'Cross Roundup

Some great team results from another packed weekend of Cyclocross, including action at the 3 Peaks race.

Saturday saw Matt and Rich racing at Shipley Park in Round 4 of the NDCXL. A fast, dry course meant no dismounts, and no need to drop out of the big ring!

Rich managed 12th V40, and Matt's ever-improving form saw him take 4th place in the seniors.

Matt:

"Rd 4 of the NDCXL was always going to be a hard round as the course is fast and it has a fair bit of climbing in it. The sun was shining and conditions were top notch, well 20 degrees plus for cross this time of year was crazy.

I did a few warm up laps and felt sluggish -  I think my cold from last week was making me feel off.
Anyway my race started and I missed my pedal so I started a little further down than normal, but on the 3rd corner the front runners had a big pile up so I had to pick my way around that lot. I settled in picking riders off on the first few laps and was riding in 5th and felt ok when I got going just missing a little top end .

Most of the race I was riding on my own so set my own tempo, but on the last lap I had company so had to attack and gain a place  to 4th overall. Happy with the result overall and ready for the next one."

Matt on his way to 4th Senior

 

 

Rich, wishing there was a 'pale and skinny' category!

On the Sunday Nick Popham was racing on home turf at Cannock, and delivered a great performance to take 3rd V40, 15th overall.

Nick:

"After  lounging around and doing lap board and bell for Pete Harris' race, pre laps needed to be done. Lots of roots so kept dropping the pressure on the tubs to 24 psi -  just right to bang over the roots

My son had a great race sharing my bikes, and as Pete Harris said he finished with a smile and loved it.

 

2pm line up gridded 2nd by Darren Atkins and other front line friends Gary, Steve, Keith and Phil

2.15 whistle went and it was game on. I settled into 5th but a mistake by people on the log meant a crash with some of the riders catching us. Steve went down my and Garmin went flying. We got back on our bikes, bruised a little but that's racing.

 

I caught up with Gary in 3rd and sat on him catching him in the technical bits and he put it in during the long stretches.  On the last lap I planned to take him before technical section but his chain came off, and I was off passing 4 seniors before I finished (and not getting lapped by senior Dan Booth from Hope who started 2 min before us was good!)"

 

 

Nick never loses his helmet in the carpark!

 

Josh  definately had the hardest race of the weekend though, facing up for the first time to the monster that is the 3 Peaks Cyclocross race, a gruelling feast of hike-a-bike, road and offroad action.

Josh:

"Riding the three peaks was an experience rather than a race! Getting blown around like a kite with a bike can't be classed as racing but rather a fight, a fight to stay on your feet and the drive to keep moving up mounds that are better referred to as walls rather than hills. Heart rate beating out of my chest rather than in it was a memory I won't be forgetting soon, nor will I be forgetting the endless up hills and un even steps.....Of hell.

 

The race as a whole was amazing, a one of beast of an event with nothing in comparison. My dad spoke wise words before the event describing it as "the male giving birth" This was definitely the right comparison. I'll be returning next year with the epic conquest of going sub 4 hours. Bike preparation and physical prep went well, feeling strong until the first climb that put me into a state of shock and doubt if I was even going to make the top of the first climb let alone finish."

Despite a puncture Josh delivered a superb 4hr28 time!

Sorted!

Just a quick post to wish team member Ben all the best for a speedy recovery from his recent op'. Looking forward to seeing him dressed in team kit rather than a hospital gown in next season's photos (however much it suits him)

"I said High 5, not tea!"

Embracing the Madness

This weekend saw team racing action in both MTB and CX, with Rich taking 10th V40 and Josh taking 4th Junior at Round 3 of NDCXL. Across the other side of the Midlands Nick Popham took 4th V40 in the West Mids League race.

No, that's a timing chip on Josh, not an ASBO tag.

Nick T pedalled for longer than the rest of the team combined at the 8hr Margam Madness race!

Nick:

"I entered Margam Madness with 2 reservations;

1. It's a crap name;
2. 8hrs solo race on a course with 450m of climbing in a 10.5k lap;

But without Kielder100 on the calendar I obligated myself.

Forecast was good, warm and dry and training was going to plan. Good job the training stayed on plan, because the weather went AWOL. Light rain all night and drizzle/mist all day turned a tough technical course into part assault course, part hill climb, part mud/rock slide. Good job no Europeans entered ;-)

Only 4 vets stood on the start line for the 8hr solo. One must have not started or drowned in a bog as he didn't feature in the results! So that left 3 of us dotted amongst the seniors and pairs of the 4hr and 8hr race.

The start was steady, everyone seeming to be happy with 8hr pace. We swung off road and up a bank after 500m of double track. It became instantly apparent that skills in gloop, twigs, rocks, roots and hike-a-bike might be useful.

Unlike many courses that start to firm up after a few laps of riding, this one got stickier. By lap 4 although I was safely in 2nd place, but didn't know it, I started to suffer with mud induced chain suck. Very frustrating as I had to stop regularly and spend an age freeing up the chain ring. This cost me a good 5 minutes a lap and several £pounds in the swear box. New XTR clutch mech required!

Ironically, I'd no idea the 3rd place vet ditched the race after 1 lap! I could have come 2nd with 2 laps of racing! However, Paul's encouraging Death Before DNF ringing in my ear holes and no clues to where the competition was, I pushed on.

For once I'd not gone too hard in the earlier laps and kept tapping out a steady, but regular rhythm through the goo and rocks and up the hills.

At the 7 hour mark, Maddie Horton, lap caller and compere for the day announced "number 80 Nick Towers coming through with 2nd place assured, 3rd place has stopped racing". Now with 2nd place in the bag, 1st place way over the hills and heading for the last descent and a 3hour drive home I was tempted to finish it there. So tempted in fact that I did!

After a rather nice and friendly podium session, apologies for the weather and a round of applause for the organisers I bombed off home - mucky, damp, tired, happy.

Thanks to Paul for his encouraging 'words' in my ears every lap, Vredestein Tyres for making a pair of grippy Black Panther tyres and The Middle East for producing the gallons of lube oil I had to use to keep chain suck at bay (some of the time anyway). "

Nick with swag

ESI grips

The amount of races and training miles that the Naked Bikes team put in during the year allows us to get an insight into products we like and would particularly recommend to others. We're going to take the opportunity to do just that with some of our particular favourites, starting with ESI Grips.

There's often a trade-off between weight, comfort and longesvity when it comes to grips, but as Paul's review shows, ESI grips seem to hit the sweet spot between all three of those.


"I have been using ESI for the 2013 XC season and they have not let me down. I found that my hands were less fatigued compared to other grips that featured a collar on the outer edge. The Grips come in either Racers Edge or Chunky. I have used Racers Edge and the soft silicon foam is comfortable, with a perfect balance of support and feedback in both wet and dry conditions and the grips feel great with either bare or gloved hands. They’ve worn really well, even my bright green pair have cleaned up well and stayed bright"

Eagle-eyed blog viewers will also notice Andy's bike adorned with some of the green grips in the post below.

We'll be running a competition on Twitter shortly to win a set of these awesome grips, but if you're either unsuccessful or simply can't wait, you can always grab yourself a set from the Naked Bikes shop. If you can't find a colour to match your bike, then you'll probably find you've got a very strange coloured bike!

Onwards and Upwards!

After a few wheel issues prevented either Matt or Rich getting on the results sheet at round 1 of the NDCXL, round 2 at Hilton presented an opportunity to make up for things.

Hilton is a notoriously bumpy course, and features some steep drop-ins, off camber sections and punchy little climbs, so Rich took a slightly different option bike-wise.

"After a suggestion from Matt, I actually chose to ride a hardtail MTB, which seemed to work well. It allowed me to throw the bike into some of the descents a lot harder than I would have done on the CX bike, and ultimately make up some places. I was really pleased just to finish the race after last week's tub nightmare, and pretty pleased with 14th V40, 17th vet overall out of a field of about 130. I've got a lot of work to do to transition my fitness from 12hr MTB racing to 50 minute CX racing, but there's plenty of season left for that"

Matt scored an even better result, taking 5th in the seniors in a highly competitive field.

"The second round was a hard old race. The course was well rutted so I opted to ride a MTB over a cross bike for this round only.
Not sure if the MTB was faster over the course but it would save the back and arms some hammer.
We started fast as cross normally does as this roundd had some great riders turn up. I settled down in 6th taking my time to get use to the circuit I soon notice the MTB was slow on the grassy stuff but great in the rough stuff - On every lap I road the steep bank which helped me hold my place in 6th.

The last lap bell rang and I could see the chap in front so made one last big effort to catch him -passed him and put my head down to finish 5th on the day, much better than last weeks nightmare outing .
I think I will take it steady this week in training as round 3 is going to be fast grassy cross not bashing & hitting ruts all race!"

Next on the calendar CX-wise is Markeaton Park, but it's not all CX action just yet, as there's more Naked Bikes MTB action to be had soon.

Firstly Nick T will be taking on Margam Madness next week. Eight hours of racing on a course with 450m of climbing per lap will certainly test the legs!

After that is Oktoberfest, where Nick T and Andy will be racing singlespeed for their sins, and then Nick T carries the MTB torch into the Thetford Winter Series, whilst simultaneously pushing for the Naked Bikes 'most races in a season' prize!

Weekend Round-Up

A packed weekend of racing for the team saw riders competing in races at home and 'abroad'

Rich and new recruit Matt started the CX season at Hardwick Hall, and a significant crew of team and supporters travelled to the Ilse of Man for the Manx End2End race, with Paul, Nick T, Andy and Chris all racing.

The CX didn't exactly go to plan, with both Rich and Matt suffered with tub issues of such magnitide that they're both trying to now pretend the season actually starts next weekend.

Matt:

"In my race I had a cracking start about 6 th place into the first corner. Two mins into the race I hit a corner hard and my tub came off from the base tape so I stopped put tub on and ran to the pits to change over front wheels. As I've no second bike that lost me 3 mins then I cracked on with my first lap. Soon into the second lap I flatted again on the front -  at this point I was last man on the course so had no other option to call it a day. I headed back to the car after doing ten mins racing in my legs but on the way I bumped into my mate who won the vets in the earlier race and he sorted me out with a new whee,l so game on (again!) I went back in where I came off and rode my nuts off to play catch up. I must have gone through half of the field but must have lost 10 mins so placing was poor but I got a cracking workout all the same.

Overall my position was last man on the result sheet as I came off the race course to get my mates wheel but that's racing for you! Only way is up from here!"

Thankfully the rest of the team fared much better across the water, with team members taking 71st/112th/303rd and 304th positions. When you realise this was from a field of 1700 (yes, 1700!) this is no mean feat!

"What tyres for train compartments....?"

So, the action from Nick T's perspective:

"First timer for the Manx End2End, 75km and 1600m climbing - a race knocking the cancelled Kielder100 off my top priority spot.

Dawn train with bikes from Leicester with Andy - Novel way to start the trip west. Meet up with Paul, Chris and our pit crew Jo, Ange and Sophie on the ferry. Seafront hotel, ensuite, bar. Better than damp tent in a wet field!

So to the start; dodgy old coach trip up the TT mountain section. Driver struggling to locate any forward gear on the ascent. Burning clutch going up, burning brakes going down - quality.

Start line for 1700 racers was a double track width gate so we apologetically nudged our way to the front row of the sub 4 hour grid. Well it's a race isn't it? Countdown to go. GO! 20k through and off on the flat lanes to the first climb. Through and off for me and Andy. Sit on our wheels for all the slackers in the bunch. Poor show, but we delivered ourselves to the foot of the first climb with a clear run up on warm legs.

Having not raced for a couple of weeks and trained appropriately I felt good to go. I'd gone so far as planning fuel strategy and heart rate zones to work in for the race, so I was able to focus on those and not worry about those around me too much.

The course is a good mix of flat, up, down, fire road, single track, moors, woods. A bit for everyone. My call was full sus 29er, pedal on everything. It seemed to work ok, politely dispensing with a handful of pinging hardtails off the back of the first climb. The second climb dragged on and on.....and on for a bit more. However, at each corner or road crossing crowds of spectators cheered everyone on. Chapeau to them all - amateur racers like us soak it up. Mainland England take note.

So to St Johns feed station and start to look for our super-crew for a new bottle. Second last car in a long line of supporters and all I can see is my red High5 bottle being held out - perfect change over from Ange - best bottler on the island as far I was concerned - I barely slowed down.

Final long climb up to the final descent was good news as far as my legs were concerned. Again a whole crowd at the summit point cheering and shouting. Fortunately no mankini wearers today!  A big long network of fast field sections before we popped out onto the road. Being a Manx virgin I wasn't sure exactly where the finish line was, so even on flagging legs I didn't know if I'd got enough to get up the nasty road climb to the racer up front and sprint the finish straight or wait and hope he flagged a bit. He didn't flag and I didn't get to him - my legs hadn't quite got enough. Not to worry, out of the saddle for the last 100m effort up to the finish line and a respectable 3hrs 47mins, 10th Vet 45-49, 70th overall. Smack on my top 10 target. Loved it - the race, the trip, the team, support crew.

Big thanks BossMan Paul for all the entry, hotel, ferry organising, Ange for a perfect bottle change and Andy for his seamless train planning! "


Bunny-hopping

Chris failing to keep clean

Monkey in the trees

Our leader in action!

Nick looking at his stem!

IOM raiding party


After taking some time to reflect, Paul has drafted his thoughts on the IOM expedition too...

"The day started with Chris and Angie coming around for 7am the ferry leaving Liverpool at 11:30.
Bikes loaded and everything packed into the car we headed off. First stopped Starbucks drive thru on the A50 after spilling a whole cup of cappuccino in the car I was hoping this wasn't going to be a start of a bad day! Or weekend ..

 

After arriving at the port in good time we waited to board the ferry then the next issue ! Andy Faulknall and Nick Towers had problems checking in...great! With the wrong ferry date and a new german rider Hanz Faulknall.

 

With a couple of calls and now all sorted we started to board the Sea Cat. 2.5 hours later we arrived in the Isle of Man . The weather forecast was looking grim and on the way to sign on the rain was coming down and there was a strong wind ! Great  - 2012 all over again! After having a walk around the centre of Douglas and stocking up on food and grabbing a meal we headed back to the hotel to chill out and get our heads down for the night as we had another early start on Sunday race day.

Up at 5 am and hyped up for the day ahead I set about sorting my gear and heading down for breakfast and then getting the bikes loaded onto the car. Andy , Nick & Chris took the event bus as the 7 seater was full with all the bike gear plus everything need for the team mascot my 6 month old baby. With nearly £20 grand of bikes on the back of my car I headed off to the start.

Bikes off and after meeting up with the guys we got ready and headed to the start. The support car gone and meeting us at St. John's we were now ready of the off. Now anyone who has ever done the End to End will know getting a good start so you don't get held up at the back in the plantations is key so with Andy and Nick now moving through the pack all the way to the front me and Chris followed.

 

Me and Chris had decided to stick together and work with each other to get through the race. 1 minute called and the normal good lucks said we were ready with Andy and Nick right on the front and both up for it I knew they would go off fast which when the horn went they did.

 

Me and Chris set off at a steady pace to get the legs warmed up we averaged between 17 to 21 mph on the first 13 miles of Tarmac to the first climb using taking it in turns on the front and using packs of riders to catch our breath we pushed on

 

The first clim ! God was I not ready for it and had forgot how long and steep it was! A few miles later and with Chris now in front we were now on the mountain open trails and we both pushed and were catching and passing a lot of riders. Now normally on the hills Chris would be in front as I'm not great at climbing but today I was on the front and pushing on with Chris on my wheel. I felt good and so did Chris. The miles passed and we came to St. John's both needing gels and some bottles we found the support crew which consisted of my partner Jo and Chris' partner Angie (oh and not forgetting baby Sophie)  Fuelled up and now back on the road section heading towards what is the hardest climb on the day, Chris now pushing on I was struggling to keep on his wheel! (Bugger my legs are gone!) Nothing in them to push on, now in pain and feeling totally out of it, Chris was now way ahead up front. I just had to push on and get myself up this climb ..

 

Phew climb done I pushed on the down hill to catch Chris back up I could see him in the distance and I knew I'd be able to get to him before the end. Last fuel stop I managed to catch him up and we set about the last climb which seemed to go on and on.... then! Then cramp in right thigh and calf now off the bike and in pain and pushing to the top until I seen the large crowd at the top.

 

Time to man up and get back on as I was not being seen in the Naked Bikes kit walking up a mountain cramp or no cramp! I was now back on Chris' wheel and in a lot of pain getting to the top  - once at the top it was nearly all downhill ! Now pushing on I was ahead of Chris and making good progress. Off the mountain now and heading towards the finish I was looking where Chris was as we said we would finish together. With only the last climb left which can only be described as tough after 4 hours in the saddle I decided to push on as I knew Chris would catch me. After making it up at a good pace I slowed down and waited for Chris to catch me. 20 meters from the finish I was at walking pace waiting for him and I could see him out the saddle pushing on , We both crossed the line together. Nick and Andy finished 70th & 110th with Chris 327th and me 328th 1 second behind! Couldn't let a team rider get beaten by the boss :) Roll on IOM 2014!"


 

 

 

Skills...

The second feature in our series of 'secret skills of our team riders' shows new rider Matt Barrett's no-handed texting skills. We're hoping to see this one in action during the first round of the NDCXL at Hardwick Hall!

"Yeah, so you just click here and it uploads straight to Strava"

You gotta roll with it....

With things being a little quieter on the racing front, it's time to share some of the other skills our riders possess. First up is Josh, displaying his amazing dismount skills, which we hope he will be putting to good use in the coming 'cross season.

Cobbles and 'cross

A working Victorian Town is not exactly the usual location for a CX race, but Nick Popham swapped muddy fields for cobbles when he and his son Josh took on the Queen Victoria Cyclocross in Blists Hill, Ironbridge this weekend.

Nick's race wasn't without incident though...

"After a last minute entry and 2 cyclocross builds completed we arrived for the 7pm race. Josh is in youth now and did 30mins to get a respectable 12th. I had a great start and we caught the seniors at the bridge and took to the front. Sadly my 1/10 xx1 build was a fail as my chain came off and loads passed me (not the last chain off too!)

Ground needed to be made up so the hammer came down , Josh was in the pits so got me the spare bike from last year, and that's was it, passing rider after rider to finish 4th in vets (3min 10sec off our leader) I felt fresh and not over done and did another lap as a cool down. The atmosphere was brilliant through the Victorian town past the open chip shop and pub with the streets filled with spectators."

Nick in action, proving too fast for his new team kit to catch up with him!