2 Days to push

The fact that I am leaving the UK to start another chapter in my life in sunny New Zealand is beginning to sink in. I changed a few simple lines on the website to state we are now a New Zealand based company, a simple task that doesn't give the full picture of how hard I will have to work to build my business in a new country.

Jenn has been getting as far away from the damp Macclesfield climate as much as she can, enjoying a break from work visiting her team mate Ruth in Brighton, and its just as well as we have had rain every day since we packed the flat up over 6 weeks ago. She did manage to get out on a short ride with Danni Rider who was up getting tested, and the rain did stay away for Jenns last ride in the Peak. She told me the other night she went to church with Ruth for what she thought was a fun carol service but turned out to be a full on sermon. As we are not religious folk she had trouble not cracking up, it is a load of nonsense that makes no sense.

I too have been staying off the bike as much as I can, running for an hour 2 times a week and have done some good gym sessions on the rower which I should have chosen as a sport instead of trying to compete against 65kg whippets in a power to weight critical sport. I always like doing power lifting exercises as they use my whole body and with a light weight I can do quite a few reps and get some high heart rates.

The next time I blog will be on my way to NZ or once I am there. Wish us luck and stay tuned to see how Patterson Training evolves.

The Marathonists

Dave Hayward and Mike Powell are the most dedicated athletes I know
but someone is lying on their food diary.

Training Log No2

Ok just a quick blog to keep you up to date on my training. Since last time I blogged Jenn and I have moved in with my family living out of 1 (rather large) Powerbar kit bag each. The situation is good and bad in that we have my mums cooking to look forward to most days, however that is also the bad bit as she still thinks I'm 13 years old and there is a need to feed me up. Me size portions don't mean a great deal in the Patterson household.

So moving swiftly onto the training, and body mass..... well what can I say the house is full of rich food and chocolate digestives so no change there I'm afraid 81.5 kg and my body fat using the electrical impedance is a shocking 15 %. There is a good side to over eating, yes you heard me right my body is a bit more of a carbohydrate burning furnace than It usually is albeit at the expense of my ability to burn fat for fuel but I will focus on that aspect of the training in a couple of weeks when I get to the sunnier NZ climate and I can get some big easy miles in without fear of being washed away.

So what is the benefit of this carbohydrate furnace? Well when there is a lot of glycogen in the muscle and glucose in the blood the enzymes that allow me to fuel forceful contractions are prevalent. I still need to teach my brain to fire the muscles more forcefully but when I do ask them to do contract hard I have the fuel supply working at a very high level.

The result of this is that I am able to put in some good strength work on the bike as you can see from strength section of my training session below my seated over geared efforts are creeping up to the 600 watt mark for 1 minute and I hope to be able to hold 1 minute at over 600 watts before I leave for NZ in a couple of weeks.

I have also seen a couple of new 5 second mean maximal values as I have got my body used to high velocity muscle contractions but these have been done away from the force work after a period of recovery, as I'm sure you are aware trying to co-ordinate your legs at high speed in sprint drills is a no go when force reps are a large part of the training. If sprinting is your thing, make sure you do the speed work first so you are building power onto good form and high leg speed not the other way around.

Apart from working on strength I have been doing the easy rides but not staying on the Cheshire plain, I have been cruising around the peaks just taking it easy and trying not to stray into zone 3 unless I'm doing specific tempo intervals. I am well aware of how efficiency is such a key component of endurance racing (2-6 hours) and I have a set pattern of aerobic training that can shift my aerobic threshold (not my OBLA (LT2) to some quite high power outputs, although it is sometimes hard to hold back during the long aerobic rides and focus on cadence rather than power and doing it in bad weather doesn't help so the lions share of that training can wait a few weeks.

Jenn is enjoying some down time although she has been commuting most days keeping the miles in. And down time in another form as she was knocked off the scooter the other day which we had just fixed up. She is not badly injured as the impact was low speed (get well gifts of chocolate and Campagnolo ergo 11 spd shifters can be sent to me and ill pass them on... honest!) It highlights the problems of commuting in this country where drivers seem to have forgotten that you look right, left then right again before pulling out, not right then left then pull out still looking left. Its all very well delivering bike ability courses to get people out of cars and onto bikes but its damn dangerous at rush hour times. Drivers need educating as much as cyclists, perhaps a week commuting on a bike should be part of the driving licence that would make drivers be more aware.

The End is Nigh...

Or at least I hope it is. Andy and I have been living in a half-packed state for weeks now, and tonight is the last night in our flat before we move in with Andy's parents for a few weeks. The Patterson Training team bus and all our furniture and possessions will be loaded into a container bound for New Zealand on Monday.

The Rush, the Scalpel and my winter training bike are being packed away as I write this, so it will just be the Little White Bike for a while. Part of me thinks it would have been nice to get out for one last blast around Macclesfield Forest before we leave, but I've never been the sentimental type. I know I'll be back to ride around the Peak District hills that I've called home for the past 10 years. Right now I'm thinking about Mt Taranaki and the start of summer.

It's an all new start for Patterson Training. We've invested in an exciting new software system called Training Peaks, that will allow our clients to log in to their training plans from anywhere in the world. Andy will post up more details about Training Peaks once we've got this moving business out of the way.

By moving our permanent base to New Zealand we can drop a lot of our overheads and invest more time and money into providing the best service for our clients, both here in the UK and in New Zealand. So our clients need not worry - it won't be business as usual, it will be better than usual. The Patterson Training website, Trackside blog and our email addresses won't change either.

For me, I've got a new set of goals to look forward to. The New Zealand National Road Race Champs are on 10 January 2010 in Christchurch, and I'd like to have a go. Aside from that, I'll be riding the Round The Mountain road sportive in Taranaki on 30 January, and the NZ National XC Champs and Oceania Champs in February and March. It's a short season, to be followed by my first NZ winter since 1998.

I might even dust off the old snowboard.

End of Season Sale

PINK Hope Team Edition Mono Mini Pro Brakeset
One of only two sets in the world.

It's that time of year again, and we are selling off some of our kit to make way for new stuff. I've had a great deal of interest in my special edition pink Hope gear this year, which is hardly surprising as it is a bit special. I was the only female XC racer on the Hope Factory Team this year, so my custom pink kit is unique. There are only two sets of these brakes in the world - I'm keeping one and selling the other.

For pics and a rundown of the Hope kit take a look at my original review.

These are 2009 Mono Mini Pros (not the standard Mono Minis, which are available to the public in pink), and they come with a set of matching pink 6-bolt floating rotors. The Moni Mini Pro is being phased out for 2010, so there will never be another set in this colour. As I've had so much interest during the year for these, I'm offering them here before auctioning them off to the Giro-mad Italians. Email me at jenn@pattersontraining.com if you are interested. £300 for the set.

Minoura RDA 850 Turbo Trainer

This is about three years old but is in really good order. I've been using it for warming up before races, but otherwise it hasn't had much use (I'd rather ride in the rain than train on a turbo). Can be used for MTB or road bikes. These retail for about £175 new. We're selling ours for £75.

Training Log No1

I said I would put my training for the New Zealand Round the Mountain road race up on the blog so here it is. Why you may ask? Well I spend so much time mulling over hundreds of files and feedback reports from my clients that I find it hard to spend the time to fully plan my own training. A couple of good results in my last two MTB races has revived my enthusiasm for hard training, but that doesn't mean I am in any good shape or form. I'm not - in fact it was only my technical skills and my ability to suffer that has allowed me to be competitive in the last couple of races. I have a lot of work to do if I am to get good road speed in time for the New Zealand race at the end of January.

It all started today, with my power profile to establish strengths of each energy system. Maximal values are taken for 5 seconds, 1 minute, 5 minutes and for power at the onset of blood lactate accumulation (OBLA). These values give a reasonably valid, but more importantly, an easily repeatable indication of the strength of the neuromuscular system, anaerobic ability, aerobic capacity and muscular endurance. The results of the power profile are as follows.


5 seconds. 1400 watts
1 minute. 615 watts
5 minutes. 410 watts
OBLA. 320 watts


These values are divided by my body mass (80 kg), giving a power to weight value in watts per kilo (w/kg) which are then plotted on the power profile shown below.

Click on the image for larger view

As you can see, I'm not in good shape. To maintain a good all round cycling ability I need to raise my anaerobic power (1 minute mean maximal power) as this is clearly lacking behind the other energy systems and is a key component in road racing and mountain bike racing.

As this table is relative to my body mass one of the key areas I need to improve is my body composition, dropping some unwanted body fat will push all the power profile values up, improving my speed on climbs, my ability to accelerate and reduce my frontal area for flat terrain speed.

Click on image for lager view

The body composition values are taken three times from each skinfold site then the average is noted. The values don't look that bad on paper, but I am 6 feet 4 inches tall and 12mm of fat spread over quite a sizable abdomen adds a fair amount of dead weight and the same goes for the rest of my body. I know I am overweight by about 3-4 kg and am very healthy at this weight, but the speed increase on climbs is very noticeable at 76 kg, so that has to be my target.

That's some of the initial and very basic testing done, there is much more that I need to test, such as my efficiency, core strength and flexibility, but that can be done later. Field testing using the SRM power meter during longer training rides can be very valid and there is nothing stopping me conducting a full blood lactate profile after each training phase. The next phase is to evaluate the demands of the Round the Mountain race against the strength of each of my energy systems and set some goals, but that's a job for tomorrow.

British Mountain Bike Series - Round 5 Plymouth
Saturday, September 26th 2009

By Ruth Mordaunt

I have waited purposely to post my brief race report as not only did I enjoy reading Andy’s report below but more importantly his last paragraph expressing his adoration towards Jenn. It needed to be framed in the limelight for awhile before I rattled on about me!

To keep it brief, I had an excellent result for the last race of my season. The usual suspects were on the start line for a four lap race. However, Nina Davies (Ogmore Valley Wheelers) – whom was leading the British Series was nowhere to be seen and then Alli Northcott (Shred Racing) appeared in stealth like action on the start line, not having raced against her before, but knowing how strong she was when she helped our team at the Bedford 2-day road race. Due to a delay to the start, they set the Master Women off with the Junior Females, Expert Females and Veterans Female. It was a fast and frantic start but the opening climb sorted us all out and entering into the first section of singletrack I had no major hold up problems.

Alli, Kim Hamer-Hurst (Owens Cycles-Scott), Emma Bradley (Torq) and Malin Tindberg (West Drayton MBC) were all spaced out in front. So it was head down and start working hard. Andy’s motivational words during my warm up was “power on the climbs you southern softie!” It helped! I passed Emma and Malin on the second climb on the first lap. I could see Kim up in front, but I had lost sight of Alli within the first 5 minutes of the race. I could also see Maxine Filby (A5 Rangers) leading Expert rider just seconds in front, but she was looking strong. I used Maxine to help pace me and by the second lap I had passed her, but she was always hot on my tail. This helped me to remain focused on keeping the power on and track down the leaders. The course was super fast with two river crossings per lap and some short sharp climbs that zapped the power out of your legs before the super fast flowing single track, which I enjoyed with lots of smiles.

Unfortunately I was unable to catch Alli or Kim, whom finished respectively and I took bronze. I was really pleased with how strong I rode.

With the results all toted up from the series I finished second in the British Mountain Bike Series 2009. Excellent, considering I was not going to race much this year due to the traumatic loss of my father back in April and the lack of any kind of consistent training.

So this leads me nicely on to sending a huge thank you to Jenn and Andy whom have given me consistent support and belief in me as a racer especially when the chips were down. I feel proud to be part of the Altura Patterson Training Race Team. A huge Thank You and I wish you much love and happiness in New Zealand.

Thank you to all other sponsors too, for if it was not for the brilliant superlight Cannodale Scapel and other bike components and products, I could not have raced so well without the support given to me. Thank you all.

As with the look on the picture, it is time to recover (what a state!), reflect and refocus on next year’s goals.

Happy pedalling

Ruth

British Mountain Bike Series Round 5 - 26 September 2009 Plymouth

Race Report by Andrew Patterson

After last weeks glimmer of form I was psychologically in a good place. I had found my mojo and riding and racing the Rush was a joy. This weekend was the final National series race down in Plymouth, now two things I don't like about the course at Plymouth are; 1. It's miles away. 2. It's hilly.

As Jenn was working until 3pm on Friday we had to endure the long slog down from Manchester to Plymouth in heavy traffic, set up camp in the dark and ride a practice lap in the morning before the race. From experience I know this doesn't help Jenn, myself or any rider looking for peak performance for that matter, but it's what we have to do, as even with Jenn's palmares, full time work is still required to fund the year's racing program. I'll let Jenn comment one her race and focus on my race.

Climbing well past the feed zone

I had a good grid on the second row so I could get a comfortable position up the feed zone climb into the singletrack. But once the gun sounded a rider who was sat to the left of me made a crazy sprint across my wheel forcing me to back off and lean heavily on Adrian Scott (Corley), losing a few places. On the feed zone climb most riders sat behind the wheels of other riders in one line almost afraid to put a wheel off the smooth track and gain places into the singletrack, which is just what I did using up all of my anaerobic capacity and found myself in around 10th spot in the singletrack where I could recover.

The first lap is always fast and furious and I came out of it in around 9th spot with Paul Hopkins (Offcamber of Blandford). Paul sat on my wheel up the first climb and then jumped in front on into the singletrack where I felt a little held up having to use the brakes far to much behind him. We stick together on lap 2 until I think I pulled away somewhere at the start of lap 3 having a 10 second gap into the second tough loose climb out of the clay shooting range.

The drop in that burped my tyre

By this stage I had a problem in that I had burped the front tyre on the short drop in at the end of the first piece of singletrack, so on the second singletrack section just as I was catching 4th, 5th and 6th spot I thought I had to act fast and get some air into the tyre or risk rolling it off the rim. In doing so 3 riders including Paul Hopkins passed me but I was fired up and way faster on the singletrack. I caught them back easily then made a move on Paul on a short earthy very steep climb where I saw Paul drop into the granny so I battered the middle ring in a contorted effort to power away and keep good traction. As I passed him at the bottom of the climb I said "I'll pay for this later" acknowledging that efforts like that don't always pay off in endurance events.

One of 2 river crossings that I'm sure were getting deeper each lap

I was obviously reaping the rewards of the power and strength endurance training I have been doing in my facilitative (Suck it and see) style training rides as I felt strong for the rest of the race. I had two laps to catch those in front who I could see every lap just in front of me on the loose climb out of the clay shooting range, but I lacked the pace to bridge the gap.

My feeding was shocking throughout the race, drinking only about 1 litre and eating 3 PowerBar gels but I was riding right on the nail and above it for the whole race and I found it hard to breath slow enough to drink. I know, I know I don't always practice what I preach but I was very happy with my drive and I had to push all the way round as I thought the efforts of attacking hard on steep climbs would need paying back in the latter laps, and if there is one thing I can do its hurt myself.

I stayed clear claiming 6th spot in the end 4minutes 53seconds behind race winner Phil Morris (XC Racer) my best National series result yet. Now I just keep asking myself what could have been if I were 76kg? Full results can be found here from Timelaps.co.uk It was a great event, well done to Martyn Salt and team for a great day out racing. The band and night cross race added a great atmosphere to the event.

We are off to New Zealand at the end of the year so this was the last National series event Jenn and I will race. I would like to show my adoration to my Partner Jenn O'Connor. The range of Jenn's success over the past years in 24 hour racing, MTB Marathon and MTB XC has never been bettered, all whilst working full time. Many female athletes will benefit from her campaign for equal prize funds in 24 hour racing and have benefited from her help and support in the MTB scene, spending tireless hours chasing up sponsorship deals for others with no personal reward. I'm sure this won't be the last time Jenn puts a number on, but for now we have some different challenges. I am privileged to share my life with Jenn and be part of her optimism, drive and love of life. I look forward to our life together in NZ and love you lots Jenn.

Midlands XC Round 4

I have recently changed my bike from the Scalpel to the Carbon Rush. Having never ridden a Rush Carbon I thought the Rush would be a more laid back bike that was difficult to achieve that always fast feel that the Scalpel has. From the time I received the Rush I have been doing all my riding and training on it. This is because when changing from bikes of different geometry it takes some time to get my 6 feet 4 inch frame to an optimal position. After a couple of rides it was evident that the Rush actually fits me better than the Scalpel did. A slacker seat/head angle and lower bottom bracket along with a pro pedal suspension system that I can ride well into the travel without wallowing around led to a feeling of being in the bike rather than on and over it as I did on the Scalpel. But did it inspire speed as the Scalpel did?

Now I know you are thinking, sponsor supplies new bike, rider must big up the product. Well that should always happen, without sponsors many athletes could not compete with such great equipment. However, getting the right bike for myself has always been problematic and custom builds have always been the preferred option. At the final round of the Midlands MTB Series in Sherwood Pines I was about to get a shock. I took my bike but was in no real mood to race as I had ridden a marathon around the peaks in my usual 39 x 11-34 gear constraint and had even succumbed to the hunger shakes that evening before the race. But as the sun was out on race day I put my number on and lined up at the back of the grid. The gun went and I stamped hard on the 180 cranks. I didn’t lock the front forks as I usually do, I’d set them up firm with a lot of rebound damping and left the rear traction control down to the pro pedal on the Fox shock. After the initial sprint I found myself feeling very strong, the lactate was not as apparent as it sometimes is and I managed to slot into the single track in about 6th spot feeling very comfortable.

Ripin the Rush hard towards the podium

The singletrack was split by very fast sections of forest trail and I kicked again managing to pass my nemesis Darren Alexander (Mini Adventure) with surprising ease. By this stage I was thinking I have put zero pressure on myself for this race and the goal was to just get round, focus on skills, have fun and hope that yesterdays 100 Peak District kilometres and the 3 kilograms of extra weight I am carrying don’t make me look too bad. An extra bit of luck found me as Matt Barrett (Raleigh) pulled up in front of me half way into the first lap with a snapped chain and I found myself riding in 3rd spot with Chris Rathbone (Websters Cycles). So from that point on my goal was a podium. Chris and I both had some problems as his rear tyre had lost some air and was in great danger of rolling off on the bomb hole whereas my Tune cranks, which had come loose in the English Marathon Champs were obviously permanently damaged from that race and began to unwind themselves. I had to stop after lap 2 and tighten them up but easily caught back up with Chris. I followed Chris for a lap and still felt comfortable making notes on the sections he was stronger on and where he was not so strong or where his tyre may cause him to slow, then Chris followed me for a lap not giving me any distance. Im not that sure where I pulled away from Chris it may have been through one of the Star Wars style fast tree dodging sections or on a sandy drag, but I soon found myself out in second place. At the start of the final lap I was caught by Lloyd Bettles who was pacing his laps well. I followed his wheel and started to plan my finish strategy, which in brief came down to unleashing the 1600 watts I can muster in a sprint as soon as I get round the last bend. If all else fails at least it will give the crowd some entertainment.

I took the lead into the second to last section of singletrack but somehow jumped my chain off the sprocket loosing a couple of pedal strokes and Lloyd nipped by but sportingly eased the pace for me to get back on, he was also keen for The good fight. He was now in front and I was holding his wheel looking forward to a sprint finish. The last singletrack section came and I was just a fraction too close to his back wheel, so when Lloyd got his line slightly wrong I had no time to evaluate my position and over corrected hitting a lone pine cone and hitting the deck. Lloyd put the hammer down, the crowd had no sprint finish and I settled for 3rd. Stephen James (Torq) won the race 1 minute 30 seconds ahead of us.

Apart from my after market cranks (I use them as no one makes a BB30 180 crank) the Rush was truly faultless around Sherwood. Planted, smooth, nimble, comfortable all those superlatives that you hear now and then in a MTB review, and it felt very fast. I had no pressure for that race and the effect of that psychological state was very useful. It shows the power of how process goals can reduce stress and allow performance and enjoyment to shine through the often stressful outcome oriented world of bike racing. I’m still way over my target race weight, my season was badly disrupted by swine flu and one particular rubbish event but im loving racing and riding again thanks to our sponsors, Cheers.

Myself in 3rd, Lloyd Bettles 2nd, Stephen James 1st

Warwick Cycle Races

Sunday 6 September 2009
Warwick

Race Report by Jenn O'Connor
Images by Richard Robotham

After nearly five hours of alpine mountain bike racing at the World Champs, I was in the mood for something completely different. The Warwick Cycle Races (aka the Warwick Crits) is a day of town centre street racing, whereby the roads around the centre of Warwick are closed, barriers erected, and cyclists of various ages and specialities get to tear around the streets with impunity. It sounded like fun, so I signed myself up.

Andy was down in London for the weekend doing Coach Education work for British Cycling, so it was just me and Little White Bike (a carbon Cannondale Synapse), with a packed lunch and a train ticket. I put a seat pack with a C02 pump on the bike, put a spare tube and tyre levers in my back pocket for the race, and rode out to Macclesfield train station with a rucksack.

Catching the train with my bike was easy. It took just 1hr45mins to get from Macclesfield to Leamington Spa, then a gentle ride over to Warwick. I got there in plenty of time, and even got to see some of the kids' and club races. The town was heaving, and not just with cyclists. Plenty of local folk were lining the barriers, cheering and shouting, or chilling out at outside tables at the numerous coffee shops lining the track. I was having fun already, it felt like a festival.

The elite women's event was off at 2:30pm, and we got a couple of practice laps to warm up before lining up on the grid. I really had no idea what to expect, as I'd only ever done one circuit race before, which was at Milton Keynes Bowl, and it was nothing like this. There were about 20 of us lined up, and I stayed at the back of the grid, as this was a National Series race, and I had no series points for circuit racing.

We eased off the line in the manner of a road race, but then a couple of girls took off, and the race was on! I moved up to the front of the bunch, not wanting to be left behind in the tight turns, and started chasing the leaders out the front. It took a couple of laps at race speed to get used to the tight corners, and I knocked my cranks a couple of times trying to accelerate out of the corners too soon. I soon got used to it though, and Little White Bike handled beautifully. After about five laps, Nicola Juniper (PCA Ciclos Uno) escaped off the front, and no-one had the legs to chase her down. I stayed with the main bunch, and although there were plenty of strong and willing riders, we weren't really working together - more like taking turns trying to ride away.

About halfway into the race the group started to break apart, and more and more riders were getting dropped, as we started to overtake lapped riders. The gap to Nicola out front hovered between 20 and 25 seconds, but on such a tight circuit we couldn't see her. With just 10 minutes to go, we had formed a small break at the front of the main bunch - myself, Anna Fischer (Max Gear R.T.) and Natalie Creswick (Twickenham CC), but Natalie crashed on a corner with only a few laps to go, which left myself and Anna.

We were both working hard, and we had 2nd and 3rd place in the bag between us, but we knew we'd have to sprint for 2nd. The last couple of laps were ridden at a steady pace, as we both saved our legs for the sprint. Anna led up the last climb and we sprinted for the line. Unfortunately I had to get around a lapped rider in front of me, although she did her best to get out of the way. I nipped around her and up to Anna's elbow on the line, but it wasn't enough and I was beaten into 3rd place. Meanwhile, Nicola had stretched her lead from 25 seconds to nearly a minute during the last two laps while we'd eased the pace, and she lapped the entire field apart from myself and Anna.

It was lung-busting work and much more intense than my slow-cooker body is used to, but it was tremendous fun and great racing. For my third place I won £42, which was precisely the combined cost of my entry fee and train ticket, so I broke even on a day's racing, which is almost impossible in mountain bike racing!

The women's podium (from left) Jenn O'Connor (Altura Patterson Training), Nicola Juniper (PCA Ciclos Uno), Anna Fischer (Max Gear R.T.)

I was even able to secure a large skinny latte and a table with a view to watch the start of the elite men's race, before catching my train home. Warwick and Leamington Spa are lovely little towns, and the races are a wonderful day out. I hope I get the chance to go back.

A full report, results and picture gallery for the Warwick Cycle Races can be found here.

Information about Warwick Cycle Races can be found here.

UCI World Mountain Bike Marathon Championships

Graz, Austria
23 August 2009

Race Report by Jenn O'Connor

Representing your country is a special feeling, but it's a difficult thing to explain. I never lay awake as a kid dreaming about it. As an athlete, I never used to give it much thought. Getting my first set of National Uniform through the post back in 2006 gave me a glow of pride that I never knew existed.

Wearing the Silver Fern means, for a given place in time, I am New Zealand. Officials call me into the start box; "this way, New Zealand" as though it were my name. Spectators, strangers, shout "go New Zealand" and "go Kiwi" as I ride past because they are cheering for a country, not just a person. I even heard "go All Blacks" one year, which really made me smile. Being New Zealand makes me want to polish my shoes and scrub the mud out of my tyres. It makes me self-consciously polite. It makes me push the pedals that little bit harder, chase down that extra place. For five tough hours I can be something bigger than just me. In every other respect, a World Championship is just another race.

This year the Marathon World Championship race was held in Graz, Austria, which was perfect for me as my brother Rodney and sister-in-law Jessie live in Austria (or did - they moved back to NZ last week). Not only did I have a great family get-together, I had full complement of feed zone supporters. The women's course was 84 km with 3061 metres of climbing and steep rocky descending. It was a real mountain biker's course and I was looking forward to riding it.

My preparation this year had been less than ideal - Andy and I had planned to use the Intermontane Challenge in Canada as a week-long overload session at the beginning of the month, but unfortunately that race turned out to be a scam, and we left after just three days of somewhat patchy racing*. I've been stringing together some big training rides on the weekends since then, in an effort to get the big miles and high intensity needed for marathon racing into my legs. I arrived in Graz in pretty good shape nonetheless, happy to be with my family, wearing my national kit, and being part of the action.

Family photo - me with my brother Rod, sister-in-law Jess and my beloved Cannodale Scalpel.

Arriving with just one day to spare before the race, I was only able to pre-ride the first big road climb, a 28% lung buster. I met up briefly with Sally Bigham of Great Britain, who had been there a few days earlier, and had been able to pre-ride some of the descents. Sal seemed pretty daunted by some of the steep, rocky sections, but I wasn't too worried - not because I'm a brilliant technical rider, but because I know I can handle most terrain well enough, and being so small I can keep my balance on steep sections pretty well. In fact, I was hoping for rain to raise the challenge a bit!

I got my wish - it rained solidly all of Saturday afternoon and into Saturday night. I decided to leave the semi-slick Panaracer Razer XC on the back to keep things rolling on the long tarmac and fire road sections, but swapped to a Panaracer MACH SK up front, for a bit more bite around the edges.

Sunday morning dawned bright and sunny. Rod and Jess were up early, along with their German friend Marcus, who was racing in one of the support races early in the day. They left our apartment about 8am, leaving Andy and I to have a leisurely breakfast before I rode up to the venue on my bike, while Andy drove straight to the first feed zone.

There are always three main races at the Marathon Worlds - the men, the women and the feed zone race. Supporters have to drive at crazy speed through winding back roads to get to the next feed zone before the riders come through, battling for parking spaces and toting wheels and bottles up hill and down dale. Andy is an elite competitor at this discipline, and he skipped the chaos at the startline to get head start on the other team cars.

In the start box, waiting to be called up to the start grid.

I had bib number 40, which put me pretty much at the back of the grid, but I was not at all concerned about that. The first road climb would take a good 20 minutes and I knew that an honest pecking order would quickly be established before there would be any need to fight over the singletrack. The gun went, and the start up the 2km flat section was a gentle warm-up before the climb. I worked my way steadily up through the pack as the road wound uphill, and found my rhythm, not wanted to tear my legs up when I knew the really big climbs were still to come.

The first descent went from muddy and rooty to fast forest track, and I made up a few more places. We then had to negotiate a fairly flat section through country roads and villages, and it was on a long road section that my friend Mel Spath, riding for Germany, came blasting past. "Go on Mel" I shouted. "Come on then Jenn" she shouted back, and I accelerated onto her wheel. We worked together and picked up the pace.

Feed Zone 1 was chaos. Riding up, it looked like a big unruly mob, arms waving and bottles flying, with no obvious route through, other than simply plunging into the middle of it all. Luckily I had Andy, standing 6'4" with the longest arms in NATO, and I spotted him easily and grabbed my bottle and Powergel.

We soon started climbing again, gently up the tarmac at first, then on to steep mud and slipperly roots. I felt good and climbed well, picking my front wheel easily over the roots. I even felt like I was floating, which was nice, but I realised it probably wasn't a good thing and had another gel. I then got my first taste of the proper descents, a very steep, slippery and rocky section, that was partly washed away down the bank. I picked through it pretty quickly and popped back out onto the road, not too far from Feed Zone 3 (FZ2 was on a men-only section). FZ3 was much more civilised, as the men's race was still out on the extra loop and those support crews were still out at FZ2. Rodney was there with my bottle and gel, and I grabbed some extra water as well. It was hot, and I was starting to rue my decision to use small, 500ml bottles.

I'd pulled away from Mel up the steep climbs, but she appeared behind me again as I rode up the rolling tarmac section out of FZ3. It was as though she had attached a rubber band to my saddle, she just kept bouncing back. I turned in the saddle and accused her of as much. She smiled and said; "you're my target. There's a bullseye on your back!" I replied that I was glad of the company, and I was. Marathon racing is much easier, both physically and mentally, if you can stick with a group.

More fire road climbing, steadier this time, up and up to FZ4. The men finally caught us just before FZ4, and we were once more plunged into chaos as we rode up what I knew to be a tarmac path, although I couldn't see anything but a sea of people. The crowd was at least 50 metres long, and most the people were looking over my head for the approaching men - they simply didn't see me, and I had to shout myself hoarse to get through. An excited teenager ran straight into me, and I had to jam on the brakes to keep from knocking him down.

I finally got through FZ4, feeling slightly battered, and the trail went suddenly quiet again. This was the big climb up to the Schöckl Bergstation at 1438 metres, and I was feeling good for it. The track was steep and rocky, and technical enough to distract from the magnitude of the climb. I was enjoying it, and now starting to make up much more time, catching riders I hadn't seen since the start line. Up, up and more up, it must have been at least 40 minutes of solid climbing. Finally I got to the top, and the trail turned sharply down, the kind of descent where hesitating isn't an option, it was just hang back over the rear wheel, look up and hold on. I knew the race was far from over, but I just needed to get to FZ5. It was hot, I was thirsty and I'd long since drained my bottle. Luckily the top section had a cool breeze, and I sucked in the fresh mountain air in lieu of water.

Click image to view the the course profile.

FZ5 was at the top of a gondola, and it was neutral service only. Luckily the event was sponsored by Powerbar, so I was able to grab the same gels and drinks from the neutral feed service that I would have had anyway. I overtook three more riders on the next rocky section. I was on a roll.

"The final descent" doesn't really describe this next section. We were on top of the world, and the way down was a rocky riverbed. Trying to walk down would have taken forever, and wouldn't have been any safer, so there was no choice but to dive in and go for it. I crashed twice, once battering myself on the rocks and again dropping my chain. I stopped to put my chain back on, and had to fend off well-meaning spectators, who obviously didn't realise their help would get me disqualified. I lost a couple of the places I'd gained on the climb, and I was cursing myself; come on Jenn, pull yourself together!

I mostly rode and partly tumbled down the riverbed, kilometre after kilometre, to FZ6 to see Andy with my last bottle of the day. Straight after the feed zone, the last climb was a long hike-a-bike scramble up a muddy bank - a dirty trick by the course designers. As we reached the top I could see two riders in front of me, Åsa Erlandsson of Sweden whom I'd been chasing for the whole race, and Arielle Van Meurs of Holland, whom I'd overtaken on the climb, but who had passed me again as I was putting my chain back on. I felt inexplicably good, so I necked another gel and started my final chase. I caught Arielle quickly on the next climb. Åsa glanced behind and saw me, and put up a good fight, but she was clearly tired and I was determined. We exchanged brief friendly greetings as I passed her (we met at the last World Champs) and I powered on for the finish. I knew I had one last, steep, rooty singletrack descent and threw myself down it with absolute abandon. It was the best I'd ridden all day. I crossed the line alone, and very happy to be finished, in a very respectable 17th place.

Mel crossed the line a few minutes and nine places later. She'd lost a lot of time trying to find her bottle in the melee at FZ4 where she'd lost sight of me, and had not caught back up. Meanwhile Sally Bigham had clearly overcome any inhibitions about the descents, as she had finished almost 10 minutes ahead of me in 10th place. Sally has had a magic season this year, and I'd expected her to do well on such a climby course. Our race was won by German rider Sabine Spitz, adding the Marathon world title to her collection, which includes an XC World Championship title, numerous World Cup wins and Olympic Gold. Swiss riders Esther Suss and Petra Henzi took the Silver and Bronze medals. Full results can be found here.

I had one final mission - to find the 2008 World Champ Gunn Rita Dahle Flesjaa and ask her to autograph my Powerbar team cap. Gunn Rita is a multi World Champ in both XC and marathon, and had a baby just five months ago. She is still breastfeeding and getting up in the night, however she defended her title, and finished 13th, a few minutes ahead of me. As those in the trade will know, Gunn Rita is a mountain biking hero. She was nowhere to be seen however, so we headed back to our apartment.

Then we found her - or at least Andy did. She was out on a recovery ride on the same road, and Andy managed to pull her over, and explained that I had been looking for her and wanted her autograph. She very graciously obliged, and even spent a few minutes chatting to Andy about the race, and about being a Mum. I didn't get to meet her, but I did get her autograph. Thank you Gunn Rita!

*We're still trying to get our money back from the defunct Intermontane Challenge, but the organiser seems to have disappeared from the face of the earth, surprise surprise.

Brighton Big Dog 2009

Saturday 15th August

Stanmer Park, near Brighton

Race Report by Ruth Mordaunt

The Brighton Big Dog race was held at Stanmer Park; a wonderful parkland of trails tucked between Brighton and the South Downs.

It was a six hour endurance event around an eight mile course through predominately awesome singletrack. The rain had held off and the course was riding well on Panaracer Razer’s, which meant it was going to be a fast and furious race. I was very excited about race day and could not wait for Saturday to arrive!

We started in a grass open area for about 200 meters or so before darting left and cutting right into Stanmer Woods through the endless singletrack on offer to us. There were approximately 500 riders taking part in this event, whether they were part of a team, pair or solo riders. I opted for the women solo category. I was a little nervous as this was the longest ride I would have done all year. So my aims for the race were a) survive (!) and b) do consistent lap times.

So with a lot of riders on the start line and then a sharp left into the woods, you needed to be at the front. So I made sure I was lined up with the fast boys. Jenn you would have been proud of me!

My main competitors were Nicky Hughes (Activ) and Jenn Hopkins (The Northern Minx). I did not know any of the others on the start list in my category, and did not want to underestimate the ability of an unknown rider. So I wanted to have a good start and a fast first lap.

The course entered the woods from the main arena ready for the first climb of the day; short and sharp with several tricky tree roots, so you had to pick a good line. Then we headed right and were in a haven of singletrack woodland. It was brilliant fun to ride, but you had to be continuously focused as tree roots and logs could trip you up. The course was deceptively hilly and you definitely needed your climbing legs.

As with tradition, it would not be the same without me crashing on the first lap! Yes, approximately 20 minutes into the race I was cornering around some tree roots, lost my grip and slammed into the ground. Ouch! My elbow, knee and thigh were throbbing. I knew I had cut my elbow as the blood trickled down my arm, but the adrenalin of the race makes you jump on your bike as quickly as you can and this usually makes you forget about any pain. I thought at least I have got the crash out the way, so I won't tell you about the crashes on lap 2, 3, 6 then!

The course crossed over the A27 via bridge into another section of woodland. The volume of riders and the twisty turns in the singletrack slowed everyone down, which wasn’t great when we disturbed a wasp’s nest. The wasps were not impressed with us and proceeded to attack all riders who entered their territory. I was stung on my arm twice and later found out that many others had been stung too (including Jenn Hopkins with three or four bites across her back), so the course organisers changed the route for lap two.

The course was up a short climb back over the A27 and then up up up, which by lap 3 was the start of my cramping legs. Each lap I got my breath back and then it was back into woods for some more dips, dives and traverses across the woodland before bringing you out at the buzzing arena.

After the first lap I thought I was in the lead, as Jenn nor Nicky had passed me, but Dean (our pit bitch for the day), confirmed that I was second to a No. 23 whom was approximately 1 minute and 30 secs in front. “Really. Who is she?” I later found out that No.23 was Cait Elliot, Elite rider and National Champion for Ireland (UCD), whom has just returned from living in the French Alpes. So the next two laps I put in a big effort to try and claw back some time but also trying to keep in a steady rhythm as it was a long race and it was achievable to make up this time difference. Laps two and three were quicker lap times than Cait and I could see her just in front of me. However, come climbing on lap four, my legs started cramping to the extent I had to stop and stretch out my legs. I could see Cait push on and I just had to drink lots and ride steady for the next 5 minutes whilst the cramping eased.

When I went past the feed zone on lap five the time difference was approximately 4 minutes. I knew then that I just had to ride this next lap again within my pace as I was on the edge of cramping on every hill and hope that I could push on the last lap. I made sure I drank lots of PowerBar Energise drink which contained the magic isotonic formula. It worked as I rode a faster lap on my last lap, but still ended up 4 minutes 40 down on the winner Cait Elliot.

However, I surprised myself how well I did. I not only completed a 6 hour enduro, but with fairly consistent lap times and a podium position. Nicky Hughes taking third position whilst Jenn Hopkins was fourth.

The Brighton Big Dog was a huge success; amazing singletrack, awesome atmosphere, excellent organisation and good weather. Also, they definitely know how to create a party atmosphere with presenting you with a pint of Sussex beer as you cross the finish line and the profits of the race go behind a bar in Brighton for you to go and enjoy yourself.

I will be sure to mark this race in my calendar for next year.

A huge thank you to some lovely friends whom came to support me, especially Janet Gardner (who has the loudest cheer!), Jane and Huw Powell, and Colin Holt. Also, thank you to Karl whom took some great shots and used in this report. Finally, a massive thank you to Dean (Mountain Trax) whom fed and shouted at me to eat and drink more.

Ruth

BC Photo Gallery

We have nothing more to say about the slapstick comedy event in Kamloops, but apart from the race we had a great trip, got in plenty of riding and enjoyed fantastic hospitality. After leaving the race in Kamloops and arriving back in Squamish we were invited to stay with Dave and Sandy, the owners of Corsa bike shop. Dave took us out on his after-dinner blast loop - starting with a slick rock in the back yard and singletrack on the doorstep. We've been lucky to meet fantastic people at every turn. If you ever get a chance to visit Squamish, call in to Corsa. Great shop and really great people.

Those who have been following the blog will know that we had a pretty rotten time at the race in Kamloops and left early. Our only regret is that we didn't get a chance to say goodbye to all the great people we met. Hopefully we'll get the chance to return to Kamloops some time - not to race and not in the middle of July, but to enjoy the trails with some of the mountain biking locals, whom I have no doubt are wonderful people. Canadians are some of the most hospitable people on earth and BC is still one of our favourite places.

Driving to the trailhead in a redneck pickup truck is how we rip in BC. Dude.

Kitting up to ride - it's 33 degrees and warming up.

Squamish trails are packed dirt, lots of trees, lots of roots, lots of fast riding, technical as you like. There are more trails here in Squamish and Whistler than in all the 7 Stanes combined. And, surprisingly, very few people out on them, even on the weekend.
Lunch at the new Quest University cafe overlooking Squamish. We had salad here, but we had sushi almost every night. The sushi in Squamish is awesome. Go to Sushi San for a night out or Sushi Gourman in town for a cheap and cheerful fix.


Secret trail heads back into the trees.


Andy is standing uphill of me in this picture. No, really.

Secret trail - we had to hike for 15 minutes through uncut scrub to find it. Luckily Craig didn't have to kill us afterwards...

Secret trail is a bit overgrown at the top.

The view from a roadside rest stop on the road to Kamloops. Just a bit prettier than the view from the M6.

The Big Rock. Climbers come from around the world to Squamish to have a go on the Stawamus Chief. See that car in the middle distance? It's about 200 metres from the base of the rock.

Rubbing shoulders with racing legend Tinker Juarez in Kamloops before the race. Unfortunately neither of us finished as we both lost the course (although not together).

Product testing part three - our gorgeous nephew Sam puts the Adidas Eyewear Thrusters through some extreme testing. We got to spend a night in Seattle with my cousin Vicki and her husband Chris and baby Sam. Looks like Uncle Andy has a new best friend.

We're back in the UK now, recovering from jetlag and preparing for the World Marathon Champs in Austria in a couple of weeks. While we were away, Annabel has been road racing in Belgium and Ruth bagged second place in the Southern XC champs. We'll have more race reports up soon.

Happy Trails

Jenn

The Intermontane Challenge - Part 1

We've finally arrived in Kamloops and it's HOT. We signed up for this event in the hope that we would get some sunshine and now the gods are having fun with us. It is 33 degrees celcius today, and forecast to get hotter over the next week - up to 38 degrees. I'm not going to complain, I just hope there will be plenty of feedzones. We'll find out about all of that tonight at the rider briefing. Race starts tomorrow at 10am.

Bad news is, Andy's come down with a stinking cold and can barely breath. He's not sure he will be able to race, but we're holding off making any kind of decision yet. He could always start the stage tomorrow and just take it easy for the first day, but that will mean at least five hours out in the heat and he is going to suffer. We'll wait and see how he feels in the morning.

I've got some pics but the computer in the lobby here doesn't have an SD drive so they will have to wait. Tinker Juarez and the Monavie Cannondale team are here, and Tinker has a new Flash carbon 29er to try out. It is crazy light! We'll see if he can tough it out on a hardtail though, I think I'd be back on my full sus Scalpel after a day, but Tinker might just be tougher than me :-)

Jenn

BC Part One - Squamish

We've been here in BC for a couple of days now and everything is just as it should be - big sky, big mountains and some real mountain biking. We're staying with our good friend Craig Bullen, who was the former UK Marketing Manager for Powerbar before he packed up and moved to Canada a couple of years ago. Craig is into his DH and that's pretty much the scene around here.

For the past two days Craig has gone out of his way to find the tamest, most flowing XC type trails for us. Most of it is stuff that, for me, is rideable but only on a good day with plenty of mojo. Lots of roots, a few drops and some really steep terrain, along the the signature BC boardwalks.

The trails here are built, but not in the same way as UK built trails. It's mostly done by locals armed with chainsaws and shovels, just heading out into the woods. It's also pretty clandestine - the trails are not designed to be permanent or weatherproof and the locals guard their favourite trails and keep them secret as much as possible. Today Craig took us to one of the secret gems, which required a 15 minute hike through rough scrub with bikes on shoulders in order to find the trailhead. Not quite the intended use for my white Mavic race shoes, but definitely worth the effort. We were rewarded with a full 20 minutes of fast, flowing dirt singletrack weaving through the woods and popping out here and there onto open cliff face with stunning views of the valley some 1,000 metres below.

This took us over to a different section of forest and some more established trails, including the Credit Line, which is marked up as a Black (expert only) trail. This always makes me a bit nervous, as "expert" in BC means serious mountain biking. For Craig, this counted as an XC trail, but for me it was on the very limit of my ability, and I'll be honest and admit I walked some parts. The parts I rode found the limits of my 80mm SID WC forks and 2.1 Panaracer Razer tyres pretty quickly. Squamish scene is hard core, and we didn't go near any of the 20 foot gap jumps or super-skinny plank rides that people associate with this place. The regular trails here are more than enough for us!

Tomorrow (Friday) is our last day here in Squamish before we head over to Kamloops to prepare for our race. We're told the trails in Kamloops will be something else again - not so rooty and technical, but fast and dusty. It's also looking like being hot. Temperatures here by the sea are comfortable enough (below 30 degrees C) but Kamloops will be 30+ each day. It's a proper adventure, and there's plenty still to come.

British Cross Country Championships 2009
July 19 - Innerleithen, Scotland
Report by Ruth Mordaunt

The British XC Championships took place in Tweed Valley in the Scottish Borders not far from the famous 7Stanes Glentress mountain biking centre. The Championship course was a hilly seven kilometre lap, where you needed your climbing legs and the ability to descend well; a worthy championship course which separated the best from the rest over the weekend.

Leading up to race day the weather had been changeable from bright blue skies to the heaven’s opening, which defined a sketchy terrain on the descent. The course had approximately 500 metres of climbing followed by a challenging and technical descent. I needed to choose my tyres carefully to give me confidence whilst descending whilst not dragging on the climb. A Panaracer Rampage on the front and Panaracer Fire XC Pro on the rear seemed to be a good combination for these conditions. The practise lap went perfectly and myself and my super light Cannodale Scapel were ready for action on Sunday. I loved the course and could not wait until race day.

For the Masters Woman category the expected contenders lined themselves up for a three lap race. My main rivals on the start line were defending Master XC Woman Champion Nina Davies (Orgmore Valley Wheelers), Kim Hurst (Owen Cycles), Caroline Goward (Scott) and Emma Bradley (Torq Kona).

On the gun I was already at a disadvantage, with slipping gears through the opening stretch of heavy grass field which made me slip back to near-last position (I must point out that my amazing Cannodale Scapel was perfect during warm up.) I watched as the Master Woman category rode away whilst I attempted to solve the slipping gears, which 5 minutes into the long 500m climb decided to jump between the rear cassette and rear spokes. With little success of sorting the jumping gears I rode in a much harder gear than I wanted to, placing great stress on my quads and hip flexors.

So first 5 minutes I was at the back of the bunch and working my way slowly forward. This was hard work and I had to dig deep and dip into the red a few times to make up time lost. My legs were on fire and I was not feeling great at this point, I felt like I was going so slow, but I am not a quitter and I was going to finish and finish with a medal.

During the practise lap I prayed I would not get some ‘numpty’ who could not ride the descent in front of me, especially one that would crash and ruin my line. Well, as luck would have it, I overtook Emma Bradley on the first part of sketchy descent and proceeded to crash in front of her ruining her line (sorry Emma). So I suppose that makes me the ‘numpty’ on this occasion! I passed Nina on the descent as well, who later pulled out of the race.

By the end of lap one I had made my way from the back of the bunch to third position and was wondering how far in front Kim and Caroline were. During laps two and three I struggled with the jumping gears and the fact the race was physically demanding. My hip flexors and calves were cramping which was extremely painful and slowed me down. I have never experienced cramping at all especially in a race. This was showed in my lap times for lap 2 and 3. I put it down to pushing a harder gear up all the climbs and then whilst descending I was stretching over the rear wheel (almost like a squat position) which fired up my hip flexors and quads even more. By lap three I was crawling up the climbs and not really able to put any power on the pedals without cramping. I was going at a snail’s pace and just hoped I would not be overtaken.

Kim was well out in front of the chase by Caroline and myself and proved unbeatable and claimed the jersey comfortably. Kim was the best on the day and that my mechanical difficulties may have made little difference to the winning result. Who knows and that's racing!

Back in January, with all my personal problems, I never thought I would be racing at the British Cross Country Championships 2009 and receive a bronze medal. Of course I would have liked the National Championship title, but this takes consistent training and dedication to the sport and some ‘fire in your belly’. I have the latter two and an amazing bike, so if I can get some consistent training in for next year’s championship, you never know I might just win that jersey....just for you dad!

New Stuff Part Two

Catlike Vacuum 2009 Helmet

£79.95 from Prendas Ciclismo (limited sizes and colours on sale for £69.95)

Catlike are known for their distinctive and somewhat funky looking helmets, which is one of the things that first attracted us to the brand. For the past couple of years we have been using the Whisper and Whisper Plus helmets supplied by Prendas Ciclismo, and we’ve been pleased with the fit and comfort of these helmets. This season, Prendas have sent me one of the new Vacuum helmets to try out.

A name badge and a couple of Fast Kiwis make this super-cool helmet my own.

First thing to note is that it looks nothing at all like the Whisper Plus, it has a funky look all of its own. The Orange Monkey team have been using the Vacuum this season, and it has certainly turned a few heads. From the front it looks a bit like something out of Alien v. Predator and from the back it looks like a space ship. Love it or hate it… it’s a look that is kind of growing on me.

The concept behind the Vacuum is that it is designed to provide maximum airflow at lower speeds, i.e. on a mountain bike rather than on a road bike. There is no weight difference between the Vacuum and the Whisper, and no reason not to use it on the road, but it is marketed as a mountain bikers’ helmet and thus comes standard with a peak (although this is removable).

The fit for the 2009 helmets seems to have been upsized since 2008, and the first issue I had with both the new Whisper Plus and the new Vacuum was that the size small was not quite small enough. The helmet shells were fine, however the adjustable plastic retainer piece was bigger than in previous years. Luckily this is a replaceable part and I was able to take the retainer piece out of an old Whisper and swap it into the new Vacuum.

With the smaller retainer in place, the new Vacuum is a perfect fit. Helmet fit is very much a personal thing, depending on the head shape of the individual, but for me the Vacuum is by far the most comfortable and secure helmet I’ve ever owned. It fits snugly without leaving red marks from tight spots or pressure points. Adjusting the straps is easy, fitting perfectly around the ears and under the chin.

As for the ventilation aspect of the helmet, I can honestly say it’s not yet been hot enough here in the UK for me to worry about a sweaty head. However, I do get a rather odd sensation of my hair blowing about between the vents in the Vacuum, so the system is obviously working. We’ve opted for plain white for our team helmets again this year, in order to maximise the cooling benefits. I’m looking forward to the hot weather testing out in Kamloops in a couple of weeks, which will certainly put this super-cool helmet through its paces.

The peak comes as standard, but is removeable. I like peaks, so I've left mine on.