HAUGHTON GIANT CHALLENGE

At short notice I signed up for a 60k gravel event –  https://www.giantchallenge.co.uk

There was also a 40km and a 20km event going on.

This event was 11 miles from my house and I decided that it would be a good idea to ride there and ride back again to make it a good length ride. My plan was simply to put down a solid ride not a full blown race effort but keep working on my hydration and food and see if I could get through a longer ride without the body cramping up.

I judged my ride over to make it about 10 mins before my start, this allowed me to register and visit the bathroom. The sign on was very smooth and after a short briefing I was off. Within a mile I was passed by another chap on a gravel bike and after a quick chat we decided to work together.

When my friend Peter came over last year from America I said to him that gravel in the UK would not be what he was used to as we have a habit of using a lot of road and stuff you would rather be on an mtb for.

Somewhere around an hour in my Garmin 1000 packed in but I think I noticed quickly and started my watch, great for tracking but from then on I had no idea how long there was to go.

After some nice road and trails there was very little surprise for me when I found myself in long grass and on an MTB style trail. The good news was it was all rideable. On the way back we started to catch people who were doing the 40k and 20k. At this point it became apparent my riding buddy and I had had a different approach. I was calmly waiting and rolling past, patiently waiting at gates and closing them as he kicked on. On reflection I realised that actually after every gate I had to chase to get back on so in effect he had probably spent 20kms trying to get away from me whereas I slowed up when he had cramp. We all have different goals and approaches I guess.

This came to a head as we approached a gate with 2 mtb riders, I stopped at the back and he pushed through, I never saw again until the finish. It took me a little to get past, the terrain was not nice and to top it off I believe I took a wrong turn and nearly went back out on the route again. Got the GPS out to get to the end :¬) (PRAT)

I saw the chap at the finish and told him he had upset the mtb riders but then he was gone. It was nice to share the work with someone either way so I appreciated his wheel. I had a drink and a chat with a few riders before heading home.

Took a few miles for me to realise I had worked quite hard and so 5 miles from home I sat on a banking to have some food.

Took it very easy and rolled home having done just over 60 miles.

Considering it was so sunny and dry I was stunned to get this dirty but we did find mud and puddles out there at points.

I had the issue with my hands again.

This was the worse of the 2 hands, I have once again done some research and have gone against my love of orange to purchase a recommended pair of gloves. I used them on a family ride at hicks lodge the other day and that went well. Granted that was only 2hrs and on largely nice surfaces but a good start.

All in all I was happy with my ride and am stunned that I am getting enjoyment out of just getting through a route at a reasonable effort. Yes I had one of the quickest times but I definitely wasn’t racing.

Off to Scotland on Friday for a 130km gravel event on the same trails as the Gralloch, I shall not be riding in the same manner as the Gralloch although I will still be hoping to ride it at a good effort.

Now, I have some trail liners for the tyres but my tubeless set up has been perfect since before the Gralloch. Do I put the liners in ?

National MTB round 4

The DNS and retirement from National level MTB racing.

I’m at Woodys bike park in Cornwall for round 4 of the National MTB series.

I’ve never seen anything like this at any mtb race classed as cross country and I know the level of my downhill ability.

This is so far beyond my skill level that the only place I will go is hospital in an ambulance.

Others love it and it seems that this type of course is totally acceptable at this level. Sadly, I am not at this level and know this is not for me.

A sad day during a dark period of my life sees me retire from mtb racing at this level accepting that I’m just not good enough.

I’m putting my health first.

Gobi

The Gralloch UCI Gravel Qualifier

How hard can it be to qualify said Manon Lloyd from GCN? Turns out she was right and it was very hard indeed.

https://www.grallochgravel.com/ Link for the curious :¬)

I only entered the event on April the 6th and there and then my first comment was it may be a little bit far for me for me. It has been hard enough doing 90 min MTB race efforts compared with CX and frankly for all the hours I do on the bike I never really ride much over 2hours.

However, I had a week in France planned to give my training a much needed kick up the bum and it achieved with me doing 300miles and about 40000ft of climbing with 5 days in the Alps and 2 days around Paris with my friend Laurent. The France week was a success and I did return in better shape.

My last few weeks of training saw me riding the CX bike instead of the MTB on my morning rides with Chris and getting outside as much as possible but for all of that there were few rides over 2hours and as it turned out there was a block of intensity that I just didn’t do enough of.

So new tyres were fitted, bar tape was replaced and my bike was cleaned

This is a Northroad CX bike with Pirelli Cinturato gravel m 35mm tyres running 31 PSI front and 29 Rear set up Tubeless, Sram Axs 1 x 12. I don’t like fat tyres and research said these were fast but offered pretty good puncture protection(Bike was perfect all day)

We travelled to Scotland on the Friday night, 2 nights of camping planned but this didn’t happen as traffic was so bad we ended up in a Travelodge in Carlisle. It meant more driving than I wanted on the Saturday morning but it ensured we all got a good nights sleep.

Race morning went largely ok with breakfast from Costa and the final part of the drive being very easy. Parking up I put my bike together and rolled down to the registration. This again was very easy and I was soon back at the car putting on my race kit and giving the bike a final check over. The only thing I believe the organisers got was not having any toilets in the carpark.

As I have a talent for I smoothly position myself as close to the back of the final wave on the road as possible without being last.

We are off , eventually

Given I was going to be riding for 4hours I was relaxed and assumed I would just make progress, given I have raced and trained for shorter events this year I was surprised to see this afterwards.

Sadly even with this sort of start I didn’t really make a lot of progress in the first 30 mins but after that I started to move up.

I had a drink and gel plan which saw me have a gel every 30 mins and drink around every 20 mins and this seemed to be working.

Approaching 2hours in I had worked with a few groups and felt good, the week in France had me climbing with control. The joy of a power meter had me ignoring surges and usually getting back to people who went in hard. However, somewhere around 2hrs 15 I got the first little sign that all was not right. Just a twinge but it was there.(sadly in the 2 days before I’d felt something in my left leg which I noted in my log but chose to ignore)

Past the last feed station and climbing when it happened. Double leg lock up. Those who know about my duathlon issues know exactly what this means so there I was stood with the bike between my legs just waiting until I could move. 3hrs and 20 mins was if honest a little better than expected but I was also further from the finish than I had hoped.

I was surprised that my head was good. Once more my heart and lungs had gone beyond what my body could take but I was ok. Maybe it’s because I wasn’t at the sharp end but completion mode was activated and I rode, held a wheel here or there until the leg started to go then backed off tried to stretch on the bike then ouch. This was the story of the last 69 mins.

What you see above is that I stopped twice completely but also where I rode lower power. You can also see my HR and power rising as confidence improved and I got closer to the end.

This is telling to me as it makes me believe I was fueled ok. The last section of road I was in a 5 up train to the line. I was never going to sprint really but I kept it pinned.

V missed me coming in after standing at the finish line for 30 mins and having on course updates from my garmin.

Conclusions

It’s hard racing for hours on a cross bike but having a good bike and no mechanicals really helps. I’ve spoken to a few people who lost a lot of time to punctures.

Preparation really matters, but you also need some luck.

Good weather plays a huge part in enjoyment. I am not sure I would have been so relaxed if it had been raining and cold.

Sticking to a fueling plan definitely keeps you mentally on it. Even when in pain with my abductors/knee etc I was still going very quickly down hill.

For the curious I drank 1.5 litres of lucozade, took 8 gels and ate 2 OTE flapjacks.

The definition of a technical hard descent is interesting. This course had some nasty sharp rocks but nothing on the descents was technical if you even had average bike skills.

My training was short of what was needed for the length of race. I wasn’t prepared enough with volume or intensity if I am honest. The elephant in the room is always my body. Can my back cope, will my legs hold up. History is against me and yet I have looked at other events.

I’ve done a couple social offroad sportives and this was totally different, it was definitely a RACE.

Analysis tells me I never made it into the top 25% in my Age Group so my issues never cost me a qualification slot. I still made it home inside the top 50% of age group and overall.

I find myself in a strange situation in that I don’t really want to do the world gravel champs this year and yet I’d like to have another go at qualifying.

Stay safe

GOBI

National Series Round 3 – Matterley Basin

Like so many things right now blogging is also a struggle. I have a fantastic week in France to talk about and I will soon but for now I feel I need to get this one out of the way.

6hours in the car to race for 10 mins was how I wrote about it but its not the full story of the weekend.

Given the organiser lost his original venue it was a great effort to put on an event at all but you cannot account for GOD

It was Coronation weekend and I wanted to spend it with the family and given I had raced at Matterley Basin before I concluded that I’d be ok to ride it blind. It’s not like I’m scaring the winners.

I got to the venue in good time and bumped into a number of old friends. From this I found out that the course had changed and it was VERY muddy at points so decided to put the MUD tyres on as I need grip more than I need speed in those conditions. Turns out this call probably ended my race.

So my very brief race report, off the start I moved smoothly backward across the grass before holding station up the climb as we turned onto the flat I moved quickly along the gravel before turning into the mud. Initially I thought excellent I made a good call as I rode past people with my better grip. This lasted until a random left turn where the bike went side ways with both tyres not moving. Cleared for the first time and rolled a bit further, jammed again etc. etc. In the dip and I was going nowhere as I struggled to lift the bike, roll the bike or even really move with any enthusiasm. At this point I decided to retire. I left the course and finally managed to remove enough of the mud to roll the wheels, as I rode away off came my chain. In my head I made the right call. Looking at my bike afterwards the 2.3 tyres in the EPIC frame gave little to no clearance but I do wonder if I had used the slicker tyres would I have crashed, ridden even less of the course etc….

Basically on this day I found the limit of my tolerance, ability and my bike and I was not the only DNF. Felt remarkably ok with my decision and looking back I haven’t regretted it. Wished my race had been 3hours later but that is the life. I’d love to know how people like Nick Craig and the rest of the sharp end keep their bikes moving.

Said a few hello/goodbyes and headed home.

The big thing was I needed to ride my bike and I felt good so got the CX bike out and went out to play on the common near my house, had a lot of fun. The funny bit was the 45 mins sat on the watt bike watching the GIRO with my muddy legs.

Round 4 is in a few weeks and given it is late May I am hoping for a dry race, I do CX to carry a bike and get muddy :¬)

National Series MTB round 2

Margam Park is hilly, actually NO it is just 1 big hill !!!

I had entered round 1 but withdrew due to a Karate Grading so this was in effect the start of my year.  I’m not doing other leagues or events as I don’t want the mtb to feel like cyclocross.

Managing expectations, weight struggles have me a little fat however my power is solid and I’m descending better than I used to so not being last is the default target.

Arrived Saturday and did a warm up lap with John Polak, hadn’t seen him for a while so that was cool however 1 full lap was enough.

The joy about having no ranking points is you just wait at the back , saw a familiar faces but not for long as most dropped me. At 90 mins long I can’t race these like a cross race.

Last out the gate

Maybe over cautious but I also don’t sprint and by the tike lap 1 had ended I wasn’t last.  The most interesting thing for me was realising that I no longer descend like an utter pleb. Don’t get me wrong I’m no pro but I also not the mobile chicane I once was.  By lap 3 it had become apparent I was racing 1 other vet 50 and other coming through were or being over take were  younger and older 🙂

Heading out on lap 5 there was actual shock at no being lapped and towards the top of the 1st climb I could see the same chap. I rode as fast as I could on the descent and decided to just gun the climb. I knew if I made the last single track ahead I’d hold my position.

Held it and even got away.

Surprised to hear I was 19th, my best ever result at a National level event. Very pleased.

Getting this blog done while sat in Alps. Needed as I have blogs to write about being here 🙂

Be safe

Gobi

It’s a bit shit

Firstly, my lack of blogging

Secondly, the quality

In effect I seem to forget to blog then realise I need to blog for my tracking as much as for public view. I do have a few hidden blogs.

So once more I find myself thinking well what’s been happening?

Karate first and rapped up in a few sentences, competed in my first tournament since I was a kid. Got 2 bronze medals. I was disappointed but then again, aren’t people who like/want to win always disappointed? I’m now a green belt, grading went very smoothly. I would have been annoyed at myself if it hadn’t but I had trained well and was confident. Lastly, I have been accepted to train as an instructor, I know I’m not a black belt but if I pass I can assist the sensi by looking after the lower grades. This is great for my own development as it keeps my basics sharp and let’s me give back to the sport.

Chris and I did a 6hr pairs mtb race. We didn’t come last. We didn’t win either but fun was had. I have video and pictures that have never seen the light of day. Seems I am not keeping on top of Instagram or YouTube either.

Running is now what it is, I jog around a bit and sometimes run a little faster. I had committed to the club to run in the 12 stage relays. Wow the reality of body weight and less volume bit hard. Lost 80 seconds over the first 3.25 miles(where most of the climbing was) only lost 3 seconds over the last 2.25. For me the bright side was that I felt strong. Almost too scared to run a full gas 5km as not sure I need that depressing reality in my life.

That said I ran a very controlled 13.5 miles in 1hr 29 and paced a 20 min 5km at Cannock parkrun without stress so life isn’t over. The issue is that weight makes my back hurt and my ankles are fragile again. My feet hurt, as soon as I run a bit quicker or a bit further hence just not training to target running.

Track league starts soon, will be interesting. Obviously loosing weight would be a plan but I lack the focus.

Enough for now

Gobi

Dropping more bombs

It’s about running this time. I have decided that I won’t pursue any target times running any distances this year.

Given I started the indoor season with a V50 PB , my fastest time since 2011 and had stated goals. This is probably a surprise to a few people.

Come with me on a journey of discovery where I shall explain why…

Since giving up duathlon my training hadn’t changed much except for Karate which was supposed to be my 3rd sport but has become so much more. However, before we get to Karate we know why I gave up duathlon and well this is part of the reality I have come to.

I haven’t been making track training as I am enjoying Monday Dojo. This meant I had to do double hard Tuesday(run and Orange Tuesday Bike intervals) plus intervals on a Thursday and potentially something longer at the weekend.

I got results from my solo training but it came at a cost. The cost has been ankle pain which lasted a number of days after the indoors. Being ill for a few days brought rest but also time to think.

Priorities are changing a little. My body cannot take the intensity of training required to run fast. Well, not if I want to race bikes and do Karate as well.

I often joke that I am a cyclist who runs a bit but it’s true. When I looked at the facts they show that I prioritise bike racing over everything else. I want to be fit to race the mtb in summer and CX in winter, so that takes away from the running sessions.

In the old days I would have just done double hard Tuesday and Thursday but the hard running was leaving me needing to rest the ankle hence skipping Tuesday hard run and dropping Thursday hard bike. In effect compromising both my goals in the interest of my health.

Finally there is Karate as discussed in my previous blog. This is a family activity and I don’t want to miss out on this due to pushing my body too hard in selfish pursuit of being better than average as a runner but inevitably broken.

There will be running, there will be racing, there will be maximum efforts whenever I represent the club or Wales there will just not be the risks in training that I used to thrive on.

My Karate Journey

I did both Karate and Judo when I was a kid, none of them lasted long enough in an organised fashion due to being a kid, alcohol, parties and finally joining the army however in a roundabout way I trained on and off until I was nearly 20. Maybe if I had been more devoted I would have kept all my teeth and maybe even avoided a few fights along the way.

However that was the 1980s and here we are in 2023 with me aged 52 about to talk about my new journey. It started without me actually starting in 2021 when Ryan decided he wanted to try Karate and me being involved in persuading Verity to try it as well. Off the back of this I started doing little bits at home with Ryan and come 2022 we had started to talk about me joining the club properly as well.

Obviously I had a little thing called a World Duathlon championships to deal with and after that a Euros, both well documented. I decided to join between the 2 events and trained a little before the Euros. With the events at the Euros moving me from stopping age group to stopping all duathlon I needed something else to focus on and that was when things changed.

From initially doing 1 maybe 2 classes a week I was suddenly doing 3, 4 or even 5 days a week. It looks in my log like my yoga is down but in reality it is hidden inside the warm ups etc at Karate as well as happening alone. Weekends are still hit and miss due to CX or other racing commitments, no matter how much I enjoy Karate I know myself well enough to know I need the racing.

I’ve missed gradings, been frustrated by others and been really frustrated with myself. Learning to grow has been challenging and I am sure I am hard work for the my Sensi with my questioning of everything I don’t understand. However, what has come out of this is that I am highly motivated and my desire to train and learn is huge.

Where has that left me, well after a few set backs by December I had achieved my Orange belt but more than that I had realised that I wanted a lot more, fortunately that has been noticed and although my road to BLACK belt is barely started I have been asked to train as an assistant coach , known as a Sempi. This allows me to train and learn with the instructors which ensures I am kept on my toes but will also allow me to help the lower grades develop. The road ahead will be hard as I have to juggle my personal development with what I need to be a Sempi and at the same time manage my physical limitations.

Wrapping this up I want to look at a few things:

Biggest surprise, my love of Kata, seems being a process monkey in the day job means that I have an aptitude for learning patterns this has allowed me to learn kata patterns above my grading level with a relative level of ease. I should point out that knowing a pattern and knowing a kata are two very different things. I’m still as graceful as a cabbage !!

Biggest concern, my body, the list of injuries I have is extensive and karate puts my body in places it doesn’t really want to go.

The hardest thing for me is being graded or not. IE. understanding why – Grading is a personal journey!!! I’m impatient I admit and I think at points I have spoken out of turn and made some errors of judgement but as I mature(for the athletes think training age v actual age) I am relaxing and accepting why even if I do not fully understand why some people grade and others don’t.

My biggest lesson is don’t compare yourself to others but compare yourself to YOURSELF. Am I a better than I was ?

Hopefully this is the start of a semi regular serious of blogs about Karate.

what am I doing in 2023

So I deleted the first attempt at this blog and it started to feel like a ramble AGAIN!

2022 happened , there were medals and there were bad days, a normal year. There are blogs if you are really curious.

The thing that really matters is that I retired from Duathlon, not just age group but all as the continual leg/back issues have mentally worn me down.

This left the question, what are your summer season goals for 2023? Only Summer as we know that a bit of hill climbing fun and CX are the Autumn and winter focus.

CX goals:

1. Top 5 in the local league
2. Top 30 in a National League event

I’ve given the summer a lot of thought and have 2 goals:

1. run a 2.12 800 metres, a big step up from last years 2.19 but I have run it before , to compliment this I will be looking to run solidly over 400 and 1500. There are no thoughts above 1500, even if I do run a few 3ks and 5ks they are whatever they are.
2. Race the MTB properly, like CX get out and race in the national series but also find a number of other events to compliment this but with the ultimate goal being the MTB National

It’s pretty simple really but should give me the focus I need from a hard charging sports point of view. There is a conversation to have on Karate but I think that needs its own blog at some point.

I’m still coaching and love being around triathlon/duathlon and my training still reflects the fact that I run and ride. There is definitely some sadness letting my UK Triathlon membership expire and no trips to Euros or Worlds in 2023 but there is also a sense of relief. It is the relief that tells me I have made the right choice to change direction.

Lets have fun in 2023

Gobi

Where did the time go?

Surprised to see the gap since my last blog. I’ve been busy but hadn’t planned not to write.

Well with this being the case I better help you catch up.

I’m not going to dwell on this but stupidly I risked running a marathon in early November. I won the race but the performance was dire and all the medical reasons not to run reared up and bit me. I said it once before but I think finally I have put distance running to bed. Reflecting now this is probably why I haven’t blogged.

Cross season came to an abrupt halt in November as I got married and went on my honeymoon. It’s a month ago now so firmly in the it happened draw so back to the racing. There are pictures all over instagram and facebook :¬) IT WAS AWESOME!

Did a few cross country running races which were solid outings unlike cyclocross which seems to have turned into a bag of pooh.

It’s interesting as the effort is there but I’ve struggled, be it with conditions or just bad luck on the bike there is no doubt December has seen some of my worst cx results.

However, yesterday was the BMCR champs and there were promising signs indeed. Don’t get me wrong I didn’t scare anyone but my bike skills were much better and the motivation to race for every position was definitely there.

In someways this is an I am not dead blog which I needed to write so I could get on with the year in review blog and discuss where I see myself focusing in 2023.

7 years of focus including preparation to be an age group world champion at duathlon and ultimately failing then retiring has left a rather large hole in my calendar.

Oh well, on that note I shall end, the next blog will be out soon with a look at 2022 but more importantly what I shall be focusing on in 2023.

Keep safe

Gobi