Merida Brass Monkeys rd 2

It's been a few months since my last race which ended in disappointment due to illness so I wanted to leave 2012 on a racing high. I knew a few people who were racing the Brass Monkey round in Deepcut, Surrey and went for it. I was familiar with the course having races there for the Are You Tough Enough races so knew the course would be fast and fun.

Rowans Hospice - The Ruby Ride

A requirement of my work is to periodically undertake pre-qualification questionnaires in order to get get onto the tender lists for the local Housing Associations. One of the questions was what do we do for charity. We've always given to charity however we decided that this year we would make more of an effort and actually take part. Kenn, the managing director has always given generously to Rowan Hospice and therefore it seemed fitting to take part in one of their events.

Brighton Big Dog 2012

In the week leading up to the event I could feel another cold starting and it was evident on my mid-week commutes that all the energy in my legs had disappeared. All that was left was give my legs a  few days rest and hope for the best. In the opening miles my fears were becoming a reality. Climbs seemed longer and harder than those on the Dyfi Enduro and all I could do was spin my 29tooth chain ring with a low cadence whilst watching the other riders passing me with ease. The first downhill brought a welcome respite although my slow start meant I was in the middle of the bottle necking. The second climb, although short, brought some hope when I managed to overtake a few people again, not exactly strong legs but better than the first few miles. I managed to complete the first lap in quite a respectable time considering being held up on the singletrack sections.

Twentyfour12, Newnham - July 2012

Two weeks ago I wasn't sure if I would be able to compete thanks to a chest infection. Great, several weeks of training could possibly go down the pan. Not wishing to give up so easily I tried a 100mile sportive with a colleague which started slowly and after 40miles we parted ways and I finished in a respectful time. Despite constant coughing and generally feeling a bit rubbish I still had energy in the legs. From this moment I knew it would be game on!

Fully Sussed Round 3 - Newnham

After a slight change of plans I ended up in Plymouth for the weekend, coincidentally the same weekend as a race. With my 30th looming it was a perfect excuse to compete in my last race in the Sport category.

When living in Plymouth I was used to riding the Soggy Bottom winter series which was an enjoyable but muddy blast around the Newnham estate. The Fully Sussed series is run by Jay and Maddie Horton who have created an exciting and challenging xc loop around the park. The course has a mix of terrain from fire roads to rock sections to rooty off camber sections. With a lot of the singletrack sections being new it was going to be a struggle for grip which combined the droves of entrants it was going to make for interesting riding. 

Dyfi Enduro 2012

It's been 5 years since my last attempt at the Dyfi and despite a love/hate relationship with the course it's one of the most satisfying races of the year. It was a bit of a last minute decision to enter and not just because I left it until about 7pm only to get number 747! Training for the Dyfi while living in Hampshire is a little bit difficult given the lack of elevation so nerves built almost instantly.

Specialized Epic - a step in the right direction?

Pretty much all of my bikes have been built from the ground up. I've only ever bought one stock bike which lasted the best part of 4 hours before it was dismantled and rebuilt with some choice parts. The Kinesis, although it's been an awesome bike, has become uncomfortable to use on long journeys due to the short top tube which was my preference at the time for the local singletrack sections. To top it off my old faithful Forx F80RLs and Hope E4s [Yes E4s!!] were experiencing more maintenance time than trail time. So with the price of parts these days it made more sense to bite the bullet and buy new - I just had to decide which bike was the one... an anthem or an epic!
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Cycle Surgery had a sale on 2011 models and with £700 off it was rude not to indulge....

In all her [standard] glory!

Hopefully over the coming weeks I will get more used to it. So far it's a major step up and I'm already feeling faster and more confident. There's a few set up issues that I still need to tweak but hopefully it will be dialled in time for the first race of the season - the Dyfi Enduro

FRAME    Specialized Epic Elite M5 alloy frame, 100mm travel REAR SHOCK    Fox/Specialized remote Mini-Brain   FORK    RockShox Sid RL, 100mm travel STEM     Specialized XC HANDLEBARS     Specialized XC low-rise bar GRIPS      Specialized lock-on BRAKES     Avid Elixir R SL, G3 Clean Sweep rotor, 185/160mm SHIFT LEVERS      Shimano SLX, 10-speed, trigger REAR MECH     Shimano XTR Shadow, 10-speed, mid cage CASSETTE     Shimano HG81, 10-speed, 11-36t CHAIN     KMC X10, 10-speed FRONT MECH     SRAM X.7, 10-speed  CRANKSET      SRAM Carbon S-2200, 10-speed XC double, 175mm Wheels    DT Swiss X420SL on Specialized Hi Lo hubs, 28/32h FRONT TYRE     S-Works "The Captain", 2Bliss ready aramid bead, dual compound, 26x2.0" REAR TYRE     S-Works Fast Trak LK, 2Bliss ready aramid bead, dual compound, 26x2.0" SADDLE     Specialized BG Phenom, 143mm width

New blog

Seem to spend quite a bit of time reading blogs by other people at the moment and finding them quite interesting so thought I would give it a shot.