Classic Herts lanes part 1 'Bread an Cheese Lane' recently revisited during the Rapha HOTN.

And six months later..........

Been uber busy at work with one thing and another the last six months, but thought I'd better lay down some words just so in a few years time I could tell what I was up to.
I left off back in November 2009 with two cross races to go. The Milton Keynes round went very well with racing right up to the flag. The Hillingdon round didn't go so well as I found myself ill at the start and retired after one lap. That was my last race of 2009 sadly.
2010 kicked off really well, I seemed to find plenty of time to ride and suffered no injuries unlike the year before. Feeling pretty good I entered some early season road races under the LVRC banner. However prior to that I had an unusuall sportive type event to do the Rapha Hell of the North, a 100K on off road event that was to pay homage to the Paris-Roubaix. What a fine event that was, great company and good weather with free Belgian beer and frites at the end.
My first two road races were in March, and guess what that's when I decided to get ill. So they went on ahead without me in attendance. The problem was that April had no local races to offer until the last weekend of the month. That meant sticking to some very keen training.
Late April and I was on the start line of my first 2010 road race. Not much I can say other than I held on! Two weeks later my I was racing in my second road race at Cranfield. Again not that eventful, but I did get dropped by the lead group and spent the rest of the race inbetween the lead group and the broom wagon group, still another finish.
The following week I was XC racing at Lotts Wood in Amersham and picked up 11th place.
The week after that! I was road racing again, this time finishing in the bunch after a tough race.
That's where it stands right now, with a season of road and MTB ahead. All hopefully working to elevate me a few places come the CX season.

Bike update

Sadly the Nicolai went onto pastures new, I believe to be converted to Rolhoff. The Specialized Alez Elite also went to another owner.
New in and obvious from the previous posting is the Pearson Double Cross. That's already seen some racing and some hard winter training sessions. Also new, well sort of is a Graham Weigh cross bike. This is a new budget frame on which I'm fitting a mix of old early ninties Campagnolo I had kicking about and ebay and STW sourced secondhand parts.
Also lurking in the background is an old Gios frame. It's a lovely thing, but not up to todays standards. However I do intend to have it resprayed and fitted with modern Campagnolo and carbon forks. To turn it into what I'd call a gentlemans bike.

Cyclo cross.

After a pretty dreadful year riding wise, what with all the injuries sustained, I have come to find myself in and nearing the end of racing in my local cyclo cross league. After having plenty of time to consider where I wanted to go with my riding, I came to the conclusion that I wanted to return to racing. So with a few miles of running xc under my belt and the desire to race, I promptly entered the local Central CX league. As of now I've completed four of the six events, leaving my local race at the Milton Keynes Bowl and final race at the Hillingdon cycle circuit still to go.
My performances in the races have been pretty much as expected, not stunning but not 'Lantern Rouge' either. However I'm hoping the cross racing will act as a springboard into road racing in 2010.
The road racing being my main target for 2010.

Just prior to my first race I entered a Sportive with fellow BuzzardsMTB riders. It didn't take long for me to realise that they weren't my 'cup of tea', much prefering a session with my buddies or the local reliability trials.

Anyway winter is almost here and I've just had my first wet and muddy ride in months. Whilst most riders chose to stay tucked up in bed, I took the oppertunity to test my cross bikes wet weather capabilities which just so happened to be excelent. So that's my worries taken care of for next weeks almost 'certain to be wet' cross race.

Stay posted!

New Hardware

Planet X Carbon Pro SL
Nicolai Argon custom singlespeed
Giant XTC
Winter hack (project)

Run Bike Run Bike Blah blah blah

This is going very well now, though I don't know how I'm ever going to manage night runs in the winter? The running shows some real signs of improving and though I don't feel it I must be getting tired. Last night it took an hour of chasing the Buzzards before my biking legs kicked in, and then as Lance would say it was 'no chain'.
Running also gives me more time to ponder about where I want to go with my riding in the future. The thing I think about a lot is the 3 Peaks and it does seem the next obvious choice. Also I'm thinking about next years FNSS XC races when I will be a grand vet.
The other thing I'm thinking about a lot right now is my singlespeed and if there is a place for it within my current and probabal futue riding plans, I can't help think a cyclo cross bike might be a better winter option?
Anyway this is a full on week, no let ups, run then ride and no rest days. Next week I'll up the mileage but I'll get rests in to compensate.
Chillin in a darkened room right now making plans most cunning.

Mental Hillness

Before I go any further I should say I've just Hoovered up my glasses, so I'm having a bit of bother seeing close up so please forgive any spolling mistakes.

Mental Hillness! 12 hours!!  bike or run!!! Hayfield September 2009. Really fancy this one. I asked about trying to get a four man run team together but that hasn't happened. So again it looks like I'll be having another attempt at a 12 hour solo. Though the good thing is that this one is run during daylight hours, never seen the point of specifically running them in darkness? Not booked in yet but hopefully myself and a small Buzzards contingent might make it.

Went out withthe Buzzards today and I'm feeling pretty good, any extra fitness gained between now and the event would be a real bonus though very unlikely.

Anyway onwards and upwards, just wish my calf muscles would ease up a bit after my runs......................nurse.