Grand Raid Cristalp

The Bank Holiday weekend saw the first European racing action for the Naked Bikes team, with Nick T and Richard taking the long trip out to Switzerland to race the Grand Raid Cristalp.

 

 Nick:

"In the mtb marathon racing world Cristalp Grand Raid point to point is considered as one of the bench mark Alpine classics, a 'must-do' if you like big climbs, big descents and big kilometres. At 125km long with 5000m of climbing starting at 1500m and rising to 2800m it's no normal Sunday ride out for the average Brit racers like ourselves, so training over spring/summer had been focussed to prepare ourselves as much as possible.

Living in the flat lands of the Midlands and considering our training 'hills' are generally those of Charnwood and maybe the Peak District, the sheer massive scale of the Alps can take a while to sink in. This race was about finishing in a respectable time, not aiming for a top 10! So, after a 15 hour drive down in the Vito Race Van, expertly piloted by Rich and almost expertly navigated by myself, a poor night's sleep in the tent and an 04:30 alarm, we rocked up at the start line in Verbier ready(?) to race. Alarmingly, racing under BC license numbers, we had been gridded almost a the front of the race and knowing the pace the hardened European marathon racer goes off at we were more than a little concerned at being run over by 800 pairs of wheels. It wasn't so bad once the start gun went off at 06:30 sharp in the end, but almost an hour of climbing with no neutralised zone is evil. Cresting the long climb the route funnelled the racers into mountainside tunnel lined with PA speakers rocking out 'Back in Black' - no need for iPod then eh? A steady routine then settled in..

 

The Climbs……Rich (long, thin and Froome-like) lead the way up the climbs humming 'George and Mildred' tunes, Nick (short, fat and Cav-like) panting and following a short distance behind, not having sufficient capacity for either George or Mildred.

 

The Descents……….Nick, balls slung over shoulder, fingers off brakes, smoking tyres, humming 'Colonel Bogey' tunes, Rich, quite possibly cursing the reckless plummeting fruitcake up front! There were a few, and only a few interludes from this cycle. Astonishingly Europeans just can't do technical riding, up, down or across. Don't try to argue that they can - they can't! We had rather a few, let's say minor delays in traffic, negotiating Euro-mincers on any trail obstacle bigger than a pebble, narrower than a bus or wetter than rising damp. Technical is best left to Brits, we WERE Rock and Roll at technical!

Km after km passed, with their bikes and legs behaving well and Rich's rear tyre providing the only 'technical' of any description - a mystery 'slow', Stan's juice wouldn't seal, that needed a tube at the 90k point. All sorted and onto the final climb. Predicted thunder storm rumbling, heaving clouds and the first spots of rain falling was something to think about on the hour long ascent from the valley to the high point of Pasa de Lona at 2800m. The temperature dropped to below 40 degrees F, Rich had to push on up front to keep warm and Nick chugged up as tail gunner. The climb in the wind and rain was relentless, only 10% gradient, but with 90k and 4000m of climbing in the legs already it wasn't joyous. Slowly but surely grim faced riders started to come back down the fire road against the stream of climbers, some saying 'c'est fini' or 'ferme', odd but a tell tale sign that the final 'technical' descent had been closed for safety reasons. It's fair to say that Alpine races are often cut short in bad weather as bad here is proper bad, ie helicopter can't reach the fallen or falling! The general telepathic decision between us was to push to the top and see what was happening. The cold (and my slower paced climb - apologies Rich!) left Rich bordering on hyperthermic, wrapped in blankets in the checkpoint refuge, shivering like the lean greyhound he is. Nick's layer of insulation fared better on the way and both were reunited by refuge log burner. Alpine romance or what? All riders were then instructed to return down the fireroad to the valley bottom for transport back to the start. It would be easy to hurl torrents of criticism at the organisers for the chaotic scenes of expensive race bikes being piled into tipper trucks for the return journey, but it couldn't have been easy transporting 200 or dirty, wet and cold riders and bikes at short notice. It was crude, some bikes got cosmetically damaged, but it worked. Hastily organised hotel, hot showers, restaurant and comfy beds were the wisest way to end the day, the wet tent option was quickly ruled out!"

Results then - approximated due to the final section being closed. Both Rich and Nick completed in just under 9.5 hours and came in 160th from 250 vets. Overall 480th from 750 starters. Not bad for a couple of flat-landers!

For next year, Rich is determined to do it again and see the final technical descent to Grimentz. Nick has been having nightmares about his shiny Niner being thrown into a tipper lorry, so he'll be looking at the Salzkammergut Trophy in Austria. 120km, 'only' 4000m of climbing and a circular loop - no nasty tipper lorries!

 

Rich tries to get away on a descent when Nick's not looking (and fails probably!)

 

 

Nick T upholds the honour of team and country, showing the Euro mincers how it's done!

The legacy....

Anyone who watched the MTB Olympics last year will have noticed that the Hadleigh course had a few 'features' that looked a bit tricky, from drops through to rock gardens, not to mention some serious climbs.

With the final round of the BC National Points XC Series  held there this weekend, it was time for some of the Naked Bikes team to find out just how tricky the course was in the flesh.

From Paul's report, it sounds like the answer was "pretty tricky"!



Paul, realising that he's riding the Olympic MTB course blind!

"Well that was a experience! With reports from Saturday practice of over 20 broken bones I can honestly say I've never been so sh*t scared and excited at the same time doing a race in my life (as my 157bpm HR at the start line shows!)

After missing the pre lap time and having phone call from Chris telling me how hard and mental it was the plan was to sit on Chris' wheel for the first lap.

So, off like the clappers up the first hill and with Chris behind me I was now riding the Olympic course blind.  I seriously don't advise that! After going off way to fast and not knowing the course the first few hills hit me hard as I wasn't warmed up or ready for them and I started to struggle on the hill sections.

The down hill sections were mega and with rocks ready to take you out at anytime you had to be on your game. With Chris now past me and shouting out the lines I tried to stick with him then after a rocky section about 3/4 round the rear felt not right. Flat! With no repair kit on the bike it was game over.

Overall impressions = mental. Serious balls needed for that, especially to go at speed! Respect to everyone who competed, finished or didn't finish. To go out and try and do it takes guts, after all it was built for the Olympics and the best in the world so it's not going to be easy."



The smile suggests that this is a 'before' shot!

Chris styles it through the rocks

Chirs met a similar fate to Paul with a flat himself, as well as having an over the bars.

A massive well done to Andy 'Slogger' Faulknall who was testing the new team bike out for 2014 - he managed to finish, despite being sick. Twice! Nick Popham also put in a sterling performance in the Vet category, finishing 20th

FNSS - the final standings!

The Friday Night Summer Series has been the subject of a number of blog posts here this season, with various team members racing these excellent grass roots events.

The series results are now finalised, with some great results for Naked Bikes team members.

• New team member Mark Proudman - 2nd Senior

• Team Director Paul 17th Senior

• Chris Gregory 22nd Senior

• Last but by no means least, Nick Towers took 2nd Vet!

Given the number of blog posts devoted to Nick's successes recently at FNSS, it's no surprise to learn that the series was one of his key season goals.

"I'd targeted a top 5 for the series and felt confident of 5th! After delivering a handful of strong results in June and early July I managed to capitalise on some non-starts and DNFs of a couple of the faster Vets. Taking helper points from organising the Mallory round with team-mate Andy I found myself as Vet series leader with only 4 rounds from 12 to go. I knew Lloyd Bettles could win the series by completing 3 more rounds in the top 3, which he did, but calculated top 5 finishes for me would probably hold 2nd place overall. 

So a 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 5th did the job. Yes I'd have preferred better than 6th and 5th to finish things off, but I was beaten by faster riders on each occasion and gave everything I had on the course. I'm a happy man getting 2nd Vet overall for the team. The training plan has paid off well. Thanks to Paul for the go faster team kit - it really does work! Now to focus on the endurance end of season."

Good work everyone!

It's all about those trophies!

The weekend roundup....

Another busy weekend for the Naked Bikes race team, with riders in action at the FNSS, Midlands XC and down in Brighton at the Big Dog.

Reports are coming in of riders' exploits starting with Paul's FNSS battles:

"After 7 days off the bike and training while on holiday I returned home on Thursday ready to do a full weekend racing fnss on Friday and midlands xc on Sunday. I knew Fridays race might hurt a little due to the lack of riding and it did ! Lol. The race started as a mass start which to be honest was good, after a long grass straight to get the legs going and a small wooded section I tried to settle myself down as my heart rate was hitting 197 bpm! I tagged onto the back of a few vets and settled down, I could feel myself getting faster and it felt good passing the vets and catching up some seniors. After forgetting to take my lock out off on the back rugged section and nearly having a off I got my head down and pushed to catch the guy I could see in front. After catching him on the back straight and going through the finish with the bell going for the last lap I sat on his back wheel to help with the head wind and planned how I was going to beat him. Sitting on his back wheel still and pushing him on the rugged back section he blew and I passed him got my head down and pushed. I wasn't going to let him back past ! Just in front was a vet so I decided to try and push more and catch him and after the last steep hill I was on his wheel on the back straight and passed him before the finish.
13 in senior and a few more points for the overall series in the bag . Overall a good race that wasn't as bad as I was expecting if I could just get myself a minute faster per lap I'd be in the top 10! But it's still my first year racing it will come. "

The 'Nicks' were in action at the weekend too, with both putting in some sterling performances. Mr Towers took 5th vet at FNSS, with Mr Popham taking 4th vet at the Midlands XC, putting him 3rd in the series overall.

Nick Popham at the Midlands XC

Rich was racing by the seaside down in Brighton at the Big Dog 6hr. A tough course with some vicious little climbs and steep woodland singletrack took it's toll on the assembled riders and saw Rich coming home 8th solo vet. Rumours of too much candyfloss and chips on the pier before the race are hotly denied!



Rich might not be the prettiest one in the photo, but at least he's putting the effort in! (Photo courtesy Jon Brooke)

Looking ahead....

The race team is looking ahead now to races stretching right into the winter. It may seem like a long time away with the sun still high in the sky and summer racing still firmly in our legs, but we're a team on the move and will continually look to improve our race presence and race performance. 

Here's a preview of what's on the race horizon:

This weekend sees the usual FNSS action, then Andy, Paul and Nick P take on the final round of the Midlands XC at Eastridge on Sunday

End of August Rich and Nick will head off to Verbier in Switzerland for CristAlp Grand Raid, 125km and 5025 vertical metres of climbing off road - that'll hurt! 

September we have 2 key initiatives to attend to;

Manx End2End sponsored by Manx Telecom, 8th September. Paul, Andy, Nick and Chris will be racing the 75km off road course from the Northerly most tip to the Southerly most tip of the island. 

The start of the Cyclocross season! Andy, Rich, Nick P, Josh and hopefully a returning from injury Ben will be racing various midlands based cross leagues throughout the dark months. Rumour is Paul and Nick T will be pit-bitching at some of these...

October 12th, Nick T and Andy head off to Ritchey Oktoberfest at Ashton Court Bristol for the 8 hour pairs singlespeed race. 2 gears between them and determination to get on the podium after finishing 30sec off 3rd place in 2011. 

Then starting early November with the first of 4 wintery 4 hour races in the flatlands of Thetford, Nick and Andy will begin Thetford Winter Series in the Vets and Senior categories. Like cross racing; cold, damp air, tongue hanging out like a panting dog and the greasy smell of the burger van wafting across the track, these winter races are the essence of the British grass roots race calendar. 

Forget your dusty trails and semi-slick race tyres........Naked Bikes will be putting on 700c or 29" with knobbles and keeping a high winter race profile. 

Naked Bikes en masse

Friday 2nd August and the XC team headed to Delapre Abbey in Northampton for Friday Night Summer Series. The course was a reversed version of previous years and must be considered as one of the 'proper XC courses' of FNSS. Almost entirely wooded singletrack, with leg stinging climbs and super-fast descents.

New team members U23 Josh Walling and Vet Nick Popham played a pivotal role in securing the Naked prize money on the night, meaning as a team we've been in the prize money for every round we've raced this year. Sponsors please take note of our ability to get your good name noticed! Josh raced to an impressive 3rd (he's only 16 and ripped through the field!), Nick P coming in 2nd in his first race in the jersey. Great start men! Nick Towers was a little off the pace unusually, having to settle for 6th placed Vet. 'Beaten by faster racers tonight, I'm afraid', said an off-beat Towers. Andy Faulknall and Boss Man Paul put in solid performances finishing in the middle of the Senior pack on what was a demanding course. 

Whatever the results tonight one thing was clear for everyone watching the race.........Naked Bikes Race Team gets noticed. 

After all that race effort most racers possibly had a relatively easy 'bike day' Saturday........? 

Nick T chose to work into the night prep'ing his bike for the Schwalbe 75k mountain marathon in Wales at 10am the morning after! 'It wasn't the best option' commented Towers, 'but it formed part of my preparation for CristAlp GrandRaid with Rich in August and Isle of Man E2E with Paul and Andy in September. Though not a race as such, the Schwalbe MTB marathons are as good a race practice as you can get - mountains, tough trails, race board and a target good finish time'. As it turned out all of the above applied and Nick came home 9th Vet in 4:02 - tired and need of a rest! 

Looking to the next set of races we'll see Mr Edge doing Vets 6hour solo at Brighton Big Dog and the usual suspects racing the penultimate scoring round of Friday Night Summer Series 2013. Will Mr Edge push for another podium? Walling scare the U23s again? Will Popham teach the Vets new tricks? Will Towers hang on to the Vets series lead? Will Boss Man and Mr Faulknall bully they're way through the senior field? Follow Naked Bikes and find out!