Ladies and Gentlemen, listen up.

Every time I hear the term “ladies’ sport” it makes me cringe.  I have always insisted on female athletes being referred to as women, or girls if the athletes in question are aged under 18.  My stance has baffled some people, including the athletes themselves, who think “ladies” is simply a nice and polite way to refer to women.  I feel I need to explain myself, so listen up because this is important.

There are a number of options you can choose when differentiating between genders.  Male and female are neutral terms, and can be applied widely, across age groups, even across species.  Humans, animals, and even plants can be referred to as male and female.  Boys and girls, and men and women, are human terms that are age specific.  The age at which a person can be referred to in the adult form is open to interpretation, but so long as it is consistent across both genders, it doesn’t really matter.  There is no emotion attached to these terms, they are simply a reference to gender and age.

The words ladies and gentlemen are different.  They imply not just gender, but social context, and an expectation of conduct.  When we address people as ladies and gentlemen, we are asking them to adhere to certain social stereotypes of appearance, conduct and demeanour.  We are asking them to be gentle, well-presented, courteous and polite.  So what’s wrong with that?  Nothing at all, of course.  Except that we expect men to behave this this way only sometimes, depending on the situation, whereas we expect women to behave this way all the time.

Which brings me to sport.  Some sports are more gentile than others, but there are very few in which gentlemanly or ladylike conduct would provide a significant competitive advantage.  “Now get out there and behave like a gentleman” said no coach, ever.  That’s why we never refer to “gentleman athletes”.  We expect male athletes to compete in an honourable way and adhere to the rules of the sport, but that is not the same as being a gentleman.  We neither want nor expect men to be gentlemanly on the sportsfield.  Hell no, we want to see passion and guts and glory.  We want to see them strain and grunt and sweat.  We want them to “leave it all out there”.  Anything less would be boring to watch, and frankly disappointing.  Male athletes are men.  They may be gentlemen at home, or at the after-match function, but on the sportsfield, or on the racetrack, they are men.

Why then, do we insist on referring to female athletes as ladies?  The traditional expectations of how a lady should look, behave, and be treated, are of no use at all to an athlete.  Is it too much to ask that women be allowed to cast off those ladylike expectations, and just be athletes?  To strain and grunt and sweat?  To leave it all out there? 

Time and again I hear people (men and women) try to justify the huge disparity in pay rates and career opportunities between male and female athletes by arguing that “ladies” sport is boring.  It is not as aggressive, as exciting, or as competitive as men’s sport.  Yet at the same time we continue to hold women up to ideals that are not conducive to competitive sport.  We want them to be ladylike, then we complain that they are boring to watch.  

I am not trying to argue that women should abandon all effort to behave in a ladylike manner, or that being a lady is a bad thing.  All I’m asking is that while female athletes may be expected to be ladies at home, or at the after-match function, they may be women on the sportsfield, or on the racetrack.  All I’m asking is equality. 

Female athletes may still be a long way from achieving equality in pay rates and career opportunities, but if that gap is ever to be bridged, then achieving equality in our expectations of conduct in sport is an honourable goal.  Sportsmanlike and honourable behaviour in competition?  Yes, definitely.  Ladylike demeanour?  Not so much.  It’s boring, after all.

That’s why, whenever I hear people refer to “lady athletes” or “ladies’ sport” I feel compelled to correct them.  It’s not because I enjoy being a ball-busting bitch.  It’s not because I think that all the people who use these terms are misogynist wankers; on the contrary, they are, for the most part, perfectly lovely people who are just trying to be nice.  I challenge them because I believe that the only way we can improve the prospects for women in sport, and in all walks of life, is to question the way we think and speak about women.   

One word at a time.  

Scarlett and Other Projects

Andy and I now have a beautiful baby daughter, Scarlett Dawn Patterson. She was born a little late on 21 July, weighing 3.6kg (7lb 15oz) and is now nearly three months old. She is growing bigger each day and is already very long for her age, so no doubt she will be tall like her Daddy. She is a fit and healthy little girl and we are feeling truly blessed (and just a bit smug!).




Having a new baby changes everything, and I am quite content now to put my full-time training days behind me. She is sleeping through the night, sort of, and I can get out on my bike for a couple of hours if I express a bottle of breast milk and leave Scarlett with her Dad or her Nana. I'm now trying to claw back a bit of fitness, and am getting out on the bike a couple of times a week. I had a bit of a setback a couple of weeks ago, I ran headlong into a Pukeko (native swamp hen) that rushed out from the curb into the front wheel of my carbon Cannondale Synapse road bike at full speed down a country road. It pitched me over the bars and ripped all the spokes out of my Mavic Ksyrium. The bike is a write-off, but luckily I escaped with a sore head and some road rash. Once again, my helmet saved my life.



Andy has a number of projects, the biggest of which is the building of new MTB trails up at Pukeiti. This is a huge native forest reserve, and Andy has convinced the regional council that mountain biking is an ideal recreational use. He is now working with NPMTB club and a bunch of volunteers to cut in a DH run and an XC loop in time for MTB week from 19-27 November. This will be a huge coup for Taranaki if we can pull it off, as it will provide us the ideal platform to start building trails in neighbouring Egmont National Park. To find out more, check out Andy's Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/groups/EgmontMTBTrails

We'll have some pics and reports up from Pukeiti soon.

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The Next Big Endurance Event

Today I pulled out my old Powerbar team bag, and packed it with electrolytes, gels and bars. I cleaned my bottles, packed clean clothes and a towel. For the first time in nearly two years I have an event to prepare for, an event I've been working towards since October last year. There are many unknowns. I don't know exactly when this event will start. I don't know how long it will last for. I know it will be tough - it might just be the longest and toughest event of my life.

Training for my latest adventure has involved more time off the bike than on. In many ways, being pregnant has a lot in common with being in training for mountain bike racing. Taking naps, watching my diet, avoiding alcohol and having plenty of quiet nights in has been no challenge at all for me. The process of gradually getting bigger, slower and clumsier has been harder to get to grips with. Now I'm finally past 37 weeks and into the final days, and I feel like I've been pregnant forever. Our baby girl has dropped into position is ready to join the world. This is our girl at 20 weeks.




I managed to keep mountain biking up to 27 weeks, until my bump got so big that my pedaling form went right out the window. Where my knees used to arc neatly over the top tube, they began to poke out at odd angles. By the time I could no longer see my top tube, I knew I had to call time on the cycling.


I've managed to keep my fitness up with plenty of walking and a bit of yoga. Of course I started out with all the best intentions of keeping up a full training agenda, but the tiredness that comes with pregnancy was something I hadn't counted on. All my good intentions of daily workouts quite often have resulted in a brisk walk followed by a nap. Now even a brisk walk is a chore, as baby has "dropped" and is sitting down low in my pelvis, making my joints creak every time I stand up.

I shouldn't complain. Everything about this pregnancy has been textbook so far, and I'm still working 8:30 - 5:00pm, and will be to the end of week 39. Andy and I are both quite excited now, and looking forward to meeting our little girl. Will she be rangy and strong like her Dad, or small and hardy like her Mum? Or something in between? The next few years will be a real adventure, but for sure she will be a cyclist of some sort!

More on our new family soon. It could be any day now!



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Mangamahoe Skills session No2

We had a big group out with us on Saturday in clear dry weather for the second skills session focusing on climbing and descending, step ups and drop offs.

The groups abilities ranged from pretty much 16 to 60 years old and novice to expert so we split the group. Half spent the morning with Jenn to focus on Climbing and descending with line selection and trail evaluation. Whilst the other half were with myself learning step ups and drop offs. I had to adapt to the group as a couple of riders were at the novice level with flat pedals so I had to teach bunny hop with flat pedals before we could move onto step ups, something I have not done since my BMX days. They managed to hop the bike after some practice and understood the principle of loading the bike into the ground, and how to grip the bike with their feel even with the flat pedals, which was hard work as I can remember from my youth.

During the drop off practice the group progressed from a small section of wooden Vancouver style boardwalk step up and drop off I made, to a 2 foot dirt drop off I built into the trail, to correctly dropping off a 2 foot wooden drop built in the trail directly into a steep 5-6 feet down hill landing, with their front wheel level with the real wheel when it leaves the lip. They also practiced pitching the bike in the air for flat and down hill landings.

Jenn worked hard evaluating climbing styles and techniques, running through the pros and cons of each method and on different terrain. There were questions about bike set up and bike types and how this effects chosen climbing and descending styles all great valid questions which we shed some light upon.

For myself it was a great coaching day, all the group learned a significant technique that they either thought they were doing correctly and were not or learned and completed a technique that they previously thought was way out of their comfort zone. The challenge now for me as a coach is to find more interesting methods of delivery to keep both the novice and the expert riders motivated to learn and progress.

A couple of video clips here of the drop off that the group progressed to and the step up/drop off I built

Mangamahoe skills session No1

I would like to thank all those who attended for being great participants and working hard in tough slippery wet condition. We had a few offs, but hey thats the nature of MTB training. Knee and elbow pads go a long way to give that exra confidence which allows riders to work a technique little bit more aggressively than they normally would, so bring em if you've got em.

We had a little time trial through 3 sweeping flat corners along the Kiwi trail as a bit of fun and to evaluate the before trainng and after training speed. My trackside maths is pants so I went through the times in detail after a shower and a brew and the results are as follows.

Graeme due to a technical hitch had to borrow a bike (Cheers Matt) so increased his time from 35 seconds to 36 seconds, but his position and cornering skills were good, I'll put the extra second on to unfamiliar hardwear.

Kathy managed to take a second off completing the trial in 43 seconds using good form with which to gradually add speed.

Wayne was our biggest improver clipping 7 seconds off his time to complete the final run in 34 seconds, well done Wayne (Think what you could do with riser bars)

Caitie also did very well knocking 4 seconds of her time to 43 seconds, noticing the speed gain when she got a corner right.

Carol matched Kathy in taking a second off but with a slightly faster second run time of 41 seconds, more practice will mean more confidence and more speed.

Jolene and Alun did not stay for the second session. Alun crashed on a drop in which left him battered and bruised and unable to complete the second half of the day. Both riders showed good learning and enthusiasm with Jolene showing a very quick grasp of body position and balance.

Here is a quick clip of the technique session on the gravel road. The aim of this part of the session was to practice body position for the turn. Lowering the upper body, steer the bike round the cones with the outside elbow up and inside arm straight increasing the lean angle of the bike keeping the centre of mass over the tyre contact patch with level cranks.

I make a rubbish film maker, the camera drops as I watch the riders. I'll remember to look through the camera next time.

The Intermontane Challenge Rip Off

Just a quick reminder that the Intermontane Challenge MTB stage race in Kamloops is once again running this year to take big entry fees of us MTB racers and provide absolutely nothing in return.

Will there be adequate course marking?....Nope.

Will there be feed zones?....Nope.

Will there be accurate course maps?....Not a chance.

Will the organiser lie about the prize fund?....Absolutely

Will he make the race up each day and blame every one else but himself for the potentially dangerous incidents, such as lost riders, feed zones not being where they are supposed to be, no course sweep and the list goes on and on? Of course he will because the race is a con.

There are two other great races on in Canada at the same time The BC Bike race and the Test of Metal. Enter these races and you are guaranteed to ride some of the best trails in the world with some of the best race management you could hope for.

If you choose to ride the Intermontane Challenge you risk a very big disappointment both financially and emotionally. In the 25 years I have been travelling the world racing mountain bikes I have never seen such a shambles. And to add insult to injury the organiser, some idiot who claimed to be new to race organisation and expected us to put up with the disaster would not even return our emails requesting a refund after we pulled out after stage 3.

A quick recap of how bad it was

Course marking was so bad only about 2 percent of the field made it home without getting lost on day 1 rendering the race practically null and void on the first stage.

40 + degrees and only 1 feed zone over a marathon distance

The back markers were dropped and lost during the neutral start before they even reached the course proper.

The race organiser led the lead group the wrong way then neutralised the stage when riders who were lost on stage 1 were getting time back, there were riders literally crying at the track side.

The race got worse as it went on, a rider was hurt after a bad crash where there was no medical support and his team mates and competitors including Tinker Juarez had to go to get help. He also got lost and ended up getting a lift home in a truck.

On the final stage Tinker went fishing instead of racing.

If you have entered this bullshit excuse for a race I hope it has some better organisation and that you are not as disappointed as we were. If you are thinking about a last minute entry, please don’t. Do anything else in Canada, ride the trails of Whistler or take a trip to Squamish and pop in to the great Corsa Cycles where you can find out about the local group rides. Chuck Brennan the organiser although he comes across as a simple “I tried my best” type is a calculated con man and his actions in the race last year were dangerous and unlawful he should not have been given a second chance to run this event

Use it or lose it

It’s been far too long since my last blog but that doesn't mean I have given up cycling for fishing, although I am enjoying my fly fishing. I have had an issue with my left hip for some years. I initially thought that it was due to wear and tear as a result of a life of MTB racing separated by 14 years running and jumping about with a big back pack on, then compounded by a further 10 years of bike racing.

An X ray a couple of years ago didn't show any problems, so I embarked on one of my epic training programmes. This was specifically designed for an XC skiing trip I was going on in Norway and the subsequent training routine was a hip and core, strength and stability focused plan which incorporated roller ski work around a local running track (where I did actually manage to tear most tendons in my wrist) along with a couple of hard circuit sessions each week which also helped with my hip stability.

What was noticeable during this time was that my hip pain vanished and my strength in the gym and power on the bike was huge. Now it doesn't take a genius to realise that strong core muscles and a good global fitness is essential for most sports. What was surprising this year at is the age of 38 and with a disrupted year due to our move, even riding on and off road for at least 10 hours during any week and the odd circuit session, how quickly my strength and condition reversed. It got to the point where my hip stability one again gave way to incorrect muscle firing patterns, muscle imbalance, muscle weakness and the dreaded hip pain.

I have given myself a full sports injury evaluation and had a few sessions with a physio to confirm my thoughts on the cause. After a couple of weeks getting back on top of the hip stability and core exercises I am well on the way to recovery, and now I live in a country where I can XC ski so a trip down to the South Island may be on the cards.

I managed to get out on the bike again last week and do some big rides at low intensity and my hip was fine. The picture below shows that winter has caught up with New Zealand and the Mountain is covered in snow and the ski field is open. Winter is very different here compared to Manchester, it pours down for the odd day or two then a high pressure will roll over and it’s like riding on a rare still early spring UK day. Except they come around every week and the temperature will hold around 10-15 degrees it’s just perfect for getting the miles in.

The Good Life

Where to start? It's been so long...

It's been absolutely ages since we've posted anything on our blog, and I've no doubt that many of our regular followers will have long since given up on us. Apologies, and we will try harder.

We touched down in Auckland on December 7th, and had a great Christmas and New Year with the family, all together for the first time in five years. New Year's was spent in the classic Kiwi way - camping at the beach. We drove all the way up to Taupo Bay in the Bay of Islands (not in Taupo as I'd originally thought) with my brother Rod and sister-in-law Jess, and it was everything a beach holiday is supposed to be. New Year's eve was spent in deck chairs on the lawn at somebody's bach, playing guitar, singing (badly in my case) and eating crayfish and snapper that had been caught that day. Good friends, good times and an endless starry sky. I've never felt so profoundly happy to be home.

The Patterson Training team tent, put to good use in the Taupo Bay campground.

Rod (left) and Andy somewhere we rode out to on our bikes in the Bay of Islands.

Back home in Taranaki, Andy's also found the fishing bug. It's taken him a fair few goes at it, but he's started catching a few Kahawai, an ocean fish he's caught by surfcasting on the beach. Last week we sat down to a 100% home grown meal - sweetcorn, peas, cabbage and new potatoes from out of our garden and Kahawai from Andy's line. We had a good joke about living "The Good Life". Andy's now turned his hand to fly fishing, which hasn't been such a huge success. So far he's hooked up a hole in his Gore-Tex jacket, and last night caught the fly hook in the back of his own neck. So we spent the rest of the evening in A&E with the gout-ridden obese people and the kids with pots on their heads waiting to cut Andy free of his line. Hopefully he'll get his casting technique a bit slicker before he loses an eye.

Andy's Kahawai. Tasted good too. Still waiting for the trout.

Taranaki is one of the few places in the world with black sand beaches. The sand has a high iron content and is super fine and velvety soft. It gets really hot though.

Our biggest task since coming home has been clearing out the basement in my parent's old house, which is where Andy and I are now living. Mum and Dad have moved into their newly built home on the other side of town, and the upstairs stuff has been successfully shifted over, and our stuff moved out of the container and into what is now our new home. The basement is taking a little longer. My Dad is an engineer, car builder, bike builder and tinkerer of the highest realm, and his basement is 30 years' worth of tools, machinery, jems and junk. Getting it all shifted across into the new (much bigger) basement is a work in progress, and everything had fallen into disarry over the past year, but we have our bikes in now and it's looking a lot better than it does in this pic.

Andy and Dad spent four hours cleaning up so they could clear a path to the lathe and make a space for my Scalpel.

And what about riding bikes? We haven't been neglecting our bikes either, in fact I raced on January 31st in the Round the Mountain, which is a local race and this year was part of the Elite National Road Series. It's a bit of an odd setup, whereby the main field of non-elite riders goes out at 8am, and the Elite women go off at 10am. The Elite men then set of 15 minutes after the women, so for us it was a matter of keeping things ticking over until the men came past, and then trying to hang on for dear life. There were only about 15 women and 20 men, so it was touch and go.

I got in with the very lead men's group and hung with them for a bit, but when they started to attack I got spat out. I tried so hard to get back in with the group that when the next bunch came through, both men and women, I didn't have the legs to jump in with them. It was bad timing on my part, and I ended up having to work with a bunch of five women off the back of the bunch, who were working hard, but simply couldn't keep up the pace. I made a break from them with one other girl, and we had a two-person break working for the rest of the 175km race, but there was no chance of catching back up with the boys. I had a good ride but finished out of the podium placings, and I was kicking myself as I knew I was strong. Road racing is all about timing though, and I just didn't get it right this time.

We're also enjoying being part of the local MTB club, and took a women's skills day in the local forest, Mangamahoe, a couple of weeks ago. About 30 women turned up, which was a great turnout for a local event, and some of them were really keen and great riders. We spent the day working the trails at Mangamahoe, including some freshly dug switchbacks and berms, then had a barbeque in the middle of the forest with sausages paid for by Sport Taranaki. All good.

There's a race on this weekend with the club, it's a 3-hour team or solo event. Andy's thinking about going solo, whilst I'm planning on turning up on the day and teaming up with whoever needs an extra rider. You could say I'm taking it easy for a bit.

Jenn

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