MSG Round 2: Carver Barracks 13/04/14

No content for six months, and now two posts in six days. I do spoil you lot! So MSG Round 2 came up pretty quickly, much like round 1. Only this time, I was prepared. Well, kind of. I'd had my new bike for about a week or so, so I was still getting used to it,but that wasn't about to stop me. I am glad I brought the 29er, she's a much better bike for me and I think once I get used to her, I'll be a it faster. Preferably without the back pain :) Kirsty and I travelled down to the event with Tony in his van. Being able to just chuck the bikes in the back with no disassembly was really handy! To settle the pre-race nerves we blasted some Kiss on the way down, which I'm not sure Kirsty enjoyed, she'll get there haha!

We got to Carver Barracks, and it instantly reminded me of the Secret Niclear Bunker. Tony and I both had a really good race there, so we were feeling pretty positive. After parking up, going for a quick toilet break, and signing on we got out to do some practise laps. 

I immediately noticed that the start was start was quite open, and would be a good place to attack; the only problem was it was covered in rocks which meant the bike was skating around quite a bit when trying to put the power down. I could of done with some Racing Ralph's really! Until at least is hit the next grassy area where the Thunder Burt's really came into thier own! There were one or two little tricky bits that could catch you out if you weren't concentrating, but nothing major, until of course the drop and the gap jump... 

On my way to registration I'd spoken to Liam (New Dales) who warned me about the jump "just roll the drop and commit to the jump and you'll be fine" he said. Sounds easy right? But when you're peering down the roll in, which looks vertical standing at the top of it, it's a very different kettle of fish. I was definitely having second thoughts, that was until Joel (EHF) stepped up and showed me how to ride it! Within a few minutes I was hiring it no problem, getting more and more air everytime. I must of done it five or six times, I wanted to get used to it for the race, but mostly because it was just fun!

This is one of the things I love about mountain biking. It's a very inclusive sport, we want you to come ride with us, we don't care what you ride, or how you ride it, we just want to ride with you. Joel is, or will be one of my rivals once I'm back up to speed, he didn't have to stop and help me out, but he did, and without him I probably wouldn't of hit it! So thanks mate! On that subject, I have to admit, I was impressed with all of the EHF riders I've come across. All are friendly and polite, when over taking they communicate with you etc; They're a credit to the sport, and a good example to us all. That is of course, until I beat Joel, and he turns (EHF) green with berserker rage! Any ways, we finished our practise lap, headed back to the van for some pre-race nutrition and sat around talking about bikes until it was time for gridding!

Getting some air on the jump!

This was the first time since round one of last season that I hadn't been gridded. I was gridded in the front row last time which didn't really work out for me, I guess it was just too much pressure and I wasn't ready for it. I was in the third row this time, lined up next to Tony with Ben Reidy one row behind us! The whistle went and off we went. Well, everyone else went, I got the worst start of had in a long time. There was a bit of a pile up on the first bit of single track and I literally had to sit and watch as Tony rode off into the sunset hah! It didn't bother me though, my objective was to finish the race and make it round in one piece!

I was able to claw a few places back over the course of the first lap. There was a bit of confusion in the feed zone when another rider came in between me and Kirsty whilst she was trying to hand me a bottle, which left her with a nasty bruise! I'm not sure what happened exactly, or who was at fault. I guess he was just carrying more speed than me out of the corner and wasn't paying attention or something. I caught up with him and we exchanged pleasantries coming into the next corner. If you're reading this, I apologise for shouting at you, but you did kinda deserve it. Always remember, if you're over taking someone, whether they're in your race or not, it's up to you to pass safely! That's the bottom line.

Coasting round on the last lap, just trying to make it to the end!

The next few laps were pretty uneventful, by lap three my legs were definitely hurting. I got a puncture on my fourth lap, but luckily for me it sealed! Rob at Chelmer Cycles had done his job well! At the start of lap four Ben came past me, and I didn't have enough in the tank to stay with him. I came across the line expecting it to be over only for Matt to tell me that I had one more to go. Righty-ho, time to pull my socks up then! I was well and truly hanging out my arse. I've never raced over this kind of distance before, and definitely wasn't used to it. I foolishly tried to roll the jump and cased it big time. The noise that followed sounded like broken carbon, but luckily it was just my front tire burping! I'd lost some pressure when I got the puncher, and I think that's why I tried to roll it... It wasn't a good idea, but I just about got away with it! 

I finally came across the line, I felt like if been riding all day. I would normally warm down properly, but instead I found the nearest patch of grass and just crashed. I was a very broken man, but is finished the race in one piece, and that is what I set out to do.'

Tony has had an awesome start to the season, and he knows it!

I finished 24th, and Tony finished in an impressive 16th! I'm looking forward to round 3 at Cobham Park! 

So, here we are. Winter, 26ers, MSG Round One: Rendlesham Forest, and 29ers...

So I haven't written on my blog for a little while now, well not since Langdon Hills actually. It seems like such a long time ago now. To my amazement, it hasn't gone unnoticed. A few people have approached me, asking about my blog, and why I haven't updated it in so long. A complete stranger actually recognised me in a bike shop and starting talking to me about Evo's as well which was awesome! First thing is first, lets talk about winter training, or rather the lack of. 

Winter was a complete disaster for me. It's all a bit of a blur now, all I remember is that I have five spells of sickness starting bronchitis. I tried to train through it, to no avail The bronchitis obviously weakened my immune system and I just kept getting ill after that. In fact, I've literally just gotten over another spell of man flu. So winter was a bit of a write off for me. It wasn't all bad though. I went up to Cannock Chase with the New Dales boys, and although I wasn't exactly feeling great and riding like a girl. It was still a great day out, so cheers guys! I also managed to lay my hands on some proper winter training kit, I brought a Castelli Elemento jacket, and some photo chromatic Oakley Radar Locks. If you don't own and Castelli Elemento, and you're serious about your cycling, then buy one. They're amazing. Especially if you're planning on riding with Darren at 6AM in the middle of November…

Darren's idea of a good morning is getting up at six, and smashing out 60 miles...

 One thing I did manage to do over the winter months, was rebuild my beloved Jessica. She had done me proud in our first season of racing, and I wanted to give her a full rebuild. What started off as a simple strip down and rebuild, escalated pretty quickly. I pretty much replaced every single bolt on her, and touched up every little chip and varnished back over it. I sent my Hollowgram cranks off to be stripped, polished and re-annodized. I spent a lot of money on her and the list of parts brought was quite horrific in the end. 

Why I didn't 'copter tape them when I brought the bike as Ollie suggested, I'll never know.

One of my favourite things I brought was the BOR Germany spider (in Cannondale green of course) and some Tune chain rings. I dropped my Lefty off at Sussed Out Suspension who done a really really good job on it. I really wanted the bike to have that "new bike" feel to it, and she definitely did. She looked absolutely stunning! 

She looked and felt like a brand new bike!

Not only did she look great, but she rode great and just to add the icing on the cake, only weighed in at 16lbs (I will upload a scale shot later) which is crazy light for a mountain bike! Needless to say I was really pleased with the end result. It sounds funny, but it really galvanised me and I started training again. Nothing too hardcore, but I was out on my bike, and that's all that mattered. Tony and I had been riding on and off over winter and I was really struggling to keep up with him on my training bike, but this soon changed when I got back on my race bike. I don't know if the bike is really THAT much faster, if riding her again had changed my mindset and made me pedal harder, or what, but it felt good to be riding again! 

He WONT shave it off….

Me and one of my closest friends, Josh went out on a little reliability ride, I say little it was quite the opposite! My fork needed a little bit of tweaking, so we decided to ride down to Sussed Out Suspension in East Bergholt. What should of been a 30 minute trip, turned into an all-day epic. Foolishly I trusted my iPhone to provide us with directions. The iPhone abused my trust and led us in completely the wrong direction, and we ended up doing an extra 20 miles or so! Still, the sun was out and we were in high spirits. Somewhere along the line, I thought it would be a good idea to take some selfless whilst riding along, which seemed like a good idea at the time. Go forward an hour or so, and my phone battery dies. I had totally forgot how much using it as a sat nav drains your battery. By the time we got to Mistley, Josh's phone was dying, the sun was going in and we had no lights. I called Will at Sussed Out and told him that we weren't going to make it, but he was having none of it. He jumped in the Sussed Out Van and came and picked us up! 

It definitely wasn't a mirage, Sussed Out were here to save the day!

A quick pit stop at Sussed Out (it took Toby all of five minutes to sort out my fork) and they dropped us back off in Mistley and we were on our way home! If you don't know the Sussed Out boys by now, you really should. They're top blokes, know their shit, and won't rip you off. If your forks need some love, they're the people to go and see! Josh was absolutely knackered and was definitely thinking about his dinner ALL the way home. I'm not sure he would of made it otherwise! 

The first round of MSG came round like a holiday; You book it a year in advance, it all seems really far away, but before you know it, you're arriving back home, very cold and wondering where the last year went. This was pretty much how I felt about Renlesham, it was all over in a flash, and I was wondering where winter had gone… I got there nice and early because I had some friends competing in the open (I've moved to sport for this season), so I got there nice and early to watch them race. It was really good to be back, I'd definitely missed the racing scene over winter. It was really good to catch up with everyone. Having time to relax and catch up with everyone definitely took the edge off a little bit, by the time the track opened up for the practise up lap, I was feeling nice and relaxed. The practise lap went alright (ish). I went round with my friends Joel Bilner (EHF Racing) Ben Reidy (Qwerty Cycles), whom I'd met last season and is now riding for Qwerty Cycles. He had also been busy over Winter and converted his Scalpel to 650b (or 27.5 if you speak Giant).  I really enjoyed the course, it was hard, all the lumps, bumps and nasty ruts made it both physically and mentally demanding but I couldn't wait to get out there. There were a couple of short power climbs which I was looking forward to, that was at least until I dropped a chain trying to shift down into my little ring at the bottom of one of them, I got my chain back on in no time and off I went. 

Must remember to give Ben some bike presentation tips...

Now, stupidly I didn't check my bike until I was on the start line waiting to be gridded… I guess having just rebuilt it I was confident that everything was tip top. That was until someone pointed out that my little ring was loose. I  then had to frantically find someone with a multi-tool and do up the loose chain ring bolts. Fortunately someone was kind enough to lend me one, (thank you whoever you are by the way) and I was sorted. Well, not exactly. I was gridded by my overall result from last season, which was 8th, which meant I was in the FRONT ROW. Don't get me wrong, I wanted to be gridded so I could get a good start, but not the front row, not yet at least! I remember looking back at Joel, shaking my head and mouthing "I don't know (how this happened) help me" at him haha! Still, it was a great opportunity, I knew that if I could get a good start, then I could pull a good lead on Ben and Tony and hopefully cling on till the end. I did get a good start, I got passed by a few people. Joel came whizzing past me on his 29er XTC (in EHF green by the way). Actually, hold that thought. Whilst I remember, Joel also did some upgrades over winter, including some new colour coded decals for his rims. Anyone that takes colour coding as seriously as I do, deserves a shout out in my book! 

AND JOEL!

Anyways, where was I. Oh yes, it was all going really well, until I dropped the chain again, in exactly the same place! Only this time I had some chain suck to sort out. I managed to get sorted and going again, and to my horror, Tony and Ben had caught back up to me. I must of lost ten places! The next ten minutes, were quite literally the most painful that I'd ever experienced on a bike. If you've been reading this blog since the beginning, you'll remember that I was having back issues. Well, they were back, with a vengeance. I had become so distracted and flustered by my little mechanical that I was no longer thinking about my lines, I was stiff, and trying to pedal through everything. Before I knew it, I was experiencing some serious back pain, and in trouble. Both Tony and Ben overtook me as we came through the start/finish and kicked on the fire road. I tried to kick and got a rather nasty shooting pain up my back. That was my race over, I couldn't pedal anymore, I was done. Watching Tony and Ben ride off into the distance was equally painful though. I slugged back to the arena to look for Kirsty. It took me a while to find her, I just remember standing in the middle of the arena and punching my lower back. Not the best thing to do I know, but I was really frustrated. Someone said to me that they wanted to give me a round of applause for paddy of the year, which I didn't exactly take too kindly to. Anyone that doesn't understand why I was feeling the way I was feeling has probably never competed, or when they do compete doesn't put everything into it. I put everything into everything I do, I wear my heart on my sleeve. Winter had been a series of setback after setback, and this was just the nail in the coffin for me… Needless to say, I made a pretty swift exit, I wasn't in the mood to stick around.

I was in pain, lots and lots of pain :(

I'm a strong believer in "mistakes are only mistakes, if you don't learn from them", and after a little post race chat with my team mate Mike, I felt a lot better. I'd learnt a lot from the race, even though it was short. I'd learnt that I wasn't ready, both physically and mentally for racing, I'd learnt that I was still severally lacking in core strength, and that I had to do something about it if I wanted to be competitive.  I'd also learnt, that all those little rituals I used to do before a race were for a good reason. I was so relaxed before the race, that I didn't bother stretching, putting deep heat on my back, or taking pain killers. I also finally accepted that perhaps my bike was too small for me, no matter how much I didn't want it to be (damn you Ollie) Looks like the joke was on me. Still, I spent the evening watching telly feeling sorry for myself, and ordered a Dominos, which after con suing I immediately regretted. Never again. On the plus side, Tony had a really good race and managed to get 20th which was an awesome result! 

So where do I go from here? That's easy. You book yourself a sports massage, do some bloody stretched, sign up for palates twice a week, and buy a 29er! Wait, what? Yeah, that's right. I brought a 29er.

..

…

…..

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/sigh

Okay, so maybe I definitely did say that, and I guess there's no way of getting out of it. This is the problem with publishing stuff on to the internetz. It's there for everyone to see, it can, and most likely WILL be used against you. As evident here. Thanks Mike! I had regretted not buying one in the summer instead of my road bike, and when I saw one at MSG 1 ridden by one of the Renvale guys, I couldn't resist the temptation any longer and got on the phone to Jonny at Chelmer Cycles. Now I'm not sure if Jonny loves, or hates dealing with me. Like I said before, I know what I want and am especially fussy when it comes to bikes! The first issue I had was that the seat post it came with was too short (350mm), so I upgraded that to an Enve seat post, and brought the matching bars to go with it. Having un-matching finishing kit is NOT a good look, or remotely acceptable in my eyes. That meant changing the Enve logos on the wheels from black to white. Those stickers were bloody expensive as well! Enve did actually send me a spare set free of charge, with some socks and a hat which I was impressed with! I hadn't finished there though, I swapped the cranks with the SiSL2 cranks off of my road bike, and my brakes off of Jessica (my 26" race bike). I've heard really good things about the new Avid brakes, but I like my Hope brakes and didn't want to part with them. I also slapped some ESI Chunkys on there, in green, and some Thunder Burts. The next step and last change will be to upgrade the rear hub (DT Swiss 350) to one of the new Chris King 1x hubs.

I have a lot of love for Jonny at Chelmer Cycles, he's a top bloke!

I didn't want to make the same mistake twice in buying a bike that didn't fit, so I had the boys at Cycle Evolution look at the geometry. They came to the conclusion that was that medium was going to be the correct size for me. I was reluctant to pull the trigger until Rich had given me the green light. Thanks for your help by the way mate! I was really worried about buying the wrong size bike, and having you look at the geometry and approve it, really took a weight off of my shoulders. Buying bikes is meant to be fun, and it was for the most part, but I tend to worry about the smallest details, and get stressed about it all. Anyways, I took her over to Cycle Evolution and jumped on the turbo in their BG fit room. Chelmer had set up the bike in accordance to my fit notes. I was so relieved when Rich said I looked a lot better on the 29er, in fact everyone I've ridden with since has said that. My leg angle was at exactly 30 degrees and my knee was over the pedal axle. Perfect. My saddle still has a lot of room to go up and back as well. You know, in case I grow. 

Have you met Stacey?

So, how does she ride? Well, NOT like that piece of shit I demo'd last year. The differences are black and white. She accelerates well, she's nimble, mows over pretty much everything, rocks, roots, stairs, children - you name it! She's easy to get air borne too, although I do need to work on my jumping technique! The geometry is much less aggressive, which makes riding over technical terrain much easier. She's frankly a better bike than I had before, and represents "Nu Skool" XCO. I'm enjoying XX1, it shifts really quickly and doesn't seem to mind changing under load. Not having a front mech is simply one less thing to worry about! I've been really impressed with the Enve stuff as well. It's seriously good stuff. The carbon is really hard, it doesn't scratch or mark when you bolt your cockpit to it like most carbon. The new Lefty feels awesome too! I've got to let it bed in, then I'll go and get it dialled by the Sussed Out boys!

I dropped her off on Friday morning at Chelmer Cycles for some last minute pre-race tweaks. Rob was good enough to meet me at Chelmer Cycles at 6:30 to take the bike off of me. I just wanna say a huge thanks for that mate, it's much appreciated. He done an awesome job on my bike too! So my bikes all ready for MSG Round 2 at Carver Barracks, lets hope I am too! Time will tell, my objective is just to make it round and have a good time! If I can beat Tony then that's just a bonus. This was written the night before the race, and I promise I'll write my post-race blog sooner this time! 

If you managed to read this monster of a post, thanks very much. If I lost you half way through, then you lasted longer than me. I write from the heart, and I don't proof read anything! 

See you on the other side guys!