by | Jul 15, 2014 | Racing
On Saturday I travelled with Jenny from Mountain Tracks to round four of the National series at Sherwood Pines in Nottingham.
During the day Saturday I ran a cycling event at Surrey Sports Park which incorporated mountain bike coaching, GoRide races and an event village, this was a brilliant event but not the best race preparation as it meant Jenny and I arrived in Nottingham very late.
After putting the tent up it wasn’t long before I was asleep only to be rudely woken up by the torrential rain!
The morning brought cloud but at least it wasn’t raining. We went out and practised the course, it was a good course with lots of twisty singletrack sections through the forest linked by cart track and open fields, feeling happy about swapping my wide handle bar for something a little narrower I felt confident in the trees working the bike around the corners.
There was only one technical section, a log which you had to drop off onto an off camber log with a drop off the end, we didn’t get to ride this at practise but from looking at it looked manageable.
The course was quite short and was going to be a fast paced race. I knew I needed to have a good warm up so started warming up early.
It wasn’t long before gridding started and we charged off I got into the front couple of riders for a while, I felt good so pushed on trying to stick with the group, as we came out of the single track and onto the cart track I was over taken by a couple of riders, Jenny included and tried to stick with them, I managed to do this until the end of the first lap when we entered the arena but the grass field portion of the course seems to sap energy out of my legs and I had to slow to take a gel, the technical section went well dropping off the logs happily which spurred me into my second lap.
Frustratingly nearing the end of my third lap my legs felt tired and with two laps to go I dropped off the pace to try and recover, but the damage was already done. Jemima and I kept swapping positions me leading through the singletrack and her powering past me on the cart tracks only for me to catch her again in the singletrack and over take.
In my fourth lap I picked the pace up again and was planning to get ahead of Jemima and stay ahead this time! Sadly that didn’t happen after I had to stop on the technical feature to let the lead elite girls through, however I think getting pushed off the course for a Olympian to go through is not so bad!
However this meant I had lost Jemima and didn’t have the energy to catch her up. I finished feeling totally exhausted I had given everything I could but it hadn’t been enough today, I made some mistakes that cost me time and will be able to take this into my next race and learn from those.
My average heart rate was 176 and my max was 185, I worked hard but need to work on my oxygen efficiency which means working at lower intensities for longer periods of time.
I came 11th overall 13 minutes behind Hollie Bettles who won the race. It took me 1 hour 45 mins to finish the 17 miles.
From this race I have taken some positives, I do love racing! After my last race I felt deflated and had fallen out of love with it but this race confirmed that I do enjoy it and that it is about having the right mental attitude as much as it is about having the right physical preparation.
I need to work on my pacing and stamina and plan to do this over the coming months.
Lap Times:
| 00:17:31 |
00:21:26 |
00:21:48 |
00:22:00 |
00:22:20 |
|
by | Jun 22, 2014 | Racing
On Saturday I travelled to Margam Park in Wales to race the next round of the National series. It was a long drive, but when I finally reached Wales the weather was great and although the nerves were bubbling away I felt positive about the weekend ahead.
I met up with Vanessa and Arrow Cycles who kindly ‘adopted’ me for the weekend to ride the course. As with everything in Wales you have to go up before you come down, this course was no exception! The course started with a long climb on fire road which then turned into a single track climb through the woods. Then the ‘fun’ started ! A steep, loose rocky shoot ended on yet another climb, shorter but sharper up a sandy track, before turning into another loose, steep shoot. This carried on for long enough to get your heart racing for the right reasons before turning back on itself with a sharp right hand bend to work its way back up the hill.
The technical part of the course started with a muddy drop into the woods which as long as you kept off the back brake to stop your back wheel sliding out was fine.
After this there was a choice of the ‘A’ or ‘B’ line. Vanessa, Danni and I hopped off our bikes and explored the ‘A’ line on foot. It looked pretty rideable, apart from the end which looked a bit hairy, so we trekked back up to give it a go.
Having a new bike is great, having confidence on a new bike is something that I believe comes with experience and confidence in your own ability. Today, my confidence was being undermined by not feeling totally at home on my new bike.
I watched as Vanessa and Danni made easy work of the ‘A’ line but couldn’t psyche myself up to get around the corner into the drop! Every time I got to the top of the drop I just felt like the angle was all wrong, even though Josh from Arrow cycles who I was with, said the line was fine.
I tried again from a different angle and caught my back wheel on a root, sending me and the bike flying! The bike landed upside down, back wheel held in place by the tree and I landed on my left shoulder. Shaken up by this I tried the ‘A’ line again straight by hanging in the tree to clip in I rode it straight twice and felt happy enough with the drop but couldn’t link the angle and drop together! Seeing my frustration Josh said maybe we should crack on, I agreed! I chose the ‘B’ line on the next bit whilst Josh aced the ‘A’ line. The next part of the course was great and reminded me of why I love riding in Wales. Some quarry switchbacks, a little drop off, more uphill and some flowing wooded single track finished off the course. All together this course had a little bit of everything and should of suited me to the ground, had my head been in the right place!
Sunday came around quickly after a bad night’s sleep going over and over the line in my head. With an aching left shoulder I wasn’t feeling on top form for the impending race! Warming up with Vanessa and Danni helped and I started to feel a bit more relaxed. This turned out to be short lived as soon as I arrived on the start line my legs felt like led and my nerves were taking over.
I knew it was all in my head and that I was capable of everything on this course, but mountain biking is a physical and mental game. To be good on your bike you have to be physically but also mentally up to it as its when you doubt yourself that it tends to go wrong.
In competition you are always going to have a bad day. It is taking those bad days, seeing the positive and learning from the experience. That is my plan.
After five races in the Expert category I am sitting in fifth position nationally and looking to close the gap down on the leading four.
by hattenburrow | Jun 10, 2014 | Racing
Today I raced at the Southern cross country series round five at QE Park. Racing so close to home was great! The alarm went off at 07.00 which was still early for a Sunday but no way near as bad as the usual 5.30 starts on a race day. The race start was at Head Down near to QE Park in Buriton, 10 minutes from our house. We left at 8.20 to give plenty of time to ride the course and warm up before the race start at 10.00. I was excited and nervous about riding my new bike as I hadn’t had a proper opportunity to test it out on single track yet.
We arrived at the venue in the middle of the woods. My practise lap went well and I was happy with my choice of tyre leaving a Maxxis Ardent on the front and putting on a gripper Mavic Roam on the back.
The course was good, although starting with a long slog up a fire track onto uphill single track was a tough way to start! The trail meandered through the woods mainly off camber, switch backs and roots where the obstacles in this part of the course. It then led out onto a fire road ascent which seemed to go on forever!
Getting off this track and back onto the wood single track was a relief, as it soon turned back down hill crossing another fire road onto the last descent of the course, which was a triple arrow down, with a tight right hand bend and a jump at the bottom. I tried going to the right as it was dry and less sloppy, this was not the right line, as I could not make the corner. I went back to the top and tried staying high on the bank to the left which meant having to pop over a ledge, this worked a lot better as the angle into the corner was easy from here and although the jump/step was big my new Silverback with its 130mm of travel seemed to make light work of popping down it.
Returning back to the arena it was time to grid. I felt so nervous as I lined up with Jenny and Flo in my category, two very competent riders. We were set off in a mass start and I soon found myself stuck as we entered the single track behind people I needed to be in front of. I worked hard to get to the front of them, and soon found myself, where I wanted to be, on the back of Flo’s wheel who was on the back of Jenny’s wheel. I kept looking to over take but the track was tight and this made it hard. Going into the downhill part of the single track Jenny clipped a root which took her off and Flo went into her, I took the opportunity to zip round the side and pushed the pace to get some space between myself and them. I was happy with the way my bike seemed to hold its own on twisty single track and I soon passed others. On the fire road I pushed as hard as I could to keep the gap. Frustratingly Flo got in front of me and I couldn’t stick with her pace on my 27.5 against her 29″ wheels. (and the fact she is a very strong climber as I found out)
The next bit of single track I worked hard to pull back the gap and had Flo is my site, but annoyingly a guy on his practise lap came off in front of me on the big descent which left me no choice but to hop off and run down. This lost me precious time and although I gave it my all I couldn’t regain the group.
Coming back into the arena after the last climb I felt pretty shattered I pushed on and as I disappeared into the trees caught sight of Jenny behind me. I knew I had to get a large gap between us before the fire road as this would be where she would be able to catch me.
I had a couple of silly errors as I battled to keep second place but lucky by the time I went into my third and final lap I couldn’t see Jenny any more. I knew she wasn’t too far behind so I kept pushing on and gave it 110%, I was relieved when I crossed the finish line in second and felt proud to of kept going even when I felt so tired.
My new Silverback bike performed brilliantly and I can’t wait to race it again next week at the Nationals! Bring it on!
Lap times:
Lap 1: 27:17
Lap 2: 29:06
Lap 3: 29:32
by | May 26, 2014 | Racing
My first ever race was near Oxford so on the morning of the race Martyn and I travelled up to the race from Southampton, I was so nervous! Whilst I went to get my number Martyn got my bike off the car. I had changed into just a gym top and shorts, only to be told I really needed to wear a t-shirt style top next time, they thought I was a triathlete! I went back with my number and had a banana, I was so nervous I wasn’t sure I could even race. There were people around me with different bikes, changing tyres and it all seemed very technical but, at the same time there was a buzz and friendliness. In this massive field, on the side of a forest, everyone had come together to enjoy mountain biking and I loved that feeling. As my nerves settled whilst in my practise lap, the sun came out and it just felt like this is what I was meant to be doing!
I was racing against four other girls in the open category. The race was a bit of a blur I tried to keep up with one of the youth riders and stuck with her for about a lap and a bit before she disappeared into the distance. I couldn’t remember who was in my category so I just pushed as hard as I could, even though my lungs were burning and my legs felt like lead. The course was tight single track through a wooded area which had faster sections along the edges of fields, where my hard tail bike seemed to be trying to shake me off! I ended up winning the race and felt really good. I was tired but not exhausted. One thing was for sure, I was totally hooked on the buzz of the race. I brought my racing license the next week and entered the National series thinking how tough can it be? Little did I know what was to come!
My first cross country national race experience was at Langdon Hills in Essex, I was living in Southampton at the time. I got up around 5am and drove myself to the race. I remember arriving really early before most people because I had left myself so much time in case of traffic. There was a big truck with the British Cycling logos all over it, a stage and an event ‘village’ with lots of bike manufacturers branded gazebos. To my surprise there were already a few people going around the course. A whole different world away from the previous race! I had a banana, gave Martyn a call and went out on a practise lap. I was really excited and nervous. I started off up a hill, across a field and then reached a road….It then dawned on me I had taken a wrong turn, and had to track back. I found my way back and continued enjoying the course. There were no really big drops, but a couple of big roots which I clumsily banged into and over luckily without getting thrown off!
I felt pretty good. I got to a sign which said 4km and thought wow that was quick 4km gone already! Having done things like the Race for Life I should have known that it actually meant I had done 1km! I carried on. There was a huge hill close to the end which felt never ending and just about finished me off! I wasn’t sure how I was going to do three laps of this course. The course was very up and down so my decision was to pace myself on the first lap and then go for it on the last two.
After the practise lap I registered and gridding began. Straight away all riders had to ride round in this little holding arena in front of the British Cycling van, each category was called individually and then was sent off by the starting gun. Finally sport riders were called, there was only me and one other female rider, she was really friendly. We joked about being able to take it easy because there was just the two of us but I said well we should really race as I had come all this way to see how good I was!
The gun sounded and Fern (the rider I had been speaking too) shot off up the hill so quickly I thought ah! We have three laps she will be knackered by lap two and I’ll catch her up! Well it didn’t exactly go to plan! I stuck with her up the hill and into the first bit of single track. She was a lot faster uphill than me and on the downhill’s had a lot more confident letting her bike run out, where I was cautious. I stuck with her as long as I could but soon felt the gap opening up. I did everything I could to cling on and came back into the finish about 500 meters behind her but the thought of another two laps was slowing me down and she seemed to just be getting quicker! My legs were burning and screaming at me on every uphill and my arms were being shaken to pieces on all the rooty downhills. The rest of the race went by quickly and I actually felt better on my third lap and picked the pace up. I crossed the finish line exhausted, but full of achievement and pride at finishing what had felt like a really tough three laps. I came second and was chuffed to receive a really nice plaque. It turned out Fern was the series winner and had not actually lost a race ever!
This experience taught me the value of having the courage to just have a go and test what you’re capable of, to see how far you can go and what you can achieve, even when your nervous and full of doubt.
Sometimes in life it is too easy to say “I can’t ” than, “let’s have a go!”
Life is so high pressured we are all constantly under pressure to perform well in our careers and family life. Personally I think this can sometimes makes you nervous to try new things, because you get worried about other people’s perceptions.
We all have moments when we feel we can’t do something and in some circumstances you may be right, but if you don’t try how will you ever know?
My tips for anyone thinking about entering a XC race are:
- Arrive in time to ride the course and warm up properly
- Believe you can, set yourself a challenge
- Take a spare change of clothes, you never know how muddy it may be
- Try out any gels/bars/energy drinks on a training ride before the race
- Take your own loo roll, especially if your a girl it always seems to run out
- We all have negative thoughts. It’s how you let them affect you which determines whether you can or cannot
- Ride your own race
by hattenburrow | May 23, 2014 | Racing
On Sunday the alarm went off at 5.30 ready for the drive to Codham Park in Essex for round three of the MSG series.
It was my first MSG of the year on one of my favourite courses, Codham Park. I arrived at the Park in the bright morning sunshine, the car was already registering 16 degrees at 7.30!
I have found racing in the heat challenging before so I took a bottle of electrolyte drink round on my practise lap and kept sipping to stay as well hydrated as possible.
The thing I love about Codham is the variety of terrain, the course starts on open cart track which tracks through a farm over fields and into a woodland where the single track is tight and twisty, it doesn’t leave much room for overtaking so I made a mental note of where I would be able to over take if I needed to. The course pops out of the forest and continues up and then straight along a field into more forest which then brings you out into a ‘sand pit’ area with some great switch backs and drops. After the final switch back the course climbs steeply out of the pit and onto a BMX track which is often loose and sandy.
I felt confident after the practise lap, there was one ‘A’ line which was an off camber shoot down a grass bank which I decide after much deliberation I was going to do, as I was worried about falling on my bad elbow, the price for not taking this was an extra 45 seconds each lap which was going to be hard to make up but I was determined to do my best!
It was soon time to grid and I waited eagerly on the starting line ready to race. The heat was already burning down and I wished my it wasn’t so black! The whistle went and I got a great start hanging onto another riders wheel the first corner I turned well and the terrain turned to grass I dropped down a gear, which was a mistake as I lost speed and a couple of riders past me. We came to a long grassy climb and this is where having a 29’er would of been ideal, they seemed to glide past me as I grunted up the hill my 130mm travel 650b not working to my advantage!
I had lost the front riders by the time we got into the wooded section as I got caught behind someone going slightly slower than I would have liked this cost me time and once I was out of the forest I worked hard to pull the gap back, unsuccessfully!
My ‘b’ line decision was costing me time and I felt frustrated so on my third lap I decided to bite the bullet and take the ‘a’ line sadly a rider had come off quite badly and it was closed so I couldn’t take it.
Donna Dale a veteran rider and I spent the next two laps pushing against one another it was great to have someone to push against and it gave me a new lease of life!
Entering the final lap I felt good and pushed on determined to make this my best lap I worked hard on the field to get in front of Donna before the wooded section and succeeded this was where my decision to have 650b wheels really paid off! My Silverback Syncra glided effortlessly through the tree and felt so comfortable to ride and turned carrying speed which was a real advantage.
I entered the technical section for the last time and pushed as hard as I could coming into the finish line I new I had given it my all.
My lap times were relatively consistent although dropped off slightly, this is something I need to work on. Compared to last season my lap times at this course have got quicker by 5/6 mins really showing that my training is working.
Lap times:
4 laps 1 hour 16 mins
Lap 1 18.23
Lap 2 19.26
Lap 3 19.11
Lap 4 19.05
From my lap times I think I have clearly got room for improvement I know I have to warm up well to enable my first and second lap times to be as good as my third and fourth.
by hattenburrow | May 12, 2014 | Racing
Last weekend Martyn and I traveled down to Cornwall for my second race of the season in RedRuth. This was the second race in the national series and I felt quite excited about being back on a course I new and had enjoyed last year. Or so I thought!
We arrived late on the Friday evening and set up camp. I had borrowed a Silverback Syncra 650b bike from my club, having only ridden it on the road once before I was excited about trying it out on the course.
The big wheel debate at the moment is 29er or 650b, I have not purchased a new bike for this season yet, because I have been waiting to try out both to see which suited me best. I had read so many reviews about what was best for the type of riding and racing I do but until you try it’s very hard to know what is going to suit.
Saturday, Practise Lap
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”]
Picture credit to British Cycling
I went out onto the course full of nerves and anticipation, having been here before I new it was tough.
The course had changed from last year the start was totally different with a technical section to start, the ‘A’ line jumped over some roots while the ‘B’ line scooped round the bottom of a tree, this seemed tough, but not unmanageable.
The next section was a steep single track hill followed by a path through heath steeply down into a wooded technical section.
The course carved a path steeply down into the next technical section, I had taken the ‘A’ route last year so decided to have a go but only got half way along before nerves got the better of me and I bailed out, feeling slightly shaky I made my way back to try again but the same thing happened.
This confirmed in my head how I felt, I wasn’t ready for such a challenging course after hurting my arm and that maybe I shouldn’t have come. I looked at the ‘B’ line but it looked so steep and I had so many negative thoughts in my head I just couldn’t do it. I was so worried about coming off I couldn’t do it. I walked back up and along to a straight part and looked down on the rest of the course, I remembered it being tough but today it seemed impossible.
I re joined a different part of the course and continued on, by this time I was ready to go home, I didn’t feel up to it my head was just not in the right place. I managed to finish the course walking most of the ‘B’ lines and feeling totally out of my comfort zone!
It’s not whether you get knocked down it’s whether you get back up that counts.
I arrived back at my car pretty deflated and not sure what to do, so I rang my Dad who was very supportive and said you can only do the best you can do on the day he said to try and ride the course again but as if I was out with friends to take the pressure off the idea that I was going to be racing it.
I came to the first technical section and made the ‘B’ line which helped the next drop had people looking at it so I jumped off and ran down past a girl who said she wasn’t having a good day, I could emphasise with that as neither was I!
Sometimes all you need is a little support and nudge in the right direction.
We rode the next bit together, as the next technical section approached I felt the tension growing my muscles felt like they were locking and I wanted to stop but this time I had my head in the right place, I didn’t give myself a choice of bailing and pointed my bike down the ‘B’ line, it flew effortlessly springing over the rocks and felt so easy, I wasn’t sure why it had seemed so impossible earlier!
The next part of the course was steep single track, switchbacks which I remembered from last year once you had made the first turn these were easy and you got spat out at the end like on a roller coaster.
Next came the long slog from the bottom of the quarry onto the next technical section, loose rocks and gorse bushes made this a tough but pretty climb!
At the top the course made its way back down through some more switchbacks and then onto a loose rocky cart track which travelled down to the next technical section, one that I decided along with Jemima that it would be best to walk, after seeing a girl land in a tree!
I remembered this one from last year as it’s the line that I fell off at and broke my gears so I made a plan to run it, if I raced tomorrow.
The course then climbed up before dropping down into the quarry this section was fast with a few big loose rocks as you approached the next technical section, a horse shoe shaped wall ride, or a long sprint down a track were the ‘A’ and ‘B’ options, I took the B line which added 30 seconds per lap, but today the wall ride was above what I felt happy with!
The course then continued as double track back up before the last rock shoot ‘A’ line or loose rocky ‘B’ line, both we’re challenging but the ‘B’ line added considerably more time but I decided this was the line I would practise getting the line right to make it as quick as possible so not too loose too much time when racing.
I arrived back at the event area feeling relived to have made it in one piece and ready for tomorrow, my attitude from the first lap was vastly different I felt in control and confident in my ability to race tomorrow.
Race Day
The next day Martyn dropped me at the race, I met Vanessa from Arrow cycles and we went out on the road for a warm up. The time flyed by, soon we were being gridded, the starting gun went off and I sprinted off the start getting a good position going into the single track and the first technical decent frustratingly the person in front stopped at the drop after the tree which pulled me off too so I ran down and got going again.
The first lap seemed to go in a blur and I felt good chasing the leading riders, into the second lap. A silly mis judged angle on a tree route pulled me off and onto my bad arm, I panicked for a moment as I dusted myself off checked my arm was okay and carried on. This had cost me time and
I worked hard on the uphill to catch up, it was a hard climb to the top and I tried to take a Zip Vit energy gel at the same time but it was so sticky I had a hard time swallowing it!
The rest of the second lap went well, at the hard technical ‘A’,’B’ line I ran down across the slab through the lake and up the other side this lost me a couple of seconds but I was keeping up with others riding it, however it was exhausting!
Lap 3 went well I was ahead of Mel Paddington from EHF and worked hard to keep the gap knowing how strong she was. On the forest track back up to the finish line Mel passed me I worked really hard to stay on her back wheel until I had my second issue of the ride an elite girl turned to pass me on a narrow single track section pulling me off into a fence when I got going again I noticed the Boa system on my shoe had come undone so I had to get off and sort it out, these two problems cost me at least a minute or two and meant Mel was well ahead going back out onto the single track as I came into the event arena for the last lap
I pushed on working hard at every opportunity to close the gap, the descents by now felt like so much fun and I reflected as I pushed myself and my bike to the limit what a difference a day and a change of mental attitude had made. Coming into the finish I felt an amazing sense of pride and accomplishment I had come back from an injury which had knocked my confidence bad over come my demons from practise and raced a really good race, feeling relaxed and confident in my ascending and descending ability.
Getting my times I was happy to gave kept a constant pace, where last year my lap times dropped if by a minute or two by the last lap today they were all constant with my mast lap being the fastest. I think what this showed me was my ability to fight back when I was in the right frame of mind, the ability to push on even when it’s hurting and close the gap in another rider.
Lap times:
4 Laps: 01:45
Lap 1: 26:06
Lap 2: 26:42
Lap 3: 26:20
Lap 4: 26:00
[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
