

24 Hours Solo

Guest blogger Amy decided that her first ever 24 hour solo race should be the national championships. Well there's nothing like aiming high to make you achieve more than you ever thought you could....

It was my first attempt at a 24hour race and I chose the inaugural national championships, to say I was nervous was an understatement. My bike had been checked over in the shop and Shaun and Chris shared their horror stories from previous races. I still had a last minute rush to get things sorted but we arrived at Newcastleton with plenty of daylight to set up our tent and I tried to get some sleep. Morning came quickly and I got the bike ready and my box of stuff for my pit crew and wandered over to briefing, there were a lot of very fit looking people there. I wondered if it was too late to change my mind. But no I had to get down to the Town for the official sign-on and then a neutral start; it was almost like being a pro!

Up the hill and round the first lap, the sun was out and I was chatting. Second lap and things were fine, third lap and the wheels came off, how could it happen so early? I dragged myself out for a fourth but I'd had enough, I announced I was retiring and on finding out a lot of the elite men had as well I felt justified, it was just too hot. I had forgotten all about my instructions to Ali and although she let me stop, once it cooled down she sent me out again, I really didn't want to. But I started working out how many laps I could do, I came up with a figure of 10 - double figures sounded good! So I had to keep going. Through the night was actually quite enjoyable although I could tell I was getting tired the previous flowing singletrack now seemed like a bunch of sharp corners I could barely get round.

The dawn lap was stunning and I was thinking of eleven laps, maybe even twelve. Coming in for the last longish stop after a faster lap I realised that thirteen might just be a possibility if I pushed. So change of clothes and out I went. Back with 1hr 50mins left for the last lap, should be fine, but I was slowing again with the heat. In the end I finished with at least 15minutes to spare. I was now a 24hour soloist.

I finished 34th overall, 5th Open Female, 6th Singlespeeder and 1st Female Singlespeeder. Oh and yes I want to do another one!

a mixed bag

Fi writes:

I was sick last week. In bed proper-ill with hallucinations and sweats. But soon kicked that before the weekend and went swimming in the local lake to 'see how I felt'. Bit dizzy but the cool water and banter with the other seals was amazing. Pootling there on my shopper, wetsuit folded into my pannier, I thought 'I love this city'. The lake is amazingly serene, surrounded by grass. It is clean and peaceful and dedicated for swimmers. Perfect Sunday morning.

Then the trails were crying out to be ridden. So I thought I'd test my wellness with a short 2 and a half hour ride with The Boy. Just One More Trail. Everything dusty and perfect. Then bbq and wine-drunkenness.

This week has been a mixed bag of marking in the garden with the dog sitting on my feet (yay), coughing and tight chestedness after-glow of The Bug (boo), two great swim sessions (yay), blisters from kayaking on the ergo in the garden (to the amusement of the neighbours) (boo), an awesome 20mile tt with one of the Roadie Chicks (yay) and Not Enough Running (boo).

Summer Is Glorious.

PS. Anyone coming to Bristol Bikefest?

crashing

the worst crashes are the stupid ones.

standing still, bike feels odd, maybe i have a flat, look down at rear tyre, lose balance, no time to get clipped out, plenty of time to stick arm out, tears, swearing, horrid sicky feeling.

going fast, middle moor, why am i trying to follow matt's line, why hasn't mike come by yet, this is fun but possibly too fast, slow for the bridge, where's the front wheel going, bite lip, swearing, horrid sicky feeling.

bruises on bruises. i think i might take up knitting.

j.

Between rides...

I like to bake PINK CAKES!

Fi

Learning to Love Hills

I don’t like hills… mostly because I’m not much good at them.

When I’m racing, any time that I make up on the techy sections I lose threefold on the climbs. When I’m out riding with friends, by the time I get to the top of the hills, a red, puffing mess, everyone else is champing at the bit and ready to go again.

The people I know who are good at climbing tell me that they actually enjoy hills. There must be some sort of correlation.

So, my challenge is to make myself start liking hills. How do I plan to do this? Well, I’ve changed my commute home so that instead of riding straight home, I take the long route that involves lots of hills. When I’m out riding with friends, I’m going all out on the hills.

I don’t know if it’ll work or if I’ll ever like hills any more than I do just now, but I’m ravenous by the time I get home from work and my thighs are starting to look a bit different!

Jac

Touring

Last week I had one of those moments when you want to just take off... I was thinking about hopping over to Europe and pedalling my way through olive groves and lemon trees for a week.

But I settled on Exmoor for a day and a half. That's all I could squeeze in.

My friend Kat and I set off in the blustery cold wind and pedalling clear of Bristol before most people were scraping their bacon rinds in the bin. We spun round the airport and laughed at the plane spotters, roared down the steep hill to the Mendips and quickly shot out to the Quantock hills. A sweaty, backbreaking climb later and we were drinking our first pot of tea and scouring the map for the best route.

Another few tens of miles later and we were pedalling beneath the tall mottled beach hedges of Exmoor, glimpsing the sea to our right, then plunging down towards Wimbelball Reservoir and up again to Bampton for doughnuts and coffee on the pavement. 5 hours done. Lovely.

A quick check of the phone reminded me we had been invited to stop by a friend's house for a paddle in the hot tub if we had time. Only 20 miles away and en route. Did we have time?

A final 9 miles and we were at our destination for wine, casserole, cats and an open fire. Thanks Mum and Dad!

9hours sleep later we were up and the sky had cleared ready for our 50 mile spin back home and to work. The roads were busy and the peace of Exmoor had disappeared as we ploughed into a bright windy morning, taking it in turn to pull on the front. A little less conversation, a little more concentration but a decent pace and Bristol was soon just around the corner.

Home. Food. Work. Conference papers. Marking. Deadlines. Normality returns. Bah!