Catch Up Time

So as usual I've managed to completely forget about updating the blog with some race reports. So here is a quick and clear round up of the races so far;

British National Series round 1 - Sherwood Pines

I did not expect to racing through deep slushy snow in the middle of March! But the show must go on and so I got the spiky tyres out in the hope of finding some grip out on the course.

The course at Sherwood Pines is well known for being flat and not very technical, but due to the conditions it was all about controlling the bike as it tried to slip about, even on the fireroads. This also meant that overtaking was going very very difficult so a good start would be key - and that is not my strong point!

Anyway race day came about and I was keen to get going. As usual I didn't have a great start, going into the first sort of singletrack just outside the top 10. Not ideal for this sort of course but my legs were feeling quite good and I was determined to move up as far as possible.

 photo: Bicycles.org

After some dodgy overtaking moves I had moved up to around 5th at the end of the first lap, but the effort of moving up the field and having to ride through the deeper snow in order to do so had taken its toll and I was starting to suffer. I briefly moved up to 4th place and was in touching distance of 3rd but I started to slip back as my gears clogged up, leaving me in a very small gear, and getting stuck behind some of the Elite riders that had set off in front of us. I came into the finish in 5th place, which was further down the field than I would have liked, but it was a solid start to the season and something to work on!


Scottish Series round 2 - Abriachan


 A race in the Highlands of Scotland! So for once a local-ish race, only an hour or so drive from home. I was coming into this race just of the back of a week long training camp in the Peak District with the Olympic Development Programme, so it was safe to say I was feeling pretty tired. So much so that I decided not to practice on the Saturday but instead stay at home and rest as much as possible.

Sunday morning was therfore a bit more hectic than usual as I had to fit in a couple of practice laps  in before the race. It also didn't help that the commissaire wouldn't let me out on the course without a number, but I was also not allowed to pick up my number until just before the race.. Anway I had got one lap done and it all seemed pretty straightforward. A really good challenging course, lots of natural technical sections just like the SXC courses when I first started racing! Some rain overnight had made the course really soft and slippy so it would be an interesting race.

With quite a small field my bad start wasn't too much of a problem and I headed up the first climb in 2nd spot. I felt quite good though and wanted to get in front before the technical singletrack. So I put in a big effort and moved into 1st but soon got stuck behind the back of the elite field meaning we were back together. At the end of the first lap I managed to move clear and got a small 10 second gap on 2nd place. My legs were really not feeling too good though -  really heavy and fatigued from the tough training camp.

photo: bicycles.org

On the 2nd lap I was suffering quite a lot and in the singletrack the lack of practice meant I wasn't riding very well and kept making lots of mistake, meaning I was losing time. This meant I had to attack the open sections as much as possible to keep my lead, which wasn't too easy with such tired legs. The final lap I was still hanging on and I finally rode the singletrack section pretty well, coming in to take the win with a slim 20 second lead! I was happy to take the win after such a tough week, but was now very keen for a few more rest days!

British National Series round 2 - Cornwall

At roughly 750 miles from home, it made sense for us to fly to this race! So it was packing up the bike bag, wheeling it around airports then hiring a car and driving to the hotel. Still a lot more enjoyable than driving from one end of Britain to the other.

After 5th place at the last round I was keen for a better result here, and having had a few weeks at home away from uni I was feeling a lot stronger. The course here was a big change to Sherwood Pines with some good climbs and fast tricky descents. A short narrow start straight before a long singletrack descent  meant my bad start could once again be a problem...

And that was indeed the case. Going into the descent just out of the top 10 meant that by the time I attacked and made my way up the field the leaders were already away. I felt a lot better here though than at Sherwood, and after the first lap I was already into the top 5. I pushed on a lot on this lap and moved clear into 2nd place, but Mike Thompson (Nutcrucker Racing) who was leading was already a good bit in front.

I rode strong for the rest of the race with not really too much to report on. It was just a case of riding my own pace and seeing how close it would be at the finish. 2mins 36second was the gap at the end, a good bit more than I would have liked but it showed how strong Mike was going.

I  was really happy to be back on the podium, and could feel that my form was coming along well after some time at home with no uni work to worry about! I'm now really excited for the next few races to hopefully keep getting faster. 

Some Time back Home

With my lectures and tutorials having finished at university, and a couple of weeks before my exams started, I was keen to head back home for the first time since New Year!

Trying to fit in training, university work and all the lifestyle things like cooking and shopping while being away in Edinburgh has really made me appreciate how easy everything was at home. The cupboards in the kitchen magically stocked themselves up and my dirty cycling kit would somehow clean itself ready for the next training ride. Yes I realise that my parents may have had something to do with that, but now that I have spent 6 months living away from home I have started to really enjoy living independently and having no option but to be organised. Combining my astrophysics course and training plan with this has been really difficult and this has meant that I probably haven't come into the season in as good shape as possible, but it has been a massive learning curve, one which I'm sure will benefit me in future years!

A massive plus side of coming back home to the highlands and living in the countryside, is that there is actually some decent mountain biking to be done! So one of the first things I did when I got back was head out on my new enduro bike and introduce it to some of the local trails.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTuFSduMkHU

Now I just have to get through these exams and I will be able to focus on training a bit more!

Finally Back to Some Mountain Bike Racing

SXC 1 Forfar

The good old Scottish cross country series, it’s safe to say everyone loves these races! And why wouldn’t you? It’s the perfect mix of a fun weekend, seeing loads of people you know, some brilliant mountain bike tracks and then there’s a wee bit of bike racing to cap it all off.

An SXC at Laggan back in 2009 was the first race I ever did, and since then I think I’ve only missed 3 rounds (for good reasons of course).

Well this was the first mountain bike race of the year, and I was excited to get going as I had taken delivery of my brand new race bike for the year- A Forme Winscar 29c (yup I’m on the wagon wheels now) – and what better way to test it than in a full on race!

The course at Forfar was really good fun to ride, lots of fast singletrack and some good steep climbs back to the top, ideal for me. And with there being a relatively small junior field we were being set of at the same time as the Elite riders which would make for some tough racing. The weather had taken a turn for the worse this weekend, really heavy rain and sleet meaning the grassy sections of the course was instantly turned to mud, and keeping warm before the race proved difficult.

Despite this we still had a race to do, and first the first time ever I was racing in pretty much winter cycling kit. When the whistle blew I had one of my usual terrible starts, losing quite a bit of ground to the guys at the front. However being used to this I kept calm and slowly picked off riders and attacked on the open climbs to bridge back up to the lead group of elite riders after roughly half a lap.

This was a really good situation for me as the group was made up of some really experienced riders, the best elite riders in Scotland, all of whom are hoping for commonwealth games selection.

photo: bicycles.org.uk

As we got to the end of the first lap and had to negotiate the boggiest part of the track, Rob Friel (santa cruz/siempre) attacked from the group and I managed to go with him... for a bit. It was obvious at that moment that he was going strong, he simply powered through the mud as if he was riding on tarmac. I was now in 2^nd place overall ( 1^st junior) just 10 seconds or so behind Rob. I tried to catch him up but with the course being so muddy it proved difficult to gain any time back. I felt I was riding well however and loving the new bike!

For the rest of the race I was stuck in no man’s land in 2^nd place keeping ahead of the chasers but not able to catch Rob, and that’s pretty much how it remained. Dave Henderson (GT racing) was coming back strong towards the end, but with my race being shorter than the Elite riders I celebrated being 1^st junior and headed back to the car while they had to carry on for a bit longer!

So it was a really good first race of the year for me. The new bike was feeling amazing; nimble in the singletrack and really light on the climbs, plus I was battling it out with the top riders in Scotland.

A big thanks to Dryburgh Cycles and Forme bikes for helping me get a bike sorted for the year and to Ben Wyvis Cycling Club for the support.

Cutting About the Tarmac For a Bit

Bellahouston Spring Circuit Race - 10th March

Another weekend of not racing my mountain bike, instead doing some of that road racing stuff like you see on the Tour de France.. Well not quite, instead of racing up an alpine mountain we were racing on a small loop round a park in Glasgow for 45 minutes

Having not done much road racing in the past I was confined to doing the 4th category race (lowest ranked) as I had no points from past races, but with the women's race mixed in there were some very fast members of the women's commonwealth road team which would make it an interesting race. Doing the lower ranked race was probably a good thing however as I've never been the most tactically adapt rider when it comes to road racing, instead I always seem to ride as fast as I can while everybody shelters in my slipstream and out-sprints me at the end. This time I wouldn't make that mistake!

It all started of very civilized (unlike a mountain bike race); people got clipped into there pedals, slowly got up to speed and found there position in the group. I found myself somewhere in the middle of the group, a good place to be at this time and tried to gauge who were the fastest riders there. From what I've seen, the key to road racing is to always be aware of what everyone else is doing; who is trying to make their way to the front, who is riding strong and who should you keep an eye on! I went to the front a couple of times at the start of the race and got the legs going by closing any gaps that opened up if people tried to get away, and I could tell that my legs were feeling good, but I didn't want to spend too much time at the front early on!

Towards the middle of the race there was a prime lap, where the first person across the line at that point wins a prize. I tried going for this but mis-timed the effort and rolled across in third. But all of a sudden I realised that the increase in pace had caused  a lot of riders to drop off the back, and suddenly I was in a leading group of around 6 riders. This was an ideal situation as it was a big enough group to shelter from the wind in, but also big enough to keep the pace high and stay in front of everyone else.

I now started working really hard to keep the pace of this group going, doing some big turns on the front into the wind although it became quite hard work. Some of the other riders in the group seemed reluctant to take their turn at setting the pace on the front or wanting to close gaps. I found this pretty annoying but expected it to happen, so decided to bide my time for a bit and hope we didn't get caught first.

With 5 laps to go of the 1km circuit I went to the front and pushed on a bit, then heard Paul Newnham the Scottish mountain bike coach telling me to attack as everyone else was suffering. So I went for it! And spent the next few laps riding flat out by myself into some strong headwinds. I've always quite liked time trials so I was quite good  at this bit. It was really tough but I was determined to stay away as I had invested a lot of energy, and have never been very good at sprint finishes.

My legs felt good and I continued to increase my lead to the finish, taking 1st Junior and 1st overall!

Now with that result I have enough points to move up to 3rd cat. so can race with the fast guys in the future! A good confidence boost, for the start of the season. Afterwards we went and got a quick shot on the new Commonwealth Games course at Cathkin Braes.Big thanks to Paul Newnham for the lift to Glasgow and also for the good timed shout of "Go Go Go!" Another GOOD DAY!

Results and report found HERE

Enduro?! That's not what I normally do...

Innerleithen enduro #2 - 3rd March

Enduro is a rapidly growing, fairly new part of cycling, and having recently taken the almighty step of buying myself a “play” bike I was keen to get a shot at it.

The format is pretty much make your way to the top of the hill at whatever pace you want (as long as your inside the time limit!) then get timed on a fairly long, mostly downhill descent. Simple!

This particular round though was a “day and night” enduro meaning there was two different tracks, each raced once in the day and once at night. This was pretty cool as it added a whole new element to the racing. The tracks that we were racing on were so much fun! But having not done any downhill racing in the past I was having to learn fast and try to stick to the wheels of the more experienced riders.

My race runs went surprisingly well, probably due to the fact that I felt no pressure to do well, so was just having fun on the bike. With each run lasting around 10 minutes at full speed, it was almost impossible not to make any mistakes, but I got to the bottom feeling happy with my performance and most importantly having had so much fun! Even in the night stages where my lights weren’t very good, I was still loving it! I finished 6^th in the Under-20 category which I was pleased with for my first proper enduro.

This is definitely a great form of racing as riding to the top of the hill is a good laugh as your just chatting away then the actual racing down is so exciting and fun to take part in! Pretty much the type of riding you would go out and do for fun, but you get to prove your faster on the descents that your mates! All in all a GOOD DAY!

Some photos of me from the race can be found HERE

BMBS Round 1 - Sherwood Pines

Well suddenly the 2012 race season was upon us, and for me that meant pulling on the CNP-Orbea team kit for the first time! The Sherwood course is definitely not one that suits me, but with some hard training over the winter I knew that I had improved a lot on the flatter courses. Going into the race I wasn’t quite sure what to expect as I was moving up to the junior category. However I was keen to get stuck in and give the new Orbea Alma bike a good thorough testing!

 My new steed for the 2012 season!

The start – which is usually my weakness – went surprisingly well for me considering I was gridded 18^th, and I went into the first singletrack around 12^th. This wasn’t ideal considering the lack of opportunities so I had to push myself to the limit just to make up 1 or 2 places. I went hard on this lap and found myself moving into 5^th, with the leaders group of 4 having created a gap early on. Riding by myself I went for it, but my legs never quite had that snap they needed for the Sherwood course. I kept my head down and caught up with some guys who had been dropped off the lead group but was still trailing around 20 seconds of the leader. Going into the latter stages of the race I was sitting in 3^rd with one of my ODP team mates – Mike Thompson - stuck to my wheel and going well!

photo at sherwood by CNP-Orbea

Last lap I pushed hard but my legs felt heavy and my back was also hurting a lot. I tried a few small attacks but realised it was going to come down to a sprint finish for 3^rd. Knowing that my sprint has never been great I made sure I was leading into the finish straight and went for it as much as I could. However just metres from the line Mike edged past me and pipped me on the line by less than a wheel length!

As nice as it would have been to get on the podium, I was really happy with my result, but know that my legs still have more in them! And from this I am excited to announce that I have been selected to race the Junior World cup in Houffalize, Belgium as part of team GB! Thanks to the team for the great bioracer kit, Orbea bike with Marzocchi forks and CNP nutritional products.

Preperation for the Coming Season

Well it's already February! And with the first race of the season coming in March, it's important to get training bang on at this time of the year.

So far this winter I have been feeling a lot stronger. I think his is due to the core strength programme I have been religiously following and the intense intervals I have done both outside on the bike and also on the turbo. But it has not all been plain sailing, a bout of illness over Christmas - which then made a reappearance a couple of weeks later - left me feeling pretty week and run-down. But now that I'm over that, I'm feeling positive for the racing season.

For the 2012 season I will be riding as part of the CNP-Orbea team. These guys all have a really enthusiastic view of racing, and it will really help motivate be being part of a good team. I will have more news on the team after the soon to happen team launch! but until then have a look at their website. http://cnp-orbea.blogspot.com/ or if you have a fancy twitter account you can follow them on there @CNP_Orbea (and also my account @iainpaton2 )

For now though it is all hard work, with a training camp in the Scottish Borders this coming weekend followed by a week in Malaga, Spain for some warm weather! Which will be a nice change from the icy roads and numb fingers that have become a familiar feeling this year.