3 Peaks is on.

I'm in. At this stage I don't know how to approach my training, so thus far I'm just riding as much as I can, and on the crosser if possible. I've mucked about with set up, but in reality the cross bike really isn't cut out for an event such as the 3 Peaks. I've tried several brake and pad combinations, but the best I can get is a gentle slowing down! I'm happy with Landcruisers as my rubber, they're very meaty-beaty-big n bouncy, plus I've added Cinelli gel pads to my bars......what more can I do?
I still need new shoes, gloves and a race Camelbak, ££££££'s.
Although I probably shouldn't have, I've quit the road season. The racing is simply boring now we can't get on the open road. I am still giving it the berries when I can on the road bike though.
So with speed work on the road covered, 'skilz' on the MTB and base work on the crosser I should be okay.
Still it's not going to be easy hauling my heavy old frame up the Fells.

June . A good month for the miles.

Racing has been non-existent this month for one reason or another, but training on the other hand has been great.
The weather has been very kind, with the exception of the day of the XC race!
I've managed to get quality time on all three bikes so far this month. The roadie and crosser are soooo fast in these conditions, the MTB feels like a slug in comparison.
Had an important tinker with the cyclocross set up after agreeing to enter the 3 Peaks cyclocross race in September. Sadly I'll have to overcome my hatred of Camelbaks for this one, as a short test shouldering the bike soon had me whincing from the bottle cage prodding my ribs and the weight digging into my shoulder. I also found out that canti brakes though fine for race days aren't good enough to stop you on a fast rocky descents. A play with set-up, pads and position as well as some good new tape and gloves should sort it out. Other than that it's good to go, assuming I get in.
There is still one road race left in June, but my willpower is already flagging, the thought of circling the Bowl again is not a pleasant one.
Hope July is as good.

Summit MTB XC race June

A wet slippery course and my first DNF of the year due to a puncture. Not the only one though, I joined a little group of flat tyred racers back at the start/finish tent.
Sadly three weeks of poor races and missed events has taken away my edge. Next weeks Criterium is going to be a killer.

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!