This kit is certainly going to be put to the test with the inclement British weather, bring it on!
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Sunday, 7 April 2013
Getting back up to 100% and feeling the Urge......
May I have a round of applause for Decade Europe please, they have deemed The Development worthy of the awesome support with both Urge helmets and 100% goggles, we are incredibly grateful.....
This kit is certainly going to be put to the test with the inclement British weather, bring it on!
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This kit is certainly going to be put to the test with the inclement British weather, bring it on!
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UK Gravity Enduro Round 1, Afan Forest, Wales, 24th March 2013
Enduro Blog, Angie reporting on Afan right here, right now, let's do this....
Gravity-led Enduro is getting increasingly more popular in the UK and with the first round of the series boasting 25 women it’s definitely becoming very popular with the female of the species which I applaud. Afan was raced a couple of years ago however I didn't attend and as thus didn’t know quite what to expect but had heard it was going to be the more pedally of the rounds. Oh well that’s great, seeing as how I hadn’t put much fitness training time in, in the weeks leading up to it. The North East weather has been pretty crap of late with snow drifts, to say the least!
Friday’s plan is always to get a taste of some of the stages, which then gives you Saturday to practice any fiddly bits and familiarise ourselves a bit more. We smashed 4 out of the 5 stages. Stage 1 was the furthest away and apparently a no-brainer so we left that one. Stages 2, 3 and 5 were all fairly similar; trail centre hard pack with undulating climbs. Most definitely NOT my favourite cup of Earl Grey!! Stage 4 was definitely more milky with a splash of sugar…definitely my fave! It had been freshly cut in the woods but, because of the rain, had turned to a gloop fest, the mud was up past my hub in some places. Great stuff!
(Photo copyright of MnD Photography)
Friday night was great fun in the camper; Helen, Sarah, Steve and I played Gran Turismo on the play station with the heater on! Best bit of the weekend by far!! Haha – Oh and Sarah gave a boxer a nice upper cut! Respect!
Saturday morning the plan was to practice a few of the stages again. Because they were all very similar, it was hard to remember which features were on which stage. Just as we were setting off I noticed my bike was missing an important bolt out the linkage. I thought it was game over as it’s not just a standard bolt that you could get anywhere, it was a Trek special. Panic stations, absolute PANIC STATIONS!!! Anyhooo, it wasn't so bad…. T.Mo came to the rescue, she had been planning to race an XC National but because of the snow epidemic in the rest of the country she couldn’t make it and decided to race the Enduro instead, luckily, luckily, VERY luckily she brought with her a spare bike and let me borrow the bolt out of it. Hugely appreciative to her! Phew!
The qualifying run went OK with me but it really did feel like a 7 minute XC sprint. I couldn’t get my head around how I was meant to race it again after all the other stages tomorrow. Steve wasn’t a happy chappy either, he hadn’t given 100% and realised his tyre choice wasn’t the best. A lightning quick Formula One tyre change into some lighter, slicker numbers, pump up the volume, less grip, more roll! Get in!
(Photo copyright of JT Media UK)
Race day was much drier, no rain at all. Pretty lucky really but the temperature was right the way down and we all found it pretty hard to keep the little digits warm.
Stage 1 to Windy Point was like they’d said, way out west in the wind, taking about 50 mins to get there. My gears weren’t working at all, Mr Frosty had seen to that but Helen fixed them up for me! Cheers H.
Stage 2 was pedally with an infamous rocky technical climb. I got overtaken by The Dixanator here.
Stage 3 was not how neither Steve or I had remembered it. During practice it felt fun and flowy, racing it was slightly different; more like a gruelling, lung burning torturous spin fest. I struggled on this one with fitness and the Newmanator caught me up here, it would have cost us both time if I had pulled over so instead we had a mint time shredding rubber down the bottom of the stage!! Buzzing.
(Photo copyright of MnD Photography)
Stage 4, I knew I could claw back a little bit of time if I kept off the brakes and tried to just let momentum pull me through. I dabbed once in the mud custard and it ended up being my best stage time wise.
Stage 5 was the same as seeding finishing on the Bryn Bettws 4-Cross track. I went a few seconds slower on here but I was super glad it was over to be honest!
I waited on Steve as he had set off an hour later than me. The look on his face as he finished said it all, poor mite! Haha. I think our fitness was down and our bikes were a bit overkill, I seriously need to change my tyre choice. 2.35 super tacky High Rollers were not the tyre of choice that weekend. We still had a good time and it was great to be back on the bikes with our mates. Can’t wait to race Innerleithen in a few weeks.
Over and Out
Angie and Steve xx
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High Terrain Events Round 3, Grizedale Duathlon, 10th March 2013
Hi Lee.. here's the Grizedale Duathlon blog right here:
Round 3 of the High Terrain Duathlon Series was at Grizedale in the Lake District. Having raced rounds 1 & 2 at Whinlatter and Kielder it felt like we were old hand at it.
(Photo copyright of Reuben Tabner)
Again Steve and I had running partners, Steve teamed up into a male team with Chris Dunn and I teamed up with Jenni Campbell both from Team Berghaus. The night before we stayed at Chris’s family cottage in Burrow-in-Furness, it was a bit of a relief to know that we didn’t have to get up super early for a wintery drive across to the Lakes!
(Photo copyright of Reuben Tabner)
This round was the same format as before, run, bike, run, the two running sections were the same at 6.5km and the bike compromised of 24km taking in “The North Face” trail. This is a trail that’s been around for long time now when trail centres were just starting to get popular, it feels quite dated these days though with too much fire road and trail care neglect. Anyway, we set about getting our kit ready and went through registration, this is the time when you start getting nervous. I think for me it’s with the smells, 'Deep Heat' wafting through the crowds and the smell of heavily used toilets from all the nervous bodies. Not to mention lycra clad bodies over spilling and making my stomach churn.
(Photo copyright of Reuben Tabner)
Steve was armed with his 29'er and I had my overkill Trek Remedy, not to worry though, she knows how to dig deep!! Jenni and Chris were chomping at the bit, their times against each other are pretty damn close and this race proved just that!
The gun went off at 10am and by 10.37am Chris came running into the transition area, 35 seconds later Jenni came hurtling through, throwing the dibber over my neck and screaming at me to go, go, GO! I went off as fast I could and left those two to embrace the minus zero temperatures while I battled out the 24km of singletrack and fire road!
The first climb was painful after having been stood all morning in the cold, I overtook a couple of naughty faces on the technical climbs but was then overtaken by the same faces on the fire roads sprints!! Grrr…can’t wait to get my new Team Issue FTW hardtail built up!!
The trails continued, heading down a long steep fire road to then be faced with an immediate climb straight back out the other side. I was dying to finish, 1hr 47mins it took me to get around and it felt like a lifetime. I screeched into the transition area throwing the dibber over Jenni’s head this time and yelling at her to GO! GO! GO! - I later found out we positioned first out of every single competitor on the transition time, 11 seconds!!
(Photo copyright of Reuben Tabner)
Steve had been back about 20 mins, taking 1hr 27mins around the loop and feeling hopeful that he and Chris were going to place well. Steve and I both agreeing that the bike bit wasn’t really our cup of tea but should be good training for the first Gravity Enduro down in Afan a couple of weeks after.
(Photo copyright of Reuben Tabner)
We waited anxiously for Chris to finish, he went just over a minute slower than his first time so pretty good with a sprint finish. Jenni came through a little while after and only 2 mins slower than her first time, keeping close the 40 minute mark. Chris and Steve had placed 2nd in the male teams and Jenni and I had won the women's teams. We also placed 4th across all paired teams so pretty darned happy!
(Photo copyright of Reuben Tabner)
(Photo copyright of Reuben Tabner)
Next stop was the wee chip shore on the shores of Lake Windermere! …..and.... Relax!! Don’t do it…when you wanna go to it!!
Angie and Steve
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Borderline events, Innerleithen, 24th February 2013
Chris Foster takes over the crib: Well I arrived fashionably late at the venue (around midnight) to find something reminsent of an old
NAMBS race. A few fires and a few daft arses keeping the campsite awake.. for
once not me though! It would have been rude of me to ignore the atmosphere so a few rums were necked and I was off to
bed.
Up for an early morning and a brisk track walk. Quote of the weekend
goes to newby racer Peter Woods for 'You could hang a hoodie from my nipples', it were a wee bit cold y'see! The track was simple, fast and a safe option considering the weather at this
time of year, it was taped by Lewis Buchanan, and he sure knows his stuff, so yeah, Mike Marsden got himself
a good track.
Practice was kept to four runs for me, having not been on the bike
for a while I wanted to stay fresh. It was slow going at first but started to get there
by the end of the day, the track was enjoyed by most and it was great to see a lot of first time racers
there. All seemed pretty stoked to being part of it, if not a bit nervous. We had an
early night and found the party folks from the previous evening must have learned their lesson as it had all thankfully quietened down.
After another cold night, up early (for me anyway) and out for a practise
run, just the one as it's a long ride along that Inners road, especially in the
bleedin' cold weather. Got my race lines all sorted I had a wee walk up the bottom of the
track for a little entertainment... only to find I would spend the next hour
looking after a potential spinal injury, great!
Racing soon got underway and the times rolled in as most
people stayed warm in their cars. The track was hard up top for my race run but
grippy as can be, awesome... if only my riding was too! Had a sketchy first run,
trying too hard to put a good time in after so long off the bike took its toll
and I hit the deck, not far from the end of the track.
(Photo copyright of Ian Linton)
Second run came around quickly, as I spent the most of my time trying
to sort a brake that failed on the first run. Big thanks going out to Jamie Johnson for
taking some time out to get that sorted for me, Boshed on up the hill with
my bruised arse and to make matter's worse I fell out of the uplift bus and bashed
my arse again, bugger!
(Photo copyright of Ian Linton)
The plan for run two was to take it easy, conserve energy and get all my lines sweetly dialled in, that was a conscious effort not to pedal aside from
the start and finish straight. At the
top of the hill light was fading fast and we were blessed with snow, this made for some interesting possibilities on track. I found it really good though and managed all that I wanted, absolutely
class! Well apart from the brake which I guess has to go back to Hope, It's new
and just doesn't wanna work! So yeah, steady as planned and not too bad a time
considering.
(Photo copyright of Steve Wyper)
The race was won by Lewis Buchanan, with an awesome time, Jack Reading second followed closely by Adam Brayton and then Pete Williams who are
both coming back from injury. So good times for them two. Dave Wardell put in a
stonking time in Masters, showing all the young lads how it should be done and indeed showing that the old school
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The Berghaus Kit Has Landed......
We've all been really looking forward to kicking this season off with Berghaus, it's great to be onboard with such a forward thinking outdoor clothing company and putting their cycling kit through its paces...... here's a quick look:
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Wednesday, 6 March 2013
It's No Longer a Secret..... Please Give a Warm Welcome To Berghaus!
Over the past few months we've been in top secret discussions with the leading outdoor clothing specialist Berghaus about the team running their new cycling specific lines. We're racing in the perfect environments, the hurly-burly of downhill racing and the all-out of Enduro in everything that dear old Mother Nature can throw at us. it's a thorough test bed for promoting and indeed going hell for leather down the mountainsides in Berghaus products.
Exciting times are afoot, please give a very big warm welcome to Berghaus.
The Berghaus team introduction can be found here: Berghaus - The Development Team Launch Tweet
Monday, 4 February 2013
First Of The Year... Alpine Bikes Innerduro, 3rd February 2013
Here's the Seagull with the low down....
2013 has officially begun and it's time to get these enduro's a-rollin'. The first of the No Fuss Gravity Enduro series isn't until March and due to spending most of the winter riding my cross country bike I was in need of something to get me back into the gnarly side of things again!
This past weekend saw the start of Alpine Bikes' 'Innerduro' series at Innerleithen on the Scottish Borders. Round one is a casual and chilled out three-stage enduro where the emphasis is more on riding with your mates and having a laugh rather than worrying about positions and all that bollocks!
I was kinda expecting the tracks to be fairly light and easy going, something to ease everyone back into racing but I once again underestimated the Scots!! These tracks were wild, hard as hell and as mean as they come! Each stage seemed to involve riding in the deepest ruts whilst holding on to ya bars by ya teeth, contending with big drifty corners and leg-bursting climbs, it certainly wasn't to be shrugged at. Without a shadow of doubt this was an enduro with attitude, you needed to be fit and in tip-top condition, both physically and mentally. Parts of the stages seemed like you were in the middle of the most horrible cross country race but then all of a sudden you were presented with the most challenging downhill sections known to man... it absolutely bloody ROCKED!!
On the rocks.... Photo copyright of Steve Wyper, www.stevewyper.co.uk
Race wise things didn't exactly go to plan, I flipped it over the bars like a fanny on stage one which was hilariously funny and received an applause from the spectators! My own fault, I was kinda hanging and lost control like a nugget, but that's racing for ya! It didn't seem to matter too much anyway as I reckon everyone crashed somewhere!
Nonetheless it was one of the best weekends racing In a long while, I manage to finish up 25th in the combined category so I'm kinda happy with that all things considered. It was a great weekend riding with me mates getting loose on the crazy Scottish hillside that is Innerleithen. It doesn't get much better.....
Photo by the Tea Lady AKA Peter Tiplady, fettled with via the mobile app Snapseed...
Got to make a shout out to both Helen Gaskell and Sarah Newman for dominating the women's category too, They rode awesome all weekend. Next time we'll have Angie alongside too...
Now super excited for round one of the Gravity Enduro's at Afan Forest with the 'Weapon crew'!! Bring it!
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